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Crowe tenders apology
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Hussey pulls out of IPL
A good day for Fisichella, Sutil
Yakubu’s brace sinks JCT
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Indian tailenders make merry
Wellington, April 3 Put into bat, the Indians adopted an aggressive approach right through the innings to score at a run rate of 4.16 per over on a Basin Reserve pitch to leave the series decider interestingly poised at the end of day one. The visitors were struggling at 204 for six at one stage but staged a brilliant recovery through a crucial 79-run partnership between skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (52) and Harbhajan Singh (60) for the seventh wicket. Sachin Tendulkar (62) and Virender Sehwag (48) were the other notable contributors for the tourists who are looking to record their first Test series win on New Zealand soil in 41 years. India raced to 68 for no loss in the first hour of play with Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir (23) putting the Kiwi opening bowlers to the sword. Sehwag, however, needlessly hung his bat out to an Iain O'Brien delivery to be caught behind wickets by McCullum after stitching 73 runs with Gambhir for the opening stand. Sehwag's 51-ball 48 was laced with seven fours and a six. Gambhir followed Sehwag into the hut, trapped in front by left arm seamer James Franklin. But once Tendulkar, whose classy 62 took his aggregate to 335 runs from four innings, departed the floodgates were opened with India losing three wickets for 39 runs in 15.2 overs. A little later, Laxman (4) committed the same mistake, chasing Tim Southee to Tim McIntosh at second slip. Yuvraj Singh fell for nine LBW to Jesse Ryder. After India were struggling at 190 for 5 at tea, Dravid perished as his pull shot off Chris Martin landed straight to James Franklin. Dhoni and Harbhajan then hung on to score gritty half centuries to bail India Harbhajan was lucky not to have got out with a couple of skiers from his blade Zaheer Khan ensured that the tail wagged to the full by contributed a 23-ball 33 studded with six fours. Chris Martin was the most successful Kiwi bowler today with figures of three for 95 while Tim Southee and Iain O'Brien chipped in with two wickets each. Harbhajan keen to get a hundred
Harbhajan Singh has bailed out India from trouble with his willow more than once including in the third Test against New Zealand here, but the feisty off-spinner yearns to score a ton and is upset that he could not convert his half century today to a maiden hundred. "I am very upset. I should have got century. It was my best chance to score one," he said after hitting 60 to help India reach 375 for nine on the opening day. "I am improving as a batsman. I am working hard at the nets so that I can score a hundred some day. Maybe at this point in time I am not good enough yet to make it happen," added Harbhajan who had taken 323 wickets and scored six half centuries in Test cricket so far. His disappointment though was something he could live with considering the contribution he has made in difficult conditions for the team. "But I am happy with my contributions with the bat. When the team needed runs badly at Nagpur, Sydney, Bangalore and here, I have put up my hands. I think it is important for me, Zaheer (Khan) and Ishant (Sharma) to stay at the wicket with the batsmen and score those crucial runs," said Harbhajan. He said he was not perturbed when India were six down for 204 just after tea today.
"I knew I could do it as I had done it before. It was a very good chance for me to go under pressure situation and deliver," said
Harbhajan.
Scoreboard India (1st innings) Gambhir lbw b Franklin 23 Sehwag c McCullum b O'Brien 48 Dravid c Franklin b Martin 35 Tendulkar c McCullum b Martin 62 Laxman c McIntosh b Southee 4 Yuvraj lbw b Ryder 9 Dhoni c O'Brien b Southee 52 Harbhajan c Vettori b Martin 60 Zaheer c McCullum b O'Brien 33 Ishant batting 15 Munaf batting 14 Extras (b-2, lb-8, w-3, nb-7): 20 Total (For 9 wickets in 90 overs): 375 Fall of wickets: 1-73, 2-75, 3-165, 4-173, 5-182, 6-204, 7-283, 8-315, 9-347. Bowling: Martin 24-3-95-3; Southee 18-1-94-2; O'Brien 21-3-88-2; Franklin 14-4-38-1; Vettori 9-1-47-0; Ryder 4-2-3-1.
— PTI |
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Crowe tenders apology
Wellington, April 3 "I often have bad days and so I wish to apologise for being too harsh, too quickly," Crowe wrote in his column for a cricket website. "I should have waited and seen more of Sehwag as captain before casting an opinion," he added. Crowe had termed Sehwag as the "worst" captain and referred to his decisions as "unfocused thinking" during the second Test in Napier. But his comments drew flak from former cricketers forcing the 46-year-old Kiwi to admit that he should have been more patient. "Tony Greig has made it clear that he thinks I have been too harsh on Virender Sehwag's captaincy in the second Test in Napier," Crowe wrote in 'Cricketnirvana'. "He rightly points out that Sehwag had a bad game, but who doesn't? He says, along with Ian Chappell, that Sehwag has done some good work as vice-captain in the past. I am not about to argue with these astute gentlemen. "May I say though that I can't withdraw that comment that what I saw in Napier was the strangest and poorest display of tactics I've seen," Crowe said. "But I should have been more patient in assessing his role as a leader overall, after all he was only given the captaincy minutes before the toss," he clarified. — PTI
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Hadlee inducted into ICC Hall of Fame
Wellington, April 3 He is the 55th and the only New Zealander to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, decorated with former legends of the game. ICC president David Morgan presented a commemorative cap to the former Kiwi all-rounder, while commending him for his glorious contribution to the game. Thanking the ICC for the recognition, Hadlee said: "It would have been nice if my father (Walter Hadlee) was around. He would have been as proud as me to get this recognition. He had advised that I always play hard and play competitively to win. But he wanted the values of fair play and sportsmanship to be upheld always." Hadlee played 86 Tests between 1973 and 1990, scoring 3124 runs and claiming 431 wickets. He was the first to scale the 400-wicket peak in international cricket. Hadlee also launched the ICC centenary medal, presenting medals to six Wellington-based volunteers.
