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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/ 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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/ 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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/ 27 December 2007
Australia took a firm grip on the first Test after Stuart Clark and Brett Lee produced a sustained period of hostile and controlled pace bowling to bowl India out for 196 late on the second day on Thursday. Clark, who finished with an outstanding 4-28 off 15 overs, captured the valuable wickets of Sachin Tendulkar (62) and Rahul Dravid (four).
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/ 26 December 2007
Stuart Clark struck a body blow for Australia with two wickets, including the crucial wicket of Sachin Tendulkar, just before tea to leave India struggling at 122 for five on the second day of the first Test on Thursday. Tendulkar, who with Saurav Ganguly had been rebuilding India’s innings from 55 for three, chopped a delivery from Clark onto his stumps to be dismissed for 62.
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/ 22 December 2007
Opener Alastair Cook hit a defiant century before rain washed out the last session to help England draw the final cricket Test against Sri Lanka in Galle on Saturday. Left-handed Cook made 118 as England groped to 251-6 in their second innings when a heavy downpour ruined Sri Lanka’s hopes of victory.
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/ 8 December 2007
Yuvraj Singh and Sourav Ganguly hammered explosive centuries to lead India’s fightback in the third and final Test against Pakistan in Bangalore on Saturday. Yuvraj celebrated his comeback with a career-best 169 and Ganguly scored a fluent unbeaten 125 as an injury-hit India recovered from a horror morning session.
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/ 5 December 2007
Former India players and cricket lovers have expressed reservations over the appointment of former South Africa batting stalwart Gary Kirsten as new coach of the national team. The 40-year-old former opener, a prolific scorer who played 101 Tests until his retirement in 2004, is to take over as the new coach for a two-year term.
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/ 30 November 2007
Wasim Jaffer’s unbeaten 192 steered India to a commanding 352-3 at stumps on the first day of the second Test against Pakistan on Friday. Opener Jaffer shared in two century partnerships to lay the foundations for an imposing total after the hosts chose to bat on a benign Eden Gardens pitch.
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/ 28 November 2007
Pakistan’s hopes of avoiding their first series loss in India in more than two decades suffered a setback following injuries and illness to key players ahead of Friday’s second Test in Kolkata. Pakistan were sweating over the fitness of paceman Shoaib Akhtar who was hospitalised on Tuesday due to a chest infection.
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/ 26 November 2007
Indian skipper Anil Kumble was delighted by the relentless pressure his team placed on Pakistan during their six-wicket victory in the first test on Monday. India eased to their fourth innings target of 203 on the final morning after dismissing Pakistan for below 250 in both innings at the Ferozshah Kotla ground.
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/ 23 November 2007
Venkatsai Laxman and Mahendra Singh Dhoni cracked responsible half-centuries to pull India out of trouble in the opening Test against Pakistan on Friday. The hosts had slipped from 71-1 to 93-5 in the space of seven overs before Dhoni (57) counter-attacked to put on 115 for the sixth wicket with Laxman on a day of fluctuating fortunes.
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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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/ 5 November 2007
Mohammad Yousuf and Salman Butt hit half-centuries to help Pakistan reach a competitive 239-7 in the opening one-day international against India on Monday. Middle-order batsman Yousuf, dropped on 10, top-scored with an unbeaten 83 while left-handed opener Butt hit a brisk 50 in his comeback match.
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/ 28 October 2007
An All Stars team containing some of the greatest names in world cricket was beaten in the final of the Hong Kong Sixes on Sunday by a team of little-known Sri Lankans. Over two days of carnival cricket, the All Stars — featuring captain Shane Warne, Brian Lara, Glenn McGrath and Anil Kumble — had produced explosive cricket.
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/ 27 October 2007
Cricketing greats Shane Warne, Brian Lara and Glenn McGrath on Saturday starred on the opening day of the Hong Kong Sixes — one of the sport’s most colourful tournaments. They led an All-Stars team competing in a weekend of quick-fire matches with innings of only five overs a side — a format that demands non-stop boundaries from the batsmen.
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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.
Skipper Graeme Smith and four other South Africans are among 10 current internationals to have signed up for the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) to be played next year, organisers said on Tuesday. Building on the national team’s Twenty20 World Cup triumph, the Indian cricket board is to launch its own multimillion-dollar professional Twenty20 league.
A Mahendra Singh Dhoni-inspired India stunned Australia with a thrilling eight-run win in the fourth one-dayer on Monday, throwing the series wide open. Chasing India’s challenging 291-4, Australia made 283-7 to allow India to pull one back in the seven-match series and reduce the margin to 2-1. The first game was abandoned due to rain.
For a man who burst on to the international cricket scene by playing some eye-catching knocks in Pakistan’s 1992 World Cup win, it is unfortunate that Inzamam-ul-Haq should be associated with the team’s dismal performance in this year’s event.
Australia overcame a century by Yuvraj Singh to defeat India by 47 runs in the third limited-overs international on Friday in the southern city of Hyderabad. Having set a target of 291 for India, Australia bowled the home team out for 243 thanks to paceman Brett Lee (3-37) and spinner Brad Hogg (3-46). Australia went 2-0 up in the seven-match series, with the opening match abandoned.
Andrew Symonds and Brad Haddin powered to 87 runs apiece to help Australia outplay India by 84 runs in the second one-dayer on Tuesday, avenging last month’s surprise Twenty20 World Championship semifinal defeat. Australia amassed 306-6 after being asked to bat first in their first full one-dayer since their return from a long break after winning a World Cup hat-trick in April.
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/ 28 September 2007
Let’s not talk about Jacques Kallis, shall we? Controversies around non-selection are the most boring aspect of sporting discourse and rarely confront real problems. Besides, the batsman’s reputation is glowing thanks to his omission: by not being picked, he was saved from two-stepping Sreesanth, trying to glide a Yorker to third man, and being bowled for three.
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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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/ 18 September 2007
Indian selectors appointed wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni as one-day international (ODI) captain on Tuesday after Rahul Dravid abruptly quit the job last week. ”Dhoni has been appointed the captain for the upcoming one-day series against Pakistan and Australia,” board secretary Niranjan Shah told a news conference after a selection meeting.
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/ 6 September 2007
India captain Rahul Dravid is targeting a series victory after his side levelled the seven-match NatWest series against England 3-3 at the Oval on Wednesday. A week ago, India were 3-1 down, but Dravid insists his side were never downhearted. ”We still felt we could win,” he said.
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/ 5 September 2007
India go to the Twenty20 World Championships in South Africa hoping to mould a limited-overs team for the future as time ticks away for their ageing superstars. India are bracing for the time when the brilliant trio of Sachin Tendulkar (34), Sourav Ganguly (35) and Rahul Dravid (34) end their careers at almost the same time to leave a big void in the national team.
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/ 3 September 2007
Sachin Tendulkar returned in style to the Headingley ground where he was Yorkshire’s first overseas player as he set up India’s 38-run win against England under the Duckworth/Lewis method in the fifth one-day international on Sunday. India’s victory reduced England’s lead in the seven-match series to 3-2.
Stuart Broad returned career best figures with both bat and ball as England beat India by three wickets in the fourth one-day international at Old Trafford on Thursday. When Broad, who’d earlier taken 4-51 as India were dismissed for 212, came to the crease England were in dire straits at 114-7. But they still needed fewer than a run-a-ball to win.