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| India hit back after huge South African total From M R Mishra KANPUR, Nov 22: Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir cracked rollicking half centuries as India hit back with a record-breaking opening partnership to restore the balance in the first cricket Test against South Africa here today..............more Kumble
defends KANPUR, Nov 22: After recording his 28th five-wicket haul in the longer version of the game, veteran leg-spinner Anil Kumble threw his weight behind beleaguered spin colleagues Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik and said they put in the same labour even though success eluded them..................more Pankaj
Advani posts NEW DELHI, Nov 22: Defending Pankaj Advani today posted his second win at the IBSF World Snooker championship in Veldhoven, Holland...........more My
job is only Having scored a career-best 163 in his new role as an opener, South Africa’s Andrew Hall today said his job was only "half-done" since he was keen to contribute with the ball as well in the first cricket Test against India here.........more |
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Manik, Ajay put Himachal in driver’s seat Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 22: Tireless efforts from Manik Mohil and Ajay Saklani who not only added 164 runs for the 6th wicket partnership but also brought Himachal Pradesh out of the troubled waters to place the visitors in a comfortable position against host Jammu and Kashmir in the three-day Vijay Merchant (U-17) cricket tournament started today at M A Stadium, here............more Rajouri
wins by 9 runs Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 22: Degree College Rajouri outplayed Degree College Doda by nine runs in the second leg of the inter-college cricket tournament being organised by Department of Physical Education, University of Jammu, here today..................more Excelsior Sports Correspondent POONCH, Nov 22: Organised by the Department of Youth Services and Sports, the three-day inter-school athletic meet............more India’s
P Harikrishna KOCHI, Nov 22: India’s Grandmaster P Harikrishna drew with third seed Evgeny Alekseev of Russia in the sixth round and......more |
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wins in handicap category....... Woods closes in on Singh in world rankings...... IV round of qualifying cricket tourney from November 29...... Six persons arrested on betting charges.......
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India hit back after huge South African total From M R Mishra KANPUR, Nov 22: Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir cracked rollicking half centuries as India hit back with a record-breaking opening partnership to restore the balance in the first cricket Test against South Africa here today. The two openers set the Green Park Stadium ablaze with their fireworks to propel India to 185 for no loss in response to South Africa’s 510 for nine declared on a fog-hit third day. The two Delhi batsmen not only recorded the highest-ever opening partnership against South Africa but also the highest opening partnership at the Green Park on a highly entertaining day which saw play start late because of a dense fog. Gambir notched up his maiden Test half century and was batting on 85 and Sehwag was giving him company on an equally belligerent 85 at stumps with India trailing by 325 runs. Play was called off 54 minutes before the revised time of closure due to bad light. This was India’s highest opening partnership since the Multan Test against Pakistan in March-April this year and the first time the opening stand crossed the 50 mark in the last six Tests since then. The pair erased the previous opening record against South Africa of Vikram Rathore and Nayan Mongia who put on 90 runs at Johannesburg in 1996-97. The unfinished partnership also took them to the record books as the highest opening partnership at the Green Park which earlier stood in the names of Devang Gandhi and Sadagopan Ramesh who had scored 162 against New Zealand in 1999-2000. The start of the third day’s proceedings was delayed by two hours because of a thick fog but Sehwag and Gambhir enthralled the noisy home crowd with some entertaining cricket in the two extended sessions. Both the Indian openers seemed to be in no discomfort at all on a lifeless track at the Green Park Stadium as they blunted out the South African pacemen Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini and then plundered runs at will against spinner Robin Peterson who hardly could make much of an impression. Sehwag was in fine nick exhibiting his trademark cover drive and was severe on the loose balls while his Gambhir was more circumspect in the initial stages before outpacing his senior partner. Sehwag opened his account with a boundary off Ntini as he went on the back foot and opened the face of his bat to send the ball to the third man fence. A classy cover drive off Ntini and a delectable square driven boundary off Pollock stood out as the vociferous home crowd finally got to see some Indian batting after