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Gayle, Sarwan lead Windies fightback
Fully fit Lee raring to go
Malik banned for one Test
Madras HC upholds BCCI decision
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Sodhi playing for Darlington RA
in England
Narain hopes for GP circuit
Atwal finishes tied fifth
Anju keen to break into top 3
Dutt seeks sports in Concurrent List
Haryana to hold gliding
Punjab Police in NFL
U-13 soccer team
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Gayle, Sarwan lead Windies fightback
St. John’s, May 2 Gayle was undefeated on 184 and Sarwan was unbeaten on 103 to carry the West Indies to 299 for one, replying to South Africa’s formidable first innings total of 588 for six declared. Before a sizeable crowd yesterday, 25-year-old Gayle completed a pulsating seventh Test hundred, and 24-year-old Sarwan reached a gritty eighth Test hundred that brought the West Indies back into the match after South Africa spent a little over two days batting. Gayle and Sarwan have added 285, unbroken, to establish a new record for the second wicket at the Antigua Recreation Ground, following the early dismissal of left-handed opener Wavell Hinds. It eclipsed the 200 that India’s Anshuman Gaekwad and Mohinder Amarnath shared 22 years ago against Clive Lloyd’s West Indies. It is also the highest partnership for the West Indies against South Africa, eliminating the 284 that Hinds and West Indies captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul added at Georgetown in the first Test of this series. The left-handed Gayle turned a short delivery from Monde Zondeki to mid-wicket for a single to reach his hundred. Right-hander Sarwan flicked an over-pitched delivery on leg-stump from part-time medium-paced bowler AB de Villiers to long leg for a single to reach his second hundred for the series, following his undefeated 107 in the second Test at Port of Spain. Gayle hit 26 fours and three sixes from 257 balls, and Sarwan struck 10 fours and two sixes from 232 balls. The two batsmen helped the West Indies shake off the early loss of Hinds with the kind of responsible batting that was sadly lacking in the two previous Tests. Hinds was condemned to a first-ball duck when he offered a return catch to Makhaya Ntini off the first ball of the second over of the innings. But Gayle and Sarwan kept their composure and used their good fortune to lead a fightback against South Africa, who have already wrapped up the series, on the hard and notoriously docile ARG pitch. Scoreboard South Africa (1st innings) De Villiers c Browne b Best 114 Smith c Washington b Powell 126 Dippenaar run out 5 Kallis c Washington b Powell 147 Gibbs c Deonarine b Gayle 23 Prince c Browne b Bravo 131 Boucher not out 11 Pollock not out 13 Extras:
(b-4, lb-1, w-5, nb-8) 18 Total:(6 wkts dec, 163 overs) 588 Fall of wickets:
1-245, 2-245, 3-251, 4-295, 5-562, 6-563. Bowling: Powell 32-3-137-2, Best 26-4-116-1, Washington 22-3-73-0, Bravo 27-4-97-1, Gayle 31-11-65-1, Hinds 6-0-24-0, Deonarine 18-1-69-0, Sarwan 1-0-2-0. West Indies (1st innings) Gayle batting 184 W Hinds c and b Ntini 0 Sarwan batting 103 Extras:
(lb-1, w-1, nb-10) 12 Total: (1 wkt, 80 overs) 299 Fall of wicket:
1-14. Bowling: Pollock 17-2-67-0, Ntini 16-2-57-1, Zondeki 5-0-43-0, Kallis 11-1-47-0, Boje 18-6-42-0, Smith 9-0-39-0, De Villiers 4-1-3-0.
