McKenzie
hits ton as Test ends in a draw
CHENNAI, Mar 30: Neil McKenzie
cracked an unbeaten 155 as the first
cricket Test between India and South
Africa ended in a tame draw here today
with the last day’s play also
proving to be a nightmare for bowlers.
The
32-year-old McKenzie, who made 94 in the
first innings, continued his amazing
comeback to the South African team by
batting out the whole day on a docile M A
Chidambaran pitch which showed no signs
of any drastic deterioration even on the
fifth day.
The Indian
bowlers needed to put up an
extra-ordinary display to pull off an
unlikely victory but the wickets were
hard to come by as the Proteas played
cautiously to score 331 for five before
play was called off.
Resuming
at the overnight score of 131 for one,
McKenzie and his overnight partner Hashim
Amla (81) batted through most of the
morning session to dent India’s
chances of forcing a result in the
high-scoring contest.
Though the
Indian bowlers got rid of the dangerous
Jacques Kallis (19), Ashwell Prince (5)
and Ab De Villiers (11) cheaply, McKenzie
held up one end with his 445-minute vigil
at the crease.
With the
pitch offering absolutely no assistance
to the bowlers, the batsmen ruled the
roost as a whopping 1498 runs were scored
by the two teams over five days of Test
action which saw many batting records
tumble.
The two
teams will now travel to Ahmedabad for
the second Test beginning from April 3.
McKenzie
and Amla steered the visitors to safety
with a resolute 153-run second wicket
partnership which frustrated the Indian
bowlers.
However,
Indian captain Anil Kumble succeeded in
providing the breakthrough close to lunch
by dismissing Amla (81). Forcing Amla
stretch forward and misjudge the turn of
the ball, the leggie got him caught at
lone slip by Rahul Dravid with the team
score on 210.
Amla
survived two chances when his individual
scores were 55 and 72 to Harbhajan and R
P Singh. First, he was dropped by
Sreesanth at fine leg when he swept and
then R P Singh failed to hold on to the
return catch.
The day
started on a sedate note as the Indian
bowlers never posed any problem to
McKenzie and Amla who stuck to their
task, though couple of times, they were
beaten by both Harbhajan Singh and Anil
Kumble.
The
pacemen lacked speed and their deliveries
coming up slowly after pitching was to
the liking of the batsmen.
Harbhajan
did manage to beat Mckenzie on a couple
of occasions early on. S Sreesanth, who
came in place of Kumble in the third
over, was as usual aggressive and teased
Amla with short-pitched deliveries while
some balls kept low.
But Amla
and McKenzie applied themselves well and
chose the loose deliveries to keep the
scoreboard ticking. Amla duly reached his
50 and brought up the 100-run partnership
for the second wicket with a well-struck
boundary off a full toss from Sreesanth
shortly before the first drinks break.
Amla,
however, missed an opportunity to join
the elite group of 64 players in the
world who have scored centuries in the
each innings of a match.
Incidentally,
compatriot and present Indian coach Gary
Kirsten (Kolkata, November, 1996) remains
the lone South African to have scored
centuries in both innings against India.
In all, four South Africans have achieved
the feat so far in Test history.
Harbhajan
(3-97) dismissed Jacques Kalis (19) and
Ashwell Prince (5) in successive overs
but his effort came too late in the day.
First
signs of Indians resigning to the fate of
an inevitable draw came five overs after
lunch when Kumble went back to the
pavilion after bringing on V V S Laxman
to change ends for Harbhajan, leaving ODI
captain Dhoni in command.
Harbhajan
and Sehwag operated for a better part of
the post-lunch session while McKenzie and
Kallis used the situation well for some
batting practice.
Mckenzie,
playing his 43rd Test, reached his fourth
three figure mark in a methodical manner
soon after lunch, steering Kumble to the
third man boundary twice in the same
over. He took 277 minutes and faced 184
balls with 11 fours.
Kallis,
who failed with the bat in the first
innings also making 13, was out to a
superb catch at square leg by Rudra
Pratap Singh, who dived to his left in
the air to clutch the ball.
Harbhajan
then went on to dismiss Ashwell Prince in
his immediate next over. Prince was
shuffling his legs to adjust to the turn
and having committed to offer his bat in
front offered a straight forward catch to
Wasim Jaffer at forward short leg.
