Jacques Kallis was hailed as a cricketing great by teammate Mark Boucher and opponent Harbhajan Singh on Wednesday.
Sachin Tendulkar and Dale Steyn fought out a titanic battle before India took a two-run first innings lead against South Africa on Tuesday.
South Africa were struggling to save the final Test against India after losing three key wickets in a rain-curtailed fourth day’s play on Wednesday.
After the smoke trails of fireworks have evaporated and the cheerleaders have put away their pompoms, India has begun to question whether its new billion-dollar cricket league is a sign of a nation breaking free of a colonial legacy or just a crass money-making machine.
The Indian cricket board banned off-spinner Harbhajan Singh for five one-day internationals on Wednesday for a slapping incident involving Shanthakumaran Sreesanth during a domestic Twenty20 league match last month. The ban meant the 27-year-old off-spinner will miss the forthcoming tri-series in Bangladesh in June and the start of the Asia Cup in Pakistan.
India spinner Harbhajan Singh has been banned for the remainder of a domestic Twenty20 league after he was found guilty on Monday of slapping compatriot Shanthakumaran Sreesanth. Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner Lalit Modi told a news conference that the cricketer would be fined all of his match fees from the tournament.
A buoyant South Africa will be keen to capitalise on India’s form and fitness worries ahead of Friday’s third and final Test in Kanpur to complete a hat-trick in the subcontinent. The visitors lead 1-0 in the series following their crushing win by an innings and 90 runs in the second Test in Ahmedabad last Saturday after the opening match ended in a draw in Chennai.
AB de Villiers scored a maiden unbeaten double hundred and Jacques Kallis struck his 30th century to put South Africa in the driver’s seat against India in the second Test on Friday. The fifth-wicket pair took their overnight stand to 256 — a South Africa record for any wicket against India, who were out for 76 in the opening session of the match.
South Africa are confident of burying India’s spin threat yet again with a determined batting performance in the second Test starting in Ahmedabad on Thursday. The visitors kept the spin duo of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh at bay in the drawn opening Test in Chennai as they posted 540 in the first innings and 331-5 in the second.
South Africa hold the psychological edge going into the second Test on Thursday against an India team weighed down by major fitness issues. The visitors will look to drive home their confidence of tackling the hosts’ experienced spin bowlers after rallying to draw the first match of the three-Test series, which ended on Sunday.
Opener Neil McKenzie hit an unbeaten 88 for South Africa against a sloppy India as the first Test headed towards a draw on the final day on Sunday. South Africa reached 212 for two in their second innings at lunch, a lead of 125 runs, with the loss of only Hashim Amla’s wicket for a chancy 81 in the session on a flat pitch.
South African Hashim Amla was elated after scoring his first overseas century in the first Test against India on Thursday. Amla’s 159 led the visitors to 540 all out before India reached 82 without loss by the close of the second day. The number three batsman handled the home spinners and the heat for almost seven hours to register his fourth Test century.
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/ 12 February 2008
Sri Lanka hammered India by eight wickets on Tuesday to revive their hopes in the rain-hit tri-series. Set a revised 154 to win from 21 overs, Sri Lanka reached the rain-adjusted target with two overs to spare for their first win of the series. Rain has played havoc with the series, with the first two matches washed out.
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/ 27 January 2008
Australia and India are both hoping history will repeat itself and allow them to conjure a win out of nothing on the last day of the fourth and final Test. The match was evenly poised at the end of the fourth day on Sunday with India leading by just eight runs with nine second innings wickets in hand.
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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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/ 15 January 2008
India are poised to recall Virender Sehwag for the third Test against Australia starting at the Waca on Wednesday as the tourists look to keep the series alive. The dashing opener pushed his claim with a century in the tour match in Canberra at the weekend and captain Anil Kumble said he was almost certain to be picked.
Sachin Tendulkar provided a masterful demonstration of batting to give India an unexpected but fully deserved lead in the second Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday. Tendulkar defied Australia’s bowling attack for almost seven hours, striking 14 boundaries and a six to chalk up his 38th Test hundred.
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/ 30 December 2007
Australian skipper Ricky Ponting says leg-spinner Brad Hogg will be a better and more confident bowler in Wednesday’s second cricket Test against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Hogg, singled out as a weakness by the Indian team before the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, responded with four match wickets.
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/ 5 November 2007
Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh slammed solid half-centuries to guide India to an emphatic five-wicket victory over Pakistan in the first one-day international here on Monday. Skipper Dhoni top-scored with 63 and Yuvraj made 58 as India surpassed Pakistan’s total of 239-7 with 18 balls to spare.
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/ 11 October 2007
Seamer Mitchell Johnson claimed his first five-wicket haul in one-day internationals to lead Australia to a crushing nine-wicket victory over India in the fifth match of the series on Thursday. The 25-year-old took 5-26 in a display of remarkable swing bowling to bundle the hosts out for 148 in 39.4 overs.
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/ 10 October 2007
When Sachin Tendulkar makes his 400th one-day international (ODI) appearance on Thursday against Australia, he will realise fan expectations have not changed since his first match in 1989. Millions of his supporters still want him to showcase the flair and flamboyance that has seen him dominate and demoralise rival attacks during an illustrious 18-year career.
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/ 27 September 2007
Australia captain Ricky Ponting warned Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s celebrating Indians on Thursday that the tourists are determined to start the one-day series on a winning note on Saturday. Ponting said India would be under pressure after lifting the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa and his side had all the resources they needed, despite missing key players.
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/ 14 September 2007
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Pakistani fast-bowler Muhammad Asif stunned a near-capacity crowd of partisan supporters by taking a wicket in each of his four overs in the Twenty20 World Championship cricket match against India at the Sahara Stadium Kingsmead in Durban on Friday, setting up a grand struggle between the two Asian giants.