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Tuesday,
May 21, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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India revive hopes in fifth Test Harbhajan Singh bowls against the West Indies on the second day of the final
Test match at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica
on Sunday. |
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Brilliance,
blunders of Barthez
Del Piero:
Italy’s great hope British
football hooligans on way to Japan Women
grapplers win 7 medals AITA to
focus on junior tennis Channa
wins gold in Asian meet Bathinda,
Gurdaspur win titles
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India revive hopes in fifth Test
Kingston, May 20 Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan struck twice each to reduce West Indies to 65 for 4 at tea on the third day after India had been bowled out for 212 in their first innings. West Indies, who made 422 in their first innings, did not enforce a follow-on despite being in a position to do so and were made to suffer for that decision as the Indian bowlers brought a dramatic turnaround in the match. In a bid to give their bowlers ample time to have a go at the Indians in their second innings, West Indian batsmen started fluently to build on their lead of 210. But in the process, they played some indiscreet shots and paid the price. Srinath gave India the breakthrough by producing an edge off opener Wavell Hinds’ bat that went straight to VVS Laxman. Hinds made six and the first wicket fell at 17. The other opener Chris Gayle, who had hit Srinath for three fours in his 15-run knock, was also out to the same bowler when he attempted a cut but gave a simple catch to Saurav Ganguly at point. Zaheer Khan then dismissed Ramnaresh Sarwan (12) and skipper Carl Hooper (6), two of the most consistent batsmen on the series, in quick succession as West Indies were reduced to 60 for four. At the tea break, Brian Lara was batting on 24 while Shivnarine Chanderpaul was on two. The top-order batsmen failed to click and India were all out for 212 runs in reply to West Indies score of 422 in the first innings on the third day of the fifth Test here today. However, West Indies did not enforce the follow-on and opted to bat in the second innings. Earlier, pace bowler Mervyn Dillon grabbed his second career five-wicket haul to put India under pressure to avoid the follow-on. The Trinidad bowler removed Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly (36) early and then dismissed wicketkeeper Ajay Ratra (3) and Harbhajan Singh (4) in quick succession to send India into lunch on 207 for nine in reply to West Indies’ first innings 422. Vangipurappu Laxman was on 62, the fifth time this series he has passed 50, with India still needing 16 to ensure West Indies bat again. India resumed on 141 for four but Ganguly fell after adding 14 to his overnight 22 when he edged a ball that swung late to wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs. The left-hander, who struck seven fours, had compiled 82 for the fifth wicket with Laxman. Wicketkeeper Ajay Ratra, who scored his maiden Test century in the drawn fourth Test at Antigua, was caught for three fending a short ball straight to Wavell Hinds at forward short-leg. Harbhajan fell in a similar manner soon after to give Dillon his fifth wicket as Hinds dived to his right and picked up a one-handed catch inches from the ground. The figures of five for 68 so far were Dillon’s best bowling performance beating his five for 111 in Pakistan in 1997. Zaheer Khan got a chance on four, when he skied left-arm paceman Pedro Collins just out of reach of Adam Sanford at mid-on, but finally fell for six mis-timing an attempted pull off Cuffy to Brian Lara at cover. Collins then had Srinath (2) edging to Chris Gayle at second slip as five wickets tumbled for 29. India won the second Test in Trinidad by 37 runs but West Indies hit back with a series-levelling 10-wicket win in Barbados. Earlier yesterday, the two in-form batsmen, opener Wasim Jaffer and Rahul Dravid, were dismissed cheaply early in the innings and, after a minor recovery through a 69-run third wicket partnership, India lost resurgent Sachin Tendulkar and Shiv Sunder Das in quick succession. That left India gasping at 86 for four while replying to West Indies’ first innings score of 422 before skipper Sourav Ganguly and V.V.S. Laxman anchored the side to relative safety at 141 for four at close of day’s play. Still 281 runs behind, India needed 82 more runs to avert the follow-on with their last two recognised batsmen at crease. PTI SCOREBOARD
West Indies (1st innings): 422 India (1st innings): Das lbw b Cuffy 33 Jaffer c Jacobs b Dillon 0 Dravid lbw b Dillon 5 Tendulkar b Sanford 41 Ganguly c Jacobs b Dillon 36 Laxman not out 65 Ratra c Hinds b Dillon 3 Harbhajan c Hinds b Dillon 4 Zaheer c Lara b Cuffy 6 Srinath c Gayle b Collins 2 Nehra run out 0 Extras (lb-6, nb-11) 17 Total (all out, 75 overs) 212 Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-15, 3-84, 4-86, 5-168, 6-178, 7-184, 8-194, 9-197. Bowling: Dillon 24-4-71-5, Cuffy 22-5-49-2, Collins 19-2-54-1, Sanford 9-1-27-1, Hooper 1-0-5-0. West Indies (2nd innings) Gayle c Ganguly b Srinath 15 Hinds c Laxman b Srinath 6 Sarwan c Das b Zaheer Khan 12 Lara batting 24 Hooper c Ratra b Zaheer Khan 6 Chanderpaul batting 2 Extras 0 Total (for 4 wkts, 19 overs) 65 Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-24, 3-38, 4-60. Bowling: Srinath 7-2-19-2, Nehra 6-2-16-0, Zaheer Khan 5-2-25-2, Harbhajan Singh 1-0-5-0. |
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I’ll prove critics wrong: Harbhajan
Kingston (Jamaica), May 20 “I read somebody has pointed out I don’t have a good shoulder. I cannot bowl or make runs. I have given a fitting reply on the first two points. Hopefully, the third would also be set alright tomorrow,” Harbhajan Singh said after the second day’s play of fifth and final cricket Test against West Indies here yesterday. Harbhajan claimed five wickets for 138 runs and made several hard throws from the deep to prove his effectiveness on foreign pitches and also allay fears on his shoulder. The young off-spinner, who completed 100 Test wickets with his first dismissal in this match on the opening day, did not play in the first Test because of a shoulder strain and picked only six wickets in the next two Tests in Port of Spain and Barbados where he was selected ahead of Anil Kumble. “I don’t think I struggled in the earlier Tests. I bowled well in Trinidad and Barbados. I have bowled well and it was only a matter of time before I got wickets,” he said. “The five wicket haul was good but I could have done better than this performance. Still, it is a good performance and I am happy for picking up my first five-wicket haul abroad. A lot and lot of five-wicket hauls will follow in future,” he said. Harbhajan said he did not try anything special considering that the track was unresponsive for the spinners and credited his teammate Dinesh Mongia for providing useful tips. “It’s a good wicket but there is not much there in it for me so far. So, I just tried to bowl a good line and length.” “Dinesh told me at the break I should be bowling from round the wicket to Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ridley Jacobs and I did well to pay heed to his advice,” he said. Though he had modest success on this tour before his match, Harbhajan did trouble star West Indian batsman Brian Lara in practically every match. “He didn’t face too many balls in this game. I don’t get overawed with reputations, be it Steve Waugh or Sachin Tendulkar.” He was hopeful that his team would make a strong recovery when play resumes on the third day. India closed out second day yesterday at 141 for four in reply to West Indies first innings total of 422. “It’s a five-day game. You can’t say anything. We just need one partnership in the morning. I am very confident we will make 350 or 400,” he said, adding that his own contribution with the bat would not be insignificant. “I have been practising hard in the nets. I would prove a lot of my critics wrong tomorrow.”
PTI |
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Butcher hits ton in drawn Test
London, May 20 The home side, outclassed for most of the match and forced to follow on 280 runs behind, declared just before the close of the fifth day on 529 for five, 249 runs in credit, after batting for two days as the game petered out. The Sri Lankans, who made 555 for eight declared in their first visit, reached 42 for one in the 13 overs left after being peppered with short deliveries by England’s pace bowlers. Sri Lanka’s hopes of a 10th Test win in a row had slipped away during the final afternoon as the left-handed Butcher, who had looked in wretched form as he struggled to put bat to ball at the start, produced an innings memorable for grim determination rather than sparkling strokeplay. The Surrey player, who remodelled his game 18 months ago in an attempt to revive a faltering career, reached his fourth Test hundred after six and a half hours before running himself out moments later for 105, needlessly risking a third run to fine leg. Every England batsman, however, took advantage of a fine batting pitch and Sri Lanka’s attack badly missing injured off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan. Sri Lanka had started another sunny day with hopes of forcing a win as England resumed a meagre 41 runs ahead with eight wickets standing.
Sri Lanka (1st innings): 555-8 decl England (1st Innings): 275 England (2nd Innings): Trescothick lbw b Zoysa 76 Vaughan c Sangakkara b Perera 115 Butcher run out 105 Hussain lbw b Perera 68 Thorpe c Fernando b de Silva 65 Crawley not out 41 Stewart not out 26 Extras (b1, lb9, w1, nb22) 33 Total (5 wkts decl, 191 overs) 529 Fall of wickets : 1-168, 2-213, 3-372, 4-432, 5-483. Bowling: Vaas 44-8-113-0, Zoysa 34-6-84-1, Perera 30-4-90-2, de Silva 27-7-63-1, Fernando 26-1-96-0, Jayasuriya 25-6-66-0, Arnold 4-1-7-0, Tillekeratne 1-1-0-0.
AFP  |
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Brilliance, blunders of Barthez
Paris, May 20 Yet while the flamboyant shot-stopper has committed some spectacular howlers for Manchester United it is a fact that he has rarely let France down. A superb athlete and one of the fiercest competitors around, Barthez has made the French jersey his own during nearly seven years in the national team, one of coach Roger Lemerre’s automatic choices. Lightning reflexes, supreme confidence in claiming crosses and excellent distribution from the back are 30-year-old Barthez’s strong suits. The son of a first-class rugby player, Barthez began his career with Toulouse before joining Marseille in 1992. A member of the side which won the European Cup in 1993, he made his debut for France the following year. Seeking a fresh challenge he joined Monaco in 1995, but was soon embroiled in controversy after testing positive for cannabis. He was suspended for four months but returned and helped Monaco win the French championship in 1997. Superb throughout France’s victorious World Cup campaign in 1998, Barthez would be remembered for his ritual with centre-half Laurent Blanc, who routinely planted a kiss on the keeper’s shaven head before every game. Barthez’s part in France’s victory boosted his celebrity status in France, and he has been romantically linked with the supermodel Linda Evangelista. In 2000 Barthez won his second championship with Monaco but was involved in a row with the club following a match against Marseille which led to Manchester United signing him for a record £ 7.8 million. Filling the shoes of Manchester United’s former keeper Peter Schmeichel, Barthez soon established himself at Old Trafford as a favourite of the fans, for all his high-wire antics and eccentric skills. But after tasting glory in his first season in England, Barthez was forced to endure one of the roughest periods of his career in Manchester United’s failed domestic campaign this year. A series of shocking mistakes, most notably against Deportivo La Coruna in the first phase and against Arsenal in the league, prompted many to wonder whether Barthez was too much of a liability. United manager Alex Ferguson stood by his goalkeeper however and his faith was repaid in the second half of the season as Barthez rediscovered his best form. As he heads into the World Cup, ‘Fab’ is at his peak. “You come across players with the drive to improve themselves every time they set foot on a pitch or the training ground,” Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson remarked earlier this season. “Fabien is one of those players.”
AFP |
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Del Piero: Italy’s great hope
Rome, May 20 The Juventus striker is participating in his fourth major tournament with the ‘Azzurri’ but in the first three failed to live up to his billing as the great hope of Italian football. Since his Juve debut against Foggia in 1993 Del Piero has bagged 85 goals in Serie A and 32 in European tournaments, his 10 in the 1997-8 season setting a Champions League record. That same season he scored 21 goals in Serie A — his best tally although this year’s total of 16 was the second best for Del Piero, still only 27. His fourth Scudetto — won earlier this month — can be added to nine other trophies, the most notable the 1995-6 Champions League when he featured in Lippi’s famous ‘Tridente’ attack alongside Gianluca Vialli and Fabrizio Ravanelli. Surprisingly Juve ditched those strikers immediately after the European conquest but there was no danger of them getting rid of Del Piero. The November after Juve’s Champions League title, Del Piero’s goal against River Plate of Argentina crowned them as unofficial world club champions with victory in Tokyo in the Intercontinental Cup. These victories were landmarks for Juve whose only previous victories in those competitions in 1985 will forever be tarnished by the memories of the Heysel disaster at the European Cup Final that claimed 39 lives, mainly Juve fans. Del Piero, then just 10 years old, watched the 1-0 victory over Liverpool but admits he was not mature enough to understand the magnitude of the tragedy. Although a lifelong Juve fan Del Piero started out at the university town of Padua for local favourites Padova. He made 14 Serie B appearances for his first club, the first as a 16-year-old. Quickly snapped up by Juve he then continued his development at Turin and has remained loyal to that club ever since. But success continues to elude him with Italy for whom he made his debut in Salerno in 1995 in the 4-1 victory over Estonia. His first opportunity came in Euro 96 in England under coach Arrigo Sacchi but injury ensured he failed to live up to the great expectations as the Italians were eliminated in the first round. Two years later Del Piero tasted the World Cup atmosphere for the first time but again failed to sparkle as Italy exited in the last eight on penalties to France. Del Piero had to cope with cries of ‘mette Baggio’ (put on Baggio) from Italian supporters as fans urged coach Cesare Maldini to replace Del Piero with Roberto Baggio. In Euro 2000 Del Piero was eclipsed by A.S. Roma skipper Francesco Totti who was the inspiration behind the Italy team — now coached by Dino Zoff — that came within a whisker of the title. Brought on as a second-half substitute Del Piero squandered two chances to kill the game with Italy leading 1-0. France came back to win and Del Piero was the ready-made scapegoat. Now — this time under coach Giovanni Trapattoni — he again gets his chance but perhaps with Totti now carrying the burden of expectation Del Piero will benefit from the lower profile. Del Piero survived an intense media campaign for Trapattoni to pick Baggio, many saying that the Juve striker should be the player to make way. He allowed Totti to claim the number 10 jersey traditionally awarded to the team’s star player with Del Piero settling for the number seven. “In Japan the number seven is lucky,” said Del Piero. “It’s also the number with which I began my career with San Vendemiano. My first ever coach Umberto Prestia gave it to me when I played with the kids. The number seven is in my memory, in my past.”
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British
football hooligans on way to Japan Bangkok, May 20 “They have arrived in groups of five to seven,” The Nation newspaper quoted Tourist Police Chief commander Major General Sanit Meephan as saying. “You can tell from their hairstyles and dress that they are not normal tourists.” He said the would-be hooligans were using Bangkok tourist areas like Patpong and Khaosan Road and the beach resort of Pattaya as gathering points but did not intend to stay long in Thailand. Thai police were reportedly in touch with their British counterparts in preparation to mount a joint security operation in Thailand to foil plans by the hooligans to sneak into Japan via Thailand. The paper cited British reports about two suspected leaders of a hooligan group known as Chelsea’s Headhunters, which orchestrated football violence during the 1980s, who were allegedly arranging flights and match tickets for hooligans hoping to disrupt the World Cup.
DPA |
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Women grapplers win 7 medals Chandigarh, May 20 Complimenting the team for their remarkable achievement, Mr M.S. Malik, President of the Wrestling Federation of India, said here today that they had made India proud with their outstanding performance. They earned the overall second position, as all the eight were in the medal’s tally with seven of them winning a medal each, Mr Malik said. Sudesh, who won the bronze medal in 40 kg weight category is from Jind district of Haryana. Both the winners of silver medals, Parveen (65 kg) and Neeru (72 kg) are also from Haryana, he said, adding the gold medals winners from the state included Rachna (38 kg), Geetika Jhakhar (60 kg), L Ranjana (43 kg) and Rupinder Kaur (46 kg). |
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AITA to focus on junior tennis New Delhi, May 20 The Indian under-14 team, captained by Hemant Bendre and consisting of Rupesh Roy, Sumit Prakash Gupta and M Jeevan won the ITF under-14 world junior tennis competition Asia-Oceania group team event. India, seeded No 5, completely dominated the region by winning the semifinals at Colombo against the second-seeded China 3-0 and then the finals against third-seeded Australia, beating them for the second time, with a 3-0 drubbing. In the group matches, India had beaten fourth seeded Japan 2-0, Australia 3-0, Chinese Taipei 3-0 and Indonesia 3-0. The Indian boys remained undefeated with a 15-0 record in 16 ties, winning all the 12 singles matches. Following the smashing success of the under-14 team, who topped the Asian zone, the Indian girls team, consisting of Sanaa Bhambri, Sandhya Nagaraj, Sandri Gangotry and Vandana Murali with Kanwaljeet Singh as non-playing captain, also dominated the world junior tennis regionals. In the robin-robin contest, they topped their group by demolishing Malaysia, Japan and the Philippines in straight sets, and in the semifinals, they defeated Thailand. But in the final, India lost to top-seeded China 1-2. Sanaa Bhambri from Delhi was declared the “unbeatable champion in the tournament”. The under-14 team took the third place in the group in the Junior Federation Cup (girls). The Junior Davis Cup team, consisting of Karan Rastogi, Tushar Liberhan, J Vishnu Vardhan and coach-cum-captain Manoj Vaidya, are presently in Kuala Lumpur. India are expected to qualify for the World Group finals. The AITA has also been giving financial support to nine junior players in a bid to excel in the Asian Games and the Olympic Games in the coming years. |
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Channa wins gold in Asian meet Chandigarh, May 20 He has performed consistently well and had earlier bagged gold medals in the National Championship at Cuttack and the National School Games at New Delhi. Channa who is flying back home today will be honoured on May 31 at a special function being organised by the Punjab Judo Association in Ludhiana. All judo players and officials who contributed in securing a tally of 16 medals in the National Games are also being honoured at this function. The function will be graced by Mr Jagmohan Singh Kang, Sports Minister, Mr M S Bhullar, DGP, Punjab, and Mr R S Gill, Addl. DGP Mr Kartar Singh, Director, Sports, will also attend the function. Navjot Channa who comes from a modest family was recently appointed a constable in the Punjab Police. Mr Bhullar is likely to announce his promotion at this function. Channa’s younger brother and sister are also national level judo players. |
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Bathinda, Gurdaspur win titles Talwandi Sabo, May 20 In the finals held under floodlights last evening Bathinda defeated Ludhiana 58-47 while Gurdaspur became champions overcoming Kapurthala 30-20. Mansa and Muktsar were third and fourth, respectively in the boys section while Amritsar and Jalandhar were third and fourth, respectively in the girls section. |
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