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Tuesday,
September 24, 2002,
Chandigarh, India  
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Bond sends
Bangladesh packing CHETAN SHARMA WRITES EXPERT COMMENTS: WASIM
AKRAM Chinks
in the keeping armour ‘We
needed magic to contain India’ |
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Coach,
skeet team clearance delayed 37 teams
for Parle Cup Inderjit
helps Chandigarh XI win BSF lift
Gold Cup Baba
Farid, Dhudike school in final
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Bond sends
Bangladesh packing
Colombo, September 23 The 27-year-old medium pacer from Canterbury, bowled a hostile spell picking the top four wickets in a space of 4.3 overs as Bangladesh were bowled out for 77 runs in a mere 19.3 overs, their second lowest total. Bangladesh who were at one stage reeling at 56 for eight, were facing the threat of being bowled out inside their lowest ever score of 76 all out against Sri Lanka here last month, before managing to avoid the embarrassment. Earlier, the ‘Black Caps’ got off to a disastrous start, recovered well and lost their way in the middle overs as the run-rate which was seven runs per over in the initial stages, came down to less than 4.5 runs per over. But Mathew Sinclair played a laborious 122-ball 70 to help the Kiwis post 244 for nine in the 50 overs. Scott Styris (26), Chris Harris (26) and Jacob Oram (30) chipped in which useful contributions. In fact the minnows, who were reeling at 19 for five in five overs, were facing the ignominy of being bowled out for lowest ever score in one-day history (36 all out by Zimbabwe against Sri Lanka), before top scorer Tushar Imran (20, 16 balls 4x4) came up with a brief resistance adding 18 runs for the sixth wicket in 2.1 overs with Khalid Mahmud (11, 12 balls, 3x4). The outcome of the match hardly had any significance as both New Zealand and Bangladesh were out of the reckoning having lost their opening encounters to Australia, who topped the pool-1 and would meet Sri Lanka in the semifinals on September 27. Seven of the Bangladesh batsmen fell to catches behind the wickets as Kiwi skipper Stephen Fleming set up a Test-match field with three slips and a gully and they fell to the trap. Only four bowlers were used by Fleming and all of them helped themselves with a couple of wickets, with Bond being the most devastating one. It was a virtual procession to the pavilion once the man of the match Shane Bond struck the first blood of the third ball trapping opener Al Shariyar (zero) with a delivery that cut back sharply. Mohammad Ashraful (one) then followed suit edging to Styris at third slip and Alok Kapali (two) was held by Fleming at first slip and Khalid Mashud (one) nicked one to wicket keeper Vincent. Shane Bond’s new ball partner, Jacob Oram removed opener Javed Omar (1) when Nathan Astle leapt in air in the second slip to bring off a spectacular one-handed catch and then accounted for top scorer Tushar Imran, who played away from the body and edged to Astle. Reuters Scoreboard
New Zealand: Fleming c Jubair b Mahmud 31 Astle c Kapali b Islam 5 Sinclair c Rafique b Ashraful 70 Vincent c Mashud b Mahmud 1 Styris run out 26 Harris c Mashud b Ashraful 26 Oram c Tushar b Ashraful 30 Vettori c Muntasir b Islam 16 Mills not out 3 Bond st Mashud b Rafique 8 Hitchcock not out 2 Extras:
(b-1, lb-9, w-14, nb-2) 26 Total: (for 9 wkts, 50 overs) 244 Fall of wickets:
1-11, 2-77, 3-79, 4-119, 5-167, 6-198, 7-216, 8-232, 9-242. Bowling:
Manjural Islam 8-1-30-2, Talha Jubair 5-0-46-0, Khaled Mahmud 10-0-41-2, Mohammad Rafique 10-0-39-1, Fahim Muntasir 10-0-40-0, Alok Kapali 2-0-12-0, Mohammad Ashraful 5-1-26-3. Bangladesh: Omar c Astle b Oram 1 Sahariar lbw b Bond 0 Ashraful c Styris b Bond 1 Imran c Astle b Oram 20 Kapali c Fleming b Bond 2 Mashud c Vincent b Bond 1 Mahmud c Fleming b Mills 11 Rafique c Harris b Vettori 17 Muntasir c Vincent b Mills 5 Islam b Vettori 10 Jubair not out 1 Extras:
(lb-1, w-4, nb-3) 8 Total: (all out, 19.3 overs) 77 Fall of wickets:
1-2, 2-8, 3-8, 4-16, 5-19, 6-37, 7-46, 8-56, 9-70. Bowling: Bond 5-0-21-4, Oram 6-1-32-2, Mills 5-0-13-2, Vettori 3.3-1-10-2. |
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CHETAN SHARMA
WRITES As expected New Zealand had the consolation of bowing out of the Champions Trophy with a win over Bangladesh in the last league match of the tournament. Even though it made no difference to the semifinal line up, Bangladesh’s performance showed us how flawed the decision to give them a full Test status was. Being all out for 77, the lowest score of the tournament, it was for everyone to see why Bangladesh are not ready for international cricket yet. With teams like Bangladesh, Kenya and Holland around, most of the league matches were one-sided and deprived of any interest. I am sure these teams will benefit more by playing among themselves or the A teams of top teams but not like this. This way top players of the world will only shatter some individual records playing against the minnows. New Zealand’s batting came good when it mattered, even though they lost regular wickets. The wicket was not the best for batting and New Zealand struggled to get to 244 for nine, with Mathew Sinclair top scoring with 70 and useful contributions from Stephen Fleming, Jacob
Oram, Scott Styris and Chris Harris. However, Bangladesh batted like novices as seven of their first eight wickets fell to catches behind the wicket. New Zealand employed four slips and a gully for almost the entire Bangladesh innings, which did not even last for 20
overs. New Zealand’s hero in bowling today was Shane Bond, who got bounce and movement in his bowling and the batsmen seemed scared to tackle him with any skill. Sadly for the defending champions, the win could not get them to top of their group as they had lost to Australia in their first match. But they should not be disheartened much because if teams like Australia are in your group you need a miracle to upset them. New Zealand, like Pakistan, England, Zimbabwe and the West Indies will have to wait for the next Champions Trophy to win it again. |
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EXPERT COMMENTS:
WASIM AKRAM As the tournament concludes its first phase and enters a new one, it is very disappointing to see that we are not among the semifinalists. Pakistan had to face real tough opponents, Sri Lanka, on their home turf. The hosts had been in tremendous form against us at the Tangiers tournament and they came really hard at us here as well. For me they are the team to beat in the tournament and on current form they have a very good chance of beating world champions Australia in the semifinals. I know fans in India must be really looking forward to the India-South Africa semifinals on Wednesday. India were in the toughest group and like us, they had to travel a great distance and play their opening game within 48 hours. Full marks, therefore, that they made it to the last four. While they did well to win their match against Zimbabwe, there were signs of fatigue during the match. It’s significant that the player who put them in a winning position. Mohammed Kaif was not part of the Test team in England and looked fresh and ready for action. I think India and Pakistan had a toughest job because they got very little time to acclimatise. In that sense, the itinerary was a lot kinder to Australia and England, who played their opening matches much later into the tournament. Coming back to India’s performance, they have, of late, discovered some really talented batsmen since the last World Cup. The best thing about these youngsters is that they have got the ability to play in conditions outside the subcontinent. Virender Sehwag is one of these youngsters, and the way he battered the England bowlers was simply astounding. There are very few batsmen I like watching on television. Sachin Tendulkar is one, and of late Shewag is the other. The latter is an entertaining cricketer with a lot of spirit, who does not get intimidated by the reputation of any bowler. India’s overall performance in the match was outstanding and theirs is certainly a formidable batting lineup. However, I’d still like to see them play one batsman less and get in Ajit Agarkar. Looking ahead, their semifinal against South Africa will be a superb encounter. They may find it a little tougher to score runs at the rate they did on Sunday evening since the South Africans have some class bowlers in their side. Also, the fielding of the South Africans will be a lot better than that of the English. Sachin Tendulkar did not have a good match against Zimbabwe and came in right at the end against England, so he is due for a score. I believe the Premadasa is one of his favourite grounds, so it’s going to be interesting to see if he fires against Pollock and co. In the bowling department, Harbhajan Singh is the man the South Africans will have to watch out for. He bowled pretty well in both matches, and some of their batsmen like Graeme Smith have seen very little of him. As far as the other semifinal is concerned, Australia and Sri Lanka had very comfortable wins against New Zealand and Pakistan, respectively. The two also have something of a rivalry over the last five-six years, so it would be interesting to see how the game goes. But as I said earlier, the Sri Lankans are playing really good cricket, so they are really going to test the world champions.
