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| Kumble gives India a thumping victory KOLKATA, Mar 20: Anil Kumble once again proved to be Pakistan’s nemesis as he ripped through their batting line up and help India record a thumping 195-run victory in the second cricket Test at the Eden Gardens here today.............more KOLKATA, Mar 20: Terming the first ever victory against Pakistan here as one of the "better wins" of the Indian team, skipper Sourav Ganguly today praised his Deputy Rahul Dravid for playing a crucial role in giving the side 1-0 lead in the three match series...............more KOLKATA, Mar 20: The national selectors today decided to retain the same team, which played the first two Test matches of the current series, for the third and final cricket match to be played at Bangalore from March 24-28.........more Victory
has made KOLKATA, Mar 20: Indian vice-captain Rahul Dravid today said his centuries in both the innings of the second cricket Test had become all the more "special" because it helped his team record its first-ever win against Pakistan at the Eden Gardens............more |
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Ravinder declared Mr North India Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Mar 20: Ravinder Kumar of Delhi was today declared Mr North India in the North India body building championships which was hosted by Body Building Association of J&K at Abhinav Theatre, here........more J&K
Police enters Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Mar 20: Jammu and Kashmir Police team today qualified their pool to enter the knock-out stage of semi-finals in the ongoing open invitational national kabaddi tournament at Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh........more DCC wins
by 2 wkts Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Mar 20: Dogra Cricket Club (DCC) today defeated JKB XI by two wickets to enter into the semi-finals of Sunday hot shot veteran cricket tournament being played.....more By Wasim Akram A brilliant performance by Anil Kumble on the final day of the match helps India take a 1-0 lead in the test series. It was a day where everything went right for India.......more |
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blames batsmen, spinners for defeat....... We want to keep pressure on: Kumble...... Wicket of first ball helped set tone.....
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Kumble gives India a thumping victory KOLKATA, Mar 20: Anil Kumble once again proved to be Pakistan’s nemesis as he ripped through their batting line up and help India record a thumping 195-run victory in the second cricket Test at the Eden Gardens here today. Kumble claimed seven for 63 for his 29th five-wicket haul as Pakistan, chasing a daunting target of 422, were shot out for 226 soon after tea on the fifth and final day. It was a remarkable comeback by the Indians who were outplayed for the better part of first two days and the win would bring the smiles back on their faces after they had failed to force a result in the series opener in Mohali. The hosts now lead the three-Test series 1-0 with the third and final test to be played in Bangalore from Mar 24-28. The seven wickets meant Kumble had a match haul of 10-160, the seventh time he had recorded such an analysis. The win would also erase the bitter memories of 1999 at the venue for the Indians when they were outplayed by Wasim Akram’s men in an Asian Test championship tie that was forced to be played in-camera during the closing stages after crowd disturbances. Pakistan’s hopes of avoiding a defeat revolved around Yousuf Youhana and Asim Kamal who added 63 runs for the fifth wicket. The partnership helped briefly resurrect the visitors’ innings after three wickets had fallen for 20 runs at the start of the day. But Kumble, having ripped through the top order including the dismissal of vice-captain Younis Khan first ball this morning, returned to provide the breakthrough when he had Youhana caught bat-pad for 22. Eight runs later, Razzaq (6) was foxed by a Kumble delivery that went quicker through the air and uprooted the leg stump off an inside edge of the batsman’s blade. Akmal (7), Pakistan’s saviour at Mohali, walked in next but did not last long. Soon after the 200 of the innings was posted in 263 minutes, the wicketkeeper-batsman was beaten by a straight delivery from Harbhajan as he played for the spin and played inside the line of the ball and lost his off-middle stumps. Kamal, ploughing a lonely furrow, reached his sixth 50 in eight Tests straight driving pacer Balaji for a boundary, but returned to the pavilion soon after. He tried to work Kumble to the leg side, but the ball took the upper end of the bat and was taken by substitute Mohammed Kaif at forward short leg. Kamal struck his second half century of the series with a fighting 50 off 127 balls and nine fours. Kumble now has 53 wickets in eight matches against the arch-rivals, the third highest tally by a bowler between the two countries. Only the legendary allrounders Kapil Dev (99) and Imran Khan (94) have taken more wickets. The day started off sensationally as overnight not out batsman Younis Khan got out of the very first ball when he needlessly reached out to play a ball wide outside the leg stump, missed and Dinesh Kaarthick, his tails up after the 93-run knock yesterday, did the rest behind the wicket with aplomb. Skipper Inzamam, who came in after Younis’s dismissal with a lot of responsibility resting on his shoulders, signalled his arrival with a fluent boundary off Balaji through fine leg to post the 100 of the innings 21.1 overs. However, Inzamam’s moment of glory in the middle was too brief as he played half-cock to a Kumble delivery and only managed an outside edge on to his stump, sending alarm bells ringing in the Pakistan camp. Inzamam played 27 balls during his 34 minute stay and hit two boundaries. But even before the deafening cheers from the around 50,000 spectators at the stadium could die down, Pakistan suffered another big blow when opener Umar went back of the first delivery of the next over. Umar, who never really looked confident despite spending 124 minutes in the middle, departed to a beauty of a delivery from Balaji that moved away after pitching on the off stump. Umar opened the face of his blade and the outside edge was gleefully accepted by Virender Sehwag at second slip. The two big wickets in back-to-back deliveries forced the Pakistan batsmen to put the shutters down as aggression was written in the Indian players’ body language as they made forceful appeals on every opportunity. Finding Pakistan with their backs to the wall, Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly — who now has a 19-12 win-loss record in 46 Tests — piled on the pressure, surrounding the batsmen with five fielders in close catching positions. Then followed a middle order collapse as Pakistan lost their last six wickets in the space of only 48 runs. Indian vice-captain Rahul Dravid was named man of the match for his two separate centuries in two innings. (PTI) SCOREBOARD India 1st innings: 407 Pakistan 1st innings: 393 India 2nd innings: 407 for nine decl Pakistan 2nd innings: Taufeeq Umar c Sehwag b Balaji 35 Shahid Afridi c Ganguly b Kumble 59 Younis Khan st Kaarthick b Kumble 0 Inzamam-ul-Haq b Kumble 13 Yousuf Youhana c Gambhir b Kumble 22 Asim Kamal c sub (Kaif) b Kumble 50 Abdul Razzaq b Kumble 6 Kamran Akmal b Harbhajan 7 Mohammad Sami lbw b Kumble 9 Mohammad Khalil not out 0 Danish Kaneria b Harbhajan 3 Extras (b-17, lb-3, nb-1, w-1) 22 Total (all out in 91.3 overs) 226 Fall of wickets: 1-93, 2-95, 3-115, 4-115, 5/178, 6/188, 7/203, 8/214, 9/223. Bowling: Irfan Pathan 7-1-32-0, Laxmipathy Balaji 16-4-60-1, Anil Kumble 38-16-63-7, Harbhajan Singh 30.3-16-51-2.(PTI) |
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KOLKATA, Mar 20: Terming the first ever victory against Pakistan here as one of the "better wins" of the Indian team, skipper Sourav Ganguly today praised his Deputy Rahul Dravid for playing a crucial role in giving the side 1-0 lead in the three match series. Ganguly also described the first ball dismissal of Younis Khan on the fifth and final day as the turning point of the rivetting second Test at the Eden Gardens. "This is one of our better wins. It is very satisfying to beat a young Pakistan side," a beaming Ganguly said at the post-match media conference after India scripted an emphatic 195-run victory against the arch-rivals. Ganguly said the his boys dominated throughout the first Test at Mohali and continued their good show here. "Out of the five Tests against Pakistan we played of late, we dominated in four. It’s a good sign," he said. On today’s play, Ganguly said "the first ball dismissal of Younis Khan really set up the day for a win and put a lot of pressure on Pakistan. "When we declared the innings we thought we had a chance of winning the Test. After dismissing (Shahid) Afridi yesterday, we knew we are going to win. And after the first ball dismissal of Younis Khan, we thought it’s a matter of time," he said. Ganguly said the victory was all the more satisfying as his side had lost to Pakistan in a close one-dayer held to celebrate the BCCI’s platinum jubilee at the same venue last November. "They had also managed to save the match at Mohali. So its good to taste a win here," he said. Ganguly praised vice captain Dravid and the teen-age wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Kaarthick for their fine performance when chips were down for India. "Dravid and kaarthick put us in a winning position. Kaarthick batted very well and his innings was a crucial one. From 154/4, he and Dravid took us to a position where we could even think of a win," he said. Ganguly attributed the frequent twists and turns in the match to the Eden wicket. "If you get a good wicket things happen like this. It was a very good Test wicket and you need to play well every day. "We knew a target of over 300 will be difficult for any side to chase on the last day. So, while we scored 400 runs in the first innings, we knew we had a chance," he said. Ganguly said he was satisfied with the performance of offie Harbhajan Singh, who returned to top flight cricket after a three-month lay off. "Considering that he played a test, even a first class match, after a long time, his performance was good. But as the match progressed, he was getting better," Ganguly commented. Harbhajan was reported for suspect action late last year before being cleared by the ICC in February. To a question whether it would have been better had the man of the match award gone either to Kumble or to the leggie and Dravid jointly, Ganguly said "who gets the man of the match does not really matter so long the team wins." Replying to a query about his poor form with the bat, Ganguly said "I haven’t scored runs in the last three innings. But I scored runs in the last ten years.... I hope to get runs in Bangalore." Asked if he would like to drop down to number six and promote V V S Laxman to number five, the skipper said batting order made no difference. "So, it’s not important whether Laxman comes at five or six. What is important is that both of us have to score runs." He also brushed aside criticism of his bowling changes on the second day when Pakistan raced to 273/2, saying it was always easy to criticise from outside. (PTI) |
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KOLKATA, Mar 20: The national selectors today decided to retain the same team, which played the first two Test matches of the current series, for the third and final cricket match to be played at Bangalore from March 24-28. Announcing this here today, BCCI secretary S K Nair said that the national selectors decided to stick to the same 14 after watching the performance of the team here. Sourav Ganguly has already been named skipper for the entire three-Test and six-match one-day series. Team: Sourav Ganguly (capt), Rahul Dravid (vice-captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Kaarthick, Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan, Ashish Nehra, L Balaji, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh. Nair said Yuvraj Singh, who was released for Ranji Trophy match, would rejoin the 14-member squad in the third Test. Mohammad Kaif would accompany the team in Bangalore for undergoing physiotherapy there, he added. The selection committee also announced a 14-member India ‘A’ team for the one day warm-up match against Pakistan at Hyderabad on March 30. The India ‘A’ team: Dinesh Mongia (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, M S Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Robin Uthappa, Suresh Raina, Neeraj Patel, Venugopal Rao, S Sriram, J P Yadav, Sairaj Bahutule, Ramesh Powar, R P Singh, Ranadeb Bose, Amit Bhandari. (PTI) |
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Victory has made my centuries more special: Dravid KOLKATA, Mar 20: Indian vice-captain Rahul Dravid today said his centuries in both the innings of the second cricket Test had become all the more "special" because it helped his team record its first-ever win against Pakistan at the Eden Gardens. "It is hard to compare. I have some special knocks but this is special because the team has won here," Dravid, who scored 110 and 135 in the two innings, said. "My first century came playing on the first day of the match but the second came when the team needed it to put up a score and I had to adapt to get the century" he said. Dravid was all praise for rookie wicket-keeper Dinesh Kaarthik, who scored 93 in the second innings and leg-spinner Anil Kumble, who picked seven wickets in the second innings. "The youngster played a great knock. From there on we set up a score from where we could not have lost," Dravid said after India took a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series beating Pakistan by 195 runs. On the third and final Test to be played on his home ground at Bangalore, Dravid said "hopefully, we have a good result. The job is still not done. The series is still to be won," he said. (PTI) |
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Ravinder declared Mr North India Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Mar 20: Ravinder Kumar of Delhi was today declared Mr North India in the North India body building championships which was hosted by Body Building Association of J&K at Abhinav Theatre, here. Ravinder was awarded with a cash prize of Rs 2,000 and a glittering trophy. Mr J&K Vikas Jamwal was adjudged most improved body builder. He was presented a cash prize of Rs 1000. Best poser title went to Jagtar Singh of Punjab. Deputy Chief Minister, Mangat Ram Sharma was chief guest in the finals and prize distribution function. Sports Minister, Haji Nisar Ali and Minister of State for Planning, Usman Majidwere also present. Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister asked the organisers to think of hosting next edition of the North Zone championship at Kashmir where situation is fast improving every passing day. |
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J&K Police enters semis of kabaddi Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Mar 20: Jammu and Kashmir Police team today qualified their pool to enter the knock-out stage of semi-finals in the ongoing open invitational national kabaddi tournament at Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh. In the league matches, J&K Police defeated Indian Navy and Himachal Pradesh (Red) while lost to the better side of CRPF. The CRPF team too have reached the semi-finals alongwith J&K Police. According to the reports reaching here, from pool-b, Chandigarh and PAP Jallandhar entered into the last four stage. |
