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

Hayden and Symonds crush England's redemption hopes

MELBOURNE, Dec 27: Belligerent centuries by Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds crushed England's hopes of making a fight of the fourth Ashes Test with Australia well on the road to taking a 4-0 series lead at the Melbourne Cricket Ground today.

Australia, in trouble at 84 for five chasing England's modest first innings of 159, rebounded ferociously with the two Queenslanders pounding the tourists' bowlers in a demoralising 279-run sixth-wicket partnership.

At the close, Australia had surged to a commanding 213-run lead at 372 for seven with three days to play. Symonds was unconquered on 154 in 316 minutes and Shane Warne was not out on four.

Hayden was finally out nearing stumps for 153, caught behind off Sajid Mahmood and compiled in seven hours off 265 balls with 13 boundaries and two sixes.

They were hundreds of contrasting significance, with Hayden taking his 27th to join Allan Border as Australia's fourth-highest century-maker, and Symonds releasing the demons of an unfulfilled Test career.

Hayden claimed his first century of the series and continued his fondness for the MCG, scoring his fifth century in eight Tests at the ground to rank with Border as the top-scoring left-hander of Test hundreds for his country.

Only current captain Ricky Ponting (33), Steve Waugh (32) and Don Bradman (29) have scored more Test centuries than Hayden in Australian cricket. Meanwhile, Hayden's long-time mate Symonds took 21 cautious balls to get off the mark before clubbing a 151-ball century sealed with a massive six straight over bowler Paul Collingwood's head. He finished the day with 15 boundaries and one six.

Symonds, who went to the crease with a mediocre Test average of just 18 in 11 matches, howled with delight and excitedly leapt into Hayden's arms to celebrate his maiden Test century.

The breakthrough hundred has probably booked his place in the crack Australian team for the immediate future.

Australia, stung by last year's series loss in England, regained the Ashes inside 15 days after winning the opening three Test matches and are trying to emulate Warwick Armstrong team's 5-0 Ashes sweep of 85 years ago.

Adam Gilchrist's boom and bust form continued when he was out for one caught in the slips off Mahmood nearing stumps after scoring a blazing unbeaten 102 off 59 balls in Perth.

As has happened so often in the series, England's bowlers failed to deliver the knockout blow when they had the home side in bother at 84 for five and the Test in the balance at 11:44 am in the 26th over.

England shook up Australia before lunch taking the wickets of the three top-averaging batsmen, Ponting (7), Mike Hussey (6) and Michael Clarke (5) to have the home side under rare pressure.

All three went into the Melbourne Test boasting century-plus averages in the series -- Ponting (104.80), Hussey (138.33) and Clarke (124.33). Skipper Andrew Flintoff removed Ponting cheaply when the Aussie skipper attempted to pull from well outside the off-stump only to sky a catch to Alastair Cook at mid-wicket.

Hussey was bowled between bat and pad by Matthew Hoggard with one that straightened on him.

It was the third time in the series that Hussey has been bowled in the series, twice by Hoggard and once by Flintoff.

Steve Harmison, who has failed to recapture the form of last year's Ashes series in England, produced a gem of a delivery to remove Clarke in the next over.

Harmison found extra bounce with his second ball to get an edge off Clarke's prodding bat for wicketkeeper Read to take the catch and leave the Aussies at 84 for five and trailing England at that stage by 75 runs.

The travelling Barmy Army supporters were in full voice, urging England to finish off the Australians, but Hayden and Symonds' deflating stand in almost five hours left them reflecting on more lost opportunities.

Jack Fingleton and Don Bradman hold the sixth wicket Ashes partnership at the ground with 346 in 1936-37. (AGENCIES)

Pak practicing for SA pace attack in tailor-made conditions

KARACHI, Dec 27: Taking cue from India's tour of South Africa, Pakistani cricketers are getting readied for the African pace assault by batting and bowling on green top and matting pitches.

Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Nasim Ashraf said Pakistani players should benefit from the tailor-made conditions as they begin tour of South Africa early next month.

"Time is a problem and in this time the only thing we can do is to simulate conditions that would be found in South Africa," he said

"Our plan is to also introduce sporting tracks for the domestic competitions specially at the junior level tournaments from next year so that our players are well prepared and groomed when they graduate into top level cricket," he added.

Ashraf was yesterday speaking at the final of the domestic Twenty20 Cup, which was won for the second year in running by Sialkot Stallions, which included Shoaib Malik, Imran Nazir, Rana Naved, Mohammad Asif and Abdul Rehman.

Sialkot beat Karachi Dolphins in a keenly contested final by 14 runs.

Absence of flamboyant allrounder Shahid Afirdi, who left to perform Haj making a big difference to the Karachi team.

The winners recieved a cash award of one million rupees and the runner-ups 600,000 with young Fawad Alam of Karachi winning the man of the tournament, best batsman, best bowler and man of the final awards. Surprisingly, while the selectors thought it fit to reward Nazir for his performances in the tournament by calling him up for the national training camp in Lahore for the SA tour, there was no such incentive for Alam, a left-arm spinner and southpaw batsman who took five wickets and scored a half century in the final.

Ashraf also said the Board was encouraged by the crowds the Twenty20 Cup tournament had drawn and would make efforts to take this form of the game more seriously.

"There is no doubt that Twenty20 cricket is becoming very popular and it can no longer be ignored. With the Twenty20 World Cup also now being held next year in South Africa, I think we must start preparing a specialist team for the event because the requirements of this cricket are a bit different from the norm," he said.

Pakistan, South Africa, England, West Indies and Sri Lanka are the Test playing nations which have started organising domestic Twenty20 Cup competitions regularly. (PTI)

Astle cleared as New Zealand, Sri Lanka
launch cup campaigns

NAPIER, Dec 27: An erratic New Zealand side received a welcome boost on the eve of the first one-day cricket international against Sri Lanka here tomorrow with veteran Nathan Astle cleared to play.

Astle was in doubt amid fears his hand was broken when hit by a Marvan Atapattu throw during yesterday's Twenty20 match, where the 216-match veteran played a key role in New Zealand's five-wicket victory.

But after x-rays confirmed Astle was only bruised, he was confirmed to open the batting with Brendon McCullum as New Zealand and Sri Lanka launch their World Cup buildups in earnest.

The five-match series offers a contest long on incentive but short on form after the performances of both sides during their recent flirtations with the science of Test cricket and the flamboyance of Twenty20.

Both series were tied 1-1, with New Zealand and Sri Lanka taking turns at running hot in one match and cold in the other.

It's this shortcoming which New Zealand coach John Bracewell and Sri Lanka's Tom Moody will be working on as they fine-tune their sides for the World Cup in the West Indies in March.

They are also introducing a rotation policy to avoid burnout, meaning their top sides will not be fielded in every match, with the World Cup the ultimate goal.

With New Zealand resting regular captain and lead run-gatherer Stephen Fleming for the first two games of the series, Astle's clearance solved one problem -- providing another aggressive strokemaker against the new ball. Astle conceded it would have been disappointing to be sidelined, given there was no chance of a run-out when he was hit.

"It would have been a funny way to break a bone. I didn't know he was going to throw it -- I was two metres past the stumps," said Astle.

However, doubts still remain over the fitness of pace bowlers Mark Gillespie and Michael Mason, both with leg injuries and facing last-minute assessments before the match.

"We'll leave it as long as we can," said stand-in captain Daniel Vettori, who already has to contend without injured limited overs specialists Jacob Oram, Kyle Mills, Scott Styris and the rested Shane Bond.

Vettori was understandably anxious for Mason and Gillespie to come through to support left-armer James Franklin after the trio caused Sri Lanka plenty of problems with their pace and bounce in the second Twenty20 encounter.

"It's always been a criticism of subcontinent batsmen when they come to this part of the world -- if you get up to them it unsettles them," he said.

Vettori faced his own batting question marks with an experimental line-up featuring rookies Ross Taylor and James Marshall against an opposition attack featuring Test terrors Muttiah Muralitharan and Lasith Malinga.

"I wouldn't say we're vulnerable, we know it's going to be a big step up," said Vettori, who captains New Zealand for the ninth time in one-dayers.

New Zealand claimed the corresponding series 4-1 last summer, and Vettori said a similarly emphatic margin was needed as World Cup preparations gathered momentum.

