HEATHROW, LONDON : (Left) West Indies cricket captain Brian Lara pictured after an agreement was signed in Heathrow airport hotel in London on Monday, between the team players and the West Indies Cricket Board, concerning the West Indies tour of South Africa.— AP/PTI

Lara, Hooper back in
Windies squad
LONDON, Nov 10 — West Indian cricket chiefs announced their team’s tour to South Africa would go ahead after a players’ pay revolt ended.

Lanka end campaign without victory

SHARJAH, Nov 10 (PTI) — A spirited Zimbabwe thrashed the World Cup champions Sri Lanka by 24 runs with seven balls to spare, thanks to fine bowling by Paul Strang and Heath Streak fashioning the Africans’ second straight win over the islanders for a place in the triangular Coca Cola Cup Cricket Tournament final here tonight.

New ball bowler Streak blew away hard-hitting Romesh Kaluwitharana (6) in his third over trapping him plumb and then scalped the prized wicket of Sanath Jayasuriya (19) to put the Sri Lankans into backfoot.

The two quick blows and Strang’s burst of four middle order wickets for just 32 runs, took gas off the Sri Lankan batting and they were bundled out for 235 in 48.5 overs, while chasing Zimbabwe’s total of 259 for seven.

Sri Lanka, who needed to win the game by overhauling the victory target in 40th over to have any realistic chance of getting its net runrate ahead of Zimbabwe, ended their campaign without any win.

Strang claimed the wickets of Marvan Atapattu (24), Arvinda de Silva (26), skipper Arjuna Ranatunga (0) and Roshan Mahanama (16) in his full quota as the formidable Sri Lankan batting collapsed for the third time in a row to be 103 for six at the midway stage.

The Sri Lankan top-order, failed miserably in this tournament with only Aravinda de Silva managing to score over 100 runs from the four matches here.

Hashan Tilakaratne (72 n.o.), playing his first match of the tournament, put up a semblance of fight and through a 94-run partnership for the seventh wicket with Kumara Dharmasena (39) launched a brave effort to resurrect the Lankan innings but the mounting runrate was too much for them and the Lankan misery ended in the penultimate over.

Earlier, Andy Flower (95) and Neil Johnson (72) added a record 149 runs for the fourth wicket to propell Zimbabwe to 259 for seven despite some fine bowling by Chaminda Vaas (2/48) and Pramodaya Wickremasinghe (3/28).

Zimbabwe were struggling at 24 for three after losing skipper Alistair Campbell (9), Grant Flower (12) and Murray Goodwin (0), getting out to Wickremasinghe and Vaas before Andy Flower and Johnson came together and guided them to safety.

The Sri Lankans like their rivals also did not have a good start losing two quick wickets with only 28 runs on the board.

Explosive openers Kaluwitharana and Jayasuriya, towards whom the islanders were looking for a good start in pursuit of reaching the target in less than 40 overs, fell cheaply to Streak and Sri Lanka never recovered from the early blows.

Atapattu and De Silva added 47 runs for the third wicket to take the score to 75 at which they both fell to Strang in the space of four balls and Sri Lanka slumped to 75-4.

Strang first had Atapattu caught by Campbell and then claimed De Silva two balls later — caught in the deep by Johnson when the batsman could not control a sweep, which ended any realistic hopes the Lankans had.

Skipper Arjuna Ranatunga and Roshan Mahanama soon followed and the islanders slumped to 103 for six in the 25th over and the writing was clear, save for a fighting effort by Tillekratne and Dharmasena.

Tillekratne hit four boundaries in his 83-ball effort while Dharmasena struck three fours in his 52-ball innings collecting 39 runs but they could not prevent the inevitable as the defeat came in the 49th over.

Scoreboard:
Zimbabwe:

Campbell b Wickremasinghe 9

G. Flower c Kaluwitharana

b Wickremasinghe 12

Johnson run out 72

Goodwin lbw b Vaas 0

A. Flower st Kaluwitharana

b Jayasuriya 95

Brandes c Ranatunga

b Wickremasinghe 28

Wishart b Vaas 11

Rennie not out 12

Streak not out 1

Extras (b-4, lb-6, nb-1, w-8): 19

Total (for seven wkts, 50 overs): 259

Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-23, 3-24, 4-173, 5-229, 6-229, 7-258.

