 |
|
|
Breathtaking Sachin, Yuvi set up win
KP hints at snapping ties with IPL
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Hughes, Ponting take lead past 400
Pak can still co-host World Cup: PCB
Sunil Gavaskar writes
Vasco beaten, move closer to relegation
|
|
Breathtaking Sachin, Yuvi set up win
l
Tendulkar was in sublime touch, scoring unbeaten 163 as India post their 2nd highest ODI total of 392 for four He (Tendulkar) is an amazing batsman. The kind of shots he plays is amazing. Even Yuvraj (Singh) is a difficult batsman when he is in form. The way they both were playing we could easily predict that our total would be past 390 I had always been wanting to get a 100 here. In 1994 when I started opening for India I scored 84 in my first match and that was closest probably that I came near getting a 100 here. Last time around I twisted my ankle so basically I had not played many ODIs here A couple of run-outs is always frustrating. If Jesse and I had been going on for another 10
overs, the game may have panned out a little bit differently. You had to be aggressive from ball one, but we weren't accurate enough with the bat in those middle stages Christchurch, March 8 Put in to bat by stand-in Kiwi captain Brendon McCullum, a vintage Sachin Tendulkar scored his 43rd century, which is his maiden ton on New Zealand soil, before retiring hurt to guide India to an intimidating 392 for four. New Zealand made a strong reply with the pair of McCullum (71) and Jesse Ryder (105) stitching a 166-run partnership for the opening wicket before losing way in the middle overs. The home team were shot out for 334 in the 45.1 overs. Some big hitting by Ryder and McCullum alongwith lethargic fielding by the Indians meant the home side raced to 166 for none in the 22nd over but once the openers made way to the hut the Kiwi middle order collapsed to 218 for seven in the 34th over. Kyle Mills (54) and Tim Southee made a brief resistance by sharing an 83-run partnership for the ninth wicket before the inevitable happened. Tendulkar, whose previous best in New Zealand had been an 84 in Dunedin in March 1992, was in sublime touch hitting 16 fours and five sixes in 133 balls before retiring hurt in the 45th over in the day-nighter. Playing in his 425th match, the master batsman, who hit his last century (117 not out) in Sydney against Australia in March last year, shared a quickfire 100-ball 138 runs for the third wicket with Yuvraj Singh who made a brilliant 60-ball 87 (10x4; 6x6) to give nightmare to the home team in the crucial match. With captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni chipping in with a 58-ball 68 and Suresh Raina contributing an 18-ball 38 which included five sixes, Indian posted their second highest ODI total the best being the 413 they made against Bermuda in the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies. After completing his fifth century against New Zealand, Tendulkar accelerated with some lusty blows and scoring another 63 runs from 32 balls before he decided to end unconquered. The Kiwis were, earlier, very much in the game until the 20th over, when India were at 105 for two. But the batting powerplay changed the complexion of the game when Tendulkar and Yuvraj produced 69 sizzling runs between the 23rd and 27th overs. The home team were virtually massacred in those five heady overs. It was an Indian summer in Christchurch as Tendulkar, Yuvraj, Dhoni and Raina cut loose in the middle overs, smashing fours and sixes with effortless ease. So electrifying and daunting was their combined show that Kiwis floundered in the field under pressure. Their bowling was in absolute tatters. It was the Tendulkar of the yore. His enthusiasm and zest belied his age as he ran hard between the wickets, looking to convert ones into twos. If Yuvraj had set the stands on fire with his pyrotechnics in the overs between the 15th and the 30th, Tendulkar measured up to the left-hander's onslaught as the innings ebbed into the end overs. The Kiwis simply watched in awe as the world's greatest batsman drove, cut and flicked with disdain.
— PTI |
|
KP hints at snapping ties with IPL
London, March 8 Pietersen, who was bought by Vijay Mallya's Bangalore Royal Challengers team for a whopping $ 1.55 million, is so worried at becoming a high-profile target that he is reviewing his own security now. "I will be consulting as many people as I can but if I don't think it is right, then I will not be going. After this final Test against the West Indies, I will be speaking to Bangalore, to the ECB, to my agent and to security advisors. “Then I will be a lot clearer in my thoughts than I am now. Since the terror attacks in Mumbai we are all now more mindful of our own security arrangements,” the all-rounder told 'News of the World'. Six Lanka cricketers, including skipper Mahela Jayawardene and spinner Ajantha Mendis, were injured as 12 masked gunmen opened fire on their team-bus, which was on its way to Gaddafi Stadium for the third day's play of second Test on Tuesday. Pietersen hoped that everything would go right during the Twenty20 tournament in India, but reminded there were a lot of aspects to be taken care of before he heads for the country. — PTI
|
|
Hughes, Ponting take lead past 400
Durban, March 8 Australia were 203 for one in their second innings at tea, an overall lead of 417. Hughes followed up his first innings century with an unbeaten 86, while Australian captain Ponting was in superb form as he cracked 78 not out off 89 deliveries. Hughes, who faced 196 deliveries, hurried to his fifty off 78 balls but his scoring rate slowed, particularly against left-arm spinner Paul Harris. The pair posted a century partnership off only 139 balls as Australia continued to dominate the contest between the world's two top-ranked teams. Australia, who won the first Test, were well placed to push for a victory which would clinch the series. — AFP Scoreboard Australia (1st innings): 352
|
|
Pak can still co-host World Cup: PCB
London, March 8 ''I would expect teams will tour here again as soon as possible. I would give it six to nine months to get things organised,'' he said. ''I would want to get security to a level that would be a guarantee from my government that no such incident like this could happen again, or I will not invite anybody. ''Once I have this assurance I may then invite people to come here. But this can happen anywhere. I cannot give that guarantee, but my government can. If they cannot then we will not have cricket in Pakistan at all. I definitely think that we will stage part of the World Cup in 2011.'' Butt said he disagreed with match referee Chris Broad, who said there had not been enough security to protect players and officials. Former England batsman Broad was travelling in the officials' bus behind the Sri Lanka team. ''I totally disagree with Chris Broad, he is overdoing it. And it is wrong if they (the International Cricket Council) are siding with one man's opinion. I have told them that this opinion is totally wrong,'' Butt said. — Reuters
