Friday, October 8, 2010

Injury-hit India eager to seal series


Bangalore: High on confidence after the thrilling win in the series-opener but ravaged by injuries, India take on Australia in what promises to be another high-voltage battle in the second and final cricket Test here on Saturday.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men, fresh from the one-wicket win in the opening Test in Mohali, go into the match with a psychological edge but many injury problems to deal with.
The Indians would be seeking to wrap up the Test series and prevent the mighty Australians from clinching a Test win on Indian soil in six years but being a depleted side could turn the tide against them.

Hussey sets sights on levelling series


After a heady Test match and a day of rest, Australia returned to training in “buoyant mood” in Bangalore. Michael Hussey said that though there was a feeling of having been part of a great Test, it was difficult to get over the disappointment of Mohali.
“We were part of something special, but we are disappointed with the result,” Hussey said. “We have played some amazing Tests over the years, but being on the winning side makes a hell of a difference. In Adelaide against England we were on the winning side, and it was an amazing feeling. After the Test match, the dressing room was very quiet but we are proud of giving such a good performance.”
Hussey said they were yet to discuss the Mohali Test in a detailed team meeting. “We will get a debriefing this afternoon at the hotel,” he said. “We sort of spoke after each day’s play and talked about things that are good and what we can improve on. I think in general we did a lot of things really well. We had our opportunities to win, but we couldn’t do the job and get over the line. From a positive point of view, we did a lot of things right.”
Hussey said the team was in good spirits. They had an optional nets session today, which was not attended by Shane Watson, Simon Katich, Peter George and the fast bowlers who played the Mohali Test. “Mood was pretty buoyant at the training. The boys are in good spirits. Some of the guys, particularly the fast bowlers, are trying to recover as best as they can because it was a gruelling Test match. After a tough match in Mohali, the focus is on recovery but we have to keep our skills in good shape as well.”
Except for Doug Bollinger, struggling with abdominal pain, those who missed the nets session worked in the gym at the team hotel. “He went for a scan yesterday,” Hussey said. “I believe it is just a minor strain. We are hopeful he is going to be okay. But he’ll have to bowl tomorrow and we’ll see how he pulls up on the morning of the match. If he doesn’t, then we have three other young guys who would love to have the opportunity.”
Two of those young guys, James Pattinson and Mitchell Starc, had a long bowl in the nets. “We like to have guys who are trying to get into the Test side,” Hussey said. “They are charging at you. The intensity of a net session is as good as a match situation. We are trying to create the same intensity and pressure of a match during the net session so that you don’t feel that you are far away from the middle. I had not faced them before – Starc and Pattinson – and I am very impressed. Pattinson reminds me of [Peter] Siddle.”
One of the aspects of the game Australia could work on is not letting the Indian spinners settle. “We could have been more positive in the first innings but they bowled really well,” Hussey said. “In the last session [on the first day] we could have been more positive and taken a couple of more risks.”

Thursday, October 7, 2010

CWG: Vijay, Gurpreet strike gold on Day 4

It is a golden morning again for India on Thursday as shooters Vijay Kumar and Gurpreet Singh bagged the yellow metal in the men’s 25m rapid-fire pistol (pairs) event as they beat the Malaysian challenge by 18 points.

Setting new records, Kumar scored 587 points while Singh scored 575 points to fetch India its 12th gold of the sporting carnival.

This is India’s sixth gold from shooting.

India also won a bronze on the fourth day as the women archers got the better of their Malaysian counterparts 223-219.

India stand second in the medals’ tally now with 26 accolades after Australia with 47.

ICC World ODI Team of the Year announced

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday announced its ODI Team of the Year, as chosen by a specially appointed selection panel chaired by West Indian batting legend Clive Lloyd.

The announcement was made at the LG ICC Awards celebration at the Grand Castle, Bengaluru. Presented in association with FICA, the ICC Awards recognise the best international players of the past 12 months.

Sachin Tendulkar claims People’s Choice Award

India’s Sachin Tendulkar has become the first-ever recipient of the LG People’s Choice Award at the LG ICC Awards in Bengaluru.

Tendulkar was voted to the award by the general public and beat off strong competition for the inaugural award from South Africa’s AB de Villiers, Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardena, Australia’s Michael Hussey and England’s Andrew Strauss.

COMMONWEALTH GAMES - DAY 4 UPDATES


1.40 Somdev on song! He sails into men's singles semifinal with a straight set win over Kiwi chap Rubin
1.30 Time for national anthem. Gold medals being doled out to Indian marksmen Vijay Kumar and Gurpreet Singh
1.20 Scotland's women's hockey team crushes Trinidad and Tobago 6-1
1.10 Canada's Boudreau-Gagnon takes synchronised swimming solo gold
1.05 Medals tally at noon: Australia G 22, S 17 B 10. India G 12 S 8 B 5. England G 7 S 11 B 9

COMMONWEALTH GAMES - DAY 3 UPDATES

chetan_anand_300.jpg
chetan_anand_300.jpg
8: 30 PM- Weightlifter Ravi Kumar wins gold in 69kg category
 
  Kumar won with a record total of 321kg after having set new marks of 146kg in the snatch and 175kg in the clean and jerk.

Defending champion Chinthana Vidanage of Sri Lanka took silver with 308kg while Mohammad Hafifi Mansor of Malaysia claimed bronze with a 306kg total.


5: 50 PM- Sunil Kumar wins bronze in 66 kg
Wrestler Sunil Kumar won the bronze in the Greco-Roman 66 kg category in the Commonwealth Games here Wednesday, defeating B. Hawthorn of Wales 11-0. 

5:25 PM- Rajinder Kumar wins gold in Greco-Roman wrestling in 55 kg category
Indian wrestler Rajender Kumar won the gold in the Greco-Roman 55kg category, defeating Pakistan's A. Hussain 11-0, at the Commonwealth Games here Wednesday.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Narang wins gold, silver for Bindra at CWG

NEW DELHI: World No 3 Gagan Narang, riding on his good form, won gold in the 10m air rifle individual event of the Commonwealth Games, while compatriot Abhinav Bindra settled for a silver at the Karni Singh Shooting Range on Wednesday. 



COMMONWEALTH GAMES - DAY 3 UPDATES

13:13 England's Steve Scott and Stevan Walton got the gold in the men's double trap (pairs). India's pairing of Sodhi and Noria settled for the silver.

13:11 News just filtering that Australia have got another gold in cycling. Australia's Megan Dunn gets the gold in the 25km points race

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

COMMONWEALTH GAMES - DAY 3 UPDATES

India take a 2-0 lead against Wales in the mixed team event.
Back to badminton action in the mixed team event between India and Wales. India takes the first set 21-13.
Jack Bond of Canada is looking really strong in the men's 66 kg wrestling. Comfortably qualifies into the semi-final with a 6-0, 9-0 romp against a Sri Lankan.

COMMONWEALTH GAMES - DAY 2 UPDATES


Restlers Ravinder Singh, Anil Kumar and Sanjay Kumar won gold medals to swell India's medals tally on the second day of the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi on Tuesday.
Ravinder pinned down England's Terence Christopher in the second period after taking a convincing 7-0 lead to win the men's wrestling Greco-Roman 60-kg gold medal. In the very next bout, Sanjay edged past South African Richard Brian 1-0 in the men's wrestling 74-kg Greco-Roman category to take home the second gold medal of the event.
That was followed by Anil Kumar outclassing Hassene Fkiri of Australia 3-0 in the 96-kg Greco-Roman event to make it three out of three gold medals for the hosts.

IND VS AUS 1ST TEST STATISTICS

Mohali: Statistical highlights after the fifth day of India-Australia Test match in Mohali:
·  Sachin Tendulkar, the only player to score 1,000 runs in Test matches this year, is the first batsman to complete 1,000 runs or more in this format of the game in a calendar year six times.
·  Tendulkar’s runs’ tally in 2010 is 1003 at an average of 83.58 in eight Tests. His tally includes five hundreds and three fifties.

