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

Sehwag blitzkrieg
puts India in control

KOLKATA, Nov 29: Virender Sehwag continued to torment South Africa with yet another scorching innings as India placed themselves in the driver’s seat in the second cricket Test here today. The home team did well to polish off the last five wickets to restrict South Africa to 305 in their first innings before Sehwag took centrestage with a rollicking unbeaten 82 to take the hosts to a comfortable 129 for one at close on the second day..........more

SA playing for a
draw: Harbhajan

KOLKATA, Nov 29: Slamming the South Africans for "playing for a draw", off-spinner Harbhajan Singh today said India need a first innings total of 500 to go for the kill in the second and final cricket Test here............more

Australia on verge
of series whitewash

ADELAIDE, Nov 29: Australia moved within five wickets of a series sweep against New Zealand, which struggled to 149 for five at stumps today and needed to survive three sessions to salvage a draw in the second cricket Test...............more

Alok Kumar suffers another defeat in World snooker

NEW DELHI, Nov 28: Asian champion Alok Kumar suffered his third reverse in Group B while Rafath Habib and Manan Chandra won in the IBSF World snooker championships in Veldhovan, Holland..............more

Maninder retains
men singles title

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 29: Maninder Singh today retained the coveted men’s state championship trophy beating Naresh Gupta in the final 26th Stag-Air Tel State table tennis championship which was concluded at Indoor Complex, M A Stadium, here...............more

Kuldeep, Rashu, Nishant
win in QFs league

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 29: Defending champion, Kuldeep Sharma, Rashu Gupta and Nishant Azad won their respective junior snooker quarterfinals league matches in 14th state billiards and snooker championships underway at Billiards Hall, M A Stadium, here today...................more

Jarnail’s ton guides MAM
to 93 runs win over Trikuta

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 29: Government MAM College today reached the quarterfinals of inter-college cricket tournament beating Trikuta College by a big margin.............more

Divisional athletics
meet begins

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 29: Director, Youth Services and Sports, Manoj Pant today declared open inter-district Jammu division.......more

Sehwag blitzkrieg puts India in control

KOLKATA, Nov 29: Virender Sehwag continued to torment South Africa with yet another scorching innings as India placed themselves in the driver’s seat in the second cricket Test here today.

The home team did well to polish off the last five wickets to restrict South Africa to 305 in their first innings before Sehwag took centrestage with a rollicking unbeaten 82 to take the hosts to a comfortable 129 for one at close on the second day.

Sehwag, who had cracked 164 in the drawn first Test in Kanpur, enthralled a sizeable Eden Gardens crowd with his audacious strokeplay, the highlight of which was a 19-run blitzkrieg off an over by Justine Ontong.

Dravid was content to play second fiddle and was batting on 33 before play was called off due to fading light with 11.2 overs remaining.

Sehwag, who notched up his eighth Test half century, was involved in an unfinished 112-run partnership with his vice-captain after India lost opener Gautam Gambhir (7) in the seventh over of the innings.

The second wicket partnership meant India were left trailing by 176 runs and with three more days of play left, a result appears to be on the cards.

Sehwag’s knock was a mixture of caution and aggression and he was particularly severe on the bowlers after completing his half-century. His unbeaten knock came off 107 balls and contained 11 boundaries and a six.

South African skipper Graeme Smith tried to adopt an aggressive approach but in vain as Sehwag and Dravid not only prevented any further setbacks for their team but had taken the wind out of the sail of the visitors.

Earlier, the Indians ensured south africa did not pile up a big first innings score by snaring their last five wickets for the addition of just 78 runs to dismiss them soon after lunch on the second day.

Indian seamers exploited the early morning conditions and the bounce of the track for vital breakthroughs in the morning session which saw the visitors add 62 runs while losing the crucial wickets of Jacques Kallis (121), Zander De Bryun (15) and Shaun Pollock (18).

Left-arm seamer Zaheer Khan gave his team just the start it needed by removing De Bryun, who had made a fine 83 in the drawn first Test, when just three runs had been added to the South African overnight score of 227 for five.

Bruyn repeated the mistake that some of his other teammates also made on the opening day, flashing at an outside the off stump delivery to offer a catch to wicketkeeper Dinesh Kaarthick.

However, Kaarthik did not have a good day behind the stumps as he dropped two simple chances off Anil Kumble who however did manage to have Pollock caught by Dravid for his first wicket in the match.

Kallis played very cautiously this morning, scoring only nine runs in the first hour before hitting a delectable cover drive off Anil Kumble as if to break the shackles.

It was Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly who finally dismissed Kallis when it looked the South African was all set for a big knock.

The flamboyant batsmen was done in by a Ganguly in-cutter that spectacularly sent the bails flying, the scoreboard reading 261 for seven. His 121-run knock came off 259 balls and included 12 fours.

With Pollock also sent back to the pavilion 13 runs later, it was left to ontong to ensure his team ended up with a challenging total.

Ontong doggedly resisted the Indian bowlers in the company of wicketkeeper Thami Tsolekile for close to 16 overs before Harbhajan Singh dismissed both in the space of three balls in his very first over of the day to finally join the wickettaker’s list.

The Indian innings began on a shaky note with the left-handed Gambhir being trapped leg before by Pollock for seven with the total reading 17.

The opening duo, who had put on a record 218 runs in the Kanpur Test, could not get going this time as Pollock produced a gem of a delivery to end Gambhir’s 22-ball knock which included one four.

However, Sehwag, who opened his account with a four off only the second ball of the innings, found an able ally in Dravid as the duo put the innings on track again with some sensible batting.

Dravid, as usual, was circumspect choosing only the loose balls for keeping the scoreboard moving. His 33 runs came off 106 balls and contained four boundaries.

Unlike the Indian seamers, the South African pacemen could not obtain much movement from the Eden track and failed to even get the reverse swing going.

While both Dravid and Sehwag seemed to be in no discomfort against the pacers, they thrived on the part-time spin bowling of ontong whose four overs cost him as many as 29 runs.

The Indians will now seek to consolidate their position and the first hour’s play tomorrow would have a crucial bearing on whether India can manage to take a significant first innings lead. (PTI)

SCOREBOARD

South Africa 1st innings

Graeme Smith c Kaarthick b Pathan 0

Andrew Hall c Kaarthick b Zaheer 7

Jacques Rudolph b Zaheer 61

Jacques Kallis b Ganguly 121

Hashim Amla b Pathan 24

Boeta Dippenaar c Kaarthick b Pathan 1

Zander De Bruyn c Kaarthick b Zaheer 15

Shaun Pollock c Dravid b Kumble 18

Justin Ontong not out 16

Thami Tsolekile c b Harbhajan 15

Makhaya Ntini c Pathan b Harbhajan 0

Extras (lb-17, nb-10) 27

Total (all out in 121.3 overs) 305

Fall of Wickets: 1/0, 2/21, 3/130, 4/176, 5/182, 6/230, 7/261, 8/273. 9/305

Bowling: Irfan Pathan 31-7-72-3 , Zaheer Khan 27-7-64-3 Anil Kumble 30-6-76-1 , Sourav Ganguly 9-3-14-1 Harbhajan Singh 21.3-6-54-2 , Sachin Tendulkar 3-0-8-0

India 1st innings

Virender Sehwag batting 82

Gautam Gambhir lbw b Pollock 7

Rahul Dravid batting 33

Extras (lb-4, nb-3) 7

Total (for one wicket in 38.4 overs) 129

FOW: 1/17 Bowling: Shaun Pollock 12.4-2-41-1 Makhaya Ntini 13-5-30-0 Justin Ontong 4-1-29-0 Andrew Hall 7-0-24-0 Zander De Bruyn 2-1-1-0 (UNI)

SA playing for a draw: Harbhajan

"The way the South Africans batted show that they are not into the match. Perhaps they wanted to draw the Test," the off spinner, who took the last two wickets of the visitors’ innings in the space of three balls in his very first over of the second day, said at the post-match press conference.

Though refusing to term the tourists’ approach as "negative," the Punjab cricketer said "this is not the kind of cricket one plays for a win. A draw in India will not make you (SA) a big team. They tried to put pressure on us by playing slow, but it won’t take them anywhere."

Turning to their own game, Harbhajan said "the bowlers have done a good job today by restricting the South African innings to 305. Now the batsnmen have to do their job and get a big score by tea tomorrow so that we have enough runs on the board and can go for a win."

Expecting the ball to turn on the fourth and fifth day, he said "it will be tough to bat in the second innings. We want to see how the South Africans play under pressure."

The offie, though being critical of the tourists’ approach to the game in both the Kanpur Test and at Eden Gardens, however singled out Jaques Kallis for his brilliant display.

"Kallis was the main wicket. But he was not supported by the others, who declined to play shots."

Harbhajan banked on a rampaging Virender Sehwag (82 batting) and Rahul Dravid (33 batting) for some quick runs on the tomorrow.

He also refused to attach any significance to the slow over rate by the South Africans saying "so long as Sehwag is there, we don’t have to bother about that. The kind of game Sehwag plays, he covers all the over shortages. Let’s hope he gets a 200 tomorrow."

The Eden pitch, he said, has so far been very good for batting with hardly any bounce for the bowlers.

"But there will be turn from the fourth day, which will be good for us."

About the low turnout of fans, the offie said "whenever we play in Kolkata, we get a full crowd, always backing the home side. But maybe because of the slow cricket played in the Kanpur Test, the number is less this time."

He, however, added that India hardly had been left with any time to go for a win in Kanpur as "the South Africans took too much time to score.

"But the situation is quite different here. If we can play well and get a big score by tomorrow, then they will be under pressure." (PTI)

Australia on verge of series whitewash

The New Zealanders had the improbable task of making 315 on the final day to win the match and level the series after a loss in Brisbane last week by an innings and 156 runs.

Jacob Oram, who scored an unbeaten 126 in the first Test, was unbeaten on 40 and Brendon McCullum was not out 34 at stumps on the penultimate day.

The pair joined with New Zealand at 97 for five when Nathan Astle (38) was dismissed trying to hit out against Darren Lehmann.

Astle belted a cover drive to the boundary off Lehmann and was out next shot, brilliantly caught by Justin Langer in the covers.

McCullum stroked five boundaries and faced 36 balls to dominate the unbroken sixth-wicket stand, which realized 52 runs and was New Zealand’s best remaining chance of defying Australia’s bowling attack.

All Australia’s bowlers took a wicket, with the regular quartet destroying the top order to have New Zealand reeling at 36 for four at tea and part-time spinner Lehmann taking the only wicket of the evening session.

Ricky Ponting set the New Zealanders 464 to win when he declared Australia’s second innings closed at 139 for two about 15 minutes after lunch on Monday.

Any slim chance New Zealand had of winning was quashed in the next 22 overs.

Opener Mathew Sinclair (2) was adjudged LBW to Jason Gillespie with the total at 11 and Stephen Fleming (3) was bowled by Glenn McGrath to make it 18 for two.

The New Zealanders lost two wickets on consecutive balls with the total at 34 when Michael Kasprowicz had mark Richardson (16) caught at third slip and Scott Styris (8) edged Shane Warne to first slip to start the next over.

Earlier, the New Zealanders took two Australian wickets Monday _ Langer (46) and Matt Hayden (54) _ after Australia resumed at 57 without loss.

Ponting was unbeaten 26 when he declared, giving the New Zealanders _ who were dismissed for 251 in their first innings _ almost five full sessions to bat.

Langer, who scored 215 in Australia’s first innings of 575-8 declared, surpassed 6,000 career Test runs before he was adjudged LBW to Paul Wiseman with the total at 93.

Hayden needed medical treatment when he was on 47 after he swung hard at a Daniel Vettori delivery and top-edged the ball into his chin.

The Australian opener continued and raised his 17th Rest half century before he was caught behind off Vettori’s bowling with Australia at 119 for two.

Vettori finished with figures of 1-35 and wiseman had 1-52.

Hayden became the first cricketer to score 1,000 Test runs in four consecutive calendar years when he reached 10 on Sunday. (AP)

Alok Kumar suffers another defeat in World snooker

NEW DELHI, Nov 28: Asian champion Alok Kumar suffered his third reverse in Group B while Rafath Habib and Manan Chandra won in the IBSF World snooker championships in Veldhovan, Holland.

Alok went down to Marvin Lim Chun Kiat of Singapore 46-68, 70-46, 57-66, 13-77, 23-65 to suffer his third defeat in the preliminary round, according to information received here today.

Asian Games gold medallist Habib was in prime form in his 4-1 victory against Hussain Jamsheer of Bahrain. The Indian outclassed his opponent 94-1, 82-0, 0-101, 52-6, 69-39 in the Group E encounter.

Chandra got better of Roy Stolk of the Netherlands 4-1 (100-22, 49-68, 146-0, 96-17 and 100-20) in Group C.

In the women’s section, Meenal and Anuja Thakur won their Group C and B league matches. Meenal thrashed Yvonne Kampmann of Germany 3-0 (45-36, 56-23, 61-34) and Anuja trounced Candide Binon of Belgium 3-0 (73-50 57-44 59-29). Revanna Uma Devi beat Riitta Koskinen of Finland 3-2 in a close Group D encounter.

Among the seniors, former world champion Geet Sethi blanked Thomas Beil of Germany 3-0 (64-46, 83-19, 53-11).

Eighty eight players have been divided into eight groups with the top four making it to the knock-out stage.

A record 168 players from 40 countries have entered the championships.

Over 800 matches will be played in the group stages over the first 10 days, followed by 61 matches in the knock-out stages. (PTI)

Maninder retains men singles title

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

It was straight set win for Maninder, who hardly faced any difficulty in taking away the final 11-9, 11-7, 11-2. Maninder made it double title after he alongwith Naresh Gupta defeated the pair of Satbir Singh and I P Singh in straight but close sets 11-7, 11-7, 11-9.

Junior boys singles trophy went to Ahil Gupta who upset promising opponent Arjun Kohli 3-1 (7-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-5).

Secretary, State Sports Council, Manoj Pant was chief guest in the final, who gave away prizes to the winners in various age groups. Himself a sportsperson of national repute, Pant appreciated the come back by some senior players, Satbir Singh and Naresh Gupta, in the active sport.

He told that Sports Council is striving hard to develop adequate sports infrastructure throughout the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Earlier, chief guest was briefed about the week-long championship wherein teams from districts of Poonch, Udhampur, Srinagar and Jammu participated.

Prominent among others present were V K Maggoo, patron of the host association, Vicky Mahajan, vice-president, Siddharth Sharma and Som Raj Sharma (both member Sports Council).