— AFP |
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Fully fit Lee raring to go
Mumbai, May 2 The Aussie fast bowler, who has been clocked to have bowled in excess of 160 kmph, also said he was hoping to break back into the champions’ Test squad during the forthcoming Ashes series in England and grab the opportunity, when it arrives, with both hands. “I have had a tough 13-14 months and have not played any Tests in that period. I have played several one-dayers recently during the VB tri-series featuring the West Indies and Pakistan and then in New Zealand and have taken a lot of wickets,” Lee told a press conference today. “My ankle is now 100 per cent and I have done whatever I have been asked to do (on the fitness front). It feels like I am back to where I was in 1999,” said Lee, who was here to promote USA’s sports brand ‘New Balance’. “It’s a matter of staying patient and whenever I get it, I grab the chance with both hands. I am pretty sure it will come soon and hope to play against England in the Ashes series,” the New South Welshman said. Admitting that he wanted very much to play in India when he came with the team which won the four-Test series 2-1 but couldn’t force his way in, Lee said he was yet to peak in his career. “I wanted to play in India, but I could not (make the playing 11). I am 28 years old and yet to peak. Fast bowlers peak at the age of 29 or 30,” Lee added. Lee described the Ashes series in England this summer to be a very challenging one for the all-conquering Australian team. “It will be a great challenge and we need to have plenty of fire and determination to do well,” he said. Commenting on a recent statement by ace New Zealand allrounder Chris Cairns that even his mom could captain the strong Australian team, considered to be among the very best in the history of the game, Lee remarked in a lighter vein, “Cairns’ mother must be a good cricketer.” Lee pointed out that just as any great captain needed a great team under him, a great team also required an inspirational leader to make it fulfil its potential. “I am fortunate to be playing in a team which is among the very best in the history. And Ricky Ponting has been a great leader. It’s not easy to step into a guy like Steve Waugh’s shoes and maintain the high standards,” he said. “Ponting and Adam Gilchrist — whenever he’s got the chance — have done a fantastic job of leading the Australian team well,” he added. Lee refused to be drawn into the controversy over Ponting’s bat saying that he couldn’t comment on the basis of newspaper reports, but sprang to Shane Warne’s defence over charges of sledging levelled against the great leg spinner during the ongoing English county cricket season. “Shane is a fantastic cricketer and will play tough cricket, but he doesn’t sledge. We Australians play the game hard but in a fair manner. We chat at batsmen, but don’t indulge in sledging,” he explained.
— PTI |
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Malik banned for one Test
Karachi, May 2 The decision to ban Malik was taken by the Pakistan Cricket Board’s adhoc committee which met today to finalise the squad as well as to decide the fate of the allrounder who brought the game into disrepute when he admitted conceding Sialkot Stallions’ Twenty20 Cup match against Karachi Zebras. Malik, who was immediately fined Rs 10,000 by match referee Rizwan Khateeb, later appeared before a three-man inquiry committee constituted by the PCB that submitted its findings to the disciplinary committee. The disciplinary committee had found Malik guilty and had recommended penalties in accordance with the level 2 of ICC Code of Conduct that suggests a match fine between 50 per cent and 100 per cent or a ban of one Test or two one-day internationals. The decision means that the Pakistan allrounder would miss the first Test starting at Barbados from May 26. Malik is currently in Abu Dhabi playing in a triangular tournament involving Masters teams from Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka. The ad hoc committee also decided to include uncapped opener Bazid Khan, son of former Pakistan captain Majid Khan and nephew of former captains Javed Burki and Imran Khan, while leaving out pacemen Mohammad Sami from the squad. While the cricket board explained that Shoaib and Sami had been left out on fitness grounds and on the recommendations of the PCB panel of doctors, they had no words to explain the overlooking of Moin Khan. The gutsy 33-year-old former captain had shown tremendous performance this season and scored 730 first-class runs that included three centuries, two one-day centuries and Twenty 20 Cup’s only ton. Moin has been deliberately dropped as the “leak” of the Pakistan team two days before the actual meeting was a poor advertisement of the cricket board, PCB sources said. Besides Sami, Mohammad Hafeez is the only other change from the team that beat India 4-2 in the one-day series last month. Hafeez has been replaced by Yasir Hameed who batted beautifully in the Bangalore Test which Pakistan won to level the series. The squad: Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), Younis Khan (vice-capt), Yasir Hameed, Salman Butt, Shoaib Malik, Yousuf Youhana, Asim Kamal, Bazid Khan, Kamran Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Shabbir Ahmed, Shahid Nazir, Rao Iftikhar, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Danish Kaneria and Arshad Khan.
