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/ 27 January 2008
Australian captain Ricky Ponting equalled Sunil Gavaskar by notching up his 34th Test century on the fourth day of the fourth Test against India on Sunday. But retiring wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist fell cheaply in what is likely to be his last Test innings as the home side went to tea at 509 for six.
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/ 25 January 2008
Captain Anil Kumble fell short of a second Test century as India’s tail wagged strongly to help the tourists post a big score in the fourth Test against Australia on Friday. After winning the toss and electing to bat, India were dismissed for an imposing 526 just after tea on the second day, Sachin Tendulkar top-scoring with a majestic 153.
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/ 25 January 2008
Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh completed half-centuries as India’s tailenders piled on the runs in the fourth and final against Australia on Friday. Kumble crafted an unbeaten 86 over more than four hours while Harbhajan blasted a quick 63 as India reached 525 for nine in their first innings when tea was taken.
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/ 18 January 2008
Australia were battling to avoid their first defeat since the 2005 Ashes series after India seized control of the third Test in Perth on Friday. The Indians piled on 294 in their second innings to set Australia a near-impossible target of 413 to win, then picked up two early wickets to leave the home team in deep trouble when play ended on the third day.
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/ 17 January 2008
Australia’s bid to break their own world record for consecutive Test wins was on shaky ground on Thursday after their batting collapsed on a dramatic second day of the third Test against India in Perth. India bowled the Australians out for 212 in 50 overs and then added 52 runs for the loss of one wicket, reaching stumps with an overall lead of 170.
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/ 16 January 2008
India’s master batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid made half-centuries before Australia fought back with a flurry of wickets on an absorbing opening day of the third Test on Wednesday. Dravid top scored with 93 while Tendulkar made 71 after steering the tourists out of trouble early on to reach stumps on 297-6 in their first innings.
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/ 15 January 2008
Embattled cricket umpire Steve Bucknor expressed disappointment on Monday in being sent home from the Test series between India and Australia. Bucknor said he was ”disappointed that I am not continuing the tour between Australia and India, in Australia. But I respect the International Cricket Council’s authority in the matter.”
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/ 10 January 2008
India’s cricketers arrived in Canberra on Wednesday hoping to put the drama of the past week behind them and resume playing after being cleared to continue their troubled tour of Australia. The tour was suspended for two days when the Indian board ordered the players to remain in Sydney.
India resumed its cricket tour of Australia on Wednesday, arriving in Canberra two days behind schedule after the International Cricket Council brokered a peace settlement. The Indians are in the Australian capital for Thursday’s tour match against an Australian Capital Territory XI.
India’s cricket tour of Australia will go ahead as scheduled despite racism and umpiring rows, the Indian cricket board announced on Tuesday. ”The working committee of the Indian board took note of all relevant circumstances and developments and decided that Indian team’s tour to Australia should continue for the present,” the board said.
West Indian umpire Steve Bucknor has been dropped for next week’s third Test between Australia and India, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Tuesday. ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed told a news conference that New Zealand umpire Billy Bowden would stand in the West Indian’s place.
International cricket officials were on Monday night locked in intense negotiations to try to resurrect India’s tour of Australia after allegations of racism against one of the tourists’ leading players threatened to plunge the game into crisis. The Australians allege that Singh called Symonds a ”monkey” in a heated exchange during the second Test in Sydney.
Australia captain Ricky Ponting has been urged to hold peace talks with Indian skipper Anil Kumble to try and resolve the escalating crisis between their teams. Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland wants the rival captains to hold a private meeting to avert any threat of the tour being cancelled as tensions threaten to boil over.
Australia beat India by 122 runs in an amazing finish to the second test on Sunday to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and equal their own world record of 16 successive victories. Part-time spinner Michael Clarke captured three wickets in five deliveries to wrap up an incredible victory with just seven balls remaining after India looked to have done enough to salvage a draw.
Matthew Hayden scored his second century of the series on Saturday to equal Don Bradman’s career tally of 29 Test hundreds and provide Australia with a glimmer of hope of pressing ahead for victory over India in the second Test. The left-handed opener hit a stylish 123 to guide Australia to 282-4 at stumps in their second innings.
