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India Vs england DAY 4
Wicket has become very flat, says Umesh Yadav
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A queer pitch? Hardly! Ahmedabad, November 18 What Virender Sehwag, who pronounce words of great import with the straightest face, said that you can’t get out on this Ahmedabad wicket unless you try to, it seemed that he could have been exaggerating, for once.
Southee spearheads New Zealand charge
Bereaved Gambhir to join team
Lopsided game: Bowlers are workers, batsmen officers, says Kapil Dev
RANJI TROPHY
Himachal fights back with Dogra’s ton
Vettel tops 2nd practice session
Kuerten still too good for Novak
Adebayor sorry for red card that cost Spurs India win silver
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Cook leads England fightback
141-run stand between Prior-Cook ensures India has to bat again to win Rohit Mahajan/TNS
Ahmedabad, November 18 England, following on 330 runs behind, and starting this morning at 111 without loss, have been dragged to 340 for five in their second innings. To win this game, which seemed a certainty yesterday, India must bat again -– if they do manage to dismiss England tomorrow. This last possibility does seem quite remote, and a second consecutive day of frustration might seem implausible to the hosts; but then, today’s frustration was quite unexpected, too. Cook is not a man burdened by the need to prove himself – despite being the new captain, and actually having much to prove. The load sits lightly on his shoulders. He doesn’t need to display -– unlike some of his teammates — his prowess against spin. Cook averages 54-plus against India, 64-plus in India. He’s comfortable in his skin as the England captain, too. He has become the first captain to make a hundred in his first three Tests at the helm. His teammates were all tangled legs and jittery nerves as they attempted to express themselves, make a statement against India’s spinners. Cook merely played the ball – he wasn’t interested in psychological warfare. His methods were basic. He defended solidly when the ball demanded thus, attacked it robustly when it requested to be hit. He played the ball, not the pitch. Not that there was anything in the pitch. Comatose on the first day, it’s been dying slowly, and today there was zero evidence of life in it. There was little in it for the spinners, and it was a rare ball that spun sharply, while none leapt up. There was nothing in it for the pacers too, though they did bowl with determination, picking up three of the five wickets, all three when batsmen were trapped LBW. Matt Prior was Cook’s accomplice in the recovery, though the greatest hopes rested on Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott. Trott got a ripper from Ojha, a classical left-arm spinner’s dismissal of a right-hander. As Trott drove at a ball angled in, it spun away and kissed the shoulder of his bat on its way to MS Dhoni. Dhoni took this catch but, for the second time in the match, he missed a stumping opportunity, reprieving Nick Compton. Pietersen was bowled by Ojha when he attempted to impose his mastery over the bowling – he moved across the stumps and tried to sweep a full delivery. In the first innings, Ojha had hit Pietersen’s off-stump after beating the outside edge of the bat. This time around, Pietersen contrived a leg-side dismissal. Umesh Yadav got Ian Bell and Samit Patel with the last two balls of the 77th over, both LBW. Patel went off in anger, for the ball had hit the edge of his bat before hitting the pad. The ball, then 76-plus overs old, was reversing. New ball was taken in the 83rd over, and did that change something? Possibly. Then ensued the most heartening partnership of the day – for England. For India, it was quite dispiriting. England, who had lost seven for 71 at one stage in the first innings and five for 76 in the second, constructed their biggest partnership of the day. The ball was edged by the batsmen several times, but always comfortably short of the slip cordon. The bad balls were despatched. England took no chances, slamming the door on danger. Cook and Prior have added 141 for the sixth wicket in 51 overs. That’s 306 deliveries of frustration as the Indian hope of a four-day innings-win vanished. But the end of it all, the arms of Indian bowlers – who have now bowled over 212 overs in a row, must have felt quite leaden. England’s hopes are soaring, and though India are still very strong favourites, Cook is ready to bat another full day.
