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It’s all but over for India in Kolkata Test
Sehwag holds batsmen responsible for mess
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England took calculated risk: Steven Finn
Curator Mukherjee unfazed by Srinivasan’s criticism
Selectors expected to take tough call after Eden debacle
ranji trophy
3rd World Cup KABADDI
Manavjit Sandhu wins gold in shooting championship
India no match to Australia
Viswanathan Anand shocked by Adams in London Chess Classic
Maharashtra bundle out Haryana for 257
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It’s all but over for India in Kolkata Test
Kolkata, December 8 There are no indications that there might be rain tomorrow, while rioting in the stands — once a popular pastime here — is now a thing of the past. It’s infernally difficult to bring in your laptop, let alone sacks full of rotten tomatoes and eggs. And Tendulkar has been dismissed. God-made or man-made, thus, there won’t be any extraneous intervention in this game. India’s march towards the precipice will resume on schedule in the morning. India were 239 for nine at stumps today, 32 runs ahead. England will knock the last wicket and the runs required in the morning. After India bowled England out for 523 today, taking the last four wickets in 25 minutes at the cost of 14 runs, Indian fans had invoked Sehwag more than god. Having conceded a lead of 207, it was again a case of “it all depends on Sehwag”, and “if Sehwag lasts for two sessions”... Sehwag didn’t last one full session — but in the 80-odd minutes he batted for, he gave Indians hope, sweeping away the cloud of despondency that hung over the teams and its fans. In smashing 49 off 56 balls, including seven fours, Sehwag showed that he would remain true to his type — rain or shine, adversity or ease, he was going to remove the hide off the ball. He timed the ball well, and used the sweep shot frequently; but he had to endure anxious moments too, as when he edged James Anderson through the slips for four. Gambhir was surer with his drives and defence than any time before in the series, and In 21 overs, India raced to 86. India went to lunch at 86/0, still 121 behind, but the optimists had already visions of a fourth-day miracle here —Kolkata 2001, fourth day against Australia, Dravid-Laxman, etc—floating before their eyes. But first ball after lunch, Sehwag played a lazy shot -- the ball from Graeme Swann was flighted and the batsmen drove at it, without conviction, outside the line of the ball. Through the gate and bowled, for 49 runs, around 200 less than India needed from him. End of hope
From over four runs per over, the run rate precipitously dropped, to just over two over the next 17 overs -- at which point the sixth wicket (MS Dhoni) fell. The visions of a miracle evaporated. Once Sehwag fell, only some solid, bloody-minded defending and blocking could have saved India at the Eden Gardens—much the way Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers and Jacques Kallis saved South Africa from certain defeat to Australia in Adelaide last month. Plessis played 376 balls to shepherd his team to safety. That was only his second Test innings. In contrast, the Indian batting line-up, while in a state of transition, is vastly experienced: The top seven have 474 Test caps among themselves. Yet, as Sehwag admitted, they didn’t play with application and patience. India deserved to lose by an innings, after their feckless, gutless batting saw them surrender those six wickets for 36 runs in 17 overs. The top seven of the Indian line-up played 269 balls in the second innings today; England’s captain Alastair Cook alone played 377 during his first-innings 190. There lies the difference between triumph and a certain rout. Cheteshwar Pujara, probably the one man in the XI who has the skill and the temperament to bat out sessions and save a Test match, was run out; then Gambhir failed to spot Steven Finn’s clever reverse-swing, played for an incoming delivery and edged it behind. Swann had bowled Sehwag with one that turned; he bowled Tendulkar with one that didn’t. The master had just hung his bat out, going neither forward nor backward, waiting for the ball to turn into his bat. For those who like to flagellate themselves with such details, he now has 234 runs from his last 12 Test innings, a tally boosted by 76 in the first innings here. Yuvraj Singh got one from