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Bailey and his boys display Dasehra fireworks
Where you can enjoy the game
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We don’t censor commentators, says Srinivasan
Ton, hattrick for Gazi; draw for Bangladesh
Ojha scalps 6 as South get a shot in Duleep final
world c’ship
Vettel wins Japanese GP but 4th title must wait
Shanghai open
Stosur rallies past Bouchard to win Japan Open
Big response to National Open Tennis
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Bailey and his boys display Dasehra fireworks
Pune, October 13 The Pune crowd should consider themselves lucky to have witnessed the phenomenon that’s becoming as rare as the Royal Bengal tiger, especially in the ODIs and the T20 formats. That the sensational burst of fast bowling came not from an Indian bowler but from Mitchell Johnson shouldn’t matter at all. After all, how often does one get to see someone clocking 155kmph on Indian pitches, especially in the shorter formats? So, that should be good enough consolation for the large Pune crowd that turned up to see an emphatic Indian win but instead went back home mulling the disappointing 72-run loss. While Johnson may have picked up just one wicket, it was nevertheless his lightening short spells that were the cornerstones of the stunning Australian victory in the first of the seven-match series. In his first spell comprising three overs — in which he stayed over 150kmph or thereabout most of the time — he denied India the flying start they desperately needed to chase down a mammoth 304. His second spell, with Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina in the middle, was less eventful but economical. In his third spell, however, he removed dangerous Yuvraj Singh, dealing the biggest blow to India’s chances of chasing down the total. For India, the loss raises quite a few question marks on both their batting and bowling. While the bowlers leaking 300 plus runs isn’t surprising, the meek surrender by the strong batting line-up is definitely a matter of concern. With the attack India have and the batting-friendly conditions they will operate in, the onus will always be on the batsmen to either chase down or set a total hovering around 300. How they caved in today, however, doesn’t augur well for the side. Barring Virat Kohli (61) and Rohit Sharma (42), to an extent, the others just struggled against the Aussie attack. The Australians, on the other hand, feasted on the listless Indian bowling, especially the medium pacers. On a wicket that wasn’t exactly a batting beauty, the Australians motored to the daunting total on the back of brilliant half-centuries from opener Aaron Finch (72 off 79 balls) and skipper George Bailey (82 off 85 balls). While not taking away the credit from the Australian batsmen, it must be mentioned that India’s pacers contributed generously to the cause, especially Ishant Sharma. The tall pacer was completely off-colour, bowling short and wide, and allowing the batsmen to either cut or pull without much effort. Vinay Kumar, despite starting off well, also lost way gradually, compounding problems for his skipper MS Dhoni. What didn’t help India’s cause further was R Ashwin’s poor showing. He had looked clueless at Rajkot, and he showed little improvement at Pune. Eventually, it was left to Yuvraj Singh and Ravindra Jadeja to extract some respect for the Indian bowling from the marauding Aussies with their tight left-arm spin. While Jadeja kept it tight, Yuvraj, after being India’s best batsman in Rajkot, emerged their best bowler on Sunday, picking up two wickets and affecting a run out too. Their good work was, however, negated by the errant medium pacers. Scoreboard Australia India
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Where you can enjoy the game
Pune, October 13 What sets this stadium apart from most of the stadiums in the country is the comfort it offers to the paying public. Apparently much thought has gone into this often neglected aspect. To begin with, spectators don’t have to walk much to reach the stadium and queue up in long serpentine lines, jostling with fellow spectators, to reach their seats. As there’s enough space for parking, people can drive up to the stadium and then walk in without much fuss. Once inside, the seats are nicely spaced out and the snacks and drinks supply is never snapped, with enough stalls in all stands. And most crucially, every stand has functional and neat washrooms. “It’s a good place to come and enjoy the game. I’ve been here for the IPL games and I like the facilities around. I would think twice about taking my family to the stadium where these basic facilities aren’t available,” said a middle-aged man from Pune, who had come to the game with his wife and teen-aged daughter.