(Gameplan) |
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Chinks in the keeping armour Chandigarh, September 23 The idea of playing Rahul Dravid as wicketkeeper so that the team can play an extra batsman, nearly came unstuck on Sunday. And the shortcomings noticed in this department should not be forgotten in the euphoria of India’s emphatic win. Rahul, a very game trier, was all fingers, at least in the initial stages of the England innings. He missed a simple catch with the ball coming into his gloves before popping out, was unsuccessful while attempting an easy run out and time and again let the ball go past him. The skier he took of the England captain Nasser Hussain did help him to get back his composure to a large extent but his keeping was definitely shoddy. The job of a keeper is the work of specialist. True, Rahul has been doing a fairly competent job in the previous matches but under crunch situations such as the one which existed in the India-England match and with the pitch showing very uneven bounce putting Rahul Dravid in danger of being hurt (remember he wore a helmet when standing up to the stumps when the slower bowlers were operating) really exposed the India gameplan. Rahul is one of the mainstays of the India batting and therefore is it wise to burden him with the additional job of keeping? Even the TV commentators were of the view that the job of keeping be best left to a specialist and Rahul should be relieved of his arduous task. In any case if six specialist batsmen cannot deliver then even the seventh can fail! The wicketkeeper can come into the squad at the cost of one batsman and on current form it can be either Dinesh Mongia or V.V.S. Laxman. Rahul can then bat at number three and the wicketkeeper can come in after the fall of the sixth wicket. This aspect of the Indian team indeed needs a deep thought. The keepers on the sideline like Ajay Ratra or Parthiv Patel, however, will have to improve their batting by a couple of notches if they hope to make a place in the playing eleven. Who can forget the batting of Syed Kirmani or Nayan Mogia but the current crop of wicketkeepers are below average batsmen. Maybe, coach John Wright should also devote a little extra time with them so that they can improve their batting. India must also give their non-regular bowlers longer stints with the ball, specially when they are playing against weaker teams. On Sunday Ganguly bowled just one over, Tendulkar two, Yuvraj three while the hero of the match Virender Sehwag sent down five overs. They together gave away as many as 63 runs in eleven overs with Yuvraj claiming one wicket. It would not be a bad idea if these irregular bowlers are asked to send down more overs in inconsequential matches so that they can hone their skills. Remember that India are to play seven one-dayers against the West Indies later in the year and once the series is decided then these
bowlers can be given longer spells so that they can gain more confidence. Confidence is anyway the key word in one-day cricket. |
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‘We needed magic to contain India’
Colombo, September 23 Once again singing paens of the strong Indian batting order, Hussain wondered whether even another hundred runs to his team’s total of 269 would have been enough for Saurav Ganguly and his men. “They were very aggressive with the new ball and the way they batted we probably needed a hundred more,” Hussain said after India overhauled England’s total with more than 10 overs to spare. “We came up against some brilliant batting. They are hitting most of the balls for four and six at the moment,” he said. “In these conditions, you have to have something magical up your sleeves. We tried to do that but still everything seemed to go for four,” said the skipper, who had earlier singled out India as the favourites to win the
tournament. Virender Sehwag and Ganguly blasted a century each, putting on 192 runs in less than 29 overs to reduce a keenly-awaited match into a virtual no-contest. While India set up a semifinal clash with South Africa, England were dumped out of the mini World Cup. It was not only the Indian batting that impressed the India-born
Hussain, who spoke highly of left-arm seamers Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra too. “I thought their new-ball bowlers were very aggressive and the first eight overs in particular were very tough for our batsmen,” Hussain
said. Zaheer and Nehra bowled fiery opening spells giving away just seven runs in the first six overs while claiming the wickets of Marcus Trescothick and Nasser
Hussain. But Hussain was satisfied by the recovery made by his batsmen that saw the side reach a healthy total. “Our middle order was especially good. We did well to get up to 270 and Ian Blackwell played very well.” A triumphant Ganguly said India batted like champions and was pleased that everything went according to his plan. “We played like champions and
(Virender) Sehwag really took the sting out of the England attack,” said
Ganguly, who scored his 19th one-day century. The plan, Ganguly said, was to not go for shots at the beginning but to hang on and give as much of the strike as possible to
Sehwag. Answering the inevitable question on how was the win compared to India’s memorable victory against the same rivals at the Lord’s in the NatWest tri-series final in July, Ganguly said: “Every win is satisfying, but the one at the Lord’s was more satisfying, as was the Test win at
Headingley.” Ganguly recalled that India had beaten South Africa in the semifinal in the last ICC Trophy and hoped they could repeat it when the two sides met on
Wednesday. Ganguly was, however, not satisfied with the Indian bowling in the middle
overs, and thought they had given away too many runs. “We got the first two wickets in 10
overs, but slipped a bit thereafter. The middle overs were not good, this is something we have to work on.” Man-of-the-match Sehwag was modest in his achievement and said the pitch was suitable for batting. “We knew they had good bowlers like Andrew Caddick and Matthew
Hoggard, but if we played them well, we could easily win this match.”
