Bond propels NZ to win over Pakistan

DUNEDIN, Nov 28: Riding on comeback star Shane Bond’s brilliant match figures of 8/153, New Zealand defeated Pakistan by 32 runs in the first Test.

Bond, who was declared Man-of-the-match, almost matched his first innings performance by claiming three wickets in the second innings.

Bond was ably supported by Iain O’Brien, 3/63, and Chris Martin, who took 2/45.

For Pakistan, it was debutant Umar Akmal who once again showed promise with the bat by top scoring with 75 runs. Though his team lost the match, Akmal made his way into the record books by becoming only the ninth Test player to compile a century and half-century on debut.

Needing just 251 runs to win, none of the Pakistani batsmen stayed at the crease for long. Captain Mohammad Yousuf offered some resistance, but he too fell after making 41.

Former captain Shoaib Malik (32) and wicket keeper Kamran Akmal (27) tried their best to prevent the Kiwis from taking the lead in the three-match series, but the harm was already done as none of the top three batsmen could even cross double figure.

The last three batsmen tried their best to avoid the inevitable for nine overs, but the difficult task was made harder by some intelligent bowling changes by Daniel Vettori, who shuffled his resources remarkably well making the Pakistani batsmen’s task harder. Earlier, resuming the day on 147/8, the Black Caps managed to add just eight runs before being bowled out for 153. Ross Taylor top scored making 59 runs, while Tim McIntosh was the second top scorer making 31.The second Test starts in Wellington on Thursday. (Agencies)

Villiers helps South Africa to 112-run win

NEWLANDS, Nov 28: AB de Villiers lashed a sensational century as South Africa beat England by 112 runs in the third one-day international at Newlands on Friday to level the series at 1-1.

De Villiers showed skill and superb control as he reached a hundred in just 75 balls, the second fastest by a South African and ended with 121 off 85 deliveries as the home side smashed 354 for six, their highest score against England and equalling their best at Newlands. South Africa’s previous highest total against England was 311 for seven in East London in 2004/5. The fastest one-day century for South Africa is in 44 balls by Mark Boucher against Zimbabwe in 2006. South Africa won the toss and openers Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla ensured they made a flying start with a stand of 107 off 111 balls. Captain Smith was bowled by Luke Wright for 54 off 56 deliveries, while Amla batted with application and wristy elegance through to the 32nd over when he edged Stuart Broad to wicketkeeper Matt Prior for 86. De Villiers reached his century in the 44th over and went on to make the highest score by a South African against England, beating the 118 Herschelle Gibbs made in Durban in 2005. The 25-year-old shared in stands of 94 with Amla and 95 with Alviro Petersen (51 not out) as South Africa made full use of the powerplay overs. Broad claimed four wickets for England, but was punished for 71 runs in his 10 overs. England openers Andrew Strauss and Luke Wright played some breathtaking strokes as they raced to 41 in 5.3 overs, but returning fast bowlers Wayne Parnell and Morne Morkel then reduced the visitors to 58 for three. Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood shared a gritty 84-run partnership until part-time off-spinner JP Duminy removed Pietersen, sweeping a ball back on to his stumps, for 45.

Bhupathi-Knowles lose last group match

London, Nov 27: India’s Mahesh Bhupathi and his Bahamian partner Mark Knowles lost their last Group A match, but are already through to the semifinals of the ATP World Tour Finals. Bhupathi and Knowles went down to top seeds Daniel Nestor of Cananda and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia 4-6, 6-7(9). Bhupathi-Knowles are already through to the semifinals by winning their first two matches. For defending champions Nestor and Zimonjic, it was first win in the tournament Thursday. (IANS)

100th Test win for India

KANPUR, Nov 27: A dominant India took one-and-half sessions to complete the formalities and spank Sri Lanka by an innings and 144 runs in the second Test to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

This turned out to be India’s 100th Test victory in their 432nd outing.

The visitors began 57 for four and did their best to delay the inevitable before the Indians polished off the remnants of the Lankan resistance to complete a facile win with more than four sessions to spare.

Sri Lankans, who managed 229 in the first innings, did slightly better in their second essay, folding for 269.

India thus became the sixth nation to win 100 Test matches, following Australia (332), England (310), West Indies (152), South Africa (120) and Pakistan (102).

This was also India’s biggest victory margin against the Lankans, in terms of innings. The previous mark was their thrashing of the islanders by an innings and 119 runs in the 1994 Lucknow Test.

With six wickets separating the Lankans from a defeat and two full days at India’s disposal, the islanders’ capitulation was just a matter of time and the four wickets they lost in the morning session only hastened their end.

Thilan Samaraweera (78 not out) and Ajantha Mendis (27) did resist the Indians for nearly 20 overs with a gritty 73-run stand but it was too little and merely a footnote in the context of the match.

Both the teams now move to Mumbai for the third and final Test starting from December 2.

Sri Lanka’s distant hopes of stretching the match into its final day were in tatters in the morning session itself when they lost four wickets to expose their lower half.

Realising the futility of grafting, overnight batsmen Angelo Mathews (15) decided to counter-attack and chose out-of-rhythm Zaheer Khan for the treatment.

Zaheer’s overpitched first ball of the day was driven down the ground, his second — a no ball — was pulled to the fence with ferocity and his third — again a no ball — scorched the cover area grass before crossing the rope.

Two balls later, Zaheer had the score settled. The left-arm seamer banged it short and Mathews’ pull was a little premature. Rahul Dravid rushed from gully to pouch the top edge.

Mathews’ exit meant the collective contribution of the Sri Lankan top order read a pathetic 79.

Prasanna Jayawardene (29) and Samaraweera batted positively, scoring at a brisk rate while not doing anything silly.

Samaraweera hit Sreesanth for three boundaries in the same over to assert himself, while Prasanna was not quiet either.

The Sri Lankan stumper-batsman drove Zaheer, pulled Sreesanth and swept Pragyan Ojha with elan but looked ill at ease against Harbhajan Singh.

Two streaky boundaries off Harbhajan exposed his discomfiture against the offie and the spinner finally pushed one through the gate to rearrange the timbers to snap the sixth wicket stand that yielded 61 runs for the beleaguered islanders.

Rangana Herath (13) hit Harbhajan for back-to-back boundaries before the offie trapped him plumb in front.

Muttiah Muralitharan played a typical entertaining 11-ball knock of 29. The first three balls he faced, from Harbhajan, were hit for 6,4,4. The first one cleared long on ropes and the next two went over mid-wicket.

Muralitharan then went after Ojha, hitting him over long on for his second six but completely missed the line as the next delivery pegged back the stumps.

Samaraweera and Mendis, who hit a career-best 27, however, refused to throw in the towel and dug their heels to frustrate the Indian players for about 20 overs.

The fact that the intensity of the Indians sagged after three days of dominance also helped their cause.

Mendis survived 74 balls before the 75th, sent down by Yuvraj Singh, trapped him in front of wicket to snap the 73-run stand. Ojha then caught Chanaka Welegedara (4) off his own bowling to complete the win.

Scorecard

India: first innings 642 all out

Sri Lanka: first innings 229 all out

Sri Lanka second innings (Overnight 57/4):

Tharanga Paranavitana lbw b Sehwag 20; Tillakaratne Dilshan c Dhoni b Sreesanth 11; Kumara Sangakkara b Harbhajan Singh 11; Mahela Jayawardene run out (Yuvraj Singh/Dhoni) 10; Thilan Samaraweera not out 78; Angelo Mathews c Dravid b Khan 15; Prasanna Jayawardene b Harbhajan 29; Rangana Herath lbw b Harbhajan 13; Muttiah Muralitharan b Ojha 29; Ajantha Mendis lbw Yuvraj 27; Chanaka Welegedara c&b Ojha 4

Extras (b 7, lb 1, nb 14) 22

Total (for 10 wickets in 65.3 overs) 269

Fall of wickets 1-13 (Dilshan, 3.3 ov), 2-37 (Paranavitana, 10.5), 3-54 (Mahela Jayawardene, 18.3), 4-54 (Sangakkara, 19.1), 5-79 (Mathews, 24.4), 6-140 (Prasanna Jayawardene, 37.5), 7-154 (Herath, 41.2), 8-191 (Muralitharan, 44.5), 9-264 (Mendis, 64.2 ov)

Bowling: Zaheer Khan 11-0-63-1 Shanthakumaran Sreesanth 11-4-47-1 Harbhajan Singh 22-2-98-3 Virender Sehwag 3-0-4-1 Pragyan Ojha 15.3-4-36-2 Sachin Tendulkar 1-0-6-0 Yuvraj Singh 2-0-7-1 (PTI)

Lanka up against India’s 642 on a dicey track

Lanka up against India’s 642 on a dicey track

Kanpur, Nov 25: India’s lower-order crash triggered by left-arm spinner Rangana Herath after Rahul Dravid’s 28th century may have rattled the Sri Lankans seeing the way the Green Park pitch responded to the spinners in the second cricket Test here on Wednesday. Though the Sri Lankans lost only one wicket scoring 66 in reply to India’s 642, they realise that it is getting increasingly difficult to survive on a pitch of variable bounce and turn. Kumar Sangakkara (30) and Tharanga Paranavitana (30) survived a harrowing last hour as off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and debutant left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha made batting look difficult.

India pushing hard to ready CWG infrastructure in time: Gill

New Delhi, Nov 25: India is “pushing the hardest” to ensure that the infrastructure for the 2010 Commonwealth Games is ready in time, Sports Minister M S Gill said on Wednesday as MPs across the spectrum expressed concern in the Rajya Sabha over the country’s preparedness to host the event.

“We are here in a situation where we are pushing the hardest to see that the infrastructure is ready in time to enable the staging of test events (before the October 3-14, 2010 Games),” Gill said while responding to a calling attention motion in the house.

“It is now a question of coming out with dignity and honour. Today the country, the people, the prime minister, everyone is clear; please get it ready in time,” the minister maintained. “This is something that concerns me all the time,” he said, adding that a group of ministers under Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy meets once a week to monitor the progress in constructing the stadium and other infrastructure.

Stuart Broad eyes IPL contract

STAFF WRITER 16:56 HRS IST

London, Nov 26 (PTI) Having turned down an IPL contract in season-II for the sake of Ashes, England paceman Stuart Broad is now eyeing his maiden stint in Twenty20 tournament in its third edition next year.

Broad's representative is in touch with the IPL Chairman Lalit Modi and he may be included in the list of players on sale at the third IPL auction in January, provided he gets the nod of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

"We have had contact from Craig (Sackfield, Broad's agent) and all players now have to write to me directly and arrange an NOC (no objection certificate) from their board by December 31," Modi said.

"Then we will fix a minimum bid price and circulate their names to the franchises.

Jeev, Randhawa open strongly at World Cup of Golf

STAFF WRITER 16:40 HRS IST

Shenzhen (China), Nov 26 (PTI) Jeev Milkha Singh and Jyoti Randhawa shared six birdies against a lone bogey to return a steady five-under 67 and take a share of the 15th spot after the opening round of the Omega Mission Hills World Cup of Golf here today.

Jeev and Randhawa shot three birdies each in a strong opening day performance.

The lone bogey in the card came off Jeev's club on the par-three second hole.

Both the players opened with par shots on the first hole and after Jeev had stumbled to a bogey on the second, Randhawa made up for it with a birdie on the third hole.

Jeev himself found a birdie on the seventh hole as the Indians combined for one-under at the end of the front-nine.

Sreesanth puts India on the threshold of victory

STAFF WRITER 16:59 HRS IST

Amlan Chakraborty

Kanpur, Nov 26 (PTI) S Sreesanth marked his return to international cricket with a devastating display of seam bowling to put India on the threshhold of a remarkable victory in the second cricket Test against a hapless Sri Lanka here today.

Sreesanth, staging a comeback after being in the wilderness for close to 18 months, snatched 5 for 75 in Sri Lanka's first innings and then drew first blood in the second innings leave the islanders in complete disarray.

With Sreesanth breathing fire, Sri Lanka's feeble first innings riposte wilted for 229, a whopping 413 runs behind the hosts' massive first innings total of 642. This was also India's highest first innings lead over the Lankans.

Stars that won’t be shining at 2010 FIFA World Cup

Hamburg, Nov 24: Andrei Arshavin, Zlatan Ibrahomovic and Andriy Shevchenko are just three of the world’s most prominent footballers who will be missing the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Arshavin, 28, and his Russian teammates dazzled at Euro 2008 for a place in the semi-finals, but were caught out cold by Slovenia in a World Cup play-off tie.

“I cannot say that this is the deciding moment in my career — only after years will people usually realise it. But, in any case, to stay out of the World Cup means to be on the sidelines of world football for a time,” Arshavin was quoted as saying when elimination was already looming after the first game in Moscow.

As a result, the Arsenal forward Arshavin will not be in South Africa, and neither will Barcelona striker Ibrahimovic, whose Sweden team were eliminated as well.

IPL extends deadline for Pakistani players

Karachi, Nov 24: The IPL organisers have extended the deadline for the submission of NOC’s to play in the third edition by 10 days for the Pakistani players, PCB Chairman Ejaz Butt said today. Players from all countries were required to submit their NOC’s from respective boards and government by November 20. “But I spoke to the IPL commissioner, Lalit Modi and asked him to extend the deadline for our players since our situation was different from other countries,” Butt told PTI. “Modi very graciously allowed the extension to November 30 and we have now sent all required documents to the government seeking their clearance for our players to take part in the IPL,” he said. When told that the federal sports minister Aftab Shah Jillani had said that it would be difficult for the concerned ministries to get back to the board within stipulated time, Butt said he would urge the government to help them. “I will personally speak to the sports minister and government officials and ask them to assist us as soon as possible because we are keen to see our players take part in the IPL next year,” Butt said. He said that even if the government could not complete the process by deadline and they just inform the board in writing that they were reviewing the issue, the IPL could be informed accordingly. “Once the matter is under process we can get time for our players, he said. (PTI)

Irfan's name was 'erroneously' left: BCCI

MUMBAI: The Indian Cricket Board on Wednesday created a flutter by inadvertently leaving out struggling all-rounder Irfan Pathan from the list of Irfan Pathan contracted players for the 2009-10 season.

While releasing the 40 names who were offered contracts for the period October 1, 2009 to September 30, 2010, the Baroda player's name was left out by BCCI secretary N Srinivasan in a media release.

Within an hour, Srinivasan issued a clarification that Irfan's name was "erroneously left out of the Retainership list that was sent to the media earlier today", adding "he is part of the list, and figures in Grade C".

The inclusion of Irfan's name from the list took the number of players given contracts to 41.

The complete list:

Grade A (Rs 60 lakh): Sachin Tendulkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, V V S Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh.

Grade B (Rs 40 lakh): Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Munaf Patel, R P Singh, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra.

Grade C (Rs 25 lakh): S Badrinath, Wasim Jaffer, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Pragyan Ojha, S Sreesanth, Dinesh Karthik and Amit Mishra.

Grade D (Rs 15 lakh): Piyush Chawla, Ravindra Jadeja, Robin Uthappa, Parthiv Patel, Cheteshwar Pujara, Mohd Kaif, Virat Kohli, Ashok Dinda, Wridddhiman Saha, M Vijay, R Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, Sudeep Tyagi, Dhawal Kulkarni, Abhishek Nayar, Ajinkya Rahane and Manoj Tiwary.

TOI

Lankans put up better show but India still in driver's seat

KANPUR: Rahul Dravid struck his second consecutive century as India racked up a mammoth total and then made an early dent in the Sri Lankan top

Sangakkara order to maintain their iron grip over the second Test on Wednesday.

In reply to India's imposing first innings total of 642, the weary Sri Lankans signed off day two on 66 for one with the spectre of a follow-on looming large over them.

And they would have to accomplish the task without their most dangerous batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan, who was left to cool his heels in the hut with an unflattering golden duck against his name.

Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara (30) and Tharanga Paranavitana (30) were in the middle at stumps, their team still trailing India by a whopping 576 runs and they would return tomorrow with a mountain to climb.

Pummelled into ignoniminy on day one by Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, the Sri Lankans defied the docility of the track and the blazing Indian blades to restrict the hosts to 642 after tea with Dravid hogging the limelight with 144.

Resuming on 417 for two, India lost their last six wickets for a meagre 29 runs when the 700-mark was quite in sight.

The late collapse notwithstanding, it was a formidable batting display by the hosts with three centuries and two half centuries to boot. Among the top six batsmen, only Sachin Tendulkar (40) missed out on a half-century, such was India's batting dominance.

Rahul Dravid hit a fluent 144 -- his 28th ton -- to overtake Allan Border (11,174) in the Test run accumulators' chart. Dravid (11,182) now sits fourth in the list topped by Tendulkar (12,917).

His middle order colleague VVS Laxman hit an elegant 63, while Yuvraj Singh (67) survived some torrid moments against Muttiah Muralitharan to notch up his eighth fifty.

Herath (5-121) led Sri Lanka's fightback, while his spin colleagues Ajantha Mendis (2-162) and Muralitharan (2-175) also chipped in to share the spoils.

While Indian openers laid the foundation for an awe-inspiring total with a 233-run stand, Sri Lanka's reply could not have got off to a worst start.

The first ball sent down by Zaheer Khan proved a wicket-taking one and it was the prize scalp of Sri Lankan dangerman Tillakaratne Dilshan.

The maverick opener could only watch in horror as his leading edge ballooned up, allowing debutant Pragyan Ojha rush from mid-on to place himself beneath the ball.

Sangakkara and Paranavitana steadied the ship with a an unbeaten stand. Both showed their occasional feet of clay against Harbhajan Singh and survived umpteen LBW appeals but gamely hung on to fight for another day.

Looking at the totals, the Indians would be justified to feel it could have been healthier but it was a sterling display nonetheless by the Indian top and middle order. Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir had set the tone with a blistering 233-run opening stand on first day and partnerships were not an issue with India either.

The second wicket stand yielded 137 runs while the next three were worth 94, 47 and 102 respectively.

The morning session lacked fireworks when Sehwag set alight the Green Park with some audacious power-hitting during his breathtaking 122-ball 131.

