Daily Excelsior.........sports

Indian batsmen continue
poor showing in 2nd test

YHAI organising national
trekking expedition

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 17: The Jammu and Kashmir branch of the Youth Hostels Association of India is sending two different groups with 50 young students each to Madhya Pradesh and Goa for adventure trip.............more

TT Fed appoints Satish
as tech official

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 17: The Table Tennis Federation of India has appointed the Table Tennis coach of the State Sports Council, Satish Gupta, as technical official for the National Games going to start from November 20 in Punjab........more

Handicapped rally at Doda

Excelsior Correspondent

DODA, Nov 17: Handicapped Welfare Association of District Doda is holding a rally on December 3 at 10 am at Town Hall on the eve of World Handicapped Day.........more

Horse show held at
Zorawar Stadium

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 17: A scintillating Horse Show was conducted by the Army’s 16 Corps at Zorawar Stadium here this afternoon. A large number of people including.......more

17th State Table Tennis Championship
Ankur, Nikhil reach final
of Sub-junior boys singles

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 17: Top seed Ankur Sachdev and Nikhil of Poonch have reached the finals of the Sub-junior boys singles......more

Cooch Behar U-19 Cricket Tourney
J&K in trouble against HP

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

UDHAMPUR, Nov 17: Hosts Jammu and Kashmir were in trouble against Himachal Pradesh on the very first day of the three-day Cooch Behar under-19 Cricket Tournament underway at Sports Stadium, here today......more

Harbans for promotion
of martial arts

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 17: Self-defence and Sports are closely associated with each another. Martial arts and sports make a person adept in the art of self-defence in the....more

Indian batsmen continue poor showing in 2nd test

PORT ELIZABETH, Nov 17: India were once again staring down the familiar barrel of defeat as South Africa set themselves for a big first innings lead with India barely managing to avoid the follow on and finish the day at 182 for eight in reply to South Africa’s first innings total of 362, of which more than half came from Herschelle Gibb’s magnificent 196.

With this, South Africa has put themselves in a commanding position with just two days of the second test over and three more to come.

At the St George’s park here, South African skipper Shaun Pollock showed that seamers ought to make use of the wicket, while the Indian batsmen showed just how batsmen should not bat.

The net result was that India were 182 for eight and still 180 runs behind their opponent’s first innings score.

Earlier in the day, Javagal Srinath finished his bowling with figures of six for 76 as South Africa were bowled after 31 overs into the second day.

When India went into bat, Deep Dasgupta was thrown into the deep end as the top Indian batsmen showed a paucity of guts to face the new ball.

But it hardly helped as the top order went down in a familiar tumble. The Indians looked in danger of being bowled out before the day was over. However, a ninth wicket stand between V V S Laxman (71 not out ) and Anil Kumble (21 not out) helped the visitors avoid an embarrassing follow on.

When Kumble came into join Laxman at the fall of the eighth wicket, India were tottering at 119 for eight, still needing 44 runs to avoid the ignominy of a follow on.

Laxman and Kumble had put on 63 runs for the unbroken ninth wicket stand as a rather curious decision to stop play for bad light ended the day’s play 4.3 overs short of the required number of 90 overs.

However, before all that drama of a bad light, Pollock and his seamers thoroughly exposed India’s inability to handle the new ball as three wickets, including those of Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar, were lost with just 15 runs on the board.

Ironically, Dasgupta, witchforked as the opener, managed to hang on till after Dravid and Tendulkar were out to the rampant Pollock. Hardly had the debate ended about Indian batsmen’s apparent lack of heart to face the new ball in the hands of the South African pacers, three wickets fell in a heap.

With Dasgupta for company, Shiv Sundar Das was unlucky to get a bad leg before decision from umpire Ian Howell in the fifth over. Pollock got just the kind of a start he and his team needed with India five for one.