SCOREBOARD India 1st innings: 521/8d England 1st innings: 191 England 2nd innings (overnight 111-0) Cook batting 168
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Wicket has become very flat, says Umesh Yadav
"The wicket has become very flat. It helped the spinners earlier on but it has now become very easy to bat on it. There is no help for the bowlers. We have to put in a lot of effort to get something out of it. I took my wickets after putting in a lot of effort," said Yadav. "It would need a lot of patience tomorrow and a lot of effort to get wickets," he said. England coach Graham Gooch also conceded that the wicket had become very flat, and while praising the batting efforts of team captain Cook and Prior, pointed out that India were still having the dominant hand. “If you know your cricket, India are still in a strong position and still in a position to win. We have to take it ball by ball and not look too far ahead tomorrow. The wicket has become flat," said Gooch. Praising Cook, the former England skipper recalled the left-handed opener's century on debut at Nagpur in 2006 and said he showed on that occasion itself that he was a special talent who knew exactly how to bat on here "I watched him in Nagpur when he made his debut and in that match itself he showed he knew what he should do and not do on these wickets. Today he played a major innings for England under tremendous pressure. It was very skillful. "He (Cook) is one of the best players in the world. He cuts, sweeps, plays straight and also defends well. He crafted the innings, he was not flamboyant. It was an incredible effort," said Gooch about Cook's back-to-the-wall knock that has given England an outside chance of saving the game. He also hailed the unbeaten half century of Prior and his unbroken century partnership with the England captain that pulled the team out of deep trouble when they were 199 for five and put them ten runs ahead at stumps on the penultimate day of the game. "I think it was as good as innings I have seen him play because England was under great pressure after a poor first innings performance. If you get bowled out for less than 200 in a five day game you are up against it because there is so much time left in the game," Gooch said. "What he proved was that there is no demon in this pitch, a pitch that we would have expected in this part of the world...flattish wicket and little bit of turn, very slow turn. "Any batsman is vulnerable when he first comes in anywhere in the world.” he said. — PTI
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A queer pitch? Hardly! Ahmedabad, November 18 His words were proved true in the course of the Indian innings. Most of the wickets fell when the batsmen attempted aggressive, sometimes inadvisable strokes – Gautam Gambhir, Sehwag himself, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni. Though he had left a gap between bat and pad when he was bowled by Graeme Swann, Virat Kohli alone had reason to be suspicious of something strange on the pitch. Later Swann said that that particular ball had hit a pebble and thus come in sharply. Similarly, the England batsmen lost their nerves in the first innings; they also miscalculated the situation on the second afternoon and sent in a nervous James Anderson as the nightwatchman, and his wicket magnified the pressure on the next man in, Jonathan Trott. While it’s true that the wicket has eased up since then, England’s comfortable batting late in the first innings and then in the second has occurred amidst no strange behaviour by the much maligned track. It’s not a turner. It’s just a poor old flat Indian pitch. The pitches next to the one being used for this match seem quite different. As Ishant Sharma, not playing here, bowled on one of the greener ones today after the end of play, the ball shot and zipped through. Graham Gooch, England’s batting coach, says the pitch in use is quite harmless. “When you've been in the game as long as I have, you've seen most things that happen," Gooch says. "We saw poor shots, poor decisions, bad mistakes, bad thinking, bad judgment…” In other words, the pitch was not an underprepared, dusty turner many people believe, including many Indian greats from the past. Gooch said sometimes, after making these mistakes, the players are able to take remedial action. “Then you sometimes see the opposite, which is what we saw today. It was great commitment from our guys and great fighting spirit. There was belief in their own ability and Alastair led from the front as captain,” said the former England opener. "There are no demons in this pitch and it is what we expected in this part of the world,” Gooch explained. “Once you get in it becomes a little easier and you have to trust your skills." That’s good news for England – and terrible for India as they struggle to bowl England out a second time. Bereaved Gambhir to join team today Gautam Gambhir, who has returned home following his grandmother's death, is expected to join the team for the final day's play. Gambhir lost his maternal grandmother Asha
Gulati.
