"BHAJJI SAVES D DAY"

The tail-ender slammed a match-saving, maiden ton to save team from certain defeat

India found an unlikely batting hero in tail-ender Harbhajan Singh who produced a match-saving maiden Test century to steer his team to safety along with VVS Laxman as the first cricket Test against New Zealand ended in a draw here today.

The gutsy Harbhajan (115) notched up his only first class century and combined with veteran Laxman (91) as the duo dented New Zealand's push for victory with a solid 163-run partnership for the seventh wicket.

Resuming their second innings at a precarious 82 for six, Laxman and Harbhajan saved India the blushes by batting cautiously before the innings folded up for 266 shortly after the tea break for an overall lead of 294.

The Kiwis were 22 for one in their second innings before both captains decided to call off play.

Zaheer Khan removed opener Tim McIntosh for a duck but Brendon McCummum (11) and Bradley-John Watling (2) ensured there were no further setbacks for the visitors who will take a great deal of confidence from their performance here.

The two teams will now travel to Hyderabad for the second Test to be held at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium from November 12 to 16.

It was Harbhajan who stole the spotlight on the final day's play and had it not been for his valiant batting effort, the story could have been quite different for the home team.

Harbhajan, who made his highest score of 69 in the first innings, achieved his dream of scoring a century in Test cricket. His 115 came off 193 balls and contained 13 boundaries and three sixes.

Harbhajan reached his maiden hundred in style with a six off Vettori and held his bat aloft to reciprocate the applause of his teammates in the dressing room.

The stylish Laxman, who has bailed India out of many a crisis, was a picture of poise and concentration as he held the innings together and kept guiding Harbhajan.

Laxman was wrongly given out leg before wicket to rival team captain Daniel Vettori by umpire Steve Davis as TV replays showed the ball had deflected on to the pad off the inside edge of the bat.

Laxman and Harbhajan took India from a difficult 65 for six last evening at the fall of captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's wicket and were not separated till close to the tea interval when Vettori won the verdict against the former. The duo was together for 10 minutes under four hours and faced 328 balls.

Vettori also sent back Zaheer Khan off the next ball, to another questionable decision by the same umpire as the bat and pad were close together when the ball hit its target, to be on a hat-trick which was staved off by Ojha.

Earlier, Laxman and Harbhajan made sure that India did not lose a wicket in the pre-lunch period of play by mixing caution and aggression.

Starting the day at 82 for 6, the seventh wicket duo steadily re-built the home team's second innings that was left in tatters at 15 for 5 on the fourth evening by the tall Chris Martin's brilliant swing bowling.

But the 35-year-old bowler did not get the same sort of movement today and was played out quite comfortably by the two batsmen.

Harbhajan was the aggressor complementing Laxman's vigilant stay as the hosts made 164 for 6 to be ahead by 192 runs at the lunch break.

The duo, especially Harbhajan, were in a more aggressive mood in the post-lunch period as they raised 200 of the innings with the off spinner on 85 compared to Laxman's 74.

Harbhajan was fortunate to be dropped by wrecker-in-chief Chris Martin off his own bowling when seven short of the coveted three-figure mark when the batsman tried to flick and offered a difficult return catch.

Zaheer Khan fell off the first ball but Ojha prevented Vettori from achieving a hat-trick.

Harbhajan flat-batted, swept, drove on the up and swung his way to his second half century of the match with a couple off Chris Martin after Laxman had completed his a few minutes earlier.

While Laxman's 27th half century came in a little over 240 minutes and off 154 balls when he pull-swept Jeetan Patel for his first boundary and fourth of the knock, Harbhajan's contained 5 fours and a six and took him only 106 minutes and 78 balls to compile.

Laxman played a pivotal part in saving the match for his team. It was the third successive time in as many matches he played that the Hyderabad specialist had come to his team's rescue but he could not go on and enjoy the fruits of it with a century to boot.

New Zealand clearly missed frontline bowler Bennett who did not bowl due to a groin strain picked up in the Indian first innings. Also missing was Ryder due to a calf muscle strain.

Rooney will put up at stripper haven during US recovery trip

 English footballer Wayne Rooney has arrived in America, and he will be putting up at party haven Portland, which has more strip clubs per capita than anywhere else in the US.

Rooney, 25, will be there for a week's "intensive conditioning" to recover his lost form, but he will not be staying in the Oregon town where the Nike sports training complex is located.

"With 63 breweries and brewpubs Portland has just overtaken Munich as the beer capital of the world. There are strip clubs on every corner too. It is one of the top party tourism destinations," the Sun quoted a tourist guide as revealing.

Another guide boasts that due to the unparalleled proliferation of strip joints, "you can satisfy any number of naked girl desires".

The Red Devils hope the week at Nike World HQ, which boasts some of the best fitness equipment in the world, will finally put Rooney back on track.

"Lanka beat Australia, win first series Down Under"

Sri Lanka achieved its first-ever victory in a cricket series on Australian soil when it beat Australia by 29 runs in the rain-shortened second limited-overs international for a 2-0 lead in the three-match series on Friday.

Opener Upul Tharanga made an unbeaten 86 as Sri Lanka scored 213-3 in 41.1 overs, batting first after winning the toss. Australia was all out for 210 in 37.4 overs, chasing a revised target of 240 from 38 overs under the Duckworth/Lewis system. Sri Lanka won the first match of the series by one wicket at Melbourne on Wednesday, and its win on Friday extended to seven matches Australia's losing streak in all forms of cricket. Defeat on Friday may increase Australia's crisis of form and confidence as it approaches its Ashes Test series against England.

The first Test of the series begins in Brisbane on November 25.

