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Bichel leaves India struggling
Aussies not to enforce follow-on Masterful batting display by Ponting
Harbhajan to consult doctor |
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Dilshan hits ton for Sri Lanka
Pak veterans to play 3 ties NFL: JCT, Salgaocar evenly matched Malaysia’s no to second-string Indian team Gurgaon gets Astroturf Keen tussle in bridge Govt College Ludhiana PU badminton champs Gold for Punjab in school hockey Pushpa wins bronze Dharamsala eves win in kabaddi
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Bichel leaves India struggling
Adelaide, December 13 After getting off to a brisk start, the Indian innings plunged into disarray as they not only lost their two openers but also their star bastman Sachin Tendulkar and first Test centurion Sourav Ganguly in quick succession to stare at the ignominy of a follow on. Gasping at 85 for four at one stage, Rahul Dravid and the in-form V V S Laxman stemmed the rot to take India to 180 for four at stumps on an eventful second day. Dravid was on 43 and Laxman on 55 with India still 376 runs behind Australia’s first innings total of 556 on a track which was perfect for batting. Resuming at 400 for five, the world champions continued to heap the misery on the Indians with Ricky Ponting converting his overnight century into his second Test double hundred, which was also his third century against the tourists. Australia seemed headed for a total in excess of 600 before Anil Kumble scalped three wickets in an over to bring an abrupt end to their innings. Kumble dismissed Ponting, MacGill and Williams — the last two batsmen for no scores — in the space of five balls to return with 5-154. But Kumble’s 21st five wicket haul masked the misery of the Indian bowlers. The Indians had themselves to blame for the top order collapse as Tendulkar (1) and Virender Sehwag (47) perished to poor strokes, allowing the world champions to make early inroads. Aakash Chopra (27) was the first batsman to fall, returning a simple catch to Andy Bichel. Bichel struck again two overs later when Sehwag edged one to Matthew Hayden at gully. But worse was to come after tea when Tendulkar drove at a good length ball from Bichel and Adam Gilchrist pouched the edge to the delight of his teammates. Bichel, wayward in Brisbane, made a come back of sorts with figures of 3 for 55. Then followed the miserable run out of captain Sourav Ganguly (2) who could not get back to his crease in time after being sent back by Dravid. Earlier in the day, when overnight batsman Adam Gilchrist fell for 29, it looked as though things were not as bad for Ganguly’s men as the proceedings of the first day had portended. Australia were 426 then and the tail was opened up but India’s bowlers allowed things to slip out of their hands. Ajit Agarkar and Ashish Nehra failed to show discipline and were guilty of not bowling to the field settings. Ponting and Jason Gillespie (48 no) made a mockery of their feeble attempts to bounce the batsmen and repeatedly despatched the short pitched deliveries to short square boundary. Ponting first added 47 with Bichel (19) for the seventh wicket and then another 83 with Gillespie for the eighth. The 28-year old Ponting brought up his 200 with a four to midwicket off Kumble and then fondly blew a kiss to the Adelaide crowd. His double century came from 289 balls and after 422 minutes. Scoreboard Australia (1st innings): (overnight 400-5) Langer c Sehwag b Kumble 58 Hayden c Patel b Pathan 12 Ponting c Dravid b Kumble 242 Martyn c Laxman b Nehra 30 Waugh b Nehra 30 Katich c Sehwag b Agarkar 75 Gilchrist c Sehwag b Agarkar 29 Bichel c Chopra b Kumble 19 Gillespie not out 48 Williams b Kumble 0 MacGill lbw b Kumble 0 Extras (lb-8 nb-4 w-1) 13 Total (all out, 127 overs) 556 Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-135, 3-200, 4-252, 5-390, 6-426, 7-473, 8-556, 9-556, 10-556. Bowling: Agarkar 26-1-119-2, Pathan 27-3-136-1, Nehra 25-3-115-2 (nb-3 w-1), Kumble 39-2-154-5 (nb-1), Sehwag 5-0-21-0, Tendulkar 1-0-3-0. India (1st innings): Chopra c and b Bichel 27 Sehwag c Hayden b Bichel 47 Dravid not out 43 Tendulkar c Gilchrist b Bichel 1 Ganguly run out 2 Laxman not out 55 Extras (lb-2, nb-2, w-1) 5 Total (4 wkts, 51 overs) 180 FoW: 1-66, 2-81, 3-83, 4-85. Bowling: Gillespie 13-4-45-0, Williams 10-3-27-0, Bichel 12-2-55-3, MacGill 10-2-29-0, Katich 3-0-19-0, Waugh 3-1-3-0. — Reuters
