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Saturday,
December 15, 2001,
Chandigarh, India  
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Tough victory target for India
SA hit back after Langer’s
century Jadeja seeks early disposal of
case |
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India one win away from being in top 6 Mukesh joins Feroz at the top PAA to stay away from felicitation
ceremony A scintillating show
of bravery Tushar bows out in
semis Hockey tourney Dharmani new Punjab skipper
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Tough victory target for India
Ahmedabad, December 14 A series of dropped catches allowed England to reach 257 in their second innings with opener Mark Butcher capitalising on three ‘lives’ to top-score with 92. Combined with their first innings lead of 116, England set a formidable target for the home team that is 1-0 up in the series after winning the Mohali Test by 10 wickets. Only once have India surpassed a total more than this in the fourth innings to win a Test when they successfully chased 406 against West Indies in 1976 and it remains an all-time Test record. Three years later India fell just nine runs short, finishing at 429 for eight while chasing 438 against England in Oval. India got their first task right, seeing off the seven overs of their second innings today without losing any wicket. By the end of the fourth day’s play, India were 17 without loss, needing another 357 to win in the 90 overs tomorrow which promises to be a fascinating final day of the Test. England pressed in their spin attack straightaway with left-arm Ashley Giles, who had taken a five-wicket haul in the first innings, being operating in the second over. But Shiv Sunder Das greeted him with a beautiful square drive off the second ball that ran to the fence. Deep Dasgupta, who had a horrendous time behind the wicket in both innings of England, padded away most deliveries, surviving a strong leg before wicket appeal in the process. When the day’s play came to an end, Das, who took three catches earlier in the day, was batting on 11 with the help of two boundaries while Dasgupta was on six. England had earlier played it safe and did not declare their second innings even after extending their lead to more than 350 runs. A 112-run stand for the second wicket between Butcher and skipper Nasser Hussain, who scored 50, had put the visitors in a very strong position when they resumed their batting today at the overnight 15 without loss. India fought back with three quick wickets just before tea with Harbhajan Singh, who later completed another five-wicket haul, his sixth, and Anil Kumble finally tasting success. A declaration looked imminent anytime when England resumed at 183 for five after tea, 299 runs ahead. The batsmen went for their shots and tried to accelerate the scoring rate but the declaration never came. England were finally bowled out 20 minutes before stumps when Harbhajan Singh had Mathew Hoggard caught by Das at deep mid-wicket. Harbhajan finished with figures of five for 71 while Kumble, who claimed seven wickets in the first innings, took three for 118 and was stranded on 299 Test wickets. PTI SCOREBOARD England (1st innings): 407 India (1st innings): 291 England (2nd innings): Butcher c Dravid b Harbhajan 92 Trescothick c Das b Srinath 12 Hussain c Sehwag b Harbhajan 50 Ramprakash c Tendulkar b
Harbhajan 19 Flintoff b Kumble 4 White run out 18 Vaughan not out 31 Foster c Yohannan b Kumble 3 Giles c Das b Harbhajan 8 Dawson c Tendulkar b Kumble 2 Hoggard c Das b Harbhajan 1 Extras (b-6, lb-8, nb-3) 17 Total (all out, 83.2 overs) 257 Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-133, 3-178, 4-183, 5-183, 6-225, 7-231, 8-247, 9-253. Bowling:
Srinath 9-2-24-1, Yohannan 4-0-25-0, Kumble 38-5-118-3, Harbhajan 30.2-6-71-5, Sehwag 2-0-5-0. India (2nd Innings): Das batting 11 Dasgupta batting 06 Total: ( for no loss in 7 overs): 17 Bowling: Hoggard 3-0-4-0; Giles 3-1-6-0; Dawson 1-0-7-0. |
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Dasgupta gets another chance Ahmedabad, December 14 The national selectors met here today under the chairmanship of Chandu Borde and decided against effecting any change in the team. Dasgupta has had a horrendous time behind the wickets in the ongoing second Test and has missed several catches and a stumping chance. Team:
Sourav Ganguly (captain), Shiv Sunder Das, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Deep Dasgupta, Connor Williams, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Javagal Srinath, Tinu Yohannan, Iqbal Siddiqui and Sharandeep Singh.
