S P O R T S

SL Tour of India
1st Test: Day 3
mahela batters dhoni’s men
Ahmedabad, November 18
Mahela Jayawardene gave a fine exhibition of skill and temparament to score a crafty unbeaten 204 as Sri Lanka took tight control of the first cricket Test by taking a commanding 165-run first innings lead against a defensive India here today.

Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene walks back at stumps after the 3rd days play at Ahmedabad on Wednesday. — AFP

Ranji Trophy
Vijay’s ton powers Tamil Nadu
Amritsar, November 18
Indian Test opener Murli Vijay, who was released by the BCCI from national duty in Ahmedabad to play for his home team, proved his worth with a solid innings of 148 as Tamil Nadu concluded the second day of the four-day Ranji Trophy Super League Group A match at 340 for 6 in 76.4 overs here today.

NADA bans 13 bodybuilders
Bathinda, November 18
The National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) which looks determined to deliver on its resolve to cleanse Indian sport of the malaise of performance enhancing drugs today banned 13 bodybuilders for two years for using banned drugs.

Senior players not happy with Brasa
New Delhi, November 18
Indian Hockey today plunged into a fresh controversy with reports of a players' revolt against its foreign coach Jose Brasa, who has been accused of bias and being autocratic in his functioning. Some senior players, including former captain Sandeep Singh, have written a letter to Hockey India against the Spanish coach Brasa, prompting HI President A K Mattoo to fly to Pune to sort out the issue.

Button signs for McLaren
* Joins Lewis Hamilton in all-British lineup
* Two champions together first time since 1989
London, November 18
Jenson Button will partner Lewis Hamilton at McLaren next season in an All-British lineup of champions, the Formula One team said on Wednesday. The announcement of the multi-year deal completes an astonishing year for 29-year-old Button, who did not know if he had a future in the sport last December when his then-employers Honda pulled out for financial reasons.

SL Tour of India
1st Test: Day 3
mahela batters dhoni’s men

Ahmedabad, November 18
Mahela Jayawardene gave a fine exhibition of skill and temparament to score a crafty unbeaten 204 as Sri Lanka took tight control of the first cricket Test by taking a commanding 165-run first innings lead against a defensive India here today.

Jayawardene anchored the innings brilliantly to notch up his 27th Test century and his sixth double ton, and found an able partner in Prasanna Jayawardene (84 not out) as the visitors pushed the hosts on the backfoot by reaching a mammoth 591 for five at close on the third day.

It turned out to be a hard grind for the Indians as the Lankans capitalised on a good batting strip at the Motera stadium to consolidate the position on a day which again saw more than 300 runs being scored.

Resuming at the overnight score of 275 for three in reply to India's 426, the islanders lost the wicket of Thilan Samaraweera (70) and Angelo Mathews (17) in the pre-lunch session but the two Jayawardenes put on a marathon undefeated 216-run partnership to put Sri Lanka on course for their first Test triumph on Indian soil.

With two days left and the pitch expected to aid the spinners, the hosts have a daunting task to prevent the tourists from taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. The pressure will be on the Indians and their much touted batting line-up will have to bat out of their skins to draw the match.

‘We can now press for a maiden Test win’

Having put Sri Lanka in the driver's seat with his double century, Mahela Jayawardene today said his side can now utilise the advantage and press for a win in the first Test against India here. "Things can happen on fourth and fifth days. They (India) are under pressure and that can create opportunities. The deterioration will be there and we have to see how we can take advantage," Jayawardene said after scoring a classy unbeaten 204 in over eight hours on the third day.

"We have handled the wicket pretty well. If we can build a good lead we can create opportunities. We have to bowl in the right areas especially the spinners and if these things happen we can definitely create more opportunities," he said. The former skipper was also a relieved man as he brought up his first triple figure Test score in India. — PTI

Scoreboard

Ranji Trophy
Vijay’s ton powers Tamil Nadu
Neeraj Bagga
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, November 18
Indian Test opener Murli Vijay, who was released by the BCCI from national duty in Ahmedabad to play for his home team, proved his worth with a solid innings of 148 as Tamil Nadu concluded the second day of the four-day Ranji Trophy Super League Group A match at 340 for 6 in 76.4 overs here today. Punjab now trail the visitors by 112 runs in the first innings.

The school students and a handful of crowd gathered in the ground applauded the fine display of batting by M Vijay whose ton was beset with three sixes and 16 fours and he effortlessly hit strokes to all corners of the ground. Vijay was competently partnered for the opening stand by Abhinav Mukund with a 101-ball 61. The opening partnership was broken at 154 runs when Mukund was caught by Uday Kaul off a Love Abhilash delivery. Later Vijay was cleaned up by leg spinner Sarbjeet Ladda.

K.B Arun Karthik emulating his colleagues scored a relatively quick 73 off 89 balls. He was caught at slip by Ravi Inder Singh off Ladda.

For Punjab, Ladda made a third breakthrough when R Satish was caught by Loomba on seven. Left arm spinner Varun Khanna claimed two wickets in S. Suresh Kumar and Yo Mahesh. Suresh was declared LBW on 1 while Mahesh was caught by Vishwas Bhalla on 5. At close of stumps, Dinesh Kartik was unbeaten on 18.

