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Saturday,
March 1, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Fighting Windies fail to cross Lanka hurdle Flower sets up Zimbabwe
victory Indifferent batting Pak’s main worry Getting Sachin early top priority
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‘Pak has better bowling’ ‘Pak bowlers will be a challenge’ Focus on game, Gower
tells Ganguly Ponting hopes to expose England’s ‘mental scars’
History will count for nothing: Flintoff DIARY OF THE WEEK
Kenya set for Bangladesh grudge match Time for ICC to take action Dropping of catches irritating Just the beginning of a fantastic run?
Harjinder Kang wins Golfer of Year Award
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Fighting
Windies fail to cross Lanka hurdle
Cape Town, February 28 Sarwan, who hit four fours and two sixes, was dropped on the boundary line by Marvan Atapattu in the 48th over raising the West Indies’ chances of pulling off a stunning victory but Muthiah Muralitharan bowled an excellent 49th over conceding just two runs to bring Sri Lanka back into the match. Chaminda Vaas was once again the pick of the Sri Lankan bowlers, claiming four wickets to take his tally to 16. Earlier, the West Indies had done well to restrict Sri Lanka to a modest total after the islanders had elected to bat first. Their score was built around an uncharacteristically patient knock of 66 by captain Sanath Jayasuriya and useful innings by Hashan Tillekaratne (36), Russel Arnold (34 not out) and Kumara Sangakkara (24). The victory took Sri Lanka to the top of the group B points table at 16 points with a match against hosts South Africa to go. The West Indies have 10 points with a game against Kenya left. Their chances of qualifying for the Super Sixes are extremely slim as New Zealand, South Africa and Kenya all have 12 points with one match to go. Sri Lanka Atapattu run out 3 Jayasuriya c Chanderpaul
Tillakaratne b Hinds 36 De Silva run out 13 Jayawardene c Powell b
Arnold not out 34 Sangakkara c Lara b
Vaas not out 28 Extras: (lb-5, w-8, nb-2) 15 Total:
(6 wkts, 50 overs) 228 Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-96, 3-113, 4-131, 5-139, 6-178. Bowling: Dillon 10-0-30-0, Collins 10-0-62-0, Drakes 10-1-32-1, Hooper 6-0-30-1, Hinds 4-0-27-1, Gayle 10-0-42-1. West Indies: Gayle lbw b Vaas 55 Hinds c Jayasuriya b Vaas 2 Lara c Sangakkara b Vaas 1 Sarwan not out 47 Hooper lbw b Fernando 0 Chanderpaul c Atapattu
Jacobs c Sangakkara b Vaas 0 Powell b Murali 1 Drakes c Vaas b Jayasuriya 25 Dillon run out 4 Collins not out 1 Extras:
(lb-6, w-12, nb-3) 21 Total: (9 wkts, 50 overs) 222 FoW: 1-10, 2-27, 3-62, 4-121, 5-121, 6-122, 7-169, 8-186, 9-219. Bowling:
Vaas 10-3-22-4, Gunaratne 6-1-41-0, De Silva 10-0-48-1, Fenando 6-0-33-1, Muralitharan 10-1-26-1, Jayasuriya 8-0-46-1.
PTI |
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Flower sets up Zimbabwe
victory
Bulawayo, February 28 The left-handed Flower, who has been criticised by cricketing authorities for his on-field protests against human rights abuses in Zimbabwe, passed a fitness test on a groin strain
just 24 hours before the game. But his controlled 72-ball knock, backed by a whirlwind 58 from Andy Blignaut and a late blast by captain Heath Streak, guided Zimbabwe to 301 for eight from their 50 overs to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for the Super Sixes. The target was always going to be too stiff for the Dutch part-timers, despite a positive approach by their openers that was maintained by Luuk van Troost (26 off 25 balls), Daan van Bunge (37) and skipper Roland Lefebvre ( 30). Flower, who wore a white wristband symbolising peace for the second game in a row, might have gone for four in the 13th over, but Van Bunge at slip could not hold on to a sharp chance to his left off seamer Tim de Leede. Mark Vermeulen and Flower shared in a second-wicket stand of 58 before Vermeulen dragged a wide delivery from seamer Feiko Kloppenburg on to his stumps to be bowled for 27. Guy Whittall helped Flower add a further 53 for the third wicket before hoisting a ball from Kloppenburg to mid-wicket, where Zuiderent made good ground to scoop the catch centimetres above the turf. Opening bowler Edgar Schiferli returned to remove Flower, whose loose drive went straight to backward point in the 35th over. Flower faced 72 balls and hit seven fours but, after reaching his second fifty of the tournament, he seemed hampered by his groin problem. Blignaut’s aggressive approach, in which he mixed booming drives and neat deflections behind square with some searing pulls, put the Dutch under pressure as the run-rate climbed. The left-hander plundered 80 runs from 64 balls for the fifth wicket with Dion Ebrahim before he played an awkward legside stroke to Schiferli and was caught at leg gully in the 45th over. Scoreboard Zimbabwe: Wishart c Smits b Lefebvre 21 Vermeulen b Kloppenburg 27 A Flower c Esmeijer G Whittall c Zuiderent Ebrahim b De Leede 32 Blignaut c Kloppenburg Streak c Esmeijer Marillier lbw b Lefebvre 1 Taibu not out 7 Extras:
(lb-3, w-7) 10 Total: (8 wkts, 50 overs) 301 FoW: 1-24, 2-82, 3-135, 4-165, 5-245, 6-274, 7-281, 8-301. Bowling:
Schiferli 10-2-43-2, Lefebvre 8-0-38-2, de Leede 7-0-69-2, Kloppenburg 10-0-40-2, Esmeijer 9-0-60-0, van Bunge 3-0-22-0, Mol 3-0-26-0. Holland: Kloppenburg c Streak b Schiferli b Streak 22 Zuiderent run out 15 Van Bunge lbw b Whittall 37 De Leede lbw b Murphy 1 Van Troost c Hondo b Scholte c Blignaut b Mol c sub b Marillier 23 Lefebvre b Marillier 30 Smits not out 8 Esmeijer not out3 Extras: (b-1 lb-7 w-3 nb-1) 12 Total: (9 wkts, 50 overs) 202 FoW: 1-41, 2-49, 3-80, 4-85, 5-127, 6-130, 7-148, 8-190, 9-191. Bowling: Blignault 10-1-30-0, Streak 10-1-36-1, Hondo 6-1-16-1, Murphy 10-3-44-3, Marillier 9-0-49-2, Whittall 5-1-19-1.
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Indifferent
batting Pak’s main worry
Centurion, February 28 Pakistan, after a poor run in the tournament so far, will seek to salvage some pride. A win over India in the Group A league tie will also keep alive their slender hopes of making it to the Super Six. India, with a far better performance in the tournament so far, will not only seek to maintain their record of having beaten Pakistan in all the three previous World Cups, but also make their place in the top six absolutely certain. The fact that the two teams would be meeting each other after more than two and half years has only added to the hype around the match which is widely expected to be another heart-stopper. The significance of this match is not lost on the two sides who are clearly aware that many in their respective countries would prefer a win in this game to the ultimate triumph in the World Cup. “This is one big game which we must win,” Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly said though he tried to reason it out with the explanation that the victory was vital for India because it would enable the team to carry forward the points to Super Six should Pakistan also qualify. For Pakistan, this might just be the match which the players choose to get back to form for there is no bigger inspiration to lift one’s performance than to play against India on such a big stage. Not only the Pakistanis are in a must-win situation, their two legendary bowlers, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, as also dashing batsman Saeed Anwar are playing in their last World Cups and would be eager to sign off on a high and break the World Cup jinx against India. “We want to win it badly,” said skipper Waqar Younis. “It is a very important match for us. As it is we can’t afford to lose any game now in this World Cup. But obviously playing against India just adds to the pressure and excitement. “I would think it would be the showpiece match of this World Cup and I am confident that we will not disappoint the Pakistan nation,” Waqar said. What must be worrying Pakistan is their indifferent batting
performance so far, particularly the failure of top-gun Inzamam-ul Haq who has scored just 10 runs from four innings, the last two being no-scores. However, Yousuf Youhana, one of their batting mainstays, is quite confident that all the players will click in this most important game. “Because we play India after nearly three years in our next game, it should bring out the best in us,” Youhana said. “Playing against India should bring us closer together and make us fight harder. “The way I look at it, someone like Inzamam is bound to explode in such a pressure game. Everyone knows he is a quality player and he will soon start getting runs again,” Youhana said. The Indians too are hoping that their batting performs at full throttle in this crucial game. Fortunately for them, Sachin Tendulkar is in extremely good touch and looking to get better with every game. Captain Sourav Ganguly has an excellent record against Pakistan and this is a good opportunity for him to silence his critics with a good knock tomorrow. Many younger players like Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Dinesh Mongia, Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan have never played against Pakistan and they too would be all pumped up and excited to do well, realising fully that a good performance would make them instant heroes back home. The Indians might replace Mongia with an all-rounder like Sanjay Bangar or Ajit Agarkar considering that the Punjab batsman has not really justified the confidence reposed in him in this tournament. The Indians certainly have an edge over Pakistan as far as batting is concerned but for the first time they look equally competitive in the pace bowling department too. Nehra just bowled the spell of his life in the match against England, claiming a career-best haul of six wickets, and is consistently working up speeds of around 150 kmph. Fellow left-arm seamer Zaheer Khan has been outstanding in recent times, bowling a fiery line, while Javagal Srinath is probably enjoying the best moments of his career. The three form as potent a combination as any in the world and have won quite a few matches for India in recent times.
PTI
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Getting
Sachin early top priority This is a moment that both countries and both teams have been waiting for, for three years — an India-Pakistan match. I have always enjoyed the pressure, the challenge and the atmosphere during an India-Pakistan game, and this one will be no different. There are some old on-pitch duels to resume, and a few new ones to look forward to. There is no arguing that India has been more impressive than Pakistan in the tournament so far. However, there is also no question that whenever we have play India, our performance does go up a few notches, and there is no reason why that should not be the case tomorrow. The key tussle will be between our bowlers and the top Indian batsmen. Getting Sachin Tendulkar out early will be priority number one, as he is the world’s top batsman at present, and his dismissal invariably has a huge impact on the Indians. When the two teams played each other in a spate of games in 1999-2000, Abdur Razzaq dismissed the little maestro on three-four occasions. Razzaq was at his peak then, and is admittedly a little off-colour in this tournament. I know that he has always prided himself in being able to get Tendulkar out, and perhaps this challenge will see him coming back to the form he enjoyed in the last World Cup.
Virender Sehwag is the other player all the Pakistan bowlers are itching to get at. I enjoy watching him play, but have not bowled to him till now. We have been doing a fair bit of homework on him as well as on Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif and Dinesh Mongia, some of the other Indian batsmen who we have not played against. We’ve watched them, plotted and planned. It now remains to be seen whether we can put all those strategies into action successfully. Since we last played each other, India has found two fine bowlers in Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan. They have proved that it’s not just India’s batsmen who can win games, their bowlers are also capable of doing that. I met Nehra in Delhi when I was there last, and it was flattering to know that he is an admirer of mine. We discussed left-arm bowling there and during the ICC Champions Trophy I spoke to both Nehra and Zaheer. They are hard-working boys who are eager to learn and always trying to improve. On the Pakistan side of things, our batting has been a bit of a concern. Inzamam is going through a bad phase, and the media back home as well as here are giving him a rough time. Like Allan Donald, Inzamam is a proven performer, and one good game can change things for both these guys. Bad form is temporary, and Inzamam has the class to overcome it and make a contribution. There is no doubt that Saturday’s game will be much more competitive than some of our last games against each other. The players to watch out for are Shoaib and Razzaq. If they both have a good game, Pakistan will be in business. The Pakistan team has been working hard, and our team spirit and morale have not been affected by the reversals we have faced. We are hanging out together a lot more, and we have a team room wherever we go, so that players are encouraged to play pool, darts and generally have a relaxed time together. That bonhomie was there for the world to see when the team got together to honour me when I reached 500 wickets in ODIs. It was touching to receive 500 roses from the guys, and I was happy to realize that they were sharing my joy at reaching this landmark. There were some reports in the Indian media that I said that I found the comments of Navjot Singh Sidhu intolerable. I think I was misunderstood. All I said was that if I ever take up the microphone, I would be a little more sympathetic to the players, and would prefer to comment on their technique and what they are doing right/wrong, instead of questioning their ability. Everyone would agree that nobody would be playing for their country if they did not possess ability. I know Sidhu and find him a decent guy. His commentary has a bit of Punjabi humour — which I enjoy — and I also like his upfront attitude in the commentary box. Tomorrow’s game is a big one for both sides, but I would like everybody watching it to relax, enjoy the game, enjoy the pressure and remember that whatever the result may be it’s only a game.
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‘Pak has better bowling’
Johannesburg, February 28 “There is no hiding from the truth that our performance against Holland — in keeping with most our games at the World Cup — was disappointing. “We simply can’t afford to put in such an unfocused performance against India,” said Pybus, whose side needs to beat their arch-rivals tomorrow to be contention for a berth in the Super Six stage of the tournament. Pakistan who have played four matches so far, could manage just two wins against lowly Namibia and Holland and lost to against Australia and England. Pybus said though tomorrow’s game has been billed as the “match of the tournament”, for him getting the full points from the match was more important than anything else. “I know people are building up Saturday’s India vs Pakistan game at Centurion — and to fans in the respective countries it is an enormous game for all sorts or reasons — but to us it means just one thing: four points. “We cannot drop any points from our last two games, including Zimbabwe in Bulawayo,” he told a
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‘Pak bowlers will be a challenge’
Centurion, February 28 “It obviously is a very good and experienced bowling attack. That’s a great challenge for our batsmen. You play at this level because you want to play against the best people of the world. “Along with Australia, Pakistan has the most experienced bowling line up of all,” said Dravid as India prepare to take on their arch-rivals in a Pool A match of the World Cup here. The stylish batsman said though India are almost certain of a place in the next round, they were keen to defeat Pakistan and carry the extra four points to the Super Six stage. “We look at it as almost an eight-point game. If we win here, we claim four points and carry four extra into the super six stage,” said Dravid looking ahead of India’s game against Pakistan here tomorrow.
PTI |
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Focus on game, Gower
tells Ganguly Johannesburg, February 28 “Ganguly has got lot of runs in international cricket, so he is surely good enough a player. But sometimes you have to look within, maybe at the mental aspect. “Many a time, the mind may not be there, the focus may not be there. But it eventually comes through,” said the elegant left-handed batsmen of yesteryears. Ganguly who came into the World Cup with a string of low scores, started the tournament in poor fashion scoring just eight, nine and 24 against Holland, Australia and Zimbabwe, respectively. Though he was back among runs against Namibia — hitting112 not out, he struggled against England making just 19 from 38 balls before being caught in the deep by Andrew Flintoff. Gower, one of the England’s leading scorers in Test cricket, however, showered praise on Sachin Tendukar saying the batting maestro was right on top of the world cricket.
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Ponting
hopes to expose England’s ‘mental scars’
Port Elizabeth, February 28 It was also Australia’s 13th consecutive win in one-day cricket over their oldest rivals, a run that Ponting is hoping his side can extend in Sunday’s World Cup Group A match at St George’s Park. "We can only see it from our side and you will have to ask them about mental scars," said Ponting, whose team demolished Namibia by a record 256 runs on Thursday. "But what happened in that second final will make some scars. "The way Brett Lee bowled that day would have knocked most sides over but I hope there are a few scars there and that we can open them up in a few days’ time. "They were certainly disappointed with the way they lost that last game (by five runs) and they were saying afterwards they were getting closer and closer to beating us. "But we know, if we perform near our best, we will be hard to beat, not just by England but by any side. All we have to do is focus on those things that make us play well,’’ added Ponting. It was Glenn McGrath who took the bowling honours against Namibia with a career-best seven for 15, but there were strong signs that Lee is close to the form that did so much to wreck England in that last meeting between the sides. Lee took one for 26 against the Namibian part-timers on Thursday but, more significantly, he bowled frighteningly fast with two balls recorded at 98.7 miles per hour (158.9kph), his quickest ever bowling. "Watching Brett bowl, I think everyone will be taking notice," said Ponting. "England will be watching that pretty closely." "I am hoping they will be taking some of that 160 kph (kilometres per hour) stuff from him in a few days’ time." That thought was echoed by Thursday’s man-of-the-match McGrath. "Anyone watching us today would take a bit away from that,’’ he told reporters. "I was happy with my wickets but the way Brett bowled will send a few thoughts into the minds of those other teams we are playing over the next few weeks. "I had no sympathy at the end I was bowling at but I had plenty of sympathy for the batsmen facing Brett at the other end. I told them I was glad it was them and not me.
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History
will count for nothing: Flintoff Port Elizabeth, February 28 “This is the World Cup. It’s a new tournament and we have to win to get through to the next round,” said the 25-year-old Flintoff. England have lost their last 13 one-day internationals against Australia and go into this match on the back of an 82-run defeat against India at Kingsmead on Wednesday. And while England could still go through to the Super Sixes even if they lose, defeat on Sunday would leave their fate firmly in the hands of their group rivals. Favourites Australia have won all their matches so far and their record 256-run thrashing of Namibia was their 11th successive one-day international victory. Another win on Sunday will see Australia surpass the record for consecutive one-day international victories set by the West Indies in 1985. But Flintoff, whose 2 for 15 in 10 overs and 73-ball 64 were the lone England highlights in Wednesday’s defeat, insisted England would not be on the backfoot mentally.
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DIARY OF THE WEEK CENTURION PARK: Arun “Piggy” Lal is ecstatic at
the breakfast table at India’s superb performance against England in
Durban the other night. “I tell you we have the best bowling
combination in the World Cup. Nobody has quite got around to mention
it openly.” The former India opener also believes Australia is
beatable. “I’m surprised nobody has still taken on Glenn McGrath.
He is slow and is not the same force as he used to be. Someone is
going to take him on soon.” Well, it wasn’t Namibia against whom
the great fast bowler finished with the best ever world cup figures of
7 for 15 the same day. It’s the same day when one finds Bollywood
star Sunil Shetty loitering at the entrance of the hotel and waiting
to speak to cricketers as they come out to jog at the beach
overlooking their abode. “Our final is on Saturday” uttered Shetty
as cricketers began to file past by, shaking hands with the affable
star. Shetty has vowed to put his shooting commitments on hold as long
as India keeps progressing in the World Cup. It’s the same day when
one visits Sandton Sun in Johannesburg and catches up with a few known
Pakistani cricketers. Wicketkeeper Rashid Latif is warm and so is
Afridi and others and looking at them you don’t feel the team is
facing elimination. Latif in particular is upbeat: “If we can put on
220 runs on the board, our bowlers will allow India no chance to get
to the total.” Wasim Akram is not around as he, it is learnt, has
gone shopping with his wife. Surprisingly, tickets are easy pickings
for Saturday’s high-charged game. As it happened against England,
scalpers picked up all the tickets from windows and internet sites,
but couldn’t sell them off at the venue. The interest is high but
the scalpers aren’t willing to sell it off at the required rate.
Some bought them off at E-Bay (an internet site) at as high a price as
1000 rands (nearly $ 120) but nobody is buying them even at 400 rands
(nearly $ 45). So if you notice empty seats at the ground despite the
noise of it being a sold-out affair, you now would know the
reason. There are some interesting banners to read at Kingsmead in
Durban the other night. One in particular was memorable “Forget
Saddam, save Hussain.” Another read “British Airways-planning some
early departures.” The British press too has gone ballistic against
its’ team. Ashish Nehra, meanwhile, is still walking with his
drooping shoulders and resigned looks. Many are suddenly beginning to
rate him at least 200-wicket bowler in Tests. It will be interesting
to seek Bishan Singh Bedi’s opinion on the left-arm bowler. Bedi, as
coach of Delhi, once asked Nehra to put down his cricketing ambitions.
“To take 400 wickets in Tests and one-dayers” read Nehra’s chit.
A sceptical Bedi asked him to be realistic about his goals. Well, by
the evidence of Wednesday, the jury on Nehra is still out. |
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Kenya set for Bangladesh grudge match
Johannesburg, February 28 It is now anything but.
Kenya’s sensational 53-run win over 1996 champions Sri Lanka in Nairobi on Monday catapulted the East Africans to the top of the group table. Following New Zealand’s boycott of its match in Nairobi, Monday’s victory left Kenya on 12 points and with a real chance of going through to the Super Sixes. Collins Obuya, a 21-year-old leg-spinner, was Kenya’s hero against Sri Lanka, taking five for 21 at Nairobi Gymkhana and is likely to be a big threat again this weekend. “He has a lion heart, walks like a lion and has the strength of a lion,” said Kenya captain Steve Tikolo of Obuya. “The boy has come of age, he will definitely go places,” said Kenya’s former international fast bowler Edward Odumbe. “I will not be surprised if he does continue with his form against Bangladesh in Johannesburg on Saturday (tomorrow),” Odumbe added. Adding spice to the encounter is the fact that Bangladesh were promoted ahead of Kenya to be become cricket’s 10th Test nation.
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Time for ICC to take action The 2003 ICC World Cup is slowly but surely getting to the serious stages where the top six teams go head to head to ascertain who will be crowned the world champions for the next four years. There have been a few surprises and disappointments along the way and one major upset, when Bangladesh with their test status were properly and totally outplayed by the amateurs Canada. That result will have no bearing on who goes through to the Super six stages and beyond but other happenings, sadly that have nothing to do with cricket, could have a phenomenal impact on the makeup of those six teams. Those top six teams were meant to be the teams that had played the best cricket in the 42 preliminary matches and had finished in the top three positions in their respective groups. But unfortunately these off the field activities may see otherwise. It has all to do with scheduling of games. One would think that the World Cup schedule had been agreed to by all countries and cricket boards concerned, well ahead of the start of the tournament and any concerns regarding security or otherwise would have been brought before the ICC then. One would also assume that they would have been dealt with then, to everyones satisfaction and unless circumstances had changed dramatically since that time there would be no further problem. But not so. At the time of writing, England and New Zealand have refused to tour Zimbabwe and Kenya, respectively citing security reasons. That means Zimbabwe were allocated four points and similarly Kenya. There are also rumblings in the camp about the possibility of Australia and to a lesser degree Holland also not going to
honour their fixtures, citing the same reasons. That would mean four more and possibly eight more points being allocated to Zimbabwe, free of cost. Now the argument may be put forward that the match against Holland doesn’t really matter as Zimbabwe under normal circumstances ought to beat Holland anyway but what about England and Australia. But let’s put that aside for a moment, and let’s forget about all the ramifications involved with loss of revenue for countries and cities staging these games, which could be massive, plus television interests, there is a principle involved here. Should teams be allocated points as freely as this in such a prestigious and financially rewarding tournament? Should teams who have played their guts out, giving of their best and heaven forbid, suffered injuries in the process, be allowed to be sent home because another team pocketed unearned points and leapfrogged ahead of them? The simple answer is no. But what do you do about it? The suggestion is to try and follow what other World sporting organizations do. Take FIFA for example. You miss a game for a reason that they don’t find acceptable and you are out of the tournament and the points for those games gone and those coming are null and void. The ICC certainly may not see reason to be as draconian as FIFA but they have got to find ways of stopping these forfeiting of points for reasons they obviously don’t find legitimate. It happened in the Asian World Cup eight years ago, when both the West Indies and Australia refused to tour Sri Lanka, while other teams did without the slightest hint of a problem. There seemed to be no plan put in place to prevent a repetition after that tournament and it is happening again here, it is time for some action by the ICC.
TCM |
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Dropping
of catches irritating Playing Canada in a World Cup not only creates opportunities to experiment but also to not deliver the goods. The Proteas will have left East London with full points and the knowledge that all they need to do is beat Sri Lanka in their next match in Durban and they are through to the Super Six round, but, and it is a huge but, the Proteas camp would not be happy with the fact that they couldn’t bowl out Canada on a deck that saw them in early trouble. The form of Gibbs, Smith and Kirsten is not questionable but there on, Kallis, Boucher and Pollock have not produced their best by a long way. The fact that Dippenaar had to bail them out of a corner didn’t help selection matters either. Klusener didn’t get a chance to play for whatever reason and with him being a certainty for the next clash; someone will be dropped from the team that played. Since the start of the tournament the word on Donald has not been good. South Africa’s fortunes have over many seasons largely rested on his shoulders while he was at his peak. Ironically, it seems that they still do even now! The question every loyal South African supporter has on his mind is whether the great man has done his time and should make way for a young quick like Zondeki. The one-day game has certainly become a young man’s game and the mental energy it demands can be extremely taxing if one is already feeling the pressure of playing out for the last time in front of a home crowd. The player that is rated as the best allrounder in the world is Kallis and he hasn’t been able to assert any dominance so far. Because he bats up the order, his bowling becomes important. Surely it is only a matter of time when he clicks and starts to play a role. Getting back to the actual Canada match, an irritating issue to coach Simons would have been the dropping of too many catches. Again we saw Boucher not holding onto a relatively easy opportunity. The slip cordon looks to have been affected by his lack of confidence and even Kallis and Smith were just not up to scratch. For me, they look to be standing far to close to each other and this created indecision. Another issue is the fact that when a slow delivery is bowled, it is not carrying to the Boucher. A sure sign that communication between bowler and the rest of the fielders is not quite what it should be. The next few days will be vital to the South African cause. They now travel to Durban to prepare and with it being the home of Pollock and Klusener, plenty of support will be found. With the match being a day/night affair, the weather could be a huge factor. We have seen the Kingsmead pitch change its nature as the lights are switched on and India beat England convincingly after batting first. Every South African will be willing Pollock to win the toss and bat first and if they don’t some believe the hosts will bow out. It would be a nightmare for South African cricket right now!
TCM
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Just the beginning of a fantastic run? A dream took shape on a Durban night. Yes, this Indian team can win the World Cup. There was a competitive edge to the performance that suggests a fantastic run is just beginning. The team now has cricketers who simply refuse to yield. They are showing an appetite for victory that is astounding. The dream-like quality of some of India’s cricketers reveals a pattern that is being embroidered by this brave new Indian team. Tendulkar’s sublime touch, Yuvraj Singh’s combative runs under pressure, Dravid’s nous and Md Kaif’s Jonty Rhodes-style dive preceding the accurate underarm throw and above all, Nehra’s incisive spell. A third seamer in Ashish Nehra who is becoming almost as good as the top two adds a new dimension to the bowling. Not even an ankle injury could keep this Akram-like left arm seamer out of the explosive contest although if you went by foolishly sentimental people like former skippers who still believe in the Indian spin trick, Nehra should not have been in the XI. There were dreadfully prosaic passages of play when the least of India’s seven batsmen, Dinesh Mongia, was setting the pattern for the day of the outside edge of the bat being passed with the monotony of a loud clock ticking away with a metronomic beat. The middle order is yet to break all the shackles. Still, the sum total of the batting is proving to be at least equal to the parts. If the Aussies have to fear anyone in this competition, it has to be the Indians now. They are in far better shape than on the day on which the Australian mean machine battered the Indian batting with an indescribable display of power cricket as a fielding team in a major game. The nightmare of February 15 has been exorcised from the system. A place in the Super Six is almost assured. Any number of permutations and combinations are possible in the remaining major group games in which India plays Pakistan, Australia plays England and Pakistan also plays Zimbabwe. In theory, three of India, Pakistan, England and Zimbabwe can end up with 16 points each behind Australia’s 20 when the net run rate will be decisive. Leaving dreams aside for the moment, reality suggests that India will make the top six. Gazing at the crystal ball beyond that, a place in the semi-finals can be envisaged for India soon as it gets past the matter of qualifying from out of the preliminary league. The team would then have to pray that the third side to qualify will be the one it has beaten in the league. Only in the event of England or Zimbabwe qualifying as the third team will India carry at least eight points into the Super Six rather than four points that alone will be in the bag if, say, Pakistan win both its matches and qualifies along with Australia and India. Much remains to be done on the ground on Saturday. But the dream woven by the lofty quality of India’s cricket in South Africa’s curry capital on Wednesday suggests the team is on a real hot streak. The athletic dive of fielders in the circle and on the boundary rope is indicative of a spirit that makes fighting cricket possible. It is no more a matter of the batting order. The practice of fielding seven batsmen is working. If there should be a debate at all, it should be over who should fill the spinner’s slot in the XI — Kumble or Harbhajan who has not been all that impressive despite the prodigious turn the tweaker sometimes extracts.
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Harjinder
Kang wins Golfer of Year Award The leading golfers in the fray included Karanjit Singh, Gagan Verma, Anitya Chand, Keshav Mishra, Manav Das, Simarjeet Singh, Samarth Shergill, Sandy Lehal, Jasjeet Singh, Jaideep Patwardhan, Saurabh Bahuguna, Harinder Gupta and Vikrant Chopra, who lost in the play-off to Kang. Kang returned a five-under card on the opening day and a two-under score on the second day. He won on the play-off with Vikrant Chopra of the ONGC with a birdie on the first hole and another birdie on the second hole. Despite Harjinder’s performance Oil India finished third in the team event with a score of 10 under. The team title went to the ONGC (19 under) with GAIL finishing runners-up (13 under) Kang is at present preparing for the All-India Amateur Golf Tournament to be held in Bangalore from March 4. |
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Bulawayo, February 28
Chandigarh, February 28