"We've talked about if we want to consider ourselves as one of the favourites for the World Cup, we've got to start winning consistently -- and if we're not winning in our own backyard we can't be put up as favourites."

Sri Lankan coach Tom Moody, who presided over a 5-0 drubbing of England in their last series away from home, agreed the series was an important stepping stone to the World Cup, as his side only has four more games in India before heading to the West Indies.

"This is part of the process, another hurdle. It's an important lead-up to our campaign and we want to look at a couple of combinations," said Moody, whose side has the confidence of knowing they beat New Zealand in their last encounter at the Champions Trophy tournament. (AGENCIES)

Dhoni static at fifth, no India bowler in top 10

DUBAI, Dec 27: Dashing stumper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was sole Indian batsman in the top 10 as he clung on to his fifth spot in the latest LG ICC ODI Rankings.

Besides Dhoni (757 points), Yuvraj Singh and Rahul Dravid were the other other two Team India batsmen in the top 20 with the former at 14th place while the skipper a notch below at 15th.

Australian Mike Hussey (821 points) rules the roost while England's middle-order mainstay Kevin Pietersen is occupying the second spot.

In the bowlers' leaderboard, Harbhajan Singh and Irfan Pathan were static at 14th and 18th spot respectively as no other Indian bowlers figured in the top 20.

After a fantastic series against India, Shaun Pollack was on the top of the world with 910 points while Aussie ace Glenn McGrath, who's announced that he will retire after the World Cup in Carribean, is a distant second with a point shy of 800.

The Protea also tops the all-rounder list with 477 points.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka can jump two places to third in the LG ICC ODI Championship if it completes a clean-sweep of New Zealand in the five-match ODI series that gets underway in Napier tomorrow.

But in what is a closely packed table, Mahela Jayawardene's team could also drop as low as seventh if it loses the series 5-0.

At present, there are only nine ratings points separating third and seventh in the LG ICC ODI Championship.

Third-placed New Zealand needs to win the series to avoid dropping below Pakistan in the table and if it loses by just one game, it will fall two places to fifth. Even if the Black Caps tie the series, they will drop to fourth so there is plenty at stake for the team, which will be led in the first two ODIs by Daniel Vettori in the absence of Stephen Fleming who is being rested. Rankings:

Team:

1 Australia (131), 2. South Africa (126), 3. New Zealand (113), 4. Pakistan (112), 5. Sri Lanka (108), 6. India (106), 7. West Indies (104), 8 England (99), 9 Bangladesh (41), 10. Zimbabwe (23)

Batsmen: 1. Mike Hussey (Aus, 821), 2. Kevin Pietersen (Eng, 776), 3. Chris Gayle (WI, 775), 4. Adam Gilchrist (Aus, 769), 5. Mahendra Dhoni (Ind, 757) 6. Andrew Symonds (Aus, 753), 7. Ricky Ponting (Aus, 740) 8 R R Sarwan (WI, 724), 9. K C Sangakkara (SL, 723), 10. Michael Clarke (Aus, 711).

Bowlers: 1. Shaun Pollock (SA, 910) 2. Glenn McGrath (Aus, 799) 3. Nathan Bracken (Aus, 752) 4. Ian Bradshaw (WI, 746) 5. Makhaya Ntini (SA, 742) 6. Brett Lee (Aus, 741), 7. Shane Bond (NZ, 730) 8. Daniel Vettori (NZ, 725) 9. M Muralitharan (SL, 712) 10. Chaminda Vaas (SL, 706)

All-rounders: 1. Shaun Pollock (SA, 477) 2. Chris Gayle (WI, 446, 3. S T Jayasuriya (SL, 370), 4 Andrew Flintoff (Eng, 365), 5. Andrew Symonds (Aus, 337) (UNI)

Tendulkar leads Indian fightback

DURBAN, Dec 27: Sachin Tendulkar was in the middle of his first substantial innings of the tour as India recovered from early jolts to leave the second cricket Test interestingly poised on the second day here today.

The Indians let South Africa off the hook by allowing them to score a competitive 328, built around a fine 121 by Ashwell Prince, before losing three quick wickets in their first innings.

Tendulkar was unbeaten on 46 when India finished on 103 for 3 on a day marred once again by bad light. Only 58 overs were possible on the day before bad light sent the players off the field, a backlog of 32 overs to go with the 17 missed for similar reason on the first day.