Bowling: Vaas 10-1-48-2, Wickremasinghe 10-0-28-3, Dharmasena 10-0-41-0, T. Samaraveera 8-0-46-0, De Silva 4-0-27-0, Jayasuriya 8-0-59-1.

Sri Lanka:

Jayasuriya c Goodwin b Streak 19

Kaluwitharana lbw b Streak 6

Atapattu c Campbell b Streak 24

Aravinda c Johnson b Strang 26

Ranatunga c G. Flower

b Strang 0

Mahanama lbw b Strang 16

Tillekeratne not out 72

Dharmasena b Whittal 39

Wickremasinghe b Brandes 3

Vaas c Rennie b Johnson 19

Samaraveera run out 0

Extras (LB-5, NB-1, W-5) 11

Total (all out in 48.5 overs) 235

Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-28, 3-75, 4-75, 5-96, 6-103, 7-196, 8-209, 9-234.

Bowling: Eddo Brandes 9-0-51-1, Heath Streak 9-0-51-2, Neil Johnson 8.5-1-42-1, Paul Strang 10-0-32-4, Andy Whittall 10-0-40-1, Murray Goodwin 2-0-14-0.

Australia complete 3-0 series sweep

LAHORE, Nov 10 (Reuters) — A record partnership of 193 between Adam Gilchrist who made 103 and Ricky Ponting (124 not out) powered Australia to a 3-0 sweep of the one-day series against Pakistan today to add to their 1-0 Test triumph.

Set a challenging target of 316 by a Pakistan team whose 315-8 was their biggest one-day score ever against Australia, the visitors won by six wickets with seven balls to spare.

"It was a great achievement. I said we wanted to win every one of the one-day games and this was a triumph," said captain Steve Waugh.

"We’ll go back to Australia tonight and take a few days off to prepare for the Ashes series against England, which is always a good series," he said.

Gilchrist, the 27-year-old left hander from Western Australia, notched his second one-day hundred in his 39th game while Tasmania’s Ponting earned the Man of the Match title with his fifth century in 59 matches.

The two repaired damage caused by the early dismissal of Mark Waugh, who was trapped leg before by Wasim Akram for 13, with the total at 25.

The partnership was the highest for any wicket between Australia and Pakistan, surpassing the previous best of 173 for the fourth wicket between Dean Jones and Steve Waugh at Perth in 1987.

Earlier, Pakistan were propelled to their highest ever total against Australia by centuries from Ijaz Ahmad and Yousaf Yohanna after Aamir Sohail won the toss and chose to bat.

They beat the previous highest of 286-7 at Trent Bridge in the 1979 World Cup in England.

Ijaz struck a dazzling 111 from 109 balls with 12 fours and a six for his eighth hundred in his 213th game and Yohanna, out for 100, completed his maiden century in his 10th one-dayer.

They shared a record fourth-wicket partnership of 162 in 167 balls, beating the previous best of 112 between Javed Miandad and Imran Khan in the World Cup semifinal at the same Lahore ground in 1987.

Australia:

Gilchrist st M. Khan b Aamir 103

M. Waugh lbw Wasim 13

Ponting not out 124

Lehman c Moin Khan b Salim 8

S. Waugh b Saqlain 30

Bevan not out 6

Extras (b-1 lb-12 w-11 nb-8): 32

Total (for four, 48.5 overs): 316

Fall of wickets: 1-25, 2-218, 3-237, 4-306.

Bowling: Wasim Akram 9-0-46-1, Shaoib Akhtar 8-0-58-0, Saqlain Mushtaq 9.5-0-44-1, Azhar Mahmood 2-0-23-0, Salim Malik 7-0-54-1, Aamir Sohail 10-0-54-1, Shahid Afridi 3-0-24-1.

Lara, Hooper back in Windies squad

LONDON, Nov 10 (AFP) — West Indian cricket chiefs announced their team’s tour to South Africa would go ahead after a players’ pay revolt ended.

West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) President Patrick Rousseau said late last night that a deal had been struck, including the reinstatement of captain Brian Lara and his number two Carl Hooper who were sacked after leading the revolt.

The agreement means the West Indies tour, initially due to start today, will now begin tomorrow against Gauteng in Soweto.

