Indian openers Virender Sehwag and Wasim Jaffer gave South Africa a dose of their own medicine with an unbroken 176-run stand in the first cricket Test in Chennai on Friday. India, kept in the field for over five sessions as South Africa piled up 540 in their first innings, hit back in style on a barren wicket.
India made a confident reply to South Africa’s record 540 in the first cricket Test, reaching 82 without loss by stumps on the second day on Thursday. Virender Sehwag smashed a typically aggressive 52 and Wasim Jaffer chipped in with 25 as the Indian openers emerged unscathed from the 21 overs they faced before close.
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.
South Africa’s Hashim Amla stroked his second-highest Test score of 159 to put his team in command on day two of the first Test against India on Thursday. Amla, who reached his fourth hundred before lunch, was run out following a mix-up with Mark Boucher but the tourists piled on the runs to reach 501-6 at tea.
Hashim Amla stroked his fourth century to power South Africa to 404-5 at lunch on the second day of the first Test against India on Thursday. The 24-year-old lashed three fours in a row against paceman Shanthakumaran Sreesanth to reach triple figures and was unbeaten on 124 at the interval as the tourists built on a good start. Mark Boucher was 26 not out.
South Africa revelled in good batting conditions to pile up 304-4 on the opening day of the first cricket Test against India on Wednesday. Neil McKenzie (94), skipper Graeme Smith (73) and Hashim Amla (85 not out) laid the foundation for a big total as the Indian bowlers toiled in oppressive weather and an unresponsive wicket at the Chidambaram Stadium.
India’s Tata Motors said on Wednesday it had bought British luxury icons Jaguar and Land Rover from struggling United States carmaker Ford for $2,3-billion as it expands its global reach. The all-cash deal is part of Tata’s efforts to grow outside Asia, but analysts have questioned how the Indian firm will absorb the two high-end marques into its operations.
Graeme Smith and Neil McKenzie continued their brilliant form to hand South Africa an impressive start in the first cricket Test against India on Wednesday. The openers batted through the morning session of the first day to put on 109 by lunch at the Chidambaram stadium after Smith won the toss and took first strike on a placid wicket.
South Africa captain Graeme Smith on Tuesday voiced confidence his team can ”do the job” against India despite arriving with only 13 players. The tourists have been badly hit by the race selection row while left-arm spinner Robin Peterson has delayed his arrival due to personal reasons. The three-Test series starts on Wednesday.
The key to retaining his vein of good form in India will be consistency, South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn said on Monday. The 24-year-old is on a hot streak after grabbing 14 wickets in the 2-0 rout of Bangladesh this month, becoming the quickest South African to reach the 100-wicket mark.
Graeme Smith’s South Africa will have two close friends and compatriots plotting their downfall when they begin a three-Test series against India in Chennai on Wednesday. Former Proteas batsman Gary Kirsten starts his two-year stint as India’s chief coach, and India’s support staff also includes another South African, Paddy Upton.
When the Dalai Lama sat down on Saturday with Richard Gere and Robert Thurman, father of actor Uma and a United States professor of Buddhism, it was supposed to be for a few hours contemplating sacred art and silent meditation. But like almost everything the 72-year-old does, who he meets and what he says are picked over and pulled apart.
The people of Mizoram, a tiny, remote state of north-east India, have known for the past 48 years that they would face famine in 2008. Confirmation came last November when the local species of bamboo that dominates the state’s landscape began to burst into flower. A plague of rats rapidly followed.
South Africa are confident they will put their selection problems behind them during Test series in India, skipper Graeme Smith said on Saturday. The tourists arrived for the three-Test series amid a storm or controversy following the omission of paceman Andre Nel to fulfil the team’s quota of black players.
A South African woman has accused Indian peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo of raping her while on leave, a media report said on Tuesday. SA police detained three Indian army officers working with United Nations peacekeeping forces in the Central African nation on March 12.
Indian media on Wednesday rewarded the cricket team’s conquest of world champions Australia with front page banner headlines, celebrating a victorious end to an acrimonious tour. ”Triumph against all Oz” screamed the mass-selling Hindustan Times a day after the young Indian team completed a 2-0 whitewash of Australia.
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/ 27 February 2008
India’s new cricket coach Gary Kirsten said on Wednesday he was impressed with the team’s aggressive attitude despite controversies on their ongoing tour of Australia. ”What I like about Indian cricket as a whole now, and especially about the young players, is that they are ready to accept the battle,” said the former South African batsman, who officially takes over as coach next month.
