Harbhajan pitches in for India win over Pakistan

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh is confident of victory in the first test against Pakistan despite only two teams having successfully chased a fourth innings target of over 200 runs at the Ferozshah Kotla ground.Pakistan were 212 for five in their second innings at stumps on the third day, leading by 167 runs, after Harbhajan and leg spinner Anil Kumble caused a batting collapse on Saturday.Harbhajan, who took two for 51 and Kumble three for 55, said they succeeded despite the pitch playing better than the first two days when the ball often kept low.Pakistan were 231 all out in the first innings and India were dismissed for 276 in reply."We've a good chance, the wicket is playing better," Harbhajan told reporters. "I can't believe the match is being played on the same pitch.""Kumble has always done well here and once again he has brought the game back to us," he said.The Indian skipper, the third highest wicket taker in test history, took 10 Pakistan second innings wickets to achieve victory in 1999.
The 37-year-old has taken seven wickets so far in the game. Pakistan's Misbah-ul Haq followed his first innings 82 with 29 not out after being dropped on one, adding 51 runs for the unbroken sixth wicket with Kamran Akmal (21 not out)."If Wasim Jaffer had held the chance, maybe they would be seven, eight, nine even all out," Harbhajan said. "The pressure was such."Pakistan opener Salman Butt, who hit 67, said his team had still not averted defeat."If we get another 120-130 runs it would be safe for us," he said. "India have some good batsmen so we have to bowl well like we did in the first innings."The pitch is low and slow but none of the batsman got out because of that."

Security for Pak. cricket team reviewed

New Delhi (PTI): Security for visiting Pakistani cricket team was on Saturday strengthened and a country-wide alert sounded by Union Home Ministry against terror strikes in the wake of an e-mail to a television channel threatening an attack on the team and a series of explosions.An alert was sounded following intelligence inputs suggesting that various sleeper cells of militants outfits like banned Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islamia (HuJI) and Lashker-e- Taiba (LeT) would be targeting some key installations in the country, official sources said.They said the security for the Pakistani cricket team, now playing a test match here, was further strengthened with more security personnel deployed at the hotels where they are staying.

The states and the Union territories have been asked to keep a strict vigil on their entry and exit points and deploy strengthen intelligence-gathering.The states have also been asked to ensure beefed-up security to the public transport system which could be the target of militants, the sources said.The email address -- guru_boys2000@yahoo.com -- was created on Friday and central security agencies were trying to trace it.Friday's email received from guru_alhindi@yahoo.fr had been generated on November 22, a day ahead of the blasts in Uttar Pradesh and the authorities were in touch with the service provider to give other details including the server from which the email identity was registered.

SHAH RUKH NOT IN CRICKET MATCH AGAIN-SHOAIB MALIK DISAPPOINTED-KAPIL DEV DEFENDED

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has upset so much when Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) accused the actor of using the ongoing ODI series to promote his latest Hindi flick ‘Om Shanti Om’.He has vowed never to be a spectator at match involving the Indian team.Shoaib Malik's elder brother Imran Malik,at the Ferozeshah Kotla,watching the first Indo-Pak Test, said his whole family love Shahrukh a lot and Shoaib Malik was very disappointed to know that the great khan may not come to watch any match again."We often discuss cricketing matters at length and yesterday Shoaib was very disappointed after knowing about Shahrukh's statement," said Imran Malik." Shoaib Malik was of the view that if we can go and watch their films why cannot they watch our matches?" The cricket legend and former Indian captain Kapil Dev supported Shah Rukh Khan's presence at cricket matches, saying association of a celebrity like him would popularise the game. He added that Shah Rukh was a cricket fan and watched the fifth ODI between India and Pakistan because of his sheer craze for the sport."I think like any other cricket buff Shah Rukh took time off to watch a match and there was nothing wrong in it. If the Prime Minister of India comes to watch a match, it is a great thing for cricket," he said."Shah Rukh is known for his movies and acting and if he had a chat on his film, I don't think it was wrong," he said.Kapil said a star like Shah Rukh did not need to use a cricket match to make publicity for his movie."Shah Rukh is already a popular personality in the world through his films. Does he need cricket to popularise himself and his work?"