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Aussies not to enforce follow-on Adelaide, December 13 “I don’t think we would ask them to bat again if we bowl them out. The wicket will be extremely hard to bat on the last day, no matter what we are going to be chasing,” said Ponting who plundered the Indian bowling attack for his career-best 242 earlier on the day. In reply to Australia’s mammoth total of 557, India finished the second day at 180 for four, sill needing 177 runs to avoid the follow-on mark. Ponting said the Aussies would be looking to break the unbeaten 95-run partnership between Rahul Dravid and V.V.S. Laxman for the fifth wicket, which steadied the Indian innings after a top-order collapse. “I don’t think we are going to get them out cheaply any way. Both Dravid and Laxman are pretty hard to restrict when going. So the sooner we break the stand, the better.” Ponting, who blew a kiss to his wife Rianne sitting in the stands after reaching the double century, was disappointed at his dismissal. “It was a bit of a celebration. She (Rianne) was acually thinking about going home yesterday. But she stayed back because she thought there was something special happening.” — PTI
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Masterful batting display by Ponting An epic contest looms as we enter the third day of the Adelaide Test, which has so far been highlighted by some exceptional individual performances. We enter the day full of confidence, having claimed some crucial early wickets after putting a solid total on the scoreboard. Without doubt the man who has set the tone for our strong showing has been Ricky Ponting who treated fans to a masterful display of batting in notching his highest-ever Test score and the second double-hundred of his career. Punter’s 242 runs were outstanding and it is clear that over the past year and a half he has taken his batting to another level. The fact that he has scored 10 hundreds from his past 19 innings is enough evidence to suggest he is one of the world’s foremost batsmen, up there with our own Matthew Hayden. He is hungry for runs, values his wicket and consistently puts bowlers under pressure with his outstanding running between wickets. Ricky’s running certainly added to the spectacle for those fans lucky enough to be at the Adelaide Oval to witness his innings, in what is fast becoming an intriguing contest. It was pleasing to see Simon Katich, who is playing just his fourth Test, make some runs, as he continues to show people just why he has been held in such high esteem amongst the Australian cricket fraternity for so long. He will take a lot of confidence away from this match, knowing he can make runs on a world stage against a quality attack. The other highlight with the bat was Jason Gillespie’s performance. We always tell our tail-enders to think of themselves as batsmen when they walk to the crease, which is exactly what Dizzy did. He backed his ability and contributed valuable runs in front of his adoring home crowd who loved every minute of his entertaining and unbeaten 48. From an Indian perspective, a lot can be said about experience, and it was Anil Kumble who proved to his younger team-mates the value of hard work and perseverance after claiming three scalps in his final over to finish with five wickets for the innings. It was not the best that I have ever seen him bowl, but he has to be admired for the way he goes about his cricket, and his final figures were a true reward for persistence. Similar traits have been displayed by our own Andy Bichel, who after a forgettable match in Brisbane, bounced back to take three vital wickets and further our strong start. It is fair to say that Bichel has been under a lot of public pressure this week, but after getting the nod from the selectors, has shown just why he has been such a valuable part of our side over the past 18 months. Throughout that period he has had the happy knack of claiming key wickets, just as he did with Sachin today and Brian Lara on several occasions during our tour of the Caribbean. He tends to take his game to a new level whenever he bowls to these greats, and although Indian supporters would have been bitterly disappointed with Sachin’s dismissal, perhaps it showed us all that the Little Master really is human after all. Equally disappointed would be Sourav Ganguly, who batted so well in Brisbane, only to be run-out by Stuart MacGill. Ganguly’s scalp was important, but the crease is still occupied by two dangermen, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. We would all have very short memories if we didn’t realise what these two can achieve, and if we are to push for victory, then it is vital that we break this partnership early on day three. This match looks certain to go the distance, and whatever side can hang tough with the ball staying low on the turning Adelaide wicket, is sure to reap the rewards.
— Gameplan |
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Harbhajan to consult doctor Adelaide: The final decision on whether spinner Harbhajan Singh will continue to be part of the team for the rest of the series will be taken in couple of days.
Ligament between the middle and the index finger of my bowling has been torn and doctor will tell me (on Monday) whether I need a surgery or not,’’ he said. Coach John Wright stated that the team
management will take the final decision about Harbhajan only after doctor’s report.