PTI |
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Coach, skeet team clearance delayed New Delhi, September 23 NRAI secretary-general Baljit Singh Sethi expressed his anguish and dismay at the tardy manner in which the government chose to clear the shooting squad, though the team members had been provided with their air tickets, visas and kit bags, due to the initiative taken by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). The 31-member shooting squad, along with chef-de-mission Jagdish Tytler and IOA secretary-general Randhir Singh, who is also the secretary-general of the Olympic Council of Asiad, are slated to leave for Busan on Monday night. The NRAI had not got the clearance of the skeet team, comprising Navin Jindal, Rahul Roy and Harinder Singh Bedi, and one replacement in the double trap, Ronjan Sodhi for Gaurav Sondhi and coach Padmanabhan (for clay pigeon), till the eleventh hour. Mr Sethi said the NRAI had sought the replacement of Gaurav Sondhi with Ronjan Sodhi after holding selection trials. He said the government had cleared Gaurav Sondhi’s name, but the NRAI would not accept it, as Ronjan had done better in the selection trials. Similarly, the NRAI wanted coach Padmanabhan to go with the team, in place of Australian coach Tibor Gonczol, who had pulled out due to personal reasons. Tibor was basically the coach for the pistol event, but since the shooting team did not have a coach for clay pigeon, the NRAI recommended the name of Padmanabhan for clearance. Later, an IOA source said the government had cleared skeet shooters Harinder Singh Bedi and Navin Jindal late in the evening, but had omitted the name of Rahul Roy. The skeet shooters would be able to leave for Busan now only on October 2. The IOA organised a send off function to the shooters, weightlifters and hockey players at the Nehru Stadium here this evening. The men’s and women’s hockey teams, along with the judo and weightlifting squads, will leave for Busan tomorrow. The first batch, comprising the equestrian, rowing, archery and yatching teams (numbering around 80 sportspersons, coaches and officials) had left for Busan a couple of days ago, while the footballers left for the Korean city, without waiting for government clearance. Randhir Singh said the IOA and the respective federations would bear the expenses of the football and swimming teams even if the government did not clear these disciplines, as these two events are part of the inaugural Afro-Asian Games to be hosted by India at the fag end of 2003. The government has also not cleared the volleyball team, though the spikers have had an impressive track record in international competitions in the recent past. |
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37 teams for Parle Cup Chandigarh, September 23 Five districts of Jalandhar, Patiala, Amritsar, Bhatinda and Chandigarh will send five teams each, while two teams each will compete from the six minor districts of Bhatinda, Ferozepore, Faridkot, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Moga in the tournament. This was stated by Mr P.N. Shankaran, the event manager and the former secretary and Vice-President of Bihar Cricket Association at SAS Nagar today. The winner of the Parle Cup will qualify to compete in the Parle Champions Trophy to become the overall Parle champions school. The final of the tournament will be played on October 22. Keeping in view the success gained in promoting cricket at the grassroots level, Kolkata had been added as the seventh centre where competitions will be organised. The centres where competitions were already being conducted are Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Punjab and Tamil Nadu, he said. The last year’s winners underwent a rigorous seven-day coaching. There was a proposal to increase the duration of the coaching to 15 days. Mr I.S. Bindra, Punjab Cricket Association President, proposed that the winning team could be made to compete against school team winners of South Africa or Australia, where school cricket was quite popular. “The PCA would like to get associated with the event on a long-term basis”, he added. |
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Inderjit
