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Tour of India
Ranji Trophy |
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FIBA Asian U16 Championship
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SL
Tour of India Viru has a ball, with the bat
Replying to Sri Lanka’s first innings total of 393, the 31-year-old Sehwag set the Brabourne stadium ablaze with a stunning display of strokeplay as the hosts raced to a record score of 443 for one at close on an extraordinary second day’s play. Sehwag plundered runs at will as he not only notched up his 17th Test ton, his sixth 200 plus total, but laid the platform for India to push for victory which would take them to the number one position in the ICC Test rankings.
With the Delhi dasher tearing the Lankan bowling attack to shreds with his unbeaten 284 coming off just 239 balls, the Indians scored at an amazing rate of 5.60 runs per over to post their highest ever single-day score on a Brabourne track which seemed to have eased out considerably. Rahul David was giving Sehwag company on stumps on a day which saw a number of batting records fall by the wayside. The day clearly belonged to the hosts as they took less than half an hour to polish off the remaining two Sri Lankan wickets and had taken a lead of 50 runs by the end of the day, scoring more than 400 runs in a day for the second consecutive Test. — PTI Didn’t want to give Lanka a chance: Sehwag
Virender Sehwag said he knew a big score was within his grasp in the series after thumping an unbeaten 284 in the final test against Sri Lanka on Thursday. “In the last Test in Kanpur I missed it,” he said. “This time I didn't want to...I was hitting only the bad balls.” Sehwag scored 131 in the first innings in Kanpur which India won to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series after the opening test had ended in a draw. “In the last two tests I gave a couple of chances. This time I didn’t want to give that chance,” he said of his spectacular 239-ball knock studded with 40 fours and seven sixes. Sehwag, who has hit three of the four fastest double hundreds, reached his double century in 168 deliveries — New Zealand’s Nathan Astle holds the record for the fastest in 153 balls — and passed the 6,000-run mark in test cricket. “After lunch we stepped it up. I was seeing the ball very well, so I thought let me bat the way I know I'll do better than others,” he said. India plundered 351 in the final two sessions. “It is a good track to bat on,” Sehwag said after his onslaught. Sehwag was severe on master spinner Muttiah Muralitharan. “Murali is a big challenge to face. Against Murali, you have to attack otherwise he will dominate. So I decided to dominate, that is why he is on the backfoot,” Sehwag said after taking 78 runs off the bowler.
— Reuters Scoreboard India (1st Innings) |
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Ranji Trophy
Mohali, December 3 Punjab now has 15 points from five matches against Himachal’s only four from an equal number of encounters. The two teams have played 18 times against each other till date and Punjab have emerged victorious on 17 occasions. One match was drawn. On a day more or less of academic interest, Punjab completed the formality of overhauling the paltry total of 93within the first session on the third day of their Ranji Trophy Super League engagement with Himachal here. Himachal were bowled out for 82 in the second innings yesterday. Though Punjab lost two wickets in the process, Himachal never looked like scripting any miracle on the helpful Mohali strip. Ravi Inder and Vishwas Bhalla batted confidently and scored at a brisk rate to quickly raise 50 on the board. Both defied morning blues and negotiated innocuous Himachal attack with contempt. Ravi played with panache and twice cover drove Thakur in the 13th over. Bhalla followed suit and punched one staright back to the ropes in the next over off Dhawan. Against the run f play, Ravi was eventually prised out by Kuldeep Diwan with the teams’s score reading 58. He made 32. In the 30th over, with scores levelled, Bhalla danced down the track and lifted Diwan towards mid-wicket fence to score the winning boundary. “It is good to get into a winning mode early in the season. We played better cricket throughout the match. Boys are in great shape and looking forward to the next encounter with Orissa. Our bowling has been on target for the most part, though I am a bit concerned about the batting department which needs more consistency,” said Punjab coach Bhupinder Singh Sr after the match. Before this match, Punjab were third in the table with 10 points and the win here should strengthen their case for the next round, though the picture will be clearer tomorrow after the other matches get over. Punjab play Orissa next at Chandigarh from December 8. Haryana ride on
Joginder’s ton
Former India medium pacer Joginder Sharma scored a valiant century lower down the order and rescued Haryana from a precarious situation to a safer spot. Brief Score: J&K struggle
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Four services lifters test positive
Bathinda, December 3 The IWF is already facing the prospect of a ban which will stop India from taking part in the Commonwealth Games and this latest development is not going to help the Federation’s cause any further. IOA sources claim that Services lifters have always been regarded as ‘clean’ and the fact that four of their lifters have tested positive has sent shock waves among the weightlifting fraternity of the country. The erring lifters were caught on dope by National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) during the inter services weightlifting championship held at Jamnagar (Gujarat) last month. They have been identified as G.Damodaran, A R Balgan and V Biju (Army) and A K Dubey (Air Force) and all the four were found to be on anabolic steroids. G Damodaran, who is in the Commonwealth Games camp, is facing a life ban as this is his second doping offence while the three others may escape with 2 year bans because it is for the first time they have tested positive. Earlier Damodaran tested positive during the 2006 senior National meet held at Vishakapatnam for which he was banned for two years. “The International Weightlifting Federation is all set to ban India from junior and senior International meets. Now with four services lifters testing positive, it may even clamp a ban on India’s participation in the Commonwealth Games where the India were aiming for a handful of medals,” revealed an IOA official. During the Jamnagar meet, the Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) requisitioned the services of NADA in an attempt to see that the inter services meet ends on a clean note. NADA officials, on their part, took 16 samples, out of which 4 returned positive. Like All India Police Control Board and Andhra Pradesh Weightlifting Association who are currently serving bans, SSCB may be banned from taking part in National championship for a period of one year. Said Dr Ashok Ahuja, former head of the National Institute of Sports (NIS) Medicine department, “The latest development is indeed unfortunate. Nobody expected lifters from the disciplined forces to use IOC banned drugs. There should be more stringent checking procedures in place to ensure that the sport stays as clean as a whistle.”
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FIBA Asian U16 Championship
Pune, December 3 Trailing by four points (11-15), Hong Kong took a time out in the second quarter and it provided to be only a marginal success as the Indian brick-wall defence continued to hold on tight. On the other hand, the hosts rampaged the rival citadel to score at will and took the score to 31-21 at the break. But as the match progressed, the Hong Kong defence tightened up and their close man-to-man marking foiled many Indian moves. But sustained pressure paid off again and the home team increased the gap to 60-43, at the end of the third quarter. Although Hong Kong fought back in the last quarter, it was not simply not their day and India walked away with a 74-49 win. But still it was almost certain that India will not be among the top nations that will fill the semifinal slot. It looks as if China and Chinese Taipei from group A, while Japan and Korea from group B, will move up into the last four stage. Earlier, in the opening match of the day, Japan trounce Malaysia 112-26. In another match, Korea got the better of Sri Lanka. Lanka are one of the two teams who have failed to register a single win in the tournament, the other one being Singapore.
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Sukhvir Grewal to oversee implementation of PYKA
Chandigarh, December 3 Sukhvir Grewal, who played for India for a number of years, had also worked on the faculty of National Institute of Sports, Patiala. Besides representing Panjab University, Indian Universities, Punjab Police and Indian Airlines, he took to coaching after retiring from competitive hockey. He also remained with the training of India junior hockey teams for a number of years. Of late he has been closely associated for reviving hockey at grass root level. Talking to The Tribune here this evening, Sukhvir Grewal said that his main job is to organise rural sports at village, block, district and state level under a centrally funded scheme. Each village will be given a one-time grant of Rs one lakh for the development of infrastructure or a minimum of a level playfield where the village boys and girls can come, train, practice and hold their competitions. In each village, a known sportsperson or physical fitness trainer or physical education teacher would be employed on honorary basis and would be paid Rs 6000 per annum as honorarium. Punjab, says Sukhvir Grewal, has chosen for inclusion in the scheme games like hockey, kabaddi, track and field, football, volleyball, kabaddi, kho kho and basketball. The annual budget will be around Rs 250 crores that will cover in the first phase 1200-odd villages and 14 blocks.
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Mumbai, December 3
This has been Himachal’s script this season. For the third straight time in five fixtures, after taking a first innings lead, they have ended on the wrong side.
Mumbai, December 3
Amelie Mauresmo retires