India overcame the first-ball dismissal of opener Wasim Jaffer to pile up 295-3 on the opening day of the first cricket Test against Bangladesh on Friday. Half-centuries from captain Rahul Dravid, Dinesh Karthick, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly frustrated the hosts on a bone-dry wicket at the Ruhul Amin Stadium that offered no assistance to the bowlers.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni battled leg cramps to hit an unbeaten 91 as India defeated Bangladesh by five wickets in the first game of the three-match series on Thursday. Dhoni and Dinesh Karthick (58 not out) put on a match-winning stand of 107 for the sixth wicket as the tourists, reduced to 144-5 chasing Bangladesh’s 250-7, recovered to win with six balls to spare.
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/ 18 January 2007
Poor form has ended sporting careers or at least forced a relegation to the bench. In Sachin Tendulkar’s case, it has led to a promotion. Tendulkar (33) will be vice-captain to skipper Rahul Dravid for the one-day series against the West Indies amid speculation that he may even be named Indian captain after the World Cup.
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/ 7 November 2006
The International Cricket Council has paved the way for securing a billion-dollar marketing deal after ending a dispute with its commercial powerhouse India. The board of control for cricket in India not only agreed to sign up with the ICC for major events for the next eight years but also withdrew a controversial move to bid for the sport’s global TV and marketing rights.
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/ 31 October 2006
Australia captain Ricky Ponting has urged his team to go flat out to make their first Champions Trophy final when they clash with New Zealand in Wednesday’s semifinal. ”There are no excuses now for us,” Ponting said ahead of the day-night clash against their trans-Tasman rivals at the Punjab Cricket Association stadium.
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/ 30 October 2006
Veterans Anil Kumble and Zaheer Khan were on Monday recalled to the under-performing Indian team for five one-day internationals in South Africa next month. Leg-spinner Kumble (36) has not been considered for limited-overs cricket since August, 2005, despite being the most successful Indian bowler in both forms of the game with 533 Test and 329 one-day wickets.
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/ 27 October 2006
Makhaya Ntini grabbed 5-21 as South Africa conjured a great escape to advance to the Champions Trophy semifinals with a dramatic 124-run win over Pakistan on Friday. The Proteas recovered from a disastrous 42-5 within the first hour to post 213-8 before Pakistan were themselves reduced to 27-6 and bowled out for 89 in the eventful day-night international.
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/ 26 October 2006
Confident South Africa clash with mercurial Pakistan in an explosive Champions Trophy match on Friday that will take the winner into the semifinals and send the loser home. New Zealand’s win over Pakistan on Wednesday night gave Stephen Fleming’s Black Caps one of the two semifinal berths from Group B, leaving South Africa and Pakistan to scrap for the other spot.
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/ 16 October 2006
New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming led from the front as the Black Caps snatched a dramatic 87-run victory over South Africa in the Champions Trophy on Monday. New Zealand, bowled out for 195 after being given first strike in the day-night international, fought back to dismiss the powerful Proteas for 108 in the most absorbing match of the tournament so far.
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/ 11 October 2006
South Africa’s Champions Trophy squad threw a security blanket around Herschelle Gibbs after he arrived in India on Wednesday to be probed for match-fixing allegations. Gibbs arrived in the western metropolis of Mumbai where the South Africans are based for the 10-nation tournament and was promptly whisked away to the team hotel to avoid the media stationed at the airport.