Anderson that shot through a foot off the ground and broke his stumps; Dhoni poked at a ball without moving his feet. Kohli was set up by Finn — incoming deliveries followed by an outgoing one, eliciting a loose drive from the batsman. Edged and taken. Four runs later, Zaheer Khan’s fall made it 159 for eight, in 54 miserable overs. Then Ashwin and Ishant, showing grit, created a fig leaf for the Indian team -- perhaps “a positive to take to the last Test”, as coach Duncan Fletcher might mutter to himself. The 35,000-odd people on the ground stayed put, displaying greater forbearance than Kolkata cricket-watchers of the past; they egged the two batsmen on, shouted “India, India” at each four, run or negation of appeal. The Kolkata fan of the past may have been angered; this bunch was having fun. The sad part was the massive applause that broke out in the stands as India avoided an innings defeat. It showed that the Kolkata fan now has drastically adjusted expectations of this team. The rest of India may need to do the same, pretty soon. Score board India 1st innings: 316 England 1st innings: 523 India 2nd innings |
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Sehwag holds batsmen responsible for mess
Kolkata, December 8 India’s batsmen have been given a masterclass in Test batting by the English visitors — though, it’s Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen who’ve got consistent success. Nick Compton has been admirably dogged, and Matt Prior both brave and feisty. Now Jonathan Trott has joined the party. England do not look like losing the last match at all. Cook has batted for over 26 hours on this tour thus far, faced 1,160 balls and made 547 runs. He started his Test career with a century against India in 2006; now he has aggregated over 1400 runs against India, with an averages over 61. He has shown India the template for success in Test cricket. Sehwag admits this. “Their batsmen showed the patience more than ours,” Sehwag said. “They batted really well. Full credit to the way Cook and the others batted.” “Our bowlers tried everything from bowling quick to slow,” he added. “They bowled flighted, they bowled flat but their (England’s) batting made the difference. They were hitting the loose balls. We did not show enough patience.” The Indians didn’t merely display impatience—they displayed indecent haste in jumping to their doom. At least four of them— Gautam Gambhir, Sehwag himself, Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni — played shots that would have brought a schoolboy cricketer shame and punishment. Pujara was out due to the sloppy running of Gambhir. It was, thus, surprising to see Ravichandran Ashwin and Ishant Sharma fight it out -- what were they fighting for, what were they hoping to accomplish, having come together at 159 for eight? Whatever it was, the top order certainly didn’t fight for anything. Aswhin got stuck in the middle, and later in the afternoon had the confidence to shield No. 11 Pragyan Ojha. Sehwag was asked if, seeing the tail fight it out, the top order batsmen were embarrassed. “There is nothing to be embarrassed about; Ashwin is a part of the team and he did well today. He's utilising all his abilities. He is a good player. It depends on individual to individual. My batting style is different, his is totally different. “ “I think the batsmen failed us,” he added. “In India, you simply have to put up big scores, as we did in the first Test in Ahmedabad, to be successful. We fell behind here, and that is why we are in this position.” Sehwag said India are in transition.
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England took calculated risk: Steven Finn
Stating that he was not surprised by the way England dominated in two games after India defeated them in the first Test at Ahmedabad, Finn said, "We felt as a team it's been coming almost. Since we got beaten 0-3 in Dubai (by Pakistan), it was a massive eye-opener for us. "Since then we have worked very hard on our games to be able to adapt to these conditions. And those are paying dividends in terms of results." England are on the verge of taking a 2-1 lead in the four-match series after India were tottering at 239 for nine in their second innings, with just 32 runs ahead at the end of the fourth and penultimate day of the third Test here today. But Finn insisted that the visitors would guard against complacency even if they win tomorrow. "If we win tomorrow