|
|
|
|
|
fourth test: day 2 Rahul Dravid is beaten by Ben Hilfenhaus in Adelaide on Wednesday. Dravid was once again clean bowled as India reached 61 for 2. — AFP |
|
|
Won’t show Tendulkar any sympathy: Clarke
Don’t think that I have been unlucky, says Ishant
One more battle on her hands
Novak Djokovic sails past Ferrer
England restrict Pak
Hockey India welcomes Ministry’s recommendation
Padma Shri for Chaturvedi
Patiala Foundation Cricket Cup
|
|
Double trouble
Ponting follows suit
India lose 2 early wickets
Still Trail by 543 runs
Adelaide, January 25 Gautam Gambhir (30) and Sachin Tendulkar (12) will carry the fight tomorrow while their team is still 543 runs in arrears. Clarke, resuming on 140, made 210 and was out immediately after lunch when a Umesh Yadav delivery flicked his pads and crashed on to his stumps. Ponting departed much later for 221 when he pulled Zaheer Khan firmly but straight to Sachin Tendulkar at backward square leg fence. The two put on 386 runs for the fourth wicket which is the second best ever by an Australian pair. Sir Don Bradman and Bill Ponsford put on 388 runs together against England at Headingley in 1934. Replying to Australia's monumental effort, Virender Sehwag (18) and Rahul Dravid (1) were the two early blows India suffered in their innings and neither the pitch nor the deliveries merited their dismissals. The first ball of Peter Siddle was a low full toss on Sehwag's leg stump. Sehwag aimed to play it on the onside but closed the face of his bat too early. He thus miscued on the left of the bowler who somehow stuck his left hand out and caught it splendidly while still in his follow through. Sehwag already had a slice of luck in his favour when he was dropped by Ed Cowan on five at the total 13 for no loss. The opener had aimed to flick Hilfenhaus off his pads and the ball had gone in the air, low to Cowan's left at midwicket but the fielder floored the chance. Sehwag, in the short time that he was in, struck two off-side fours off Hilfenhaus and had just put on the highest opening stand with Gambhir of 26 runs when he fell in an astonishing manner. Dravid, for the sixth time in the series, was bowled but this time it was a cruel turn for the star batsman. He played back to a Ben Hilfenhaus delivery which kicked from a length, hit him on the elbow and crashed on to his stumps. Gambhir, who began with a steer through point off the first ball of the innings, was generally assured and hit two lovely cover drives off the front foot off Siddle. Tendulkar was his usual serene self, flicking Hilfenhaus to the midwicket fence even though there were two short midwickets positioned specifically for it. Earlier Australia, resuming at the overnight score of 335 for 3, batted till half an hour after tea before declaring their first innings on 604 for 7. In all they played 67 overs on the second day. It was a Ponting-Clarke show yet again as they improved upon the best-ever partnership at Adelaide Oval which belonged to Graeme Pollock and Eddie Barlow of South Africa -- stand of 341 runs managed during the 1963-64 series. The Australian captain took just 275 balls for his 210 runs though he occupied the crease for 380 minutes. Clarke smacked 26 fours and a six. The big wicket of Ponting came the tourists way after the veteran batsman pulled Zaheer Khan ferociously but straight into the hands of Sachin Tendulkar at backward square leg boundary. Ponting batted for 516 minutes and faced 404 balls for his 221 runs, hitting 21 fours in all. This is his sixth double century in Test cricket, his third such mega knock against India. Australia lost two more wickets in the middle session, those of Mike Hussey (25) and Peter Siddle (2), as Indians struck four times in the afternoon. Hussey had put on 50 runs with Ponting for the fifth wicket before the pair was separated due to a rare piece of good work in the field by the Indians. Hussey flicked a delivery of Ashwin on the onside which was interrupted at forward short leg by Gautam Gambhir who flicked the ball on to the stumps while the batsman was out of his crease. Ashwin chipped in with another wicket when he had Peter Siddle. — PTI Scoreboard India Ist Innings:
|
|
Won’t show Tendulkar any sympathy: Clarke
Adelaide, January 25 "No, I certainly won't be showing him any sympathy. We're there to win the game. He's a wonderful player and it's going to be really tough to get him out on that wicket. But somehow we're going to have to find a way to do it twice," said Clarke who slammed 210 during Australia's mammoth total of 604 for 7 declared in their first innings. Even though Tendulkar is still around, Virender Sehwag (18) and Rahul Dravid (1) didn't help the team's cause with their early dismissals on the second day. "Sehwag is a very good player. His way to score is a lot different to mine. He has had a lot of success. As for Dravid getting out bowled again, I have no idea what he's feeling. Importantly, we have plans for every batter. So far things have worked," said Clarke. On the timing of his declaration and whether he could force the issue against India in this Test, Clarke said, "It was probably more about the runs to be honest. Trying to get to 600 and we still had plenty of time left in the day, which was probably the most pleasing. "To take those two crucial wickets today is a really good start for us. But there's still a lot of work to be done." Clarke, along with Sir Donald Bradman and Walter Hammond, has become the only the third captain in the history of cricket to score a triple and a double century in the same series. "I didn't know that but it's very nice to have scored some more runs. The wicket's very flat. Ricky and I spoke early in our innings, once we got in again today, it was about going on and making big ones", he said. — PTI |
|
Don’t think that I have been unlucky, says Ishant
Adelaide, January 25 "Am I the unluckiest bowler? You can't say that because cricket is a funny game. You never know what's going to happen next. All you can do is to hope for the best," Ishant who went wicketless for 100 runs during his 30-over spell said. "When you choose fast bowling, it's a tough job. When you are bowling on flat tracks in India and you don't get anything out of it, you still carry on because bowling for your country is a big motivation. That remains the most important thing for me," he said. Often, in the nets, Sharma has been seen getting tips from Sachin Tendulkar and to outsiders it has appeared as if he has wanted him to bowl fuller. "He doesn't tell me to bowl full because he knows it's not my natural style. He tells me to stick to my natural style, just swing a little if you can, because conditions are helpful to swing bowling. He says if you can swing, you have better chance to get them out." Ishant feels that there are times when he comes in as one-change, it's a semi-new ball and it doesn't swing as much as expected. "Sometimes, when I bowl as one change, the ball is not conducive for swing. In those times, you need to be patient and keep bowling in the right areas." — PTI |
|
One more battle on her hands
Chandigarh, January 25 But the rosy tale pretty much ends there as Neetu (whose family incurred the entire expenditure for her trip) came back with a ligament tear in her knee. The doctors were quick to suggest a corrective surgery which would cost around Rs 50-60,000. The daughter of a purchase manager, Neetu went about trying to find some help, but none was forthcoming. “My father Mr Shreepal Singh, my coach Krishan Lal and some others have been trying real hard that we get some aid. The expenditure will not be easy for my family, and I hate to put my parents under such pressure. I feel helpless that despite fighting it out for my nation, and winning a medal as well, nobody cares where I land up,” Neetu says, with the smile suddenly disappearing, replaced by a deep forlorn look. “I have fought over pain, discomforts. My parents have never discouraged me from going all out to pursue my dream. But how do we expect to keep going on, when there is absolutely no support from any quarters,” she adds. Her coach Krishan Lal says, “She is a real promising girl. It is hard to see her in such a disturbed state. I can understand the amount of constraint this puts on the family, as neither can they come between her dream, nor can they keep going on with financial support if nothing comes from it. I am trying to speak to some people in the federation as well, and I hope that somebody will come forward to help her out.” The smile is back on as Neetu talks about the medals and recalls her final bout with a Japanese girl. This was when she was injured, and this was when she won the Gold. Life, it seems, lies somewhere between the irony of this situation. |
|
Novak Djokovic sails past Ferrer
Melbourne, January 25