Resuming on 417 for two, Overnight batsmen Dravid and Tendulkar were content nudging and tapping along.

Tendulkar had his fair share of luck as well but he could not make it count.

On 29, Tendulkar chipped Ajantha Mendis and Tillakaratne Dilshan, hurling himself to left, almost pulled off a blinder before the ball popped out of his palm. Tendulkar then decided to counter-attacked and hit Mendis over his head for a neat six. Four balls later, Mendis had his revenge.

Tendulkar came sashaying down the track, only to chip it to Thilan Samaraweera at deep mid-off. By then, Dravid had reached his 28th Test century with a straight driven four off Chanaka Welegedara.

That achieved, a flurry of boundaries flew from Dravid's blade as he punched Muralitharan through covers, played a delectable late cut off the wily offie, smacked Mendis over the top and then stepped out to hit Herath for a clean six.

New man in VVS Laxman also got into groove without a fuss but was lucky to survive a freak dismissal that cost Dravid his wicket.

Laxman uppishly drove Herath but the spinner could not latch on to the return catch. He did go for it but the ball ricocheted off his palm to hit the wicket with Dravid caught short of ground.

It was a sad end to Dravid's 226-ball knock that included 15 hits to the fence besides a six.

Yuvraj's vulnerability against quality spinner is well-documented and the left-hander looked ill at ease against Muralitharan. Yuvraj reckoned offence is the best defence and smote Mendis for a massive six to assert himself and then sent a Muralitharan delivery soaring over midwicket for a huge six.

Laxman also notched up his fifty with consummate ease but missed his century before Herath ran through the lower half of the Indian batting line-up.

So Laxman's chip found Dilshan at mid-off, MS Dhoni failed to do any good to his average on a batting beauty like this and had his timbers rearranged. Harbhajan Singh's (5) defence proved equally porous as Herath ghosted one through his gate.

Mendis chipped in in between and induced Yuvraj to a fatal pull that was intercepted by a leaping Kumar Sangakkara at midwicket.

Herath, meanwhile, was not through yet. The stocky left-arm spinner had Zaheer Khan caught in the slip before he trapped comeback man S Sreesanth plumb in front to complete his five-wicket haul.

TOI

India not in favour of bidding for Olympics: Gill

STAFF WRITER 14:16 HRS IST

New Delhi, Nov 25 (PTI) Sports Minister M S Gill today disfavoured the suggestion that India should bid for Olympics even if the Commonwealth Games next year are organized successfully.

"Some of our colleagues said casually that we should be bidding for Olympics. I'm not sure India should be," Gill said in the Rajya Sabha while replying to members' concerns over delay in preparations for the Commonwealth Games.

Gill's remarks came in response to a statement made by cine-star turned Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan, who said the Commonwealth Games give an opportunity to bid for the Olympic.

"Look at the poverty in this country...look at its size...

China has spent 50 billion dollars for Olympics. If you are ready to spend (that amount).... There is a certain class of people, who like and enjoy it because it is a good entertainment for them," Gill said.

Morgan claims Masters title

Hyderabad, Nov 24: Darren Morgan of Wales regained the Masters title with ease as he outplayed defending champion Dene O’Kane 6-0 at the ONGC-IBSF World Snooker championship.

In a contest that ended close to midnight Monday, the 43-year-old Morgan, winner of the men’s title in 1987 at Bangalore when the tournament was last held in India, wore down O’Kane who showed signs of his age (46) especially after losing the first frame that lasted a little more than an hour.

Sri Lanka go haywire in Kanpur

KANPUR, Nov 24: Gautam Gambhir (167) and Virender Sehwag (131) were the architects of India’s unrelenting dominance as the hosts batted themselves into a position from where they can dictate terms in the second Test against Sri Lanka on Tuesday.

The near-capacity Green Park witnessed a lop-sided opening day, completely dominated by the Indian batsmen and their blazing blades as the hosts cruised to a mammoth 417 for two and threatened to raise a run-mountain under which they can bury their opponents.

Arguably the most evolved batsman of recent times, Gambhir first starred in a blistering 233-run partnership with Sehwag in just 41.2 overs before forging another 137-run association with Rahul Dravid (85 not out). India’s unyielding grip over all three sessions had the islanders totally at sea.

Right from Mahendra Singh Dhoni winning the toss, India hardly put a foot wrong. Sehwag and Gambhir milked 131 runs in the 26-over morning session without being separated. The Sri Lankans did manage to cut short Sehwag’s explosive stay in the second session but they bled 176 runs in that 33-over segment as India consolidated their position.

India did not take the foot off the pedal, adding another 110 runs in the final session losing just one wicket to consolidate their position.

Dropped on zero, Sehwag earlier slammed an insouciant 122-ball 131, bejewelled with 18 delectable boundaries and two effortless sixes. In contrast, Gambhir’s was a chanceless 215-ball knock, studded with 15 boundaries.

Dravid’s unbeaten 85 came off 153 balls and had eight fours in it.

At stumps, Tendulkar (20) was giving company to Dravid who remains in sight of his 28th century.

This was the highest Indian score on any one day of a Test match, bettering the 386 runs they had scored on day three of the Chennai Test against South Africa last year. It was, however, way behind the 494 for six that Australia had registered against South Africa on the opening day of the 1910 Sydney Test.

Dhoni did not fancy batting in the fourth innings, especially when world’s highest wicket-taker Muttiah Muralitharan lurks in the rival camp. Besides, Dhoni predicted before the Test, batting would get easier if his batsmen can see through the early morning session when the ball tends to misbehave.

And his openers did just that. Sehwag was shaky initially and survived one spilt sitter and three vociferous LBW appeals in the first hour itself. Even when he connected, it was not the usual musical note of his willow but a jarring thud that revealed his struggle to find the meat of the bat.

For Sri Lanka, things could have been different had Mahela Jayawardene, at first slip, been able to latch on to the edge that flew off Sehwag’s blade after Chanaka Welegedara had sent down the fourth ball of the match. Jayawardene, however, can blame stumper Prasanna Jayawardene for making that unnecessary dive that blocked his view.

And the islanders were made to pay for the clinger till the 42nd over.

Ill at ease against Welegedara, Sehwag found Angelo Mathews less hostile and two fours off the all-rounder’s sixth over came as welcome relief. Sehwag did an encore of the treatment in Mathews’ next over - a copybook straight drive followed by a carbon copy of the original.

Gambhir at the other end was his composed self, immaculate in defence and controlled in his aggression. His first two fours came behind the wicket before he cover drove Welegedara for a delectable four. And when Sri Lanka captain pressed Rangana Herath into attack, Gambhir ensured the left-arm spinner was withdrawn at the earliest.

Gambhir charged out to the first ball Herath sent down, driving it through extra cover and hit two more fours before Sangakkara took off Herath and tossed the ball to Ajantha Mendis instead.

By then, Sehwag had found his feet and Gambhir’s insouciance had rubbed off on him and a Mendis full toss was summarily dispatched over deep mid-wicket ropes fort the first six. Mendis bled 42 runs in his first five-over spell as the mystery around his magic finger lay in tatters.

In the post-lunch session, Sehwag went berserk and the Lankans simply had no clue how to stem the boundary flow.

Sehwag raced to his 16th Test century in no time and the celebration came in the form of a hat-trick of fours off Muralitharan as the Delhi dasher’s strike rate soared over the 100 mark. In the process, the Sehwag-Gambhir pair also bettered their previous highest partnership of 218 that came at the same venue against South Africa in 2004.

Finally, Sri Lanka heaved a sigh of relief in the 42nd over when Sehwag’s uppish drive found Tillakaratne Dilshan at extra cover and Muralitharan snapped the blooming partnership that yielded 233 runs and the run rate was a brisk 5.63.

An undeterred Gambhir straight drove Herath for a scorching boundary to complete his eighth Test century and with Dravid joining him to consolidate India’s position, it was a day largely spent on the leatherhunt for the Lankans.

Gambhir looked set for his second double century when Muralitharan caught his drive off his own bowling to send him back.

Dravid and Tendulkar, a whopping 51,000 international runs between them, were hardly troubled by the Lankan bowlers, who were sapped after a hard day’s toil.

Scorecard

India: Gautam Gambhir c&b Muralitharan 167; Virender Sehwag c Dilshan b Muralitharan 131; Rahul Dravid batting 85; Sachin Tendulkar batting 20

Extras (b 4, lb 7, nb 3) 14

Total (for two wickets in 90 overs) 417

Fall of wickets: 1-233 (Sehwag, 41.2 overs), 2-370 (Gambhir, 75.1 ov)

Bowling: Chanaka Welegedara 18-3-73-0 Angelo Mathews 14-2-38-0 Rangana Herath 18-0-91-0; Ajantha Mendis 19-0-87-0; Muttiah Muralitharan 18-0-100-2; Tillekaratne Dilshan 3-0-17-0 (PTI)

India win toss, to bat first in 2nd Test

9:7 HRS IST

Kanpur, Nov 24 (PTI) India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat first in the second cricket Test against Sri Lanka at the Green Park Stadium here.

India made two changes from their first Test playing eleven, bringing in S Sreesanth in place of Ishant Sharma and left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha for Amit Mishra.

Teams:

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Rahul Dravid, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Pragyan Ojha, S Sreesanth.

Sri Lanka:

Kumar Sangakkara (capt), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Tharanga Paranavitana, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Angelo Mathews, Prasanna Jayawardene, Ajantha Mendis, Rangana Herath, Muttiah Muralitharan, Chanaka Welegedara.

Sena again slams Sachin

PUNE, Nov 22: Shiv Sena on Sunday unleashed another attack on Sachin Tendulkar and compared him with Sunil Gavaskar who it hailed as a “true Maharashtrian”.

The attack came in an article in party mouthpiece Saamna by Sena MP Sanjay Raut days after party supremo Bal Thackeray accused the 36-year-old cricket icon of hurting Marathi sentiments with his “Mumbai for all” remark.

Comparing Tendulkar to Gavaskar (60), Raut alleged, “There has been no instance of Sachin extending a helping hand to other Marathi cricketers. Forget others, he did not even support Vinod Kambli”.

“In contrast, Gavaskar when he captained India, had half the team drawn from Mumbai and Maharashtra. He gave Test caps to many Marathi players including Suru Naik and Zulphikar Parkar at least for one match,” he said, while also acknowledging Tendulkar’s greatness as a cricketer.

“In this context, Gavaskar is a genuine ‘Maharashtrian’ and the whole country loves him even now in the same way,” the article claimed.

“Players like Sachin have become rich because of game of cricket. Sachin’s wealth has crossed Rs 200-crore mark. We expect Sachin to be as ‘proud’ of Maharashtra as Saurav Ganguly is of Bengal,” it said. “Rahul Dravid too is a Marathi player but he is loyal to Karnataka,” Raut said.

Thackeray’s remarks on November 16 had evoked angry reactions from a host of political leaders as also the BCCI, who came down heavily on the Shiv Sena chief for criticising Tendulkar, saying his statement was just right and nobody could take objection to it. (PTI)

Sri Lank eye elusive Test win in India

KANPUR, Nov 22: Sri Lanka will renew efforts to win their first-ever Test in India when the second match begins on Tuesday, after being frustrated by a flat wicket in the opening tie.

The islanders, who have never won a Test on Indian soil in six previous series, gave themselves a fair chance of scripting history at Ahmedabad by stacking up a huge 760/7 declared in their first innings.

But India wiped out a 334-run deficit on first innings, thanks to a docile pitch and some resolute batting by their top-order batsmen.

Sri Lanka’s bowlers started out well to reduce India to 32/4 in the opening session but allowed them to score 426 in their first knock and struggled again in the second innings, failing to take 10 wickets over nearly four sessions.

The world’s leading wicket-taker, Muttiah Muralitharan, was unable to take even a single wicket off 38 overs in the second innings, raising doubts over his effectiveness on flat wickets.

Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara said he was disappointed by the Motera track but admitted they should not have let India get away after having them on the mat on the first day of the match.

“We had our best chance when we had them 32 for four but we gave it away after lunch” on the opening day, said Sangakkara.

“There was not much for the bowlers on the last two days. If you were a batsman you would like it. I don’t think anyone expected this wicket to be this flat.”

Sangakkara was not the only one rueing the pitch, which saw a whopping 1,598 runs being scored, including a world-record sixth wicket stand of 351 between Mahela Jayawardene (275) and Prasanna Jayawardene (154 not out).

His Indian counterpart Mahendra Singh Dhoni was equally critical.

“The wicket was bad. It wasn’t much help to the spinners. For the fast bowlers also the wicket got slower and slower,” said Dhoni.

“We knew if we didn’t give early wickets to the Sri Lankan bowlers it would be very difficult for them to get 10 wickets and that’s what happened.”

The focus in the second Test might once again be on the wicket that is laid out at the Green Park stadium.

The last Test played here between India and South Africa saw the home side wrap up an eight-wicket victory inside three days on a sub-standard track, prompting a warning from the International Cricket Council.

The wicket has since been relaid but the local media said the authorities wanted the match to be played on a “tried and tested” pitch.

“Our main concern is to have a full five-day game and we don’t want to experiment on a relaid track. We want to play safe,” The Hindustan Times quoted a state cricket official as saying.

The other worry for Sri Lanka apart from the wicket would be the fitness of paceman Dammika Prasad, who braved a hamstring injury to bowl four overs on the final day of the Ahmedabad match.

The tourists are already without fast bowler Thilan Thushara who had to go back home after failing to recover from a freak shoulder injury, suffered during a training session ahead of the first match.

The third and final Test begins in Mumbai on December 2. (Agencies)

FIH to trial umpire review system in CT

TAFF WRITER 15:44 HRS IST

New Delhi, Nov 23 (PTI) After cricket, the umpire review system is set to make its debut in hockey as the International Hockey Federation has decided to put it on trial in the forthcoming Men's Champions Trophy to be held in Melbourne from November 28 to December 5.

As per the system, the teams will be allowed one referral per match if they feel the umpire's decision on goals, penalty corners and penalty strokes has gone against them. The captain would be authorised to request for a review.

If the referral goes in favour of the team asking for it, then they are allowed to request for another referral for the rest of the match.

Under the current system, match umpires can already refer decisions to the video umpire if they are not convinced about awarding or disallowing goals.

Gibbs recalled by South Africa as cover for Kallis

STAFF WRITER 16:33 HRS IST
Pretoria (South Africa), Nov 23 (AP) Herschelle Gibbs has been recalled as cover for injured all-rounder Jacques Kallis for the remainder of South Africa's limited-overs international series against England.

Kallis is expected to be sidelined for a month with a rib injury, discovered after a scan at the weekend. Kallis missed the seven-wicket loss to England at Centurion yesterday, which put the hosts behind 1-0 in the five-match ODI series.

It is not certain whether 35-year-old Gibbs, with 21 ODI centuries from 245 appearances, will play in the next match in Cape Town on Friday as the least experienced batsmen in the Proteas' top five, Alviro Petersen and Hashim Amla, both scored half centuries yesterday.

Gibbs, who scored a record six 6s in one over against Netherlands at the 2007 World Cup, was initially overlooked for this serie

Teams arrive in Kanpur

Kanpur, Nov 21: The cricket teams of India and Sri Lanka arrived here today for the second Test match, beginning Tuesday at Green Park Stadium. However, the Indian trio of Vireder Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir have not arrived with the Indian team as they have gone to Delhi and will reach here tomorrow. The teams landed in the city in the afternoon and amidst a tight security were taken to a city hotel. The hotel staff welcomed the players by presenting them roses and putting on traditional “tika” on their forheads. Indian run-machine Sachin Tendulkar was presented a memento for completing 20 glorious years in international cricket while skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was welcomed with a big bouquet. (PTI)

Motera-like tracks would kill Test cricket: Harbhajan

NEW DELHI, Nov 21: Miffed with the docile pitch in the drawn Ahmedabad Test against Sri Lanka, feisty Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh on Saturday said such batting-friendly tracks would kill cricket’s longest format. “Such pitches will kill Test cricket. It’s a free ticket to batsmen and offer no contest,” Harbhajan said. The Motera track has drawi flak from all quarters and both captains Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Kumar Sangakkara said they expected the pitch to offer some assistance to the bowlers on the last two days.

2010 WC will be the best ever: FIH president

NEW DELHI: It’s certainly not the best of times for Indian hockey. Reports of tension between players and the coach and the concerns over Hockey FIH India elections are enough to make the International Hockey Federation (FIH), which is seeking to revive the game in the country, worried.

However, FIH president Leandro Negre is not losing sleep over it. He’s optimistic that every problem facing Indian hockey will be sorted out in due course of time. Of course, he did reiterate on Friday that India would be barred from hosting the World Cup if they fail to have a democratically elected body in place before the tournament.

"India is key for world hockey but we maintain that as per our constitution, there should be an elected body before the World Cup. If they fail, we have to follow FIH constitution... hopefully that will not happen. I’m sure elections will be over before the World Cup," Negre said.

The FIH president was in the Capital to sign a sponsorship deal with Steel Authority of India (SAIL), which he did in the presence of union minister for steel Birbhadra Singh, minister for state A Sai Prathap, steel secretary Atul Chaturvedi, SAIL chairman SK Roongta and Hockey India president AK Mattoo. This is FIH’s second major deal after the one with title sponsor Hero Honda.

Negre spoke to TOI about the World Cup and other matters related to hockey. Excerpts:

Tell us something about this new deal.

We signed an agreement today with SAIL, which will be our Presenting Partner. It’s not possible to give out details about the deal, but this contract, alongwith the one with Hero Honda, is something the types of which FIH had never signed in its history. Now the World Cup will be referred to as the ‘Hero Honda FIH World Cup, presented by SAIL’.

Are you satisfied with the response you are getting from corporates for the World Cup?

It’s hugely satisfying. I can assure you that the event is going to the best ever organised.

Indian hockey is going through some tough times - there are so many issues, ranging from the problem in the team to Hockey India elections. Are FIH bosses worried?

