 |
|
|
Proteas set India 266 to win
Kochi denies reports of roping in Ganguly
Marsh inspires Aus win
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Muttiah Muralitharan
Djokovic wins, Henin ousted
NRAI plans new policy for juniors
Pacers prop up East Zone
Govt Model post win
|
|
Proteas set India 266 to win
Port Elizabeth, January 21
Except for Hashim Amla (64), none of the top-order Proteas batsmen could convert good starts but it was not easy to score freely on the slow St George Park's track.
The hard work done by Duminy and his partners ensured that South Africa have enough runs on the board in the end and that India will have to work hard to score their first ever series-win in this country.
Apart from the good job done by India's part time bowlers, the three inexplicable run outs prevented South Africa from getting a better scorecard. India's spinners did a decent job in the middle overs by checking the run flow and Yuvraj Singh (3/34) was quite effective as he took three wickets.
Duminy came on to bat in the mid of the South African innigs and batted till the last over as he shared two crucial partnerships with Johan Botha (44) and Robin Petersen (31).
Duminy's determination reflected in his 72-ball knock as he hit just two boundaries and a six, which came in the 50th over, and ran hard to anchor the hosts innings.
South Africa had lost five wickets at the score of 118 but Duminy and Botha dug in and steadied the rocking ship with their 70-run partnership for the sixth wicket. Yuvraj broke the stand by having Botha stumped but Petersen supported Duminy well and the duo added another crucial 60 runs for the seventh wicket.
Earlier, after a rather sedate start, South African openers Graeme Smith and Amla gradually accelerated the pace of scoring by hitting a few boundaries.
While Amla showed his aggressive intent by clobbering Munaf Patel to the boundary, Smith picked up Zaheer Khan for special treatment by spanking for two boundaries.
Amla suddenly broke free and slammed a flurry of delightful boundaries to take South Africa's score beyond the 50 mark in quick time.
Paceman Ashish Nehra provided the breakthrough when he got the prized scalp of Smith (18). The South African captain went down the track and flat batted it towards mid-off where Harbhajan Singh took a brilliant catch. Amla continued to play aggressively at the other end and notched up his half century with a boundary off the bowling of part-timer Yuvraj Singh. The complexion of the game changed dramatically after that as the hosts slumped to 118 for five as Amla (65), Morne van Wyk (15), A B de Villiers (3) and Faf du Plassis (1) perished in quick succession. — PTI
Scoreboard South Africa Amla run out 64 Smith c Harbhajan b Nehra 18 van Wyk c Kohli b Yuvraj 15 de Villiers c Dhoni b Yuvraj 3 Duminy not out 71 du Plessis run out 1 Botha st Dhoni b Yuvraj 44 Peterson run out 31 Steyn not out 4 Extras (b 1, lb 1, w 10, nb 2) 14 Total (7 wickets; 50 overs) 265 Bowling: Zaheer 9-1-55-0, Munaf 8-1-49-0, Nehra 6-0-27-1, Harbhajan 10-0-61-0, Yuvraj 8-0-34-3, Rohit 2-0-6-0, Raina 3-0-13-0, Yusuf 4-0-18-0. |
|
Kochi denies reports of roping in Ganguly
Kolkata, January 21 "It's not true at all. We are not in talks with Ganguly, so the question of his involvement with the side does not arise," co-owner of the Kochi team Satyajit Gaekwad told PTI. Media reports had said that the Kochi IPL had contacted other teams to get a no-objection certificate (NOC) from them to rope in the former India captain, who did not find any takers in the IPL auction, held earlier this month. As per the IPL rule, Ganguly can again be part of the IPL through an open bidding process if all the 10 franchises have no objection to the move. The Kochi team owned by Rendezvous Sports has the likes of Brendon McCullum, Brad Hodge, Owais Shah, Mahela Jayawardene and Muttiah Muralitharan, besides the only Indian capped batsman V V S Laxman, in their line-up. Ganguly, along with Mumbai captain Wasim Jaffer and Punjab pacer VRV Singh were the only three Indian players, who remained unsold in the IPL auction. — PTI
|
|
Hobart, January 21
Marsh, left out of Australia's World Cup squad named on Tuesday and the only player not in that squad playing today, posted his second one-day international century as Australia made 230 from 48.2 overs after being sent in to bat by England. In reply, England never recovered from an early double-strike by paceman Doug Bollinger (4-28), who also contributed valuable tail-end runs with the bat. They were dismissed for just 184 in 45 overs as Australia took a 2-0 lead in the seven-match series. But the win came at considerable cost for Australia, with spinner Nathan Hauritz, in his first international of the season, appearing to dislocate his right shoulder in the field and place his World Cup hopes in jeopardy. All summer, Australia's best performances have relied on just one or two brilliant individual efforts. In game one of the series, it was Shane Watson's 161 not out, and this time it was the recalled Marsh. Batting at number six, the left-handed Marsh brought up his century in the best fashion possible, lofting Michael Yardy over mid-wicket for six from the 101st delivery he faced, having hit the previous two balls for four. Marsh was the last man to fall, caught on the boundary having faced 114 balls, hitting eight fours and two sixes. The home side were in deep trouble at 142-8, before Marsh and number 10 Bollinger rallied to the cause by adding an unlikely 88, a record ninth-wicket stand for Australia in ODIs. Not for the first time in this southern hemisphere summer, Australia's top order was in early disarray, with captain Michael Clarke's atrocious season in all forms of the game continuing as he fell for just 10. Marsh, called into today's team to replace the injured Mike Hussey, strode to the wicket with the home side in deep trouble at 33-4. The left-hander struck the ball well from the time he arrived at the crease and looked a class above any of his top order teammates in a performance that will have done his chances of replacing Hussey in the World Cup squad no harm at all. Hussey is in increasing doubt for the tournament after this week undergoing surgery to repair a severe hamstring tear. Marsh survived a close shave on 23 from the bowling of James Tredwell, when he was given not out by the third umpire on a very close stumping appeal. He and Cameron White put on 100 for the fifth wicket, but the batting collapsed again when White was caught and bowled for 45 by Michael Yardy, as Australia lost 4-9 to slump to 142-8. Promising paceman Ajmal Shahzad celebrated his inclusion in England's World Cup squad by claiming 3-43, including the prized wickets of openers Shane Watson (5) and Brad Haddin (5). England got off to a solid start, but Bollinger removed Andrew Strauss (lbw) for 19 and with his next delivery bowled Kevin Pietersen for a golden duck. The tourists were 36-3 and never really recovered. — AFP
|
|
Colombo, January 21 "My time is up. I have signed up to play for two years in the IPL (Indian Premier League). I am also looking at similar work in New Zealand and perhaps England," Muralitharan said. The spinner, who holds the record for maximum number of wickets in both Tests (800) and one-dayers (517), bid adieu to Test cricket in July last year after the opening match against India in Galle. Muralitharan, however, insisted that right now he is just focusing on the cricketing extravaganza which is scheduled to commence on February 19. Sri Lanka are considered to be the potential title contenders and their chances to fetch the second World Cup will receive the necessary boost in the light that they have traditionally been good in their backyard. The country is supposed to host 12 WC games, including three at a new 22,000-seater stadium in Muralitharan's home district of Kandy. The other matches will be held at the renovated Premadasa Stadium in Colombo and a new cricket facility in Hambantota in the southeren part of the island nation, though the venue has already breached the International Cricket Council's (ICC) deadline. — AFP
|
|
Colombo, January 21 The remaining games will be held in India and Bangladesh. "The Premadasa stadium (in Colombo) hosts most of our big matches," Sangakkara told reporters after a training session in Colombo. "We are impatient to play there as well as at the other two venues to be able to get an understanding of how they are playing, especially when it comes to fielding the right combinations." The wicketkeeper-batsman said the players were keen to see how the wickets would behave under lights to discover the "idiosyncrasies" of defending or chasing totals and the dew factor. The Premadasa and Hambantota venues will be tested when Sri Lanka host the West Indies for three one-dayers that were rescheduled due to heavy rains in December last year. The first match starts in Hambantota on January 31. "It will be interesting to see what challenges they present. Playing on these grounds with the West Indies will give us an idea of what to expect and how to prepare for the World Cup," said Sangakkara. The venues were officially handed over to an International Cricket Council (ICC) inspection team this week. Sri Lanka Cricket secretary Nishantha Ranatunga said the ICC team were "pleased" with the venues. — PTI
|
|