we will only be 2-1 up in the series, and going into the fourth Test it's important that we have no complacency, and keep working, keep looking to get better. The great point about this England side is that we are always looking to get better," he said. Asked about the lessons learnt in Dubai, Finn explained: "Bowling straight was a big thing, being able to utilise the reverse swing, which I think we did well today and in the first innings as well. And when we were batting, being sensible. "Taking calculated risks, keeping the game very simple, the most important thing is you keep it simple and not complicate it for yourself. We have had a basic plan when we came here and it's worked for us so far." — PTI
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Curator Mukherjee unfazed by Srinivasan’s criticism
Kolkata, December 8 There's speculation that Mukherjee's days as Eden's curator would be over after India-Pakistan one-dayer on January 3 as CAB might go for another local man. Unhappy with the functioning of the outspoken Mukherjee, the Board supremo, in a brainstorming meeting yesterday, had reportedly asked CAB chief Jagmohan Dalmiya to make the 83-year-old fall in line or else get ready for a harsh step. Mukherjee, however, remained unperturbed. "Let Srinivasan say whatever he wants to. I don't listen to him. I don't even speak to the (CAB) President before preparing a wicket. I act as per my knowledge of the wicket. I also don't read the newspaper reports. Let them write what they want," Mukherjee said. — PTI
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Selectors expected to take tough call after Eden debacle
kOLKATA, December 8 The five selectors, under chairman Sandeep Patil, will meet at the team hotel here tomorrow to pick the squad for the Nagpur Test. Yuvraj Singh's spot is likely to be up for debate with talented Manoj Tiwary and Rohit Sharma seen as a possible replacement for the stylish left-hander. Bengal batsman Tiwary scored an impressive 93 against England XI during their warm-up match against India A. He also smashed a fine 191 against Gujarat in a Ranji Trophy game which should attract the eyes of the selectors in tomorrow's meeting. Rohit Sharma is another name which is doing the rounds after the right-hander scored eye-catching 112 and 79 in the ongoing Ranji Trophy games. Many of the top order batsmen have not shown the desired consistency in the series. Virat Kohli has been woefully out of form but the selectors are likely to persist with him. If the problems with the famed Indian batting department was not enough, the selectors will also look to fix the issues in the home team's bowling attack, which looked toothless in the last two Tests in comparison to the English bowlers' fine showing. The pace duo of Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma looked lacklustre in the ongoing third Test at the Eden Gardens. — PTI
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Mandy’s timely ton keeps Punjab ahead of Mumbai
The 20-year-old Jalandhar-born batsman, who went into the game with just 89 runs from five matches this season, utilised fully the three chances offered by the butter-fingered Mumbai fielders to remain unbeaten on 102 at the Wankhede Stadium. Mandeep, who pulled and drove handsomely while striking 14 fours and a six off left-arm spinner Ankit Chavan, was dropped on 67, 74 and 93 in the slips before reaching his maiden first-class hundred in his 22nd game with an on-driven four in 162 balls. He had batted for 228 minutes and faced 168 balls. Mandeep put on a stand of 128 in 204 balls for the third wicket with Ravi Inder Singh, who made 76 with the help of 14 fours. Mandeep then added 51 runs for the fourth wicket with another left-hander, Uday Kaul (19) to further cement Punjab's position before the latter fell to the last ball, edging a rising ball from Dhawal Kulkarni to the slip cordon. Ravi Inder also added 52 runs for the second wicket with in-form opener Jiwanjot Singh who came into the match with 619 runs in his debut season with two hundreds and a double hundred. The latter got two 'lives' in his 42 off 121 balls. Punjab, put into bat by Mumbai skipper Ajit Agarkar, started well on a track assisting seamers with Jiwanjot, who hit six fours, and Karan Goel (25) laying a good platform by adding 57 runs. The latter departed after edging Agarkar to Ajinkya Rahane who later let off Mandeep twice in the second slip. Jiwanjot was then let off twice in close succession by wicket-keeper Aditya Tare and Rohit Sharma, but he could not take full advantage of the lives. Brief Scores: (Punjab): 288/4 (Jiwanjot 42, Ravi Singh 76, Mandeep 102*; Agarkar (2/54), Dhawal Kulkarni (2/61) vs Mumbai. — PTI