Rousseau said: "A settlement has been reached tonight which will allow the tour of South Africa to go ahead.

"Brian Lara and Carl Hooper have been reinstated, and no disciplinary action will be taken against any of the players."

The West Indies team had been stuck in a hotel at London’s Heathrow airport for the last week while the dispute dragged on. Lara and Hooper were backed by their teammates who refused to leave without them.

Rousseau denied there had been a climbdown on pay by the board and claimed Lara’s dismissal as captain was the result of a mix-up.

"I don’t think it’s a question of us giving way, and there has been no increase in the fees for the players for this tour," he said, adding "Brian Lara was sacked because of a misunderstanding between the players and the board."

Rousseau said: "After lengthy talks between players and officials over the past two days both sides acknowledge that the dispute arose from a misunderstanding between the two parties.

"All issues related to fees and conditions for the South Africa tour have been resolved between the two parties.

"The WICB and the West Indies Players’ Association will work closely together in a joint marketing programme from which all funding raised will be shared between the players and the WICB."

Dr Ali Bacher, Managing Director of the United Cricket Board of South Africa, teamed up with Rousseau to end the impasse. Bacher flew to London on Thursday with a letter from President Nelson Mandela requesting the players to tour. The breakthrough followed seven hours of talks on Sunday.

The dispute began when Lara and Hooper refused to travel to Johannesburg from the Mini World Cup tournament in Dhaka. Instead, the pair flew to London and the row escalated when other team members in transit to South Africa arrived at Heathrow. They were joined by the remainder of the 16-strong tour party who had already flown to Johannesburg.

AP adds: The following is the text of the joint statement by the West Indies Cricket Board and the West Indies Players’ Association:

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and members of the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) have reached agreement on terms that will allow the team’s tour of South Africa to proceed.

After lengthy talks between players and officials at a Heathrow hotel over the past two days, both sides acknowledged that the dispute originally stemmed from a misunderstanding between the two parties.

All issues related to fees and conditions for the South African tour have been resolved between the two parties.

Lara and Hooper have been reinstated as captain and vice-captain respectively.

The first match will now take place in Soweto tomorrow, the original match against Nicky Oppenheimer’s XI in Midrand (scheduled for today) has been postponed.

The agreement between the WICB and WIPA covers a number of issues:

"Reaffirmation of WICB’s recognition of WIPA’s representative role

"WICB and WIPA will work closely in a joint marketing programme from which all funding raised will be shared between the players and the WICB.

The WICB retainer initiative will be reintroduced as soon as practicable

"WICB will take all practical steps to improve remuneration of players on future tours.

"WICB will review current insurance cover to ensure adequacy.

"WICB will consider and review the grievance and disciplinary code and all procedures, including appeals.

The WICB and WIPA are satisfied with their agreement, which was reached in a spirit of compromise against a background of international concern. Both parties recognise the historical and social significance of the South Africa tour and appreciate the high expectations of everyone in the Caribbean, South Africa and around the world.

The WICB and WIPA would like to acknowledge the constructive support received from South Africa President Mandela and the Caribbean Governments towards achieving an amicable and mutually satisfactory resolution to this dispute."

Qualifier downs Enqvist

STOCKHOLM, Nov 10 (AP) — Japanese qualifier Takao Suzuki upset eight-seeded Thomas Enqvist 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 to move into the second round of the $ 825,000 Stockholm Open Tennis Tournament.

Suzuki, who swept past three more experienced players in the qualification round, broke Enqvist, a two-hme Stockholm Open winner, for 5-4 in the deciding set yesterday and then served home the match.

The win was his second in an ATP tournament, the first coming in the Japan Open when he defeated Swedish Davis Cupper Nicklas Kulti, one of his victims in the qualifications.

The 22-year-old from Sapporo, who is coached by Italian Claudio Pistolesi, admitted fast indoor surface is his favourite surface.

"We have got plenty of such indoors in Sapporo," said Suzuki, who is 122nd on the latest ATP-ranking.

"It was certainly my biggest win in my career," said the Japanese, who earlier this year has won three challenge tournaments.

In the second round Suzuki plays Dane Kenneth Carlsen, who overcame Fredrik Jonsson of Sweden, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).