helps Chandigarh XI win Chandigarh, September 23 Both the goals for Chandigarh XI coming off Chadha’s stick augur well for the promising city lad, who had been sidelined with a back injury sustained during commando training of the Indian probables at Manesar prior to the Champions Trophy in Germany. The injury kept the dashing forward out of the Indian squad but his performance today proved that he had recovered substantially and could fight his way into the national squad in the near future. Ably assisted by another international, Sukhbir Singh Gill, who represented India in the World Cup at Kuala Lumpur as well as the Champions Trophy at Cologne, Chandigarh XI took time to settle down before going on the offensive. In fact, it was a 17th minute field goal by Air-India Academy’s skipper Satish Kumar which spurred the city outfit into action. With a few seconds remaining for the breather, Inderjit Chadha found the equaliser with a direct hit off a short corner. In the second half, both the teams matched each other move for move. Midway through the second half, Gurtej Singh of Chandigarh had a good chance but he turned around only to shoot wide. In the dying minutes, Chandigarh XI clinched the issue when off a pass by Prabhjot, formerly of Surjit Academy, Inderjit Chadha shot home to make it 2-1. Indian Postal, who upset Western Railway 5-2 via the tie-breaker, survived some anxious moments and were lucky to extend the match to the battle of strokes in which they converted three while Western Railway failed to convert any. In the stipulated period both the teams were level 2-2. After taking the lead through S. Fasil Ali in the 10th minute, Indian Postal first surrendered the advantage as Prem Singh of Western Railway scored a field goal and then went into arrears five minutes before the breather through another field goal by Western Railway’s Deepak Gupta. It was in the 45th minute that Indian Postal came on level terms, as Fasil Ali was, once again, on target, making it 2-2 with a field goal. As the issue remained deadlocked, the tie-breaker rule was applied. Western Railway muffed all three strokes while for Indian Postal, Lakhwinder, Gursatinder, and Mujeev were on target to keep their team afloat in the tournament. Earlier, Ropar Hawks outplayed Shajahanpur XI 4-1 after the two teams were level 1-1 at half time. The Ropar outfit forged ahead in the 17th minute when Satwinder Singh (senior) converted a penalty stroke. Three minutes before the lemon break, S. Atsham of Shajahanpur XI converted a short corner to restore parity. However, in the second half, Ropar Hawks were in full command scoring three goals through Major Singh, Mahavir Singh, and Amit Sandhu to send the UP outfit packing. Tuesday’s fixtures: Sikh Regimental Centre v Central Railway — 1 pm; Special Security Bureau v EME — 2.30 pm; CISF v Faridkot XI — 4 pm. |
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BSF lift
Gold Cup Faridkot, September 23 After being tied goal-less in the first half, the winning goal was scored by BSF’s inside right Charanjit Singh just before the final whistle. With this victory, BSF have won the trophy for the eighth time. |
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Baba Farid,
Dhudike school
in final Jalandhar, September 23 Government Senior Secondary School crushed Montgomery Guru Nanak Senior Secondary School, Jalandhar, 3-0 in their semifinal, while Baba Farid Public School secured a place in the final by scoring an impressive victory over favourites PAP Government Senior Secondary School by a solitary goal. In the first semifinal, Dhudike team opened its account in the fourth minute of the game through a field goal by Yadwinder Singh (1-0). Kulwant then made no mistake in scoring a field goal from a pass of Gurminder Singh in the seventh minute (2-0). The lead was further supplemented to 3-0 when Gurminder Singh struck the goal in the 30th minute of the game. In the other semifinal, Baba Farid Public School, dominated the proceedings in the first half, whereas PAP Government Senior Secondary School remained on the defensive. In the 58th minute, Ravinder Singh failed to put the ball in the open goal. In the 68th minute, Arpandeep Singh finally scored the winning goal from a pass from Ravinder Singh. |
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Colombo, September 23
