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fourth test: day 5
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No quick decision on seniors: Dhoni
Veterans fail, Kohli only batsman to sparkle
Azarenka is Open queen
Singapore to replace US in Olympic Qualifier
Liverpool beat Man United in FA Cup
United Club squander full points
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fourth test: day 5
Adelaide, January 28 Chasing a mammoth 500 for a win, India's tailend resistance did not last long before the listless visitors were bundled out for 201 runs in 69.4 overs in their second innings to give the resurgent Australians an emphatic 4-0 series triumph. The fifth and final day of the only Test that went the whole hog in the entire series started with Australia needing just four wickets to wrap it up in style and the home side took just 59 minutes to complete the formalities. India, thus, suffered their eighth straight overseas defeat after having been whitewashed 0-4 in England last year. Resuming at 166 for six, the Indians lasted 13-odd overs during which they added 35 runs before being bowled out for 201. The famed but miserably out of form top order had failed the team yesterday itself and not much was expected of the tail that rarely wags. It went perfectly to the script for the Australians, who were considered too inexperienced to handle the sheer weight of runs that the Indian batsmen brought with them at the start of the series. But the sprightly home unit, under an in-form and shrewd Michael Clarke, turned the tables magnificently. In fact, the result has left the much-vaunted batting trio of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman battling to save their career after failing to score a single hundred against an inexperienced but disciplined and spirited bowling attack. Earlier today, the sight of Indian tailenders prompted Clarke to start the proceedings with his faster bowlers and they responded to his skipper's call by removing the two overnight batsmen Ishant Sharma (2) and Wriddhiman Saha (3) in the first three overs of the day. Ishant was the first to depart, poking at a Ryan Harris delivery which wicketkeeper Brad Haddin had no problem in pouching. Next over, Saha followed suit in identical fashion, caught by Haddin off Peter Siddle. Zaheer, unlike his previous innings in the series, seemed determined to spend time at the crease rather than flashing at every delivery. He batted for 18 balls from which he scored 15 runs with the help of four boundaries before Ben Hilfenhaus sent him packing. Zaheer lobbed a simple catch to David Warner in the covers while trying to pull a short delivery off Hilfenhaus. Umesh Yadav was the last wicket to fall, handing Haddin his third catch of the morning off Nathan Lyon's bowling.
— PTI Scoreboard Australia: 604/7 decl & 167 for 5 decl India 1st Innings: 272 India 2nd Innings (Overnight 166 for six) Ishant c Haddin b Harris 2 Saha c Haddin b Siddle 3 Ashwin not out 15 Zaheer c Warner b Hilfenhaus 15 Yadav c Haddin b Lyon 1 Extras: (lb-3, w-2) 5 Total: (all out, 69.4 ovrs) 201 Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-80, 3-100, 4-110, 5-162, 6-166, 7-166, 8-170, 9-193, 10-201. Bowling: Harris 19-5-41-3, Hilfenhaus 11-2-35-1, Siddle 14-5-47-1, Lyon 21.4-4-63-4, Hussey 2-0-3-0, Clarke 2-0-9-0.
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It happens to all teams: Sehwag
Adelaide, January 28 Sehwag urged the fans and media to back the team when it is down in the dumps after India lost the final Test by 298 runs at Adelaide Oval today to sign off with a 0-4 scoreline. "If you look at even Australia, they lost the Ashes and were all out for 47 in South Africa. It happens to every team," said Sehwag when asked about the abject surrender, their second successive series defeat on foreign soil after the disaster in England last year. "They (fans and media) should be upset with our performance, I agree. But this is the time fans should back team and players. This is the time we need support from fans and everybody should back their team," said Sehwag as he faced a barrage of questions. "When we won the World Cup, everybody was happy and cheering Team India. This is the time we need support. Every other media does it, be it England, South Africa or Australia. They criticise in a manner the player doesn't go down. They don't do it in the manner that a team and a player goes down when they read articles and watch television." Trying to explain the debacle, the opener, who is himself under scrutiny for his poor form and reckless shot selection, defended his senior teammates -- all of whom came a cropper. "We didn't bat well there (in England) and we also didn't' bat well here. Our top 6-7 batsmen didn't' score enough runs for bowlers to win the games. In England, Rahul (Dravid) scored three hundreds. Here only Virat Kohli did it," he said.
