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India crumble as King Kallis bids adieu
Schumacher battles for life after ski fall
Manan’s 187 steers Punjab to big total on opening day
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Jeevan bows out
Under-fire Cook wants to stay as captain
Goodbye to 365 days of scandal,
celebration
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India crumble as King Kallis bids adieu
Durban, December 30
“India are always a big challenge and it was always going to be important for us to do well against them,” Smith said at the post match presentation. It was also fitting farewell for South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis who made a century in his final Test. South Africa were 59 without loss in their second innings after India had been bowled out for 223 earlier in the day, failing to offer much resistance after being precariously placed at 68 for two overnight. Only Ajinkya Rahane offered a bright spot for the Indians, coming within four runs of his maiden test century. He was the last Indian wicket to fall, just after lunch on Monday, swinging wildly on 96 with only the last tail-ender Mohammed Shami left in support. South Africa took just 11.4 overs to knock off the required runs with Alviro Petersen 31 not out and Smith unbeaten on 27 after a six and a four from the last two balls of the game. Spinner Robin Peterson emerged as the unlikely match hero, overshadowing his fast bowling colleagues with a four-wicket haul in India's second innings to add to brisk the 61 runs he scored on Sunday, batting at number nine in South Africa's first innings. Second Fastest
But nine wickets in the match for fast bowler Dale Steyn earned him the man of the match award and he became the second fastest player to reach 350 Test wickets. On his last day of test cricket, Kallis, regarded as South Africa's finest cricketer, was not troubled in the slips and did not bat in the second innings. “Last day of Test cricket for me,” he tweeted before play. “I have so many wonderful memories and stories, thanks to my family, friends, team mates and fans. Tough day.” But there was more of a clinical edge than heavy emotion on Monday as South Africa went about their task with business-like efficiency to emphasis their status as the top-ranked Test team. Kallis was taken by his team mates on a lap of honour, waving to the crowds and being forced at one stage to down a can of beer. The win ended a run of four successive Test defeats in Durban for the hosts, who last weekend came desperately close to a world record fourth-innings chase before settling for a draw in the first Test match in Johannesburg.
— Reuters Scoreboard
India Ist innings 334 South Africa Ist innings 500 India IInd innings overnight 68/2 Dhawan c du Plessis b Peterson 19 Vijay c Smith b Philander 6 Pujara b Steyn 32 Kohli c de Villiers b Steyn 11 Rohit lbw b Philander 25 Rahane b Philander 96 Dhoni c Petersen b Peterson 15 Jadeja c Morkel b Peterson 8 Zaheer lbw Peterson 3 Sharma c de Villiers b Steyn 1 Shami not out 1 Extras:
(b-4, w-1) 6 Total: (all out, 86 overs) 223 Fall of wickets:
1-8 2-53 3-68 4-71 5-104 6-146 7-154 8-189 9-206 Bowling Steyn 21-8-47-3 Philander 16-4-43-3 Morkel 16-6-34-0 Peterson 24-3-74-4 Duminy 8-2-20-0 Du Plessis 1-0-1-0 South Africa IInd innings Smith not out 27 Petersen not out 31 Extras:
(w-1) 1 Total: (0 wickets; 11.4 overs) 59 Bowling Shami 2-1-4-0 Sharma 5-1-29-0 Jadeja 4-0-16-0 Rohit 0.4-0-10-0 |
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Schumacher battles for life after ski fall
Grenoble, France, Dec 30 “We can say that his condition is life-threatening," Jean-Francois
Payen, head anesthetician at the CHU hospital in the eastern French city of
Grenoble, told a news conference. “For the moment we cannot say what Michael Schumacher's future is," he added. “We are working round the clock — we are trying to win time." The retired motor racing great, 44, slammed his head on a rock while skiing
off-piste on Sunday morning in the French Alpine resort where he has a vacation home. “His helmet did of course protect him at least partly. Someone who had suffered a similar accident without a helmet would not have made it here (to the hospital),” Payen said. Schumacher was initially conscious as he was transported to a local hospital in Moutiers and then to
Grenoble. However, his condition deteriorated sharply afterwards. Neurosurgeon Stephan Chabardes said an emergency brain scan carried out on Schumacher had revealed internal bleeding and injuries including contusions and lesions. He said they had operated to treat the internal bleeding. Doctors said Schumacher had been placed in an artificial coma but, contrary to an earlier French media report, said they had not carried out a second operation during the night and were not planning any further interventions at this stage. A spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was shocked to hear the news. “We hope that he overcomes his injuries and can recover," the spokesman told a regular briefing in Berlin. Hopes and prayers