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Pakistan beat Italy, storm into semifinals
Chandigarh, December 8 Three matches were played at the Shri Guru Arjun Dev Stadium of Chohla Sahib in which Sierra Leone in men’s category and England in women’s category emerged victorious apart from Pakistan. With England's win in the women’s category in Pool B the situation becomes interesting as three teams in this pool now rest at same situation by winning one game each. Pakistan, on its way to the semifinals, played three matches and remained invincible. In another match in the men's section, Sierra Leone opened its account by defeating Scotland with a margin of 73-24. The match in the women's category between England and USA witnessed the British side outsmarting the Americans (50-28). NADA collects samples of 81 players
The teams of National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) collected samples of 81 players of all the teams who are taking part in the ongoing third World Cup Kabaddi. "The teams of NADA acted swiftly by serving a short notice and collected all the samples on a single day on the sidelines of league matches being played at Rupnagar, on Friday," Sikander Singh Maluka, senior vice chairman, organising committee of the cup, said here on Saturday, according to a Punjab government release. Maluka said that the Indian kabaddi players (both men and women) gave samples for the second dope test, as their first dope test was conducted during the trials. 25 teams in next Kabaddi World Cup: Badal
Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said the next edition will see 25 countries participating in the World Cup. The sports department is all set to organize camps for football, volleyball, wrestling, hockey and athletics to ensure inclusion of Punjab players in national teams in international events. Badal said that the SAD-BJP combine government was fully committed to encourage sports in a big way. — PTI |
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Manavjit Sandhu wins gold in shooting championship
Patiala, December 8 Sandhu won a gold in the last of the official matches at the second Asian Shotgun Championship at the New Moti Bagh Gun Club. Indian men’s team were no less, they won gold in the team championship and brought laurels for the country,just when Olympic sports in India are undergoing a massive upheavel. Sandhu's medal was India’s first individual gold in the championship that saw shooters from over 15 countries vying for the top slots. The Patiala range has been Manavjit favourite hunting ground as he has been very lucky to get into medal bracket here.He won a gold here in the nationals a few years back. “It was a good day with sunny conditions adding to the visibility and the green backdrop behind the clay targets”, Sandhu said, as he got ready for the award ceremony. “I have lost weight and worked hard on my technique and feels like it is paying," he added. Singh finished first with a total of 138 (117+21) while Silver medal was clinched by Japan’s Oyama Shigetaka with a total of 135 (114+21) and Meqland Naser of Kuwait won the Bronze by scoring a total 134 (114+20) in the men's trap final. Shooters from 17 countries participated in this event out of which four were in MQS category. In the team event, Indian shooters again held a tight grip with shooters Manavjit Sandhu (117), Prithviraj (112) and Anirudh Singh (109) gathering a total of 338 points, good enough for a gold. Silver was won by shooters from Kuwait (Meqland Naser (114), Al Faihan Abdul Rahman (113), Aldeehani Fehaid (105)) with a total score of 332. The bronze medal was won by Japan. Shooters Oyama Shigetaka(114), Uematsu Naoyuki (101), Tekenaka Toshiaki (99) scored a total of 314. In the Maharaja Yadavinder Singh Memorial Indian Open Shotgun Championships, Manavjit Singh Sandhu again won an individual gold by scoring a total of 140 (117+ 23).He got the prize money of $6000 and silver medal was won by Almudhaf Khaled of Kuwait,scoring 138 (115+23) and a prize money of $4000. The bronze medal was won by Meqlad Naser of Kuwait by scoring (114 +23).He pocketed a prize money of dollars 3000.
