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Third test
0-2 down, Oz awed by the job in hand
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England escape to an unlikely draw
Mohammad Ashraful and Mushfiqur Rahim had much to be happy about on Sunday. — Reuters
Manorama and Deborah win bronze for India in team sprint event
Deborah and Manorama Devi on podium. — PTI
Defending champ Saina top seed in Swiss Open
Baba Aparajith hits 121 as South in Deodhar semis
India concede late goal, lose second game in row
SA crush Pakistan
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Mohali: In speed Australia trust
Oz quicks hope for a fast wicket; wicketkeeper Wade in another injury scare Gaurav Kanthwal/TNS
Mohali, March 10 Not surprisingly, Australian pacers James Pattinson, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Starc whipped up pace in the nets ahead of the third Test. Since Pattinson is the pace spearhead and Siddle almost a certainity, it was Johnson and Starc who made for an interesting study. Not that Siddle, who made his debut here four years ago, was found wanting. If pace was the focus of the Australian bowling in the three-hour net session, the batsmen too had an extended run with local spinners. The Aussies had to make do with net bowlers who aren't familiar figures on any given international match at the venue. Skipper Michael Clarke was seen emphasising on playing on the front foot to a mate. Opener David Warner took throwdowns for an extended run towards the end of the session. The news from the Oz team management is that wicketkeeper Matthew Wade's scans, who injured his ankle while playing basketball on Saturday, have been sent to Australia and the decision on playing him is likely to be taken in a day or two. "Matt Wade sprained his right ankle playing basketball yesterday afternoon," Australia physio Alex Kountouris said. "His ankle is subsequently swollen and painful so will have a scan this morning to help determine the extent of the injury and how we manage it. He will not take part in today's training session."
Lee visits Taj Mahal
Brett Lee also visited the Taj Mahal in Agra on Sunday. He clicked a photo of himself in front of the mausoleum and tweeted it adding the line "What a place!!!" Lee's Twitter profile reads "India at the moment". He had posted several photographs of himself on the Ghats of the Ganga in Varanasi recently too. Michael Clarke also recently visited the Taj with his wife before third Test. |
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0-2 down, Oz awed by the job in hand
Mohali, March 10 "It's a different challenge. It is certainly very tough to win over here, to win Test matches over here, against very experienced Indian team and very experienced Indian spinners," Henriques said here today after the team's nets session. Both Sachin Tendulkar and Mahendra Singh Dhoni have copped a fair bit of criticism in the recent past. Henriques, though, had a different perspective on India's two big superstars. "You have guys like (MS) Dhoni and (Sachin) Tendulkar still leading the team around as senior players, obviously it very lucky to have those characters around," he said. "They are very strong team, especially here (at home) and they play very well. So it's a big challenge for all of us." "For a lot of Australian players it is their first tour to India, so it is a new challenge. We are all doing as much we can to learn from every match we play here. We got to learn faster because we need to win this Test match," he added. Henriques spoke in admiration for the two Indian off-spinners, Ravichandran Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh, calling them "fantastic bowlers". He also said that Australia need to learn from their defeats in the first two Tests. "Obviously we have to learn from what we haven't done well in the first couple of Test matches. Obviously, we lost a lot of wickets to spin. We haven't scored enough runs as we should have," he said. "The message is basically to stay positive and stay truthful to your plans and if you have a plan keep backing it and if you don't (then) to find out what the right plan is for you," he added. He also said that the three-day break from cricket after the defeat in Hyderabad helped the players. "I think with a little bit of break between the second and third Test allowed players time to work on making sure they know their plans and executing what their plan is," he said. — TNS
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England escape to an unlikely draw
Dunedin, March 10 The tourists, who had been bundled out for 167 in their first innings, were 421 for six with a lead of 128 runs when captains Alastair Cook and Brendon McCullum agreed a result was unlikely in the remaining 15 overs available on the final day. Ian Bell, on 26, and wicketkeeper Matt Prior on 23 were at the crease when the match ended, having snuffed out New Zealand's slim hopes of victory in the final session. Those hopes had been briefly roused after the tea break when night-watchman Steven Finn was trapped in front by left arm spinner Bruce Martin for 56 and Joe Root was run out for a duck. Root's dismissal left England on 390 for six, a lead of 97 runs with a minimum 31 overs remaining in the day. "I thought even up until the last couple of overs there we were a red hot crack if we could get into those bowlers with the ball still new," McCullumsaid. "We did everything we possibly could to get the result but we came up against a team that was hell bent on ensuring they didn't lose, and on a surface like that they would have had to make a few mistakes in the second innings. "Even then we still went past the bat numerous occasions and there were times when things could have fallen our way.”
— PTI Scoreboard England 1st innings 167 New Zealand innings 460/9 decl England 2nd innings (overnight 234/1) Compton lbw b Wagner 117 Finn lbw b Martin 56 Trott c&b Wagner 52 Pietersen c Watling b Wagner 12 Bell not out 26 Root run out (Southee) 0 Prior not out 23 Extras:
(b 6, lb 11, w 1, nb 1) 19 Total: (6 wkts; 170 overs) 421 Fall of wickets:
1-231, 2-265, 3-355, 4-367, 5-386, 6-390 Bowling Southee 36-8-94-0 Boult 35-12-49-1 Wagner 43-9-141-3 Martin 44-13-90-1 Williamson 12-3-30-0 |
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Ashraful, Rahim defy Sri Lanka
Galle, March 10 Together with captain Mushfiqur Rahim, who also made a career best score of 152 not out, Ashraful figured in an all-time record partnership for his country of 261 as Bangladesh reached 438 for four replying to Sri Lanka's first innings of 570-4 declared. Bangladesh trail Sri Lanka by 132 runs with two days left. Sri Lanka grabbed two wickets in the first session but Ashraful and Mushfiqur then batted together through the rest of the day to frustrate the home bowlers on a flat track that hardly offered any assistance. The ball rarely beat the bat and Sri Lanka also missed a few half chances that came their way with Ashraful on 110 and 143 and Mushfiqur on 103. Ashraful, selected for the tour only because of an injury to Shariar Nafees, went past his own previous highest score for Bangladesh — 158 not out against India at Chittagong in 2004 — and by the close had faced 398 balls and hit 20 fours and a six. Mushfiqur provided him with excellent support, striking 18 fours and one six in his 236-ball knock. Keen contest was witnessed on the third day. — Reuters Scoreboard Sri Lanka 1st innings 570/4 decl Bangladesh 1st innings (overnight 135/2) Jahurul c Chandimal b Eranga 20 Anamul b Mendis 13 Ashraful batting 189 Mominul c Mathews b Kulasekara 55 Mahmudullah st Chandimal b Herath 0 Rahim batting 152 Extras: (b 2, lb 1, nb 6) 9 Total: (4 wkts, 136 overs) 438 Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-65, 3-170, 4-177 Bowling Kulasekara 21-3-76-1 Eranga 22-3-80-1 Herath 42-9-103-1 Mendis 23-2-92-1 Mathews 6-1-16-0 Dilshan 20-3-55-0 Thirimanne 2-0-13-0
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Manorama and Deborah win bronze for India in team sprint event
New Delhi, March 10 The Indians, who started from the home straight, were quick to pounce on a lead against their counterparts who began from the opposite side (back straight) of the curved track. Manorama, was little slow as she completed the first lap in 22.243 secs as compared to Malaysia's rider (21.527). Deborah, however, wrested back the advantage and completed the race with an aggregate of 38.645 secs to bag a podium finish in the junior category while the Malaysian duo took 38.793 secs to finsh the two-lap race. "I am very happy to have won a medal for the country. Credit goes to my coach Ibomcha Motum and my uncle Ingenjao who must be praying for me to do well in Manipur," Manorama said. Earlier in the day, Faihah and Nurul had qualified with better timings (38.848 secs) as compared to Indian pair (39.245 s). "The Malaysian girls were faster than us in the qualifying stage. But, we knew it was going to be touch and go. We had to give it our best shot and I was confident with Debrorah by my side," the 16-year old said. It was only during the preparatoty camp for the championships that the Indian pair started practicing together but they were confident of a good show as they had understanding of each others' skills. "The understanding we have between us paid off. We had practised together coming into this championship and at the velodrome.