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Southee spearheads New Zealand charge
Galle, November 18 Southee's four for 46 was crucial in helping to restrict the home side to a first-innings lead of 26 as they were bowled out for 247. Although New Zealand then lost Brendon McCullum (13) in their second innings, they were still able to close on 35 for one - a lead of nine. Southee started the day with a burst of three for 18 from seven overs and with Trent Boult (two for 46) at the other end providing excellent support, Lanka were reduced to 50 for five having resumed at nine for one. The Kiwis made 221 first up. fact Sri Lanka were able to secure a lead was due almost entirely to an outstanding partnership of 156 between Mahela (91) and Mathews (79). — Reuters SCOREBOARD New Zealand first innings (221) Sri Lanka first innings Paranavitana b Southee 0 New Zealand second innings Guptill not out 13
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New Delhi, November 18 Gambhir was bereaved when he lost his maternal grandmother Asha Gulati. She was 71 and suffered cardiac arrest last night. Gambhir cut short his stay in Ahmedabad to return home and be with his family.India might have to bat the second time in the match tomorrow as England, after being forced to follow-on, today wiped off the huge 330-run deficit and were ahead by 10 runs when stumps were drawn on the fourth day. IOC criticises BCCI for attacking press freedom
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has come down heavily on Indian cricket authorities for preventing a section of the international news media from covering the ongoing Test series between India and England. International news organisations suspended text and photo coverage of England's cricket tour of India because of new restrictions introduced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The IOC Press Commission Chairman, Kevan Gosper called on the International Cricket Council to intervene and allow news organisations free access to the cricket matches. "The IOC strongly disagrees with these moves by the BCCI, which we believe are a direct attack on the freedom of the media to report from sporting events, and shows contempt for the sporting public around the world who would otherwise like to follow these important matches," Gosper said in a statement. — PTI |
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Lopsided game: Bowlers are workers, batsmen officers, says Kapil Dev
Guwahati, November 18 “Who wants to be a bowler? Everybody wants to be like Tendulkar, Sehwag, Dhoni or Gambhir who are officers," the former Indian captain said here today. "Bowlers are majdoors (workers). Who wants to be a worker? Everybody wants to be an officer," he added. He was replying to a question raised by the audience on paucity of fast bowlers in the country during an interaction with students, parents and faculty members of a city-based school. Later, when approached by reporters on the statement, the first Indian bowler who took 400 wickets in Test cricket said, "Even a five-wicket haul (in a match) gets a bowler less credit than a century (by a batsman)." Asked about role models, Kapil said, "My role models have kept on changing ... As I enter a new phase of life and my circle broadens I start learning new things." — PTI
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Uday’s knock gives Punjab lead
Bhubaneswar, November 18 Kaul ended the day just four runs short of a fine century while Amitoze Singh (55) and opener Jiwanjot Singh (44) also made useful contributions with their bat for Punjab. Punjab, however, witnessed a shaky start to their innings as they lost their first three wickets -- Karan Goel, Mayank Sidhana and Mandeep Singh — with the scoreboard reading 35. But Kaul steadied Punjab's innings with two crucial partnerships. The wicket-keeper batsman first added 62 runs for the fourth wicket with Jiwanjot and then shared a 118-run fifth wicket stand with Amitoze to take Punjab past Railway's score. Bipul Sharma was unbeaten on 10 along with Kaul at close. For Railways, Krishnakant Upadhyay scalped two wickets for 50 runs. Earlier, Railways just added 12 runs to their overnight score of 193 for seven before being bowled out in just 4.5 overs. Punjab fast bowlers ruled the roost as Sandeep Sharma (4/38) picked up four wickets, while Siddarth Kaul (3/66) and Gony accounted for three and two wickets respectively. Brief Scores: (Group B: Delhi vs Baroda) 1st innings: 525/7 in 168 overs (Rayudu 131, Abhimanyu 113, Panchal 72*, Gagandeep 70*, Bhatia 3/35, Awana 2/97). — PTI SCOREBOARD Railways 205
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Himachal fights back with Dogra’s ton