IND vs AUS 1st Test Scorecard

Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2010
India vs Australia – 1st Test
Played at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali – Chandigarh, 01-05 October 2010
Result – India beat Australia by 1 wicket
Australia 1st Innings
R
B
4s
6s
SR

Shane Watson
c G Gambhir b Harbhajan Singh
126
338
10
0
37.28


Simon Katich
lbw b Zaheer Khan
6
12
1
0
50.00

Ricky Ponting (C)
run out (Suresh Raina)
71
124
10
0
57.26

Michael Clarke
c R Dravid b Harbhajan Singh
14
39
2
0
35.90

Michael Hussey
lbw b Zaheer Khan
17
76
0
0
22.37

Marcus North
b Zaheer Khan
0
6
0
0
0

Tim Paine (W)
c VVS Laxman b Z Khan
92
196
12
0
46.94

Mitchell Johnson
c MS Dhoni b Z Khan
47
66
5
3
71.21

Nathan Hauritz
c G Gambhir b H Singh
9
21
1
0
42.86

Ben Hilfenhaus
not out
20
38
2
1
52.63

Doug Bollinger
c I Sharma b P Ojha
0
7
0
0
0.00

    Extras
(b 4,lb 9,w 0, nb 13)
26
    Total
(All Out; 151.4 overs)
428
(2.82 runs per over)
Fall of Wickets (Australia) 
1. 13/1 (4.2 ov) Simon Katich, 2. 154/2 (41.4 ov) Ricky Ponting, 3. 172/3 (53.6 ov) Michael Clarke, 4. 218/4 (82.3 ov) Michael Hussey, 5. 222/5 (84.3 ov) Marcus North,6. 275/6 (111.1 ov) Shane Watson, 7. 357/7 (133.1 ov) Mitchell Johnson, 8. 373/8 (137.3 ov) Nathan Hauritz, 9. 427/9 (150.2 ov) Tim Paine, 10. 428/10 (151.4 ov) Doug Bollinger
 Bowling
O
M
R
W
Econ
Zaheer Khan
30
7
94
5
3.13
(nb 1)
Ishant Sharma
11.4
1
71
0
6.09
(nb 10)
Pragyan Ojha
51.4
16
113
1
2.19
(nb 2)
Harbhajan Singh
49
12
114
3
2.33

Virender Singh
9.2
1
23
0
2.46


India 1st Innings
R
B
4s
6s
SR

Gautam Gambhir
lbw b M Johnson
25
41
2
0
112.50

Virender Sehwag
c M Clarke b M Johnson
59
54
10
0
109.26

Rahul Dravid
c Tim Paine b Doug Bollinger
77
134
12
0
57.46

Ishant Sharma
b Doug Bollinger
18
56
3
0
32.14

Sachin Tendulkar
lbw b Marcus North
98
189
13
0
51.85

Suresh Raina
lbw b Mitchell Johnson
86
128
14
0
67.19

MS Dhoni (C)(W)
c S Watson b M Johnson
14
28
1
1
50.00

Harbhajan Singh
c T Paine b M Johnson
0
1
0
0
0.00

Zaheer Khan
b Nathan Hauritz
6
13
1
0
46.15

VVS Laxman
c M Clarke b N Hauritz
2
3
0
0
66.67

Pragyan Ojha
not out
0
3
0
0
0.00

Extras
(b 5,lb 13,w 1, nb 1)
20
Total
(All Out; 108.1 overs)
405
(3.74 runs per over)
Fall of Wickets (India):
1. 81/1 (13.2 ov) Gautam Gambhir (c), 2. 106/2 (19.3 ov) Virender Sehwag, 3. 151/3 (37.3 ov) Ishant Sharma, 4. 230/4 (61.5 ov) Rahul Dravid, 5. 354/5 (95.3 ov) Sachin Tendulkar, 6. 382/6 (101.5 ov) MS Dhoni, 7. 382/7 (101.6 ov) Harbhajan Singh, 8.399/8 (106.4 ov) Zaheer Khan, 9. 401/9 (107.3 ov) Suresh Raina, 10. 405/10 (108.1 ov) VVS Laxman
Bowling
O
M
R
W
Econ
Ben Hilfenhaus
25
2
100
0
4.00
(nb 1)
Doug Bollinger
16
2
49
2
3.06

