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England draw third practice game
BCCI rejects fixing claims in India-Pak World Cup semis
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RANJI TROPHY
Hiken ton keeps Mumbai in hunt
Dogra cracks double century as HP take command against Services
Manassero wins, SSP top Indian
Hesh-Bops win grudge match
Hernandez inspires Man U comeback
India camp at Brabourne concludes
‘Oz Board must get tough with IPL-bound players’
Chelsea claim profit, but does it all add up?
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England draw third practice game
Ahmedabad, November 11 Haryana were 133 for six in 42 overs, chasing 441, when the match was stopped. Resuming at 73 for two after tea, opener Nitin Saini completed a half century before becoming Monty Panesar's only victim of the day when the left-arm spinner had him caught behind after an 84-ball stay. Saini struck nine fours during his entertaining knock but the rest of the Haryana line-up failed to impress and pacer Tim Bresnan picked up two wickets to finish with a five-wicket haul in the match. Earlier, England had useful batting practice ahead of their first cricket Test against India starting November 15, as they declared their second innings at 254 for six to take an overall 441-run lead. England declared midway into the second session as soon as star batsman and first innings centurion Kevin Pitersen was out for a two-ball duck of the bowling of off-spinner Jayant Yadav. Opener Jonathon Trott struck a century as England reached 221 for two at lunch to extend their lead to 408 runs. Trott, overnight 61, retired after scoring 101 to give batting practice to his other colleagues in England's final tour game before the first Test. Captain Alastair Cook, who was batting on 2, then ended their innings at 254 for six. The visitors added 33 runs to their lunch score of 221 for two. They played 11.2 overs in the session and 75.2 overall, scoring at the rate of 3.37 runs per over. Pacer Sanjay Budhwar scalped three quick wickets before Yadav removed Pietersen. Ian Bell was the first to go in the middle session on 48 of the bowling of Budhwar who then claimed the wickets of Tim Bresnan (14) and Samit Patel (0). Chasing the ungettable target, Haryana lost first innings centurion Rahul Dewan (13) and Sachin Rana (5) in successive overs as they were reduced to 45 for two after 10.5 overs. Opener Nitin Saini was going strong on 42 while Sunny Singh was giving him company on 11. After resuming the day at 118 for no loss, England added 103 runs in 26 overs in the morning session at a healthy run rate of just a fraction less than four per over. Haryana bowlers had to toil hard for the second time in the match, having allowed England to pile on 521 in the visitors' first innings. England were ahead by 188 runs in the first innings. Captain Cook happy with preparation
England could not get what would have been a morale-boosting win but England captain Alastair Cook today said he was happy with the team's preparations ahead of the opening Test against India starting November 15. "Everyone's got a chance to play in the three practice games. It was a good workout for the team. We are settling down nicely," said Cook after the third practice match against Haryana ended in a draw. Regarding lack of quality opposition in the last two matches, Cook stated, “That's something beyond our control. Only time will tell. But we have had good spinners.” — PTI SCOREBOARD England XI 1st innings: 521 Haryana 1st innings: 334 England XI 2nd inngs (254/6 decl) Haryana 2nd innings Saini c Prior b Panesar 50 Dewan lbw b Meaker 13 Rana lbw b Patel 5 Sunny c Prior b Bresnan 25 Khod c Prior b Bresnan 1 Sandeep c Prior b Onions 7 Amit not out 19 Yadav not out 3 Extras: 10 Total: (6 wkts in 42 ovrs) 132 Fall of wickets: 1-36, 2-45, 3-88, 4-94, 5-96, 6-110 Bowling: Onions 9-2-34-1, Bresnan 7-2-13-2, Meaker 7-2-19-1, Samit Patel 6-0-26-1, Panesar 10-5-18-1, Pietersen 3-1-13-0. |
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BCCI rejects fixing claims in India-Pak World Cup semis
New Delhi, November 11 A British sports-betting journalist in his yet to be launched book has raised doubts that the match between the two arch-rivals may have been fixed. BCCI President N Srinivasan however dismissed the claims. "I don't generally comment on such newspaper reports but this is the farthest from the truth. And it is an insult to the Indian team which worked hard to win," Srinivasan said. Reacting to the claims, Pakistan's leading off-spinner has said this was being done to spoil the upcoming series. The journalist has written in his book that he got a message from an Indian bookie, who predicted the trend and pattern of the match. British Tabloid 'Daily Mail' has published extracts of the book. The ICC had earlier rejected the allegations which had surfaced shortly after the match. The then ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat had said, "The ICC has no reason or evidence to require an investigation into this match. It is indeed sad for spurious claims to be made which only serve to cause doubt on the semi-final of one of the most successful ICC Cricket World Cups ever." Meanwhile, the then PCB chief Ijaz Butt said he would like to see the PCB take up the issue with the ICC. "I am no longer the Chairman and it is not right for me to say anything now but I think the current Chairman should take up this issue with the ICC,” Butt said. — PTI