Scoreboard
South
Africa 1st innings: 540
India 1st
innings: 627
South
Africa 2nd innings (overnight 131-1):
McKenzie
not out 155
Smith lbw
b Harbhajan 35
Amla c
Dravid b Kumble 81
Kallis c
RP b Harbhajan 19
Prince c
Jaffer b Harbhajan 5
DeVilliers
c Ganguly b Sehwag 11
Boucher
not out 11
Extras:
(b-8, lb-5, nb-1) 14 Total (for five
wickets in
109 overs)
331
Fall of
Wickets: 1-53, 2-210, 3-264, 4-272, 5-306
Bowling:
Sreesanth 12-0-42-0, Rudra Pratap Singh
9-1-43-0, Harbhajan 34-1-101-3, Ganguly
2-1-1-0, Kumble 20-2-57-1, Sehwag
22-2-55-1, Laxman 10-2-19-0. (PTI)
Kumble
not happy with ‘flat’ track
CHENNAI, Mar 30: India captain Anil
Kumble today sharply criticised the pitch
at the M A Chidambaram stadium, saying
the "flat" track made it
difficult for his bowlers to force a
result in the first cricket Test against
South Africa.
"We
expected the wicket to have more pace and
spin. We thought it would start turning
in the fourth and fifth days, but it did
not. It was tough to bowl on a pitch as
flat as this and in such heat," a
disappointed Kumble said after the drawn
match.
"Probably
because of rain ahead of the Test, there
was lack of preparation of the pitch.
Hopefully, the wicket would be better
prepared in Ahmedabad. I hope we get a
result there," he said.
Kumble,
who did not take field for most part of
the post-lunch session today due to a
mild groin strain, was confident that he
would be 100 per cent fit for the second
Test in Ahmedabad starting on April 3.
"I
did not want to take chance, so I took
rest. I should be 100 per cent okay
before second Test," the leg-spinner
said.
The Indian
captain was all praise for two milestone
men, Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid.
"The
way Viru batted, it was a treat to watch.
He not only batted most of the sessions,
he also did most of the scoring."
South
Africa captain Graeme Smith was satisfied
with his team’s performance and said
he would take lots of positives from this
Test.
"We’ve
got some really good cricket under out
belt over the last five days. Our batters
had a good Test match. There are a lot of
positives from this match and hopefully
if we get into a good position in
Ahmedabad’’ he said. (PTI)
Kolkata
Tigers clinch thriller
GURGAON, Mar 30: Delhi Giants paid
the price of not building partnerships as
they lost their ICL encounter to Kolkata
Tigers by just one run at Tau Devi Lal
Stadium here today.
Chasing
143 to win, Giants could manage 141 for
eight in their quota of 20 overs.
Requiring
14 runs in the final over, bowled by
former South African all-rounder Lance
Klusner, the Delhi team scored 12.
Klusner
removed dangerous looking T Sudhindra,
who along with wicket-keeper batsman D
Yagnik kept their team in the hunt after
a middle-order collapse.
Giants
began well with openers Avishka
Gunawardene (35) and M Mishra (27)
scoring 41-runs in just four overs.
Then
spinner Upul Chandana (3/15) ran through
the middle-order by claiming wickets of
compatriot Gunawardene, Dhruv Mahajan
(12) and rival skipper Marvan Atapattu
(9). (PTI)
Dhoni’s
captaincy skills reminds Kirsten of
Cronje
MUMBAI, Mar 30: Indian coach Gary
Kirsten has likened the country’s
ODI captain Mahendra singh Dhoni’s
ability to extract the most out of his
players to that of late Hansie Cronje,
under whom the former South African
opener had played in international
cricket.
Kirsten
felt Anil Kumble, the Bangalore stalwart
who leads India in Tests commanded great
respect from his team, but the
swashbuckling wicketkeeper-batsman from
Ranchi was more charismatic as he could
get the best out of his team.
"Anil
Kumble commands great respect from his
team. He is a performer of note and has
done it for many, many years. He is a
tremendous person and brings in his
personal qualities to the job",
Kirsten has told Cricket Portal
www.Cricnirvana.Com in an interview.
"Someone
like Dhoni is more charismatic. He just
backs himself and completely believes in
his ability. He has got an unbelievable
knack of getting the players under him to
feel the same. He has the ability to get
the best out of his players. That’s
a great quality, which I was fortunate to
have under Hansie Cronje," Kirsten
said.
Kirsten
said that after his recent interaction
with Sachin Tendulkar, against whom he
had played a lot of cricket, he felt that
the champion batsman was enjoying his
game more than ever before and also
perhaps eyeing a half century of
three-figure knocks in Test cricket
(presently he has 39 to his credit).
"I
asked him (Tendulkar) about the whole
retirement thing. He is eyeing, may be,
50 Test 100s. It’s a long way to go
for him, 11 more to go. It could take him
11 Tests or 25-30 Tests to achieve that -
who knows. But the important thing is
that he is enjoying his game now, more
than ever and wants to keep
playing," the Indian coach said.