— PTI |
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India-New Zealand series Late flurry has given India a good score As Anil Kumble neared his first Test century at The Oval in 2007 Ian Chappell began texting Shane Warne about the impending mark. Warne had retired by then without a Test century to his credit. He had got to 99 against New Zealand and then for some inexplicable reason played a slog sweep and was caught at deep midwicket when he could have pushed a single and got to a ton. The Australian dressing room was in splits when that happened for they all knew how desperate the legendary legspinner was to get a Test century and so instead of sympathy Warne got his leg pulled by his teammates. Since then every time another spinner has got close to a Test ton Warne gets reminders that he missed his chance. Harbhajan Singh recently has spent a fair bit of time with Sachin Tendulkar and would have got plenty of tips on batting and how to build an innings. The effect can be seen in the number of half-centuries in the last couple of years from the off-spinner. What has not seeped through as yet is how to go on from a half-century to that elusive Test century. He blew his chance again after batting adventurously and getting another half-century that has helped India get to a respectable first innings total. The second new ball was one that brought in an even more adventurous streak and that led to his downfall but he had done enough for his team by then. What has been impressive is the way the Indian bowlers have hung on in their own style and refused to throw in the towel. This is something that they have learnt over the years when they have found it hard to dismiss the opposition tail and so they are not making it easy for the other sides’ bowlers too. The late flurry by the lower order has given India a very good score to put pressure on the home side for there is a fair bit of bounce in the pitch and that will be relished by Zaheer, Ishant and Munaf. The score did not look possible when Dravid was 6th out with India barely over 200. The skipper Dhoni's partnership with Harbhajan and then Zaheer's hitting took India to a very respectable score. Sehwag missed out after getting a start as did Tendulkar who was batting beautifully before he seemed to lose his concentration and got out after a half-century yet again in the series. Dhoni made a good comeback with a fighting fifty and the rollicking swinging of the bat by Harbhajan, Zaheer and the tail has put india in a position to take control of the Test. — PMG
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Hussey pulls out of IPL
Melbourne, April 3 Hussey, who averaged just 23 in his past eight Tests, said he has communicated the decision to his team, Chennai Super Kings, but insisted he is ready to take to the field if the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side reaches the semi-finals. "But I am available if we make the semi-finals (on May 22 and 23) and final," said the 33-year-old who wants to be fit for the Ashes series.
— PTI |
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Day 1 double-header tickets sold out
New Delhi/Cape Town, April 3 "We are very happy that the tickets have been sold out in a flash. IPL II is going to be a carnival of India with lots of entertainment. We want to make sure that the stadiums are full and we are hopeful that South Africans will make it a part of their life," said IPL commissioner and chairman Lalit Modi. The 25,000 capacity Sahara Park, Newlands, in Cape Town, which has a strong Indian community, will be filled to its brim April 18 when the IPL champions Rajasthan Royals take on Bangalore Royal Challengers. It will be followed by the second match between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. "Cape Town has lot of Indians and that was the reason why we decided to host the first two matches there. We were hopeful that both the matches will be sold out because lot of South African players will be in action in both the matches," a top IPL official told IANS. The second edition of the IPL was shifted out of India after the schedule clashed with the dates of general elections in the country. At least nine South African players, including skipper Graeme Smith, will be seen in action April 18 and will surely create local interest. The matches will be held at 12.30 pm (4 pm IST) and 4.30 pm (8 pm IST) local
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A good day for Fisichella, Sutil
Sepang, April 3 Fisichella's 1:37.025s in the first session was good enough for 12th place among 20 drivers while Sutil (1:37.241) came 15th. In the second session, the order changed with Sutil clocking 1:36.875 to be 16th, while Fisichella (1:37.432) dropped to 19th. Ferrari seemed to have woken up from slumber with Kimi Raikkonen (1:35.832) and Felipe Massa (1:35.954) clocking the fastest times in the opening practice ahead of the Malaysian Grand Prix. The only blip in Force India's programme came in the second session when Fisichella put a wheel on the grass at turn 11 and went into the gravel trap and the barriers. His VJM02 sustained suspension damage in the impact but will be repaired overnight in time for tomorrow's final practice session and qualifying.
— PTI |
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Barasat, April 3 The Ghanian striker was the showstealer and stood in the way of the Sukhwinder Singh's pursuit of at least a point to avoid the drop threat. Yakubu gave East Bengal the lead in the 35th minute and added one more to his tally in the 69th minute, while a desperate JCT pulled one back through Eduardo da Silva Escobar in the 76th minute. For East Bengal, on the other hand, the win helped avoid the outside relegation threat as the Kolkata oufit now have 27 points from 21 matches. With their last match against Mumbai FC at home remaining, JCT are locked in a two-way battle with Mohammedan Sporting to avoid relegation. Both have 22 points each. East Bengal and JCT started on a watchful note and did not take any chances as the battle lacked spirit. It needed a Yakubu brilliance to put some life into the match when the Ghanian striker led with the ball and deceived three JCT defenders at ease to give East Bengal the lead. — PTI
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Sunil Gavaskar writes
Taylor first woman to win Wisden honour