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/ 25 February 2008
West Indies all-rounder Marlon Samuels has been suspended from bowling in international cricket with immediate effect due to an illegal action, the International Cricket Council said on Monday. The Jamaican, an occasional off-spinner, was reported for a suspected illegal bowling action during the third Test match between South Africa and West Indies.
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/ 20 February 2008
Young girls and their mothers huddle under shawls in the central reservation of one of Patna’s main streets, picking through trash for grimy metal scraps that might earn them 20 rupees (sh,50) a day. Buses and auto-rickshaws belt out black fumes beside them on the congested, muddy street and dogs pick through huge piles of garbage by the roadside as men urinate at their side.
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/ 11 February 2008
Two tournaments and two top-10 finishes to start the season have buoyed Ernie Els as he switches his focus to the United States in preparation for the Masters at Augusta in April. The world number four recovered from a horror nine at the 18th in his first round at the inaugural Indian Masters to end tied sixth.
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/ 10 February 2008
SSP Chowrasia claimed the biggest prize of his career by winning the Indian Masters on Sunday, holding off Ireland’s Damien McGrane for a two-stroke victory. Nicknamed ”Chipputtsia” due to his superb short game, Chowrasia was running hot in perfect conditions at the Delhi Golf Club, sinking four birdies in his opening seven holes.
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/ 10 February 2008
World golfing number four Ernie Els has been there and done that, and a "lucky" R5 coin has accompanied him throughout his golfing exploits on the world stage. The big South African revealed a superstitious side to his game during a clinic at the driving range on the sidelines of the Indian Masters.
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/ 9 February 2008
Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin grabbed a one-shot lead at a blustery Indian Masters on Saturday, with Ernie Els lurking dangerously four behind after posting the best score of the day. Jacquelin, who last tasted a European Tour victory at the BMW Asian Open in Shanghai last April, mixed an eagle and a birdie with three bogeys for an even par 72 on a day that saw the lead see-saw.
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/ 9 February 2008
Twenty people were killed by avalanches and 15 others were missing in Indian Kashmir as the heaviest snowfall in recent years brought the Himalayan region to a standstill, officials said on Saturday. More than 300 people have been rescued from avalanche-hit areas, while many villages remained inaccessible, police said.
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/ 8 February 2008
Northern Ireland’s Damien McGrane stroked a majestic 69 to take a two-shot lead at the Indian Masters on Friday as Ernie Els made amends for his disastrous opening round to scrape through the cut. Another Irishman, Graeme McDowell, who finished fifth behind Tiger Woods in Dubai on Sunday, shares second place with South Africa’s Hendrik Buhrmann.
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/ 7 February 2008
Ernie Els shot a horror quadruple bogey to lag 10 behind leader Jyoti Randhawa at the inaugural Indian Masters on Thursday, with the local star eagling the last for a two-shot lead. Irishman Damien McGrane played two rounds with Tiger Woods at the Dubai Desert Classic last week and the world number one’s magic clearly rubbed off as he fired a 67 to lie second.
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/ 6 February 2008
The Asian Tour’s elite have Ernie Els in their sights at the Indian Masters this week, looking to pile more misery on the South African after his defeat to Tiger Woods in Dubai. The world number four leads the cast at the ,5-million tournament that marks the European Tour’s debut in a country where the sport is booming.
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/ 5 February 2008
Ernie Els says his agonising loss to Tiger Woods in Dubai on Sunday is history and he is fully focused on etching his name on the inaugural Indian Masters trophy this week. The world number four started the final day at the Dubai Desert Classic four ahead of Woods but his approach to the green on the 18th went in the water and it cost him the tournament.
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/ 5 February 2008
Golf is among the fastest growing sports in India and the movers and shakers of the Asian and European Tours see huge potential to cash in. This week, the country becomes the 37th destination visited by the European Tour, which has spread its wings to co-sanction the Indian Masters with the Asian Tour.
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/ 2 February 2008
A third undersea internet cable has been damaged in the Middle East, adding to the disruption in online services after two other lines were cut earlier this week, the cable operating firm said. The Falcon cable was cut 56km from Dubai, between Oman and the United Arab Emirates.
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/ 29 January 2008
India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has been cleared of racial-abuse charges at a hearing in Australia, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said on Tuesday. ”He has been cleared — the racial charge has been dropped against him,” BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said.
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/ 29 January 2008
India will abandon the tour of Australia if spinner Harbhajan Singh is not cleared of racial abuse charges, a top Indian official said on Tuesday. Harbhajan was handed a three-Test ban by match referee Mike Procter after being found guilty of racially abusing Australia’s Andrew Symonds during the acrimonious Sydney Test earlier this month.