I am an optimistic person. I am sure everything will be solved at the right time. Certain things are not FIH’s concern, like what’s happening with the Indian team. It’s Indian hockey’s internal matter which they have to sort out. As far as the elections are concerned, the decision to postpone them was an unanimous one. India is a huge country with so many state units. We could have had the elections on November 18, but we postponed it to ensure the participation of more states.

And the venue for the World Cup? It’s yet to be handed over with just four months to go for the mega event.

I will be visiting the stadium on Saturday. Only then can I say how much progress has been made. I believe some small things like electricity connection are to be put in place before the test events. There have been delays but I am confident everything will be ready in time.

Will you stick to the new January-end deadline for HI elections or there’s still scope for another extension?

The deadline is end of January and the elections have to be held before the World Cup. I am calling all parties to show responsibility because this is going to be a great opportunity to fix the problems for good. The next assembly of Hockey India will elect the office bearers in a democratic and fair manner.

You always talked about having in place a Plan B as regard to the World Cup in case the Indian authorities did not put things in order. Does it still stand?

There’s no Plan B. Having one would be a negative way to approach the concerns. To be very honest, I must say all of FIH’s demands and wishes have been settled by the Indian authorities.

As of now, FIH seems to be interested in Indian hockey. But will the interest remain even after the elections and the World Cup?

We are here to help the Indian hockey. I believe we are doing just that. India is important for hockey as well as FIH. We are very eager to see India back on the top and we are doing our best to achieve that.

TOI

Gambhir, Tendulkar script India's great escape

Sachin Opener Gautam Gambhir
AHMEDABAD: Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar hit opportune centuries as India came up with a spirited batting display to salvage a draw in the Sachin Opener Gautam Gambhir conjured up yet another marathon innings of 114 runs, result of his six-and-half hour vigil, before Sachin Tendulkar (100 not out) took the centrestage to chase down yet another milestone of 30,000 international runs en route to his 43rd Test ton.

With VVS Laxman (51 not out) also chipping in with his 40th Test half-century, India batted their way out of trouble to maintain their impressive home record against the Lankans.

Going into the final day's play needing just eight wickets to snap their 14-match winless streak on Indian soil, the exasperated Sri Lankans could only watch haplessly as the hosts showed the kind of application and determination that had been missing in their shoddy first innings display.

Resuming with 144 runs in the arrear, the Indians finished the day at 412 for four with Gambhir, Tendulkar and Laxman scoring bulk of the runs on a shirtfront of a wicket that simply had nothing for the bowlers.

Both the teams now move to Kanpur for the second Test starting on November 24.

Milestone man Tendulkar reached yet another landmark in his glittering career when he turned swing bowler Chanaka Welegedara backward of square for a single to take his tally of runs in Tests, ODIs and T20 internationals to 30,000.

Overall, it was a poor advertisement for Test cricket as nearly 1600 runs were scored while just 21 wickets fell over the five days' play leading to this stalemate.

The match also saw the highest number of centuries -- seven --- being scored on the sub-continental soil.

Tendulkar's unbeaten 211 ball knock included 11 hits to the fence.

Trailing the visitors by a massive 334 runs in the first innings, India wiped off the deficit in the last over before tea.

The two Indian batsmen out today were Amit Mishra (24), who did an excellent job in the unaccustomed nightwatchman's role, while Gambhir virtually threw his wicket after notching up his seventh Test century.

Earlier, Mishra stuck to his task for over 45 minutes after India started the day 144 runs behind the Lankans at 190 for two.

The leg-spinner was eventually dismissed by Angelo Mathews, caught brilliantly at leg gully by Tillakaratne Dilshan.

Tendulkar straightaway started stroking the ball sweetly as he cover-drove the accurate and miserly Mathews for a four and then hit danger man Muttiah Muralitharan for successive fours in one over.

Gambhir, batting solidly from the other end, also opened out and raced to his hundred by hitting left-arm spinner Rangana Herath for two fours before he glanced Mathews to the rope. It was his first hundred against Sri Lanka.

India lost Gambhir in the sixth over of the second session. He was lured by a well-tossed up ball from left-arm spinner Rangana Herath and, in trying to hit it into the vacant leg side area, got the leading edge to be caught at mid-off by Dammika Prasad.

It was the Delhi left-hander's third hundred this year and in as many Tests since making his marathon match-saving 137 against New Zealand at Napier in March. The ICC Test Player of the Year faced 230 balls and struck 13 fours in his six and a half-hour stay.

Tendulkar was joined by Laxman and the duo ensured that no further wickets were given away to either pace or spin by forging an unbeaten 137-run fifth wicket partnership.

Soruce: TOI

Indian batsmen need to score heavily, says Kirsten

AHMEDABAD, Nov 19: India coach Gary Kirsten has urged his batsmen to come up with “something special” to save the first test against Sri Lanka.

The hosts are faced with an uphill task on the final day on Friday after Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene (275) and Prasanna Jayawardene (154 not out) extended their sixth wicket stand to a world record 351 on Thursday.

The tourists, aiming to win their first test on Indian soil in 27 years, declared their first innings at 760 for seven for a first innings lead of 334.

India closed day four at 190 for two, still 144 runs behind with eight wickets in hand. Opener Gautam Gambhir led India’s fightback with an unbeaten 74.

“To be honest so far it has turned to be a fantastic batting wicket,” the former South Africa opener said.

India fightback to save Test

Ahmedabad, Nov 19: India fought back gallantly in their bid to save the first cricket Test but were still not completely out of danger after Sri Lanka piled up the agony on the hosts with a record-breaking run deluge here today.

After being buried by a massive 334-run first innings lead mainly built around a world record sixth wicket partnership between Mahela Jayawardene (275) and Prasanna Jayawardene (154 not out), the Indians reached 190 for two in their second innings at stumps on the penultimate day, still trailing by 144 runs.

The hosts still have a daunting task to prevent the Lankans from recording their first Test triumph on Indian soil as they have to bat out the entire last day on a Motera track which was expected to deteriorate and assist the spinners.

Indian compound archers win gold in Asian Archery championship

STAFF WRITER 18:32 HRS IST

Kolkata, Nov 20 (PTI) Indian compound archers made history by clinching their first ever gold medal in the Asian archery championship at Bali today.

On the penultimate day of the 16th edition of the championship, India also bagged two silver medals in the men's recurve and women's compound sections, according to the Archery Association of India (AAI).

The Indian trio of C Srither, Kh Ratan Singh and Isiah R Sanam edged past Iran 231-230 in a nerve-wrecking contest to reign supreme in the compound section.

The Indian men's recurve team, comprising Rahul Banerjee, Jayanta Talukdar and Mangal Singh Champia lost to Korea 219-222 in the summit clash to settle for a silver medal.

In the women's compound team final India once again were beaten by Korea as the trio of Jhanu Hansdah, Namita Yadav and Manjudha Soy had to be content with a silver medal. They lost 215-223.

Dammika Prasad doubtful for second Test against India

STAFF WRITER 18:57 HRS IST

Ahmedabad, Nov 20 (PTI) Sri Lankan pacer Dammika Prasad is a doubtful starter for the second cricket Test against India starting in Kanpur from November 24 due to a hamstring injury, captain Kumar Sangakkara said today.

"I don't think he (Dammika) would play as it seems right now he may not be available," Sangakkara said at the post-match press conference after the first Test ended in a draw here.

Prasad bowled just four overs today out of the wicketless 13 overs he sent down in India's second innings before a hamstring problem forced him to leave the field.

The 30-year-old right arm pacer scalped two wickets during India's first innings, giving away 106 runs from his 22 overs.

Prasad has so far represented Sri Lanka in only four Tests and five One-Day Internationals and scalped 13 and five wickets respectively.

Sandeep fit to play in 2010 World Cup: Mattoo

NEW DELHI: Hockey India President A K Mattoo on Friday cleared the air over Sandeep Singh's participation in next month's Chammpions Challenge Sandeep fit to play in 2010 World Cup tournament and 2010 World Cup, saying the ace drag-flicker has recovered from his back injury and is expected to be part of both the events.

"I am 100 per cent certain Sandeep will play in the World Cup. How can you decide about whether a player would be in the World Cup team three months before the tournament," Mattoo told reporters during the Presenting Partner agreement signing function between Steel Authority of India Limited and International Hockey Federation.

"He will be there in the team. He had a back injury but he has come out of that. Sandeep will also play in Champions Challenge," he added.

Sandeep's participation in both the events came under cloud after chief coach Jose Brasa earlier this week said that the back injury, which he sustained during last month's Canada tour, will see the drag-flicker out of both Champions Challenge to be held in Salta, Argentina, from December 6 to 13.

Sandeep was subsequently replaced by Rajpal Singh as the skipper of the national team for Champions Challenge from Dec 6-13 but Mattoo overruled the decision, saying they are yet to finalise the captain.

"Captain was never an issue, the issue was lack of communication between the coach Brasa, players and the support staff", Mattoo said.

"The captain is not yet decided. HI will take a decision on captaincy within a few days," he said.

The HI chief also claimed that the revival of Indian hockey was heading in the right path and assured FIH that the the nation would host one of the best World Cup.

"Indian hockey is moving forward in the right direction. In coming days we will see hockey back on track," Mattoo said during the function which was also attended by FIH President Leandro Negre.

