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Thursday,
January 2, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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India crash to 5-wicket defeat
Ganguly concerned about poor form |
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India’s
showing cause of concern THE performance of the Indian team is becoming cause of serious concern now. Though the bowling and fielding was much better today, the batting, normally this team’s greatest strength is going to pieces. Strange irony it is, but the Indian team hasn’t lasted its quota of 50 overs in any of the three one-day matches. If this isn’t a headache, I wonder what may be. Mongia to join team today Durand Cup: JCT down TFA |
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ECB to seek compensation Kenya recall Karim Indian Bank beat Tollygunge Serena-Blake duo ousts Spain Ropar, Faridkot in last 8 India may host shooting meet Punjab softball squads GND varsity eves clinch trophy
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India crash to
5-wicket defeat
Christchurch, January 1 In a re-run of their
embarrassing batting in the two Tests and the earlier two one-day matches, all of which they lost during this horrid tour, the Indians were shot out for 108, a target the home team easily surpassed to win by five wickets. Four more one-dayers remained to be played but the Indians already seemed to have given up. Sachin Tendulkar was again unable to play due to injury, but the performance of the other Indian batsmen would have dented their morale ahead of next month’s World Cup even though the wickets prepared by the hosts have been far from ideal for batting. The visitors were bundled out within their quota of 50 overs for the third successive time. Skipper Saurav Ganguly made a seemingly bold decision by opting to bat first on a wicket that looked quite conducive to seam bowling. But his plans came unstuck when one after the other of his batsmen returned to the pavilion without making much impression. The plight of the Indians could be gauged from the fact that the 22 extras made the highest contribution to the scoresheet. Rahul Dravid came near to that, scoring 20, while Mohammad Kaif managed 17 as only four batsmen could get into the double figures. The captain himself once again struggled to put bat to ball, except for the edges, and was out for four, becoming one of the five batsmen to be caught by wicketkeeper Brendan McCullam. Even as the Indians were at their wits end against the seaming ball, the New Zealand batsmen hardly had any problems even though they lost five important wickets on their way to victory. Skipper Stephen Fleming continued his miserable run and was out for four, but Nathan Astle hit a blazing 32 that put New Zealand in a very comfortable position. Astle completely unsettled Javagal Srinath, hitting him for five boundaries in the fifth over of the innings which produced 22 runs. Except for a brief period when Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar created some problems for the batsmen after the fall of the first two wickets, the hosts’ victory never looked in doubt. Agarkar, playing his first match on this tour, bowled a probing line and was able to dismiss three key New Zealand batsmen but the Indian total was not big enough to put the home team under any sort of trouble. Jacob Oram and McCullam saw their side past the target and remained unbeaten on 10 each. The Indians were expecting a lot out of Virender Sehwag who had hit a brilliant century in the last match. But the dashing opener was repeatedly beaten outside the off-stump today before edging a wide delivery from Kyle Mills while attempting a cut. VVS Laxman, the only player in this team to have missed out on a berth in India’s World Cup squad, got another opportunity to play due to the unavailability of Tendulkar. But his pathetic form continued and he was out after making ten during a painful stay at the wicket. Dravid and Mohammad Kaif, who was promoted ahead of Yuvraj Singh, put on the innings’ best partnership of 29 runs taking India past the 50-run mark in the 22nd over. Dravid fell to a brilliant catch by Daniel Vettori when he top-edged an intended pull shot against Paul Hitchcock in a bid to step up the scoring. Kaif was out 15 runs later, dashing virtually all hopes of a decent total. Yuvraj Singh hung in for some time, making a labourious 12 before being run out. The rest of the batsmen did not have much to offer and in the end India just avoided being shot out for their lowest ever score against New Zealand, managing to equal the 108 they had scored in the first game of this series in Auckland. PTI SCOREBOARD India Sehwag c McCullum b Mills 7 Ganguly c McCullum b Tuffey 4 Laxman c McCullum Dravid c Vettori Kaif c McCullum b Oram 17 Y. Singh run out 12 Bangar c McCullum b Tuffey 1 Agarkar c Hitchcock Khan not out 8 H. Singh c Vincent b Hitchcock 0 Srinath c Fleming b Oram 1 Extras (lb-8 nb-5 w-9) 22 Total (all out, 41.1 overs) 108 Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-15, 3-38, 4-67, 5-82, 6-83, 7-90, 8-100, 9-102. Bowling: Tuffey 10-2-11-2 (w-1), Mills 10-2-26-1 (w-3 nb-2), Oram 8.1-1-22-2 (nb-1), Hitchcock 8-0-30-3(w-4 nb-2), Astle 5-1-11-1 (w-1). New Zealand Fleming c Kaif b Khan 4 Astle c Ganguly b Srinath 32 Sinclair c and b Agarkar 0 McMillan c Kaif b Agarkar 22 Vincent lbw b Agarkar 15 McCullum not out 10 Oram not out 10 Extras (lb-6 w-9 nb-1) 16 Total (for five wickets, Fall of wickets: 1-37, 2-39, 3-50, 4-83, 5-92. Bowling: Srinath 8-0-44-1 (w-3), Khan 9-2-26-1 (w-3), Agarkar 8.5-1-26-3 (w-3 nb1), Bangar 1-0-7-0. |
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Ganguly concerned about poor form Christchurch, January 1 “Yes, I am concerned about my own form, I have had a pretty good year, but it’s just not happened in New Zealand. We still have four more games to go, and I will keep trying,” Ganguly said after India lost their third successive
one-dayer to New Zealand here. Ganguly, who opened the innings today but made four runs in India’s total of 108, has managed just 18 runs in the three one-day matches played so far. Attributing the five-wicket defeat to the inability of his batsmen to “put runs up on the board,” the captain said his men would have to find a way out of the sticky situation they have landed in. “They have to find a way out. They have been successful on pitches similar to these and they should work their way out,” he said. A reference to the pitch drew a terse remark from the Indian skipper. “Everyone has watched the match on television and should form their own judgement about the conditions. I would not like to get into the details.” But Ganguly said despite the team being 0-3 down, it would still go all out for a series win in the
one-dayers. “Nothing is impossible. It is still an open series. It is a tough road ahead of us but we will try our best.” New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming seemed a satisfied man, giving credit to his bowlers for making inroads into the famed Indian batting line-up. Man of the match, Darryl
Tuffey, who conceded just 11 runs off 10 overs and took two wickets, came in for special praise from Fleming. “He is starting very well, and others just follow. He is building up an expectation among the bowlers that he is going to get them a good start”, Fleming said. On the World Cup squad which was likely to be announced later today, Fleming said he had not had the opportunity to confer with the national selectors as they were very busy. Fleming admitted Nathan Astle’s assault on Javagal Srinath gave a rollicking start to the innings but denied that the opener had been given specific instructions to attack the bowlers. Man of the match Darryl Tuffey was happy with his performance, attributing his good form to his month-long training in Australia this summer. “I have always been a slow starter and the month I spent in Australia worked wonders,” he said. “I wish the World Cup was tomorrow, but there are a lot of matches coming up before the World Cup and we have to perform well in those,” the medium-pacer said.
