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Bangladesh replace injured duo for Lanka Tests
February 25, 2013 20:22 IST

Bangladesh batsman Naeem Islam and left-arm spinner Enamul Haque have been ruled out of two-Test series against Sri Lanka [ Images ] after picking up injuries, the Bangladesh Cricket Board said on Monday.

"Enamul complained today morning of left hamstring pain. After assessment it was found he has a hamstring tear," Bangladesh team physio Vibhav Singh said in a statement.

"This will see him receiving physiotherapy and rehabilitation for about seven to 10 days.

"Naeem has a grade two quadriceps tear in the right leg. He has pain and weakness on Testing. He will need to have physiotherapy and rehabilitation for at least two to three weeks."

Uncapped top-order batter Marshall Ayub, who scored over 1,000 runs in two first-class competitions this season, replaced Naeem while left-arm spinner Elias Sunny came in the side for Enamul.

The two Test-series, which starts on March 8 at Galle, will be followed by three one-day internationals and a Twenty20 [ Images ] International.

 

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Stats: Dhoni second Indian to hit six sixes in an innings vs Aus
February 25, 2013 22:06 IST

Statistical highlights from Day 4 of the opening Test between India [ Images ] and Australia [ Images ] played in Chennai on Monday.

# Moises Henriques (68 & 75 not out) has posted a fifty in each innings of a Test match on his debut. He is now the third Australian batsman after Rick Darling and Peter Toohey to accomplish the feat on his debut against India.

- Scorecard

- Dhoni surpasses Tendulkar, Gavaskar!

# Two other Austraian players have accomplished the aforesaid feat on Test debut -- Herbie Collins (vs England [ Images ]) and Bruce Laird (vs West Indies [ Images ]).

# Besides the aforesaid three Australians, Gordon Greenidge, Clive Lloyd [ Images ], Alastair Cook [ Images ] and Cyril Poole have registered the above feat against India.

# Moises Henriques and Nathan Lloyn have shared a partnership of 57 -- Australia's highest for the tenth wicket in India. The said stand is their second highest for the tenth wicket against India -- the highest is 77 between Allan Border [ Images ] and Dave Gilbert at Melbourne [ Images ] in 1985-86.

# James Pattinson (5/96) has recorded his first instance of five wickets in an innings in an overseas Test.

# Pattinson's third instance of five wickets in an innings is his first against India. He had produced two instances of five wickets in an innings against New Zealand [ Images ] in December 2011 -- 5/27 at Brisbane [ Images ] and 5 for 51 at Hobart.

# Pattinson's bowling average of 21.69 is quite impressive -- 36 wickets in eight Tests.

# Pattinson became the sixth bowler to take five wickets or more in an innings for Australia in Tests at Chepauk. Greg Matthews and Ashley Mallett have recorded two five-wicket hauls at this venue.

# Jim Higgs is the only Australian bowler to have bagged seven wickets in an innings at this venue -- 7 for 143 in September 1979.

# For the second time in his brief Test career, Ravichandran Ashwin (12/193) has captured ten wickets or more -- his best figures are 12 for 85 against New Zealand at Hyderabad last year.

# Ashwin has produced seven instances of five wickets or more in Tests -- twice against Australia, all on Indian soil. He has bagged five wickets or more in each innings of a Test match only for the second time -- the first occasion being against New Zealand at Hyderabad last year -- 6 for 31 and 6 for 54. The only Indian bowler to complete 75 wickets in only 13 Tests is Ashwin.

# India (572) have recorded their highest total against Australia at Chepauk, beating the 501 in 2000-01. The said total is India's second highest at Chepauk, next only to the 627 against South Africa [ Images ] in March 2008.

# India have totalled 572 off 154.3 -- the run-rate being 3.70 -- their highest against Australia at Chennai -- their highest run-rate against them is 3.98 during their 633 for five wickets declared off 159 overs at Kolkata [ Images ] in 1997-98.