— PTI |
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No quick decision on seniors: Dhoni
Adelaide, January 28 There is intense speculation on the future of India's senior batting trio of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman after their failure to perform in the 0-4 series whitewash at the hands of Australia. "We will have to wait and watch (if there are changes). Our next Test series is only in September, there is plenty of time, we don't want to take decisions quickly," said Dhoni after India's 298-run loss in the fourth Test here today. Dhoni said the hosts were the deserving winners as they played consistent cricket throughout the rubber unlike his team. "They have played consistent cricket. Whenever a partnership was needed, their batsmen stepped up and put par-plus runs on the board. Their bowlers were also consistent. They always stepped up when needed," Dhoni said. "There comes a phase in Australia when once you are set it is difficult for bowlers. That is when you have to be consistent with line and length. They (Australia) never gave us boundaries easily," he added. India were mauled by an identical margin in England last year.
— PTI |
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‘Bowling partnerships was main plan’
Adelaide, January 28 Siddle, who was persistently hostile and aggressive throughout the series, attributed the Australian bowling unit's success to combined efforts. "There is always a lot of emphasis on batting partnerships and our big emphasis coming into this summer was bowling partnerships," said the 27-year-old Victorian, who returned with match figures of six for 96 on a placid Adelaide track to earn the man-of-the-match award in the fourth cricket Test against India. "We went about that spot on. No matter what attack we had, we stuck to our guns, we did the job. That was our plan, and we didn't steer away from that. "Every morning we knew we had to bowl in partnerships and be consistent and be patient. And I think it showed in the performances," he said. "At times the batters have set us up as well and we just knew we had to go out there and be patient. I think that just summed up the summer and what we wanted to achieve," Siddle added. Australia today crushed India by 298 runs in the fourth and final Test to complete a 4-0 series whitewash. Even though Siddle was full of praise for Australia's bowling unit, he felt there was still some room for improvement. "We still have room for improvement. We are going in the right direcdtion. The good thing about the whole summer was the number of guys who played from Starcy (Mitchell Starc) and Jimmy Patto (Pattinson).
— PTI |
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Veterans fail, Kohli only batsman to sparkle
Adelaide, January 28 Most of the batsmen, including captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, opening pair of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, veterans Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, cut a sorry figure in the series. While Dhoni managed 102 runs from six innings at an average of 20.40, Sehwag (198) and Gambhir (181) turned out to be disaster at the top averaging mere 24.75 and 22.62 respectively. Dravid, known as "The Wall" of Indian cricket, crumbled time and again throughout the series and scored just 194 runs at an average of 24.25. Laxman was no better as he averaged a dismal 19.37 and managed to score just 155 runs from his eight knocks. But young Virat Kohli, who made his debut in the series, turned out to be the top performer for India with the bat, scoring 300 runs from eight innings at an average of 37.50. He also scored India's lone century in the rubber with a gutsy 116 in the fourth and final cricket Test here. Kohli's was closely followed batting ace Sachin Tendulkar, who was the second highest scorer for India with 287 runs at an average 35.87.
— PTI |
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Rehman humbles England as Pak win
Abu Dhabi, January 28 The 31-year-old twice took two wickets in successive overs to dent England's chase after they were set a 145-run target on a weary fourth day Abu Dhabi Stadium pitch, bowling them out for 72 - their lowest against Pakistan in all
Tests. Rehman's effort overshadowed Monty Panesar's 6-62, in his first Test for 30 months, which finished Pakistan's second innings at 214 in the morning. This is England's first series defeat after being unbeaten in their previous nine since their loss to the West Indies in early 2009 - a sequence which saw them rise to world number one in the Test rankings in August last year. Pakistan won the first Test in Dubai by ten wickets. The third Test will also be played in Dubai from February 3.Rehman was ably assisted by off-spinners Saeed Ajmal (3-22) and Mohammad Hafeez (1-11) in a match which saw spinners dominate from the first day. England lost their top four batsmen in the space of just 37 balls after an extra cautious start on a difficult pitch. England captain Andrew Strauss topscored with 32 before he became one of Rehman's victims during his maiden five-wicket haul. In the penultimate over before tea, Rehman trapped Kevin Pietersen (one) and two balls later bowled Eoin Morgan
(nought) to raise hopes of an unlikely win for Pakistan. Sensing they could only upset their rivals through early wickets, Pakistan opened the bowling with off-spinner Mohammad Hafeez who responded well by catching Alastair Cook (seven) off his own bowling after England had edged cautiously to 21 by the 15th over. Bell, promoted to number three after Jonathan Trott was unwell, was all at sea against master spinner Saeed Ajmal and his tentative push went through his legs to hit the stumps. He made only three. Brief Scores: Pakistan 257
(Misbah 84, Shafiq 58, Broad 4-47) and 214 (Azhar 68; Panesar 6-62) beat England 327 (Cook 94, Broad 58*, Ajmal 4-108) and 72
(Rehman 6-25, Ajmal 3-22) by 72 runs. — AFP |
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Azarenka is Open queen
Melbourne, January 28 "I can't wait to be back next year, I've had an amazing month in Australia. It's a dream true," said Azarenka. Azarenka came from 0-2 down in the first set to win 12 of the next 13 games for a comprehensive victory, as Sharapova's game disintegrated in the face of all-out aggression from the Belarusian. Sharapova made 30 unforced errors, while Azarenka played almost flawlessly at times with only 12 errors across the two sets. "As in any sport you have your good days you have your tough days and you have days where things just don't work out. Today Victoria was just too good," Sharapova said. "It all comes down to the last two athletes, winner takes it all after all the players in the draw. I've had great wins here and I've had tough losses but there's no doubt I'll be back." Azarenka won the toss and chose to serve, but she started nervously and dished up two double-faults on her way to dropping the first game. Sharapova consolidated to open a 2-0 lead and got to 0-30 on Azarenka's next game, but the Belarusian seemed to shake off her nerves and slowly took control. Know the Champ Victoria Azarenka is a Belarusian professional tennis player. She will be ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association from January 30, 2012. By winning the 2012 Australian Open singles title, she became the first Belarusian player to win a Grand Slam in singles. Her other achievements include winning two mixed doubles Grand Slam titles, the 2007 US Open with Max Mirnyi and the 2008 French Open with Bob Bryan.
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Paes-Stepanek lift doubles crown
The unseeded Indo-Czech pair played tremendously to win 7-6(1) 6-2 in the summit clash, which lasted one hour and 24 minutes. Thrice Paes had reached the Australian open final but lost on all ocassions -- twice to Bryan brothers. This title has eluded Paes since the late 90s when he along with estranged partner Mahesh Bhupathi dominated the doubles tennis and reached the number one spot as a team in 1999. In their quest to complete their slam tally, Paes and Bhupathi had joined hands in 2011 after a gap 11 years but the title slipped out of their hands as they lost to Bryan brothers. Paes and Bhupathi broke partnership again with the latter choosing Rohan Bopanna as partner on Tour for the 2012 season. Paes began the season by winning the Chennai Open with Serbian Janko Tipsarevic. This is the 13th Grand Slam title for Paes with seven men's doubles trophies and six mixed doubles titles and is India's most succesful doubles player in majors. Bhupathi has won 11 Grand Slam titles. Paes won French Open thrice (1999, 2001, 2009) and Wimbledon (1999) and US Open (2006) once each. Paes now has a chance of winning both men's doubles and mixed doubles titles in the same Grand Slam tournament as he is due to play the mixed doubles final.