Also making it through to the second round, one of the world’s oldest indoors tournaments, is Swede Magnus Gustafsson who beat Rainer Schuttler of Germany, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Two Swedish players, who are fighting for the singles matches on the Swedish Davis Cup team in the final against Italy early December, saw action. Magnus Gustafsson, a traditional clay court player beat Rainer Schuttler of Germany 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 while the Stockholm Open defending champion Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden outgunned German Marc-Kevin Goellner 6-4, 6-2.

Other winners in singles action were Geoff Grant, a US qualifier, who beat Michael Kohlmann of Germany 6-3, 6-3 and Wayne Ferreira of South Africa who beat Jens Knippschild of Germany 6-4, 6-2.

Third-seeded Briton Tim Henman, who is close to qualifying for the ATP World Championships in Hanover, whipped Mikael Tillstrom of Sweden 6-3, 6-1 in 54 minutes.

"I am very pleased with my game. My percentage in points won on my serve was pretty high. I was also satisfied with my ground strokes," said Henman who faces Ferreira in the next round.

Humpy aims for world title

NEW DELHI, Nov 10 (PTI) — World under-12 girls chess champion Koneru Humpy, who developed a passion for the chequred board and the mind-game at a very nascent age, has set herself a new goal-winning the World Open Chess Championship.

"I am very happy with my victory in the world under-12 girls event but my aim is to win world open chess title," Humpy told reporters here on her return from Spain.

Koneru Humpy, who did India proud by winning the world championship in Oropesa Del Mar in Spain recently, became the only Indian to win two world titles.

She was crowned world under-10 girls champion in Cannes, France last year.

One of her greatest moments after winning the coveted title by outgunning favourite Tatiana Kosintseva of Russia on superior progressive scoring, was to receive congratulatory call from grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand, the world number two player.

"He telephoned me and congratulated me on my winning the title. He was happy to learn that I won second world title," Humpy said.

The soft-spoken 11-year-old girl from Vijayawada, who sometimes finds it difficult to face questions, is however, aiming to become an attacking player.

"At the moment I play safely, but in future, I'd like to be an attacking player just like Anand," Humpy said.

India's Anand and chess wizard Garry Kasparov of Russia are her favourite players, but Humpy says: "I idolise no one."

Humpy, who has opted to be known more as a chess player, says she finds it difficult to attend regular school and does it only when she finds time from tournaments and preparations.

In the 11-round of gruelling chess, Humpy lost only once - to world fide master Tatiana Kosintseva - and drew the final game against compatriot Tania Sachdev to tally 9.5 points and stake claim for the title.

Humpy lost the sixth game playing black pieces when she tried some new moves and Kosintseva capitalised on the chances.

"I played Carokann defence and tried some new moves but it backfired," said Humpy.

While she won all her games playing white pieces, it was a remarkable achievement that Humpy triumphed in four games with black pieces.

Humpy’s immediate goal is to put up a better performance at forthcoming World Junior Chess Championships, scheduled in Kozhikode from November 16.

"It is difficult to win the junior title but I will try to do my best," Humpy said.

The Andhra Pradesh girl, after winning the world under-10 title last year, has had a remarkable season this year. She won the under-15 national championship in Kozhikode in March, followed it up with another national title in Aurangabad in September and then won under-12 rapid chess championship in Guntur before leaving for Spain.

Humpy, who was passing through the capital, was awarded Rs 1 lakh by the Andhra Pradesh government for her achievement.

300-member squad for Asian Games

NEW DELHI, Nov 10 (PTI) — The Indian Olympic Association today announced a final list of 22 disciplines comprising a contingent of around 300 for participation in the 13th Asian Games to be held in Bangkok from December 6 to 20.

The apex sports body, which had already selected 19 disciplines for India’s participation ahead of the November 6 deadline, added men’s volleyball, women’s football, golf and squash besides table tennis to the list today.

IOA officials decided to include the three disciplines besides women’s golf and football after deliberations with respective federations. "They represented to us and backed it with data to show that India had a medal chance in these events," Chef de Mission-designate GS Mander Singh said after providing copies of the list.

The list for the added events have already been forwarded to the Bangkok games organisers and IOA was certain there would be no problem in their accepting them though it was four days past the deadline.

The list of the Kabaddi team was however not given out as IOA was sorting out a dispute between two warring factions and trying to settle a court case filed by one of them. "IOA will finalise a list and forward it. We don’t see any hitch in late submission of list as our participation has been confirmed," Mander added.