|
|
Sizzling Somdev ensures 3-2 win
Kaohsiung, March 8 In the second reverse singles match, which was a dead rubber, Rohan Bopanna lost 3-6 7-6 (6) 6-7 (5) against Tsung-Hua Yang at Yang-Ming tennis centre. Contrary to expectations that it would boil down to the fifth rubber, Somdev pulled off the brilliant victory against Lu, who has beaten the likes of David Nalbandian and former number one Lleyton Hewitt this season, to seal the tie for India. India began the day with a 2-1 lead, which it got yesterday when Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi won the doubles rubber against Yang and Chu-Huan Yi. Somdev had also won first singles on the opening day of the tie on Friday, defeating Ti Chen but Bopanna had lost the second singles to Lu. It was an intense battle from the start with long rallies on display and the Indian getting the first chance of a break. Lu saved the first two break points in the fourth game but Somdev kept himself in the game and hit a stunning double handed backhand winner to break Lu, creating a 3-1 lead. A series of unforced errors by Lu proved costly for him in the sixth game as he handed Somdev a double break and a cushion of 5-1 lead. The Indian served out the set in the next game to go one set up, leaving the home fans and rival camp a dejected lot. Somdev played his heart out to ward off early threat in the second set as he saved two break points in the second game and held the serve after playing out five deuces. Mistakes at crucial points by Lu continued to give Somdev advantage and the Indian cashed in on those to get breaks in the fifth and seventh games to go up 5-2 and then served out the second set comfortably. The third set was no different as unforced errors continued and Lu was broken in the very first game. Somdev also sprayed some errors later on as he double faulted to drop his serve in the second game and squandered five break points in the third game. However, Somdev capitalised on the second break point in the fifth game to take the lead yet again and saved three on his own serve in the next to make it 4-2. Lu saved one break point in the seventh game to hold on but that was just delaying the inevitable as he double faulted in the ninth game to hand the match to Somdev. In the fifth rubber Bopanna went down fighting against Yang, who defied a late challenge from the Indian to get a consolation win for his team. After losing the first set, Bopanna squandered as many as nine set points, including four in the tie-breaker, before converting the 10th to draw level. The furiously fought third set was decided by the tie-breaker, which Bopanna lost despite enjoying a 4-1 lead at one stage. —PTI
|
|
Sunil Gavaskar writes
A spirited reply by New Zealand to India’s massive total of 392 gave the visitors a bit of a fright before they won the game and took an unbeatable lead in the series. If India’s batting was the toast of the first session, the manner in which the Kiwis began their chase indicated that it was going to be a close call.
The last couple of seasons in New Zealand the home team has chased down 300 plus scores against Australia and won so when Jesse Ryder and Brendon McCullum threw their bats at anything and everything that India bowlers bowled the challenge was well and truly on. Two brilliant run-outs changed the equation and the Indian bowlers came back well to dismiss the middle order for not too many and in the end that was the difference because the Kiwi tail showed that it was not going to lie down and surrender and it was the rollicking 9th wicket partnership between Mills and Southee that gave them a glimmer of hope. Both the bowlers had gone for plenty when India were batting and they obviously wanted to show that it was more due to the pitch than anything else and so were not going to give up without a fight. The shape of the ground also made it easy even to mishit for runs and there were as many as 18 sixes in India’s innings which is a record. The little champion got his first ODI ton in New Zealand though of course he hasn’t played as many games there as he has at other grounds. He and his batting brothers in the team had been called flat track bullies by a Kiwi journo last time around even though the Kiwis batsmen didn’t score too many runs themselves. He would have remembered that and would have wanted to make sure that he had a ODI century there too. He had missed out in the previous game but this time around after the early departures of Sehwag and Gambhir he combined with Yuvraj to take the Kiwi bowling apart. Yuvraj too didn’t trouble the scorers too much in the first two games and here it was clear that he too had a point or two to prove. His hitting was awesome. While Tendulkar’s was more classic, Yuvraj was more of a bludgeoner and again it made for great watching. Dhoni kept Raina back again and the left-hander hit some unbelievable shots to take India close to 400. It can be a demoralising score to chase but young Jesse Ryder and McCullum took up the gauntlet and it was their partnership that made the game a thrilling one. India’s bowlers were pulled up by the skipper but on grounds of this size more like the gymkhanas in Mumbai no bowler can be economical. Still Zaheer and Praveen Kumar showed a big heart as did Harbhajan Singh. It was a close call but one from which India showed great spirit.
— PMG |
|
Vasco beaten, move closer to relegation
Margao, March 8 Vasco took the lead in the 6th minute through Sherzad Nazarov's penalty but Mumbai FC fought back with Abhishek Yadav getting the equaliser (10th) and Kalia Kulothungan striking the match winner, just two minutes before the final whistle. The win helped Mumbai FC collect 27 points while Vasco continue to languish at the bottom of the pool with just 10 points in their kitty. The visitors played the last 15 minutes with just 10 players after goalkeeper Lihaz Koya was shown the red card for a foul on Sherzad. Defender James Dissiramah had to don the role of the custodian as Mumbai FC had used all their substitutions by that time. New coach Agostinho Dias made three changes from the previous match but failed to produce the desired result for Vasco. — PTI
|
| PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Christchurch, March 8