— PTI |
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Singapore to replace US in Olympic Qualifier
New Delhi, January 28 Singapore were contacted to join the six-team men’s qualification group after the United States unexpectedly pulled out of the event. “We were pleased that Singapore agreed on such short notice to take part in the Olympic Qualification event,” said FIH CEO Kelly Fairweather. “It will undoubtedly give its men’s national team valuable experience in a major international tournament.” The tournament at the National Stadium in Delhi will feature a six-team round robin format. Following the round robin, the teams ranked first and second will play for a berth at the London 2012 Olympic Games. The remaining four teams will play placement games for FIH World Ranking points. FIH also noted women’s hockey will receive record exposure on the Asian subcontinent when the Argentina FIH Champions Trophy starts in Rosario today. Both Ten Sports in India and Pakistan, and PTV Sports, in Pakistan will show more matches of the annual FIH women’s event than ever before. Ten Sports will show 15 of the 24 matches live, with a further seven matches delayed-as-live. PTV will show all except four matches live, the others being broadcast delayed-as-live. FIH has long-term contracts with both broadcasters for all its major televised events up until 2014. The Champions Trophy is FIH’s premier annual event. The eight top nations in the world will meet over seven competition days in Rosario ( Argentina), the same city that hosted the FIH World Cup for women in September 2010. FIH President Leandro Negre said, “The Champions Trophy is a magnificent spectacle of the best of women’s hockey and I’m delighted that FIH’s valued broadcast partners Ten Sports and PTV will bring the event to hockey fans in a key territory for hockey”. |
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Prowling Tiger Woods shares the lead
Abu Dhabi, January 28 Woods went into share of lead after 10 holes of the third round. The rejuvenated 14-time major winner hoisted himself into a four-way tie for the lead at 8-under with Swede Peter Hanson, South African James Kingston and Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Gonnet. Woods, who came into the third round after posting rounds of 70 and 69, was 3-under as was Gonnet after nine holes, but the man setting the pace on an Abu Dhabi GC course that until now had given very little away, was a super hot Hanson who after just making the cut, had stormed to the top of the leaderboard after 16 holes with seven birdies without a bogie in sight. The four were a shot clear of a group of six more players tied at 7-under that included World No 3 and reigning US Open champions Rory McIlroy, who for the first time in the tournament had dropped behind playing partner Woods, and Thorbjorn Olsesn, the exciting young Danish prospect who had led the second round. Two top ranked players not in contention on Saturday and not likely to feature on the packed leaderboard that will fight it out in Sunday's final round were World Nos 1 and 2 Luke Donald and Lee Westwood. Westwood shot a 4-under 68 that has left him four shots off the pace on 4-under and Donald was struggling at 1-over on the 17th hole on a level par tournament total that will give him very little chance of a strong finish this week Leaderboard: Tiger Woods -11, Robert Rock -11, P Hanson -9, F Molinari -9, R McIlroy -9, Lawrie -9. — Agencies |
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Liverpool beat Man United in FA Cup
London, January 28 United left back Evra was given a hostile Anfield reception after the Frenchman's involvement in a spat with Liverpool's Luis Suarez in October, which led to the Uruguayan's current eight-match ban for racial abuse. Liverpool, still missing the verve offered by forward Suarez, took the lead on 21 minutes when Daniel Agger headed in a corner which struggling United goalkeeper David De Gea failed to collect after being deliberately crowded out by the hosts. United, without the injured Wayne Rooney, hit back through a crisp strike inside the near post from Park Ji-sung on 39 minutes and the visitors had other good chances. However, Liverpool had the last laugh. Andy Carroll flicked on the ball to leave Evra out of position and Dutchman Kuyt slammed in when De Gea could again have done better. Liverpool were joined in the fifth round by Chelsea who won 1-0 at Queens Park Rangers.
— Reuters |
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United Club squander full points
Kolkata, January 28 Sporting drew first blood when Ogba Kalu Nnanna put the team ahead in the 30th minute. But the home team bounced back in style with second-half goals from James Singh (50th) and Bello Rasaq (53rd) to take a 2-1 lead. There were more misery in store for the Goans who were reduced to 10 players minutes after conceding the lead, when Jovel Martins earned his second yellow to be sent off. But just when Sanjoy Sen's wards were heading towards three points, Sudanese recruit James Moga restored parity with an 87th-minute goal.
— PTI |
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India's 298-run defeat is their eighth in a row in overseas Tests, which is their second-worst run in away games. Their worst was between 1959 and 1968, when they lost 17 in a row.
Conversely, India's bowling average in this series was 51.11, which is their fifth-worst in a series of four of more Tests. Second on that list is their performance in England last year, when they averaged 58.45. This means two of their five worst bowling performances have come in the last six months.
She stepped up to the baseline and took the ball early, pressuring Sharapova into mistakes.
— AFP
Melbourne, January 28