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Monday,
February 24, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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India make merry against Namibia We did the basics right: Ganguly Hard work bore fruit for the captain
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Rain threatens Aussie dream Kenya ready for Lanka test 13TH MAN Anderson spoiled our party: Waqar Pakistan are now in deep trouble Pakistan batting cause for concern SA players head for 2-day break Warne’s loss
Sunita, Sagardeep honoured Convincing win for Quila Mubarak
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India make merry against Namibia
Pietermaritzburg, February 23 Put in to bat on a greenish and damp pitch, the Indians paced their innings well to finish at 311 for two with Tendulkar notching up his highest World Cup score of 152 from just 151 balls and Ganguly ending his run-drought with an unbeaten knock of 112. The Indians then bowled out Namibia for 130 in 42.3 overs to clinch a 181-run victory. Yuvraj Singh was the most successful bowler, claiming four wickets for just six runs from his 4.3 overs while Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and Dinesh Mongia took a couple of wickets each. Today's result saw India joining England in the second position in Pool A with 12 points from three wins and a defeat, behind Australia who too have 12 points but have played one match less. Ganguly and Tendulkar, whose effort won him a record seventh man of the match in World Cup, put on 244 runs from 246 balls for the second wicket after opener Virender Sehwag had been dismissed for run-a-ball 24. Tendulkar, who notched up an unrivalled 34th one-day hundred today, equalled the record of Australian Mark Waugh in scoring four centuries in World Cup besides improving on his previous World Cup highest score of 140 not out made against Kenya in 1999. Ganguly, woefully out of form in recent times, siganalled his arrival with a workmanlike innings, raising his 20th one-day century which saw him surging ahead of Pakistan’s Saeed Anwar in the second place in the list of batsmen with most hundreds. The going was not entirely smooth for the Indians on a slowish pitch and both Tendulkar and Ganguly had to work hard for their runs during the initial part of their innings. Tendulkar was also lucky to have been dropped on 32 by Jan Berry Burger at gully. However, Tendulkar did not let that affect his batting and brought up his half-century with a scorching extra cover drive off Bjorn Kotze in the team total of 93 for one in the 19th over. Ganguly looked determined to shake off the cobwebs of poor form and restricted himself to singles in the initial phase of his innings. But Ganguly reached his fifty in emphatic style, lofting Namibian skipper Deon Kotze for a straight six. Tendulkar, meanwhile, was approaching his century, scoring at ease with some delightful strokes all around the picturesque Pietermartizburg Oval. His century came in the 37th over with a flick to backward square leg. Ganguly also gained in confidence and hit Deon Kotze for a four and a six off successive balls in the 39th over. Tendulkar raised the 200-run stand in breathtaking manner when he smote Deon Kotze straight so hard that Pakistani umpire Aleem Dar fell flat on all fours in a bid to avoid the scorching shot. Tendulkar’s innings was finally brought to an end in the 48th over by Van Vuuren when the batsman tried to essay a massive pull but the ball kept low and crashed on to his middle stump. Ganguly raised his 20th century in the next over having batted for 114 balls and hit six fours and three sixes. He struck one more six after that as India went past the 300-run mark. Facing a daunting task, Namibia were never in the race with Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan bowling tight opening spells. Left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra sprained his ankle after bowling just one delivery and did not take further part in the match though he was reported to be okay and fit for the next match. Zaheer bowled a deadly spell and repeatedly sent down yorkers, troubling the top-order batsmen. His efforts bore as he trapped two batsmen leg before wicket. India now travel to Durban for their only day-night game against England on Wednesday. India: Sehwag c Keulder b Tendulkar b Ganguly not out 112 Yuvraj not out 7 Extras
(lb-2, w-13, nb-1) 16 Total (for 2 wkts, 50 overs) 311 Fall of wickets: 1-46, 2-290. Bowling: Snyman 10-0-57-0, Van Vuuren 10-1-53-2, L Burger 6-0-49-0, Van Rooi 6-0-36-0, B Kotze 10-0-64-0, D Kotze 8-0-50-0. Namibia: Swanepoel lbw b Zaheer 9 J Burger b Mongia 29 L Burger lbw b Zaheer 0 D Keulder c Mongia
b Harbhajan 4 Murgatroyd lbw b Harbhajan 0 D Kotze c and Mongia 27 Van Schoor c Dravid b Yuvraj 24 Van Rooi c Mongia b Yuvraj 17 B Kotze c Dravid b Yuvraj 3 Snyman c Srinath b Yuvraj 5 Van Vuuren not out 0 Extras
