New Delhi, November 23
So we won in Nagpur, did we? So we should all be happy? Well, given the combination of a come-from-ahead loss in hockey to Malaysia in Guangzhou and a 1-0 margin in the Test series at home, one isn’t quite left in a state of euphoria. Let’s begin with cricket. The Nagpur Test wasn’t perfect and let’s face it, India got out of jail when New Zealand won the toss and batted first, and made a hash of it all. Post that, it was always going to be India’s game. That is the not the surprise. The surprise is that the series scoreline wasn’t 2-0 at least, if not a clean sweep.

This is exactly how the entire series should have been played. Inane excuses about pitches and too much cricket notwithstanding, this wasn’t even supposed to be a contest but turned out to be quite that. Kudos to those who did well - Harbhajan Singh for his efforts; Virender Sehwag for being Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid, for aspiring to be born as Virender Sehwag. But would we be complaining if Bhajji got a 100 runs less and about ten wickets more? That would surely have made it 2-0 at least.

When this series began, it was all “oh, this is all about Sachin Tendulkar scoring his 50th century and New Zealand being ground into the dust”. Neither happened and now Tendulkar will have to get his 50th in South Africa against a way better attack and way more hostile pitches, acclimatisation advance trips notwithstanding. Already, it has the sounds of “oh, so Tendulkar will get his 50th century in South Africa, and the rest in fall in place”. And it was supposed to be about winning series, one thought.

Cut to hockey. The general consensus was that Malaysia was just a minor irritant on way to a march into the final, where we would once again take care of Pakistan. A reality check, please. Look at the sides we beat. We began against Hong Kong and then it was Bangladesh. The Japan match was won, barely, and Pakistan looked way better than in the recent past. Today, a golden goal consigned India to a bronze chase, with the team taking the lead twice, only to relinquish it. India would be a great team if hockey matches were reduced to 60 minutes. Over that, we always struggle, as we did today. So the emotions should be a mixture of relief and disappointment. Also, a reality check of how good our cricket and hockey teams really are.

India would be a great team if hockey matches were reduced to 60 minutes. Over that, we always struggle.

Guangzhou, November 23
India's dream of winning a gold in men's hockey event at the Asian Games came a cropper after lower-ranked Malaysia stunned the Commonwealth Games silver medallist with a 75th minute golden goal from Muhammad Amin Rahim in the second semifinal here today.

The decisive punch in India's 3-4 defeat was provided by Malaysian penalty corner specialist Amin Rahim in the fifth minute of extra time after he had brought the South East Asian country on level terms three minutes from the end of regular time with another drag-flick that completely beat Bharat Chetri under the Indian bar.

Malaysia, ranked 15th in the world, came out on top in the additional time after both sides were tied 3-3 at the end of regulation time to make their maiden appearance in the Asian Games summit clash, where they face Pakistan, who knocked out defending champions South Korea in penalty shoot-out in the first semifinal.

India will now be up against South Korea in the bronze medal play-off match. By virtue of this victory, Malaysia has broken their Asian Games losing streak against India, against whom they lost in all 10 previous meetings in the mega-event.

Penalty corner conversion turned out to be the difference between the two sides as Malaysia converted three out of the four short corners they earned in the match, while the Indians could utilise only two out of four.

The Indians were also done in by some sloppy defending inside the circle, which resulted in all the penalty corners for Malaysia. Coming into the match with an unbeaten record, a lot was expected of India, but they cut a sorry figure against a determined Malaysian outfit who were by far the better side on display.

India, who missed their penalty corner specialist Sandeep Singh due to a neck injury for 20 minutes in the second half, were down by a brilliant 32nd minute field goal scored by forward Abdul Jalil Tengku. However, Malaysia's joy was shortlived as Sandeep equalised three minutes later with a powerful dragflick as both teams went into the breather locked at 1-1.

The Indians came out with purpose after the change of ends and surged ahead in the 37th minute through Tushar Khandkar's field strike. India then displayed controlled hockey for nearly 12 minutes before Azlan Misron (49th) drew the scores level with a well worked-out variation from Malaysia's third short corner.