India spinner Harbhajan Singh faces a charge of racial abuse against Australian player Andrew Symonds under the International Cricket Council’s code of conduct, the ICC said on Saturday. The citing follows an alleged incident during Friday’s third day of the second Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid evoked memories of two of India’s greatest comebacks with a scintillating 175-run partnership in the second Test against Australia on Thursday. Laxman smashed 109 and Dravid a watchful 53 to guide the tourists out of immediate danger to 216-3 at stumps on the second day at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Andrew Symonds smashed a breathtaking century in a record partnership with Brad Hogg to put Australia in control of the second Test against India on Wednesday. The powerful all-rounder demolished India’s bowling attack with an unbeaten 137 after Hogg made a vital 79 to steer Australia out of danger to 376-7 at stumps on the first day.
Australian Skipper Ricky Ponting says there is more pressure on India to win Wednesday’s second cricket Test than on his team to equal the record of most consecutive Test victories. Ponting on Tuesday had the luxury of naming an unchanged 12 for the second match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.
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/ 31 December 2007
Several Australian players may withdraw from next year’s tour to Pakistan even if Cricket Australia’s security team gives a positive account after its February pre-tour inspection, according to reports on Monday. The assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and subsequent unrest have placed a question mark over the tour.
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/ 29 December 2007
Australia thrashed India by 337 runs to win the opening Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series on the fourth day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday. The Australians claimed their 15th consecutive Test victory and will look to equal their world record of 16 wins set from October 1999 to February 2001 in next week’s second Test.
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/ 28 December 2007
India will have to do what no other Test team has done before to come from behind and win the first cricket Test after Australia set them an historic run chase at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday. The Australians offered the Indians 499 runs to win with two days left after declaring their second innings at 351-7 late on the third day.
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/ 23 December 2007
Fans at Australia’s first Test against India could be banned from the Melbourne Cricket Ground for life if they are found to be involved in racial taunting of players and other fans, Cricket Australia said on Sunday. Anyone caught doing so by undercover surveillance officers would be ejected from the ground and face further action.
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/ 19 December 2007
Australia’s bowlers backed up captain Ricky Ponting’s second successive one-day international century to lead their side to a 114-run win and series victory against New Zealand in Hobart on Thursday. Ponting, who made 107 not out in Australia’s seven-wicket victory in the first game in Adelaide, struck an unbeaten 134.
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/ 14 December 2007
Ricky Ponting scored his 24th one-day 100 and Adam Gilchrist clubbed a ferocious half-century to steer Australia to a convincing seven-wicket win over New Zealand in the opening Chappell Hadlee Trophy series game in Adelaide on Friday. Skipper Ponting cruised to an unbeaten 107 off 108 balls with 13 boundaries to glide Australia home to victory.
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/ 18 November 2007
Twenty20 cricket will place higher physical demands and mental toughness on players than one-day cricket did when it began in the 1970s, according to former Australian skipper Greg Chappell. Chappell, who quit as India coach in March following their one-day World Cup debacle, is back in the country to head an academy for players discovered on a nationwide talent contest.
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/ 17 November 2007
Adam Gilchrist became the first player to smash a 100 sixes in Test cricket in a brutal display of power hitting that put Australia in control of the second Test against Sri Lanka on Saturday. Gilchrist clubbed three massive sixes, including two in succession off Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, to blaze his way to an unbeaten 67.
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/ 14 November 2007
Former Australian cricket captain Greg Chappell believes he was subjected to a racist attack while coaching India and that the authorities there tried to cover it up. He makes the charge in a documentary about his troubled two-year stint as India coach which is to be shown on national television next week.
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/ 29 October 2007
Australian cricket umpire Simon Taufel says that when on-field sledging becomes personal, he’ll step in to ensure the situation doesn’t escalate. Otherwise, don’t bore him with the same old comments. Taufel, voted cricket’s best international umpire for the past four years, will officiate in the Pakistan-India series next month.
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/ 20 October 2007
Unprecedented crowd control measures have been put in place for Australia’s Twenty20 international against India in Mumbai on Saturday after recent incidents of racist behaviour by spectators. Mumbai police have installed nearly a dozen close circuit televisions at the Brabourne stadium to monitor the crowd and spot culprits if there are any.
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/ 19 October 2007
A racism row has refused to go away in India where fans repeatedly taunted Australia’s only black player, tarnishing the country’s sporting image. Andrew Symonds was subjected to monkey chants from the crowd during the fifth game of seven in the India-Australia one-day series and booed and mocked in the final game in Mumbai on Wednesday.
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/ 12 October 2007
South African all-rounder Vernon Philander and assistant coach Vincent Barnes were racially abused with monkey chants during the second Test against Pakistan on Friday, officials said. Police removed about a dozen spectators, mostly school students, from the stadium during the match in Lahore after complaints from the South African team, officials said.