(lb-1, w-8, nb-3) 12 Total (all out, 42.3 overs) 130 Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-21, 3-43, 4-47, 5-47, 6-98, 7-99, 8-124, 9-124. Bowling: Srinath 6-0-25-0, Nehra 0.1-0-0-0, Zaheer Khan
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We did the basics right: Ganguly Pietermaritzburg, February 23 “It was important for us to put some runs. Sachin (Tendulkar) and I could help the side put a good total on the board and our bowlers did a fine job to dismiss Namibia cheaply,” said Ganguly after India’s third win in Pool A of the World Cup. “It was not the easiest time for me. I was not doing well with the bat for the last 10 to 11 innings. It was necessary for me to score a big one. I just hung in there and I am happy to make the century,” said the Indian skipper, who scored his 20th one-day hundred today. Praising the bowlers, Ganguly said it was Zaheer Khan who set the stage for a big win for India with fine bowling in the initial overs. “All the bowlers bowled well, particularly Zaheer. Though the wicket was a bit slow, he exploited it well to give early breakthrough to India.” Namibia skipper Deon Kotze conceded it was too huge a total for his team to chase and credited Zaheer Khan for his fine bowling performance. “Zaheer bowled superbly. Once we lost four wickets quickly, it was going to be very tough,” said Kotze. PTI
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Hard work bore fruit for the captain The Royal Bengal Tiger finally roared at the Pietermaritzburg Oval, though it took a lot of meandering in the middle patch before he was convinced to take a pounce at the Namibian rabbits. The match was important for India, not only for the four points it generated, but also to give their batting mainstays some desperately needed batting practice. Their motive was met with half success, only three out of the seven were destined for some action but coach John Wright would still be a happy man. And why not, Saurav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar, the dreaded duo, both got big hundreds. And when these two are in form, the rest can afford to relax a bit. The only one to miss out on the run-feast was Sehwag and he would be utterly disappointed with himself. Sehwag had got off to good start in the match before but Sunday’s innings made him twice guilty of throwing his wicket away, a habit which will do more harm to him than good. Sehwag has always modelled his style of play after Sachin Tendulkar but this is what he needs to pick up from him — value his wicket more and a sound temperament to last as many overs as possible. Sachin Tendulkar needs to be complimented, irrespective of the opposition’s quality of attack he motivates himself to stay focussed, a reflection of his true genius character. But the day belonged entirely to Saurav Ganguly. The southpaw realised the urgency of getting back to form and did the right thing to promote himself up the order at number three. Having done that, he stuck around with Sachin, running his singles hard and looking determined to terminate his bad patch here. The hard work bore fruit and team India also cleared milestone (300 mark) apart from Ganguly and Sachin reaching their hundreds. Ashish Nehra, unfortunately will not have happy memories of this ground and although I should not be saying this, Kumble who was wondering why he warmed the benches here, might just get lucky. It happens in cricket sometimes, a lucky break and a career can be kick-started. Nevertheless, I sincerely pray that Nehra’s injury is not serious and he gets back into reckoning soon before the next match. Zaheer looked sharp as ever and is getting those innocuous yorkers going at the right time while Harbhajan gave us more reasons to smile on Sunday. Viewers had the privilege of watching two greats of present day cricket — Sachin and Lara get cracking on the same day. While Sachin helped himself to a hundred, Lara made mincemeat of the Canadian attack. However, the victory over Canadians was a forgone conclusion, even in the manner they achieved but what was not expected the brilliant display of aggressive batting by John Davison. The opener tore apart the Windies bowling, a cruel reminder to Hooper that bowling needs some real pondering. The fastest century in a World Cup, coming from a Canadian — when the likes of Afridi, Sehwag, Powell, Gibbs — that’s remarkable indeed. Coming back to our match, the Indians are well and truly on track for a super six berth but the English performance on Saturday night might bring tension back on Wright’s face. Playing England at Durban in a day night, especially the way Anderson is bowling might set a few rings going but don’t worry — our artillery has been reloaded.
Dronacharya Sports Promoters
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Windies
cruise after Davison onslaught
Centurion, February 23 Canada opener John Davison had struck the fastest World Cup century in history to set up his side’s total of 202, but Lara made a sparkling 73 and Hinds 64 to help their team to their target with nearly 30 overs to spare. Man-of-the-match Davison, born in Canada but who plays his cricket in Australia, reached his hundred off just 67 balls and finished with 111, but his efforts were in vain as the minnows lost their last nine wickets for just 47 runs. “It was a great experience, awesome’’ Davison said. “The batting track was great and we got the opportunity to hit a few loose balls.’’ It was the West Indies’ first victory of the tournament since they beat South Africa in the opening match and they will reach the super sixes with wins in their next two games against Kenya and Sri Lanka. Lara and Hinds quickly put the West Indies in control with a century partnership in just 36 minutes. Lara belted eight fours and five sixes while Hinds cracked 10 fours and three sixes before both threw their wickets away, leaving Ramnaresh Sarwan (42 not out) and Carl Hooper (five not out) to finish the job. Hinds registered the fastest half-century of the tournament from 24 balls, only to see Lara reach the mark in 23 deliveries when he smashed 26 runs off Barry Seebaran’s only over. Hinds fell with the total on 134 when he was stumped off Davison, a specialist off-spinner in the Australian domestic first-class competition. Lara had briefly seemed to be on course to challenge Davison’s record for the quickest World Cup hundred, but he dragged a ball from Nicholas de Groot on to his stumps with victory in sight. Canada’s loss was their third in a row but still a big improvement on their last outing when they were dismissed for a paltry 36 by Sri Lanka, the lowest total in one-day international history. They passed that embarrassing watershed after just six overs against the West Indies and more than doubled it by the 10th over as Davison and Ishwar Maraj put on 96 for the opening wicket. Maraj departed for 16 when he edged Pedro Collins to Hooper at slip, but Desmond Chumney provided Davison with reliable support, contributing 19 in a 59-run stand. Davison benefitted from two dropped catches and an extraordinary piece of luck when the ball rolled back on to his stumps but did not dislodge the bails. He smashed eight fours and six sixes to reach his hundred in 98 minutes before he was brilliantly caught one-handed on the boundary by Vasbert Drakes for 111. Davison, who moved to Australia when he was just five weeks old, reached his hundred with a towering six off Mervyn Dillon to break Kapil Dev’s previous fastest World Cup century off 72 balls, also equalling the fifth quickest hundred in one-day international history. Canada still managed to pass 200 for the first time in a one-day international but the failure of their lower-order to contribute cost them dearly with the last three wickets falling in as many balls. Drakes, who conceded 29 from his first two overs, returned to mop up the tail and finish with figures of five for 44. Scoreboard Canada: Maraj c Hooper b Collins 16 Davison c Drakes b Hinds 111 Chumney c Gayle b Hinds 19 Billcliff c Jacobs b Drakes 16 Ifill c Jacobs b Drakes 9 Harris c Hooper b Drakes 6 De Groot run out 11 Bagai run out 2 Codrington c Jacobs b Drakes 0 Seebaran lbw b Drakes 0 Joseph not out 0 Extras
(lb-3 w-3 nb-6) 12 Total (all out, 42.5 overs) 202 Fall of wickets: 1-96, 2-155, 3-156, 4-174, 5-185, 6-190, 7-197, 8-202, 9-202. Bowling: Dillon 5-0-41-0, Collins 7-1-35-1, Drakes
West Indies: Gayle c Bagai b Joseph 8 Hinds st Bagai b Davison 64 Lara b De Groot 73 Sarwan not out 42 Hooper not out 5 Extras
lb-5 w-8 nb-1 14 Total (3 wkts, 20.3 overs) 206 Fall of wickets:
1-32, 2-134, 3-177. Bowling: Joseph 4-0-47-1, Codrington 4-0-25-0, Ifill 4-0-46-0, Seebaran 1-0-26-0, Davison 5-0-36-1, De Groot 2.3-0-21-1.