In Germany, Schumacher's accident topped news bulletins, with the bestselling tabloid newspaper Bild reporting on its website: “Schumi fighting for his life”. Schumacher was under the care of Professor Gerard
Saillant, a brain and spinal injury expert who is also president of the International Automobile Federation
(FIA) Institute. Saillant told the news conference he was there as "a friend” and gave no further details on his
condition. Bild reporters said Ross Brawn, the Briton who worked with Schumacher at Ferrari and Mercedes as technical director and team principal respectively, had arrived in
Grenoble. Leading names in motor racing reacted with shock on Twitter. “If anyone can pull through, it's him,” said Britain's triple Indy 500 winner Dario
Franchitti, who is still walking on crutches after a crash in October that ended his racing career. “Come on Michael, give us one of those race stints at pure qualifying pace to win through, like you used to. You can do it,” said Schumacher's former Benetton team mate Martin
Brundle. Felipe Massa, who suffered a near fatal head injury at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, said he was praying for his friend.
— Agencies |
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Manan’s 187 steers Punjab to big total on opening day
Dhanbad, December 30 Manan hit a patient 187 off 273 balls with the help of 24 fours and three sixes, while Jiwanjot Singh scored run-a-ball 78, laced with 15 boundaries as the duo put on an important 138 runs together for the opening wicket to set a solid platform for the team. Yuvraj took 59 balls for his 39, which he scored with the help of five fours and a
six. Amit Mishra, Jayant Yadav share 7 wickets Bhubaneshwar:
Amit Mishra and Jayant Yadav shared seven wickets between them as Haryana restricted Odisha to 221 for nine on Day 1 of their Group A match. Opener Girjia Rout waged a lone battle for Odisha and fell just six runs short of his well-deserved century. Niranjan Behera (38) and Govind Podder (34) batted well in the middle-order but could not carry on with their good work.
— PTI |
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First session was the difference, says Dhoni
Dhoni, however, backed his young side saying the experience will stand the players in good stead. “Overall, only a few of the top order had played more than five Tests outside the subcontinent, great experience for them to play the toughest side.” “I'm very happy with the performance, especially of the bowlers. Without the luxury of an allrounder, they bowled to the plan that they had. They must have learnt a lot out of these two games, also that Test cricket is about all five days, you may play one bad session and that will have an imapct on the game itself,” said Dhoni. “Jacques Kallis has been a fantastic cricketer, doesn't talk much. Not just the runs he scored or the wickets he took, even the catches he took. He gave South Africa the luxury of playing an extra batsman. Youngsters will look up to him,” he added. Mum, Dad, I hope I have made you proud: Kallis
Jacques Kallis paid handsome tributes to his late parents for all the support they gave to make him a cricketer and hoped he did them proud. “I've been fortunate to have had great coaches throughout the career, my friends and family have put up with me being away, will be nice to catch up with them. So many people to thank. Two of the most important people, who aren't there, so 'Mum, Dad I hope I've made you proud',” said Kallis.
— Agencies |
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Jeevan bows out
Chennai, December 30 Left-handed Jeevan lost 5-7 2-6 to another left-hander and world number 85 Jiri Vesely of Cezch Republic in the first singles main draw match of the tournament at the centre court. Before Jeevan took court, Ramkumar, ranked 526, ousted Gombos — who is ranked 197 — 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-3 after two hours and six minutes of hard work. Others to qualify today were Swiss Henri Laaksonen and Russia's Alexander Kudryavtsev. In the doubles main draw, Indian wild card Saketh Myneni and his Russian partner Karen Khachanov progressed to the quarterfinals with a hard fought win over Spanish duo of Pablo Carreno Busta and Albert Ramos 6-1, 7-6 (7). In other singles main draw matches, 30-year-old top Taipei star Yen-Hsun Lu, ranked 66, defeated 89th ranked American Tim Smyczek 6-4, 6-2 and 28-year-old Dudi Sela of Israel, a regular to this tournament, got past Slovakian Lukas Lacko 6-4 6-2. In the last match of the day, Canadian fifth seed Vasek Pospisil brushed aside the challenge of British wild card Kyle Edmund 6-3 7-5.