On his
experience of working with the master
batman, Kirsten said Tendulkar was an
exceptional player still willing to learn
and improve his game like any other
champion of the sport.
"We
know Sachin is an exceptional player. I
remember playing much cricket against
him. It was quite enjoyable watching him
bat, even when we were trying to get him
out. There is nothing much you can do
about his game technically. He is very
clever about his game and understands it
well. It will be a real privilege to work
with a great player like him," he
said.
"But
like any other champion of the sport, he
is still willing to learn and improve his
game. I haven’t seen an individual
who really wants to perform every time he
walks onto the field and let’s not
forget the expectations he carries on his
shoulders. He is a very humble man who
respects the game. He is a fantastic team
man," Kirsten added.
Quitting
the game one loved, was the most
difficult decision to take for a player,
according to the former Test cricketer
who, when he retired at 37, felt
physically he could have played for three
more years but was mentally drained.
"I
think retirement is always tough. You
never know which is the right time to
retire. I had wanted to retire for quite
sometime. I realised I wasn’t
playing to my potential, and it was just
being street-wise that allowed me to
remain competitive," he said.
"Ironically,
though, I played my best Test in my last
year, that was largely due to experience.
Retirement is a tough call for any
cricketer to make, because he could be on
top of his game and might think why
shouldn’t I just keep going. I
retired at the age of 37, but I reckon
that physically I could have played for
three more years. Mentally, though, you
start wearing out," Kirsten said.
Recalling
cricket’s darkest chapter — the
match-fixing saga — Kirsten said it
was a very sad point of his career, and
at the height of it when his then captain
Cronje, who later died in a plane crash,
was in the thick of it he was unaware of
the murkier goings-on as his deputy.
"Match-fixing
was a very sad point in my career,
something that we had to deal with as a
South African team. It wasn’t easy,
especially having a captain who was
heavily involved in it and as a
vice-captain, I was completely unaware of
what was going on," he said.
"But
suddenly being labeled as a match-fixer,
when I was standing on the boundary, was
a bitter pill to swallow for many
years," Kirsten rued and hoped that
with the arrival of the Indian Premier
League players won’t be tempted
again to go down that dangerous lane.
"Hopefully,
it has been put to bed, though, I
don’t think that underground betting
will ever cease to exist. Nevertheless, I
hope that the players have seen the light
and perhaps with IPL, where they are
being paid decent amounts, they
won’t be tempted in that
fashion," he said.
He also
welcomed the IPL and felt it would add a
new dimension to the willow game.
"I
think IPL is a tremendous concept for
cricket. The game needs to bring in a new
dimension to it. IPL will make its
presence felt and I dont think that test
cricket will lose its status," he
said optimistically. (PTI)
Jammu
crush Poonch to clinch
State Hockey Championship
Excelsior
Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 30: Jammu cruised past
Poonch by an emphatic 7-1 margin in the
summit showdown to clinch the State
Hockey Championship played at K K Hakku
Stadium today.
The
contest proved to be a one sided affair
as Jammu team played their heart out
giving nothing away to their opponents to
seize any single opportunity.
Jagjit
drew the first blood in the 5th minute
through a penalty stroke. Prabhjot then
got into the act with twin strikes in the
17th and 28th minutes respectively to
help his team gain a sizeable 3-0 lead at
the stroke of half time.
Poonch
also had their chances in the first
session but lack of coordination eluded
them time and again to minimise the lead.
Jammu
continued their dominance in the second
half too adding four more goals to their
kitty the first of which came in the 33rd
minute by Mandeep Singh.
Poonch had
no answer to their rival’s onslaught
who kept on penetrating the danger area
at regular intervals with great
authority.
Poonch
forwards on the other hand found it tough
to penetrate the rock solid defence of
Jammu team who came up with a thorough
professional performance just when it
needed most.
In the
meantime, they (Jammu) surged to a 5-0
lead with Karanjeet Singh struck in the
39th minute.
Poonch
finally had something to cheer about as
they managed to pull one back through
Amandeep Singh in the 40th minute.
But by
then, the writing was on the wall.
A minute
later, Prabhjot scored his third and
team’s sixth goal followed by
Gurpreet who struck in the 45th minute to
seal the essay.
Penalty
corner conversion remained the major
hurdle for both teams with neither Jammu
nor Poonch (2 each) converted them which
came their way.
The match
was officiated by Amarjeet, Vijay Vaid,
Ranbir Singh, M S Reen, Vijaypal Singh
and P D Singh.