Mitchell Johnson
20
5
64
5
3.20

Nathan Hauritz
29.1
4
116
2
3.97
(w 1)
Shane Watson
6
0
19
0
3.17

Marcus North
12
3
39
1
3.25


Australia 2nd Innings
R
B
4s
6s
SR

Shane Watson
b Ishant Sharma
56
59
7
1
94.92


Simon Katich
c MS Dhoni b P Ojha
37
118
2
0
31.36

Ricky Ponting (C)
c S Raina b I Sharma
4
4
1
0
100.00

Michael Clarke
c MS Dhoni b I Sharma
4
9
0
0
44.44

Michael Hussey
lbw b Harbhajan Singh
28
72
3
0
38.89

Marcus North
c sub b Harbhajan Singh
10
33
1
0
30.30

Tim Paine (W)
c sub b Pragyan Ojha
9
12
2
0
75.00

Mitchell Johnson
c MS Dhoni b Z Khan
3
7
0
0
42.86

Nathan Hauritz
b Zaheer Khan
9
15
0
0
60.00

Ben Hilfenhaus
b Zaheer Khan
6
29
0
0
20.69

Doug Bollinger
not out
5
12
0
0
41.67

    Extras
(b 12,lb 4,w 0, nb 5)
21
    Total
(All Out; 60.5 overs)
192
(3.16 runs per over)
Fall of Wickets (Australia) 
1. 87/1 (18.1 ov) Shane Watson, 2. 91/2 (18.5 ov) Ricky Ponting, 3. 96/3 (20.5 ov) Michael Clarke, 4. 138/4 (40.3 ov) Simon Katich, 5. 154/5 (47.1 ov) Michael Hussey,6. 165/6 (49.5 ov) Marcus North, 7. 165/7 (50.3 ov) Tim Paine, 8. 170/8 (52.2 ov) Mitchell Johnson, 9. 183/9 (56.6 ov) Nathan Hauritz, 10. 192/10 (60.5 ov) Ben Hilfenhaus
 Bowling
O
M
R
W
Econ
Zaheer Khan
11.5
1
43
3
3.63

Ishant Sharma
9
2
34
3
3.78
(nb 5)
Harbhajan Singh
23
7
40
2
1.74
nbsp;
Pragyan Ojha
17
1
59
2
3.47


India 2nd Innings
R
B
4s
6s
SR

Gautam Gambhir
lbw b Ben Hilfenhaus
0
4
0
0
0.00

Virender Sehwag
c M Hussey b B Hilfenhaus
17
23
2
0
73.91

Rahul Dravid
c T Paine b D Bollinger
13
28
3
0
46.43

Sachin Tendulkar
c M Hussey b D Bollinger
38
64
5
0
59.38

Suresh Raina
c M North b B Hilfenhaus
0
3
0
0
0.00

Zaheer Khan
c Michael Clarke b Nathan Hauritz
10
34
1
0
29.41

VVS Laxman
not out
73
79
8
0
92.41

MS Dhoni (C)(W)
c R Ponting b D Bollinger
2
14
0
0
14.29

Harbhajan Singh
c R Ponting b D Bollinger
2
2
0
0
100.00

Ishant Sharma
lbw b Ben Hilfenhaus
31
92
5
0
33.70

Pragyan Ojha
not out
5
10
1
0
50.00

Extras
(b 10,lb 8,w 6, nb 1)
25
Total
(9 Wickets; 58.4 overs)
216
(3.68 runs per over)
Fall of Wickets (India):
1. 0/1 (0.4 ov) Gautam Gambhir (c), 2. 31/2 (7.4 ov) Rahul Dravid, 3. 48/3 (11.5 ov) Virender Sehwag, 4. 48/4 (13.2 ov) Suresh Raina, 5. 76/5 (23.5 ov) Zaheer Khan, 6.119/6 (29.6 ov) Sachin Tendulkar, 7. 122/7 (33.2 ov) MS Dhoni, 8. 124/8 (33.4 ov) Harbhajan Singh, 9. 205/9 (55.2 ov) Ishant Sharma
Bowling
O
M
R
W
Econ
Ben Hilfenhaus
19
3
57
4
3.00
(nb 1 w 1)
Doug Bollinger
8
0
32
3
4.00
(w 1)
Mitchell Johnson
16.4
2
50
0
3.00

Nathan Hauritz
9
1
45
1
5.00

Marcus North
4
0
8
0
2.00

Shane Watson
2
0
6
0
3.00

Toss - Australia won the toss and elected to BAT.
Teams
Australia: Simon Katich, Shane Watson, Ricky Ponting(c), Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Marcus North, Tim Paine(w), Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Ben Hilfenhaus, Doug Bollinger
India: Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, MS Dhoni(w/c), Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Pragyan Ojha, Ishant Sharma