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New Zealand in India
Mathews guides Lanka to 1-wicket win
Ranji Trophy |
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Gavaskar: Pawar promised extra payments
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New Zealand in India
Ahmedabad, November 3 While that one was a one-day series alright, the scars of that defeat can have a deep impact on the Kiwis’ performance in Tests as well. And, as if the mauling on the field was not bad enough, the players got it in the locker room from coach Mark Greatbatch too. Greatbatch did not mince words---and used some expletives as well—while describing his team’s ‘disgusting’ performance in Bangladesh. Away from this far-from-positive state of affairs in the Kiwi dressing room, the Indian outfit is in an extremely positive frame of mind before the start of the first Test match here. At the prematch media conference today, skipper MS Dhoni tried his best to cast away any air of complacency that might be beginning to creep into the Indian camp. “The biggest mistake is to take any team lightly,” said Dhoni categorically but, deep down in his mind even he knows that his boys must just be doing that exact thing. The top-ranked Test team--India--is expected to win this series hands down and the injured players from the last Test at Bangalore have recovered from their respective niggles. VVS Laxman and Gautam Gambhir are back in the side (Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara will make way for them) and Ishant had a long spell in the nets as well. But the lanky (and fragile) Delhi paceman might just need a little extra time to get back to full fitness, so Sreesanth might still keep his place in the Playing XI. That could be the only toss up. Pujara and Vijay did extremely well in the last Test that India played (and won) against Australia in Bangalore last month and both don’t deserve to be dropped. “They are not being dropped. They were replacements in the first place and they realize that. Now those players are fit again. So, naturally they come back in the XI. I must add though that Vijay and Pujara did very well at Bangalore,” explained Dhoni. Now, as far as statistics go, this Test is going to be special for some players. It will the 100th Test match for New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori (well, actually Vettori has already featured in 100 tests but one of them was for the World XI vs Australia in Sydney in 2005. So, technically it will be Vettori’s 100th Test match for New Zealand tomorrow). Only one other Kiwi player has crossed a century of Tests and that was Stephen Fleming. For the Indians, Sachin Tendulkar is on the threshold of yet another milestone (not again) needing one more century to make it 50 Test hundreds. And, a couple of Kiwi players could also be making their debuts (Hamish Bennett for instance). Greatbatch told the Tribune here on Wednesday that he had been very harsh in criticizing his players after the loss to Bangladesh but that was simply to spur them on. “Yes, I could have chosen some different words. My wife also told me that I should not have used those words but I did it only to egg them on and challenge them,” said Greatbatch. The Kiwi coach said that they will open the batting with Brendon McCullum and Tim McIntosh and BJ Watling would bat at three. Behind the coach, bowling in the nets in the background, Kiwi pacers Andy McKay and Hamish Bennett looked quite sharp. The pitch here at the Motera Stadium looks firm and hard and should help the seam bowlers, at least for the first couple of days. Dhoni’s men are the overwhelming favourites, but they must not take the underdogs lightly. |
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Mathews guides Lanka to 1-wicket win
Melbourne, November 3 No 11 Muttiah Muralitharan calmly hit the winning runs with 34 balls to spare - a glanced boundary off Shane Watson in the next over - leaving Mathews unbeaten on 77. It was a sixth consecutive defeat for Australia in all formats of the game. Long ranked No 1 in test and one-day cricket, Australia has now lost three consecutive Tests - one to Pakistan and two to India - before an ODI defeat in India and loss to Lanka in T20.
— PTI Scoreboard Australia: Watson c Silva b Malinga 10 (20) Haddin c Dilshan b Perera 49 (55) Clarke c Sangakkara b Perera 27 (31) M Hussey not out 71 (91) White b Perera 0 (1) Marsh c Sangakkara b Randiv 31 (53) Smith c Sangakkara b Perera 12 (15) Johnson b Kulasekara 10 (17) Hastings b Perera 16 (15) Doherty not out 3 (2) Extras (b 1, lb 5, w 4) 10 Total (8 wickets; 50 overs) 239 Bowling: Malinga 10-0-39-1, Kulasekara 10-0-60-1, Perera 8-0-46-5, Murali 9-0-36-0, Randiv 9-0-35-1, Dilshan 4-0-17-0. Sri Lanka: Tharanga run out 3 (18) Dilshan c Hussey b Siddle 7 (6) Sangakkara b Doherty 49 (46) Jayawardene lbw b Doherty 19 (27) Silva c Watson b Doherty 4 (8) Mathews not out 77 (84) Perera b Johnson 0 (4) Randiv run out 10 (21) Kulasekara lbw b Doherty 0 (2) Malinga run out 56 (48) Muralitharan not out 4 (2) Extras (b 2, w 12) 14 Total (9 wickets; 44.2 overs) 243 Bowling: Johnson 10-1-68-1, Siddle 8-0-51-1, Watson 6.2-0-39-0, JW 6-0-27-0, Doherty 10-1-46-4, Smith 3-0-8-0, Clarke 1-0-2-0.
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Ranji Trophy
New Delhi, November 3
The match is slightly tilted towards Bengal with Delhi needing 146 runs while Manoj Tiwary's men needing four wicket taking deliveries in order to get the first innings lead. A lot will depend on how the pair of Rajat Bhatia (24, 71 balls, 2x4) and Sumit Narwal (13 batting, 43 balls, 1x4) bat on the final day at the Feroz Shah Kotla here. The pair batted for 79 minutes after Delhi slumped from 261 for two to 295 for six as they lost four wickets with addition of 44 runs in a space of 12 overs. It was Virat on whose shoulders Delhi's chase depended and the former India U-19 captain responded beautifully. A double hundred was there for the taking before a direct throw from Arindam Das found him a couple of feet short of his ground. Kohli struck 24 boundaries and a six in his 267-ball knock. Rajasthan humiliate Hyderabad
Jaipur: The miracle that Hyderabad were hoping for did not happen as they collapsed to a humiliating innings and 256 runs defeat against Rajasthan on the third day and penultimate day of their Ranji Trophy Plate League (Group A) match here today. Trailing by 318 runs overnight at a precarious 63 for six, Hyderabad's second innings folded at 126 giving Rajasthan the massive win. Brief Score: Rajasthan: 403 Hyderabad: 21 and 126 all out Other Scores: Haryana 316 & 132/2 Himachal Pradesh 206 Haryana lead by 242 runs J&K 272 & 134/2 Maharashtra 604 J&K trail by 198 runs Punjab 288 & 127/4 Uttar Pradesh 362 Punjab lead by 53 runs.
— PTI |
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Gavaskar: Pawar promised extra payments
New Delhi, November 3 "I am now waiting for Mr Sharad Pawar, the then President of BCCI, to arrange a meeting with the current President of BCCI to help untangle and resolve this 'demanding' matter, since it was he who made the offer for the extra payment over and above the original amount given to the former players on the Governing Council and on whose word I agreed to come on board the council," Gavaskar said in a statement.
— PTI |
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After CWG euphoria, the Asiad reality check
New Delhi, November 3 This is going to be a far cry from the euphoria of the Commonwealth Games at home and athletes and coaches, while exuding confidence, are a still tentative about the prospects. At a chaotic felicitation ceremony here today, some of the big names of Indian sports, athletes like wrestler Sushil Kumar and boxer Suranjoy Singh claimed their respective contingents were ready for the Games and were hoping to do well. But the irony of it all is that Sushil, a definite medal prospect, isn’t even going to China. “Our wrestling team has been practicing really hard and we are hoping to do well,” Sushil said in his typical disarming fashion. “But the results of the infrastructure created for the Commonwealth Games will be more evident in the 2012 Olympics in London.” Evidently, that is a bigger target for the world champion. Boxing coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu, while exuding customary confidence, gladly grabbed at any suggestions that the competition would be stiffer. “Definitely, the standard of competition in the Asian Games will be higher than the Commonwealth Games,” he concurred. “China will always be strong at home while nations like Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and even Iran are strong contenders. “In fact, from all the teams in the fray in China, we have only met a couple in the Commonwealth Games. In the lighter weight categories, countries like Korea, the Philippines, Thailand and even Japan can be formidable.” While Suranjoy Singh looks like a world-class boxer and the Asiad line-up looks much better than the CWG team, the recovery period since the Delhi event hasn’t been too great. Also, Vijender Singh, who is the flag-bearer for Indian boxing, hasn’t been in best nick. “The loss (in the Commonwealth Games semi-finals) was a huge shock for him,” Sandhu says. “As you can see, he isn’t attending too many of these felicitations. His focus is totally on training.” With the Indian Olympic Association getting clearance for as many as 863 athletes and officials for the Asian Games, the largest contingent ever, people would naturally like to re-live the euphoria of the Commonwealth Games. However, the tally of 101 medals won in Delhi looks optimistic at best. The function, apart from the above mentioned athletes, was also attended by hockey captain Rajpal Singh and members of the boxing and wrestling teams, and also Akhil Kumar. |
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Inter fall in Spur of the moment
London, November 3 The home side, producing a memorable attacking performance, won with goals from Rafael Van der Vaart after 18 minutes, Peter Crouch after 61 and substitute Roman Pavlyuchenko a minute from time. Samuel Eto'o scored for Inter after 80 minutes. Victory for Inter would have secured their place in the last 16, but Tottenham now top Group A from the Italians on goal difference after Bale, who scored a hat-trick when Spurs lost 4-3 at the San Siro two weeks ago, turned creator, running half the length of the pitch to set up the second and third goals. “It was a great performance from the team. Obviously Gareth gets all the applause -- he was brilliant, but the whole team was brilliant,” Spurs manager Harry Redknapp told a news conference. “The whole team were outstanding, and that was one of the great nights at White Hart Lane and one of the best of my career. "Gareth has given one of the best right backs in the world a most torrid time. He did it to them two weeks ago and he has done it again. We now have the chance to get out of this group, we are playing well and we have to keep going." Inter manager Rafa Benitez, back in England for the first time since he left Liverpool in June, also praised Bale but was more concerned by the performance of his own team. "We have to recover psychologically and tactically from that defeat. We do not usually get beaten like that, it was not good enough." Redknapp promised before the game Spurs would attack Inter from the start and that is exactly what they did with Aaron Lennon marauding on the right, Bale on the left and Tom Huddlestone adding to the assault through the middle. Inter for their part, were content to soak up what Spurs pressure they could and hit them on the counter. Wesley Sneijder was a constant threat along with Goran Panchev, but time and again they were thwarted by Spurs's central defenders William Gallas and Younes Kaboul, standing in for the injured Ledley King and Michael Dawson. The nature of Tottenham's non-stop attacks, and the threat Inter posed on the break created an incredible atmosphere inside White Hart Lane which exploded when Spurs took the lead after Luka Modric combined with Van der Vaart. The Dutchman maintained his record of scoring in all five home matches he has played since joining Spurs from Real Madrid in August when he beat the offside trap and Inter's stand-in goalie Luca Castellazzi.
— Reuters |
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PNB, Army XI in title clash
Ludhiana, November 3 In the first semifinal, Army XI warded off a stiff resistence from Punjab and Sind Bank, Jalandhar, to come out triumphant 2-1. The bankmen drew first blood in the 10th minute through Parminder Singh. Army XI players unleashed a series of attacks on rival territory but the success eluded them till the 44th minute when Rajesh Kumar scored the equaliser (1-1). Elazer Lakra found the target in the 53rd minute which sealed bankmen’s fate 2-1. The second semifinal was played between Punjab National Bank, Delhi, and Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala, in which the former came out winners 4-1. In the junior boy's section, Jarkhar Academy trounced Gurukul Mehta Academy, Doraha, 6-1 to book their berth in final where they meet Grewal Academy, Kila
Raipur. |
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