Five minutes later, captain Rajpal Singh made it 3-2 for India with a rebound after Dhananjay Mahadik's flick from a set piece was stopped by Malaysian custodian. — PTI 

Nagpur, November 23
Exactly 29 minutes after lunch on the fourth day of this Test, as New Zealand’s last man Chris Martin stood marking his guard on the batting crease, you had this feeling that he somehow knew what was coming. Bowler Ishant Sharma had just shattered Tim Southee’s stumps and Martin was expecting a real quick and straight ball.

Well, Martin got what he was expecting. Only, he could not deal with it. The ball from Ishant hit Martin’s stumps and India achieved a huge victory - by an innings and 198 runs. The home team had clinched the three-Test series 1-0. You never want to make too much out of one game. After all, New Zealand had given a fair account of themselves in the first two Tests of this series. But, here in Nagpur, their batting collapsed - not once, but twice - with catastrophic consequences. And they were beaten by a vastly superior team in this game.

The first session today spelt doom for the visitors as they lost seven wickets for the addition of just 116 runs in 33 overs. At that stage itself, the match was well and truly over. There were some debatable decisions by umpires Simon Taufel and Nigel Llong but these did not have too much of an impact on the outcome of the game. India won with a lot to spare. New Zealand were bowled out for a paltry 175 in their second innings, with Ishant and Harbhajan picking up three wickets each.

It was also Indian coach Gary Kirsten’s birthday today and his boys gave him an apt gift. Insiders say that Kirsten has this habit of putting up signs inside the dressing room. Signs like ‘There is no shortcut to success and hard work is the key’ etc. What do these signs do? Maybe nothing. But coaches put them up anyway because they know confidence is the elixir of sports. Confidence is what can make an ordinary team good, a good team great and a great team legendary. Well, Kirsten hasn’t made this team legendary yet. But, his boys will take some confidence from this victory going into the challenging series against South Africa next month.

For the moment though, it’s time for the Indians to savour this win. It was a great comeback for Ishant, who got into the team in the first place only because Zaheer Khan was injured. It was the first Test for Ishant in this series and the Kiwis had no plans for him. They had been planning for Harbhajan, Ojha and Sreesanth. But, were rattled by Ishant.

The Delhi pace bowler was impressive with seven wickets in this match. Rahul Dravid’s superb innings of 191 won him the Man-of-the-Match award and, with his twin tons and wickets to boot, Bhajji was named Man-of-the-Series. There wasn’t much to talk about from New Zealand’s batting in the second innings. All the top batsmen failed and tail-ender Tim Southee was top-scorer with 31 that included three sixes. But, these were hit more out of frustration than with any degree of conviction. New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori said after the match, “We lost the game with the bat.” But even after this loss, Kiwi coach Mark Greatbatch should have no reason to criticise his boys. After all, they did put up a brave show in this series. The debacle in Bangladesh should be a thing of the past. 

Score board

New Zealand 1st Innings: 193

India 1st Innings: 566-8 decl

New Zealand 2nd innings

(overnight 24-1)

McIntosh lbw Harbhajan 8

McCullum lbw Ojha 25

Hopkins c Gambhir b H’bhajan 8

Guptill lbw b Ojha 0

Taylor c sub b Harbhajan 29 Ryder c Ishant b Raina 22

Williamson b Ishant 8

Vettori lbw b Raina 13

Southee b Ishant 31

McKay not out 20

Martin b Ishant 0

Extras: (b-10, lb-1) 11

Total: (all out, 51.2 overs) 175

Bowling: Sreesanth 7-3-25-0, Ishant 6.2-2-15-3, Ojha 17-2-67-2, Harbhajan 19-4-56-3, Raina 2-1-1-2.

Nagpur, November 23
A lot of people believe that Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has luck on his side. After the big win here, Dhoni was asked this question, that his ‘kismat' has been very good and what did he have to say. “I don’t know about my kismat but it is turning out to be good for Indian cricket. So, I think it’s fine. But if you ask my bowlers about my kismat, I don’t think they will agree. Mostly I lose the toss and they have to bowl first,” said Dhoni.

“We did not play to our potential in the first two Tests of this series. I will say we played only to about 60% of our potential. So, the result was not that good. But here everything fell in place,” explained Dhoni. “I also had some cramps yesterday. That’s why I batted with a runner for a while. That was because of dehydration. But today I am fit and fine,” said Dhoni.

