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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2015 SPORTS NAGPUR: India’s wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha (C) and captain Virat Kohli (R) appeal unsuccessfully for a stumping against South Africa’s Imran Tahir (L) during play on the first day of the third Test cricket match between India and South Africa at The Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur yesterday. — AFP Morkel, Harmer skittle India on dicey pitch NAGPUR: Morne Morkel and Simon Harmer that already shows cracks and continues to dete- Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay in the morning bamboozled India with pace and spin on a tricky riorate fast. session which ended with India on 85 for two. SCOREBOARD wicket but South Africa also suffered early blows Morkel made up for the absence of his unfit Dhawan and Vijay put on 50 for the first wick- in the third Test in Nagpur yesterday. Off-spin- speed partner Dale Steyn to negate India’s initial et before South Africa hit back to remove both Scoreboard at stumps on the first day in the third Test between India and South Africa on yesterday in ner Harmer claimed four wickets for 78 and fast advantage of batting first, but then himself batsmen in the space of 19 runs. Left-arm spin- Nagpur, India. bowler Morkel took three for 35 as the Proteas limped off the field while bowling his 17th over ner Dean Elgar took a low return catch to dismiss bowled India out for 215 in the post-tea session in the final session. Dhawan for 12 before Morkel got rid of the set- India 1st innings 7-1; I. Tahir 12.5-1-41-1; J. Duminy 1-0-6-0. of the first day’s play. tled Vijay for 40. Vijay smashed Harmer for the M. Vijay lbw b M. Morkel 40 South Africa 1st innings South Africa, seeking a series-levelling win, ‘Test won’t last five days’ first six of the match and also hit three fours S. Dhawan c&b Elgar 12 D. Elgar not out 7 had plodded to 11 for two by stumps, setting Harmer said he was happy to bowl on a pitch before he was trapped plumb in front of the C. Pujara lbw b Harmer 21 S. van Zyl c Rahane b Ashwin 0 the stage for an exciting battle ahead on a dusty that helps slow bowlers and predicted the Test wicket by a full-length delivery from Morkel. V. Kohli c Vilas b M. Morkel 22 I. Tahir b Jadeja 4 A. Rahane b M. Morkel 13 H. Amla not out 0 and dry pitch at the VCA stadium. Off-spinner would be over before the fifth day. “This wicket Cheteshwar Pujara, who was unbeaten on 18 Ro. Sharma c de Villiers b Harmer 2 Extras 0 Ravichandran Ashwin had opener Stiaan van Zyl is not prepared to last five days, there is bound at lunch, added just three more after the break W. Saha c Duminy b Harmer 32 Total (for 2 wickets, 9 overs) 11 caught in the slips for a duck before nightwatch- to be a result,” the off-spinner said. before playing back to Harmer to be leg-before. R. Jadeja b Rabada 34 Fall of wickets: 1-4 S. van Zyl, 2-9 I. Tahir man Imran Tahir was bowled by Ravindra Jadeja “In South Africa we prepare pitches that suit Ajinkya Rahane brought up India’s 100 with a six R. Ashwin b Tahir 15 To bat: A. de Villiers, J. Duminy, D. Vilas, K. Rabada, for four. our type of cricket. So this does not surprise us off Harmer but his off-stump was sent cart- A. Mishra lbw b Harmer 3 S. Harmer, M. Morkel, F. du Plessis At stumps Dean Elgar was unbeaten on seven at all. But being a spinner, I like bowling on such wheeling by Morkel when he reached 13. I. Sharma not out 0 Bowling: and skipper Hashim Amla had yet to score. India wickets.” India’s batting coach Sanjay Bangar said Morkel then had skipper Virat Kohli caught Extras (b-15 lb-3 nb-1 w-2) 21 I. Sharma 2 - 1 - 4 - 0 were reduced to 125-6 after winning the toss, it was too soon to predict the outcome. behind by Dane Vilas for 22 and Harmer had Total (all out, 78.2 overs) 215 R. Ashwin 4 - 2 - 5 - 1 before the last four wickets added 90 runs that “This is a challenging wicket to score runs on,” Rohit Sharma caught at short-leg for two to Fall of wickets: 1-50 S. Dhawan, 2-69 M. Vijay, 3-94 R. Jadeja 3 - 1 - 2 - 1 included a 48-run stand for the seventh wicket said Bangar. “This has been a low-scoring series, leave the hosts reeling on 125-6. The tourists, C. Pujara, 4-115 A. Rahane, 5-116 V. Kohli, 6-125 Referees between Jadeja (34) and wicketkeeper but it is too early to say how this match will go. who lost the first Test in Mohali before the rain- Ro. Sharma, 7-173 R. Jadeja, 8-201 W. Saha, 9-215 Umpire: Ian Gould Wriddhiman Saha (32). Opener Murali Vijay top- “There is a lot of time left in the match, so any- hit second game in Bangalore was drawn, need R. Ashwin, 10-215 A. Mishra Umpire: Bruce Oxenford scored with 40, but none of the other five spe- thing can happen.” The Proteas, who would have a win to take the series into the decider in New Bowling: M. Morkel 16.1-7-35-3(nb-1); K. Rabada TV umpire: Anil Chaudhary cialist batsmen crossed 22 on a first-day pitch batted had they won the toss, removed openers Delhi starting December 3. —AFP 17-8-30-1(w-2); S. Harmer 27.2-2-78-4; D. Elgar 4-0- Match referee: Jeff Crowe Starc in the pink for historic day-night Test ADELAIDE: Mitchell Starc looms as 1970s and the glitzy Twenty20 for- ball and also under lights it tends to tention alongside Lyon. O’Keefe Australia’s big weapon with the all- mat in the last decade. swing a little bit more,” Australia has taken 18 wickets for New South new pink ball as Test cricket ven- Tactics are expected to be dra- spinner Nathan Lyon said of the Wales in three pink-ball Sheffield tures into the unknown with the matically affected with the new ball, pink ball. “I’m a big fan of bowling Shield games at the Adelaide Oval, first ever day-night Test against New coloured pink to help visibility, with the pink ball because they and he has no doubt the third Test Zealand in Adelaide starting tomor- expected to swing freely during the (batsmen) can’t see the seam so it’s will produce a result. row. night session-conditions which going to be interesting times.” “In my opinion this is the best The performance of the ball, and should bring Starc to the fore. Starc, Australia hold a 1-0 lead after win- ground to play with the pink ball,” the success of Test cricket under Australia’s premier paceman since ning by 208 runs in Brisbane, mean- O’Keefe said. “I think that is a result floodlights, will be closely watched Mitchell Johnson retired after the ing the Kiwis can level the series if wicket out there, without a doubt.” in what could be a breakthrough in second Test in Perth, grabbed three they win in Adelaide. Black Caps Phillip Hughes attracting more fans to the strug- wickets with lively swing in an coach Mike Hesson said both sides AC/DC gling five-day format. Ticket sales evening session of a domestic will be keen to bowl at night, some- David Warner, who hit twin cen- A year on: Hughes and the have been promising, with a first- Sheffield Shield match in Adelaide thing which will affect strategy turies in Brisbane and a maiden day crowd of up to 40,000 expect- earlier this season. Starc also including declarations. “There’s def- double-ton in Perth, believes a delivery that changed cricket ed-compared with 16,000 the last bowled the fastest ever Test deliv- initely something to that (declaring switch to the pink ball and a likely time the two sides met in Adelaide ery of 160.4kilometres per hour to bowl at night), if you think that’s grassy Adelaide Oval pitch may tilt MELBOURNE: Cricket has changed in Australia mates agree the game is different now. A num- in 2008. TV audiences should also (99.7 mph) during the drawn sec- the best chance to take a few early the balance to the bowlers. in the 12 months since Phillip Hughes was ber of senior players have since retired from be higher with play continuing until ond Test, and he could be crucial as wickets,” he said. “There’ll definitely “The last two wickets have been felled by a rising delivery that ultimately led to international cricket, Johnson being the most 9:00 pm local time. Australia look to seal the three-Test be some tactical plays throughout very batter-friendly,” Warner said. his death. Hughes, who played 26 tests for recent of a line that includes former skipper The first day-night match in 138 series. the Test.” Australia are contemplat- “It’s going to be a different story Australia, died three days short of his 26th Michael Clarke, allrounder Shane Watson and years of Tests is one of cricket’s rare ing playing two spinners with playing here and I think you’ll see birthday of a brain hemorrhage on Nov 27, wicketkeeper Brad Haddin - who all played in innovations, and follows the advent ‘Can’t see the seam’ Stephen O’Keefe’s record in the ball move around a bit off the 2014, two days after he was struck under the provincial and national teams with Hughes.