Earlier, unbeaten Punjab batsman Pankaj Dharmani could not capitalise on his 74 not out overnight and added only nine runs to his total. Punjab players added only 16 runs to their overnight 212 and were all out on 228, which exposed Punjab’s batting woes as they have struggled to get going in this year.

Brief Scores:

Punjab (1st innings): 228 (Chandan 36, Dharmani 83)

Tamil Nadu (1st innings): 340 for 6 (Vijay 148, A Karthik 73; Khanna 2 for 82, Ladda 3 for 90).

Himachal fail to capitalise

A middle order failiure meant that visitors Himachal could not capitalise on their brilliant bowling performance to skittle Mumbai for 162. In reply Himachal were shot out for 246 with Bhavin Thakkar top-scoring with 88.

Brief Scores

Mumbai (1st innings): 162

Himachal (1st innings): 246 (Thakkar 88, Sangram 28; Harmeet 4 for 8, Abdulla 4 for 48).

Mumbai (2nd innings): 76 for no loss

J&K strike back

After being dismissed for a lowly 164 in their first innings J&K struck back to shoot down Kerala for just 133. Abid Nabi picked up four wickets for the home team. In reply, J&K were 157 for 6.

Brief Scores

J& K (1st innings): 164

Kerala (1st innings) 59 for 3 (R Gomez 39, Sachin Baby 32; Nabi 4 for 42, Beigh 2 for 54).

J&K (2nd innings): 157 for 6 (Shah 57; Cheruvathur 3 for 42).

NADA bans 13 bodybuilders
Ravi Dhaliwal

Bathinda, November 18
The National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) which looks determined to deliver on its resolve to cleanse Indian sport of the malaise of performance enhancing drugs today banned 13 bodybuilders for two years for using banned drugs.

Today’s action proves that the agency is not just pursuing weightlifters, who have been in the news for all the wrong reasons in recent years, but is stepping into other disciplines too. The NADA hearing panel was led by retired judge Dinesh Dyal. A official revealed, “ All these athletes did turn up for the NADA hearing and also accepted responsibility for the test results.

They claimed that they may have taken the drugs unintentionally and pleaded to be let off lightly. That is why the panel decided not to be too harsh with the punishment since it was for the first time that their names had cropped up in a drug-related offence. The panel thus decided on a two-year ban for each of them."

The ban of these players commences from August 20, when the first NADA hearing took place. Those who have been banned include body builders Rajkishore Nayak, Gaurav Sharma, Bhakta Kumar,Anand Kumar, Anil Kumar, Hegde Parsad, O.R Vipin, Sawant Mangesh, Jai Parkash, S.L Patil and Dinesh Kumar.

"Since India has already signed the Copenhagen Declaration regarding anti-doping , we are committed to fighting the prevalence of doping among sportspersons as per the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) guidelines," an IOA spokesman said.

He added that NADA has adopted a two-pronged strategy to curb the menace of doping. "Apart from carrying on tests, NADA also creates awareness about doping, including educating athletes, coaches, doctors, parents and all those concerned with sports," he added.

Senior players not happy with Brasa

New Delhi, November 18
Indian Hockey today plunged into a fresh controversy with reports of a players' revolt against its foreign coach Jose Brasa, who has been accused of bias and being autocratic in his functioning. Some senior players, including former captain Sandeep Singh, have written a letter to Hockey India against the Spanish coach Brasa, prompting HI President A K Mattoo to fly to Pune to sort out the issue.

The players are undergoing a training camp in Pune's Balewadi Complex for the Champions Challenge tournament to be held at Salta, Argentina, from Dec 6-13. A top HI source confirmed to PTI that a letter has been sent to the hockey establishment by some of the disgruntled players, who have accused Brasa of deliberately sidelining them.

None of the Hockey India officials were available for comment on the latest development, which has come barely a few weeks before India's tour to Argentina. The breakdown in the relationship between the coach and some of the senior players came about immediately after Sandeep Singh was sacked as captain during India's seven-match series against Canada recently.

A HI official however sought to downplay the development saying there was no revolt against the coach. "How can you call it a revolt when these six or seven players are not in the squad. Some of them are injured while others could not make the cut when the squad was pruned," said the official, who did not want to be named. — PTI

Button signs for MCLaren
* Joins Lewis Hamilton in all-British lineup
* Two champions together first time since 1989

London, November 18
Jenson Button will partner Lewis Hamilton at McLaren next season in an All-British lineup of champions, the Formula One team said on Wednesday. The announcement of the multi-year deal completes an astonishing year for 29-year-old Button, who did not know if he had a future in the sport last December when his then-employers Honda pulled out for financial reasons. 

Button went on to win six of the first seven races of the season for Brawn GP, the team that emerged from the remains of Honda. "It's always a difficult decision to leave a team when you've been there for so long. But life is all about challenges — and, most important of all, it's about challenging yourself," Button said.

"So, although I won the World Championship with Brawn GP, and I'll never forget that, I was always adamant that I wanted to continue to set myself fresh challenges. "You can't help but be affected by this team's phenomenal history. McLaren is one of the greats of world sport, and its achievements and list of past champions read like a Who's Who of Formula One," he added.

The signing means Mercedes-powered McLaren will have two champion drivers for the first time since 1989 when France's Alain Prost and Brazilian Ayrton Senna formed an explosive pairing at the Woking-based team. — Reuters

‘Raikkonen to take break from F1’