— UNI
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Dilshan hits ton for Sri Lanka
Kandy, December 13 Sri Lanka claimed the wickets of Marcus Trescothick (14) and Mark Butcher (6) during the final session to leave England on 89 for two. Scoreboard Sri Lanka (first innings): 382 (T. Dilshan 63; A. Giles 5-116) England (first innings):
294 (G.Thorpe 57, M.Vaughan 52; M. Muralitharan 4-60, C.Vaas 4-77) Sri Lanka (second innings overnight 39-1): Atapattu lbw b Giles 8 Jayasuriya b Kirtley 27 Sangakkara c Collingwood
Jayawardene b Flintoff 52 Dilshan st Read b Batty 100 Tillakaratne c Thorpe b Giles 20 Samaraweera not out 23 Vaas c Vaughan b Kirtley 20 Dharmasena not out 7 Extras:
(lb-6 nb-5 w-1) 12 Total: (7 wkts, declared) 279 Fall of wickets:
1-33 2-41 3-53 4-206 5-212 6-243 7-272. Bowling: Kirtley 17-4-62-2, Flintoff 15-3-40-1, Giles 22-3-101-3, Batty 11-1-47-1, Vaughan 3-0-11-0, Collingwood 3-0-12-0. England (second innings): Trescothick c Jayawardene
Vaughan not out 50 Butcher st Sangakkara
Hussain not out 17 Extras:
(lb-2) 2 Total (for two wickets) 89 Fall of wickets:
1-24 2-50. Bowling: Vaas 11-3-25-1, Fernando 6-1-15-0, Dharmasena 8-1-27-0, Muralitharan 10-3-19-1, Jayasuriya 1-0-1-0.
— Reuters |
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Johannesburg, December 13 With 17 fours and a six, Kallis achieved his highest score against the West Indies, and surpassed 150 for the fourth time. Scoreboard South Africa (1st Innings): Smith c Lara b Edwards 132 Gibbs b Collymore 60 Rudolph c Lara b Drakes 2 Kallis b Dillon 158 Jaarsveld lbw b Dillon 73 McKenzie c Jacobs b Edwards 8 Boucher c Ganga b Collymore 27 Pollock c Jacobs b Hinds 30 Peterson c Dillon b Hinds 25 Nel b Hinds 0 Ntini not out 22 Extras:
(4b,7lb,9nb,4w) 24 Total: (all out, 148.4 overs) 561 FoW:
1-149, 2-160, 3-240, 4-372, 5-398, 6-456, 7-510, 8-520, 9-520. Bowling:
Fidel Edwards 27-3-102-2, Mervyn Dillon 36-7-96-2, Corey Collymore 26-2-118-2, Vasbert Drakes 29-5-92-1, Daren Ganga 4-0-26-0, Ramnaresh Sarwan 9-0-37-0, Wavell Hinds 17.4-3-79-3.
— AP
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Pak veterans to play 3 ties Jalandhar, December 13 “The veteran players of both the countries, including star spinner Abdul
Quadir, renowned batsman Mushtaq Ahmed and Mudassar Nazar would be the members of the Pakistan squad, while for Indian, Robin Singh, Chetan Chauhan, Narender
Hirwani, SMH Kirmani and Chetan Sharma will play”, said Mr Rakesh
Rathor, President of Punjab Veteran Cricket Association here today. The Burlton Park Stadium, which had witnessed the last encounter between India and Pakistan in 1983, was being given a new look for the historic match, he said adding that the other two matches of the series would be played in Agra and New Delhi. The matches would be telecast by the DD Sports and tickets at the rate of Rs 20 for students and Rs 50 for general public would be available, he said. The Pakistani team: Majid Khan, Shafqat Rana, Mohsin Hassan Khan, Abdul
Quadir, Mudassar Nazar, Azmat Rana, Ijaj Ahmed, Mushtaq Ahmed, Ashraf Ali, Sadiq Mohammad, Manzoor
Elahi, Aamir Malik, Mansoor Akhtar, Aquib Javed, Alia Zia and Mehmood
Rasheed. The Indian squad: Kiran More, Praveen Amre, Ashok Malhotra, Atul
Wason, Vivek Razdan, Surendra Khanna, Maninder Singh, Robin Singh, W V Raman, Chetan Sharma, Yashpal Sharma, SMH
Kirmani, Anshuman Gaekwad, Chetan Chauhan and Narender Hirwani. |
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NFL:
JCT, Salgaocar evenly matched Chandigarh, December 13 Trailing at the third position with six points from two victories, Salgaocar are slightly better placed than the hosts who have one victory to their credit. However, both the teams have suffered one defeat each in the current league. Salgaocar began their campaign on a rousing note, beating defending champions East Bengal 2-1 with goals through Nigerian forward Felix Ibrebru and Micky Fernandes in their first home match on November 30. The second victory came against Mohammedan Sporting, who were beaten 3-0 with Bello Rasaq, Samson Singh, and Felix Ibrebru as the scorers. However, in the third round, Salgaocar suffered a setback, losing 0-1 to Vasco. JCT, who beat Indian Bank 3-0 in their first away match, subsequently lost 1-4 to debutants Haywards SC of Goa but managed to hold East Bengal goal-less in their third tie. On the eve of the clash with the Goan league champions, the mood in the JCT camp is upbeat. The return of veteran Nigerian striker Stephan Abarowei, who was among the scorers against Indian Bank, will boost the morale of the team although star medio