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We don’t censor commentators, says Srinivasan
New Delhi, October 13 “We don't censor commentators. This word censorship is incorrect. BCCI doesn't tell the commentator you say this, you cannot say this and things like that,” Srinivasan said. A controversy was triggered recently when former Australian captain Ian Chappell refused to take up a commentary assignment in India after being presented with a set of dos and donts. Srinivasan refused to be drawn into that matter, saying Chappell was not employed by the BCCI. “What has he said? Ian Chappell is not employed by us. We have never said anything to him. We are talking about people employed by us. BCCI doesn't tell the commentator anything,” he said. “BCCI in no way interferes with the freedom of the press. But, a commentator should be a commentator, and a journalist should be a journalist,” Srinivasan asserted. Asked why the BCCI ventured into TV production, Srinivasan said, “Television production was disorganised. It wasn't professional. There were lots of freelancers involved, the production house was not coordinating things. “We wanted to make it systematic and we wanted the domestic cricket covered professionally so that we can monitor performances, evaluate umpires,” he added. — PTI
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Ton, hattrick for Gazi; draw for Bangladesh
Chittagong, October 13 The 22-year-old off-spinner had Corey Anderson leg-before, Bradley-John Watling caught behind and Doug Bracewell caught in the slips off successive balls at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury stadium. Gazi's hattrick, which gave him his sixth wicket in the innings, saw the Black Caps slump from 260-4 to 260-7 in their second knock on the final day. The tourists declared the innings closed at 287-7, leaving Bangladesh a target of 256 runs in a minimum of 45 overs to win the Test and take the lead in the two-match series. The hosts ended play on 173-3 in the 49th over, with Shakib Al Hasan unbeaten on 50 and newcomer Mominul Haque on 22. Gazi, who hit an unbeaten 101 batting at number eight on Saturday, joined Alok Kapali as only the second Bangladesh bowler to claim a Test hat-trick. — Agencies
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Ojha scalps 6 as South get a shot in Duleep final
Chennai, October 13 South Zone, who had virtually sealed a final berth on the third day itself after ensuring a first innings lead, declared at 467 for nine having played one over in the morning. Needing 258 runs to avoid innings defeat, Central Zone again batted poorly as they were all out for 220 in only 57.2 overs even before tea on the final day. The innings was terminated after the fall of ninth wicket as veteran Mohammed Kaif didn`t come out to bat as he was injured. In fact, all the nine Central wickets were snapped up by the spin trio of Ojha (20.2-5-48-6) and off-spinners Baba Aparajith (2/35) and Malolan Rangarajan (1/58). It turned out to be a great outing for young Aparajith, who backed his double century in the quarterfinal against West with another solid show against Central. A century and four-wicket match-haul (2/13 and 2/35 in two innings) will definitely keep the selectors interested when they announce the next assignment for India `A` team. Only Vineet Saxena (67) and Piyush Chawla (73; 56b, 10x4, 2x6) were the two notable contributors for Central. Ojha struck a disciplined line as he also got a few to classically pitch on the leg-middle and turn towards off-stump. The India left-arm spinner got three quick wickets of Robin Bist (20), Shalabh Srivastava (2) and Naman Ojha (0) in a space of four overs to set up an outright win. In fact, one particular spell of his read 6-3-8-4. Having conceded a big lead on the third day itself, the Central batsmen didn`t have any motivation left as the will to grind it out there in the middle was completely missing. Brief Scores: Central Zone 209 & 220 in 57.2 overs (Piyush Chawla 73, Vineet Saxena 67, Pragyan Ojha 6/48, Baba Aparajith 2/35); South Zone 467/9 decl (Abhinav Mukund 111, Baba Aparajith 109, Piyush Chawla 4/159). South Zone won by an innings & 38 runs. Second semifinal on reserve day
The other semifinal between North Zone and East Zone was pushed into the reserve day after persistent rain, on the fourth day, forced play to be abandoned without a ball being bowled. East Zone are 32 for 1 after 14 overs, still 559 runs behind, and should the first-innings remain incomplete at the end of the game, the winner will be decided by a coin toss. — Agencies |
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SL can’t learn from India any more as now money is focus here: Ranatunga
New Delhi, October 13 “It's unfortunate that most youngsters only want to play the shorter version for financial gains. Let's be very clear that India won't have any more Sachin Tendulkar or a Sunil Gavaskar. You won't find the elegance of Tiger Pataudi,” the World Cup winning Lankan captain told a select gathering after a seminar on Sunday. “It was a part of our learning process as youngsters to look upto Indian cricket. I don't think we can learn from India anymore,” Ranatunga said when asked whether the rise of Twenty20 will lead to India playing lesser number of Test matches in the near future. The 49-year-old, who played 93 Tests and 269 ODIs for his country, also seemed disappointed with the way Indian cricket board has functioned over the past few years. “I think that BCCI should come under the Right To Information (RTI) act as they are not answerable to anyone, not even to their union sports ministry. That's why they do whatever they want. In Sri Lanka, at least we have the right to criticise Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) in parliament and get it corrected," Ranatunga