Inter
Battalion Sports Meet
IRP-10th Bn strikes
double in Swimming
Excelsior
Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 26: IRP-10th Bn team
comprised Arshid, Ankush, Mohd Shabir and
Aditya Sharma finished first in 4x10 mts
Free Style Relay today in the ongoing
Inter Battalion Sport Meet.
AP-8th Bn
comprised Raghubir Singh, Pawan, Mukhtyar
and Rajinder stood second.
In 4x100
mts Free Style Relay final, Arshid,
Ankush, Mohd Shabir and Aditya Sharma
again of IRP-10th Bn secured first
position whereas Raghubir Singh, Pawan,
Mukhtyar and Fayaz bagged second place.
In 50 mts
Free Style (individual event), Rajnesh of
IRP-11th Bn finished first while Raghubir
Singh of AP-8th Bn stood second.
The
gazetted officers events were commenced
today in the disciplines of Lawn Tennis
and Table Tennis.
In Lawn
Tennis, SP Ajit Singh Salaria got the
better of SP R K Bhat in the opening
match while DySP Ranjit Singh prevailed
over DySP Sanjay Bhagat in the next
match.
DySP
Daljit Singh overcame SSP A K Atri in the
inaugural match of Table Tennis while
DySP Sanjay Sharma had last laugh against
SP Stenzen Narboo.
In other
matches, SSP Israr Khan defeated DySP
Azeem Qureshi and SSP T Punchok beat SP R
K Bhat.
Other
Results (Individual Events):
Weightlifting
(60kg): Mukhtyar-ud-Din (1st) and Rattan
Kumar (2nd).
62kg: Mohd
Zulf (1st) and Javid Iqbal (2nd).
69kg:
Ravinder Kumar (1st) and Shakil Ahmed
(2nd).
77kg:
Narinder Chib (1st) and Ashiq Hussain
(2nd).
85kg:
Rajnesh Kumar (1st) and Paramjeet Singh
(2nd).
94kg:
Maninder Singh (1st) and Davinder Gupta
(2nd).
105kg:
Rakesh Kumar (1st) and Rakesh Kumar
(2nd).
Shot Put
(final): Mohd Sadiq (1st), Mashqoor Ahmed
(2nd) and Maninder Singh (3rd).
Discus
Throw: Varun Dev Singh (1st), Mohd
Sidique (2nd) and Rajinder Thapa (3rd).
Tripple
Jump: Showket Ahmed (1st), Madan Sharma
(2nd) and Pawan Kumar (3rd).
800mts:
Reyaz Ahmed (1st), Ved Kumar (2nd) and
Shabir Ahmed (3rd).
21 km Half
Marathon: Reyaz Ahmed (1st), Ram Lal
(2nd) and Rattan Kumar (3rd).
Hammer
Throw: Mohd Sadiq (1st), Mohd Sidique
(2nd) and Nazir Ahmed (3rd).
400mts:
Tahir Ahmed (1st), Raghubir Singh (2nd)
and Ved Kumar (3rd).
Team
Events:
Hockey:
AP-8th Bn beat AP-12th Bn and IRP-3rd Bn
beat IRP-7th Bn.
Basketball:
AP-8th Bn beat IRP-4th Bn and IRP-7th Bn
beat AP-12th Bn.
Football:
IRP-1st Bn beat AP-14th Bn, AP-8th Bn
beat IRP-11th Bn, IRP-9th Bn beat AP-5th
Bn, IRP-4th Bn beat AP-12th Bn, AP-8th Bn
beat IRP-1st Bn and IRP-4th Bn beat
IRP-9th Bn.
Volleyball:
AP-5th Bn beat AP-6th Bn, IRP-13th Bn
beat AP-8th Bn, IRP-6th Bn beat IRP-3rd
Bn, AP-9th Bn beat IRP-8th Bn, AP-9th Bn
beat IRP-13th Bn and IRP-6th Bn beat
AP-5th Bn.
Tug-of-War:
IRP-10th Bn beat IRP-7th Bn, AP-13th Bn
beat IRP-2nd Bn, Ap-14th Bn beat AP-8th
Bn, AP-7th Bn beat AP-9th Bn, IRP-8th Bn
beat IRP-7th Bn, IRP-4th Bn beat IRP-11th
Bn, AP-7th Bn beat AP-8th Bn, AP-13th Bn
beat AP-14th Bn, IRP-4th Bn beat IRP-1st
Bn and IRP-13th Bn beat IRP-7th Bn.
Handball:
AP-6th Bn beat IRP-4th Bn and AP-8th Bn
beat AP-14th Bn.
Kabaddi:
IRP-6th Bn beat IRP-8th Bn, IRP-3rd Bn
beat AP-8th Bn and IRP-6th Bn beat
AP-13th Bn.
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