— PTI |
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Under-fire Cook wants to stay as captain
London, December 30 Somehow the demoralised tourists, who gave up the Ashes in 14 playing days, have to find a way to stop the Australian juggernaut in this week's final Sydney Test from repeating the 5-0 rout of the 2006-07 series Down Under. Cook's position is under scrutiny given England's woeful series, and he ratcheted up the pressure by dropping two crucial catches in the first half-hour of Sunday's play which could have put the Australians under pressure. It has been a dramatic turnaround from England's last tour in Australia in 2010-11 when Cook amassed 766 runs at 127.66. Three years later he has scored 232 runs in eight innings at 29.00. But Cook insists he wants to continue as captain, leaving the big call on his post-Ashes future to the England selectors. “I'm totally responsible as captain for the team and if, at the end of the series, the selectors decide I'm not the best man for the job, then so be it," Cook told reporters after England's dispiriting loss. “It would hurt and I've got no plans of going anywhere. I'm desperately trying to use as much of my experience of playing 100 Tests to help turn this team around. Cook calls on seniors to avoid Ashes whitewash
Alastair Cook is calling on his seniors to pull out something special for England to avoid the ignominy of an Ashes whitewash against Australia. Somehow the dispirited tourists, who gave up the Ashes in 14 playing days, have to find a way to stop the Australian juggernaut from repeating the 5-0 clean sweep of the 2006-07 series Down Under. Cook has defended his players who crumbled under pressure after holding a 51-run innings lead only to be bowled out for 179 in their second innings.
— Agencies |
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Goodbye to 365 days of scandal,
celebration
The past never goes away when a year ends — in human affairs, a state of continuity endures. It’s just that the change in the numbers on the clocks and the calendars provides the illusion of a hiatus, an interlude to pause, celebrate, reflect, hope.
There was not too much to celebrate for Indians in sport in the year 2013 — and the tricks of the administrators of the sport in the country cast a dismal light on the few occasions that were worthy of being celebrated. The three medals won by India in the Wrestling World Championship were most worthy of celebration, as was PV Sindhu’s bronze in the badminton Worlds, or the bronze by the junior girls hockey team in the Junior World Cup. In cricket, India had two big occasions to celebrate — the 4-0 Test series win over Australia, and the win in the Champions Trophy in England. There were reasons to mourn sport. Spot-fixing in the IPL, with the alleged involvement of an official of the team owned by the BCCI president, hit hard the credibility of sport and officials. Sachin Tendulkar provided the lump-in-the throat moment when, with an emotional speech, he bowed out. Sadder was the end of Viswanathan Anand’s reign as world chess champion. Across the world, much remained the same — Bolt ruled, Messi rocked, and Federer continued his decline. — TNS
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Seven-times Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher was fighting for his life on Monday after suffering severe head injuries in a skiing accident in the French Alps resort of
Meribel, doctors said.
For Jharkhand, SS Quadri (2/130) took two wickets, while Varun Aaron (1/48) and Shahbaz Nadeem (1/127) claimed wicket apiece. Opting to bat, Punjab got off to a great start before Jiwanjot was dismissed off Quadri's bowling. But Uday Kaul (25), followed by Yuvraj provided some good support to Manan. While Manan and Uday shared a 54-run partnership for the second wicket, with Yuvraj, the opener put on another solid 89 runs for the third wicket to take Punjab past 280-run mark. At stumps, skipper Mandeep Singh was unbeaten on 41 and Siddarth Kaul was yet to open his account. 
Durban, December 30
However, he has been pitted against India's best singles player Somdev Devvarman in his first round match.