— PTI |
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Madras HC upholds BCCI decision
Chennai, May 2 The single bench order had directed the Board to call for fresh tenders and permitted Zee Telefilms Ltd and ESPN to participate in the fresh tender proceedings. The Division Bench held that records clearly demonstrate that there was no concluded contract between Zee Telefilms Ltd and the Board. Taking exception to the single Judge’s remarks that the cancellation was vitiated by arbitrariness and unfair action of the BCCI and Dalmiya in particular, the Judges held “these remarks against the BCCI and Mr Dalmiya are unjustified, uncalled for and unsustainable.” The Bench allowed an appeal by the BCCI challenging Justice Sivasubramanian’s order directing it to call for fresh tenders. The Bench also allowed an appeal by Mr Dalmiya against the single Judge’s remarks against him. However, it dismissed a third appeal by Zee for a direction to the BCCI to allot the contract for telecasting cricket matches to it in the wake of the single judge’s order that the cancellation was improper. |
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Sodhi playing for Darlington RA
in England
Chandigarh, May 2 Sodhi had been selected for the highly demanding English circuit followed a successful season in the domestic cricket here in which the Patiala player played a couple of important knocks besides chipping in with crucial wickets as Punjab, under former Pakistan captain Intikhab Alam as coach, reached the Ranji Trophy final after 10 years. A veteran of 18 ODIs, Sodhi is seeking a return to the Indian side as an allrounder. With two ODI half centuries under his belt, Sodhi is a useful medium pacer besides being athletic on the field. Sodhi shot into the limelight when, under his captaincy, India won the Under-15 World Cup at Lord’s. Subsequently, he made his first class debut at 16. |
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Narain hopes for GP circuit
London, May 2 “China has one, so the feeling is that India, which is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, must get one quickly,” The Sunday Times quotes him as saying. “People in India, who knew nothing about it, watch every race, and the viewing figures are between 60 million and 100 million, second only to cricket. And the understanding is good; they know Nick Heidfeld couldn’t do much in the Jordan last year, so they don’t expect me to be at the front. They’d love me to pick up the odd point, which, with a little luck, I’m sure we can. The sponsors are pretty happy with the exposure they’re getting,” he added. Meanwhile, refusing to be bogged down by the popular perception that he and team-mate Tiago Monteiro were the only drivers in an “old” car, Karthikeyan said, “I knew funds were tight, so there’s no point moaning. Better to concentrate on making the most of what we’ve got. It’s not easy for a rookie to make a big impression from the start, because it’s a huge learning curve with the car and the circuits, and minimal testing doesn’t help. But I haven’t made many mistakes, some of my qualifying laps have been pretty good, and in Imola my race pace was strong.” Despite the limitations, the Indian has been impressive right from his first practice in Australia, where he consistently lapped within a second of the best efforts of Ralf Schumacher, Mark Webber and Jacques Villeneuve. Though he finished only 14th in Imola, Karthikeyan’s fastest lap was quicker than any managed by Webber, Schumacher and David Coulthard. Jordan sporting director Trevor Carlin also showered praise on Narain and said, “He’s fast and committed, fearless around high-speed corners, and he’s worked very, very hard on improving his fitness, which was an area where some people reckoned he might struggle. Before the season began, I thought he’d be so committed that he was bound to have one or two ‘offs’, but he's been superb at finding the limit without going over it.” “He’s surprised a lot of people, but he’s worked very hard and he’s quick. He’ll be here next year, hopefully with us,” Carlin added.
— UNI |
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Atwal finishes tied fifth
Avondale, May 2 The second top-five finish in about a month has put Arjun Atwal firmly back on road to ensuring a full PGA Tour card for 2006. The 32-year-old, who led the tournament at the midway stage, returned 73 and 73 in the last two rounds even as Tim Petrovic, a former pizza delivery man, beat rookie James Driscoll in a playoff to win his maiden title worth $ 990,000, after both were tied at 13-under for four rounds. With scoring not being easy, Daniel Chopra, putting extremely well on the last two days to rise to his first top-10 finish of the season, ending up tied ninth. Chopra, with rounds of 71, 70, 68 and 71 finished at eight-under 280, just one stroke behind his practice partner Atwal. Defending champion Vijay Singh tumbled down the ladder with rounds of 67, 71, 73 and 72 to finish five-under 283 in the tied 21st place. Atwal, who had just over $ 430,000 at the start of this tournament, added another cheque of about $ 200,000 to cross $ 630,000 mark in just five starts. He will need about $ 750,000 to keep his card and his current form should see him race to that comfortably. Atwal finished at one-over and aggregated 279 for a four-way tie with J J Henry, Woody Austin and Bo Van Pelt. Lucas Glover and Chris DiMarco tied for third, at 12-under. The Indian, who was tied second at BellSouth Classic four weeks ago, played 26 holes on a long Sunday. He was then placed at 10-under and finished the remainder of the round at even par with one birdie and one bogey. That still kept him in the picture for the final round, which he played in the second group. In the final round, Atwal began with two bogeys on first and third and added a third on the sixth, as he looked to be slipping. But a mid-round rally with birdies on seventh, 10th and 11th saw him back at level for the day, before a bogey blotted his book again on par-4
15th.— PTI |
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Els wins Asian Open; Jeev 10th
Shanghai, May 2 Jeev dropped a bogey on the 14th and a double bogey on the 16th to end up with a two-over 74 for the day and a total of seven-under 281 when play concluded today after darkness had forced stoppage yesterday at the Tomson Shanghai Pudong Golf Course here. Though he was disappointed with his final finish, this was his fifth top-10 in 11 starts since the Volvo Masters of Asia in mid-December. In 2005, he has had three top-10s. Another Indian in the fray, Jyoti Randhawa, who looked like getting into the top 10, dropped crucial shots on the 15th and 17th and ended tied 16th. Even as others struggled, Ernie Els returned seven-under 65 in the final round to claim his third title in Asia this year. Els was 26-under in the tournament which he won after the Dubai Classic and the Qatar Masters. He was 13 strokes ahead of second-placed Simon Wakefield, who in turn was in clear of Thomas Bjorn, who totalled 12-under 276. Jean-Francois Lucquin and the Korea-born Kiwi, Eddie Lee, tied for fourth, while Luke Donald and Stuart Little with birdies on two closing holes, tied for sixth. Soren Hansen and James Kingston were tied eighth and Jeev Milkha was tied 10th with three others, Edward Michaels, David Park and Peter Hedblom. Jyoti, who had a one-over 37 on the front nine, was looking good when play stopped at two-under after 14, including three birdies on the 10th, 11th and 13th. But his bogeys on the 15th and 17th ruined his chances of a better finish. Jeev Milkha was 10-under and fifth when play stopped, but on resumption he dropped a shot on the ninth, but made up on the 10th. He played calmly for pars through to the 13th and then came the bogeys. Rahil Gangjee was tied 65th at three-over 291. Els, on the other hand, was in brilliant form. He made no mistakes and started the day by completing his five-foot putt for birdie on the seventh. He added one more on the ninth and turned in five-under 31. On the back nine, he birdied the 11th and 12th and at seven-under for 14 holes and 26-under at that stage, looked set for more records.
— PTI |
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Anju keen to break into top 3
Bangalore, May 2 Anju, who became the only Indian to win a medal in the World Athletics Championship when she landed the bronze in Paris in 2003, wants to break into the top three world rankings, win a medal again at the world championship and come out with seven metre-plus jumps consistently in international meets. The Kerala athlete is also taking part in the Prefontaine Classic at Eugene, Oregon, USA, in early June, and thereafter the Asian Grand Prix series in Singapore, Malaysia and Bangkok, and European circuit events. “In fact, it’s going to be a long season; I am planning to take part in 20 to 24 international meets in this season culminating with the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne next year,” Anju told PTI here in an interview. “The Helsinki World Championship in August is the main focus,” the 28-year-old said. “I am not only looking forward to defending the medal, but also to improve on that,” the world number six added. Anju’s husband and coach, Bobby George, a former triple-jump champion, said: “She can do much better than 6.83 metres, which is her personal competition best. She has crossed seven metres in training last year. “She is going to cross seven metres a few times this year,” added George. Anju is also going to take part in the Asian Athletics Championship for the first time in her career. Bobby said this time, the focus of the training had been on consistency and “energy distribution on the approach” as the effort would be to see that Anju places her foot exactly on the board, does not lose “measuring distance” and commit fouls. “I feel she has improved her speed,” he said, adding that the training pattern had been designed in such a fashion that Anju peaked by early August. Anju, who has been among the top 10 in the world since August, 2003, said, “if I peak early, that will affect my performance at the world championship”. Anju, the Asian Games gold medallist and Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, said for European meets, they may consider London as the training base for a brief period. Bobby said but for her “falling ill” at the Athens Olympics, she could have come out with a better performance. “She has crossed 6.90 metres many times. 6.83 metres is not matching with what Anju’s has been doing in the past few years”. Anju would not say how many more years she would compete at the top level. “Right now I am enjoying training and competing. Bobby is enjoying the role of a coach. Until I feel it’s enough, I will go ahead”. She said there were no good Indian long jumpers right now to whom she could hand over the baton.