more than two days. The two openers brought 50 runs on the board in 14.5 overs and then brought about the century partnership in 25.4 overs, maintaining a run rate of more than four runs an over. South Africa’s lone specialist spinner Peterson was introduced into the attack in the 16th over in place of Ntini and very nearly got the prized scalp of Sehwag who stepped out and played all over an innocuous delivery. But young wicketkeeper Thami Tsolekile completely missed the ball and the stumping chance went abegging. But that was the only anxious moment for the hosts as both Sehwag and Gambhir virtually tore the bowling attack to shreds making the most of a couple chances that were dropped by the visitors. Earlier, resuming at the overnight score of 459 for seven, South Africa were on the lookout for quick runs when play started after a delay of two hours due to a dense fog which enveloped the city since early morning. The hosts removed overnight batsman Tsolekile (9) in the very second over of the day with veteran leg spinner Anil Kumble trapping him Leg Before Wicket to claim his 430th Test scalp. Kumble emerged the pick of the Indian bowlers with figures of 6 for 131, claiming his 28th five-wicket haul in Tests. The Karnataka bowler is now one wicket away from equalling the Test tally of New Zealand’s Sir Richard Hadlee and needs just five more wickets to eclipse Kapil Dev’s record of 434 wickets and become India’s highest wickettaker. Peterson, who joined the action after Tsolekile’s dismissal, was particularly severe on the Indian spinners to unleash a flurry of strokes to take South Africa’s total beyond the 500 mark. The left-handed peterson singled out Harbhajan Singh for special treatment as he lifted the off-spinner for a mighty six over long off and then clobbered him for a boundary in the same over. Pollock also hit some delightful strokes as the visitors made a determined bid to accelerate the pace of scoring. Peterson played a cameo of 34, which came off just 24 balls, before Harbhajan Singh got rid of him by knocking down his middle stump. His breezy knock contained three boundaries and six. The total was South Africa’s highest ever on Indian soil, erasing the previous record of 479 recorded in Bangalore during the 2000-01 series. SCOREBOARD South Africa 1st innings: G Smith b Kumble 37 A Hall b Kumble 163 M Van Jaarsveld lbw b Kumble 2 J Kallis lbw b Kumble 37 J Rudolph b Kumble 0 B Dippenaar c Kaarthick b Ganguly 48 Z De Bruyn c Dravid b Singh 83 S Pollock not out 44 T Tsolekile lbw b Kumble 9 R Peterson b Singh 34 Extras (b-9, lb-22, nb-16, w-1, p-5) 53 Total (for 9 wickets decl. In 190.4 overs) 510 Fall of wickets: 1-61, 2-69, 3-154, 4-154, 5-241, 6-385, 7-445, 8-467, 9-510. Bowling: Zaheer Khan 29-7-59-0, Sourav Ganguly 12-2-45-1, Anil Kumble 54-13-131-6, Harbhajan Singh 44.4-9-127-2, Murali Kartik 42-12-76-0, Sachin Tendulkar 9-0-36-0. (PTI) India 1st innings V Sehwag batting 85 G Gambhir batting 85 Extras (b-4, lb-7, nb-4) 15 Total (for no loss in 42 overs 185 Bowling: Pollock 13-2-46-0, Ntini 12-0-48-0, Peterson 8-1-43-0, Hall 9-2-37-0. |
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Kumble defends Harbhajan and Murali Kartik KANPUR, Nov 22: After recording his 28th five-wicket haul in the longer version of the game, veteran leg-spinner Anil Kumble threw his weight behind beleaguered spin colleagues Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik and said they put in the same labour even though success eluded them. Compared to Kumble’s six-wicket haul in the match, Harbhajan had to be content with the wicket of Robin Peterson after the offie came in for some harsh treatment from South African batsmen. Centurion Andrew Hall had hit him for three sixes yesterday, two in the same over, and Peterson also hocked him for a over boundary this morning. Kartik had a disappointing outing as he returned wicketless. To make it worse, he conceded seven no balls in the innings. "I think we put in the same amount of labour. But this is a batting wicket and everybody is scoring here. The pitch offered neither turn nor bounce and it was bad luck for them. We all tried our best and by chances, I got wickets and they did not," said the leggie. Saying that saving the follow on would be in the top of the mid when Indian batsmen resume their innings tomorrow, Kumble expressed happiness with the show of openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, both of whom remained not out on 85 as India finish the day on 185 for no loss. "I hope both get their century tomorrow- and it would be maiden Test century for Gambhir. We are in a good position in the match and I hope to go on from there," he said. South Africa coach Ray Jennings also heaped praises on the Indian openers. "They played positive cricket and this is something we have not experienced. After seeing them play, it seems we should not have declared in the morning," he added. "India have a good battling line-up and it was a superb batting display by the openers. It was interesting cricket," he added. He, however, said that he had found out some grey areas in the bowling and would address the issue tonight. When pointed out that while India maintained a run rate well over four, South Africa slowed down to score 510 in more than 190 overs, Jennings said, "maybe we were on the slower side a bit. But this is an inexperienced team and they were probably more cautious than you are normally. But I’m happy with the way they went." (UNI) |
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Pankaj Advani posts second win in world snooker NEW DELHI, Nov 22: Defending Pankaj Advani today posted his second win at the IBSF World Snooker championship in Veldhoven, Holland. The 19-year-old Indian defeated Mohammed Sal Joakar of UAE 4-3 to record his second straight win. Advani won 96-0, 86-0, 0-77, 68-86, 79-23, 43-75 and 83-52 in a periliminary round encounter in Group F. Yesterday, Advani had began his campaign with a fluent win over Rolf De Jung of Holland. The other Indian in the title hunt Asian champion Alok Kumar, in Group B, also won his opening match against Karan Chand of Holland. In another match today, Rafath Habib went down to Rene Van Rijsbergen of Holland 1-4 (59-18, 19-60, 25-51, 0-71 and 66-68 in Group E, according to information received here. Habib had earlier defeated Ajeya Prabhakar of USA. Manan Chandra is the fourth Indian in the men’s competition. In the ladies’ competition, Anuja Thakur tasted defeat in her second outing when she lost to Katie Hendrick of England 1-3 (58-24, 40-58, 50-60 and 7-73). Anuja had yesterday defeated Julie of Singapore in her first match. India’s other entry R Uma Devi also lost to Ip Wan in of China Hong Kong. Former world champion Geet Sethi began his campaign with a win over Winston Dwyer of England in the inaugural world senior’s snooker championship. Sethi’s teammate in the senior section B V S Murthy beat Guy Quax of Holland. Around eight-hundred matches would be played in the group stages over the first 10 days, followed by 61 matches in the knock-out stages which will begin from December 1. (PTI) |
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My job is only half done: Hall Having scored a career-best 163 in his new role as an opener, South Africa’s Andrew Hall today said his job was only "half-done" since he was keen to contribute with the ball as well in the first cricket Test against India here. "I am very happy to have scored a century as an opener, I see it as an achievement. But my job is half done as I want to make a contribution with the ball as well," Hall said after the second day’s play which saw the visitors piling up 459 for seven. Hall’s knock of 163 was the highest individual score by a South African on Indian soil, eclipsing the previous record of Daryll Cullinan who had scored 153 not out in the Kolkata Test in 1996-97. "In the past, I had been guilty of throwing away my wickets. The conditions were difficult to score as the ball was not really coming onto the bat, but I decided to occupy the crease for as long as possible," he said. Asked how he motivated himself to play such a patient innings, hall said "it is a question of the mindset. I kept telling myself that my role was to stay at the wicket. It was self-motivation." Hall said he had received a lot of support from his seniors, particularly Jacques Kallis, and their encouragement inspired him to perform. "I have really worked hard for this tour and the support of the seniors have been of real help. It was difficult initially to play on this pitch, but once you got used to it, things became easier." Asked whether the South Africans were playing for a draw by batting so slowly, hall said "nobody plays for a draw. Our focus is to win the match". Hall also singled out debutant Zander De Bruyn for special praise saying he showed tremendous discipline and maturity to score a solid 83 in his maiden Test. "I have played with Zander since my school days, we have played together for 15 years. He is a good friend and I feel happy for him. He is a tough guy and he showed a lot of patience and maturity. It’s great to have the partnership with him." Hall said he was told on Thursday, two days before the start of the Test, that he would open the innings and he had mentally prepared to do the job. "I had visualised myself as an opener and was determined to do well. Hopefully, I can get some more big knocks in the series. I had played my last Test in January so I wanted to make it count here. I didn’t want to put myself under pressure by negative thoughts". (PTI) |