Nadaun, November 18 Himachal Pradesh are still trailing by 148 runs with five wickets after bowling out Andhra for 372 in their first innings. Andhra had began the day at 331 for seven and Vamsi Krishna's unbeaten 21 at number 10 helped the visitors reach that total. HP then overcame a poor start through Dogra's fighting century. His 109 came of 215 balls, with the help of 13 boundaries, including a six. Brief Scores: AP 1st innings: 372 in 99 overs. (B Sumanth 102, A Mujumdar 101; V S MAlik 5/74);Himachal Pradesh: 224/5 in 77 overs. (P Dogra 109 batting; P Vijaukumar 3/59); Himachal Pradesh: 224 for 5 in 77 overs. (P Dogra 109 batting; P Vijaukumar 3/59). Odisha sniff win against Haryana
Odisha closed in on an outright victory against Haryana after polishing off the top-order of the hosts in the second innings as well in their Group B match. Odisha took a 153-run first innings lead after scoring 219 and then reduced Haryana to 165/5 on Day 2 at the Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium, Rohtak. Basant Mohanty and Alom Mangaraj took two wickets apiece to rattle the hosts. Haryana have a 12-run lead with 5 wickets remaining and Odisha have 2 days to force a win. Abhimanyu Khod (56) and skipper Amit Mishra (12) will resume the Haryana innings tomorrow. Odisha resumed their first innings at 177 for six and were all out for 219. Mohit Sharma (5/49) complted a five-wicket haul. Lagnajit Samal, overnight 20, scored 43 to help Odisha take a good first innings lead. Medium pacer Ashish Hooda took three of the four Odisha wickets. For Haryana their second innings started poorly as they lost the openers — Nitin Saini (2) and Rahul Dewan (5) within the first five overs. Brief Scores: Haryana: 66 and 165/5 in 68 overs (A Khod 56*, Sunny Singh 36; B Mohanty 2/21);Odisha: 209 all out in 74 overs. (N Begera 44, L Samal 43; M Sharma 5/49); Odisha: 209 in 74 overs. (N Begera 44, L Samal 43;M Sharma 5/49). — PTI |
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Vettel tops 2nd practice session
Texas, November 18 The 25-year-old German, who needs to outscore nearest rival Fernando Alonso of Ferrari by 15 points to become the youngest triple champion in F1 history, clocked a fastest lap in one minute and 36.490 seconds to emerge fastest. That was enough to leave him nearly three-tenths of a second clear of nearest challenger Lewis Hamilton who, in his penultimate race weekend with McLaren before joining Mercedes next year, recorded a best time of 1:36.748. Both men clocked their times in a busy final flurry of activity in the final minutes of the hour-long session run in cold conditions, but in front of a big crowd dressed in winter jackets, at the new Circuit of the Americas 25 kilometres out of downtown Austin. Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado was third fastest for Williams ahead of Alonso, Nico Rosberg of Mercedes and Felipe Massa in the second Ferrari. Australian Mark Webber was seventh in the second Red Bull ahead of Sergio Perez of Sauber, who crashed into Frenchman Charles Pic's Marussia during the session, Nico Hulkenberg of Force India and Jenson Button in the second McLaren. — AFP
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Kuerten still too good for Novak
Rio de Janeiro, November 18 Just five days after winning the ATP World Tour Finals with a straight sets victory over Roger Federer in London, Djokovic fell to the former world No.1 Kuerten in front of 10,000 fans at the Maracanazinho Arena in Rio Saturday, reports Xinhua. The 36-year-old Kuerten showed his appreciation to the home fans afterwards by drawing a love heart on the clay surface, just as he did after winning his third French Open title in 2001. Djokovic also won the affection of fans by dancing and impersonating the Brazilian idol with a curly-haired wig. "I'm not going to be able to move for days," said Kuerten, who was forced to retire in 2008 due to a chronic hip injury. "The victory is important but the most important thing is to be enjoying this moment with Novak because I thought I would never relive this type of experience after my injuries." "I can't thank Novak enough. He is aware of the impact he can make as a person and is a really special guy." Djokovic said he felt honoured to have played in Brazil for the first time against Kuerten."Guga (Kuerten) is one of the most charismatic players to have been involved in tennis and today he showed why," Djokovic said. — IANS
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Adebayor sorry for red card that cost Spurs London, November 18 Adebayor had scored his first goal of the season to put Spurs 1-0 up after 10 minutes at the Emirates Stadium, but his sending off seven minutes later changed the course of the match which his former side Arsenal won 5-2. Going in high for a loose ball in midfield, the striker caught Cazorla with his studs up and was shown a straight red card by referee Howard Webb. — Agencies
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Ahmedabad, November 18
Rio de Janeiro, November 18
Ahmedabad, November 18