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India no match to Australia
Melbourne, December 8 Australia scored through captain Jamie Dwyer (fifth and 18th minutes) and Kieran Govers (42nd) after enjoying territorial domination against the Indians, who were often forced to fall back and defend against the rampant rival strikers. Australia stayed on course for their fifth successive title, setting up a final against Olympic silver medallists Netherlands, who outplayed Pakistan 5-2 in the other semifinal. India's Cinderella run came to an end, but they stay in contention for their first Champions Trophy medal in three decades. India will take on Pakistan, in a sub-continental clash tomorrow for the bronze medal. India's only Champions Trophy medal, a bronze, came in 1982. Pakistan edged past India to claim bronze medals for three successive years from 2002-04. Playing a fast dominant game, Australia today pressed the accelerator from the beginning and forced their first penalty corner in the second minute, but Christopher Ciriello's rising shot was ruled as a foul for going into onrushing defender's body. Dwyer opened the scoring in the fifth minute, capitalising on a rebound during Australia's second penalty, after Ciriello's drag-flick was blocked by a defender. The Aussies increased the lead in the 18th minute by converting a penalty stroke, which was awarded when a foul was committed on Dwyer in a scoring position. Dwyer had already taken two shies. The first one was blocked by goalkeeper TR Potunuri and the second shot rebounded back into play off post. India opened up to mount a few raids midway through the first session, but did not cause much trouble to the Australian defence. — PTI
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Viswanathan Anand shocked by Adams in London Chess Classic
After a fine victory in the previous round against Gawain Jones of England, the Indian ace survived some anxious moments in the middle game before equalising completely and just when the experts had given up declaring the game a 'sure-draw', Anand lost track, and lost in no time. Magnus Carlsen of Norway stretched his lead to three points by defeating highest ranked woman Judit Polgar of Hungary. Under the soccer-like scoring system, Carlsen took his tally to a whopping 16 points out of a possible eighteen, and the world number one is sitting pretty with just two games to come for him. The victory over Polgar also took Carlsen to another peak in live ratings where the chart now reads him at 2864 points. Russian Vladimir Kramnik remained on the second spot following a draw with Levon Aronian of Armenia. Kramnik inched himself up to 12 points and the gap is only growing between him and Carlsen. Michael Adams jumped to third spot again following his lucky victory and Hikaru Nakamura dropped to fourth spot with eight points in all. Anand, on six points, is now fifth, a point ahead of Luke McShane, who scored his first win in the tournament by defeating compatriot Gawain Jones. Just three rounds remain in UK's highest category event. Adams neutralized Anand's opening preparation without much ado and got the pair of bishops to start pressing for more. Anand was precise in defense once under pressure and posting a Knight in the middle of the board, the world champion got counter play. However, disaster struck soon after the first time control. — PTI
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Maharashtra bundle out Haryana for 257
Pune, December 8 Maharashtra are yet to start their innings. Medium-pacer Sanklecha returned impressive figures of three for 38, while Mundhe finished with three for 61 to push the visitors on to the backfoot. The duo was well supported by Samad Fallah, who took two for 70, and Chirag Khurana (1/29). Although quite a few visiting team's batsmen chipped in with important runs but wickets kept falling at regular intervals and that certainly did not help Haryana's cause. The highest wicket partnership of 66 runs came from the eighth wicket stand by Jayant Yadav and Mohit Sharma (22). Jayant topped the scoring for Haryana with a knock of 63 that came off 110 balls, and was studded with eight hits to the fence and a six. Yatharth Tomar (48), Rahul Dewan (42) and Amit Mishra (35) also contributed to the team's total. Brief scores: Haryana: 257 all out in 85.2 overs (Jayant Yadav 63, Yatharth Tomar 48; Anupam Sanklecha 3/38, Shrikant Mundhe 3/61). Shahid stars for Kerala
Captain Ian Dev Singh led from the front with an unbeaten 117 before Kerala left-arm pacer Chovvakkaran Shahid scalped eight wickets to bowl out Jammu and Kashmir for 215 in their first innings on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group C match. Singh was the lone bright spot in an otherwise dismal batting performance by the visitors. Singh carried his bat through and struck 11 fours and two sixes during his 240-ball knock, but eventually ran out of partners. Apart from Singh, only three other J&K batsmen—Manik Gupta (22), Bandeep Singh (12) and wicket-keeper Obaid Haroon (11) —made double digit scores. Shahid emerged as the star performer for Kerala dismissing eight J&K batsmen conceding just 51 runs, his best career figures so far. MP post 212/5 on Day 1 against Railways
A patient unbeaten half-century by Rameez Khan helped Madhya Pradesh reach 212 for five against Railways after the opening day's play in their Ranji Trophy Group A match. Rameez was batting on 82 off 221 balls when stumps were drawn at the East Coast Railway Sports Association stadium here. Giving him company at the other end was Anand Rajan, who is yet open his account. After put in to bat by Railways, MP got off to a decent start, putting on 46 runs for the opening wicket before both the openers — Zafar Ali (17) and Naman Ojha (27) — fell in quick succession. Rameez and Devendra Bundela (20) then joined hands to consolidate the innings and the duo shared a solid 59-run stand for the third wicket. — PTI |
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Kolkata, December 8
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