"I assure Mr Negre that we will ensure the best World Cup," he added.

The FIH chief said the mega-event is vital to Indian hockey's development.

"The event is of immense importance to Indian hockey. The World Cup will be a great catalyst in reviving Indian hockey. Let us hope India may rise again in world hockey," Negre said.

Minister of Steel Virbhadra Singh, who was also present on the occassion, urged both public and private sectors to extend their helping hand in the game's revival.

"I am happy that the World Cup is being staged in India. I am happy that SAIL is associated with the event as a Presenting Partner. Once hockey was country's main game but lately it is being pushed back and is struggling to find a place," Singh said.

"I think both public and private sector should come forward and support the game as well as sportspersons." he added.

Sachin Tendulkar mounts peak 30K

NEW DELHI: After completing 17,000 runs in the 50-over format of the game, Sachin Tendulkar achieved another milestone by completing 30,000 runsSachin Tendulkar mounts peak 30K in his international career during the first Test against Sri Lanka at Sardar Patel stadium in Ahmedabad.

Master Blaster Sachin became the first batsman to complete 30,000 international runs when he scored his 35th run in the second innings against Sri Lanka on the fifth and final day of the first Test.

He has so far played 160 Tests, 436 ODIs and a lone Twenty20 scoring 87 international hundreds and 145 fifties in all.

Tendulkar touched the magical 17,000-run mark in One-Day International cricket earlier in this month. Sanath Jayasuriya is second on the list with 13,377 runs followed by Aussie captain Ricky Ponting who has a lot of catching up to do.

Sachin has scored 17178 runs in One-dayers thus far. The Indian batting legend has 45 One-day hundreds and 91 ODI fifties under his belt. The veteran batsman has scored 42 hundreds and 54 half centuries in the Test format of the game.

The diminutive Mumbaikar, who made his ODI debut Pakistan in 1989, is already way ahead of his contemporaries when it comes to accumulating runs.

TOI

Hockey players up in arms against coach Brasa

New Delhi, Nov 18: A rattled Hockey India (HI) president A K Mattoo is flying down to Pune following a reported revolt by senior players spearheaded by deposed captain Sandeep Singh against coach Jose Brasa.

The seniors are apparently unhappy with the way the Spanish coach is going about his job. Sandeep, who has pulled out of the camp complaining a back problem, seems to differ with Brasa over drag-flicking.

Lanka ride on Jayawardene’s double ton to take control

Ahmedabad, Nov 18: Mahela Jayawardene gave a fine exhibition of skill and temparament to score a crafty unbeaten 204 as Sri Lanka took tight control of the first cricket Test by taking a commanding 165-run first innings lead against a defensive India here today.

Jayawardene anchored the innings brilliantly to notch up his 27th Test century and his sixth double ton, and found an able partner in Prasanna Jayawardene (84 not out) as the visitors pushed the hosts on the backfoot by reaching a mammoth 591 for five at close on the third day.

It turned out to be a hard grind for the Indians as the Lankans capitalised on a good batting strip at the Motera stadium to consolidate the position on a day which again saw more than 300 runs being scored. Resuming at the overnight score of 275 for three in reply to India’s 426, the islanders lost the wicket of Thilan Samaraweera (70) and Angelo Mathews (17) in the pre-lunch session but the two Jayawardenes put on a marathon undefeated 216-run partnership to put Sri Lanka on course for their first Test triumph on Indian soil.

India fightback to save Test after Lankan run feast

AHMEDABAD: India fought back gallantly in their bid to save the first Test but were still not completely out of danger after Sri Lanka piled up the agony on the hosts with a record-breaking run deluge on Thursday.

After being buried by a massive 334-run first innings lead mainly built around a world record sixth wicket partnership between Mahela Jayawardene (275) and Prasanna Jayawardene (154 not out), the Indians reached 190 for two in their second innings at stumps on the penultimate day, still trailing by 144 runs.

The hosts still have a daunting task to prevent the Lankans from recording their first Test triumph on Indian soil as they have to bat out the entire last day on a Motera track which was expected to deteriorate and assist the spinners.

But the Indians have an experienced batting line up and should fancy their chances of saving the match which has turned out to be a nightmare for the bowlers.

Gautam Gambhir (74) and night watchman Amit Mishra (12) were at the crease at stumps on a day which saw Mahela and Prasanna breaking the 72-year-old world record for the highest sixth-wicket partnership in Tests by putting on a 351-run stand.

The home team first lost Virender Sehwag (51) and then Rahul Dravid (38) was distincly unlucky to get a dubious leg before decision at the fag end of the day.

Sri Lanka's mammoth lead also left the hosts with the monumental task of batting out for a minimum of 135 overs and for more than four and a half sessions, to save the opening match in the three-Test contest.

The 32-year-old Mahela also set a slew of records during his marathon innings. He became the joint highest individual scorer against India in this country and the fourth to compile a 250-plus knock in the latter's backyard and also crossed the 9000-run milestone.

Resuming at his overnight 204, the elegant Mahela continued and Prasanna who notched his second Test century, continued to pile frustrate the Indians and thereby surged to the sixth-highest Test tally ever, the list being led by their own world record tally of 952 for six declared in Colombo 12 years ago.

The Lanka reply was also an apt rejoinder to India's record score of 676 for seven scored against them at Kanpur in 1986. The previous best total by any visiting team in India was 652 for seven declared by England in January, 1985.

All the four frontline Indian bowlers gave away over 100 runs each, with Zaheer Khan being the most economical and impressive with 2 for 109.

The spinners were far from impressive. While Harbhajan Singh gave away 189 runs for his two wickets, hardly looking menacing, leggie Mishra was even more pathetic and went wicket less after conceding 203 runs in a marathon stint of 56 overs.

In the morning, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's ploy of taking the third new ball immediately after play started today did not pay dividends as the two Jayawardenes easily saw off the new ball duo of Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma.

The duo's massive and morale-destroying partnership reached the 300-mark in 510 balls before Mahela completed his 250 with a single off the totally non-penetrative Harbhajan Singh in 400 balls. Later he became the ninth batsman in the world to reach 9000 runs.

Spinners Harbhajan and Amit Mishra who hardly made any impression gave away over 370 runs for a lone wicket in combination.

TOI

The Islanders restore parity on Day 2

AHMEDABAD, Nov 17: Tillakaratne Dilshan produced a scintillating century as Sri Lanka put up a spirited batting display to leave the first Test against India evenly poised at the end of the second day on Tuesday.

After polishing off the remaining four wickets in quick time to restrict India to 426 in the first innings, the in-form Dilshan (112) took centrestage with a fine exhibition of strokeplay to steer the islanders to a comfortable 275/3 at close on the second day.

Dilshan notched up his 10th Test century — and the fifth this year — to lay the foundation for a strong Lankan reply in excellent batting conditions at the Motera stadium which again saw more than 300 runs being scored.

Mahela Jayawardene (36) and Thilan Samaraweera (45) were at the crease at stumps with the visitors still trailing the hosts by 151 runs.

Earlier, resuming at the score of 385/6, India lost their last four wickets for 41 runs and were all out soon after the first drinks break to allow the visitors to claw their way back into the game.

Captain Kumar Sangakkara (31) and young opener Tharanga Paranavitana (35) got the starts but could not translate those into big knocks, falling to injudicious shots.

Pacer Zaheer Khan struck twice in quick succession by evicting Dilshan and Sangakkara in the last session with short-pitched deliveries to bring India back into the game but Jayawardene and Samaraweera ensured that there were no further setbacks.

The morning session turned out to be quite disappointing for the hosts who could not really carry on the good work and saw the remaining four wickets fall without much resistance.

Left arm swing bowler Chanaka Welegedara got the important breakthrough early in the morning by getting rid of the well-set and ominous-looking Rahul Dravid at his overnight score of 177.

Dravid, looking all set to score his sixth double hundred, fell to the 10th ball he faced without any addition to his overnight score. He dragged a ball from Welegedara on to his stumps while trying to drive on the front foot.

In all, the Bangalore stalwart batted for 19 minutes over six hours, faced 261 balls and struck 26 fours and a six.

Dravid’s departure just a quarter hour into day two dashed India’s hopes of taking the score to the 500 mark.

Harbhajan Singh (22), not out 2 on Monday evening, and Zaheer Khan (12) put on a brief stand worth 25 runs, but it was just a matter of time before they fell.

Zaheer, who was felled by a beamer from fast medium bowler Dammika Prasad after having struck two successive fours with slashes off the right-arm bowler, was trapped leg before when he played back to left arm spinner Rangana Herath.

The pace bowler’s dismissal came soon after India crossed the 400-mark in the 96th over just past the half hour.

Harbhajan, who played some good drives off the pace bowlers, was castled by Muttiah Muralitharan while trying to reverse sweep the wily off spinner who then accounted for last man Ishant Sharma in the same over to bring down curtains on the Indian innings.

Harbhajan’s stay of 83 minutes yielded him two fours in 64 balls. Amit Mishra remained unbeaten on 7.

For Lanka, left armer Welegedara grabbed the bowling honours, claiming 4/87 — the prized scalps being those of Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, all on Monday, and Dravid.

Muralitharan, snapped up 3/97, taking two wickets on Tuesday for seven runs in 23 balls, while Prasad, who was not shy of using bumpers and got a warning for the beamer bowled at Zaheer, picked up 2/106. Herath took the remaining wicket.

Lankan openers Dilshan and Paranavitana then prevented the home team from creating an early breakthrough before lunch.

The only wicket that the visitors lost in the post-lunch session was that of young left-hander Tharanga Paranavitana (35), who edged Ishant Sharma to wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni who caught it brilliantly one-handed by diving to the left in front of first slip Sachin Tendulkar.

Paranavitana, who looked hardly in trouble with Dilshan, was lured by a ball angled away from him and took the edge of his bat. He and his opening partner added 74 runs in quick time and Paranavitana hit six fours in his 55-ball knock.

This was the lone success for the Indian bowlers in the session between lunch and tea that yielded 118 runs in 26 overs.

Runs came at a brisk pace as the Lankans added 55 runs in 12 overs in the first post-lunch hour of play for Paranavitana’s wicket and then 63 runs without losing a wicket in 14 overs till tea.

Dilshan, who has scored four centuries and over 900 runs this year, drove powerfully to the off side and played very few false strokes.

Both the pre-lunch and post-lunch sessions belonged to the visitors as they first fought back since yesterday’s position and dismissed the last four Indian wickets for only 41 runs Tuesday morning.

Scorecard

India: first innings (overnight 385/6) Gautam Gambhir b Welegedara 1; Virender Sehwag lbw b Welegedara 16; Rahul Dravid b Welegedara 177; Sachin Tendulkar b Welegedara 4; VVS Laxman b Prasad 0; Yuvraj Singh c Dilshan b Muralitharan 68; Mahendra Singh Dhoni c Jayawardene b Prasad 110; Harbhajan Singh b Muralitharan 22; Zaheer Khan lbw Herath 12; Amit Mishra not out 7; Ishant Sharma st Prasanna b Muralitharan 0

Extras (b 2, lb 2, w 1, nb 4) 9

Total (all out in 104.5 overs) 426

Fall of wickets 1-14 (Gambhir, 2.5 overs), 2-27 (Sehwag, 6.1), 3-31 (Tendulkar, 6.4), 4-32 (Laxman, 7.4), 5-157 (Yuvraj, 36.1), 6-381 (Dhoni, 87.1), 7-389 (Dravid, 92.4), 8-414 (Khan, 101.2), 9-426 (Harbhajan, 104.1)

Bowling: Chanaka Welegedara 22-4-87-4 Dammika Prasad 22-1-106-2 Angelo Mathews 12-1-50-0 Muttiah Muralitharan 25.5-4-97-3 Rangana Herath 22-2-79-1 Tillakaratne Dilshan 1-0-3-0

Sri Lanka: first innings

Tillekaratane Dilshan c Dravid b Khan 112; Tharanga Paranavitana c Dhoni b Sharma 35; Kumar Sangakkara c Tendulkar b Khan 31; Mahela Jayawardene batting 36; Thilan Samaraweera batting 45

Extras (lb 5, w 2, nb 9) 16

Total (for three wickets in 70 overs) 275

Fall of wickets 1-74 (Paranavitana, 16.5 overs), 2-189 (Dilshan, 43.1), 3-194 (Sangakkara, 45.3)

Bowling: Zaheer Khan 15-2-45-2; Ishant Sharma 14-0-53-1; Harbhajan Singh 20-2-72-0; Amit Mishra 18-0-89-0 (3nb) Yuvraj Singh 3-0-11-0 (PTI)

2 more teams and pink balls from IPL 2011

NEW DELHI, Nov 16: Two new teams, four fielding substitutes instead of the lone 12th man, pink balls in practice matches and abolishing the Icon player status are some of the innovations which the Indian Premier League would embrace from its 2011 edition.

From next year onwards, IPL would also be played under the supervision of the ICC Anti Corruption and Security Unit, while players who skip the tournament despite not having any national assignment might have their contracts terminated, organisers of the event said in a statement.

The recent three-day franchisee workshop in Bangkok had threadbare discussions on player regulations, commercial aspects, logistics, hospitality, ticketing, licensing and merchandising.
“I am certain now that we are poised to bring a significantly enhanced IPL experience back home to the Indian fans in Season 2010,” IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi said.

It has been decided that teams would be allowed four fielding substitutes, rather than the lone 12th man.

Any ball bowled above waist height, regardless of the speed, will be declared a no-ball, while pink balls would be used in practice matches.

Apart from availing ACSU service, IPL will follow the BCCI Anti-Doping policy for Season 2010. Another issue that the IPL Governing Council plans to take up is non-availability of players after signing of contracts.

“Measures discussed revolved around the initiation of stringent action including termination of player contracts and barring from future participation in the IPL, of players that have signed contracts, but fail to make themselves available for playing in the IPL,” the organisers said.

“It was agreed that in the event any of the Member Boards not issuing an NOC to their players for participation in the IPL - on pretext of domestic engagements — IPL could make a representation to the Governing Council of the Champions League for taking appropriate action against the members boards participation in the League,” the organisers said. On the decision to expand the league, they said, “A discussion for the addition of two new franchises in Season 4 was held with the same being adopted with 7 of the 8 Franchises being in favour of increasing the number of Teams to 10.”

Among other things, it was finalised that trading of Players will be permitted between franchisees for the season 2010 onwards.

Meanwhile, Pakistani players’ participation will have to be confirmed by their Cricket Board through an NOC and clearance from their government.

On January 19 next year, IPL would conduct an auction, adding new players into the league and a fresh purse of USD 750,000 will available to each franchisee.

The League will also have a cap on the maximum players in a squad while all franchises agreed to do away with the Icon Player status. (PTI)

‘The Wall’ stands tall as India in command

Dravid completes 11,000 runs in Test cricket • Lankan bowlers toil hard on Day 1

Ahmedabad, Nov 16: In a rare exhibition of dazzling strokeplay, Rahul Dravid hammered an unbeaten 177 and inspired his skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni to hit a century and Yuvraj Singh a fifty as India recovered from a nightmarish 32 for four to end the opening day of the first Test against Sri Lanka at 385 for six here on Monday.

Seldom has one seen Dravid in such an aggressive mode. He has never scored so many runs in a day’s play. In the process he has crossed the 11,000-run mark and was involved in two century partnerships — 125 with Yuvraj and 224 with Dhoni. It was his 78th century partnership, a world record. All added up to another record, the highest score by India in a day’s play.

After Dhoni decided to bat, within the first hour India lost their top four batsmen, three of them to fast bowler Chanaka Welegedara (3/75) in what looked like a re-run of their disastrous batting display when they were shot out for 76 by South Africa in April last year at the Sardar Patel Stadium in the Motera neighbourhood of Ahmedabad.

Dravid and Yuvraj decided to take the bull by the horns. In an unusual display of counter-attack, they smacked the bowlers all around the park, scattering the fielders breathing down their necks.

Yuvraj hit Dhamika Prasad (2/90) for two fours in the 10th over to set the tone of the partnership. He smashed Muttiah Muralithran (1/90) for a boundary in the spinner’s first over while Dravid lifted left-arm spinner Rangana Herath for a huge six straight down the ground.

Despite wickets tumbling at the other end, 100 runs came up in the 24th over and India went into lunch at 105 for four. Even after the break, Dravid was in full flow and hit Welegedara for three fours in the 29th over to step up the run rate.

Yuvraj hit 13 fours during his 93-ball stay at the crease. He was foxed by a loopy delivery by Muralitharan and gave an easy catch to Tillekaratne Dilshan.

After Yuvraj’s departure, Dhoni went on match Dravid stroke for stroke.

Dravid’s 251-ball stay was studded with 26 fours and a six while Dhoni hit 10 boundaries and a six in his 159-ball knock. The duo played some crisp shots on both sides of the wickets as 164 runs came off 36 overs in the last session.

Dhoni got to his century in style hitting a four off Dhamika Prasad but failed to carry on after edging the fast bowler to wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene in the next over.
Earlier, Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara might have thought that it was a good toss to lose after Welegedara and Prasad gave excellent starts.

Welegedara provided the breakthrough as Gautam Gambhir (1) played on, dragging an outswinger onto the stumps. Welegedara was on fire as he went on to pick up Virender Sehwag (16) and Tendulkar (1) in three deliveries to put India on the backfoot. Prasad chipped in crashing through the defence of V V S Laxman, and India lost four wickets in 30 deliveries.
For Dhoni it might have looked like a bad toss to win in the first seesion but at stumps India were clearly dominating.

Scorecard
India: Gautam Gambhir b Welegedara 1; Virender Sehwag lbw b Welegedara 16; Rahul Dravid batting 177; Sachin Tendulkar b Welegedara 4; VVS Laxman b Prasad 0; Yuvraj Singh c Dilshan b Muralitharan 68; Mahendra Singh Dhoni c Jayawardene b Prasad 110; Harbhajan Singh batting 2

Extras (b-2, lb-2, w-1, nb-2) 7
Total (for six wickets in 90 overs) 385
Fall of wickets 1-14 (Gambhir, 2.5 overs), 2-27 (Sehwag, 6.1), 3-31 (Tendulkar, 6.4), 4-32 (Laxman, 7.4), 5-157 (Yuvraj, 36.1), 6-381 (Dhoni, 87.1)

Bowling: Chanaka Welegedara 17-3-75-3 Dammika Prasad 18-1-90-2 Angelo Mathews 12-1-50-0 Muttiah Muralitharan 23-3-90-1 Rangana Herath 19-1-73-0 Tillakaratne Dilshan 1-0-3-0 (IANS)

Fomer captains feel lucky to lead Tendulkar

New Delhi, Nov 14: Former captains Krishnamachari Srikkanth, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble felt they were the lucky few to have lead a team with Sachin Tendulkar in it.
On the eve of Tendulkar’s 20th year in international cricket, the four former captains went ga-ga over greatness of the 36-year-old batting maestro.

They feel that to last 20 years in international cricket is a fantastic achievement and for that one has to have special qualities. Tendulkar had everything that made him the best in the world.
For Ganguly, Tendulkar will always remain special. During his five-year tenure as the India captain, Tendulkar and Ganguly formed the most exciting opening pair in the One-day Internationals (ODI) and they tore apart the best of bowling attacks.

“Fortunately I have played nearly 300 ODIs with him. It is not easy to share all the great moments I had with him. I congratulate Sachin on the fantastic achievement of playing 20 years for the country,” Ganguly said.

Recalling his first interaction with Tendulkar, Ganguly said: “My first interaction with him was at the under-15 national camp in Indore. But before that I heard a lot about him because he was making news even then.”

Incidentally, Dravid, who was also in the same camp, said that Tendulkar was always a step ahead of others of his age.

“He was always special. The fact that he has lasted 20 years in international cricket is a big achievement in itself. He has fulfilled the expectations of a billion fans and has done it regularly for many years,” Dravid told IANS.

“He is very chatty in the dressing room and he is an outgoing person. He has contributed a lot to the game. Personally I feel privileged to be able to play for such a long time with him, a legend,” he said.

Kumble concurs with Dravid.
“It is amazing to see the way he has lived up to the expectations of the nation, how he has carried the burden of expectations of millions of people. He has managed to deliver almost every time he has been expected and that shows his consistency and commitment. He has also managed to maintain his image on and off the field and that is what youngsters should learn from him,” he said.

Srikkanth, Tendulkar’s first captain, recalled the turbulent times in which Tendulkar played in his debut series in Pakistan.

“The players and the cricket board were on a collision course over players’ contract. Before the Karachi Test a tense Sachin came to me to share his feelings. I assured him that he was too junior to get into any trouble and asked him to play freely. The rest is history,” he said.
What surpised Srikkanth was the ease with which Tendulkar handled leg-spinner Adbul Qadir, who then was the best in the world.

“Sachin stepped out twice and hit Qadir for two consecutive sixes. I was at the other end and asked him to be careful since Qadir was the best spinner then. Sachin just raised his hands and told me ‘boss just be relaxed. I am fine’.” he said. (IANS)

Sri Lanka eye win in landmark Tendulkar Test

AHMEDABAD, Nov 14: Sri Lanka will have to curb an inspired Sachin Tendulkar, on the threshold of another landmark, as they attempt to win a Test series in India for the first time.
Sri Lanka have not won any of the 14 matches they have played in India since their first Test visit in 1982, but skipper Kumar Sangakkara feels has the potential to pull off a surprise in the three-Test series.

Sri Lanka are second behind South Africa in the official Test rankings and are looking to extend their winning streak after defeating Pakistan and New Zealand at home by identical 2-0 margins in July and August.

To achieve this, however, they will have to contend with Tendulkar’s hot form and a strong home side that is rallying to give the record-breaking batsman a winning start to his 21st year in international cricket.

Tendulkar, 36, will join a list of 15 players whose international careers have spanned more than 20 years when he plays in the first Test starting at the Motera on Monday.

The Mumbai batsman holds the record for most Test runs (12,773), Test centuries (42), ODI runs (17,178) and ODI centuries (45) and hit a stirring 175 in the ODI series against Australia this month to underline his good form.

“I am enjoying my game and there is a lot of cricket left in me,” Tendulkar told reporters this week.

Tendulkar made his Test debut as a chubby, curly-haired 16-year-old against Pakistan in Karachi on November, 15 1989.

“You run out of superlatives for Sachin,” Sangakkara told a news conference on Sri Lanka’s arrival.

Sri Lanka are missing the express pace of Lasith Malinga and the tourists are banking on all-rounder Angelo Mathews to lend balance to an attack led by record-breaking spinner Muttiah Muralitharan.

Spinner Ajantha Mendis proved a handful for the Indians when they were beaten 2-1 in the Test series on their tour of Sri Lanka last year.

Only Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan in a strong batting line-up have Test experience in India although Thilan Samaraweera is in excellent form.

“(The) Sri Lankans are a better-prepared side now and can give the Indians (a) tough time during the series,” India batsman Vangipurappu Laxman said this week.

Dishan suffered a sprained ankle at practice on Wednesday but is expected to play in the first Test.

Sri Lanka go into the series without sufficient match practice after their tour opener against an Indian Board President’s XI was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to rain. Sri Lanka lost 2-0 on their previous tour in 2005.

The hosts, who have been strengthened by the return of left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan from a lengthy injury layoff, suffered a one-day series defeat to Australia this month.
Sangakkara said the pressure was on India.

“We have a lot of work to do but we are here to do well and try and win and change all this never winning a Test match in India,” he said.

“Responsibility is on India to stop us from doing that.” (Agencies)

Dilshan sprains ankle, but will play Test

Mumbai, Nov 12: Sri Lanka’s maverick opener Tillakaratne Dilshan, who sprained his ankle during a practice session here on Wednesday, will be available for the first Test against India in Ahmedabad from November 16.

Sri Lanka team manager Brendon Kurupu said on Thursday that it was a minor ankle sprain and Dilshan would be fine in a couple of days.

“Dilshan had a session today in the indoor nets and he will be okay in a couple of days. Reports are very positive about him and Dislhan has to see how it feels while practicing on the field. Hopefully, he should be fit for the first Test,” said Kurupu.

“There’s no need to panic and we will assess his injury at the ground,” he added.
Heavy rains ruling out play for the second consecutive day of three-day practice game between the Sri Lankans and Board President’s XI in Mumbai. Kuruppu said that Sri Lanka won’t play a limited-overs contest on the final day.

“We are going into a Test series. The frame of mind is different for the two forms. One-dayers are not ideal preparation before Tests. We have got something out of two days in keeping fit and get the team spirit going. But we have missed out on getting a feel of the pitch and other natural conditions,” he said. (IANS)

PCB under fire for appointing Yousuf as Test skipper

LAHORE, Nov 12: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is under fire for appointing Mohammad Yousuf as the captain of the Test team.

Former players and officials have criticized the PCB for the sudden change in the leadership and blamed the board for not standing by Younus Khan, who has been going through a rough patch in his career.

Former opening batsman Aamir Sohail said the PCB should have supported Khan following reports of some senior players volleying against him.

“The same PCB had given full support to Younus some two weeks ago following the National Assembly row and should have once again conveyed a warning to the rebel players to either support the captain or go out,” The Dawn quoted Sohail, as saying.

“I think this old culture and problem of player-power should be rooted out completely from Pakistan cricket. If any player or players think they are bigger than the team, they should be dropped at once,” he added.

Sohail raised questions over the PCB’s way of handling issues saying the board had snubbed Yousuf earlier and had appointed Shoaib Malik the captain of the squad.

“When Yousuf was not good enough then, howcome the PCB finds him suitable for leadership now?” he questioned.

Former chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed came down hard on board chairman Ijaz Butt for his unprofessional way of handling things at the apex cricket authority in the country.

“The way Ijaz Butt has changed three skippers in one year’s time and sent home legendary former Test cricketers like Javed Miandad, Abdul Qadir, Aamir Sohail one after the other from the PCB offices proves his inability to hold such an important post in Pakistan cricket,” Ahmed said.

He said the board should have sent a ‘no-nonsense’ message to the players who were complaining against Younus Khan’s leadership.

Former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, however, has criticised Khan for opting out of the Test series against the Kiwis.

He said it is not right for a captain to leave his team in a lurch during a much important series.
Younus concedes there were problems with teammates

Giving an insight into the turmoil in the Pakistan cricket team, captain Younus Khan on Thursday conceded that problems with some senior players was the reason why he opted out of the Test tour of New Zealand.

“I was already facing problems with some players and my poor form didn’t help as it is a fact that when the captain is not scoring runs it becomes difficult for him to turn things his way,” Younus said.

“No one ever came to me directly and told me his grievances. Otherwise I would have tried to resolve the issues,” he said.

Younus, who has been replaced as captain by Mohammad Yousuf for the three Tests against New Zealand starting November 24, has taken a break from cricket after Pakistan’s One-Day series loss to the Kiwis.

The senior batsman said though he wants to play for Pakistan, he had no idea where his career was heading.

“Only time will tell what happens and where my career goes. But I have every intention of wanting to play for Pakistan again,” he said. (PTI)