# Nathan Lyon (215) has conceded 200 runs or more in a Test innings for the first time. He has emulated the unwanted record of Jason Krejza [ Images ] (43.5-1-215-8) at Nagpur in 2008-09), sharing an unwanted feat of conceding most runs in a Test innings for Australia against India. Only two Sri Lankan bowlers Rangana Herath [ Images ] (53.3-2-240-3 at Brabourne Stadium, in December 2009) and Suraj Randiv [ Images ] (73-16-222-2 at Colombo, SSC in July 2010) have conceded more runs than the above two Australians in a Test innings.

# Mahendra Singh Dhoni [ Images ], with 224, has set an Indian record for the highest individual innings as captain, bettering Sachin Tendulkar's [ Images ] 217 against New Zealand at Ahmedabad [ Images ] in October 1999.

# Dhoni's above knock is the third highest individual innings at Chennai behind Virender Sehwag's [ Images ] 319 against South Africa in 2007-08 and Sunil Gavaskar's [ Images ] 236 not out against the West Indies in 1983-84.

# Dhoni's marvellous innings is the third highest score by a wicketkeeper in Tests. Only Andy Flower [ Images ] -- 232 not out against India at Nagpur in November 2000 and Kumar Sangakkara [ Images ] -- 230 against Pakistan at Lahore [ Images ] in March 2002 -- have scored more runs as wicketkeeper.

# Dhoni's 224 is the second highest by a captain in a Test match in India. Clive Lloyd's unbeaten 242 for West Indies at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai [ Images ] in January 1975 is the highest by a skipper.

# Dhoni became the second Indian player after Ravi Shastri to hit six sixes in an innings against Australia. Shastri had recorded the distinction during his unbeaten innings of 121 off 287 balls at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai in 1986-87.

# For the third time ever, Dhoni has registered six sixes in an innings -- the first two occasions were against the West Indies and Sri Lanka [ Images ].

# Dhoni became the second captain after Chris Gayle [ Images ] to post six sixes or more in a Test innings twice. Dhoni had first registered the feat during his unbeaten knock of 100 off 154 balls against Sri Lanka at Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai in 2009-10.

# Bhuvneshwar Kumar's 38 is the highest score by number ten Indian batsman on debut, surpassing the 28 off 49 balls by Paras Mhambrey against England at Birmingham in 1996.

# The 140-run stand between Dhoni and Kumar is India's third highest for the ninth wicket in Tests -- the best two are 149 between Ramakant Desai and PG Joshi against Pakistan at Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai in December 1960 and 143 (unbroken) between Sunil Gavaskar and Syed Kirmani against West Indies at Chepauk, Chennai in December 1983.

 

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Dhoni hits record 224, Ashwin claims five
Last updated on: February 25, 2013 19:56 IST

India inched closer to a resounding victory in the first Test against Australia even as debutant Moises Henriques delayed the inevitable with a fighting undefeated 75, on a difficult track, to take the match into the fifth and final day.

India's Ravichandran Ashwin stood out with the ball, claiming his second five wicket haul to help India decimate the Aussie top and middle-order.

Ashwin grabbed five for 90 helped India reduce Australia to 175 for nine before Henriques-Lyon provided some rearguard action.

Earlier, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Bhuvneshwar Kumar continued from where they had left on day three and frustrated the Australian bowlers with deft strokeplay and quick movement between the wickets.

- Scorecard
Dhoni smashed his way to 224 before he departed in the 147th over of the Indian innings. The gutsy skipper fell to young pacer James Pattinson, becoming his fifth wicket of the match.

 

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Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Last updated on: February 25, 2013 16:10 IST

Mahendra Singh Dhoni smashed a record 224 against Australia in the first Test in Chennai on Monday to surpass Sachin Tendulkar's record of highest individual Test score by an Indian captain.

Dhoni, who also registered his maiden double century, went past Tendulkar's 217 scored against New Zealand in 1999-00 at Ahmedabad.