Joe Paul Ancheri is expected to play a dominant role both in the midfield and attack. However, international IM Vijayan's groin problem is a cause for worry for the team management. Goalkeeper Mansuru Mohammed, defenders Musa Aliu, KV Dhanesh and Daljit Singh, medio Ram Pal and winger Jaswinder Singh, will be among the players to watch. On the other hand, Salgaocar's midfield is their strength. Tomba Singh, Climax Lawrence, Dharamjit Singh, and Jatin Bisht form a superb combination with Nigerian recruit Felix Ibrebru and Samson Singh leading the attack. In Rajat Ghosh Dastidar, Salgaocar have a dependable goalkeeper. Dastidar, in fact, was the hero of Salgaocar's title win against East Bengal in the Durand Cup last month, saving Baichung Bhutia's spot kick in the penalty shootout. Defenders Robert Fernandes, Bello Rasaq and Prashant Jaggi also fit into coach Savio Medeira's scheme of things and it remains to be seen whether the JCT forwards can get the better of them tomorrow. The JCT team had a practice session at Phagwara today while Salgaocar had a feel of the ground at Ludhiana. The kick off is at 2 pm.
The following are the latest standings of the teams in the eighth National Football League (read under teams, matches played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, and points):
Teams P W D L GF GA Pts. Dempo SC 3 2 1 0 5 1 7 Churchill Bros 3 2 1 0 4 1 7 Salgaocar SC 3 2 0 1 5 2 6 Mahindras 3 2 0 1 6 6 6 Vasco SC 3 1 2 0 4 3 5 Haywards SC 3 1 1 1 7 6 4 Mohun Bagan 3 1 1 1 3 2 4 JCT 3 1 1 1 4 4 4 Tollygunge 3 0 3 0 1 1 3 East Bengal 3 0 2 1 2 3 2 Indian Bank 3 0 0 3 0 6 0 Mohd.Sporting 3 0 0 3 3 9 0 |
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Malaysia’s no to second-string Indian team
New Delhi, December 13 “We want India to send its main national side and in case it is not possible, we are ready to keep India out of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup next month”, according to MHF secretary S Satgunam. In a letter to the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) Mr Satgunam made it clear that if the Asia Cup champions are going to send their second string-side to the tournament, they better not send it. MHF had made it clear to the IHF when the invitations were sent that only the senior teams are invited for the meet, Mr Satgunam said. The IHF dropped nine senior players and inducted several promising juniors and picked junior’s coach Harinder Singh in the team for the tournament in Kuala Lumpur from January 8-18 However, the IHF has refuted the MHA charge, “It is not a second-string team. We rested six senior players for the Afro-Asian Games and they have been brought back. All of them were part of the Asia Cup winning squad”. “There is no question of sending a second string team to Kuala Lumpur. We have lot of talented players. There are at least three contenders for each slot in the team. So how can this team be called a second string”, the IHF said in a reply to the MHF. By no stretch of imagination a team comprising Dhanraj Pillay, Baljit Saini, Baljit Dhillon, Harpal Singh and Ignatius Tirkey be called as experimental or second string, the IHF asserted. Mr Satgunam said that if reports about the changes were true, then they would withdraw the invitation to India. “There is no question of accepting this kind of team from the Indians. It is not as if we are short of good teams for the tournament”, he said. The MHF secretary expressed surprise that India was sending a ‘experimental’ side adding “I do not know what the Indians are up to but we are determined to act. We will not invite them for the tournament if they demean it. The Sultan Azlan Shah Cup is a top-ranked tournament and we intend to keep it that way.” If India are kept out of the tournament, England, will take their place. According to the MHF, “not only have England said they want to come but New Zealand and Holland have shown interest. For the moment, the first reserve to replace any team in the tournament is England.” Last year, India withdrew from the tournament after the government denied permission to travel to Malaysia following police action against Indian citizens. Nine players — Prabjot Singh, Dilip Tirkey, Gagan Ajit, Deepak Thakur, Bimal Lakra, Viren Raskina, Devesh Chawan, Kanwalpreet Singh and Viknan Pillay-who were part of the team that won Afro-Asian title at Hyderabad, have been rested. — UNI
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Gurgaon gets Astroturf Gurgaon, December 13 The turf, set up in Nehru Stadium has cost Rs 2.6 crores. Also,