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Rain threatens Aussie dream
Bulawayo (Zimbabwe),
February 23 Ricky Ponting’s world champions need to beat Zimbabwe here tomorrow as well as Namibia and England to take them past the record of 11 successive one-day international wins set by the great West Indies side of the 1980s. But after weeks of drought leading to wilting crops and dying cattle, more than 140 millimetres of rain (5.5ins) fell on the ground throughout Friday night and yesterday morning, turning the playing area into a swamp. More showers are forecast for today which could result in a washout and a share of the four points which could have a crucial bearing on the outcome of Group A and who makes it through to the Super Sixes. The home side desperately want to play the match and are determined not to be overawed by a team whom they have beaten only once - in their first meeting 20 years ago in the 1983 World Cup in England. “We have had one or two spectacular victories in the past,” said Zimbabwe skipper Heath Streak. “We beat South Africa in the 1999 World Cup and everybody knows that, on our day, we can beat anyone here. “Whether we get that day depends on batsmen going on to big scores and big partnerships and whether we can get a good start and whether we can bowl well in the first few overs.” “These aspects have been lacking of late, but you never know from match to match,” Streak said. Australia will fly into this railway and industrial centre this morning, play the game and leave straight after, conscious of the politically volatile climate that prompted England to boycott their scheduled appointment with Streak’s men in Harare earlier in the tournament. Those English fears were compounded by the decision of umpire Peter Willey and TV umpire Neil Mallender to refuse to stand in the match as scheduled. They have been replaced by Billy Bowden of New Zealand and South Africa’s Brian Jerling while David Orchard carries on as planned. It remains to be seen whether or not protesting Zimbabwean players Andy Flower and Henry Olonga will feature in the match after both were warned to either drop their anti-Robert Mugabe protest by the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) or face being axed from the national team. The duo have worn black armbands and black wristbands to protest against conditions in the famine and strife-torn country and are pondering their next move. Teams (from): Zimbabwe: Heath Streak (capt), Andy Blignaut, Dion Ebrahim, Sean Ervine, Andy Flower, Grant Flower, Travis Friend, Douglas Hondo, Douglas Marillier, Brian Murphy, Henry Olonga, Tatenda Taibu, Mark Vermeulen, Guy Whittall, Craig Wishart. Australia: Ricky Ponting (capt), Adam Gilchrist, Michael Bevan, Andy Bichel, Jason Gillespie, Ian Harvey, Matthew Hayden, Brad Hogg, Brett Lee, Darren Lehmann, Jimmy Maher, Damien Martyn, Glenn McGrath, Andy Symonds. Umpires: David Orchard and Billy Bowden. TV Umpire: Brian Jerling (Rsa) Match Referee: G Viswanath. AFP
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Kenya ready for Lanka test Nairobi, February 23 An elite anti-terrorist unit from South Africa was flown into the country to reinforce the Kenyan police following an attack an Israeli-owned tourist hotel in the coastal city of Mombasa last November. Players’ security concerns in the country forced the New Zealand cricket team to forfeit their match against Kenya in Nairobi last Friday. But Sri Lanka saw no reason not to travel to Kenya - perhaps as a pay-back for the gesture their hosts showed when they honoured, against all security precautions, their preliminary match of the 1996 World Cup in the Sri Lankan town of Kandy. In that game, Sri Lanka piled up a record World Cup total of 395 for five from 50 overs with Aravinda de Silva contributing a career-best 145 off 115 balls. The Kenyans replied with their own World Cup best of 254 for seven to lose by 144 runs and then reduced the gap four years later when they lost by only 47 runs at Southampton, England. It was that match which saw the Kenyan pair of Maurice Odumbe and Alpesh Vadher share a world record sixth-wicket partnership of 161 runs. Kenyan skipper Steve Tikolo said he wanted to bat first tomorrow and set the pace for Sri Lanka. “The wicket is even, has no grass and very ideal for an one-day game,” said Tikolo. But he remains wary about the devastating form displayed by the 1996 World Cup champions in the three matches so far where they have beaten New Zealand and rolled over Bangladesh and Canada. Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya, who scored a century against New Zealand, said he would not under-rate Kenya. “Every team that competes at this level has something to offer. I believe it will be particularly difficult to defeat Kenya on their home turf this time round,” the 33-year-old said. While Jayasuriya will concentrate on making runs, seamers Chaminda Vaas and youngster Prabath Nissanka go into the match after bowling Canada out for lowest ever one-day total of 36. The game also gives veteran De Silva to display his wares in his fifth and final World Cup after getting into bat only once in the last three matches. But coach Dave Whatmore insisted there would not be a change in the batting order to accommodate De Silva. “We have to keep up the momentum and want to win well,” he said. “One can’t play around with a World Cup game.” Teams (from): Sri Lanka: Sanath Jayasuriya (capt), Marvan Atapattu, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Aravinda de Silva, Russel Arnold, Jehan Mubarak, Avishka Gunawardena, Hashan Tillakaratne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas, Dilhara Fernando, Prabath Nissanka, Charitha Buddhika. Kenya: Steve Tikolo (capt), Maurice Odumbe, Asif Karim, Alpesh Vadher, Ravindu Shah, Hitesh Modi, Brijal Patel, Martin Suji, Tony Suji, Thomas Odoyo, Kennedy Otieno, Joseph Angara, Peter Ongondo, David Obuya, Collins Obuya. Umpires: Daryl Harper (Aus) and Russell Tiffin (Zim) TV umpire: Arani Jayaprakash (Ind) Match referee: Denis Lindsay (RSA). AFP
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13TH MAN PIETERMARITZBURG: The angry reaction back home has stirred a hornet’s nest in the dressing room. Javagal Srinath shocked everyone when he claimed television commentators were inciting people’s emotions back home. Srinath left it little to imagination when he wondered how it would seem if sons of a few of his predecessors were to face similar ire. Obviously he meant Sunil Gavaskar-and to a little extent Navjot Singh Sidhu. Next day, captain Sourav Ganguly supported Srinath’s stance. Cricketers are touchy about criticism. A few feel India never had a realistic chance of winning the World Cup. Only television build up prior to the World Cup projected them as would-be champions. They are not educated enough to understand the small distinction-it is not television channels but the advertisements which appear on it. And some of these advertisements are by their sponsors who have gone to town to project their “catches” as gladiators and world-beaters! Meanwhile manager Jyoti Bajpai is not happy with the conduct of a few of his boys. They were more attentive to their female fans than observe the sobriety of the occasion when they came visiting Maritzburg railway station to pay tribute to Mahatama Gandhi on Friday. Only Anil Kumble, trying to capture every moment of the occasion on his camera, seemed to appreciate the occasion. Captain Sourav Ganguly is still smarting under the instructions he received from board chief Jagmohan Dalmiya to bat lower down the order before the Zimbabwe game. Ganguly was reluctant to yield his opener’s position before Dalmiya gently reminded him he also needed to heed people’s opinion on the matter. When Ganguly still held his ground, suggesting he would struggle to get runs lower down the order, Dalmiya brought an edge on to his voice: “Forget about opening, skipper, you would struggle to remain in the 15 if you are adamant.” Ganguly hastily beat the retreat. Ganguly is still not comfortable at number four and announced his intention to come to number three against Namibia in the next game. Ganguly is willing to go down blazing in his quest for success even if he is a minority in his opinion. Media manager Amrit Mathur has got another lease of life and his tenure has been extended till March 1. His tenure with the Indian board expired on February 19 but the administrative manager Jyoti Bajpai dropped in the good word and now it’s up to the start of March. It’s been put further for review thereafter, depending on India’s progress in the competition. Tendulkar, meanwhile, is too cautious for his own good. He is getting his run in nudges and there is hardly that aggressive intent which was his trademark. Indeed, he is looking more like a poor man’s Sehwag these days. His old mate Sanjay Manjrekar laments “When would we see the great man put his stamp in a World Cup match and produce an innings which would be remembered in times to come?” Indeed when. Even though, knowing the Indians they would have the answer ready: Isn’t Tendulkar the highest run-getter ever in World Cup history? |
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Anderson spoiled our party: Waqar
Cape Town, February 23 “Getting them (England) out for under 250 was a good effort by the bowlers but unfortunately the batsmen again couldn’t capitalise,” a dejected Waqar said after his team’s 112-run defeat at the hands of England in its World Cup Group ‘B’ match here yesterday. “...You can say it was one of the worst defeats we’ve had,” Waqar said but drew solace from the fact that Pakistan had come back from the brink in 1992 after losing three World Cup matches to lift the trophy. “It’s not over yet,” he said trying to sound optimistic. Pakistan were drubbed by 82 runs in their opening World Cup match by defending champions Australia. A jubilant England skipper Nasser Hussain said the team’s homework had done the trick against the Pakistanis who are a “huge threat