harbhajan is two good
* Bhajji slams second ton
* McCullum also scores century
M.S.Unnikrishnan
Tribune News Service

New Zealand batsman Brendon McCullum raises his bat after his century during the second Test in Hyderabad on Monday. — AFP

Hyderabad, November 15
Harbhajan Singh and Brendon McCullum slammed unbeaten centuries, which proved decisive for India and New Zealand respectively, as the second Test was interestingly poised at the end of the fourth day at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here today. If Harbhajan Singh's 111 not out helped India take a 122-run first innings lead, McCullum's unbeaten 124 (177b, 11x4,3x6) powered New Zealand to a 115-run second innings lead, with six wickets in hand as the visitors were were 237 for 4 in 75 overs at close of play. But the Kiwis are not yet out of the woods, for if they lose a couple of quick wickets on the morrow, though the wicket was not taking much turn, and not playing any trick, India could smell victory.

Tim McIntosh and Brendon McCullum hoisted a 125-run opening wicket partnership, which was the Black Cap's best partnership for the top wicket since June, 2004. And when McIntosh was out for 49, India's first innings lead was reduced to just three runs. McCullum punished evey new bowler with his bludgeoning blade to unsettle them, before settling into a defensive mode, and then again coming back to score runs the way he wanted.

He cover drove and upper cut Sreesanth for boundaries in his first two overs. But in Sreesanth's third over, McCullum top-edged a pull, but it landed just beyound the reach of the fielder, and that was the closest India came to dismissing him.

McCullum whacked the fourth ball he faced from Harbhajan Singh for a straight six, and the fifth and sixth balls of Pragyan Ojha for a six and four.

Perhaps, the game would have taken a different course, had Zaheer Khan remained on the field in the morning. He left the ground mid-way through his fifth over with an abdominal strain, and returned to his position only after the tea break.

But India did manage to get first innings centurion McIntosh out for 49 when Cheteshar Pujara, substituting for Zaheer, stretched his left hand to pluck a catch, off Ojha, at short-leg when the batsmanl went for a suicidal sweep shot. Though India struck telling blows at regular intervals to remove Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor and Jesse Ryder, McCullum proved a thorn in the bowler's flesh as he drove them into a state of desperation. He struck Harbhajan for a boundary to hoist his sixth Test century. The wicket-less Sreesanth was so elated when he bowled Ross Taylor for 7 that he ran upto Zaheer and hugged him.

But from the Indian point of view,the spotlight was hogged by Harbhajan, who, resuming on 85, duly completed his second succesive Test century in the morning. India had resumed at 453 for 9, with Harbhajan and Sreesanth remaining unseparated after putting on a brilliant 10th wicket stand. Harbhajan completed his ton off 105 balls, with seven fours and six sixes.

Scoreboard

India bag a silver and bronze, shooters flop

India’s Somdev Devvarman in action against China’s Lu Yen Hsun in Guangzhou on Monday. — PTI

Guangzhou, November 15
The cueists continued their good run by providing a silver medal but the fancied shooters came a cropper in windy conditions as India added two more medals to their kitty on the third day of competitions in the 16th Asian Games here today. The performance of the snooker team comprising Yasin Merchant, Sneh Aditya Mehta and Brijsh Damani, who gave India their fourth silver, was the highpoint of an otherwise disappointing day which saw most of the Indian sportpersons failing to make an impact.

While the snooker team lost to China 1-3 in the final to be content with the silver, the men's tennis team bagged a bronze medal to take India's medal tally to one gold, four silver and three bronze. The shooters, who have provided the bulk of the medals so far, were a big disappointment as they drew a blank at the Aoti shooting range with stars like Gagan Narang and Tejaswini Sawant failing to qualify, handicapped by windy conditions.

The paddlers endured a mixed day in the individual competitions with only Kumarsen Shamini making it to the second round of the mixed as well as women's singles event.