Melbourne, January 21 Henin was only weeks into a comeback from a career break from the tour when she lost the final last year to Serena Williams, the third time in four appearances that she'd reached the championship match at Melbourne. Her comeback season was derailed when she injured her right elbow at Wimbledon and didn't play again in 2010. The seven-time Grand Slam winner didn't lose meakly. Kuznetsova twice had chances to serve out the match but Henin broke her both times. In a fluctuating tiebreaker, Kuznetsova had two match points at 6-4. Henin sent a service return skidding down the line to save one, then leveled it 6-6. She netted a forehand to give Kuznetsova another match point at 8-7 but again hit a powerful forehand service return winner to save. Injury forces Williams’ exit
American Venus Williams retired hurt with a muscle strain after just one game of her Australian Open third round match against Germany's Andrea Petkovic today. The seven-time Grand Slam winner screamed in pain and stopped playing while receiving at 0-1 down, after being broken in the first game. She limped to her chair and quickly conceded defeat after seeing a trainer. Petkovic was stunned at the retirement by Williams, her first in 251 Grand Slam matches. — Agencies |
|
NRAI plans new policy for juniors
Patiala, January 21 Sources in NRAI confirmed that a committee has already been appointed under the chairmanship of Baljeet Singh Sethi, advisor to the NRAI President, and includes Olympic medalist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, shooting coach Sunny Thomas, Punjab Director-General of Police PS Gill and a few shooters. Currently, the junior shooters have no clear-cut policy and even procuring arms and ammunition is a problem for them. “The new policy is sure to make procurement of guns and licences easier and will also emphasise on the fact that shooters in the junior category who perform well, get their due in the senior level as well,” claimed a senior NRAI official. An association insider told The Tribune that children in the initial shooting years have to travel a lot to participate in competitions. “The new policy would try to make coaching available at every regional headquarter and also arrange coaching facilities for the young talent.” Further the new policy would try to rope in sponsors for the junior events so that financial assistance could be provided to the budding shooters. “The Sports Ministry would be keen to help NRAI and once the committee drafts the policy, we will have a talented pool of youngsters at a very young age,” claimed an official. When contacted, NRAI president Raninder Singh said that the policy is in the offing and should be available by April. “The main aim is to promote youngsters and try to trace talent at young age so that their skills can be honed at the right age,” he said.
|
|
Cuttack, January 21 Bengal's Dinda (4/125 in 38.1 overs) and Orissa's Basant (4/81 in 42 overs) bowled 80.1 overs as they ensured that Central don't cross East Zone's first innings score of 427. At stumps, East were 24 for one having stretched their overall lead to 61 runs and nine wickets remaining. All East batsmen need to bat out time so that there aren't any hiccups in clinching the semis berth. Starting the day at 169 for three, the two overnight batsmen Mohammed Kaif (105, 304 minutes, 241 balls,16x4) and Naman Ojha (53, 166 minutes, 108 balls, 2x4, 2x6) took score to 181 for three before Ojha was caught by Alok Sahoo off Basant's bowling. — PTI
|
|
Govt Model post win
Jalandhar, January 21 In another match of the day, BRC Danapur beat Lyallpur Khalsa School Jalandhar 4-0 and Government Raj School, Sangrur, beat Spring Dale School, Amritsar, 2-0. In the first match, the Model School opened their account through a penalty-corner conversion by Gaganpreet Singh in the 21st minute of the game.
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
were down for the hosts and combined well with the lower-order batsmen to give the hosts a competitive total to defend after winning the toss and opting to
bat.
The Kochi franchise has denied reports that it is in talks with the IPL discard Sourav Ganguly for a place in the team in the fourth edition of the Indian Premier League.
Justine Henin has been eliminated in the third round of the Australian Open, losing 6-4, 7-6 (8) to Svetlana Kuznetsova today just a year after reaching the final in her comeback to Grand Slam tennis. It was Henin's first loss in a major to
Kuznestova, the former French and U.S. Open champion, and her worst run at a Grand Slam event since Wimbledon in 2005.
After putting in place the National policy for senior shooters and buoyed by the recent results, the National Rifle Association of India
(NRAI) has decided to promote shooting among the youngsters in the country. The body has decided to frame a different policy for juniors that would help them get into the sport at an early age.
Hobart:
Karachi: