KANPUR, Nov 19: India go into a two-match cricket Test series against an inexperienced South Africa here tomorrow with their captain Sourav Ganguly himself going through troubled times for breaching ICC rules and a famed batting line-up which has collectively lost the hunger for runs............more

Kiwis take honours
after Oram pounds
Aussie bowlers

BRISBANE, Nov 19: New Zealand out-batted, out-bowled and out-thought Australia here today to defy the odds on day two of a first cricket Test they were considered to have little chance of being competitive in...............more

PG in confident position in
inter-college cricket semis

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 19: Fine innings by Sanjay Sharma and Anoop Magotra today placed Post Graduate Departments of Law and Sciences in comfortable position against Government SPMR College of Commerce in the two-day semi-final of inter-cricket tournament at University ground, here.........more

Bhupathi-Mirnyi crash
out of Masters Cup

NEW DELHI, Nov 19: Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi of Belarus were restricted entry into the semifinals after they crashed out to American brothers.......more

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 19: Rajinder Sharma, Irfan Khan and Munish Sawhney emerged winners on opening day of the Hero Honda 2nd State Strengthlifting championship began today at Indoor Complex, M A Stadium, here today...........more

VCC secures 4-wkt win

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 19: Vishal Cricket Club (VCC) clinched a four wicket victory over Adarsh Cricket Club (ACC) in the ongoing cricket tournament at Science College grounds, here today...............more

Baljeet to contest
for double title in
district Poonch TT

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

POONCH, Nov 19: Baljeet Singh today made it into both junior and senior boys finals in the district Poonch table tennis championships underway here..........more

PG Deptts win
volleyball final

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 19: Post Graduate Departments today lifted the inter-college volleyball trophy beating Degree College Udhampur in final of the inter-college volleyball at University courts here......more

India to face inexperienced S Africa today

KANPUR, Nov 19: India go into a two-match cricket Test series against an inexperienced South Africa here tomorrow with their captain Sourav Ganguly himself going through troubled times for breaching ICC rules and a famed batting line-up which has collectively lost the hunger for runs.

Ganguly has been permitted to play the first Test pending a verdict on his appeal against a two-Test ban for slow over rates in a one-dayer against Pakistan but his availability for the next match still remains in balance the with appeals commissioner expected to give his ruling sometime next week.

Although the Indian team management have put up a bold face saying the incidents involving the captain would not serve as a distraction, it is bound to weigh heavily on the minds of the players when the first test gets underway on what is seen as a sporting track at the Green Park Stadium.

For the moment at least, Ganguly will be in charge of the team which is desperately seeking to regain its top form after a string of defeats in both the Tests and one-dayers in recent times.

Having allowed Australia to conquer the ‘the final frontier’ and clinch their first series win on Indian soil in 35 years last month, the Indians do not have too many happy memories as they go into the new series but coach John Wright is confident that his wards would be able to turn the tide sooner than later.

It is the perfect opportunity for the struggling top order batsmen to hit top form against a new-look South African team which has as many as seven players with little or no experience of playing at the highest level.

But despite the opposition having an inexperienced bunch of players in their ranks, coach Wright has warned his players not to their opponents lightly who are known to be great fighters.

"The series is just like any other series. We want to win, if we play well, we can do it. We have a lot of respect for the opposition. They play tough cricket and we can’t underestimate them," Wright said.

The Indians have made it clear that they will not make any changes to the batting order which means that Delhi opener Gautam Gambhir, who failed in both the innings of the Mumbai Test against Australia, will get another chance to prove his worth.

But with captain Ganguly returning to the team after an injury lay off which saw him miss the last two tests, the in-form Mohammad Kaif will have to make way to accommodate the skipper.

The Indians may be tempted to go into the match with three specialist spinners — Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik — but may settle for the two spinner-two seamer formula as the Green Park track and the heavy early-winter atmosphere in northern parts of the country is bound to give some assistance to the fast bowlers.

"We are definitely going into the match with two spinners. Whether we will have an extra spinner will be decided later. The 3-1 combination (3 spinners and a pacer) worked well for us against Australia in Mumbai," Wright said.

"But the conditions were different there. Here because of the moisture factor, we may have to take two seamers," he added.

The home team’s pace bowling department has been bolstered by the return of the left-handed Irfan Pathan who missed the last two Tests against Australia because of an injury.

Batting has been India’s strength but the indifferent form of the top order willowers has gradually become a matter of concern though Wright keeps talking about the class of these players and their ability to deliver the goods.

"The batsmen have not performed upto their potential. The guys are class players, but they have not clicked for some time. As a coach, I back them and I am quite sure they will click sooner than later", Wright said.

The South Africans, on the other hand, are going through a transition period following a rather prolonged sequence of defeats in the Test arena in recent times.

Their recent one-day records have been far more disappointing having lost 1-5 to New Zealand and 0-5 to Sri Lanka in the last two tournaments.

Captain Graeme Smith, who will be the main batting stay for his young side, said the South Africans have come here with a new set of players who are keen to do well on this tour.

"Lot of things have changed now. We have a new coach. We have come with some fresh blood and also fresh ideas. It is a transition period for us and the team will need some time to settle down," Smith said.

Barring Smith, all rounder Jacques Kallis, former captain Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini are the three most experienced players in the line up and a lot will depend on them if they hoped to prevent the Indians from running away with the honours.

Boeta Dippenaar, Andrew hall and Jacques Rudolph have also played at the highest level but most of the other names such as Zander De Bruyn, Thami Tsolekile and Alfonso Thomas may mean nothing to Indian fans.

Although the curator Shiv Kumar prefers to call the Kanpur track a "sporting wicket" he is not ready to predict how the relayed pitch will behave, obviously wiser after the experience in Nagpur and Mumbai where the wickets played spoilsport during the Australian series.

The pitch, which looks quite dry though it has a very slight tinge of grass, is bound to spin probably from the third or the fourth day which should favour the home team.

Kanpur is hosting an international match after a gap of nearly five years but the sale of tickets have been lukewarm till now and the stadium, which has a capacity of 40,000, may remain more or less empty when the 19th Test match at this venue gets underway tomorrow. (PTI)

Kiwis take honours after Oram pounds Aussie bowlers

BRISBANE, Nov 19: New Zealand out-batted, out-bowled and out-thought Australia here today to defy the odds on day two of a first cricket Test they were considered to have little chance of being competitive in.

New Zealand’s unheralded bowlers seized the initiative produced by all-rounder Jacob Oram’s exhilarating unbeaten century in a spirited first innings of 353 to put the heat on the world champions at the Gabba. In a situation reminiscent of New Zealand’s last drawn series here in 2001, the Kiwis doggedly chipped away at the much-vaunted Australian batsmen to have them struggling at 128 for four after 37 overs.

When fading light ended play with three overs left to bowl, Australia were counter-attacking at 197 for four — 156 runs behind — with in-form Damien Martyn making an authoritative 59 and new talent Michael Clarke on 31.

Oram, the imposing no 7, played his finest innings, clubbing 12 boundaries and three prodigious sixes in a vintage knock of 126, to revive a Kiwi innings that appeared to be running out of steam when he came in at 138 for five before tea the opening day yesterday.

Yet he combined in a string of salvaging tail-end partnerships of 58 with Daniel Vettori (21), 53 with Kyle Mills (29) and 36 with Chris Martin (0) to lift the battling Kiwis above 350.

The 26-year-old giant, playing in his 16th Test, raised his second Test century after his unbeaten 119 against South Africa in Hamilton last March and then took to the all-star Australian bowling line-up, hoicking Michael Kasprowicz for successive sixes and slamming Jason Gillespie for six and four off consecutive balls.

Oram’s assault rattled the Australians with Test cricket’s leading wicket-taker Shane Warne called for two wides by Pakistani umpire Aleem dar as he attempted to stifle Oram’s scoring with deliveries down the leg-side.

Warne finished his 29th over hurling down a bumper at Oram, who merely collected another run. Such was oram’s awesome hitting that he forced skipper Ponting to ring the boundary fence with fielders. (AFP)

PG in confident position in inter-college cricket semis

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 19: Fine innings by Sanjay Sharma and Anoop Magotra today placed Post Graduate Departments of Law and Sciences in comfortable position against Government SPMR College of Commerce in the two-day semi-final of inter-cricket tournament at University ground, here.

Batting first, PG Law and Sciences were holding a commanding position with 343 runs for the loss of eight wickets in the 80 overs first day play.

Sanjay contributed highest 88 runs with the help of eight boundaries while Anoop made 87 runs studded with 11 fours. Vishal Dogra and Vijay were other two successful batsmen of the day with 36 and 45 runs respectively.

From Commerce College, Sumit Mahajan took three wickets for 61 runs in 33 overs he bowled. Vijay and Harminder Singh took one wicket each.

Department of Physical Education, University of Jammu is conducting the inter-college cricket tournament under the supervision of M M Sharma, Assistant Director.

Bhupathi-Mirnyi crash out of Masters Cup

NEW DELHI, Nov 19: Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi of Belarus were restricted entry into the semifinals after they crashed out to American brothers Bob and Mike Bryan in the rain interrupted doubles round-robin match in the ATP Masters Cup in Houston, Texas.

Bhupathi-Mirnyi lost 6-7 (7/9) 7-5 4-6 in the blue group tie that began on Tuesday but haulted due to rain and could be completed only yesterday after all the doubles actions were washed out on Wednesday as well, according to information received here today.

At the interruption, the us duo were ahead 5-4 in the first set but the Indo-Belarussian pair came back to clinch the second set.

The Bryan brothers, who lost all three prior matches against Bhupathi and Mirnyi, joined Sweden’s Jonas Bjorkman and Australian Todd Woodbridge and world number one Daniel Nestor of Canada and Mark Knowles of Bahamas in the semi-finals. (PTI)

Rajinder, Irfan, Munish win gold on opening day

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 19: Rajinder Sharma, Irfan Khan and Munish Sawhney emerged winners on opening day of the Hero Honda 2nd State Strengthlifting championship began today at Indoor Complex, M A Stadium, here today.

Rajinder won gold in 50 kg weight category while Sumit Kumar and Mohinder shared second and third positions respectively.

In 50-55 kg weight group, Irfan Khan clinched gold. Rajinder Sharma and Shabeel Ahmed bagged second and third positions respectively. Munish Sawhney clinched first position in 55-60 kg group. In this group, Mohan Sodhi claimed second place, followed by Sunny Bhatti on third position.

In the prize distribution of first day competitions, Vishal Bhardwaj, executive of Hero Honda was chief guest. He was accompanied by Chandan Gupta, senior sales officer and Pardeep Jain, Managing Director, Jainco Automobiles, Jammu. Earlier, the competitions were declared open by Chief Executive Officer, Air Tel (J&K), SRVS Bhullar in the morning.

Giving details about the event, general secretary of J&K Strengthlifting Association, Ashok Singh said that a total of 150 weightlifters from around the state are taking part in men, women and masters groups.