Cricket: England draw Sri Lanka tour opener

England drew their first match of the Sri Lanka tour on Thursday after gaining useful batting practice at the Colombo Cricket Club.The tourists, replying to Sri Lanka Cricket XI's mammoth 500-5 piled over the first two days of the practice match, scored 315-6 on the final day before the game was called off.Opener Alastair Cook made 63, Ian Bell hit 49 and Paul Collingwood smashed a belligerent 52 off 69 balls before all three batsmen retired to give others a chance at the crease.England captain Michael Vaughan made 38 but star batsmen Kevin Pietersen was dismissed cheaply.Vaughan was trapped leg-before by leg-spinner Malinga Bandara, while Pietersen fended at a short ball from Nuwan Kulasekera and was caught at gully for four.It was England's first hit since the one-day tour of Sri Lanka a month ago when they recorded an impressive 3-2 win in the five-match series.The tourists get another chance to tune up for three back-to-back Tests starting in Kandy on Decemer 1 when they play a first-class match against the same opposition in Colombo from Sunday.The home team, comprising Sri Lanka's second-string, had batted for two days with opener Upul Tharanga making 112, 20-year-old Chamara Kapugedara 141 and Thilana Kandamby an unbeaten 107.The local spinners suffered as much on the dead wicket as their English counterparts Monty Panesar (1-117) and Graeme Swann (1-112).After the Kandy Test ends on December 5, the second Test will be played in Colombo from December 9-13 and the third in Galle from December 18-22.Brief scores:SLC XI 500-5 decl (U. Tharanga 112, M. Warnapura 48, C. Kapugedara 141, T. Kandamby 107 not out, K. Silva 54 not out, R. Sidebottom 1-46, S. Broad 1-41, M. Panesar 1-117, G. Swann 1-112)England: 315-6 (A. Cook 63 retired out, I. Bell 49 retired out, P. Collingwood 52 retired out, Owais Shah 38 retired out, R. Bopara 40 not out)

Shahrukh Khan And Deepika Padukones- guest appearance at 5th ODI:

JAIPUR-Sunday, November 18: Although He have played a hockey coach role in Chak De India but cricket seems closer to the heart of Shahrukh Khan, who made a guest appearance in the fifth one day international,here.Attired in white shirt and black trousers and sporting a ponytail, the actor joined Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) President Lalit Modi to share his views on the match to anchor Rameez Raja. It's great to see the camaraderie between the players. They are talking to each other and enjoying the game, it feels good," the great khan said.He also took the opportunity to thank his fans for making Om Shanti Om a roaring success."Have you seen the movie yourself?" he asked Raja. When the Pakistani cricketer-turned-commentator replied in the negative, Shahrukh said, "Before theTest series starts, do find out time and watch it. And watch it with your family."Later, RCA spokesman Anant Vyas told that Shahrukh had arrived after being invited by Modi."He's a dear friend of Mr Modi and has arrived here on an invitation," he said. Once the interaction part was over, Shahrukh took his side in the VIP enclosure at the SouthBlock of the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.Shahrukh, along with Om Shanti Om co-star Deepika Padukone, who is often linked with Team India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, had also turned up to root for the team when the side took on Australia in Mumbai last month.Prior to that, Shahrukh also made a surprising visit to the press box at The Oval where India were playing the third and final Test against England.

PAKISTAN BEAT INDIA IN 5TH ODI BY 31RUNS-INDIA WON THE SERIES:

wahabuddin khan`s report
Pakistan won the best for the last as their batsmen piled up 306-6 and then bowled out India for 275 to win the fifth and final ODI in Jaipur on Sunday. Shoaib Malik and Mohd Yousuf struck fluent fifties to boost Pakistan's total, while India capitulated in front of the Pakistani bowlers led by Sohail Tanvir, who bagged four wickets. Batting first, Pakistan's new opening pair of Salman Butt and Imran Nazir settled quickly.when a slower Santh delivery prompted Nazir to slap a simple return catch, Pakistan were struggling on 77-3 in the 17th over.Then Yousuf and Malik came to the crease, and the experienced pair mixed the occasional boundary with a series of ones and twos to rebuild Pakistan's innings.Yousuf was twice lucky to remain at the crease, firstly when he was trapped in front by Yuvraj only for the appeals to be waved away by umpire Billy Doctrove, and then when his top-edged sweep fell between the fielders at square leg.But, he and Malik - who heaved two wonderful sixes over mid-wicket and six fours in an aggressive knock - had soon moved Pakistan to 245-3 with eight overs remaining.
Kartik returned to the attack to have Malik cleverly stumped, and Yousuf fell in similar fashion to Yuvraj two overs later, but Misbah-ul-haq (22) and Fawad Alam (31no) took up the baton.The pair put on 38 in 4.5 overs, sharing two sixes and three fours, and even after Misbah fell to a brilliant caught-and-bowled to Irfan Pathan, Alam saw Pakistan past 300.It was always going to be a tough total - despite the batsman-friendly surface in Jaipur - but Pakistan got off to a fabulous start with four wickets in the first 12 overs. Tanvir was the hosts' main tormentor, the seamer trapping Gautam Gambhir plumb in front in the fourth over, and inducing a rash swipe from Virender Sehwag in the 12th.

That came after the seamer had snared the precious wicket of Sachin Tendulkar, the Little Master edging to slip just as he looked like getting into his stride.Rao Iftikhar was the other early wicket-taker, Robin Uthappa falling to a simple catch at first slip two balls after he had been dropped by the same fielder, but Sharma and Yuvraj built something of a recovery.With the dewy conditions playing havoc with the spinners' grip and the seamers increasingly ineffectual under the lights, the pair milked the ones and twos in putting on 81.However, minutes after reaching his maiden half-century, Sharma fell for 52 when he dollied Malik to long-on - and Yuvraj followed suit when he was given out caught behind off Umar Gul on 50 despite the ball appearing to come off his shoulder.While Dhoni remained even the asking rate of over nine an over did not seem totally out of India's reach, but the wicket-keeper soon took one liberty too many when he skied Malik to mid-wicket.The hosts were never in the race thereafter and Malik took his third wicket with his off-spinners when Kumar holed out at mid-wicket, before Kartik skewed Iftikhar to backward point to end his enterprising knock of 16.Pathan (44 off 39 balls) produced some late fireworks, but he was left with far too much to do and home resistance was finally ended with a ball to spare when Tanvir clean bowled the left-hander to finish with figures of 9.5-0-53-4. Indian skipper Dhoni said the early strikes by Tanvir left his team struggling and praised Malik and Yousuf.
"Pakistan exploited the conditions," he said. "Our top order batsmen played the kind of shots they would not on a normal day."

2009-Twenty20- World Cup Groups announced

Defending champions India were placed in an easy group A alongside Bangladesh and Zimbabwe for the 2009 ICC Twenty20 cricket World Championships in England.The grouping for the 2009 Twenty20 World Cup was decided in a two-day ICC board meeting, which concluded on Wednesday.The early decision on the matter was taken on the request of hosts England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), who want to proceed with the venue event bidding process which would allow match tickets to go on sale at the earliest.
Since not enough matches have been played in the shortest format of the game to allow viable official rankings, the board decided to group teams on the basis of their finishing positions in the inaugural edition of the championship this year.
ODI World Champions Australia have been placed in group C along with Sri Lanka and West Indies.

The Groups:

Group A: India, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe

Group B: Pakistan, England, Associate 1

Group C: Australia, Sri Lanka, West Indies

Group D: New Zealand, South Africa, Associate 2.

Shoaib Akhtar And Sanjay Dutt meeting ON Sunday:

Sanjay Dutt who had a bitter experiences this year has added another admirer to his fan’s kit . It is none other than the Rawalpindi Express Shoaib Akthar of Pakistan team .Yes it is said that Shoaib Akhtar is a very big fan of “Munnabhai” and watches all his films. It is also said that the Public relation executive of Shoaib Akhtar is making all arrangements to the meeting of Akhtar and Sanjay.It is said that Shoaib will meet the star inYerwada jail and the Rawalpindi express wants to give a special gift to Sanjay and also the million prayers offered for him by the Pakistanis . If all goes well than the speedster will be meeting Sanjay on Sunday and may be under whole media coverage . So let us hope that he gets the permission and than all can witness the meeting of controversial cricket child with one and only Munnabhai

Sri Lankan Bowler Maharoof To Miss England Cricket Series:

HOBART, Australi — The beleaguered Sri Lankan tourists will be without seamer Farveez Maharoof for this month's home cricket series with England, skipper Mahela Jayawardene said Saturday.The former under-19 skipper suffered a left ankle injury while bowling on the opening day of the second Test here against Australia and sat out Saturday's second day's play.Jayawardene confirmed that the 23-year-old paceman will be out for up to five weeks and was definitely out of the series against England, which gets underway in Sri Lanka late this month.The Sri Lankans are under the pump against the rampant Australians, losing last week's first Brisbane Test by an innings and 40 runs and on the end of another massive Australian innings of 542 for five declared here on Saturday.Jayawardene had to make do with a threadbare strikeforce of just three bowlers and paid dearly.
Lasith Malinga finished with 1-156 off 35 overs, Dilhara Fernando 2-131 off 26 overs and Muttiah Muralitharan 1-140 from 46 overs."Farveez had a scan yesterday and he's got crush fracture in his ankle and it looks like he will be out of the England series," Jayawardene said Saturday."He'll be out for at least four to five weeks, it could be a bit more than that depending on how he will feel especially because he is a fast bowler and he needs to put his weight on that ankle."He'll be definitely out of the England Test series."

Australia's Gilchrist hits unprecedented 100th 6 in test cricket

HOBART, Australia: Adam Gilchrist became the first batsman to hit 100 sixes in test cricket, belting a ball from one of the game's premier bowlers out of the ground in typically swashbuckling style.Now he wants the ball back to keep as a memento.Last seen, it was rolling down a street adjoining Bellerive Oval, with some children chasing it.The 36-year-old Australian vice-captain hit consecutive sixes against Muttiah Muralitharan over mid-wicket late Saturday in the second test against Sri Lanka, the second one going right out of the stadium to notch 6 No. 100."We haven't got the ball back which is a bit frustrating," Gilchrist said. "I'm not a massive collector of memorabilia but I think there's probably a few little bits and pieces every cricketer has stashed away that means something to them."
Unlike baseball, where home run balls can remain in the hands of fans and can be worth a lot of money to the person who catches it, the cricket ball is supposed to be returned to the field before the game continues.If a ball is genuinely lost, a replacement with similar wear and tear is selected by umpires. After a cricket ball has been used for 90 overs, it usually goes to the player who achieved a significant milestone with it."That's a unique little item and I'd love to get it back," Gilchrist said. "There aren't many things that you do in life that you're the only person ever to have done. With that in mind it would be nice to have the ball that notched that 100."

Gilchrist was unbeaten on 67, including three 6s and seven boundaries — when Australia captain Ricky Ponting declared the innings closed at 542 for five, giving Sri Lanka 12 overs to bat before bad light stopped play on day two.It was his 130th test innings — but first in 10 months — in a career spanning 92 matches. His first six in test cricket was at the same venue, when he helped steer Australia to a comeback win over Pakistan in 1999.Nobody else has come close to Gilchrist's rate of clearing the boundaries in the test arena.West Indies great Brian Lara hit 88 sixes in his 131-test career, one more than New Zealander Chris Cairns notched in 62 tests.Viv Richards, another West Indies great who earned the nickname "the Masters Blaster," hit 84 sixes in his 121 test matches in the 1970s and 80s.Earlier in the week, Gilchrist was voted Australia's greatest limited-overs player. He has hit 141 sixes in 275 limited-overs internationals and has a batting strike rate of 96.66 per hundred balls in the shorter format.Gilchrist said he had only really thought about the 100 milestone when he hit Lasith Malinga for sixes earlier in his innings on Saturday."I went 'oh, that's right — it's coming up'... it came into my mindset a bit," he said. "The sixes at the end were very natural free-flowing shots, not trying to bludgeon the ball over the rope."Despite his reputation for big hitting, Gilchrist said he usually finds he hits more sixes when he's concentrating on trying to bat properly and not just slog the ball.And he knows a good shot as soon as he sees it."There is a nano-second, just a moment in time when you are the only person in the whole world who knows that you've hit it right in the middle," he said.