KOLKATA, Nov 2: Sachin Tendulkar kept India afloat in the the third and final test against West Indies with a timely century as the hosts recovered from early losses to take a 56-run lead with six wickets in hand on the fourth day here today..........more

Divine intervention
at Eden!

KOLKATA, Nov 2: The gods seem to be showering their blessings on cricketers who believe in ........more

‘Only half the job
is done’: Tendulkar

KOLKATA, Nov 2: Sachin Tendulkar today said he was ‘very happy’ to finally reach the three-figure........more

Manipur-Goa semi-final
abandoned due to violence

IMPHAL, Nov 2: Violence marred the second semi-final match of the 58th National Football Championships.........more

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 2: Superb bowling by Narinder and magnificent all-round show by skipper, Ian Dev Singh, today guided Jammu and Kashmir to a historic 68 runs victory over Delhi in the North Zone under-15 Cricket Tournament for Polly Umrigar Trophy at M A Stadium, here.........more

Jammu District
Gymnastics meet begins

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 2: Jammu District Gymnastics Championship begun today at the Indoor Complex of M A Stadium.........more

Technology hasn’t
made things
easier : Shepherd

KOLKATA, Nov 2: Veteran umpire David Shepherd, who is second to West Indian Steve Bucknor in terms of the number of tests.......more

Tendulkar’s ton keeps India in the match

KOLKATA, Nov 2: Sachin Tendulkar kept India afloat in the the third and final test against West Indies with a timely century as the hosts recovered from early losses to take a 56-run lead with six wickets in hand on the fourth day here today.

Tendulkar struck his 31st test century and remained unbeaten on 114 as India reached 195 for four in their second innings when play was called off due to bad light 18 overs before schedule.

V V S Laxman, who added 108 runs for the unfinished fifth wicket partnership with Tendulkar, was the other not batsman at stumps, having scored 30 runs.

West Indies, who were all out for 497 in their first innings to take a 139-run lead earlier in the day, were in complete command of the match wen India had been reduced to 87 for four at one stage.

But Tendulkar and Laxman batted sensibly after that to reduced to 87 for four at one stage.

But Tendulkar and Laxman batted sensibly after that to deny any further success to the West Indies. Tendulkar, who had been lying low for some time, shrugged off his poor record at the Eden Gardens to notch up his first century at this historic ground.

The duo, who came together midway into the second session, batted for the remainder of the day with Tendulkar doing the bulk of the scoring.

Tendulkar played an array of delightful strokes - his wristy steers, majestic drives and powerful pulls executed with impeccable timing leaving the West Indian bowlers, who had their tails up after their early successes, totally exasperated.

The master batsman reached his century half an hour into the last session when he hit Darren Powell through covers to take two runs which received a loud applause from a big weekend crowd. Tendulkar has so far faced 195 balls and hit 17 boundaries in his sterling innings.

Laxman, whose epic 281 at this ground against Australia last year is still fresh in the memory of the locals, played a supportive role to carve out a patient 30-run knock which came off 105 balls and included four fours.

India’s second essay started on a highly inauspicious note with first innings top-scorer Sanjay Bangar being dismissed off the very first ball of the innings. India could not even recover from that loss when Dillon gave another jolt to the hosts by sending back dashing batsman Virender Sehwag.

Both Sehwag and Bangar were caught by Shivnarine Chanderpaul and India had lost both its openers with just 11 runs on the board.

Then came two controversial leg before decisions against Rahul Dravid and skipper Sourav Ganguly which left India panting at 87 for four.

Dravid was at the receiving end of a rough decision for the second time in this match.

He was given out in a similar fashion in the first innings too by the other umpire, David Shepherd of England.

Dravid made 17 and India had lost their third wicket at 49 just before the lunch break.

The lanky Cameron Cuffy struck again for West Indies 38 runs later when Ganguly, who scored 16, was adjudged Leg Before Wicket to a delivery that TV replays showed had pitched outside the leg-stump.

West Indies were all fired up at this stage and sensing victory before Tendulkar and Laxman poured water over their hopes.

Earlier, West Indies first innings folded with the addition of 51 runs to their overnight 446 for five with off-spinner Harbhajan Singh coming up with his 11th five-wicket haul.

Marlon Samules duly completed his maiden test hundred but Chanderpaul could only equal his previous test best of 140. Chanderpaul, who resumed at his overnight 136, could score just four runs this morning before falling to Virender Sehwag who surprisingly opened the bowling for India today, in his first over itself.

The left-handed Chanderpaul, who had driven Sehwag for a boundary of the opening delivery of the day, was caught by Harbhajan Singh at point. He faced 258 deliveries and struck 17 fours and a six.

Samuels, whose sixth wicket stand with Chanderpaul yielded 195 runs for West Indies, reached his century in the fourth over of the day with a single to long-off against Kumble.

Samuels fell in the very next over, snapped up by Sehwag at forward short leg while playing forward to Harbhajan Singh who returned figures of five for 115.

Kumble then trapped Powell Leg Before Wicket with a delivery that straightened after pitching on the leg stump. The leg-spinner dismissed Jermaine Lawson in a similar fashion to finish with figures of three for 169. (PTI)

SCOREBOARD

India first innings 358

West indies first innings 497

India second innings

Sanjay Bangar c S Chanderpaul b Mervin Dillon 0

Virender Sehwag c S Chanderpaul b Mervyn Dillon 10

Rahul Dravid lbw b Darren Powell 17

Sachin Tendulkar batting 114

Saurav Ganguly lbw b Cameron Cuffy 16

VVS Laxman batting 30

Extra : 8 (leg bye 4, bye 4)

Total : 195 for 4 wickets in 64 overs and 283 minutes

Fall of wickets 1/0, 2/11, 3/49, 4/87

Bowling Analysis: Mervyn Dillon 17-5-63-2; Cameron Cuffy 8-2- 24-1; Jermaine Lawson 10-1-41-0; Darren Powell 10-2-19-1; Carl Hooper 12-1-30-0; Chris Gayle 3-1-5-0; Ramnaresh Sarwan 1-1-0-0; Marlon Samuels 3-1-5-0 (AGENCIES)

Divine intervention at Eden!

KOLKATA, Nov 2: The gods seem to be showering their blessings on cricketers who believe in divinity.

Sachin tendulkar, for one, who sneaked passed media to visit the over 200-year-old Kalighat temple in South Kolkata on the eve of the India-West Indies encounter here, struck a ton - his first ever at the Eden - today.

The little master, who was only a shadow of his brilliant self throughout the series, looked heavenwards after he completed his hundred, a gesture he never misses to make after a successful knock.

Goddess Kali has certainly smiled for the spiritually inclined cricketer, who has time and again upheld moral and family values as his driving forces.

As the Eden crowd, starved for some Indian action on the field, was enamoured by the show put up by one of their most loved cricket stars, many saw a repeat of West Indian batsman Shivnaraine Chanderpaul’s impressive stay at the crease yesterday.

Chanderpaul took blessings from the Bharat Sevashram Sangha on the eve of the match and that seems to have done the trick for the Guyanese.

And little wonder that Chanderpaul too was one with the elements - not the sky above but mother earth - as he kissed the pitch after his hundred last evening.

That Tendulkar’s ton at the magnificent Eden was long overdue was more than apparent from the thunderous applause from the around 70,000 crowd earlier described by former skipper Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi as "noisy but knowledgeable".

Tendulkar struck his first three-figure knock in six test matches played at the Eden Gardens and it was also his 31st test hundred in a total of 103 matches played so far.

His last best at the venue was 79 scored against the Australians in 1997-98.

Tendulkar’s ton, his third against West Indies, could not have come on a better occasion as India badly needed a big innings to save the match as a vastly improved West Indies looked like pulling one back after losing the first two test matches of the series.

The president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Jagmohan Dalmiya was all praise for Tendulkar’s innings as well.

"It was fantastic," Dalmiya said immediately after the little master reached the magical figure and went on to say that the century was more valuable considering the circumstances in which it was made. (PTI)

‘Only half the job is done’: Tendulkar

KOLKATA, Nov 2: Sachin Tendulkar today said he was ‘very happy’ to finally reach the three-figure mark at the "home of Indian cricket", but his job was still "half-done" with plenty of work left for tomorrow.

"This innings is only half the job done. Plenty of things are to happen tomorrow," said the master batsman, who now has a rich haul of 31 test tons, only three less than world record holder Sunil Gavaskar.

Looking relaxed but focussed after the day’s play, Tendulkar said he always wanted to get a test hundred at Eden and was happy that he had made it in the end.

"I am very happy. Because this is a kind of home for Indian cricket. Every time I used to leave this place, I felt a bit disappointed... It had to happen and that it just what happened today," Tendulkar said.

Tendulkar’s previous highest in the five tests he played at eden was 79 scored against Australia in 1997-98.

Asked how he rated the century, he said "a test hundred is after all a test hundred. This one came at the right time as the team was in a bad shape. But we still have a lot of work to do".

Pointing out that the track behaved quite ‘unpredictably’ during the third and fourth day, Tendulkar said "we have to play cautiously in the first session. Because if we lose wickets in that session, there will be a lot of pressure."

"We need to be very careful tomorrow morning," he added. On the Eden pitch, Tendulkar said "it is a slow track. There has been some cracks".

Asked to comment on the possible fate of the match, Tendulkar said it was ‘hard to predict’ and would depend on how the track behaved tomorrow.

"Yesterday, they (West Indies) lost two wickets, while nine wickets fell today, eight of them before lunch. Nobody actually thought of this," he said, adding "the first 45-50 minutes are very important."

On the team’s strategy for the fifth and final day, he said "we don’t have any plan as of now. But the first thing we need is to consolidate from here and concentrate on not losing any early wicket".

Tendulkar, who took 20 balls to reach 101 from 94, said he was not weighed down by pressure, but "the bowlers were maintaining a tight line and length and i waited for loose ball".

There was "not really any pressure. It is only that people have very high expectation. Nowadays if I take singles, people ask why i took singles. People should change their perspective".

Tendulkar remained undefeated at close of play with 114 in 196 balls, embellished with 17 hits to the ropes.

Asked whether he and VVVS Laxman had complained of bad light as the umpires called off the play with 18 overs remaining, Tendulkar said it had become difficult to see the ball clearly as "the background was very dark" and "we kept telling the umpires about it". (PTI)

Manipur-Goa semi-final abandoned due to violence

IMPHAL, Nov 2: Violence marred the second semi-final match of the 58th National Football Championships for the Santosh Trophy between hosts Manipur and Goa forcing the organisers to abandon the tie here today.

A controversial goan goal in the 57th minute triggered scenes of violence as a section of the capacity crowd at the Khuman Lampak Stadium hurled bottles and brickbats to disrupt the proceedings.

The incensed crowd refused to allow the match to get going despite repeated requests by the officials and the players, forcing an abandonment.

The trouble broke out shortly after the interval when substitute Climax Lawrence scored off a lob pass from Covan Lawrence to make it 1-0 for the last year’s runners up.

The home crowd started pelting stones and water bottles in protest against the goal.

Television replays also suggested the Climax was off-side but referee S M Balu and assistant referee Biswajit Bera did not relent.

After about 45 minutes stoppage, the match resumed when the players appealed to the restive local crowd to maintain calm. But the game came to a halt again only after a minute as the crowd violence restarted.

Later Hardev Jadeja, chairman of the AIFF’s Disciplinary Committee, told reporters that the match had been abandoned and the winner would be decided after consulting the AIFF president and secretary.

Jadeja ruled out replay of the match till the All Manipur Football Association, organisers of the Santosh Trophy match here, gave a written assurance that such incidents would not recur. (PTI)

NZ U-15 Cricket /Polly Umrigar Trophy
Narinder, Ian Dev guide J&K to historic win over Delhi

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 2: Superb bowling by Narinder and magnificent all-round show by skipper, Ian Dev Singh, today guided Jammu and Kashmir to a historic 68 runs victory over Delhi in the North Zone under-15 Cricket Tournament for Polly Umrigar Trophy at M A Stadium, here.

Narinder, who took five wickets in the first innings and helped J&K take first innings lead, today clinched four more wickets to raise the match figure to nine.

Ian Dev, who played unbeaten innings of 99 in the first innings and then made 55 runs in the second, played a crucial role in J&K’s victory over Delhi with his four wickets haul today.

Chasing a target of 185 runs with full day to their side, Delhi batsmen could not make use of the opportunity and the whole side collapsed for just 116 runs, thereby losing the match to J&K by 68 runs.

At one point of time, Delhi batsmen were looking quite confident and were steadily moving towards their target, but return of duo, Ian Dev and Narinder to the form, reduced Delhi innings. Playing at 60 for two at one stage, Delhi batsmen caved in before the spin hosts’ spin bowling in the following overs. Ian Dev clinched five wickets for 30 runs in 10.1 overs, while Narinder bagged four for 31 in 12 overs.

Earlier, J&K resumed their innings from yesterday’s score of 147 for seven and lost their remaining three wickets adding just one run to the total. Appnam Gupta lost his wicket at his overnight score of 27, while Sayeed Owais made one run before he was caught by Virat off Raman. Vishwadeep Singh was out on naught.

SCOREBOARD

J&K first innings 165

Delhi first innings 129

J&K second innings 148

Delhi second innings

Anuj Jain lbw Narinder 14

Raman Sachdeva c Sayeed

Owais b Narinder 0

Ashwat lbw Ian Dev 16

Vartik Tihara b Ian 11

Virat Kholi c Rohit Bhat b Ian Dev 7

Karan Harit c Appnam b Narinder 1

Rushid Bhaskar c Nadeem

b Narinder 0

Sourav Srivastva (Sr) c

Rohit Bhat b Ian Dev 2

Kavin Gupta c Rohit Bhat

b Ian Dev 20

Sourav Srivastva (Jr)

b Appnam Gupta 16

Kumar Abhishek not out 0

Extras: 29

Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-27, 3-50, 4-64, 5-65, 6-69, 7-75, 8-77, 9-116, 10-166.

Bowling Analysis: Narinder 12-1-31-4; Irfan 3-0-14-0; Ram Dayal 2-0-5-0; Appnam Gupta 7-1-18-1; Sayeed Owais 1-0-7-0; Ian Dev 10-1-1-30-5.

Ian Dev selected

for Asia Cup

Skipper of J&K’s under-15 team and the highest run maker in North Zone, Ian Dev Singh has been selected by the Board of Control for cricket in India (BCCI) for the forthcoming Junior (U-15) Asia Cup.

Ian’s name figured among the penal of selectors after he missed a century against Haryana and later hit a ton against Himachal Pradesh in Jammu.

Due to last minute call from BCCI to Ian today for reporting in Delhi, the young star of the State could not be contacted. Ian left for Delhi tonight.

However, Ian’s parents told EXCELSIOR that he will be back in Jammu before his departure for the Asia Cup.