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Clarke, Cowan fight as SA corner Australia
Brisbane. November 11 The tourists were reduced to 10 fit batsmen after an injury to JP Duminy but 147 from the evergreen Kallis and 104 from the in-form Amla helped them to an imposing first innings tally of 450. The much vaunted pace attack took over just after tea and, finding movement on the Gabba track that had evaded the Australians, removed opener David Warner (4), debutant Rob Quiney (9) and Ricky Ponting (0) in quick succession. Ed Cowan, who finished the day 49 not out, and captain Michael Clarke, unbeaten on 34, restored some stability to the Australia innings with a stand of 71 before stumps were drawn. Morne Morkel took 2-25 but Steyn perhaps had the bigger impact, tempting Warner into an outside edge that Kallis caught in the slips and, fielding at fine leg, flicking a Quiney hook shot back inside the boundary rope and catching it infield. Ponting exited after he had faced just five balls when he went for a Morkel delivery well outside his off stump and Kallis again took the catch in the slips to leave Australia on 40-3. Morkel had yet to concede a run and memories of last year's Cape Town test, where South Africa bowled Australia out for 47, were surely flashing through the minds of both teams. The tourists had resumed on 255 for two after the second day had been washed away by rain and Amla soon had the 10 runs he needed for his 17th test hundred, a third in his last four tests. The 29-year-old cut James Pattinson for the seventh four of his innings to reach the mark. Kallis ready to bowl
After a stellar day with the bat and in the field on Sunday, Jacques Kallis declared himself fit and ready to play his part with the ball in the last two days of the first test against Australia. The 37-year-old said there would be no problem if skipper Graeme Smith tossed him the ball on Monday. "I'm ready to go," he said. "It's managing the workload as well, just got to be careful with that, but as far the body goes, it's alright for the moment." — Reuters |
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With tons coming thick and fast, Bengal flattened by Mohali track
Mohali, November 11 Trailing by 253 runs, Bengal were in a spot of bother as they ended third day`s play at 25 for one with experienced opener Subhamoy Das already back in the pavilion. They still need to score 229 runs to avoid innings defeat. If the match is divided into nine sessions over three days, Bengal have been thrashed in eight of them and that is what precisely has been the reason for this disastrous show. First it was Jiwanjot (158) and Sidhana (115) who dominated the Bengal bowling with a 224-run second wicket partnership. While Sidhana`s 194 ball innings had 19 boundaries, Jiwanjot, who is going through dream phase, hit 158 from 288 balls with 17 fours and was when Punjab`s score had reached 331. Left-hander Uday took over from Jiwanjot as he played 236 balls hitting 24 boundaries. He had two identical partnerships of 103 each with Amitoze Singh (52) and Bipul Sharma (39). The Bengal bowlers again failed to bowl according to field placement. The worst offender was Ashoke Dinda who gave away 107 runs in his 33 overs. Bengal`s seniormost bowler had a lot of responsibility but his performance was far from what one expects from a man who is national reckoning. Sourav Sarkar`s one-dimensional bowling getting the ball back into the right-handers became predictable while Veer Pratap`s inexperience at this level showed. Skipper Tiwary tried his leg-breaks and was partially successful in removing centurion Jiwanjot but also got punished. — PTI SCOREBOARD Bengal 326 & 25/1 (8.0 ov) Punjab 579/7d Jiwanjot c Basu b Tiwary 158 K Goel b Shukla 12 M Sidhana c Porel b Nandi 115 Mandeep c Tiwary b Shukla 0 U Kaul not out 165 Amitoze lbw b Dinda 52 Bipul c Pratap b Majumdar 39 Rahul c Das b Majumdar 1 Gony not out 25 Extras: 12 Total: (7 wkts in 150 ovrs) 579 Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-247, 3-252, 4-331, 5-434, 6-537, 7-543 Bowling: AB Dinda 33-6-107-1, SS Sarkar 22-5-66-0, LR Shukla 25-6-65-2, V Pratap 18-4-72-0, AA Nandi 27-2-122-1, AP Majumdar 8-0-43-2, Tiwary 16-1-86-1, JJ Basu 1-0-10-0 Bengal Basu batting 11 SS Das c Amitoze b Siddharth 9 WS Porel batting 1 Extras: 4 Total: (1 wkt; 8overs) 25