In weightlifting, India's medal hope K Ravi Kumar failed to live up to expectations as he finished fifth with a below par performance in the men's 69 kg weightlifting. Ravi Kumar would have won a medal had he repeated his 321kg effort which fetched him a gold in the Commonwealth Games but he could only lift 311kg (141+170) to finish fifth. The snooker trio of veteran Merchant, Mehta and Damani proved too strong for Pakistan as they demolished their arch rivals 3-0 to set up a gold medal clash against hosts China. But they could not get the better of China in the final.

The overcast conditions upset India's hopes for a medal in the men's 50m rifle prone event in the Asian Games as the country's shooting trio, including Gagan Narang, failed to advance to the finals. Narang, who secured two silver medals in the 10m air rifle event on the opening day, including the team honours, was second-best among Indians by finishing a lowly 24th with 587 points.

But this is not the 27-year-old Commonwealth Games hero's main event at the distance and he would have a shot at the 50m three position competition to be held on November 18. Hariom Singh, who has already secured an Olympic berth in the same event at the Munich World Championship in August, was 13th from 54 shooters in the qualification stage by shooting 590 marks. But this was way behind the 598 he fired at Munich and well behind the 594-595 he has been doing in the practice rounds. Third Indian entrant Surinder Singh Rathod was 27th with a tally of 586.

India's first woman world champion in shooting, Tejaswini Sawant, surprisingly drew a blank in the Asian Games as she failed to even qualify for the finals of the 50m rifle prone event. Sawant finished 11th with a score of 588 in the 50m rifle prone qualifiers, way below the top score of 595 notched up by eventual gold medallist Chengyi Wang of China. Sawant's compatriots were no better with Meena (586) finishing 14th and Lajja Gauswami ending on the 16th spot with a score of 585. The trio did not do too well in the 50 rifle prone team event as well and signed off fifth with a score of 1759.

The disappointment continued for India in the men's 25m rapid fire pistol event with the team of Rahul, Gurpreet Singh and Vijay Kumar finishing fourth with a total of 1711. — PTI

India rout Hong Kong 7-0

Guangzhou, November 15
Playing at less than optimal pace on a bouncy outside turf of the Aoti hockey field, the Indian men's team started their Asian Games gold medal quest with a 7-0 rout of Hong Kong in a Group B match here today. With this win the Rajpal Singh-led India notched up their seventh victory over their rivals in the Asian Games and 12th in all tournaments.

Although they did not look threatening, coach Jose Brasa's boys completely dominated Hong Kong in the entire 70 minutes and pumped in four and three goals respectively in both the halves to start their proceedings in the quadrennial mega-event in style. India play Bangladesh on November 17, take on arch-rivals Pakistan on November 20 before ending their league engagements the next day against Japan.

Against Hong Kong, India utilised three out of the six penalty corners they earned in the match with ace drag-flicker Sandeep Singh (4th and 18th minutes) converting two and Tushar Khandker (37th) scoring from a rebound. Bharat Chikara (2nd), Sarvanjit Singh (22nd), Arjun Halappa (38th) and Shivendra Singh (48th) completed the scoring-spree for India through field strikes.

Two-time gold medalists India, who have come here with the main aim of clinching the crown which they last won in 1998 and avoid the pitfalls of qualifying for the 2012 London Olympics, displayed their positive intent in the first five minutes of the match when they pumped in two goals through Chikara and Sandeep. Chikara's opening essay was an excellent co-ordinated effort as he pushed in a centre from the left sent by Vikram Pillay in the second minute before Sandeep made it 2-0 two minutes later. But then came a phase when India struggled to control the ball at speed and had to wait till the 18th minute when Sandeep scored off the second short corner with a neat drag-flick.

After making repeated forays into the rival citadel, only to be thwarted by the crowded Hong Kong defence, India made it 4-0 through a good field effort when a down the middle charge saw Sarvanjit score off a Vikram pass in the 22nd minute. With a lowly Hong Kong at the other end, India utilised the match to try out various combinations and tried out Dhananjay Mahadik in taking short corners, but he could not score off two earned in succession before the half time. Crossing over, India once again made a storming start by scoring two more goals in as many minutes. — PTI