stated. He is not against politicians entering sports administration but feels technical decisions should be taken by cricketers in the board. “Cricketing decisions should be limited to cricketers. That's the reason I feel insecure as a cricketer when I find that a player of (Dilip) Vengsarkar's stature loses to a politician. (Vengsarkar had lost the MCA polls to Vilasrao Deshmukh). In Sri Lanka Cricket, most of the administrators are appointed with blessings of president.” Ranatunga reiterated that he is yet to digest as to why the erstwhile Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara made four changes in the 2011 World Cup final against India in Mumbai which the island nation lost. “Four changes in a final. I was surprised sitting in a TV studio alongside Kapil (Dev). I told the channel to cross-check if it's right. There were players who were outsiders as far as that squad is concerned. “I don't know what happened as only the Sri Lankan captain could tell us about those changes. I still believe we should have won that final.” Someone who doesn't mince words, Ranatunga was very vocal about how SLC is not ready to handle the transition phase once veterans Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara call time on their career. “When we (and Aravinda de Silva) were getting old, we introduced Sanath (Jayasuriya) as vice-captain. Also we had players like Marvan Atapattu, Russel Arnold with whom we persisted for a long time. “You need to give players a long rope and not discard them after one or two failures. That's how you build a team,” the former skipper recollected. As has been his philosophy regarding T20 cricket, Ranatunga is certainly not amused that Lasith Malinga decided to forego his Test career to prolong his future in limited overs and especially T20. “If I start speaking about Malinga, I don't know where it will end. I believe that when he first expressed his desire to retire from Tests and play only ODIs and T20, the captain should have spoken to him,” he said. — PTI
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Shiva, Manoj seeded; 5 Indians get byes
New Delhi, October 13 While Shiva has been seeded fourth, Manoj got the number six billing in the mega-event which will start tomorrow. Thokchom Nanao Singh (49kg), Olympian Sumit Sangwan (81kg) and Asian Games silver-medallist Manpreet Singh (91kg) are the other three boxers apart from Manoj and Shiva, who have been given byes in the first round. Star boxer Vijender Singh (75kg), who was the first Indian to clinch a medal (a bronze in 2009) in the World Championships, had no such luck and will open his campaign against Sweden's Hampus Henriksson on October 17. If he wins his opening bout, Vijender will find himself up against Ireland's Jason Quigley, the reigning European champion, who has been seeded fifth in the showpiece event. Madan Lal (52kg) will kick off India's campaign tomorrow against Moldova's Alexandros Riscan. On Tuesday, Vikash Malik (60kg) will go up against Meder Mamakeev of Kyrgyzstan. A day later Asian Championships silver-medallist Mandeep Jangra will step in for his first bout, against Selemani Kidunda of Tanzania. Manpreet will start off against Keddy Agnes of Seychelles on October 18. Shiva will be in action the next day when he takes on the winner of the October 17 bout between Filipino Mario Fernandez and Guyana's Imran Khan. Manoj will open on October 18 against the winner of the October 15 bout between Kenya's Denis Okoth and Turkey's Fatih Keles. — PTI
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Randhawa finishes 2nd in Korea
Yeoju (Korea), October 13 Randhawa closed the $750,000 tournament with a fine 67 on Sunday to tie for second. His 67 was identical to his first round score, which was flawless, but today, he dropped one shot against six birdies. He finished at seven-under 281 and was a distant second tied with Kim Tae-Hoon, as Kang Sung-Hoon, who had a stranglehold on the event, finished as winner by five shots. Kang, who made four birdies in a row from third to sixth, could afford two bogeys on eighth and 16th as he carded 70 and totaled 12-under 276. Anirban Lahiri (73) was tied 17th at one-under 287, while Rahil Gangjee (71) was tied 29th at two-over 290. Digvijay Singh faltered on the final day as he shot 79 and ended at 11-over 299. Randhawa was pleased with his performance and said, “I started with a bang and ended with a bang but I have no idea what happened in between. I had a good ball-striking day. I also made a few good putts.” “I felt the best out there today and I’m happy with the way I was swinging. I’ll take the positive out of this round and I’ll take it with me until the end of the year,” he added. On his round in general, Randhawa said, “The 16th was the best birdie. I had a 25-footer and it was up and down the hill and I made that putt. That really got my juices going. That got me to five-under and it was a comfortable position for me to be in.” “I’ve been taking it easy for the last two or three months. To come back and finish in the top-five is really good for my confidence. There are a couple of things that’s been holding me back from getting another win. I made a few swing changes and I wasn’t feeling confident under pressure. Today I did that and it felt good.” Jason Knutzon (69) was tied fourth alongside Baek Seuk-hyun (69) and Kiradech Aphinbarnrat (73) at six-under 282. — PTI
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Vettel wins Japanese GP but 4th title must wait