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Manik, Ajay put Himachal in driver’s seat Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 22: Tireless efforts from Manik Mohil and Ajay Saklani who not only added 164 runs for the 6th wicket partnership but also brought Himachal Pradesh out of the troubled waters to place the visitors in a comfortable position against host Jammu and Kashmir in the three-day Vijay Merchant (U-17) cricket tournament started today at M A Stadium, here. Himachal Pradesh had already made 262 runs for the loss of seven wickets in 94 overs they played today. Earlier, Himachal innings began on bad note when hosts bowlers, especially, right-arm medium pacer, Mohd Muddassar had complete domination over the opponent batsmen. Finding their innings crippling and batsmen returning to pavilion one after another with 38 for five, Manik Mohil and Ajay Saklani entered the field with a bit of confidence. The played in a way as if they had made up mind to stay on the wicket for long. And, they did so by adding 164 runs for the sixth wicket partnership bringing the innings from troublesome 38 for five to a respectable total of 202 for six. When fifth wicket fell in the shape of Manik Mohil, who made 89 runs including six boundaries facing 196 balls, the score on board was 202. Ajay Saklani, the man on the other end, continued his onslaught on J&K bowlers and when the stumps were drawn he was playing at 99 needing just one run to complete his century. His magnificent innings were studded with six boundaries. Mohd Muddassar made the early breakthrough for J&K taking three wickets in a row while Manik Gupta took two. Ram Dayal and Aditya Pratap Singh shared one each wicket. SCOREBOARD Himachal Pradesh first innings Aditya Choudhary lbw Ram Dayal 3 Minesh Thakur b Mohd. Muddassar 19 Ashish Dhiman lbw Mohd Muddassar 0 Maninder Singh lbw Mohd Muddassar 2 Kushal Kirti c Divya Partap Singh b Aditya Partap Singh 5 Manik Mohil b Manik Gupta 39 Ajay Saklani not out 99 Tarun Dogra b Manik Gupta 0 Monty Sharma not out 21 Extras: (lb-7, b-7, nb-8, w-2) 24 Total (for seven in 94 overs) 262 Fall of wickets: 1-20, 2-21, 3-23, 4-28, 5-38, 6-202, 7-206. Bowling Analysis: Mohd. Mudassar 18-6-39-3; Ram Dayal 8-0-30-1; Aditya Partap Singh 3-1-5-1; Manik Gupta 27-4-68-2; Amir Aziz 13-2-36-0; Appnam Gupta 18-2-52-0; Parvez Rasool 7-2-18-0. |
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Rajouri wins by 9 runs in inter-college cricket Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 22: Degree College Rajouri outplayed Degree College Doda by nine runs in the second leg of the inter-college cricket tournament being organised by Department of Physical Education, University of Jammu, here today. Batting first, after winning the toss, Rajouri made 187 runs losing all their wickets in 39.5 overs of the 40 overs. In reply, Doda played good game but could not maintained their cool in the later stages of their innings and were bowled out nine runs short of their target of 188 in 35.4 overs. Ali Mustafa was highest scorer with 61 runs off 77 balls including one six and six fours. Irfan Khan contributed 51 runs facing 62 deliveries. Extras added 28 runs. From Doda, Jayawar was most successful bowler with four for 34 in eight overs. Chasing the target, Doda boys were all out at 178 in 35.4 overs. Raja Amir was top scorer with 76 runs made with the help of ten boundaries. Extras contributed second highest 42 runs. Shahzad Raina, Hardesh and Nazir shared two wickets each for Rajouri College. Next match: Government MAM College to meet KC Law College tomorrow. |
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Excelsior Sports Correspondent POONCH, Nov 22: Organised by the Department of Youth Services and Sports, the three-day inter-school athletic meet in age group of under-14, under-17 and under-15 in both boys and girls of the district concluded here on the other day. Highlights of the meet were victory of Shakila Bi of Middle School Shahpur, a remotest village of the district, in triple jump event. Basharat Hussain of HSS Chattral was adjudged outstanding Javelin thrower while Tahir Mehmood of HSS Surankote bagged gold medal in 5000 mts race. Harish Kumar of HSS Poonch clinched gold medal in 100 mts sprint and was declared fastest athlete of the meet. Overall trophy in under-14 went to M S Shahpur while High School Degwar got first position in under-17 boys. In under-19 boys group, overall trophy was bagged by HSS Poonch. Later, medal were given away to the winners by District Youth Services and Sports Officer, Poonch, Jai Raj. |
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India’s P Harikrishna
maintains lead KOCHI, Nov 22: India’s Grandmaster P Harikrishna drew with third seed Evgeny Alekseev of Russia in the sixth round and maintained his lead with 5.5 points in the World junior chess championship here today. Harikrishna, who had earlier in the day defeated fourth seed Tigran Petrosian Tigran (Armenia) in 57 moves in the fifth round, signed the peace pact in 20 moves. GM Petrosian defeated GM Yuri Drozdovsky of Ukraine in French defence in 35 moves while IM Radoslaw of Poland held India’s GM Koneru Humpy to a draw in 59 moves. Zao Jun of China defeated India’s IM M R Venkatesh in Sicilian defence in 38 moves and top seed Ferenc Berkes of Hungary beat IM Elshan Moradiabadi of Iran in 32 moves. In the World girls championship, which was also played along with the junior meet, Ukranian WGM Anna Ushenina and WGM Elisabeth Paehtz of Germany with 5 points each are jointly leading the table after six rounds. In the sixth round, on top board, Anna Ushenina held second seed Paehtz to a draw in a queens pawn opening in 11 moves while Dana Aketayeva of Kazakhstan was held to a draw by India’s medal hope Eesha Karavade in 73 moves. In another game, top seed Ekaterina Korbut of Russia defeated Vinuthna of India in Pirc defence in 25 moves while Zhang Jilin of China and Joanna Majdan of Poland agreed for a draw in 61 moves. (PTI) Jadeja wins in handicap category NEW DELHI, Nov 22: Ajay Jadeja, who admits that he was introduced to golf by Kapil Dev, today beat his mentor and guide, by winning the 0-13 handicap Category at the inaugural Legends Cup golf tournament at the Classic Golf Resort. Jadeja, who took to golf at Kapil behest and only some years back, won the trophy for the Category A meant for handicappers between 0-13, with a score of 40 points. Kapil was second with 39 points. It is great to pick up a trophy in a sport, that I am still learning, said Jadeja. On a balmy Sunday afternoon, more than 70 corporates shared the stage with well-known cricketers including one of the finest all rounder of our times, Kapil Dev, turned up at the Classic Golf Resort for the Legends Cup organised by the 21st Century Media. Picking up the trophies in Category B for 14 and above handicappers were Balraj Moudgil, a regular at Classic, with 44 points and close behind him was Deepak Talwar with 43 points. This category was meant for players with a handicap of 14 and over. With cricketers taking the spotlight Rahul Sanghvi won the prize for Closest to the Pin and Shruti Khanna did better then all others winning the Longest drive. A whole lot of international cricketers turned up for the competition, and they included former India stars, Syed Kirmani, Madan Lal, both members of the 1983 World Cup winning team, and Atul Wassan. Also present was former Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram, who has appreciated the idea of tournaments like these, which can help them get together with their past friends from cricketing days. Also present was one of India greatest athletes, Milkha Singh, who at 75, is still playing to his handicap of 14. It was a fantastic afternoon and it was nice to meet other sportspersons, who also love golf said Milkha. One of the greatest all rounders cricket has ever produced Ian Botham was also among the participants. Ian is a keen golfer and appreciated the facilites provided by the organizers of the event. Woods closes in on Singh in world rankings LONDON, Nov 22: Tiger Woods has closed the gap on world number one Vijay Singh by winning his first strokeplay title of the year at the Dunlop Phoenix tournament in Japan. Woods, deposed by Fijian Singh as the game’s leading player in September, stays at number two in the official world rankings but trails his rival by just 0.76 points. The 28-year-old American has been revamping his swing this year and produced sparkling form at the Phoenix Country Club in Miyazaki, a closing three-under-par 67 earning him an eight-shot victory yesterday. Woods, who monopolised the world rankings for a record 264 consecutive weeks before being dislodged by Singh, ended a run of 20 consecutive strokeplay events without a win — his longest drought since turning professional in 1996. U S PGA champion Singh, a dominant figure this season with nine victories on the PGA tour, did not play last week. The world’s top five remains unchanged, with three-times major winner Ernie Els, US Open champion Retief Goosen and Phil Mickelson, winner of the US Masters, at three, four and five respectively. Ireland’s Padraig Harrington, however, climbs two places to a career-high sixth, with Davis Love III staying seventh and 2003 US Masters champion Mike Weir slipping two spots to eighth. Harrington, a virtual regular in the top 10 since his November 2001 victory at the European tour’s season-ending Volvo Masters, had never previously been higher than seventh. World ranking points are accumulated over a two-year period, with points awarded in the most recent 13-week spell doubled. Each player is ranked according to his average points per tournament, points being weighted according to the status of the event and strength of the field. (AGENCIES) IV round of qualifying cricket tourney from November 29 Excelsior Sports Correspondent UDHAMPUR, Nov 22: Roshni Cricket Academy is holding the IV round of qualifying cricket tournament for North Zone Jammu Gold Cup from November 29 at sports stadium, here. According to the organisers, the tournament is scheduled to inaugurated by the Deputy Commissioner, Udhampur, Ashok Parmar on November 29 morning. Six persons arrested on betting charges KANPUR, Nov 22: Six persons have been arrested on charges of betting during the ongoing first cricket Test between India and South Africa here, police said today. Randhir Singh Rana, allegedly the leader of the gang, and his accomplices were arrested during a raid in Lajpat Nagar area of the city last night, they said. A computer, some mobile and wll phones, cheque books and Rs 30,000 in cash were recovered from the accused, they added. Some documents, showing their alleged involvement in betting during the ICC Champions Trophy held in England in September, were also seized, police said. Two persons were arrested during 2000 India-Zimbabwe series on charges of betting but rana could not be arrested then, police said. (PTI) |
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