Australia was outplayed in all facets of Friday's match, which was made trying for both sides by rain interruptions. Sri Lanka was 161-2 when rain first intervened, forcing players from the field for almost 90 minutes. When it returned the match had been shortened from 50 to 45 overs per side but more disruption followed.

Heavy showers again halted play after 41.1 overs when Sri Lanka was 213-3 and umpires Bruce Oxenford of Australia and Marais Erasmus of South Africa were forced to end the Sri Lanka innings.

Tharanga had been its bulwark, batting for its entire duration and hitting six fours from 112 balls. He formed partnerships of 98 for the first wicket with Tillakaratne Dilshan (47) and 70 for the third with Kumar Sangakkara (45).

With Angelo Mathews — hero of Sri Lanka's win at Melbourne — he dashed 33 runs from the last four overs of the innings. Australia was first set a chase for 244 from 39 overs but a further over was lost to rain during the home side's innings, most of which was played in drizzle. It was immediately on the back foot when hard-hitting opener Brad Haddin was dismissed for one with the total on three.

Australia captain Ricky Ponting (10) fell to a leg-side catch from a lazy pull shot at 32 and Sri Lanka was able to assert steady pressure on the remainder of the top order. Shane Watson was Australia's main hope and he batted with authority to reach 40 from 44 balls with two fours and a six before falling lbw to Muttiah Muralitharan.

Australia needed regular boundaries but fours and sixes slowed to a trickle against tight Sri Lankan bowling and Australia's required run rate grew oppressively as the innings continued. Michael Clarke made 25 from 30 balls with one four and one six and Cameron White failed to hit a boundary in an innings of 35 from 43 balls. When he was out with the total 155 in the 31st over, Australia's chase was virtually at an end.

Steven Smith made 33 and Mitchell Johnson a quickfire 23 from 17 balls before Australia fell well short of its target. Muralitharan finished with 2-30, Thissara Perera 2-39, Nuwan Kulasekara 2-48 and Suraj Randiv 2-53. Lasith Malinga bowled superbly through the latter stages of the inning and finished with 1-34 from 7.4 overs.

Brief scores: Sri Lanka 213 for 3 in 41.1 ovs (Upul Tharanga 86 not out, Tillakaratne Dilshan 47; Shane Watson 2-34) bt Australia 210 all out in 37.4 ovs (Shane Watson 40; Muttiah Muralitharan 2-30, Thisara Perera 2-39).

Tendulkar's wicket my biggest scalp, says Patel

It's the biggest scalp of my career," said the 30-year-old Wellington-born Patel after grabbing three for 135 in the Indian first innings total of 487.

After going wicket less and giving away 79 runs in 13 overs yesterday, the off spinner made amends by giving splendid support to his skipper Daniel Vettori in restricting the Indian innings that looked all set to cross 500 with a close-of-play total of 329 for 3 yesterday.

Patel, born of Indian parents, said the key to his success today was self-belief and an alternation to his run-up and mental make-up.

"I tried to bowl too hard yesterday. When I came out to bowl today I told myself I belonged to this level. I shortened my run-up after bowling too fast yesterday. My idea was to bowl dot balls and apply pressure," said the bowler who had taken 37 wickets in 11 Tests previous to the current game.

Patel said the game was at a very interesting stage and New Zealand would have to bat for five sessions to take the upper hand.

"Match is exciting. We got a great opportunity and will have to bat for five sessions. The wicket will increasingly assist the slower bowlers," he said.

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE STANDINGS

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Chelsea	10	8	1	1	27	3	+24	25
2	Arsenal	10	6	2	2	22	10	+12	20
3	Man Utd	10	5	5	0	22	12	+10	20
4	Man City	10	5	2	3	13	10	+3	17
5	Tottenham	10	4	3	3	11	10	+1	15
6	West Brom	10	4	3	3	14	17	-3	15
7	Newcastle	10	4	2	4	19	14	+5	14
8	Everton	10	3	4	3	10	8	+2	13
9	Blackpool	10	4	1	5	15	21	-6	13
10	Fulham	10	2	6	2	12	11	+1	12
11	Bolton	10	2	6	2	13	14	-1	12
12	Sunderland	10	2	6	2	9	12	-3	12
13	Liverpool	10	3	3	4	10	14	-4	12
14	Aston Villa	10	3	3	4	9	13	-4	12
15	Birmingham	10	2	5	3	10	12	-2	11
16	Stoke	10	3	1	6	10	14	-4	10
17	Wigan	10	2	4	4	7	18	-11	10
18	Blackburn	10	2	3	5	9	12	-3	9
19	Wolverhampton	10	2	3	5	10	16	-6	9
20	West Ham	10	1	3	6	7	18	-11	6

Bursaspor 0 United 3

United edged a step closer to qualification for the Champions League knock-out stages with a hard-fought 3-0 victory over Bursaspor in Turkey.

After surviving a couple of minor scares in a tepid first half, the Reds were, in the end, just too good for the Turkish champions who could not be faulted for effort on the night. Effort can only get you so far, however, with quality more often than not winning out and so it proved. Darren Fletcher put the visitors ahead three minutes after the break, with Gabriel Obertan and Bebe sealing the win late on with a pair of fine finishes to put United on 10 points at the top of Group C.

CARRICK BACK ON TRACK

Michael Carrick admits he is relieved to be enjoying his football again following a prolonged battle to hit top form.

The midfielder quickly became one of United's most influential players after joining from Tottenham in the summer of 2006. But he struggled to reach his high standards last season and consequently was not always a regular starter.

A troublesome Achilles problem did not help the situation, but having now fully recovered from the niggle, Carrick feels he is back on the right track.