— PTI |
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Dutt seeks sports in Concurrent List
New Delhi, May 2 Replying to a calling attention motion by Asian Games gold medallist Jyotirmoyee Sikdar, Mr Dutt supported the plea by several members that sports should be linked to the educational curriculum. Noting that his ministry was acting like a “money lender”, but “without charging any interest,” Mr Dutt said, “Sports should be made a concurrent subject.” He also pressed for more money for sport to compete with the best in the world. “You cannot do this with Rs 400 crore,” he said. Assuring all possible assistance for sports promotion and infrastructure development, Mr Dutt said his ministry’s annual budget should be increased to enable it to meet the country’s growing demand in the sector of sports infrastructure and proper harnessing of sporting talent. The government’s endeavour was to extend maximum facilities to the sportspersons who bring laurels, the minister said, stressing on the need to attach more importance to sports and youth affairs as “good youth mean better future for the country”. The minister said the government would do its best for the promotion of P.T. Usha’s sports academy keeping in view the great job done by her for the country. Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, in his remark, stressed on the need for a National Youth Commission and also suggested a detailed discussion in the House on matters related to sports promotion. On the issue of transparency in distribution of top sports awards, raised by Sikdar, he said the government had no direct say in the matter as the awardees were selected by independent committees headed by top sports personalities. Earlier, Sikdar said there should be transparency in selection, periodical assessment of coaches, development of countrywide sports infrastructure and guarantee of jobs to sportspersons. Pointing towards irregularities in disbursal of pension and other facilities to sportspersons, Sikdar, who has been a gold medal winner twice in the Asian Games, said she had to wait for nearly two years before she started getting the pension. “I started getting it after I became member of this House and a member of the HRD committee,” she said, to which the Chair remarked: “It seems one will have to become a member first to avail of pension.” |
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Haryana to hold gliding training camps
Chandigarh, May 2 Stating this here today, Mr Ajit Mohan Saran, Commissioner and Secretary, Sports, Haryana, said each camp would be of three-day duration. The first camp would be held from May 9 to 11 for 30 boys of Ambala , Panchkula, Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra and Kaithal districts. In the second camp from May 12 to 14, the boys of Rohtak, Jhajjar, Karnal, Sonepat and Panipat will be there. In the third camp from May 15 to 17, the boys of Hisar, Fatehabad, Sirsa, Jind and Bhiwani will participate while in the fourth camp from May 18 to 20, the boys of Gurgaon, Narnaul, Faridabad and Rewari would take part. He said similar four camps would be held for girls. In all 300 boys and girls would get flying experience. The Haryana Institute of Civil Aviation has made all arrangements for these camps. Free board and lodging and training would be provided to the participants. |
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Punjab Police in NFL 2nd Division
New Delhi, May 1 The eight teams directly seeded for the Second Division League are: Indian Bank (Tamil Nadu), Mohammedan Sporting (Kolkata), Air India (Mumbai), Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (Karnataka), Punjab Police, Border Security Force (Punjab), Tata Football Academy (Jharkhand) and Hindustan Club (Delhi). Delhi Soccer Association secretary N K Bhatia, releasing the list of teams here today, said the four teams who had made it into the main draw through the qualification rounds were IFA (Kolkata), Lajong S C (Meghalaya), Bengal Mumbai Football Club (Mumbai) and Karnataka Police. The teams have been divided into two groups. Group A comprises Indian Bank, Air India, BSF, HAL, BMFC and Karnataka Police. The Group A matches will be played in Chennai. Group B consists of Mohammedan Sporting, Tata Football Academy, Punjab Police, Hindustan Club, Lajong and IFA. Group B matches will be held at Jamshedpur. The first and second-placed teams from each group from the Phase I competitions will qualify for Phase II, which will consist of four teams who will play in a single-leg league. The teams finishing first and second in Phase II will qualify for the First Division National Football League for the 2005-06 season. |
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U-13 soccer team
New Delhi, May 2 India have been placed in Group D with hosts Uzbekistan, Iran, Kirgyzstan and Turkmenistan. The squad: Vikas Gulia (Haryana), Sajandeep Singh, Balginder Singh and Bikramjit Singh (all Punjab), Johnny Kumar (Jammu and Kashmir), Ashish Balla (Delhi), Alwyn George (Maharashtra), Samuel Shadap, Kyrpang S Dienghoh (Meghalaya), Tirtankar Sarkar, Ganesh Dey, Avishek Das and Sudipta Banerjee (vice-captain) (all Bengal), Arashpret Singh and Simranjeet Singh (both Chandigarh), Shallun Pires (Goa), P C Lalruatfeels and Laldingpuia (both Mizoram). Officials: Mariano Dias (coach), Chinmoy Chatterjee (coach), Satheevan Balan (coach) and Sarayanan R (physio). |
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Mumbai, May 2