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DCC wins by 2 wkts in veteran cricket Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Mar 20: Dogra Cricket Club (DCC) today defeated JKB XI by two wickets to enter into the semi-finals of Sunday hot shot veteran cricket tournament being played at GGM Science College, here. Earlier, batting first, JKB XI made 143 runs for the loss of eight wickets in the stipulated 25 overs, which, in reply, DCC chased in the allotted overs with two wickets in hand. Hafiz was declared man of the match for his unbeaten 23 runs and two wickets for 31 runs in five overs. |
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By Wasim Akram A brilliant performance by Anil Kumble on the final day of the match helps India take a 1-0 lead in the test series. It was a day where everything went right for India, much to the contrast to the final day in the Mohali Test. The Indian body language and their attitude on the field was much more positive, and they kept themselves calm. It was always going to be difficult for Pakistan to chase a total of over 400 runs. Even though Afridi batted really well and helped Pakistan get off to a blazing start, it was always going to be a difficult chase. I mean Afridi with his batting can help win matches when there a moderate target but not a target in excess of 400 runs. For that one of Pakistan's main batsman had to step up maybe Yousaf or Inzaman, but they both failed. On day four the Indians made sure that they took the match away from Pakistan. They batted well past tea and then declared. Even though some critics claimed that the declaration came too late, I always feel that it is important to save the match first and then try to win it. The Indians didn't seem to bother about the early dismissal of Ganguly and the injury to Laxman and went on with the business. It was about time the Indians get a keeper who could bat properly in the Test. Karthik played a very vital role in helping India set a huge target. His confidence level will be sky high after his knock of 93 runs and one could see that on the way he kept the wickets on the final day. Both him and Rahul Dravid batted superbly before Dravid got out after scoring his second century of the match. Rahul is certainly one of the best batsmen in the world right now in Test cricket, and I am sure he could have been a part of any team in any era in Test cricket. The focus and determination with which, he bats in simply remarkable. He is a very dependable batsman who has played a major part in the success of the Indian cricket over the past many years. The caught behind decision of Sachin was appalling. Leave aside the television replays; the umpire should be able to judge the body language of the wicketkeeper, slips and the bowler. It was hardly even an appeal and to see a decision like that is simply shocking. But then again that's part of cricket. Umpiring in international cricket is a tough job and is not as easy as it looks. Fortunately for India the decision did not make any difference in the outcome of the game. Over all it was a great Test match. The pendulum swung both ways but eventually the Indians came on top. At the end of every day the match took a new turn. The wicket played well on all days. Even on the fifth day the wicket was slow but good. With 1-0 up the Indians will look at winning the series in Bangalore. The Pakistan on the other hand will try to level the series. I don't think there will be any change in the team for both the sides. The Indians will continue using two spinners. We can once again expect a great encounter in Bangalore. (TCM) Inzamam blames batsmen, spinners for defeat KOLKATA, Mar 20: Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul Haq today blamed an "irresponsible" approach by the batsmen and lack of application by the spinners for the 195-run defeat against India in the second cricket Test here. Inzamam said the dismissal of opener Shahid Afridi last evening and Younis Khan’s stumping in the very first ball this morning caused "some setbacks" to the visitors, but they could have "saved the game with a more responsible batting display by the latter order." Inzamam was also "very disappointed" with the indifferent performance by his spinners - Danish Kaneria and Afridi - on an uneven track, where the Indian slow bowlers created havoc on the fifth and final day today. "We played with three pacers and two spinners. I am quite satisfied with the way the pacers bowled. But the spinners have disappointed me," he told reporters. Inzamam hailed the hosts for a dominating display in the first two Tests and praised Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble, who played crucial roles in India’s win. "Dravid is playing outstandingly during last two-three years. Going by his average, I think he is one of the best Test players in the world," he said. As for Kumble, he said the leggie was almost unplayable on wickets like this where the ball was keeping low and often had uneven bounce. Looking forward to the third Test in Bangalore, starting on March 24, the Pakistan captain said it was possible to level the series there with a more combined effort by his boys. "Bilkul Mumkin Hain (very much possible)," Inzamam said when asked if he considered it possible to win the third Test, but added "for that we need a combined effort." Introspecting on what went wrong in the Eden Test, the 35-year-old skipper said his side paid the price for its failure to take advantage of a solid foundation in the first innings. "We were 273/2 after the second day’s play. Still we failed to score a big total. You have to grab these opportunities. Once you lose the momentum, its very difficult to stage a comeback," he said. Inzamam also conceded that it was a difficult task to score over 300 runs on the last day of a Test match, specially in the face of such tight bowling by Indian spinning duo —Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. To a query on Shoaib Akhtar, the Pakistani skipper said he had no news about the availability of the speedstar for the third and last Test. However, pacer Naved-ul Hasan, who missed the second Test due to a shoulder injury, was fit and would be available for the Bangalore match. Asked if there would be any change in the team for the last Test, Inzamam said "there may be some changes, but it depends on the pitch conditions there." (PTI) We want to keep pressure on: Kumble KOLKATA, Mar 20: With India taking a 1-0 lead in the ongoing Test series by winning the second Test, leg-spinner Anil Kumble today said the hosts would keep the pressure on Pakistan in the third and final Test in Bangalore to bag the series. "Going one up certainly is an advantage. We will keep the pressure on them in Bangalore to win the series," Kumble, the hero on the final day of the Eden Test, told newspersons here. Stating that he was a lot disappointed to see the Mohali match slipping out of hands, Kumble said it was satisfying to snatch a convincing 195-run victory in Kolkata. Ably assisted by Harbhajan Singh, "we kept the pressure on them from both ends and it worked," Kumble, who put up his best ever performance at Eden with a seven-wicket haul in the second innings, said. Asked about the first ball-dismissal of Younis Khan, he said the delivery was not a pre-planned one. "I did try to keep the ball in leg-middle position. The ball drifted away and (Dinesh) Kaarthick did an excellent stumping." Kumble said he was looking for a similar performance in his home town Bangalore, the venue for of the Test, beginning on March 24. (PTI) INDIAN WELLS, Mar 20: Former No. 1 Kim Clijsters defeated top-ranked Lindsay Davenport on Saturday to win her second Pacific Life Open title in three years. Clijsters, who withdrew during last year’s tournament with a wrist injury and missed most of the year, defeated Davenport 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. The top two men’s players in the world moved into their final. Lleyton Hewitt outlasted Andy Roddick in a match that went to three tiebreakers, and defending champion Roger Federer continued his dominating run with a quick victory over Guillermo Canas. Hewitt edged Roddick 7-6 (2), 6-7 (3), 7-6 (4) in a well-played, entertaining night match that lasted 2 hours, 33 minutes. Federer needed just 1:13 to beat Canas. "This is incredible. I was just sitting there, looking at my mom and my coach in my box saying, ‘you know, this is true.’ I was looking up at the scoreboard," she said. AP) Wicket of first ball helped set tone By Anil Kumble There can be few headier feelings for cricketer than to be part of a winning Test squad. We were hurt and disappointed that we did not clinch a victory in the first Test at Mohali but are delighted that we picked up a big victory in the second Test at the Eden Gardens on Sunday. The performance here, built around contributions from so many, was satisfying. I am glad I was able to chip in with a 10-wicket haul for the match, claiming my best figures at Eden Gardens in the second innings. Hopefully, we will be able to carry our confidence further and win the series 2-0. We knew Pakistan would be under a lot of pressure to play out the 110 overs. It did bat for 144 overs in Mohali to save the Test match. In the first innings here, even though it was 281 for two at one stage, it did not bat for too many overs beyond 110. Getting Shahid Afridi out on Saturday evening was crucial to our plans. Obviously, a wicket of the first ball on Sunday helped set the tone for the rest of the day. I tried to bowl a leg and middle line to Younis Khan but the ball drifted a bit and beat him on the leg side. Dinesh Kaarthick brought off a brilliant stumping and gave our charge for victory a wonderful impetus. My spin partner Harbhajan Singh bowled well. I knew both of us would have to bowl a lot in the testing conditions. Like in a 150-run stand where both batsmen may not get equal number of runs, ours is a partnership. The idea of bowling from around the wicket to right-handed batsmen is not just to try and exploit the rough but also to present them with a different challenge. The angle of attack changes and the batsman is forced to keep making adjustments too. You have to use all the options available to you in trying to get a batsman out. Rahul, of course, truly deserved the man of the match award for his centuries in each innings. Both his innings were a treat to watch. A couple of days ago, I had said that we would able to win the Test if we set Pakistan a target of 300-plus in the fourth innings. I am proud that the team proceeded to justify such confidence in itself. (TCM) |
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