in one-day cricket” while praising man-of-the- match James Anderson. “We knew Youhana shuffled across his wickets. That’s what I mean about James (Anderson). I’d forgotten myself because I was trying to set the field for the new batter and he just ran up and bowled the perfect ball. All credit to the coach as well. He’d done his homework and the plans worked.” But Hussain said his team wouldn’t get carried away with the victory. “We’ve only beaten Pakistan. We’ve only won one game. We haven’t won the World Cup yet. I think it was a very good bowling performance after some average ones in the last few months. It was an exceptional performance. “This was the first major team we’ve played at the World Cup. Pakistan are a huge threat in one-day cricket. On a given day they can beat anyone. To win so convincingly it was a huge win for us,” Hussain said. Hussain said Anderson, who took four for 29 in his ten overs, deserved special praise. “He’s bowled very well. In his short career he’s gone from the Burnley 3rd eleven to regular man-of-the-match awards. “The most impressive thing I seen from mid-off (is that) we’ve had meetings and at times we’ve had meetings for the sake of meetings (but) he’s listened to what the coach had to say and put it in to practice. He’s bowling well and thinking well. But he still has a lot of work to do and I think he knows that.” Waqar Younis believed his side was capable of getting the victory target of 247 but Anderson spoiled their party. “I thought looking at the pitch 240-odd was an easily getable target but their bowlers bowled very well, especially Anderson. I thought he bowled extremely well. “The ball probably started swinging a little more than normal. We played here last year against South Africa and the ball didn’t do anything but tonight the ball just amazingly swung.” PTI
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Pakistan
are now in deep trouble He was originally called Jimmy Anderson but his mother prefers him to be known as James. After his performance at Newlands where he ripped the heart out of the Pakistan batting line-up he will be known by his team-mates and the cricketing world as a fully fledged international swing bowler. Anderson has gone from a handful of One Day games for Lancashire to match winner for England in the World Cup and in the process he’s thrown Pool A wide open. Anderson’s method was simple; he pitched the ball up at pace and made it swing away from the right-handers to claim a couple of classy victims in Inzamam ul-Haq and Yousuf Youhana with successive deliveries. He later on trapped a struggling Saeed Anwar lbw to claim the three best players in the Pakistan line-up and throw their World Cup campaign into tatters. It’s unusual for England to select a young player with potential but to see James (formerly Jimmy) fully utilise his talent was indeed a rarity. The fact that Anderson and his fellow bowlers had a competitive total to bowl at was due to a couple of young batsmen who have also flourished of late. Michael Vaughan and Paul Collingwood were the two batsmen who wrested control from a Pakistan attack that has had a tendency to do well early but fade later in the innings. Vaughan was undeterred by the blistering pace of Shoaib Akhtar, who broke through the 100 mph [160 kph] barrier with one delivery and his ability to play off the back foot stood him in good stead. His footwork and fluency stands out in an England batting line-up where a lot of the players are restricted by their lack of convincing movement. What Collingwood lacks in skill compared with Vaughan he makes up for in determination and a thorough knowledge of his own game; he doesn’t try to play shots that aren’t in his repertoire and unlike a lot of his team-mates he doesn’t try to be too creative and end up being too cute. What with his reliable batting, excellent running between wickets and slick fielding he has added a lot to this England side. England appears to have taken a leaf out of New Zealand’s book at this World Cup. The Kiwis drew inspiration from their decision to forfeit the points in Kenya and England knowing they had lost the points for not travelling to Zimbabwe steeled themselves for a big performance against Pakistan. Pakistan are now in deep trouble as it was their bowling that got them into trouble against Australia and the batting let them down terribly at Newlands. If they can’t find inspiration for the clash with India then they are on their way home early. England will now be primed for their game with India knowing that a win in that match will ensure them a place in the Super Six. They have the pace bowlers to trouble a harried Indian batting line-up and spearheading that attack will be a young man named Anderson. He could become the best-known Englishman named James since Bond of 007 fame. |
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Pakistan
batting cause for concern It’s very sad when the toss of a coin decides the fate of the game. I am never one to offer excuses, but the day-night game at Newlands was always going to be won by the side that bowled second. Unfortunately, Waqar Younis lost the toss, and that became the turning point of the game. When conditions differ so vastly in the evening, it’s best to stick to day games. I know there are only a handful of day-night games in this tournament, but it would have been better if they avoided with them completely. The ball was swinging a lot more in the evening, and the dew on the wicket really livened things up for James Anderson and Andy Caddick. I came in to bat in the 20th over, and the ball was still swinging a great deal. There was hardly any movement when Shoaib and I opened the bowling in the morning, so it was very disappointing to see the wicket changing character so dramatically when we came in to bat. The Indians will also be playing a day-night game against England in Durban. While the difference in the manner in which the wicket behaves is more pronounced at Newlands and East London than in Durban, the toss is still a factor. The Indians will be hoping that Sourav Ganguly wins that toss since it’s a very crucial game for them. If losing the toss was not enough, we played very erratic cricket and did not make the most of the chances we got. I was guilty of overstepping a couple of times, and this lapse cost us the crucial wicket of Michael Vaughan. In retrospect I think we over-attacked a little, and this is what allowed England to go from 118 for five to almost 250. We also bowled a large number of no balls, therefore, even while we were taking wickets at regular intervals, we were not building pressure by keeping the runs down. If anything, our batting is even more cause for concern. Nobody was inclined to spend time in the middle, and the lack of self-belief among our batsman was very visible last night. Anderson is a fine young prospect for England, and like a true champion he made the most of an advantageous situation. Sure, conditions were helpful, but you still have to land the ball at the right spot and Anderson did this with impressive regularity. He dismissed both Inzamam and Youhana with top deliveries, and those successive blows broke the back of the Pakistan line-up. The team was a little gutted by yesterday’s defeat, with the boys returning to the hotel feeling pretty low. Richard Pybus met us this morning and spoke to us about the 1992 World Cup. We had lost our first two games in that tournament as well, but we came back to become world champions. We did get a bit of a boost and are aware that it is a do-or-die situation for us. We have to win all our three remaining games to go through to the next round. We know we have the talent to do it, now we just have to apply ourselves to achieve this goal.
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SA players head for 2-day break
Bloemfontein, February 23 “We believe that it is important to send the guys back to their families whenever there is an opportunity, or even for that matter to bring the wives and girlfriends to join the players,” South Africa manager Goolam Raja said before the tournament. The South African players will gather again in East London on Tuesday morning before their next match against Canada on Thursday. Reuters
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Warne’s
loss Sydney, February 23 Warne said he would appeal the ban, which fell short of the possible two-year suspension he could have faced under the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) anti-doping policy. The punishment bars Warne from all levels of cricket, ending his role in the current World Cup in southern Africa and upcoming series against the West Indies, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.
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Sunita, Sagardeep honoured Sunam, February 23 Mr Dhindsa also honoured Sagardeep Kaur, another international athlete by presenting her a cash prize of Rs 30,000. He expressed hope that Sunita and Sagardeep would shine for the country in international meets and championships. Mr Dhindsa also announced a grant of Rs 2 lakh for the construction of a school here.
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Convincing
win for Quila Mubarak Patiala, February 23 Rajesh fired in a brilliant backhander in the first “chukker” of the match to open his team’s account. Minutes later, Rajesh was once again in the thick of things when he passed the ball on to Navjot who scored his team’s second goal. Bahadurgarh equalised through Jai Shergill and Bajrang Singh but that was all the team could do as Quila Mubarak players scored four more goals to seal the victory. The Member of Parliament, Ms Preneet Kaur, distributed the prizes.
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‘PM to
decide on SAF Games’ New Delhi, February 23 Malhotra, however, indicated that the last word on the matter would rest with the Indian Olympic Association
(IOA).
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Pietermaritzburg, February 23
