Spinners have a field day

August 25, 2012

spin

Hyderabad, August 25: MS Dhoni’s impassioned appeal for spinner-friendly pitches at home appears to have been granted.

After overnight centurion Cheteshwar Pujara (159, 306b, 19x4, 1x6) and his companion Dhoni (73, 147b, 6x4, 1x6) guided India to the shores of safety in the first innings, the Indian spinners lit up a largely dreary day, extracting plenty of turn, a fair amount of bounce and a clutch of wickets as New Zealand’s wretched run continued unabated.

On Friday’s second day here at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium, India, overnight 307/5, posted an impressive 438 before getting bowled out at the stroke of tea after the day’s play had begun 26 minutes behind schedule. Strangely, there was not a drop of rain but the heavy downpour in the neighbouring areas drove the ground staff into extra-alert mode. The covers came on in a jiffy as a thick cover of cloud formed overhead but the rain never came. The play eventually began after close to half an hour’s delay but the way the Kiwi innings is progressing, even a longer break would have made little difference so far as India’s chances are concerned.

When the stumps were drawn for the day, the visitors had limped to 106/5 after R Ashwin (3/30) wreaked havoc on a surface that was a willing ally of intelligent bowling. India now lead by 332 runs while New Zealand still need 133 runs to avoid the follow-on and their chances of doing it are as fat as an hourglass figure.

The Indian batsmen continued the good work in the morning session, denying the visiting attack the early success they desired. Pujara, who brought up his 150, threw away an opportunity to score a double, miscuing a pull off Jeetan Patel but his 127-run association with Dhoni had given enough reasons for comfort in the home camp. Dhoni didn’t last too long either as India lost their next four wickets for 54 runs, helping Patel fetch figures of 4/100.

It was a good effort by the Kiwi bowlers but their batsmen may just have let them down.

As much as the Indian spinners were imaginative, giving flight to the ball and pitching it in the right areas to make the most of favourable conditions, the Kiwi batsmen showed remarkable lack of application against the turning ball – playing on the back foot and trying to sweep out of trouble.

After left-armer Pragyan Ojha (2/35) provided the breakthrough in his opening over by luring an aggressive Brendon McCullum into a false stroke which was snapped up by Virat Kohli at covers, Ashwin got into the act to grab three wickets in his first 25 deliveries. The off-spinner went one better than Ojha, dismissing Martin Guptill off the first ball he bowled. The right-hander’s attempted flick ended up in the safe hands of Kohli, this time at leg slip. Kohli seemed to be omnipresent as he held on to another catch, and easily the most difficult of all, just moments before it died in front of him.

Ashwin was the beneficiary again and Kiwi skipper Ross Taylor the victim who was declared out after consultation with TV umpire VA Kulkarni. Left-hander Daniel Flynn showed some promise but his repeated sweeps spelt his doom, Ashwin catching him in front on one such attempt.

At 55 for four, New Zealand were in deep trouble when Kane Williamson and James Franklin showed some stomach for fight to stem the free fall. The left-right combination denied India further inroads for over 21 overs but the reintroduction of Ojha did the trick for the hosts. After spending some quality time in the middle, Williamson cut one that was too close to his body only for Virender Sehwag to take a sharp catch at first slip.

With half the side back in the hut, New Zealand can only bank on rains that are predicted for the next two days. But we know that weather forecasts in this part of the world are as reliable as the Kiwi batting.

Score Board

INDIA (I Innings; O/n: 307/5):

Gambhir c van Wyk b Boult 22

(47m, 36b, 4x4)

Sehwag c Guptill b Bracewell 47

(74m, 41b, 9x4)

Pujara c Franklin b Patel 159

(458m, 306b, 19x4, 1x6)

Tendulkar b Boult 19

(86m, 62b, 2x4)

Kohli c Guptill b Martin 58

(145m, 107b, 8x4)

Raina c van Wyk b Patel 3

(25m, 13b)

Dhoni c Bracewell b Patel 73

(210m, 147b, 6x4, 1x6)

Ashwin st van Wyk b Patel 37

(78m, 54b, 5x4)

Zaheer c van Wyk b Boult 0

(16m, 8b)

Ojha (not out) 4

(42m, 28b, 1x4)

Yadav (run out) 4

(6m, 5b, 1x4)

Extras (B-6, LB-4, W-2) 12

Total (all out, 144.2 overs) 438

Fall of wickets: 1-49 (Gambhir), 2-77 (Sehwag), 3-125 (Tendulkar), 4-250 (Kohli), 5-260 (Raina), 6-387 (Pujara), 7-411 (Dhoni), 8-414 (Zaheer), 9-430 (Yadav).