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Hiken ton keeps Mumbai in hunt Jaipur: Hiken Shah smashed an unbeaten 118 while Aditya Tare (80) and Rohit Sharma (79) scored impressive half centuries to propel Mumbai to 360 for three in their first innings in reply to Rajasthan's 478 at stumps on day three of the Ranji Trophy Group A match on Sunday. Resuming at the overnight score of 76 for no loss, openers Tare and Kaustubh Pawar (53) added 47 runs before the latter became Aniket Choudhary's victim. Pawar stuck eight fours during his 137-ball innings. Tare added another 37 runs to his overnight score of 43 before being dismissed lbw by pacer Pankaj Singh. He smashed 14 boundaries in his 171-ball knock. Shah and Rohit Sharma took the Mumbai innings forward with a 175-run partnership. Brief Scores: Rajasthan 1st innings: 478 in 152 overs; Mumbai 1st innings: 360/3 in 118 overs (Hiken Shah 118 not out, Aditya Tare 80, Rohit Sharma 79; A Choudhary 1/68). — PTI
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Dogra cracks double ton as HP take command against Services
Nadaun, November 11 Himachal then reduced the visitors to 46 for two in their second essay when stumps were drawn. Pratik Desai (not out on 26) and Anshul Gupta, yet to open his account, were in the middle. Starting the day at 252 for two, HP reached 540 plus runs before declaring the innings in response to Services' first innings total of 312. The right-handed Dogra was well supported by Amit Kumar who missed a well-deserved century by just nine runs. Hemanth Kumar was the first one to go without adding any runs to his overnight total of 29. However, his dismissal had little effect on the hosts as Dogra and Amit Kumar combined together to raise 110 for the fourth wicket before the latter fell to leg spinner Muzzaffaruddin Khalid. Dogra (210) was the next one to go, but not before helping his team cross 500-run mark. His 334-ball stay at the crease was laced with 25 fours and one six. Services, meanwhile, started their second innings positively raising 42 runs for the first wicket before Rishi Dhawan struck twice to dismiss Soomik Chaterjee and Shadab Nazar of successive deliveries to leave the visitors trailing by 186 runs with eight wickets in hand at the close of the day. Brief Scores: Services: 312 & 46 for two in 15 overs (Pratik Desai not out 26; Rishi Dhawan 25/2); Himachal Pradesh 1st innings: 544 for six dec in 153 overs (Paras Dogra 210, Amit Kumar 91; Muzzaffaruddin Khalid 182/4). Delhi inch closer to victory against Odisha Delhi inched closer to victory as Odisha were left struggling at 229 for six in the second innings on the penultimate day of their Ranji Trophy tie at the Ferozshah Kotla in New Delhi on Sunday. Orissa have a lead of 41 runs and with four wickets in hand they will have a mountain to climb to prevent an outright defeat against Delhi, who scored 331 in the first innings. At stumps, Odisha skipper Natraj Behera and Deepak Behera were batting on 35 and four, respectively. Odisha starting their day at 7/0, trailing by 181 runs, and their batsmen dug-deep and did not throw away wickets, playing cautiously. — PTI
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Manassero wins, SSP top Indian
ingapore, November 11 Chowrasia (70-69-71-70), playing his final two rounds alongside Louis Oosthuizen, was the only Indian to improve his position in the final round. He finished at three-under 281 and it was his third top-20 finish on the European Tour this season. Italian teenager Matteo Manassero and 2010 Open winner Oosthuizen delivered a dramatic finale amid a setting sun on a dry but humid Sunday. Manassero won his third European Tour title beating the more experienced 30-year-old South African on the third play-off hole and he will now possibly defend the title under a new sponsorship next year. Manassero, the European Tour’s youngest winner – he won at 17 years in 2010 – and Oosthuizen first played 33 and 31 holes respectively, to arrive at the same result of 13-under for 72 holes. They then played out another three holes. Even as the two players with long tongue-twisters for names, produced a theatrical finish, the Indians, who finished the third round in the most promising manner indicating possible top-10 finishes, wilted on the marathon Sunday. Gaganjeet Bhullar admitted to fatigue of playing 11 weeks and the long Sunday shot a 72 in the final round after a 69 in third. Shiv Kapur (72) also dropped from tied 13th to tied 22nd at three-under 281 but Anirban Lahiri (78) who had one triple, one double and four other bogeys and only two birdies, suffered a dramatic drop from tied fifth to tied 37th at one-over 285. Jyoti Randhawa collapsed with a 81 and dropped even more from tied 26th to 63rd at eight-over 292. — PTI
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Hesh-Bops win grudge match