Apart from Suresh Raina, most Indian batsmen did well in this series. Most people also know that Dhoni has a soft corner for Raina and he came out in full support of him. “I think Raina needs some rest. He has been playing non-stop for quite some time now. Here he picked up two wickets in two overs today. He is our best fielder. His batting will get better,” defended Dhoni.

“Ideally, Raina should have been rested for the one-dayers against New Zealand. But, that is the selectors’ job. He is in the team for the first two ODI’s. I hope he can get a break after that,” said Dhoni. “It is going to be a challenging series in South Africa next month and some of our batsmen will go there early to get a feel of the conditions. I think it is a good idea and will be helpful,” said Dhoni.

“We have got positives from this series like Dravid’s innings yesterday, Ishant’s bowling, Viru’s attacking batting etc. We will take these into our next series,” said the Indian captain. 

BRIEFLY

Athletes win two bronze
A below par Krishna Poonia and G G Pramila won a bronze each in women's discus throw and heptathlon respectively to save India from ending the third day in track and field competitions without a medal in the Asian Games here today. Indian had begun their track and field campaign in spectacular fashion winning two gold and a silver on Sunday but that was followed by a lull yesterday. With today's bronze medals, the Indian athletes have so far won two gold, a silver and two bronze.

Squash: Men, women in semis
Indian eves qualified for the semifinals of the squash team event despite a 0-3 drubbing at the hands of Hong Kong while the Saurav Ghosal led men's team made the last-four grade of the Asian Games with a crushing 3-0 win over South Korea here today. The women team advanced to semifinals courtesy their second place finish behind Hong Kong in Pool B. They face Pool A topper Malaysia in the semifinals tomorrow. The men's team came up with a fine show to be on top of the table in pool B.

Shooters struggle in skeet
Indian shooters will have a tough task at hand to finish on the podium after all three of them ended day one of the qualification round at the middle of the points table in the Asian Games here today. Mairaj Ahmad Khan was placed 15th, followed closely by compatriots Allan Daniel Peoples on 16th and Smit Singh on 18th -- all three of them with same 46 points -- with one more day to go tomorrow. Three more rounds will be played tomorrow. The India trio were at fifth with 138 (46+46+46) points in the skeet team event.

Mahita, Pana finish 20th, 26th
Indian eves came a cropper in the Individual road race competition with Mahita Mohan and Pana Chaudhary finishing 20th and 26th in the event at the Triathlon Venue, here today. The 22-year-old Mahita completed the 100km race in two hour, 47 minutes and 51.71 seconds, while Pana clocked 2:48:41.75 in the five laps of the race. Hsiao Mei-yu of Taiwan won the women's individual road race in 2 hours, 47 minutes and 46 seconds ahead of Santia Tri Kusuma of Indonesia and China's Zhao Na.

Deepika loses in play-off
India's Deepika Kumari missed out on a medal as she lost to Kwon Un Sil of North Korea in the bronze-medal play-off of the women's individual archery event in the Asian Games here today. Deepika began the day by thrashing Rand Almashhandani of Iraq 5-1 in her opening match and then beat Indonesia's Erwina Safitri 7-3 to reach the quarterfinals. The Indian continued her winning run and defeated Chinese Taipei's Tan Ya Ting 6-4 before losing to Yun Okhee of South Korea in the shoot-off.

Wrestlers disappoint yet again
Dharmender Dalal cut a sorry figure as he lost his bronze medal play-off match in the men's 120kg Greco-Roman wrestling competitions to round off another disappointing day for Indian grapplers in the Asian Games here today. Having won his repechage round 1 bout against Chivinn Chum of Cambodia, Dharmender set up a fight against Iraq's Salman. Ali in the bronze medal bout but he could hardly pose a challenge to his opponent, going down 0-3 in the encounter.

Stoudemire, Westbrook are PoTW
Chandigarh: The New York Knicks' Amar`e Stoudemire and the Oklahoma City Thunder's Russell Westbrook today were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively for games played Monday from November 15, through November 21. Stoudemire averaged 29.0 points on .608 shooting from the field, 9.5 rebounds and compiled eight blocks. — TNS

Our great leader loves the women's team and all sports. I'm very sorry that I couldn't repay his warm care of us. He looks after the players and gives all his love to them. — North Korea women’s football coach Kim Kwang-Min after losing to Japan.