Tendulkar had only 188 runs from 10 innings on the tour before the match but he sensed his moment on a flat pitch and unfurled some glorious off-drives in compiling 46 from 89 balls with eight fours.

He had a lucky escape on 21 when Graeme Smith dropped a sitter off Andrew Hall with the total reading 70 for 3.

It completed the frustration of the hosts who needed more than just three Indian wickets to go with their resistance in the morning.

The wretched form of Virender Sehwag continued unabated as he perished to a first-ball duck while Wasim Jaffer (36) and Rahul Dravid (11) squandered their starts to leave India precariously placed at 61 for 3 before Tendulkar and VVS Laxman (10 not out) steadied the ship.

Earlier, resuming at 257 for 8, South African tail wagged for another hour and three quarters before being all out for 328.

Prince, unbeaten on 98 overnight, kept appointment with his fifth Test century, and his 121 runs from 316 minutes and off 189 balls, inclusive of 13 fours, was a priceless effort for his side.

India did not get a breakthrough till they had the second new ball and it was Prince who fell to an uncharacteristic slash off S Sreesanth, smartly held by VVS Laxman at second slip.(PTI)

J&K touch Rugby team leaves for Dehradun

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Dec 27: The J&K Touch Rugby Senior team (Men and Women) left for Dehradun to participate in the Senior National Touch Rugby Championship scheduled to be held from December 28-31.

The team for the championship was selected by the Selection Committee headed by Sheikh Mahmood, Sanjay Verma, Sat Pal Sharma, Ramesh Chander Dogra and Sanjeev Verma.

The Teams:

Women: Seema Kral, Palak Khorana, Prerna Gupta, Payal Aggarwal, Suhani Razdan, Alisha, Bhawna Dhawan, Shakti Bala, Himja, Sheetal Raina, Ritu Aggarwal and Mousmi Verma (Coach).

Men: Vikrant Singh Jamwal, Arjun Singh, Anubhav Sharma, Pranav Bandral, Abhindit Koushal, Ripul Gupta, Sunil, Rajeev Sharma, Bhupinder Singh, Aman Gupta, Imtesh Bhatt, Ujhwal Mahajan, Puneet Bandral, Sunny Bandral, Sunny Kumar, Pankaj Kumar, Manjit Singh,Gourav Sharma, Rohit Dogra, Gagan Gupta and Sunny Sharma and Gourav Bhatti (Coach). Amardeep Singh and Swati Chouhan are accompanying the both teams as Manager.

Flower Kids Nursery celebrates Annual Day

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Dec 27: Flower Kids Nursery, Talab Tillo today celebrated its Annual Day function at Auditorium Hall of Government Polytechnical College. Ashok Lata, Chief Prosecuting Officer, CID, Jammu was the chief guest on the occasion. Balwant Kumar, Counselor of Ward No 30 was the Guest of Honour.

The function began with the recitation of prayer sung by the students and teachers of the school followed by various cultural items performed by the students.

Speaking on the occasion, Ashok Lata appreciated the efforts of school management for preparing the blooming buds. Balwant Kumar distributed the prizes to the students excelled in different spheres. Vijay Lakshmi, Principal of the school was also present on the occasion.

RCC wins Winter Cup Cricket trophy

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Dec 27: Rajpura Cricket Club (RCC) defeated Lagaan Cricket Club (LCC), New Plots by 2 wickets in the final to clinch Winter Cricket Series Cup played at Army Ground, Domana today.

LCC won the toss and decided to bat first. They made formidable 172/9 in the allotted 25 overs. Brij Singh and Lara were the top scorers with 39 and 30 runs respectively.

For RCC, Sukhdev and Pummy claimed 3 wickets apiece. In reply, RCC chased the target in 24 overs. Manjit played a match winning knock of 47 runs with the help of 8 hits to the fence. Skipper Rakesh Sharma also scored quickfired 15 runs.

For LCC, Brij was the most successful bowler who grabbed3 wickets. SrishtiPal Sharma and Happy Singh gave away winner and runner up trophy to the teams. Rakesh Sharma was declared the Man of the Series while Bummy was adjudged the best bowler of the Series.