London, November 11 The fifth seeded Indian pair halted the winning run of the Indo-Czech combination with a 4-6 6-1 12-10 win in the semifinals and in the process avenged the defeat of the Shanghai Masters final last month. Paes had said that Shanghai final was a kind of grudge match after the Olympics selection drama when both Bhupathi and Bopanna had refused to pair with him. Paes and Stepanek’s third seed team was the only one to enter the semifinals unbeaten. They had topped the Group A with three wins from as many matches. Bhupathi and Bopanna, who are making their debut at the finale as a pair, now have a chance to create history as no Indian has won the year-end championship since Vijay Amritraj’s triumph in 1977. Bhupathi is making his 12th appearance at the finale and has ended runner-up four-time, including thrice with Paes. With Paes he ended runners-up in 1997, 1999 and 2000 while in 2010 he finished runner-up with Max Mirnyi. Like Bhupathi, Paes is 0-4 in title matches at the season-ending championships. In the first set, Paes and Stepanek converted their fourth break point opportunity on Bhupathi’s serve, winning a sudden death deuce for a 4-3 lead. Serving for the set at 5-4, Stepanek hit an unreturned serve to seal the 36-minute opener. Bhupathi and Bopanna put Paes under pressure in the third game of the second set. Paes saved two breakpoints when down at 0/40 but hit a backhand volley into the net to gift his fellow Indians a 3-1 lead. Bhupathi and Bopanna extended their lead to 5-1 after two terrific returns in Stepanek’s service game. Bhupathi closed out the 25-minute set with a hold to 15. The Match tie-breaker was a tight affair with the two teams locked at 3-3 and then 8-8. Stepanek served out wide to Bopanna, who lobbed too short to give Paes a smash winner. Bhupathi saved one match point with a backhand volley and at 9-9, on Bopanna’s serve and hit another volley winner down the middle. Paes saved the match point with a volley winner, but Stepanek volleyed a backhand into the net at 10-10. Bhupathi, serving on his team’s second match point, served down the middle, Stepanek returned to Bopanna, who struck a volley for a winner. — PTI
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Hernandez inspires Man U comeback
London, November 11 Austrian Andreas Weimann had stunned United with two well-taken goals for lowly Villa either side of the break but Mexico striker Hernandez showed his killer instincts by netting on 58 minutes and seeing a second shot deflect in off Ron Vlaar. He sealed the remarkable comeback with a diving header three minutes from time as Alex Ferguson’s men yet again plucked victory from the jaws of the defeat thanks to their incessant pressure and clinical finishing. “The only thing in my mind is to do my best and do what the gaffer told me to do. He told me to do the things I do in training, to run in behind, to move the defenders,” Hernandez told Sky before claiming a hat-trick despite a debatable second. “Yes of course (I’ll claim it). I hit the target and the defender touched the ball.” United stretched their lead to four points after 11 games ahead of second-placed Chelsea with champions Manchester City a further point back in third. Chelsea host Liverpool and City entertain Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday. Arsenal’s season took another turn for the worse when they let slip a two-goal lead and Mikel Arteta missed a late penalty as a Dimitar Berbatov-inspired Fulham grabbed a 3-3 away draw. Olivier Giroud’s double - his first home league goals - could not prevent Arsenal staying seventh, sliding four points behind fourth-placed Everton who beat visiting Sunderland 2-1. Surprise packages West Bromwich Albion, in fifth, are level on points with Everton following a 2-1 victory at Wigan Athletic thanks to James Morrison’s header and a Gary Caldwell own goal. Former Liverpool midfielder Charlie Adam’s first goal for Stoke City sealed a 1-0 home win over Queens Park Rangers who plunged to the bottom of the table after Southampton leapfrogged the Londoners with a 1-1 draw against Swansea City. Reading and Norwich City drew 0-0 in a dour game. — Reuters
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India camp at Brabourne concludes
Mumbai, November 11 The team had a five-hour training session with a short break for lunch at the Brabourne Stadium with all the cricketers given an opportunity to have a feel of match conditions against their own bowlers and some other local bowlers. The team's training was supervised by chief coach Duncan Fletcher, bowling coach Joe Dawes and fielding coach Trevor Penney. The squad members are set to depart tomorrow morning for the series opener at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad. England had moved to Ahmedabad on the sixth itself from here, after playing two warm-up games, and currently playing their third and final warm-up tour game against Haryana, that is also set to conclude today. The second match of the Test rubber is scheduled at the Wankhede Stadium here from November 23. The last two matches of the series will be played at Kolkata (December 5-9) and Nagpur (December 13-17) after which there would be a two-match Twenty20 series between the two teams on December 20 and 22 at Pune and Mumbai. England will go home for the Christmas and New Year break before returning to play a five-match ODI series against the hosts starting January 11 at Rajkot. India would clash with Pakistan in a short series of T20 games and ODIs during the period England are away. Earlier on Saturday, the team had a five-and-half-hour practice, supervised by chief coach Duncan Fletcher, bowling coach Joe Dawes and fielding coach Evan Speechly. The rigorous session started with batsmen coming in pairs at the centre of the pitch. Later, most of them spent a few minutes at the nets. All batsmen, who are expected to make up the first Test's line-up at Ahmedabad, had a decent stint. — PTI
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‘Oz Board must get tough with IPL-bound players’
New Delhi, November 11 "It is the real test. It runs the risk of being a bit overwhelmed by the desire for greater audiences, greater revenue," Maxwell said. "If Cricket Australia really wants to protect its interests and its players, I would have thought they would say to those who wish to go and play in the IPL, 'OK, well you're no longer on contract, you'll be paid match by match'," — ANI
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On first visit, Maria admires India’s energy
New Delhi, November 11 Asked about her tryst with the Indian cuisine, she said: “I arrived here last night. In the morning I asked the chef what should I try of the Indian food. I had a dosa which tasted really nice. I wanted to have this great Indian experience. There is so much energy in the city, I have been in some quiet areas recently and I really liked the culture and the people here.” She said that she would like to explore the city markets and take some souvenirs for her friends back home. Sharapova said Sania Mirza was a great singles talent but it was right for the Indian to focus on doubles due to the demanding nature of the game. “It takes so much both mentally and physically to play in two formats. It becomes difficult to give equal attention to singles and doubles,” said Sharapova. The world No. 2 recalled her on-court meetings with Sania, who has stopped playing singles owing to recurring knee problems. “It has been long since we played but she was a great talent. I am really happy that she is doing well in doubles. It is hard to continue with both formats,” said Sharapova, who played against Sania twice, including the fourth round at 2005 US Open. — PTI
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Chelsea claim profit, but does it all add up?
London, November 11 The club surprised financial experts by declaring they had made £1.4million after suffering average annual losses of almost £80m during the previous eight years. Ed Thompson, who works in banking, had predicted a loss of £40m in his own analysis. He now admits to underestimating the income from winning the Champions’ League and FA Cup, but does not understand the club’s claims of a transfer profit of £28m. “Logic suggests that the figures Chelsea released could only be achieved if wages and amortisation were pretty-much flat,” he says. “So how have they done it? Little, if any, of the £32m paid for Eden Hazard, signed in early June, would have been included, and none of the £25m for Oscar. The figures show the owner converted another £166.6m owed to him into shares in the club, having done the same thing three years ago to the tune of £709.9m. That enables Chelsea to claim they are “debt-free”. — The Independent |
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Jonathan Trott notched up a hundred before England knocked out six Haryana wickets but their third and final practice match ahead of the Test series against India ended in a tame draw on the last day here today.
Haryana were 133 for six in 42 overs, chasing 441, when the match was stopped.
After Jiwanjot Singh and Mayank Sidhana, it was turn of Punjab`s wicketkeeper-batsman Uday Kaul to add insult to Bengal`s injury with a fine 165 not out as home team piled up a massive 579 for seven declared with an eye on another outright win with bonus points.
Trailing by 253 runs, Bengal were in a spot of bother as they ended third day`s play at 25 for one with experienced opener Subhamoy Das already back in the pavilion. They still need to score 229 runs to avoid innings defeat.
Javier Hernandez went off clutching the match ball after helping leaders Manchester United fight back for a 3-2 win at Aston Villa after Arsenal were held in another rip-roaring Saturday of Premier League action.
