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Gambhir puts it beyond Kiwis
Sunil Gavaskar writes |
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Parnell, Steyn bowl SA to facile win
Azlan Shah Cup
Defending champ Jiang awaits Saina
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Gambhir puts it beyond Kiwis
Wellington, April 5 The left-handed Gambhir notched up his sixth Test century, his second successive one in the series, to power the visitors to a commanding 349 for 5 in their second innings when play was called off a little early because of bad light on the third day. Rahul Dravid (60) and VVS Laxman (61) were the other notable performers as India took complete control of the match with yet another solid batting display. As at Napier when he dropped anchor for 642 minutes for a match-saving 137, Gambhir batted close to six hours and was the hub around which the Indian innings revolved. He was involved in two significant partnerships — 170 for the second wicket with Rahul Dravid and 106 with VVS Laxman for the fourth. With his second century of the series, Gambhir has aggregated a massive 445 runs, clearly ahead of Sachin Tendulkar (344), Rahul Dravid (314) and VVS Laxman (295). The pugnacious opener, who has garnered an awe-inspiring 1556 runs in 22 innings since making a return to Test cricket in July last year, was finally out trapped in front by Iain O'Brien, operating with second new ball summoned after 87.1 overs. New Zealand bowlers had to toil hard without much success on a Basin Reserve track which became easier for batting with not much swing or seam movement. Captain Daniel Vettori and O'Brien were the most successful Kiwi bowlers with two wickets apiece for 88 and 77 runs respectively. India began with an aggressive approach (119 runs in 30 overs in the first session), but moved into consolidation mode after they lost Dravid (60) and Tendulkar (9), early in the post-lunch session to Daniel Vettori. Gambhir was in his elements, beginning with an authoritative straight drive off Tim Southee. A crisp cut of Southee and an elegant square drive off Chris Martin were followed by eloquent cover drives off O'Brien. 600-run lead & Kiwis will be out of game: Gambhir
A lead of over 600 runs and five sessions of bowling would be enough to clinch the third Test and the series against New Zealand, in-form Indian opener Gautam Gambhir said here today. "If we can set New Zealand over 600 runs they will be out of this match and will only play to survive rather than win," he said after third day's play. "We have two days and the kind of bowling we have we can easily bowl them out in five sessions. If we can't do that, then we don't deserve to win," added Gambhir. The pugnacious left-hander, who struck a fluent 257-ball 167 in the second innings to help India take a mammoth 531-run lead, rated the match-saving marathon 137 in the second Test in Napier as the best ton in his 25-Test-old career. "The most satisfying century in my career was at Napier because we had to play out two-and-a-half days which is always tough in any condition, even if the wicket is flat. It is hard to play seven sessions. That was very satisfying and gave me a lot of confidence coming into this game," he said. He was, however, disappointed that he could not convert the 167 at Basin Reserve into a double hundred. "It would have been very special to get a double hundred in New Zealand. The way I was hitting the ball and seeing it, I could have achieved it. But I played a bad shot. It is very disappointing," said the 27-year-old. "As everyone says when things are going your way you should try and make it count as much as possible. I believe in that because you never know when bad form is round the corner," he said. Asked how he build the tempo of his innings, Gambhir said, "We lost Sachin, so I had to build a partnership with VVS Laxman which was very important from the team's point of view. As we wanted to play New Zealand out of this Test match, it was very important for us to have partnerships. That is why I changed gears." Scoreboard India (1st Innings): 379 New Zealand (1st Innings): 197 India (2nd Innings) (Overnight 51 for 1): Gambhir lbw O'Brien 167 Sehwag c Taylor b Martin 12 Dravid c McCullum b Vettori 60 Tendulkar c Taylor b Vettori 9 Laxman b O'Brien 61 Yuvraj batting 15 Dhoni batting 16 Extras: (lb-5 nb-4): 9 Total: (For 5 wkts in 97.5 overs): 349 Fall of wickets: 1/14, 2/184, 3/208, 4/314, 5/319. Bowling: Tim Southee 12-2-58-0, Chris Martin 15.5-5-50-1, Iain O'Brien 22-6-77-2, James Franklin 13-3-50-0, Jesse Ryder 6-1-21-0, Daniel Vettori 29-4-88-2.
— PTI |
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India-New Zealand series Gambhir never had shortcomings in skills If ever there was confirmation needed that it is temperament that separates men from boys, it was provided by Gautam Gambhir as he cracked second consecutive Test century in a style completely in contrast to the one in the previous Test. In the previous Test India were following on after a rather reckless display of shot making that mainly ended in the fielders hands. Gambhir himself had been guilty of giving the charge to off-spinner Patel and being caught at mid-on. He came out to bat in the second innings with his jaw set grimly and determined not to return to the dressing room till he had made the game safe for his country. It was a totally different approach than in the first innings and though it was not aesthetically entertaining for the spectators or himself, it was enormously satisfying to the left-hander. He had saved the game for his team along with the others and had given his team the chance to win a series in New Zealand after 40 years. He has discovered for himself that he could bat for long hours and deny himself and yet have the whole squad applaud him for his efforts. As any player will tell you it is the appreciation in the dressing room that means much more than from the others. That’s why you see batsmen having reached a landmark first turn to the dressing room and show their bat and then maybe to the rest of the crowd. Gambhir’s problem earlier in his career was a lack of patience and his ability to self-destruct. These were temperamental flaws and not shortcomings in skills. Being a thoughtful player he has worked that out now and by being patient and a lot calmer he has given himself a chance to become one of the most consistent openers in the game. India also owe a big thanks to Zaheer Khan for his five wicket haul that destroyed New Zealand and put India in such a strong position. Harbhajan Singh also bowled craftily and this mix of pace, seam, swing and spin was too much for the New Zealand side. Don’t forget also the merry way the tail swung it’s bats in the first innings and Nothing goes a team up more than when the tailenders swing their bat and get runs any which way in their inimitable style. After Harbhjan and Zaheer it was Ishant and Munaf who did that much to the delight of the team. Now if both make the ball swing as their bats then India should win this Test by a huge margin. — PMG
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Buchanan’s criticism
Mumbai, April 5 Former Australia World Cup winning coach Buchanan, who is now manager of Kolkata Knight Riders, had suggested the multiple captain theory for the IPL second season that has ruffled a few feathers, including of former India skipper Sourav Ganguly. “I have great respect for Mr Gavaskar. I have grown up enjoying his performance as well as KR Vishwanath and Kapil's. We all respect him too much but having said that I would like to say that please give it (the multiple-captain theory) a breathing space to try now. If we fail we can always go back to the traditional way,” Shah Rukh said at a media conference here today to announce new initiatives with Team sponsors Nokia. The Bollywood star said he has spent a lot of money in buying the team and would like to run it as he deems fit. “I have spent lot of money on my team. If you have a problem then you buy your own team and run it the way you want,” he said, in an obvious response to Gavaskar's comments. India's batting legend Gavaskar, in a newspaper column today, had criticised "To comment on his multiple skipper theory is to give it the importance it doesn't deserve but what does require comment is how he has got his Queensland pals lucrative jobs with KKR. "They have a very big support staff which includes his son and most of them are from Queensland. The owners - poor souls - have little idea that they are being milked," Gavaskar had written. Shah Rukh, meanwhile, said he would rather try the multiple captain idea and fail than not giving it a chance at all. "Twenty20 cricket is a new format and last time we did not do well after going by the traditional way (one captain). This time Buchanan will try multiple captaincy in the practice game before the IPL starts in South Africa and see whether he succeeds or not," the Bollywood star said. Buchanan's concept has generated lot of controversy ahead of the April 18 to May 24 IPL to be held in eight cities of South Africa. Ganguly, who led the team last year, had expressed resentment to the multiple The former India captain and Buchanan have had lengthy discussions with Shah Rukh at his residence to thrash out the issues. Shah Rukh today pointed out that the concept had been tried out last year itself by Kings XI Punjab. "It was tried out last year itself by the Mohali team which had a fielding captain (Kumar Sangakkara), a batting captain, a bowling captain and an overall captain Yuvraj Singh," he said. The Bollywood star gave the example of cricket's cousin baseball which has coaches giving instructions from outside the field to the pitchers, batters and others. Shah Rukh expressed hope that his team would perform much better than last year. "All our players are available. Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum, Ganguly, Brad Hodge, Ajantha Mendis, Ishant Sharma, Mashrafe Mortaza are there," he said. "Almost 97 to 98 per cent of the players are available and it's a strong line-up. I hope the team performs better than last year," Shah Rukh said. — PTI
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Parnell, Steyn bowl SA to facile win
Centurion (SA), April 5 Australia's comprehensive defeat stemmed from a poor batting display with 19-year-old left-arm swing bowler Wayne Parnell claiming career-best figures to help bundle the touring side out for just 131. Parnell, playing his second one-dayer for his country, took four for 25 in eight overs and fast bowler Dale Steyn's claimed four for 27, setting up South Africa's victory with more than 20 overs to spare. Graeme Smith (40) and Jacques Kallis (31) posted a run-a-ball second-wicket Brief scores: Australia: 131 (Ferguson 50, Johnson 30, Steyn 4-27, Parnell 4-25); South Africa: (three wickets, 26.2 overs): 132 (Smith 40, AB de Villiers not out 36, Johnson 2-47). — Reuters
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Azlan Shah Cup
Ipoh (Malaysia), April 5 The Indians, who were runners-up last year, scored through Sandeep Singh (14th minutes) and Shivender Singh (50th), while Mohamed Hasan (8th) and Amr El Saied (70th) sounded the board for the Egyptians. Saied's goal came just 40 seconds before the hooter went off. Disappointed with "You do not expect to win matches with this kind of performance. I do not have any answers now but we will evaluate the performances later when we get back to the hotel," coach Harendra Singh said after the match. In a match played on a soggy pitch following heavy downpour, the Egyptians, who were playing here for the first time, took the lead in the eighth minute when Hasan converted a penalty corner. India went on the offensive and equalised in the 15th minute in a similar fashion through their penalty corner specialist Sandeep. The Indians kept attacking but poor finishing meant that scoreline read 1-1 at half-time. The Indians finally took the lead in the 50th minute through another penalty corner, converted by Shivender. Undeterred, the Egyptians kept up the pressure on India before snatching a 70th-minute goal through a penalty corner by Saied. "You would expect one or two players to be off-form but not the team to play at this level. It is a worry for me that we came off second best today and letting victory slip through over fingers with 40 seconds on the clock," said Harendra. In the second match host Malaysia shocked Pakistan 3-2 to win their opening "It is good result for Egypt and I think this is the first time in history we have managed it. There is no question that there was an element of luck in the draw but you need that at this level," he said. — PTI
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Defending champ Jiang awaits Saina
New Delhi, April 5 Seventh seed Saina, who lost to Julia Pei Xian Wong in the quarterfinals of the recently-concluded Indian Open in Hyderabad, will have to put up a consistent performance as even if she gets past the former World Junior champion, Jiang, she will, in all probability, bump into world number five Lin Wang or Malaysian world number 15 Wong Mew Choo in the last eight round. However, Saina will be hoping to meet Mew Choo in quarterfinals as she defeated the Malaysian on her home turf in the World Super Series Masters Final last year. "I tend not to think about my opponents strengths or if she is the defending champion. I know I am playing well and she would be also in fine form as she has been training hard for sometime now, so it would be a tough match," Saina told PTI. "The last time I played against her it was a three-game match, so I am confident and I know if I can play well I can beat her," she added. On her latest rise in world rankings to the number eight position, Saina said she was happy but the road ahead would be difficult. Meanhwhile, returning to the court after a long injury lay-off, the other Indian in the women's singles category, Aditi Mutatkar will take on Chiang Pei Hsin of Chinese Taipei in another opening round encounter.
— PTI |
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as India take 531-run overall lead at close of play on Day 3
If ever there was confirmation needed that
Sutil 17th, Fisi 18th at
rain-hit Sepang