Djokovic earned a crucial service break in the fifth game of the first set which proved enough for him to take the lead against the fifth seed after nearly an hour full of punishing rallies. Looking tired at the end of the first set, Djokovic produced a stunning blind, backhand winner at full stretch from the back of the court early in the second, breaking in the first game. He looked in trouble when he grimaced in pain, clutching his left hamstring as Ferrer levelled at 2-2 but he did not appear to be restricted, going on to take the tiebreak and seize a 2-0 lead. The Serbian stepped up a gear in the third set with Ferrer unable to keep up his earlier intensity. "Already after a couple of games I was feeling it was going to be a long match," Djokovic said. "There was a big mental advantage to getting two sets up," he said, adding that he had stepped up his aggression as the match wore on and it paid off. Paes-Stepanek in semifinals
It was a mixed day for the Indians at the Australian Open tennis on Wednesday. Leander Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek advanced to the men's doubles semifinals while Sania Mirza and her Russian partner Elena Vesnina threw away a great opportunity to make the women's doubles final. Sania and Vesnina lost both the first and third sets after being in a commanding position, but won the second easily. In the ultimate analysis, their 51 unforced errors proved their undoing as they went down 6-7(4-7), 6-2, 4-6. The Indo-Russian pair had more than one opportunity to go 5-2 up in the decider, but unforced errors cost them. They had a chance to wrap up the first set also. — Agencies |
|
England restrict Pak
Abu Dhabi, January 25 Skipper Misbah-ul Haq, unbeaten on 83 at the close with Saeed Ajmal on nought, held the Pakistan innings together during a fighting stand of 100 for the fifth wicket with Asad Shafiq (58). That partnership helped Pakistan revive their innings after Broad chipped in with two wickets in the post-lunch session but England got three more wickets in the last session, two off which were claimed by Swann. England, ranked world number one in Test cricket, could have had a more fruitful day had they not dropped four regulation catches, but Broad and Swann made sure their fumbles did not prove too costly. James Anderson dropped Misbah on 30 off Monty Panesar, while Cook let off Shafiq off Swann on 53 before Andrew Strauss floored Adnan Akmal on nought in Anderson's first over with the second new ball. Misbah notched his 12th half-century in 14 Tests — and 16th in all — since being made Test captain in October 2010 and holds the key for Pakistan to post a challenging total on a pitch that was expected to help batsmen. The Pakistani skipper has so far hit five boundaries and four sixes. — AFP Scoreboard |
|
Hockey India welcomes Ministry’s recommendation
New Delhi, January 25 The late Dhyan Chand was acknowledged as the all-time great hockey player in the world, and he had generated many myths about his ability as a hockey player. “In view of his rarest of rare achievements, there is no better deserving sporting icon other than Major Dhyan Chand to be considered for the Bharat Ratna,” Hockey India said here Wednesday. He won three successive gold medals in the Olympic Games at Amsterdam (1928), Los Angles (1932) and Berlin (1936), and was the first Indian sportsman to be conferred the honour of his birthday, August 29, as the National Sports Day, when the President of India gives away the national sports awards such as the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, Arjuna, Dronacharya and Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Awards to eminent present and past sports persons. As a tribute to Dhyan Chand, the National Stadium was re-named after his name in 2002. Even today, Major Dhyan Chand remains legendary in India and in the world, and is credited with scoring over 1000 international goals. His international playing career started in 1926 and he went on to play till 1948 when he was 42. In 1926, on his first International tour, India played 21 Matches in New Zealand scoring 192 Goals, with Dhyan Chand alone accounting for 100 goals. Under Dhyan Chand’s captaincy at the Berlin Olympics, his magical stick-work drew the crowds from other venues to the hockey stadium. Posters sprung up all over the city saying “Visit the Hockey Stadium to watch the Indian Magician Major Dhyan Chand in action”. He was even offered German citizenship and the rank of Colonel in the German Army by Hitler, which he declined. The German Authorities also broke his stick to check if there was a magnet inside. Hockey India is hopeful that the Government will award Bharat Ratna to the hockey legend.
|
||
|
Padma Shri for Chaturvedi
New Delhi, January 25 A former zoology teacher at Delhi University’s oldest institution, Delhi College (now renamed as Zakir Husain Delhi College), where he taught for 40 years, Chaturvedi has more than 40 years radio and television cricket commentary experience. He has covered 102 Tests and 215 one-day internationals. India’s late captain Mansoor Ali (Nawab of Pataudi) had ranked him as John Arlott of hindi cricket commentary. Chaturvedi’s first hindi cricket commentary was on All India Radio on February 2, 1962. Later, he covered cricket and other sports for Doordarshan also. He also covered sports programmes for the BBC and the Voice of America. As the first hindi cricket commentator, Chaturvedi evolved appropriate language, phraseology and terminology. Wisden, a cricket magazine from England regarded as the Bible of cricket, has lauded Chaturvedi’s commentary career. Chaturvedi has written 20 cricket books - 15 in English and 5 in Hindi. He was invited to write on the 'Contribution of the Indo-West Indians to Caribbean Cricket' in a book - ‘Sojourners to Settlers.’ With UNESCO and WWF, Chaturvedi is associated in an international project ‘Naming of Cricketing Countries based on their Endangered Animal for Fostering Peace, International Understanding and Promoting Environmental Protection.’ |
||
|
Patiala Foundation Cricket Cup Tribune News Service
Patiala, January 25 In reply, Patiala XI started their innings in a disappointing fashion and kept losing wickets at regular intervals due to tight bowling and fielding by BECC team. Only Aman S. (36 runs) and Vikrant (18) could manage double figures. Patiala XI managed to score only 92 runs in their allotted 20 overs and lost the match by 44 runs. In another match Royal Crushers defeated Phoenix Club by 9 wickets. Winning the toss Phoenix Club elected to bat first and managed only 98 runs. In reply, Royal Crushers chased the target losing just one wicket. Ravinder Rajji played a superb knock of 63* for his team. Brief Scores: Black Elephant Cricket Club ; 136 for 8 in 20 overs: Abhinav 15, Sanjay 64 n.o, Rajat Pusha 15, Kohinoor 11, Raj 2 for 13, Abhisek 2 for 32, Anoop 2 for 27) Patiala XI: 92 for 7 in 20 overs (Aman S. 36, Vikrant Sarohi 18, Arun Bharti 2 for 17, Sunpreet Singh 1 for 12, Kohinoor 1 for 18); Phoenix Club Patiala: 98 all out in 19.3 overs (Sujeet 44, Jaspal 2 for 6, Vijay 3 for 21, Naresh 2 for 19, Ravinder Rajji 1 for 24) Royal Crushers: 99 for 1 in 14.2 overs (Rakesh 17, Ravinder Rajji 63 n.o).
|
Kanwaljit and Gurmeet qualify
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
India faced a gigantic battle to save the match following two early dismissals after Australia rode on double centuries by skipper Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting to declare at a mammoth 604 for seven in the fourth and final cricket Test here today. India were at a shaky 61 for 2 in reply from the 21 overs possible after Australia declared their first innings about half an hour after tea on the second day.
In his quest for a 4-0 whitewash, Australian skipper Michael Clarke said his team would not show any sympathy to Sachin
Tendulkar, who remains unbeaten at the end of day two of the fourth Test here and desperately seeks his 100th international century.
Ishant Sharma has been toiling hard for the past one month but does not have results to show for his on-field efforts during the tour of Australia. The lanky fast bowler however doesn't want to consider himself unlucky for not getting wickets and would like to strive hard rather than sulk.
Melbourne, January 25
Sambo, which is a mix of Judo and a few wrestling techniques, is a relatively new sport and was invented by the Russian Red Army in the 1920s. 
England's pace-cum-spin attack delivered the goods to keep Pakistan down to 256-7 on the opening day of the second Test at Abu Dhabi Stadium here today. Paceman Stuart Broad took 3-47 while spinner Graeme Swann (3-52) bowled well to keep England's hopes of squaring the three-Test series alive after they lost the first match in Dubai by 10 wickets inside three days.