Suzuka, October 13 The 26-year-old German’s fourth win at Suzuka in the last five years left him with a lead of 90 points over Alonso with four races, and a maximum 100 points, remaining. The next up is India on October 27. Vettel’s Australian team mate Mark Webber, who had started on pole position, finished 7.1 seconds behind in a Red Bull one-two with Frenchman Romain Grosjean taking third place for Lotus on a sunny afternoon at the Honda-owned track. It was Vettel’s fifth win in a row, ninth in 15 races this season and 35th of his career. Asked on the podium about the championship, with the crowd roaring in approval, Vettel said: “Obviously we have a very good gap but we still keep pushing... it looks very good at this stage but it’s not over until its over.” Alonso, who became Formula One’s leading all-time points scorer, had no illusions about his chances. “Even if Vettel doesn’t finish all of the races I need to win nearly all (of them), so it’s a matter of time,” he said. — Reuters Force India returns pointless again
Sahara Force India returned pointless for the second consecutive time as Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil finished a disappointing 11th and 14th respectively. “With four races to go, we need to take the positives from this weekend and will travel to India determined to get back in the points.” Sutil said. — PTI |
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Djokovic masters del Potro
The Serb beats the big-hitting Argentine in a gruelling match to defend his title
Shanghai, October 13 The Serbian triumphed 6-1 3-6 7-6 (3) to complete a brilliant fortnight on the Chinese hard courts after he defended his China Open in Beijing last week. It was the 26-year-old’s 20th consecutive win in China. After Del Potro defeated world number one Rafa Nadal in the semifinals with some powerful hitting, Djokovic was eager to avoid giving the Argentine any room to find his rhythm in the early stages. The Serbian took command of the centre of the court, moving his taller opponent from side to side by taking the ball early and pressuring the Argentine’s serve with crisp, deep returns. Djokovic broke twice to race into a 5-0 lead before sixth seed Del Potro finally held for the first time to register a game. Del Potro’s first serve percentage dropping to 56 percent as the pressure from Djokovic’s brilliant returning told. A rejuvenated Del Potro fought back gamely in the second. The 2009 US Open champion scored a crucial break early in the set thanks to some booming winners as he opened up a 3-0 lead. Djokovic had three chances to break back at 2-4 but the Argentine’s monstrous forehand offered some clean winners as he held before serving out for the set in the next game. Neither man gave an inch at the start of a tense third set where the hitting intensified as Del Potro sensed his first Masters title. Del Potro had break point on the Djokovic serve at 2-2 only for the Serb to come up with a huge ace and hold before it was the turn of the Argentine to feel the heat. Djokovic had two match points at 6-5 only for Del Potro’s forehand to once again dig him out of a hole and he forced the tiebreaker. But the Serbian’s renowned athletic steel came through as Del Potro finally appeared to tire. A careless forehand was pushed wide setting up match point which Djokovic took with a backhand winner down the line to seal his 15th Masters title. — Reuters
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Stosur rallies past Bouchard to win Japan Open
Osaka, October 13 The former US Open champion beat her 19-year-old opponent 3-6 7-5 6-2 in Osaka to clinch the $250,000 hard court title, with her second of the year ensuring she has won more than once in a season for the first time. The Australian wore down Bouchard with some booming forehands into an open court after pushing the Canadian out wide with a clever kick serve. The fifth seeded Bouchard began her first WTA final confidently, breaking her 29-year-old opponent three times en route to taking the set 6-2. The second set looked to be heading for a tiebreak at 5-5 but third seed Stosur stepped up her game, breaking the Canadian as she won seven of the next eight points to seal it 7-5. Bouchard held serve to open the deciding set but Stosur again went on a run, claiming the next four games to open up a lead she would not relinquish. — Reuters
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Big response to National Open Tennis
New Delhi, October 13 No wonder, the organisers of the Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship, starting at the DLTA synthetic courts on Monday, were tearing their hair out in desperation as the qualifying matches got delayed. It took three days for the qualifying process, and the overwhelming number of entries surprised even the organisers and the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association and the organisers opted to promote the top four qualifiers to the main draw of women’s singles, instead of awarding the mandatory wild cards. Nikita Bishnoi of Chandigarh will head the girls’ seeding with three players from Punjab figuring in the main draw — Nandini Sharma, Gurmehar Kaur and Baani Singh. The boys main draw, consists of five Punjab players, including third seed Hardeep Singh Sandhu.
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There’s no better sight in cricket than watching a big fast bowler steaming in, delivering thunderbolts at 150kmph and above, and the batsmen scampering around just to survive.
The Pune crowd should consider themselves lucky to have witnessed the phenomenon that’s becoming as rare as the Royal Bengal tiger, especially in the ODIs and the T20 formats.
Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel won the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday but was made to wait for his fourth successive Formula One title after Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso finished fourth.
The 26-year-old German’s fourth win at Suzuka in the last five years left him with a lead of 90 points over Alonso with four races, and a maximum 100 points, remaining. The next up is India on October 27.