PTI |
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India’s showing cause of concern THE performance of the Indian team is becoming cause of serious concern now. Though the bowling and fielding was much better today, the batting, normally this team’s greatest strength is going to pieces. Strange irony it is, but the Indian team hasn’t lasted its quota of 50 overs in any of the three one-day matches. If this isn’t a headache, I wonder what may be. That’s where the role of Sachin
Tendulkar to India’s fortune is so important. Owing to his injury, critics have got a chance to assess the Indian batting and to be honest, this team plays pretty mediocre without him. Maybe when he finally gets fit and decides to play in the series, his presence will spur his teammates. But right now, the Indians are in a lose-lose situation. The New Zealanders have exposed the myth that the Indian batting is one of the strongest in the world. One thing in favour of batsmen from either side is that the pitches in this series have been stacked against them. It is disadvantage for the team batting first because of the conditions and that’s why I was surprised to see Saurav Ganguly opting to bat on winning the toss. It seemed as if he hadn’t learnt from the past mistakes. Most batsmen were guilty of playing rash strokes. If Virender Sehwag could get a century in the last match, he should have tried to grind it out today and continue with his good form. However, he threw away the chance to give his side a good start while the less said of Ganguly and VVS Laxman’s batting, the better. They don’t seem to be belonging there mentally, and I am sure they must be counting the days left for the team to return to India. Now, had the other batsmen applied themselves to the task, India could have at least scored 160-170 and considering the way the New Zealanders have batted in the series, the game would have been even. But it was not to be and batsmen after batsmen perished trying to play with an angled bat. I think the Indians can gain some consolation from the fact that our bowling has been spot on. Today, Ajit Agarkar was the hero while Zaheer Khan and Javagal Srinath again put in their efforts but defending totals as low as 108 requires more than a miracle. As I said, maybe 160-170 would have tested the New Zealanders. |
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Mongia to join team today Christchurch, January 1 Mongia’s arrival is expected to boost the sagging morale of the Indian side which is yet to register a victory on their tour of New Zealand so far. Team manager N R Choudhary said: “We have wasted little time in getting Mongia’s visa organised. It’s been done now and he should be joining us tomorrow”.
PTI |
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Durand Cup: JCT down TFA New Delhi, January 1 Earlier, Army XI scored three goals — one a self goal — but still ended up sharing four goals and points with Indian Telephone Industries (ITI), Bangalore. Army XI dominated the proceedings and forged ahead in the 17th minute through skipper and stiker Raghu Kumar, who found the mark with a sharp shot. But 12 minutes later, ITI scored the equaliser when forward Ibrahim Karim foxed the Army defence to push the ball in. And then, out of the blue, as it were, ITI gained the lead when Army stopper back Ignatious bach-heeled into his own goal while trying to clear a cross from
Irudayaraj. When defeat was staring at the Army team, Johny Gangmei rose to the occasion by blasting home the equaliser 11 minutes into the second half (2-2). Later, JCT toyed with TFA, though their margin of victory was limited to just two goals. Yesterday’s rain had made the ground condition heavy it was in a real mess when JCT and TFA took the field, after the Army XI vs ITI encounter. The heavy underfoot conditions restricted fast movement of the players and as a result the soccer dished out was rather unimpressive. Yet, JCT were worth a couple of more goals, though their second goal was a fluke, as referee Udayan Halder had acted a bit harshly when he awarded a penalty kick to JCT. TFA defender Habibur Rahman Mondal made a close chase of Hardip Gill when the JCT dangerman was storming into the box. A minor tackle resulted in Gill’s fall, though it did not look like an intentional foul. But the referee blew the whistle for a spot kick, and Saini made no mistake from the ‘spot’. Hardip Gill had scored the first goal following a densive lapse when he pushed into an open goal from close after K. Yeboah’s attempt deflected off TFA custodian Subashis Roy
Choudhary. Hardip Saini and Hardip Gill were the livewire of the JCT game plan as one controlled the mid-field and the other tormented the TFA goal with his piercing shots and sallies. The TFA boys, on the other hand, showed a lot of individual brilliance, but failed to combine as a team. As a result, many of their dangerous moves petered out before it could be given the killer punch. The JCT defence also stood its ground, to baulk many a TFA raid. The JCT players also stretched the body play beyond the permissible limit, inviting the yellow card punishment on forwards Sukhwinder Singh and Rampal in the first half. JCT could have easily added two more goals, but Yeboah and Ram Pal missed the mark from close quarters. |
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ECB to seek compensation London, January 1 While the ECB said it would ask the government to indemnify them against an estimated loss of £ 10 million for not playing their match, the government responded almost immediately saying it would reject any such idea. Mr Tessa Jowell, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, agreed to an ECB request for a meeting to discuss the crisis next week once its chief executive, Tim Lamb, returned from Australia. Mr John Reid, director of corporate affairs for the ECB said: “We will present our point of view about fulfilling our World cup commitment in Zimbabwe and will listen to what the government have to say. If we do not fulfil those commitments, we could in the worst-case scenario lose up to £ 10 million. Cricket is a national game but our income is £ 65 million per year, which is a very small business, and we could not take a hit of £ 10 million.” But Foreign Office minister Mike O’Brien summarily rejected the ECB’s demand. “I do not think the British taxpayer would want to stump up public money to an independent sporting organisation,” Mr O’Brien told BBC. “They (ECB) have made decisions, entered into contracts. I think they should be responsible for these decisions. There is a level of responsibility on the ECB here, it is not on the taxpayers,” O’Brien said. The ECB’s scenario of a £ 10 million loss is based on what might happen should England not play in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe would almost certainly refuse to move the match and the International Cricket Council could make a claim against England should their sponsors ask for money to be returned because of the lost match. The ECB are also worried that, in retaliation, Zimbabwe could pull out of next summer’s visit to England, when they are due to play two Test matches and take part in a triangular one-day series with South Africa. Mr Reid said: “The Riverside ground in Durham is due to stage its first ever Test (between England and Zimbabwe) and that could be lost. Also we could face claims from Channel 4, Sky and Npower, who are the sponsors for our Test series. “These are all ifs and buts but if the government are asking us not to go to Zimbabwe we have to plan for these contingencies.” According to a report in The Daily Telegraph today, England are hoping to make about £ 4 million from the World Cup and any ICC claim would cut into that. PTI |
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Kenya recall Karim Nairobi, December 31 Spinner Karim 38 is one of two big surprises in the team named here today by Kenya Cricket Association
(KCA) vice chairman and selector Harilal Shah. Karim and 28-year-old batsman Alpesh Vadher have not played for Kenya for over two years, as both players had retired after the 1999 World Cup in England. The two are expected to bolster the Kenyan team, which showed a serious lack of an all-round talent during their recent tour of Zimbabwe, where they lost all their one-day international matches. Squad: Steve Tikolo (captain), Maurice
Odumbe, Asif Karim, Alpesh Vadher, Ravindu Shah, Hitesh Modi, Brijal Patel, Martin
Suji, Tony Suji, Thomas Odoyo, Kennedy Obuya, Joseph Angara, Peter
Ongondo, David Obuya and Collins Obuya. AFP |
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Indian Bank beat Tollygunge Chennai, January 1 It turned out to be thrilling encounter as the teams backed by solid defence looked forward to getting into the lead early in the game and then defend their citadels. In this, the bankmen were lucky to achieve the goal, After the teams went full steam to draw first blood, Indian Bank cashed in on the opportunity in the 17th minute when V.K. Haresh’s square pass from the right was neatly headed in by Pasha. Though the bankmen regrouped in good numbers to thwart the frequent forays of Tollygunge, it was the Indian Bank goal keeper Sebestain Netto who deserved full credit for his heroics under the bar. But for Netto’s quick clearances, the margin would have been higher.
PTI |
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Serena-Blake duo ousts Spain Perth, January 1 Dazzling in a vibrant orange outfit, Williams threw off the challenge of Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-3, 6-3 before Blake pasted Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-0. The pair then teamed up to grind Spain into the ground 6-1 6-4 in the mixed doubles. In a group B match, Silvia Farina Elia racked up Italy’s first match victory, beating Czech Daja Bedanova 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 for a 1-0 lead.
Reuters
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Ropar, Faridkot in last 8 Ludhiana, January 1 In the inaugural match, Ropar with international stars Sukhbir Gill, Inderjit Singh Chadha and Raj Pal Singh proved too good for Amritsar. After wasting four penalty corners, Ropar went into the lead off the fifth in the 23rd minute through Surjit Singh. Four minutes later, Inderjit Singh Chadha scored a superb field goal off a reverse flick to consolidate the lead (2-0). Amritsar managed to reduce the margin in the 40th minute when Prabhjeet found the target to read it 2-1. In the 53rd minute, Ropar forced a penalty stroke which resulted in protests by the Amritsar players and they left the field. However, better same prevailed and the sense resumed. Raj Pal Singh converted the stroke to enhance the lead 3-1. In the 59th minute, Charanjit Singh of Amritsar successfully converted a penalty corner to make it 2-3 and in the dying minutes, Surjit Singh again sounded the board to clinch the issue 4-2. In the second match, Fardikot, exhibiting better ball control and coordination defeated Nawanshahr 3-1. Their goal-keeper, Sumandeep Singh gave a good account of himself as he saved many scoring chances by the Nawanshahr forwards. Joga Singh put Faridkot ahead in the 24th minute and in the 27th minute, Charnpreet Singh made it 2-0. In the second half, Jasvir Singh of Nawanshahr made it 2-1. Major Singh of Fardikot found the target in the 67th minute and helped his team to win 3-1. Earlier, Dr K.S. Aulakh, Vice-Chancellor, PAU, inaugurated the championship. |
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India may host shooting meet Chandigarh, January 1 Sethi said the shooting potential was being explored in the country. North India was giving good response in this regard as more and more shooters were getting interested in the sport. The air weapons event was also included in the inter university calendar which will give a big thrust to the sport. He said though the Government of India had stalled the hiring of foreign coaches for Air Weapons and Clay Pigeon events, the NRAI would like to have the services of a foreign coach to improve top ranked shooters. Sethi said India was being offered the Commonwealth Shooting championship this year in New Delhi. Final decision would be taken shortly. Mr Sethi said new shooting ranges at Hyderabad were world class and praised Mr N Chandra Babu Naidu, Chief Minister, AP, for making the world class sports infrastructure available in the state. On the problems faced by shooters regarding carrying large-sized rifle equipment by air, he said a meeting with the Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Mr Shahnawaj Khan was on the cards to sort out this vexed problem. Last month Jaspal Rana and Sabeeha Dhillon faced problem when they travelled by air from Delhi to Bangalore for the National Shooting meet. On the import of equipment, he said top 25 shooters of the country in each event were now allowed to import the same through the NRAI. Earlier, the Government of India had given the permission to import equipment for the first ten only. The website of the NRAI will be launched soon, he added. |
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Punjab softball squads Ludhiana, January 1 The players are (men): Vikas, Ravi, Deepak, Mandeep, Rahul, Mangesh, Kaushal, Shiv, Gurjit, Vijay Kalia, Vikram, Rizman Khan, Nitin, Satpal and Sanjeev. Reserves: Mandip, Love Rishi and Naresh Joshi. Mr Davinder and Mr Gurpreet will accompany the team as coaches while Mr Mandeep Chawla will be the manager. Women: Smriti, Gurpinder, Anuradha, Shikha, Narindear, Baljeet, Reena, Harpreet, Amanpreet, Prabhpreet, Asha, Sarabhjeet, Rupinder, Dhamanpreet and Jeeti. (Reserves): Nitu, Kuljit and Usha. Mr Lalit Kumar and Mr Jugal will accompany the team as coaches while Ms Daljit Kaur will be the manager. |
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GND varsity eves clinch trophy Solan, January 1 Early, in a league match, the girls from the holy city brushed aside the challenge of Punjabi University, Patiala, effortlessly beating them 25-11, 25-20, 25-14. In another league match prior to the finals, Maharishi Dayanand University lasses also made short work of Himachal Pradesh University whom they beat 25-19, 25-20 and 25-12. Himachal Pradesh University in the third league match had defeated Punjabi University, Patiala, 25-13, 25-22, 25-23. Four teams, Guru Nanak Dev University, Maharishi Dayanand University, Himachal Pradesh University and Punjabi University had been selected to participate in the inter-university nationals scheduled to be played at Kottayam, Kerala from January 8 to 14. Aditi, Kavita and Amita all of Maharishi Dayanand University have been declared the best player, best spiker and best lifter, respectively. Best smasher award went to Palwinder of Guru Nanak Dev University. Deputy Commissioner Bharat Khera and Vice-Chancellor of Parmar University, Dr S.S. Negi gave away the prizes. |
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