PTI |
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SA hit back after Langer’s century Adelaide, December 14 The diminutive 31-year-old left-hander, who was given a lifeline when Michael Slater was sacked for the fifth Ashes Test against England last August, once again was Australia’s batting hero with his knock of 115 as the home team reached 272 for six by close. But while dominating the opening two sessions, Australia’s middle-order frailty again surfaced with South Africa snaring the wickets of Steve Waugh, Langer and Adam Gilchrist to claw their way back into the contest. Langer claimed his 11th Test century with a flourish, sweeping spinner Claude Henderson over mid-wicket for six just before tea. He raised his arms into the air as he made sweet contact with the ball to continue his purple patch as Australia’s in-form batsman. Since supplanting Slater at The Oval, Langer’s sequence of scores are 102 not out, 104, 18 not out, 123, 75, 0 and 115. But it was left-armer Henderson, a tour replacement for Nicky Boje, who ended Langer’s 332-minute stay and finished the day with three wickets when he coaxed him to edge to Shaun Pollock at slip. Langer’s innings was spliced with 15 boundaries and a six. At stumps, Damien Martyn was not out on 37 and Shane Warne on seven. Australia, leading the unofficial world championship standings ahead of rivals South Africa, made full use of winning the toss and were 182 for one late in the second session before wickets tumbled. Ricky Ponting, dropped when he was six and caught off a no-ball on 28, was run out for 54 by smart fielding from Boeta Dippenaar when going for an injudicious single. Ponting, who injured his back in the morning warm-up, required manipulative treatment from the team physio throughout his two hours at the crease. Mark Waugh, celebrating his 100th Test together with twin brother Steve, played a poor shot to Nantie Hayward three minutes before tea and was caught behind by Mark Boucher for two. He exposed captain Steve to see out three balls before the interval. The South Africans throttled the scoring tempo after tea, clamping Australia to a measly 17 runs in the fifth hour of play while claiming the prized wicket of Steve Waugh. Waugh was disgruntled when quickly given out by Indian umpire Srinivas Venkataraghavan to a catch close in to Neil McKenzie off left-armer Henderson. Australia (1st innings): Langer c Pollock b Henderson 115 Hayden c Ntini b Klusener 31 Ponting run out (Dippenaar) 54 M. Waugh c Boucher b Hayward 2 Waugh c McKenzie b Henderson 8 Martyn batting 37 Gilchrist c Hayward b Henderson 7 Warne batting 7 Extras (lb-1, nb-10) 11 Total (for 6 wkts, 90 overs) 272 Fall of wickets: 1-80, 2-182, 3-199, 4-211, 5-238, 6-248. Bowling: Pollock 22-6-48-0 , Hayward 19-3-67-1, Ntini 11-3-45-0, Kallis 11-0-28-0, Klusener 9-4-28-1, Henderson 18-3-55-3.
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Jadeja seeks early disposal of case New Delhi, December 14 Justice Mukul Mudgal issued notice, returnable on December 19, to the board, asking it to file reply to Jadeja’s petition. The cricketer’s counsel Vinnet Malhotra said more than one year had passed and only the preliminary issue had been decided. In the process of the delay his counsel was suffering as his prime period of playing cricket was passing away, he said. The legal system also suggests mechanism for reconciliation, lok adalats, arbitration and speedy trial, so in the interest of both parties and justice the case should be expeditiously dealt with, he added. Mr Malhotra said the BCCI should not have any objection to the prayer and could suggest any mutually agreeable person to decide the matter or in the alternative a retired judge of the High Court could be appointed, who may sort out the issue within 30 days. On September 17, the court had overruled the preliminary objections of the BCCI over the maintainability of Jadeja’s petition, which challenged the five-year ban imposed on him in the wake of match-fixing allegations. Justice Mudgal held that when the government allowed the BCCI the prerogative of being the sole representative for cricket by permitting it to choose the national team for events like the World Cup, then it necessarily imbues the board with public functions so far as the selection and representation of the team at the international cricket fora and regulation of the game in the country is concerned. “Thus the monopoly status of the BCCI is evident. It is also clear that such monoply status is indisputably recognised as evident from the letter of Ministry of Culture, Youth Affairs and Sports dated December 22, 2000 and indeed by acquiescence of the government.” The judge said this in his order while rejecting the preliminary objections raised by the board and its president A.C. Muthiah over the maintainability of Jadeja’s petition and disposed of their applications in this regard. He, however, said the sustainability of the impugned action was not a subject matter of preliminary objection but of determination of disputes on merit and the court was still to determine whether the five-year ban could be challenged.
UNI |
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India one win away from being in top 6 Kuala Lumpur, December 14 If India win, it would be their first major tournament victory after the 1998 Asian Games gold medal. Of course,
india, only recently also won the Junior World Cup. For South Africa, it has been an impressive run. After having qualified for the 2000 Sydney Olympics and then withdrawing, this tournament was an invitation from the International Hockey Federation and it says a lot about their team that they are in the final, only a step away from being in the top six in the world. Both coaches are wary of predicting the final, yet, in so many ways, both echo the same feelings. “If we are able to convert our chances, then I don’t see India losing,” says coach Cedric
D’Souza. His counterpart, Wendell Domingo, says if they are able to hold off India in the early stages, then they can go ahead and make a match of it. Ultimately, it will come down to the Indian forward-line and how and what they do with the chances they create in the South African circle. Baljit Dhillon has been playing a lot in the midfield and thus unable to enter the striking circle. So that leaves India with the talents of junior World Cup star Deepak Thakur, Gagan Ajit Singh, Prabhjot Singh and veteran striker Dhanraj
Pillay. Dhanraj has been in sparkling form but has not played as central striker yet or even as a freewheeling forward, a role he relishes. The Indians would do well to let him play to his liking as he can still drag away half the opposition defence to his side leaving gaps for others to exploit.
D’Souza, however, says it is not to stifle Dhanraj that they play him as an outside right but more to keep the rival defences in check. “But against South Africa, we will play according to the situation and see how each player fits in.” The Indian midfield has been off-colour in this tourney.
Thirumalvalvan, Sukhbir Singh Gill, Vikram Pillay and Bipin Fernandez just haven’t been able to stamp their authority thus, forcing Baljit Dhillon to fall back and become play-maker which reduces his effectiveness upfront. And with India’s two top defenders, Dilip Tirkey and Dinesh Nayak not playing this tournament, the midfield too has to fall back and help the defence where Jugraj Singh and Kanwalpreet Singh sometimes out of sheer in-experience make basic errors. Knowing South Africa’s penchant for withstanding pressure, India would do well to play four forwards upfront so that pressure is never eased. Also the South Africans don’t come up often for fear of leaving gaps in their defence. This is not to say that Mike Cullen, Justin King, Ken Forbes and Craig Fulton don’t have the talent to break the Indian defence. In their earlier league encounter, India were held to a 2-2 draw by South Africa with cullen looking very dangerous on the break. South Africa came back to equalise after india were leading 2-1. In the final, india may miss out the services of Daljit Singh Dhillon who has two yellow cards to his name. A final word on Dhillion taking the field rests on the tournament judges. That would make life tougher for D’Souza as he would have to play Fernandes or look to Sabu Varkey who has completely recovered from fever. Goalkeeper Jude Menezes looked unsure in the earlier matches but came back brilliantly against Argentina. But the same cannot be said about the entire team with respect to consistency.
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Mukesh joins Feroz at the top Digboi, December 14 Feroz the overnight leader was, however, joined by Mukesh Kumar atop the leader-board, the twosome tallying six-under 138. Zai was tied-third spot with Chandigarh’s Harmeet Kahlon, at three -under 141. Kolkata’s Basad Ali who was the other golfer to return a 67 today,was tied-fifth with Rafiq Ali, S.S.P Chowrasia (both Kolkata) Amit Dube (Noida) Delhi’s Rohtas Singh at two-under 142. Feroz a tenth tee starter had a terrible start with a double bogey studding his card on his very first hole. Thereafter, a birdie on the 12th and a bogey on the 14th saw him make the turn at two-over. A bogey on the 2nd pushed him to 3-over but he made amends with birdies on the third, seventh and ninth and despite a bogey on the sixth, finished the day at one-over 73. Mukesh Kumar pegged on as only he can.The Mhow based golfer started the day with a bogey on the first, an eagle on the third helped him recover birdies on the seventh, 14th and 16th and bogeys on the fifth, ninth, 10th and 15th handed him a second-round score of level-par 72 after returning 28 putts. Zai Kipgen had two eagles (third, seventh), five birdies (fifth, eighth, 11th, 15th and 18th), a triple bogey on the 12th and a bogey on the 13th.
UNI |
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PAA to stay away from felicitation
ceremony Patiala, December 14 The function is being organised at the residence of J.S. Bir who was also chairman of regional organising committee of the games. However, Mr K.S. Kang, Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation and President of the PAA, has made it clear that archers who performed well during the games will not be present at the ceremony. In a press release, Mr K.S. Kang has said the PAA had decided to boycott the function because of the indifferent attitude of the regional organising committee towards archery. It is pertinent to mention here that a Patiala archer Vishal Kumar had created ripples when he won the gold medal in the individual event of the games by beating many internationally renowned archers. Mr Kang has said that the PAA was cold shouldered during the Games and the archers from all around the country who had come to Patiala to take part in the games had felt ‘slighted’ at the attitude of the chairman of the regional organising committee. Mr Kang also lamented that although Mr Bir himself was personally present at other venues where other events were being held, there was no officer from the regional committee to applaud the efforts of Vishal Kumar in his hour of glory. |
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A scintillating show
of bravery Chandigarh, December 14 The show was aimed at encouraging the sport of horse riding among school children. The function had show jumping and tent pegging events by young boys and girls of the school
team. The tent pegging, once the domain of Pathans, impressed the select audience as boys aged 12-15 were so immaculate in their perfection that it gave thrilling moments to all those who watched the event. Another attraction was aerobics by team led by Parneet Sandhu. The lone female rider was Sabreena Puneet. Other young riders who mesmerised the audience which included Chief Guest Lt Gen (Retd) J.F.R. Jacob was the team of Hardeep Brar, Jaspreet Brar, Sandeep Dhillon, Jagtar Bhinder, Amrik Singh Virk, Manmeet Randhawa, Prithivijeet Bedi, Simranjeet, Samandeep Singh, Jaspreet Singh, Gurjap Singh and Jaiinder Singh. |
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Tushar bows out in
semis New Delhi, December 14 With top-seeded Amanjot Singh having bit the dust in the quarter-final
yesterday, Tushar was the only hope left for Chandigarh in the boys singles. But Arun Prakash, the eighth seed, lived upto his billing to record a straight sets victory. Tushar tried to make a fight of it in the second set, but in vain. Arun meets sixth-seeded fellow-Tamil Somdev K. Devvarman in the title clash. Somdev disposed of Parantap Chaturvedi of Delhi 6-3,6-1 in one hour and 12 minutes. Former national champion and last year’s runner-up Sunil Kumar Sipaeya of Chandigarh, who had crashed out to top seed Rohan Bopanna in straight sets in the men’s singles second round, made the exit from doubles too, as he and his partner Rishi Sridhar were pushed out by the Kirtane cousins, Nitin and Sandeep, with a 7-6,6-2 victory in one hour and 12 minutes. Chandigarh suffered another blow when the fancied Shruti Dhawan and partner Radhika Tulpule were beaten by the young pair of Ankita Bhambri (Delhi) and Sania Mirza (Andhra) 1-6,6-3, 6-2. But Shruti Dhawan has her hopes alive in the women’s singles, as she takes on fourth-seeded Sheetal Goutham tomorrow. Amanjot Singh of Chandigarh and Rohan Gajjar, the top seeds, beat Nihal Advani and Abhay Prakash 7-5,6-3 in the boys Under-18 doubles semi-final, and meet Shivang Mishra and Arun Prakash in the final. The fifth-seeded Mishra and Prakash ousted seventh-seeded Chatwinder Singh and Saurabh Singh of Chandigarh 6-3,6-4. The girls under-18 title clash will be between fifth-seeded Isha Lakhani of Maharashtra and unseeded Samrita Sekar of Tamil Nadu. Isha toyed with fourth-seeded Kartiki Bhat of Maharashtra 6-0, 6-2 in 50 minutes while Samrita Sekar swept aside Preeti Rao of Tamil Nadu disdainfully at 6-1,6-0. With the men’s and women’s singles semi-final matches having been deferred to Saturday, the senior players could fully concentrate on their doubles. But the top-seeded pair of Rohan Bopanna and Mustafa Ghouse could not cash in on the occasion as they were stunned by the in-form pair of Vijay Kannan of Tamil Ndau and Ajay Ramaswamy of Maharashtra at 4-6,7-5, 6-2. |
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Hockey tourney Jalandhar, December 14 According to the chairman of the society, Mr J.P. Birdi, in all six men’s teams, four women teams besides teams from the four academies will participate. “Special emphasis will be laid on generating interest about the game in the public, who had witnessed the downfall of the Indian hockey in the past one-and-a-half decade. Union Minister for Law, Justice and Company Affairs Mr Arun Jaitley will inaugurate the tournament”, he said. The participating teams are: Men: Punjab Police, Bharat Petroleum, BSF, Punjab and Sind Bank, Central Industrial Security Force and Indian Oil. |
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Dharmani new Punjab skipper Chandigarh, December 14 The team: Pankaj Dharmani (Captain), Dinesh Mongia, Yuv Raj Singh, Reetinder Sodhi, Munish Sharma, Ravneet Ricky, Vineet Sharma, Gagandeep Singh, Amit Uniyal, Sanjay Mahajan, Lakhbir Singh, Kailash Sawal, Harkrishan Kali, Babloo Kumar, Ankur Kakkar. |
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