Bowling: Martin 27-4-76-1 (w-1), Boult 27-4-93-3, Bracewell 19.1-1-88-1, Franklin 13.2-0-40-0 (w-1), Patel 41-9-100-4, Williamson 7-0-31-0.

NEW ZEALAND (I Innings):

McCullum c Kohli b Ojha 22

(31m, 27b, 3x4)

Guptill c Kohli b Ashwin 2

(42m, 25b)

Williamson c Sehwag b Ojha 32

(114m, 92b, 3x4)

Taylor c Kohli b Ashwin 2

(9m, 14b)

Flynn lbw Ashwin 16

(24m, 15b, 2x4)

Franklin (batting) 31

(78m, 75b, 1x4, 1x6)

Van Wyk (batting) 0

(9m, 6b)

Extras (LB-1) 1

Total (for 5 wkts, 42 overs) 106

Fall of wickets: 1-25 (McCullum), 2-29 (Guptill), 3-35 (Taylor), 4-55 (Flynn), 5-99 (Williamson).

Bowling: Zaheer Khan 5-1-20-0, Umesh Yadav 3-0-4-0, Pragyan Ojha 15-4-35-2, Ashwin 14-3-30-3, Virender Sehwag 2-0-4-0, Suresh Raina 2-0-6-0, Sachin Tendulkar 1-0-6-0.

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Agencies
January 26,2020

New Delhi, Jan 26: The sports fraternity on Sunday extended greetings to the people on the occasion of the 71st Republic Day.

Former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar took to Twitter to write: "Wishing all Indians a very happy Republic Day."
"Rejoice the Glory of India and it's Freedom Fighters on this Republic Day. Wish you a very happy #RepublicDayIndia . Jai Hind !" former batsman VVS Laxman tweeted.

"Wish you all a very happy #RepublicDay2020 from here in New Zealand," Irfan Pathan tweeted.

Boxer Vijender Singh said India is blessed with different religions, societies, cultures and languages.

"INDIA is a nation where humanity has lived since ages.It is a country which is blessed with different religions,societies,cultures & languages all interplaying with each other in harmony. PROUD OF UNITY IN DIVERSITY #RepublicDayIndia #RepublicDay2020," Singh wrote on the micro-blogging site.

Former cricketer Virender Sehwag, wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, wrestler Sushil Kumar and tennis player Sania Mirza also extended their greetings on the occasion.

On this day, 70 years back, India officially adopted its Constitution. Brazilian President Jair Messias Bolsonaro is the chief guest at the parade this year.

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News Network
March 4,2020

Mar 4: The BCCI has decided to implement strict cost cutting measures with the notable decision being IPL 2020 champions' prize money will be halved as compared to 2019. In a circular sent to all IPL franchises, the BCCI has notified that instead of a whopping Rs 20 crore, the IPL champion team will now receive Rs 10 crore only. "The financial rewards have been reworked as a part of the cost cutting measures. The champions will get Rs 10 crore instead of Rs 20 crore. The runners-up will get Rs 6.25 crore from earlier Rs 12.5 crore," a BCCI notification, in possession of news agency, read.

The two losing qualifiers will now get Rs 4.375 crore each.

"The franchises are all in good health. They also have multiple ways like sponsorships to bolster their income. Hence the decision on prize money taken," a senior BCCI source said.

However, a state association hosting IPL games will get Rs 1 crore each with franchises and BCCI contributing Rs 50 lakh each.

It has also been learnt that mid-level BCCI employees won't be allowed to avail business class flights like earlier times for flying to the Asian countries (Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, UAE) where the flying time is less than eight hours.

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News Network
March 29,2020

New Delhi, Mar 29: Former Indian batsman Wasim Jaffer on Sunday picked his all-time IPL team and appointed wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni as its captain.

Jaffer's team's feature opener Rohit Sharma, current Indian skipper Virat Kohli, all-rounder Hardik Pandya, spinner R Ashwin, and pacer Jasprit Bumrah as seven domestic players.
While the foreign players spot have been occupied by West Indies' swashbuckling batsman Chris Gayle, all-rounder Andre Russell, Afghanistan's spinner Rashid Khan, and Sri Lanka's veteran pacer Lasith Malinga.
Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has been picked as 12th man by Jaffer.

Earlier this month, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to postpone the IPL to April 15, 2020, as a precautionary measure against COVID-19 outbreak.
The board also assured that it will work in unison with the Sports Ministry and will adhere to the guidelines issued.

The 13th edition of IPL was scheduled to commence from March 29. 

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