Then came Dravid, who earlier in the day had dropped a sitter of Mark Boucher, who went on to compile a typcially aggressive fifty. Dravid had not even settled and merely pottered around for about quarter of an hour before a perfect delivery from Pollock sent his middle stump cartwheeling.

And with it went Dravid, who in the past few days had attracted a lot of debate with his known refusal to open the innings. So much for his comfort at his preferred position of No. 3.

In came Tendulkar and his shot off the fifth ball he faced, he played a highly irresponsible shot which saw him pull straight into the hands of Lance Klusener and India were suddenly grivelling at 15 for three and the innings was only 10.3 overs old. And all three wickets had fallen to Pollock.

As Pollock took a break after his brilliant spell of 7-1-13-3, Jacques Kallis came in and Ganguly went for him. It was almost as his relieving all that pent-up emotion and tension. Ganguly produced a series of thrilling strokes but that was hardly what India needed. India needed a batsman who could play a long innings and hold the side together.

Ganguly, looking every inch a one-day player, instead of a test batsman that was the need of the hour, smashed four boundaries off Kallis’s third over and sent the all-rounder out of the attack. But Mkhaya Ntini, meanwhile, kept up the pressure as he took South Africa’s fourth wicket at the other end. He clean-bowled dasgupta with a delivery that kept slightly low.

Dasgupta hung around for 78 minutes before being bowled by Ntini when the batsman was on 13.

Soon after resumption after tea, Ganguly was clean bowled by his counterpart, pollock, who once again had come up trumps. Ganguly scored 42 of the 69 India had made till then and his innings lasted a mere 46 balls and included seven fours.

Surely, an innings, which was more in the nature of a limited overs innings than a test exhibition.

The debut centurion in the previous test, Virender Sehwag, had no heroics left for this time, as he was caught by Gary Kirsten off Kallis, who after the initial mauling at the hands of Ganguly had now found his line and length.

Sehwag made 13 and India were 111 for six and eight runs later, Ajit Agarkar had barely got past his favourite score of zero when he was out for one, caught behind by Mark Boucher off Kallis to leave India at seven down for 119.

Harbhajan Singh, normally one with a fair long handle, left without disturbing the scorer, run out for zero and India were facing the possibility of a follow-on.

But Laxman and Kumble saved India further embarrassment but added a lot for the earlier batsmen by playing out the remainder of the day till bad light ended the play early. They had lasted more than 17 overs together and put on vital 63 runs, the first fifty stand of the Indian innings.

Pollock had taken four for 38 while kallis had two for 50. (UNI)

Horse show held at Zorawar Stadium

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 17: A scintillating Horse Show was conducted by the Army’s 16 Corps at Zorawar Stadium here this afternoon. A large number of people including civilian, jawans and their families witnessed the show.

The Governor, Mr Girish Chandra Saxena was the chief guest on the occasion.

Known as White Knight Horse Show, the horse show legends like gate jump parallel jump, hay jump, bush jump, vertical jump, hut jump, fan jump, barrel jump and tent pegging were displayed. In the medium grade jumping show, Major Muneesh Sharma of ASC bagged the first position and Sepoy R. Shende stood second. In the Novice Jumping Show L/K Nek Ram bagged the first position. In individual Tent Pegging Show, Sepoy Allay Singh stood first and Sepoy Vijay Bhonsley second. In the team- tent-pegging display, L/K Nek Ram and Sepoy Ram Kumar begged first position while Sepoy Allay Singh and Subedar Om Prakash bagged the second positions.

The valiant and brave soldier riders riding on fast running horses received the applause of the audiences especially in the tent pegging programmes when the rider speeding his horse speared the peg with the spear at a high speed keeping balance on the fast running horse.

The Governor distributed prizes to the riders who stood positions in different horse displays. The Governor appreciated the talents of the rider soldiers and asked them to keep up their performances.

The Housing and Urban Minister and acting Chief Minister, Mr. Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din Shah, Sports Minister, S Harbans Singh, Corps Commander 16 Corps Lt Gen J B S Yadava and senior Army officers were present on the occasion.