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Indo American News • Friday, October 08 , 2010
sports
Laxman’s Heroic Stand Despite Back Injury MOHALI imagine such an (Cricinfo): MS ending in fourDhoni hailed and-a-half days the duo of VVS when the match Laxman and started.” Ishant SharIndia’s tarma for their get of 216 was match-winning not the most stand of 81 that intimidating helped India but Australia’s fight back after fast bowlers being reduced hit back on the to a seemingly fourth evening hopeless 124 to limit India for 8. Laxman to 55 for 4, and played a decontinued to cisive role in make steady guiding India inroads on the to a second final day to successive win leave the hosts while chasing, VVS Laxman, Suresh Raina and Pragyan Ojha come together in an reeling. Ponfollowing up embrace moments after sealing victory, India v Australia, 1st Test. ting rued the his unbeaten unavailability a niggle that forced him to drop century against of Doug BolSri Lanka at the P Sara Oval with down the order in the first innings linger - who had to leave the field 73, also undefeated, to seal a one- and bat with a runner in the sec- with abdominal stiffness - against wicket win and spark off wild cel- ond. He was supported admirably the lower order. “We failed to take by Ishant, who scored a deter- a couple of wickets quickly,” he ebrations. “VVS was really remarkable in mined 31 to revive India’s hopes said. “Bollinger’s injury probably this match. He helped the team after Australia’s seamers had put didn’t help us there; we needed a overcome a batting collapse. Lax- their team in sight of a win. “Is- fresh bowler to give it a shake but man remained at the crease, hit hant showed good character when that’s the game. “Full credit to Inboundaries, rotated the strike and the batting collapse took place. It dia; they outplayed us today. We kept the scoreboard moving all the was no doubt a big task. Only two- tried our best. It was satisfying eftime,” Dhoni said after the match. three batsmen remained and Lax- fort from the boys. I told them to “For me, it was a very special in- man was on the other end. But they just take the scorecard out of the supported Laxman well and that mind. The partnership between Isnings by Laxman.” Laxman’s performance stood worked for us,” Dhoni said. “Our hant and Laxman was great and it out as he played with a sore back, heart rate went up. Nobody could made the difference.”
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CWG 2010: India Piles Golds NEW DELHI (HT): Five times in all on Tuesday, the tricolour was raised and the national anthem rang out from stadiums at opposite ends of Delhi. From the Karni Singh Ranges to the K D Jadhav wrestling arena at the Indira Gandhi Stadium — where the shooting and wrestling events were held, respectively — the news of India picking up five golds in a day reverberated across the city, drowning out even the applause over India’s dramatic first Test win against Australia in Mohali. It was a rare great day for Indian sport. Monday may have been a tale of missed chances, with weightlifters falling short of marks they had earlier set and having to stay content with silver and bronze medals, but Tuesday was nothing short of spectacular. It started with Gagan Narang and Abhinav Bindra, India’s top marksmen, blowing away the
competition with their sublime shooting. The duo won the country’s first gold in the 10m rifle (pairs) event. They scored 1193, surpassing their own Games record set four years ago in Melbourne. Not to be left behind, the little known women’s pair of Anisa Sayyed and Rahi Sarnobat added another gold to the kitty. They fought off the Australian challenge, coming through with a total score of 1156, another Games record. The icing on the cake at the ranges: two more silvers for India, leaving the opposition gasping for breath. Where the shooters left off, the grapplers began their date with history. Looking for a perfect score, all three Indians in action on the first day of the Greco-Roman wrestling event sailed into the finals. It was then a matter of how many golds and how many silvers.
“We Were Wary of Laxman.”: Ricky Ponting MOHALI: Australia’s bowlers had been wary of VVS Laxman, despite his bad back, going into the fifth day at Mohali, Ricky Ponting has said. “Just having some dinner last night with a few guys I was sitting with, I really felt that [we should beware] the wounded player [Laxman], and batting down the order I felt he would make a big contribution today,” Ponting said. “I was trying to make sure that we weren’t thinking they were going to be a batsman down again in the second innings and get too carried away.” Laxman batted at No. 10 in the first innings and sat out the
fourth morning as Australia set India a target. He could not bat at his usual No. 6 position on the fourth evening as India’s chase ran into rough weather. The Indian team said he would bat on the last day if required, and he walked out at the fall of the nightwatchman Zaheer Khan. Laxman stood tall as India lost wickets and guided the tail to victory. “Even with that [bad back] today he showed what sort of class player he is,” Ponting said. “He has been a bit of a thorn in our side there’s no doubt about that, I guess him and Sachin [Tendulkar] would be the two who’ve done the most damage over the years, a couple of
guys who’ve played a lot against us and have got good records against us. I hope his back’s pretty sore for next week as well and he can’t play.” The match was marred by some questionable umpiring decisions. Michael Hussey and Gautam Gambhir got rough calls on the fourth day, while Ishant Sharma was sent on his way today with the game in the balance, before the lbw appeal against Ojha. After a match of such close margins, Ponting reaffirmed his faith in the UDRS, the use of which had been refused by India at the start of this series.
Indian winners included grapplers Ravinder Singh (60 kg), Sanjay (74 kg) and Anil Kumar (96 kg).
Shakib Knocks Down New Zealand
DHAKA: Bangladesh rode on an outstanding all-round performance from Shakib Al Hasan to beat New Zealand by nine runs in Mirpur, making Daniel Vettori’s pre-match comments about his ability seem almost clairvoyant. Shakib was scintillating with the bat in the latter part of Bangladesh’s innings, unleashing a range of shots in the batting Powerplay to lift Bangladesh to a competitive 229. He
then tormented the visitors with the ball, scalping four invaluable wickets including a double-strike in the 15th over to remove the rampant Brendon McCullum and Grant Elliott. He then returned to bowl a brilliant penultimate over in the rain-curtailed run chase, giving away just three runs and claiming the wicket of Nathan McCullum to give his side an unexpected 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, OctoBER 08 , 2010 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM