Cricket News

The Indian Olympic Association's ambition to send a cricket team to take part in a Twenty20 tournament that is part of the South Asian Games is set to go unfulfilled as the Board of Control for Cricket in India has no interest in pursuing the matter.

Last time India played a Test at the Sardar Patel stadium, curator Dhiraj Parsana drew flak from the team for leaving a green cover on the wicket that resulted in disaster for the home team.

There was only one team that had a chance to win on the final day. And the Indians were well aware that it wasn?t them. With the Sardar Patel stadium pitch showing no signs of wear and tear, the only point of interest was whether the batsmen would show the required application to see the day through.

It was a match that promised a lot. Its opening day had all those dramatic twists and turns which make Test cricket such a fascinating spectacle to watch. First, wickets got knocked out of the ground as batsmen succumbed to the seam and movement of the ball and their own indiscretions. Then, we watched an awesome counterattack which restored the balance in favour of the batsmen.

The Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) is taking no chances when it comes to pitch preparation, ahead of India?s second Test against Sri Lanka that begins in Kanpur on the 24th.

Debutant spinner Harmeet Singh?s brilliant spell of 3/38 spelt doom for Himachal as the visitors sleepwalked to defeat against Mumbai on Friday.

With a draw looming large, the final day?s play of this Ranji Trophy Super League encounter between UP and Baroda was reduced to academic interest only. The Baroda batsmen ensured there were no hiccups and managed to bat almost the entire day to negate Uttar Pradesh?s attempts at bowling them out cheaply.

It has been a discouraging period for spinners in India. Over the last two weeks, it's not their flight or guile but the legality of their actions and the degrees of their arms while bowling that have been under the spotlight. The BCCI has taken a stern view of the chucking issue this season, and if ever spin in India required an antidote it was now.

UP pull out a draw
Ghaziabad: Connor Williams and Rakesh Solanki performed the rescue act with a 103 run partnership, resuming on the final day on 60/3. Williams scored 96 and later Yusuf Pathan unleashed an array of unorthodox strokes in his innings of 78 — an inside out six past long-off, a short arm jab of the backfoot into the sightscreen and finally a slog scoop down fine-leg's throat.

Had India not lost four wickets in the opening hour on the first day here in Ahmedabad, chances are this Test match would have fallen asleep long before lunch on the fifth day, and both captains admitted that there was little they could have done to get a result on the surface.

Half an hour into the second session, the man with the most runs in international cricket — 30,065 as you're reading this — was at the crease; all straight lines, head still, bat steady.

Rain washed out the first one-day international between South Africa and England without a ball being bowled on Friday.

New Delhi, Nov 20 (IANS) Tamil Nadu crushed Punjab by an innings and 45 runs on the fourth and the last day of the Ranji Trophy Super League match at Amritsar Friday.

Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara rued a lost opportunity early in the first test after India escaped with a draw on a flat pitch on Friday.

Ahmedabad, Nov 20 (IANS) Teenaged Abhijit Chadha won his maiden title on the amateur circuit by three shots at the inaugural LG Gujarat Open at the par-72 Kensville Golf Club here Friday.

Ahmedabad, Nov 20 (IANS) After a match-saving performance by the batsmen in the first Test, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni Friday said the series against Sri Lanka will be a close one.

Hyderabad, Nov 20 (IANS) A rock concert in the neighbouring hall at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre caused the rescheduling of the ONGC-IBSF World Snooker championship as it would have unduely disturbed the players.

Ahmedabad, Nov 20 (IANS) Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar Friday hit match-saving centuries as India drew the first cricket Test, leaving Sri Lanka still without a Test victory in this country.

Ahmedabad, Nov 20 (IANS) Sachin Tendulkar reached another milestone Friday when he completed 30,000 runs in international cricket en route his century on the last day of the first Test against Sri Lanka here.

Melbourne, Nov.20 (ANI): One of the best-known names in world sport, the late Don Bradman, was formally inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame at the Bradman Oration at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday.