Diehard fans upbeat despite defeat
Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, March 19
India are down 1-2 but not out of the ongoing one-day series against Pakistan. This was the hope expressed by local cricket fans. A majority of cricket players and fans, however, were disappointed today when India lost by four wickets, as they had expected lot from their players. In the Peshawar one-day tie, India losing the toss and being asked to bat by the Pakistan captain was the turning point in the view of most cricket lovers.

Echoing their views, Ravinder Talwar, Secretary of the Chandigarh Olympic Association, said, “The poor batting show by Sachin Tendulkar and more so by Saurav Ganguly and V.V.S. Laxman did not make things easy for the rest of the Indian batting line-up. He appreciated the splendid knock of 65 runs by Yuvraj Singh. Whenever batsmen in the top order do not perform, the rest of the players come under tremendous pressure”.

Raman Kumar, a cricket player with AG, Haryana, felt, “Winning the toss and putting India into bat was also a vital decision taken by Inzamam-ul-Haq”. He said Yasir Hameed’s magnificent knock of 95 runs which included many classic strokes, indicated that he was a player to watch in future. “On the bowling front, though India were able to restrict runs, but still wickets were required. The soft dismissals of Rahul and Saurav and the not-so-good bowling by India were other reasons which demoralised the fans,” he said.

Ankush Sharma, a mechanical engineer, “The timely and superb knock of Abdul Razzaq after the fall of six wickets was the factor which tilted the match in Pakistan’s favour. India will have to flex their muscles in the remaining two matches to be played under lights at Lahore”.

Rajeev Sharma, who runs a printing press, said, “I have watched all three ODIs but this tie did not give much excitement like the previous two. Indian bowlers should have cashed in on the early wickets taken by Irfan Pathan. Zeal was missing from the Indian players when Pakistan was chasing their second consecutive win. Indians will now play under more pressure in the fourth ODI at Lahore on March 24 to level the series”.

Krishan, Mina bag javelin gold
Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, March 19
Sonia Dev and Vikramjit Singh were winners in 100 m and 200 m events, respectively, on the second day of the 57th Annual Athletics meet of Punjab Engineering College held today. In javelin throw, Krishan Dass in the men’s category and Mina Johl in the women’s category won a gold medal each. Krishan Dass also bagged the first position in hammer throw.

Other results: 10,000 m: Gurbax Singh 1, Raghav 2, Gazal Kumar 3. Triple jump: Abhishek Garg, Anibhav Singla 2, Baljinder Singh 3. 200 m: girls: Anchal1, Sonia 2, Kavita 3: boys: Vikramjit Singh 1, Saurabh Verma 2, Rahul Sood 3: Long jump: girls: Sonia 1, Anchal 2, Ravneet Gill 3. 800 m: girls: Anchal 1, Dilshad Kaur 2, Shruti 3. Javelin throw: girls: Mina1, Shweta 2, Nisha 3. 4x100 m relay: Vikramjeet, Rahul, Saurabh and Jasandeep came first, Abhishek Garg, Kshitiz, Nipun and Vishal came second while Deepak, Sumit, Parikshit and Adit came third. 100 m: girls: Sonia 1, Anchal Gill 2, Garima 3. 400 m: boys: Abhishek Garg 1, Nipun Bansal 2, Sanjeev 3. 1500 m: Gurbax Singh1, Sanjeev 2, Ravinder Pal 3.

Cricket matches

The ‘C’ division matches of the UT Cricket League, being organised by the UT Cricket Association, will be held from March 21 on the grounds of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 27.

The first match will be played between the Chandigarh Cricket Academy and Sonnet XI, followed by Gallant Xi and All Saints Xi, PEC Xi and Himachal CC while the fourth tie between Thunder Xi and Sun CC.