— PTI |
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Defending champ Saina top seed in Swiss Open
Basel, March 10 It will be a perfect setting for Saina to gift herself the coveted title on her birthday, which interestingly coincides with the final day of the tournament on March 17. The $125,000 event starts on Tuesday. The two-time defending champion has been handed an easy draw and is expected to reach the semifinals without much ado. For a place in the final, the Indian is likely to meet former world number one Shixian Wang, who has also been drawn in the first half. The 22-year-old Hyderabadi had defeated Shixian in the quarterfinals of the All England Championship after a tight and gruelling three-game battle. Young Thai sensation Intanon Ratchanok, who spoilt Saina's All England dream yesterday, will be in the second half. India's PV Sindhu has also been drawn in the second half of the women's singles draw. Saina had won the Swiss Open in 2011 for the first time, defeating Ji Hyun Sung of Chinese Taipei in the finals. She retained the title next year, beating Shixian in the summit clash. In the men's singles, world number nine Parupalli Kashyap will start as the fifth seed, while HS Prannoy, Sourabh Verma, K Srikanth and Sai Praneeth too will start in the main draw. — PTI
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Baba Aparajith hits 121 as South in Deodhar semis
Guwahati, March 10 Opting to bat the Nehru Stadium in Guwahati, South Zone posted a healthy total of 284 for five in 50 overs riding on Aparajith's 121. The India colts player played 129 balls and hit 10 fours and three sixes in his innings. In reply, East managed to 273 for seven with skipper Wriddhiman Saha top-scoring with 77 and Ishank Jaggi managing to hit 55. It was the 89 runs given by the East Zone bowlers in the final 10 overs of the South innings that turned out to be decisive. Brief Scores: South Zone 284/5 (B Aparajith 121, R Uthappa 48, S Baby 33 no, Shami Ahmed 2/60); East Zone 273/7 (Wriddhiman Saha 77, Ishank Jaggi 55, A Mithun 3/40). — PTI
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India concede late goal, lose second game in row
Ipoh, March 10 After their spirited fight in the 3-4 defeat against the Australians, much was expected from the Indians but they disappointed as they were outplayed in the first half by the Koreans who led 1-0 through a goal from Kang Moon Kweon. The Indians though regrouped in the second session and found the equaliser in the 39th minute with Malak Singh finding the target. The goal spurred the young Indians, mostly the hopefuls of the Junior World Cup later this year, as they kept the Korean defence busy with numerous raids but conceded a goal which was result of a lapse in concentration. Kweon scored his second goal of the match 10 minutes before the hooter via a deflection off a long hit from outside the 25 yards with at least three Indian defenders caught napping. After this loss, the Indians will find it difficult to qualify for the final in the six-team tournament. Two top teams from the round-robin league will play in the final. In the first half, India sat deep and looked for chances in counter-attack but they failed to get any. Michael Nobbs' boys could not get a single shot on the target in the first session. As the match wore on, the nippy Koreans took control of the game as they got five penalty corners in the opening session as against none by the Indians.
— PTI
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SA crush Pakistan
Bloemfontein, March 10 Earlier, Ingram's century helped South Africa to 315 for four, setting Pakistan a tough target to chase. Ingram finished with 105 off 104 balls as he and Farhaan Behardien battered the bowlers in a sparkling 50-run unbeaten partnership at the end of the innings.
— Agencies |
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The Australian team may be just getting a whiff of hope to make a comeback in the series. Mohali's wicket, which has assisted pace bowling in the past, is the source of that hope.
It's not for nothing Steve Waugh, the all-conquering Australian captain, referred to India as the "last frontier". Mickey Arthur, the Australian coach, also has spoken in the recent days about the "incredibly difficult" task of winning in India. All this may suggest that the Australians are a bit overawed by the situation; but it certainly seems that they do have a fair appreciation of the difficulty of the task. Australian allrounder Moises Henriques spoke on this theme today.
India's Deborah and Manorama Devi today won a bronze in the team sprint event to give hosts their second medal on the penultimate day of the Hero Asian Cycling Championships here.
The pair defeated Malaysia's Faihah Shahwati Mohd Adnan and Nurul Alissa Mohamad Azman by coming home just` 0.148 secs ahead of their opponents.
The Indians, who started from the home straight, were quick to pounce on a lead
against their counterparts who began from the opposite side (back straight) of
the curved track. Manorama, was little slow as she completed the first lap in
22.243 secs as compared to Malaysia's rider (21.527). Deborah, however, wrested
back the advantage and completed the race with an aggregate of 38.645 secs to
bag a podium finish in the junior category while the Malaysian duo took 38.793
secs to finsh the two-lap race.
If Wade is out of the mix, Oz will be in quandary. The likelies solution would be to fly in Brad Haddin as replacement. The Australians returned to some serious cricket after a good three day break. In between, the Oz team indulged in everything from shopping, lion safari,a trip to the Taj Mahal, promotional events and some slamdunks.