Dhoni reached the feat in the 144th over when he first hit a flat six off Nathan Lyon to reach 217 and then took a single to surpass Tendulkar's score.

The India captain however fell eight runs short of equalling Andy Flower's highest individual score by a skipper -- 232 against India.

A look at the highest individual scores by Indian captains:

224 Mahendra Singh Dhoni vs Australia (February 2013, Chennai)

Mahendra Singh Dhoni blasted his maiden double century to put India in complete control against Australia in the first Test in Chennai. He blasted 224 from 265 balls, hitting 24 boundaries and six sixes, in a stunning display of attacking batting as he shred the Australian bowling attack to pieces.

 

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Chennai Test: India one up against the Aussies
Last updated on: February 26, 2013 11:36 IST

Another standout performance by the spinners, led by home favourite Ravichandran Ashwin, helped India [ Images ] register an empathic eight-wicket win over Australia [ Images ] in the opening match of the four-Test series at the MA Chidambaram stadium on Tuesday.

-Scorecard --- Congratulate Team India

Having conceded a vital first innings lead to the hosts, thanks to a belligerent 224 by captain MS Dhoni [ Images ], the visitors witnessed a batting collapse in the second innings in the face of continuous assault by the Indian spinners, on a wicket that had deteriorated even before the match had started.

Needing 193 runs to make India bat again, Australia faced the prospects of an innings defeat before a dogged last wicket stand of 66, between Moises Henriques and Nathan Lyon, not ensured India batted for a second time but also took it to a fifth day.

However, it took only 22 minutes to end the Australian resistance on the fifth morning, Ravindra Jadeja [ Images ] having Lyon caught by Murali Vijay [ Images ] at short leg. Lyon had survived for 77 balls for his 11.

Debutant Henriques remained unbeaten on 81, to go with his 68 in the first essay. A memorable start in every way and one of the few positives Australia could take from this game.

Australia were bowled out for 241 (93 overs) in their second innings, adding nine runs in an equal number of overs on the fifth morning.

Ashwin had figures of five for 95 in the Australian second innings to finish with match figures of 12 for 198 on his home debut. Ravindra Jadeja took three for 72.

Forced to bat a second time, but needing just 50 runs to seal a win, Vijay’s flat six off Lyon in the second over indicated the obvious. The home team didn’t want to spend more time on the ground and finish off things early.

However, it wasn’t a smooth ride. James Pattinson, the lone Australian bowler to have impressed in the first innings, struck in his second over, having Vijay (6) caught by Henriques at mid-off.

A surprise selection, considering he had a forgettable domestic season, Vijay was selected ahead of a prolific Wasim Jaffer [ Images ] for this series, and given prominence over Shikhar Dhawan [ Images ] for this match.

The 28-year-old suffered a dual failure, on what was his home ground, thereby raising a few questions regarding the credibility of the selectors.

Virender Sehwag [ Images ] (19) hit three well-timed boundaries in his 23-ball innings but lost his wicket while defending a spinner, Lyon getting him edge to Michael Clarke [ Images ] at first slip.

Sachin Tendulkar [ Images ] (13 not out) started with successive sixes off Lyon, both over long-on, the hits taking India to 49 and Cheteshwar Pujara [ Images ]’s (eight not out) single off the spinner completed the win in the 12th over.

It was India’s fourth straight Test match win over Australia on Indian soil -- after wins in Nagpur in 2008 and Mohali and Bangalore in 2010 -- and sixth in the last eight matches. The visitors haven’t won in India since the third Test of the 2004 series in Nagpur, a series that they won.

The win was MS Dhoni’s 21st, tying him with Sourav Ganguly [ Images ] as the Indian captains with most Test wins.

 

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Dhoni one short of taking over Ganguly's record
Last updated on: February 26, 2013 12:35 IST

India [ Images ] captain MS Dhoni [ Images ] has equalled former skipper Sourav Ganguly's [ Images ] Test record for most wins. Dhoni achieved the coveted mark after team India defeated Australia [ Images ] by eight wickets in the first Test in Chennai on Tuesday.

-Scorecard

-Match Report

Ganguly was the most successful Test captain for India with 21 wins. And now, Dhoni is all set to overtake him during the current series with three more Tests to play.

-Dhoni surpasses Tendulkar, Gavaskar!

Dhoni also smashed a record 224 against Australia in the first Test on Monday to surpass Sachin Tendulkar's [ Images ] record of highest individual Test score by an Indian captain.

Looks like captain cool is on a roll!

Most successful captains in Test cricket


Tests
Won
Lost
Tied
Drawn
Win%

Graeme Smith [ Images ] (SA)
102
50
26
0
26
49.02

Ricky Ponting [ Images ] (Aus)
77
48
16
0
13
62.34

Steve Waugh [ Images ] (Aus)
57
41
9
0
7
71.93

Clive Lloyd [ Images ] (WI)
74
36
12
0
26
48.65

Allan Border [ Images ] (Aus)
93
32
22
1
38
34.41

Stephen Fleming [ Images ] (NZ)
80
28
27
0
25
35.00

Viv Richards [ Images ] (WI)
50
27
8
0
15
54.00

Hansie Cronje [ Images ] (SA)
53
27
11
0
15
50.94

Mark Taylor (Aus)
50
26
13
0
11
52.00

Michael Vaughan [ Images ] (Eng)
51
26
11
0
14
50.98


Most successful Indian captains in Test cricket


Tests
Won
Lost
Tied
Drawn
Win%

MS Dhoni
44
21
12
0
11
47.73

Sourav Ganguly
49
21
13
0
15
42.86

Mohammad Azharuddin [ Images ]
47
14
14
0
19
29.79

Tiger Pataudi
40
9
19
0
12
22.50

Sunil Gavaskar [ Images ]
47
9
8
0
30
19.15

Rahul Dravid [ Images ]
25
8
6
0
11
32.00

Bishan Singh Bedi [ Images ]
22
6
11
0
5
27.27

Ajit Wadekar
16
4
4
0
8
25.00

Sachin Tendulkar
25
4
9
0
12
16.00

Kapil Dev [ Images ]
34
4
7
1
22
11.76

 

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Photos: India's emphatic win over Australia
Last updated on: February 26, 2013 15:00 IST

India defeated Australia by eight wickets in the first Test to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series, in Chennai, on Tuesday.

-Scorecard

-Match Report

Needing to score 50 for victory, after Australia were dismissed for 241 in their second innings, India lost two wickets -- Murali Vijay and Virender Sehwag before hitting up the required runs.

Sachin Tendulkar came then out to bat and started off with a couple of sixes, much to the delight of the crowd. He scored 13 off 10 balls, before a single by Cheteshwar Pujara off Nathan Lyon helped the home team complete victory.

 

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'We didn't bowl well in the first innings, nor batted well in second'
Last updated on: February 26, 2013 14:26 IST

Bikash Mohapatra

"We're outplayed in this Test match."

-Scorecard

-Match Report

Michael Clarke's rather straightforward admission shortly after Australia had been thoroughly outplayed in the opening Test at the MA Chidambaram stadium on Tuesday.

When Team India loses, it is usual to see their captain looking for excuses and trying to put the blame on someone or something.

However, when the team from Down Under came up short, their captain offered no excuses whatsoever. In fact he was categorical about the reasons that led to his team suffering such a heavy defeat.

"I don't think we bowled well enough in our first innings, and we certainly didn't bat well enough in our second innings," explained Clarke, refusing to admit that Australia suffered because they didn't have the right players.

 

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India vs Australia: The Turning Points
Last updated on: February 26, 2013 15:12 IST

Bikash Mohapatra

After a depressing Test series against England, Team India began the four Test series against Australia on a winning note.

Bikash Mohapatra, who covered the first Test at the M A Chidambaram stadium in Chennai, identifies the turning points in the game.


The Scorecard
The Match Report
To say the Aussies were simply overwhelmed in the Chennai Test would be an understatement.

Let's take a look at the major turning points in the match, which swung the game in India's favour.

The Dharamasena Factor

Despite skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni losing the toss, India got off to a steady start.

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who was a disappointment in the series against England, ran through the Australian top order and had a five-wicket haul, his sixth in Test cricket.

If the local boy's opening spell figures (11-2-30-2) made for an impressive read, his second (9-2-19-3) was even better.

Another Michael Clarke masterclass innings helped Australia avoid total collapse, the Australian captain remaining unbeaten on 103.

It was Clarke's 23rd Test hundred, his sixth against India, and continued his recent run of good form as well as his impressive record against India.

'Pup,' as Clarke is nicknamed, made his debut in Bangalore in 2004 with an impressive 151, and scored 600-plus runs when India toured Down Under the last time, including a triple hundred.

But 'Pup' had a huge reprieve when he was on 39, when umpire Kumar Dharmasena ruled him not out though he had clearly hit the ball off Ashwin.

Had the Sri Lankan former Test cricketer got it right, Australia would have looked disaster in the face.

 

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Hazare Trophy: Assam stun MP to enter quarters
February 26, 2013 17:00 IST

Minnows Assam stunned Madhya Pradesh [ Images ] by four wickets to enter the quarter-finals of the National One Day Championship for Vijay Hazare Trophy in Visakhapatnam [ Images ].

Opting to bat at the Port Stadium, Madhya Pradesh were all-out for 210 in 48.4 overs with Mumbai Indians [ Images ] seamer Abu Nechim Ahmed grabbing five for 32. In reply, Assam scored the required runs in 45.5 overs riding on No 3 batsman Shib Shankar Roy's career-best unbeaten knock of 97.

Assam will now take on heavyweights and last year's runners-up Mumbai in the quarter-final scheduled on Thursday.

It was Abu Nechim's second spell that started the collapse with MP losing their last six wickets for only 24 runs after being comfortably placed at 186 for four.

For the losing side, India discard Naman Ojha [ Images ] (72) and Udit Birla (74) added 105 runs for the third wicket and the only other score in excess of 20 came from Rameez Khan who made 27.

In reply, Shib Shankar anchored the chase to perfection facing 110 balls hitting eight fours and a six in the process.

He had two crucial partnerships of 55 and 57 for the fourth and sixth wickets with Tarjinder Singh (28) and Rajdeep Das (27) respectively.

Brief Scores:
MP 210 in 48.4 overs (Naman Ojha 72, Udit Birla 74, Abu Nechim Ahmed 5/32)
Assam 211/6 (Shib Shankar Roy 97 no, Tarjinder Singh 28, Iswar Pandey 2/36).



Rahul's ton takes Karnataka [ Images ] into quarters
Visakhapatnam: Opener Lokesh Rahul struck an unbeaten century as Karntaka comfortably beat Uttar Pradesh [ Images ] by seven wickets to enter the quarter-finals of Vijay Hazare Trophy.

Put into bat, UP managed only 194 in 45.2 overs with seamer HS Sharath taking three wickets and left-arm spinner KP Appanna chipping in with two wickets.

Karnataka reached the target in 32 overs with opener Rahul hitting an unbeaten 104 off 152 balls with six fours and three sixes. He added 119 runs for the third wicket with veteran Ganesh Satish (53).

Karnataka will take on defending champions Bengal in the quarter-final slated on Thursday.

For UP, their reputed players like skipper Suresh Raina [ Images ] (13), veteran Mohammed Kaif (37), U-19 World Cup winner Akshdeep Nath (29) all got starts but couldn't convert it into big scores losing wickets at regular intervals.

Brief Scores:
UP 194 all out in 45.2 overs (Mohd Kaif 37, HS Sharath 3/46, KP Appanna 2/42).
Karnataka 197/3 in 32 overs (Lokesh Rahul 104 no, G Satish 53).