Mr Verma gave a purse of Rs 10 lakhs to each of the 11 players, hailing from Haryana, who won medals in the recent Afro-Asian games. The entire sum, which was awarded by the state government, added up to Rs 1.12 crores. Those who were awarded the purse are Gurpreet Kaur, Suman Bala Jasjeet Kaur, Surender Kaur (all from Shahabad in Kurukshetra district), Neelam J. Singh (Jind), Harpal Singh (Sirsa), Shakti Singh, Anil Kumar, Akhil Kumar, Bijendra Singh, Parvinder Singh (Bhiwani) and Mr Jitendra Kumar (Rohtak). Lauding the Haryana Government’s pro-sports policies, he assured that the Centre will give a sympathetic consideration to its proposal to set up a Sports University at Jind. He further said that efforts will be made to set up an Astro-turf in Sirsa Stadium He revealed that the Centre has alloted Rs 300 crores in the 10th five year plan for development of sports. Mr Verma also inaugurated the 65th National Table Tennis Championship at Manesar, about 25 kms from here. As many as 64 teams of men and women are taking part in the competition, which will conclude on December 19. |
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Keen tussle in bridge Ludhiana, December 13 The first three teams were
closely placed with scoreline reading Delhi Blues 63 VPs, Kamlakar 53 VPs and ABCD of Delhi with 52 VPs. While Delhi Blues had it easy posting comprehensive wins of 23-7 VPs over ABCD, 18-12 VPs against R M Gupta and 22-8 over Punjab Bridge Association (Kang). In contrast, Kamlakar had it tough after an easy 21-9 VPs win over PBA (Kang). They were held to a winning draw of 16-14 VPs in their next two matches against R M Gupta and PBA (Lakhanpal). ABCD of Delhi, after a comfortable walkover against PBA (Lakhanpal) by 25-1 VPs, had a major setback against of 7-23 VPs to Delhi Blues, staged a fine recovery beating R M Gupta 20-10 and closing in on Kamalakar to end with 52 VPs. Their next encounter, which is against Kamakar will be decisive for both of them. Earlier, as was expected, the run for qualification was close and at the end of round 6 of the Swiss League, Kamlakar, Hyderabad topped the field of 27 teams with a total of 112 VPs, having recovered from a bad loss by 9-21 VPs in the penultimate round at the hands of Delhi Blues, who finished second , a solitary point behind them (111Vps). ABCD of Delhi which is led by Indian international, Subhash Gupta, scored the maximum 25 VPs in round 5 and a higer sharing draw of 16-14 in the last round boosted them to the third position with 110 VPs. Hosts, Punjab Bridge Association (Lakhanpal) and overnight leaders R M Gupta of Kanpur, shared the fourth and fifth rank with 108 VPs and the last team to make the grade was another host association team, PBA (Kang) with 107 VPs. The open pairs event, which is going through the first elimination, will qualify 9 pairs from each
direction. |
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Govt College Ludhiana PU badminton champs Ludhiana, December 13 In the final, Ranbir Singh of Ludhiana made mince meat of Manoj of Abohar whom he blanked 15-0, 15-0 to put his team into the lead. In the second match, Mandeep of Government College faced little resistence from Sushank before romping home victorious 15-1, 15-9. In the third match, the pair of Ranbir and Mandeep proved too good for Abohar duo of Navdeep and Jyoti Parkash. The local lads won 15-1, 15-3. |
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Gold for Punjab
in school hockey Moga, December 13 Punjab boys (under-19) defeated Maharashtra in the final by 4-0. Punjab girls (under-18) beat Maharashtra 3-0 and won the gold medal. Punjab girls (under-17) won the championship and gold medal defeating Maharashtra girls 2-1. Punjab boys (under-17) won the gold medal defeating Maharashtra 7-0.
— PTI |
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Pushpa wins bronze Hamirpur, December 13 Hamirpur Deputy Commissioner, Devesh Kumar has congratulated the athlete for her achievement. President of the Hamirpur District Amateur Athletic Association, Prof. Dewan Chand Sharma, also congratulated
Pushpa. |
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Dharamsala eves win in kabaddi Hamirpur, December 13 Mr Sukhvinder Singh Sukhoo, MLA, declared the meet open. In kho-kho, Nalagarh beat Una by an innings and five points. |
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Ravinder
Chadha bereaved Chandigarh, December 13 Her cremation this evening was attended by a large number of docters, golfers, cricketers and journalists. She leaves her husband, five sons and two daughters.
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