The inclusion of Kabaddi will put the total number of competitors at 228 and officials accompanying them to 70.

IOA will send the list to the Sports Ministry tomorrow and further pruning is possible by the government.

IOA had announced the list of disciplines on November 6 as 19 but had left room for further changes as discussions were on for the inclusion of volleyball, women’s football, squash, table tennis and women’s golf.

IOA accepted Volleyball Federation of India’s submission that India was placed in the easiest group, with Lebanon and the hosts Thailand and was capable of topping the group to gain a semifinal berth.

On women’s football, All India Football Federation submitted that India had a good chance to come among the medals after finishing fifth in the last Asian championship in China.

The squash federation had argued that there were only individual events in the games. While India stood no chance in the men’s section, but Mekhala Subedar and Sohini Kumari were capable of doing well in women’s singles. IOA accepted this and cleared them.

Women’s golf was included after a submission that they had claimed a bronze medal in the queen Sirikit Cup event in Thailand recently where the strength of the field was more or less the same as the Asian Games.

The biggest contingent would be of athletics where 31 competitors, including 17 women, and 11 officials have been named. The athletics federation had however, gone on record that those who do not make the qualifying mark of third place at the last games or last Asian track and field meet, whichever is higher, will be deleted from the list as the inter-state meet in Calcutta from November 15 to 17 would be the final trials and the names would be announced the next day.

Indian cagers tame Lebanon

CALCUTTA, Nov 10 (PTI) — Strong contenders Qatar and Chinese Taipei overcame some anxious moments before suppressing their league opponents to romp into the semifinals of the 15th Asian Basketball Confederation Championship for junior men at the Netaji Indoor stadium here today.

Qatar warded off a late resurgence to choke Iran 68-53 in a group-II quarterfinal league match while Chinese Taipei kept their cool in crucial moments to carve out a thrilling 92-83 victory in another group-II league match.

With two consecutive wins in their quarterfinal league matches, both the teams have assured a berth in the semifinals of the 15-team championship being held in India for the first time. The last league match between the two teams tomorrow will determine the group champions.

India’s hopes of finishing higher in the overall position received a boost when they prevailed over Lebanon with a convincing 90-58 verdict in a group-iv classification league match.

The hosts, who had spanked lowly Bangladesh in their league match yesterday, gave another impressive display to tame Lebanon and raised hopes of finishing ahead of the 13th position they had occupied in the last edition of the championship.

Leading 37-29 at the interval, the Indians stepped up the pace of the game after the breather and exploited their height advantage to the hilt to pile up 53 more points in the second half.

The home team, spurred on by a small, but vociferous home crowd, relied on the shooting skills of the fleet-footed Riyazuddin who did the bulk of the scoring with 30 points, including two three-pointers. Captain Robinson, who has been in very good form in the championship, scored 24 points.

For Lebanon, Fahed Rony was the highest scorer with 18 points while Ozeir Ahmed chipped in with 10 points.

India will take on South Korea in their last group-IV league match tomorrow while Lebanon will clash with Bangladesh.

Chinese Taipei, who had finished fifth in the last edition of the championship held in Malaysia in 1996, had to fight hard to quell a spirited Philippines in a match which saw fortunes fluctuating from one team to the other.

The towering Chen Hsin-An played a stellar role in Chinese Taipei’s victory as he collected 30 points with his precision shooting. Chang Chin Feng was also quite impressive scoring 15 points.

For Philippines, Emmerson Oreta and Jose Enrico Villan were the main contributors with 16 points each.

Gour helps Himachal manage draw

NEW DELHI, Nov 10 (UNI) — A heroic knock of 130 by Nischal Gour and combined team effort in the second innings enabled Himachal Pradesh manage to draw the match against formidable Delhi on the last of the four-day North Zone trophy league match at Ferozeshah Kotla ground here today.

After being bowled out to 298 in 96.5 overs, Himachal Pradesh took a modest 70-run lead which the hosts had to meet in nine mandatory overs.

Ashu Dani and skipper Vijay Dahiya fashioned the second inning on a breezy note as they made 42 runs in 5.4 overs before Dani was run out with his individual score 18 containing two boundaries. Just two run later, Dahiya (16) was caught by Arun Verma off Parveen Kumar with the team score 44. He was followed by Virendra Sehwag and Mithun Manhas who seemed to be helpless before some intelligent bowling by medium pacer Parveen Kumar and left-arm spinner Jaswant Rai.

After the fall of four quick wickets within a span of four runs, Delhi’s hope was completely dashed and Akash Malhotra and Rahul Sanghvi, who remained not out, failed to rise the occasion.

Earlier, resuming the overnight score of 52 without loss in 17 overs, Himachal openers Ajay Mannu and Nischal Gour began the day’s proceeding confidently as they contributed 140 runs for the first wicket stand. With his individual score of 63 studded with five fours, Mannu was caught by Dahiya off Sehwag.

Visitors captain Rajeev Nayyar joined fluent-going Nischal who played a brilliant innings of 130. During his 326-minute stay, he faced 266 balls and hit 14 boundaries and one six before being a victim to medium pacer Ashish Mehra. He was well supported by Nayyar who score 45 runs with four hits to the fence.

After the fall of third wicket on 270, none of Himachal batsmen could tolerate hiccups given by Delhi’s bowlers Mehra, Bhandari and Sehwag and their seven wickets fell within 28 runs.

Mehra claimed four wickets, while Sehwag and Bhandari shared two wickets each.

As a result of first innings lead, Delhi secured five points whereas minnows Himachal had to be content with three points only.

PSB, Airlines move into semis
From Our Sports Reporter

JALANDHAR, Nov 10 — Punjab and Sind Bank, Delhi, and Indian Airlines from pool ‘B’ and Border Security Force from pool ‘A’ ensured their berth in the semi-finals of 15th Indian Oil Surjit Singh Memorial Tournament in progress at Olympian Surjit Hockey Stadium, Burlton Park, here today.

In pool ‘A’ former champion BSF defeated PSEB by 2-1 while Indian Airlines routed Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala, by 3-0. In pool ‘A’ BSF earned nine points from their three outings while they have to play one more match against Russian XI. The second team from pool ‘B’ will be decided from the match between Punjab Police and Air India Bombay scheduled to be held tomorrow.

At present, Punjab Police is having six points from their three outings while Air-India has four points from their three matches. In pool ‘B’ Indian Airlines ensured a berth in semifinal by getting six points from three matches while Punjab and Sind Bank earned six points from their two outings.

In the first match of the day of pool ‘B’ Indian Airlines routed Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala, 3-0. The airmen displayed good speed and forced three penalty corners in the first 10th minutes but in vain. In the 13th minute, the airmen got another penalty corner when left full back Rajnish Mishra sounded the board with a powerful hit. RCF made some fine moves from the left flank but they could not break the defence of airmen. At half time Indian Airlines were leading by 1-0.

In the second half Indian Airlines did not reduce the pressure and got another penalty corner in the 40th minute where outside left Brozan Singh nicely converted it into goal indirectly. Altaf-ur-Rehman added goal for airlines in 64th minute when he capitalised on a good pass, dodged the custodian of coachmen and pushed the ball into goals 3-0. Coachmen earned nine penalty corners but they could not convert.

BSF defeated PSEB Patiala 2-1 in pool ‘A’ match. Both teams played at fast pace but securitymen proved better and got a penalty corner in 25th minute where inside left Habil Topno sounded the board with a powerful hit 1-0. But in 27th minute powermen restored parity as their centre forward Deepak Thakur succeeded in breaking the defence of the rivals. Both teams were at 1-1 at half time.

After the lemon break both teams made moves and counter moves and powermen got three penalty corners in 44th, 48th and 54th minutes but could not convert any. In 60th minute inside left Habil Topano succeeded in breaking the defence again as he got a good through pass and sounded the board which gave securitymen 2-1 victory.

Tomorrow's matches

Punjab Police v/s Air India at 1.00 pm Army XI v/s Punjab and Sind Bank at 2.45 pm.

Harbhajan stars in Punjab's win

NEW DELHI, Nov 10 (PTI) — Young off-spinner Harbhajan Singh spun a tantalising web around the Services batsmen to claim a rich haul of five for 39 as Punjab scored an innings and three-run victory on the final day of their North-Zone Ranji trophy cricket tie at the Palam Ground today.

The 19-year-old Harbhajan Singh showed fine temperament despite pressure on him after the recent controversy over his bowling action to emerge with a match haul of eight for 93 as former champions Punjab skittled out Services for a paltry 113 in their second innings just over an hour into the post lunch session.

Services, restricted to 178 in the first innings and overnight 13 for one in their second innings after Punjab declared at 294 for five yesterday in their quest for an outright win, came up with a spineless approach.

Opener Narender Singh made 30 and Sanjay Verma top-scored with 43 but Harbhajan steadily claimed wickets with excellent support from lanky left-arm spinner Navdeep Singh, who took three for 17 for fine match figures of seven for 47.

Punjab, with their third outright win logged 24 points and meet Delhi next while Services, who beat Jammu and Kashmir but went down by an innings to Delhi, have eight points and play Himachal next. Both matches begin on November 12.

Brief scores: Services: 178 and 113 all out in 113 overs (S Verma 43, Harbhajan Singh 5/39, Navdeep Singh 3/17) lost to Punjab 294 for 5 decl.

Scoreboard:

Services (Ist innings): 178

Punjab (Ist innings): 294

Services (2nd innings): (overnight 13 for one).

Sarabjeet c Dharmani b Harvinder 0

Narender lbw b Harbhajan 30

Amit c Harvinder Jugnu

(sub) b Navdeep 28

Pankaj lbw b Harbhajan 0

Chinmaya b Navdeep 2

Sanjay c sub b Sanjay 43

C.D. Thomson c Dharmani b

Harbhajan 0

Pandey c Sawal b Navdeep 2

M.V. Rao c R. Sodhi b Harbhajan 2

Sachin c Sawal b Harbhajan 1

Arun Sharma not out 0

Extras (lb 2, nb 3) 5

Total (all out in 113 overs) 113

Fall of wickets: 1/7, 2/48, 3/49, 4/52, 5/81, 6/81, 7/90, 8/93, 9/99.

Bowling: Harvinder Singh 12-4-26-1; Lalit Kapoor 3-0-11-0; Harbhajan Singh 24-10-39-5; Navdeep Singh 22-13-17-3; Ritender Sodhi 2-0-10-0; Sandeep Sawal 5.1-2-8-1.

Seeded players sail through

CALCUTTA, Nov 10 (PTI) — Fifth seed Niko Karagiannis of Greece had to dig deep into his reserves to quell unseeded George Barth of USA as all the other seeded players cruised into the second round of the singles event in the ITF Futures Tennis Circuit Meet at the South Club here today.

Karagiannis struggled to find his best form but raised his game midway through the contest to carve out a hard-fought 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory to move into the second round of the $ 15,000 prize money event.

Top seed Oley Ogorodov of Uzbekistan had no difficulty in disposing of qualifier Kamal Kannan with a facile 6-1, 6-1 verdict while second seed Vadim Kutsonko of Uzbekistan defeated another qualifier Anjan Viplav with a 6-2, 6-4 scoreline.

Local boy Syed Fazaluddin, the Indian Davis Cupper and seeded fourth in this meet, prevailed over Vijay Kannan 6-4, 6-3 in a match which lasted less than half an hour.

Sixth seed Danai Udomchoke of Thailand did not have to sweat much on way to a comfortable 6-4, 6-2 victory over his Indian challenger Saif Ali.

The Calcutta-based Abhishek Jagnani’s hopes of moving into the second round were dashed when he went down rather tamely to Harsh Mankad 6-0, 6-0 in a totally one-sided contest.

Ludhiana school bow out

NEW DELHI, Nov 10 (UNI) — Scoring once in each half, fancied Birsamunda Vidyapitha, Rourkela defeated Sat Guru Pratap Academy, Ludhiana 2-1 to become the first team to enter the semifinals of the 16th Sub Junior Nehru Hockey Tournament here yesterday.

In Pool-I St. Igantius School Gumla, overpowered B.A.V Inter-College Meerut 2-1 to record their second straight win and virtually assured themselves a place in the last four.

In another Pool-I fixture, Lyallpur Khalsa School, Jalandhar routed lowly Adarsh Vidyalaya, Varanasi, 5-1 to keep their hopes alive for the knockout stage.

Birsamunda Vidyapitha finished their Pool-II assignment with an all-win record to collect nine points from three matches.

In a hard fought match, Birsamunda took the lead against Sat Guru Pratap Academy in the 13th minute through Anand Kumar and led 1-0 at half-time.

The Ludhiana outfit equalised in the 57th minute when Harinder Singh converted a penalty corner (1-1). However three minutes later Manoj Kiro scored the winner for Birsamunda (2-1).

St.Igantius school were levelled 1-1 at half time with B.A.V Inter-College. Mohd. Ishak Ali put B.A.V ahead in the seventh minute when he scored off a penalty corner. Gumla drew parity in the 19th minute through Xavier Jojo. Thomas Nag scored the winner in the 43rd minute. This was B.A.V’s first defeat in two outings.

In the first match of the day, Lyallpur Khalsa School thrashed Adarsh Vidyalaya 5-1 after leading 3-0 at half time.

Major Singh, Budh Nath (two each) and Yadwinder (one) scored for the winners while Prem Kumar reduced the margin for the losers .

This was Adarsh Vidyalaya’s second straight defeat and they are out of contention.

Harikrishan slams scintillating ton

PATIALA, Nov 10 (FOSR)— Patiala skipper Harikrishan Kali is having a dream match as after taking seven first innings wickets with his medium pacers, he sent the bowlers on a leather hunt, stroking his way to a belligerent 124 as the hosts took a vice-like grip in their match against Hoshiarpur in the M.L. Markan Tournament (under-16) semifinal being played at the Dhruv Pandove Stadium here today.

After bundling out Hoshiarpur for 82 in its first innings, the hosts scored 248 in their second essay. Set to chase a massive 374 to win, Hoshiarpur were 28 for two at the draw of stumps on the second day.

Scores:- Patiala (Ist innings): 207 all out

Hoshiarpur (Ist innings): 82 all out (Vikramjit 38 not out. Harikrishan Kali 7 for 27. Vijay Veer 2 for 8)

Patiala (2nd innings): 248 all out (Harikrishan Kali 124.

Aman Sood 52. Binwant 22. Vikramjeet 8 for 86. Deepak Gatta 2 for 66).

Hoshiarpur (2nd innings): 28 for 2 Kuldeep 15 not out. Gaganinder Dhindsa 2 for 7).

Wonders Club win

SHIMLA, Nov 10 (TNS) — Wonders Club, Delhi, defeated Sports Club, Solan, 3-1 to win the 11th All India Tika Joginder Sen Memorial Football Tournament which concluded at Junga, near here, today.

In the semi-final Delhi Club beat Himachal Electricity board 3-1 and Sports Club outplayed Diamond Club, Kalka 2-1.

While Ajay Kumar of Delhi emerged the top scorer, R.S. Negi, also of Delhi, was declared the best player of the tournament.

Northern India shooting

CHANDIGARH, Nov 10 (BOSR)— The 23rd Northern Indian Shooting Championship, to be held under the aegis of the National Rifle Association of India and Chandigarh Rifle Association, will be organised by City Shooters Club at Patiali Rao Shooting Ranges, Sector 25, Chandigarh from November 25 to 29. The competitions will be conducted in air rifle (ISUO and NR), air pistol (ISU & NR). 22 prone and 3 position NR centre fire, standard pistol (ISU & NR).

The teams from Punjab, HP, Rajasthan, UP, Delhi, Indian Army, CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP and the hosts Chandigarh are likely to participate in the five-day championship. Entries close on November 21 at the shooting ranges, Sector 25.

Baboor beats Basak for title

LUCKNOW, Nov 10 (UNI) — Top seed and favourite Chetan P. Baboor of Petroleum Sports Control Board (PSCB) won the men's title and N.R. Indu of Indian Bank bagged the women's title in the finals of the Indian Oil North India Ranking Table Tennis Championship played here yesterday.

Baboor beat Arup Basak also from PSCB, 21-19, 14-21, and 22-20 while Indu outclassed Mouma Das of West Bengal 21-19, 21-14 and 21-18.

The final of the girls singles and boys singles were won by Poulami Ghatak of Bengal and Subhajit Saha (Sr) beating Mouma Das at 21-19, 21-08, 15-21, 21-14 and Subham Choudhury 21-13, 21-14, 11-21, 18-21, 21-15, respectively.