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India face uphill task in decider
I did it, admits Greg Chappell
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Lankan bowlers fail to impress
Four cities shortlisted as venues
Eves lose by 20 runs
Dilip Tirkey to lead India
Randhawa falters, finishes tied seventh
IOA fines Assam body
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India face uphill task in decider
Mumbai, November 27 The 10-wicket defeat at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens in the fourth one-dayer, where the home team was made to feel like aliens by the big crowd that jeered and booed Indian players and cheered the South Africans, handed over the momentum as well as an unassailable 2-1 lead to the tourists in the best-of-five contest. It will now require a monumental effort from the host team to stop the South Africans from clinching their first one-day series in India in six attempts, including two multi-nation events. India can, however, take heart ahead of the deciding clash because of some factors that go in their favour. The biggest plus point the home team has is the pitch, which was yesterday described as sporting by curator Sudhir Naik. It is quite unlike the grassy, seam-friendly surface that was dished out, much to the chagrin of the Indians, in Kolkata two days ago. The grass was shaved off from the Wankhede Stadium pitch with a mower last evening at the instance of Indian selection committee chairman Kiran More, who personally supervised the operation. The Indian batsmen, who came a cropper against the seaming ball at Eden Gardens, should prosper in familiar conditions here. And importantly, they will have the full-throated support of a full house here. Another facet which should give comfort to the home team is that South Africa have lost both their matches played against the hosts at this venue a decade ago. India have a 50 per cent win-loss record at this ground. (6 out of 12). However, the dew factor can upset the best-laid plans of the teams if they are forced to bowl second with a wet ball on a wicket freshened by dew drops, which will make the ball skid off the track and not allow it to grip and turn. India, banking on their spinners, will be even more at a disadvantage if this happens, although Naik was not sure how much dew would fall, going by his experience over the past fortnight or so. The Indian think-tank, which surprisingly sent in Irfan Pathan to open the innings at Kolkata, is unlikely to continue with this sort of over-the-top experimentation, or strategy, as coach Greg Chappell likes to term these, in tomorrow’s crucial encounter. Most important from India’s point of view is the form of their big guns Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, who have done precious little with the bat of late and have accumulated a miserly six and 24 runs, respectively, in the three completed matches of the series so far. In fact, Tendulkar’s form slump of seven matches without a fifty, including the previous series against Sri Lanka, has been his worst-ever sequence of poor scores since 2002, when he could not score a half century in nine innings. But local hero Tendulkar, who set a world record for the maximum number of ODI appearances in Kolkata, can also take heart from the fact that Wankhede is one of his favourite grounds, having done quite well here, with an aggregate of 386 in eight outings, with a century to boot. What should be equally heartening for the Indians is the maturity shown by Yuvraj Singh to come to the side’s rescue in times of adversity and especially, in this series in conditions which have not been very ideal for strokeplay. The Punjab left-hander showed grit, determination and good shot selection in ample measure to turn the innings around after the top order had been unseated both in Hyderabad and Kolkata. Adding to India’s cup of woes has been the inconsistency shown by strike pace bowlers Pathan and Ajit Agarkar. The South Africans are on a high after their brilliant display in the last encounter. Shaun Pollock showed once again what a master craftsman he is in conditions ideal for his type of bowling while the other bowlers supported him to the hilt. But even more pleasing for the visitors must have been the superb batting of their captain Graeme Smith, who treated the Indian attack with disdain to race to an unbeaten century in the fourth tie and provide the platform for the thumping victory. Teams (from): India:
Rahul Dravid (captain), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, M.S. Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, S. Sreesanth, Gautam Gambhir, R.P. Singh, Mohd Kaif, J.P. Yadav. South Africa:
Graeme Smith (captain), A.B. de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, Ashwell Prince, Justin Kemp, Justin Ontong, Mark Boucher, Shaun Pollock, Albie Morkel, Andrew Hall, Robin Peterson, Johan Botha, Charl Langeveldt, Makhaya Ntini, Andre Nel.
— PTI |
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I did it, admits Greg Chappell
Kolkata, November 27 “Yes, I did,” Chappell was quoted as saying by an English newspaper from Kolkata today. When asked if the gesture was aimed at the crowd, he said, “I do not think that I need to specify the reason to you.” Chappell’s admission of the act came after the Indian team’s media manager M. Baladitya yesterday tried to put a lid on the controversy, saying Chappell was attending to his hurt middle finger after a practice session ahead of the fourth one-dayer against South Africa on Friday. Chappell said the footage, first captured by a local production house of a sports capsule and later sold to mainline news channels, was not doctored. He also termed the behaviour of the Kolkata crowd as bizzare. The cricket fans and cricketing community of West Bengal were livid over the Chappell act since Friday, when the footage was shown on television channels. Since Friday night, Baladitya had been maintaining, “Greg had hurt his finger in the field during a practice session on Thursday and he was tending it while boarding the bus. Greg did not make any obscene gesture at the crowd and the incident has been blown out of proportion.” The controversial TV footage showed Greg Chappell sticking his middle finger out to Chappell-booing fans of Sourav Ganguly shouting the name of the former captain outside the Eden Gardens stadium while boarding a bus after practice session on Thursday. Chappell had angered Ganguly’s fans after he questioned the former skipper’s form and his place in the Indian team. Ganguly had later lost his place in the team for the one-day international series, further angering the state’s cricket enthusiasts. The former Australian cricketer had been provided extra security arrangements during his stay in the city as the police apprehended trouble from Ganguly’s fans. — IANS |
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Lankan bowlers fail to impress
Bangalore, November 27 Play was abandoned on the opening day following wet ground conditions and dampness on the pitch. With the Sun finally coming out today, proceedings began at 1.30 pm. Sixtytwo overs were to be bowled today after taking into account the loss of play. But 13 overs could not be bowled due to bad light. The visitors, led by Chaminda Vaas — skipper Marvan Atapattu was rested — won the toss and put the Y. Venugopala Rao-led side in to bat. Openers Robin Uthappa and Shikhar Dhawan made merry and put on 138 runs for the first wicket. Uthappa’s 96-ball 76 was laced with nine fours and two sixes. Dhawan made 65 in 124 balls with eight fours. Sajeewa Weerakoon and Malinga Bandara picked up a wicket each. At close, Sreedharan Sriram was batting on 44 and Rao on 12. The tourists left out Farveez Maharoof and Chamara Kapugedara while Muttiah Muralitharan was 12th man. Stuart Binny was included in the Board President’s XI team in place of Dheeraj Jadhav, who had sprained his ankle during net practice.
— PTI |
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Hussey wrests control for Australia
Adelaide, November 27 His unbeaten 133 at the Adelaide Oval was, if anything, better than the first-innings knock of 137, that saw him chosen as man of the match after the second Test in Hobart. Australia were struggling 110 runs short of the visitors’ total of 405 with only two wickets in hand before Hussey pulled his team out of the mire and eked out a slender 23-run first-innings lead. Australia’s bowlers rammed home the advantage by taking two wickets before close of play to leave the West Indies at 68 for two by stumps, just 45 runs
ahead. Ramnaresh Sarwan was unbeaten on 53 off 61 balls, with nightwatchman Daren Powell yet to score. Hussey farmed the strike with ease, shielding Australia’s last three batsmen to bring up a well-deserved ton and pull the momentum away from the West Indies, swelling his average to 110.3 in the process. The Caribbean tourists had Australia on the ropes in the morning session, with exciting young Trinidadian allrounder Dwayne Bravo snaring three wickets in 17 balls. Australia crumbled from an overnight 229 for three to 277 for seven at lunch and when Brett Lee became Bravo’s sixth wicket shortly afterwards, Hussey was on 35, with number 10 Stuart MacGill at the crease. But Hussey assuredly marshalled the strike away from his less-illustrious batting team-mates and steadily worked his way towards his second century in his third
Test. MacGill (22) was a resolute companion for 116 minutes and helped Hussey put on 93 runs for the ninth wicket to frustrate the West Indies. Glenn McGrath provided another 39 minutes’ support as he shared in a 40-run final-wicket partnership with Hussey, who guided Australia to the
psychologically important first-innings lead. Dwayne Smith eventually bowled McGrath for five. Hussey’s accomplished innings came in 293 minutes and he clouted three sixes and 13 fours off 215 balls. He had two lives on 88 and 116. The tourists’ confidence seem to ebb away after Hussey and the belligerent Australian tail took control. It was no surprise when Smith was out in the sixth over of the West Indies’ second innings, caught at second slip off Lee for a duck. Fellow opener Wavell Hinds was stumped off leg-spinner Shane Warne for 15 towards the end of the day’s play. The West Indies had earlier rocked the Australians with four wickets in the morning session. Bravo, who scored a courageous century in the last Test, took three wickets in as many overs to leave the Australians staring at the prospect of a sizeable innings deficit. The Caribbeans might have lost the Frank Worrell Trophy series after heavy defeats in Brisbane and Hobart, but they enjoyed their finest session of the series and it was all down
to Bravo. Fidel Edwards started things going with the wicket of Brad Hodge, leg before wicket for 18, as the West Indies squeezed the Australian scoring. But Bravo put the skids under the home team with a brilliant 17-ball spell, where he claimed the wickets of Andrew Symonds (9), Adam Gilchrist (6) and Shane Warne
(0). Symonds, who took 24 minutes to get off the mark, was bowled off-stump as Bravo got movement off the pitch. Gilchrist, who was dropped by wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin before he scored, was snapped up in a brilliant right-handed catch by
Windies’ skipper Shivnarine Chanderpaul in the covers. Warne was all at sea in the same over, surviving two strong leg before wicket appeals, before Bravo took a screaming left-handed return catch. The West Indies claimed four wickets for 48 runs off 27 overs in the pre-lunch session. Bravo picked up his sixth wicket of the innings when he had Lee caught behind for nine soon after lunch and finished the innings with the figures of 6 for 84 off 27
overs. Scoreboard West Indies (1st innings) 405 Australia (1st innings) Langer c Ramdin
b Edwards 99 Hayden c Chanderpaul b Bravo
47 Ponting lbw b Bravo 56 Hodge lbw b Edwards 18 Hussey not out 133 Symonds b Bravo 9 Gilchrist c Chanderpaul
b Bravo
6 Warne c and b Bravo 0 Lee c Ramdin b Bravo 9 MacGill b Edwards 22 McGrath b Smith 5 Extras
(nb-14, lb-7, w-2, b-1) 24 Total (all out, 123.3
overs) 428 Fall of wickets: 1-97, 2-211, 3-228, 4-238, 5-271, 6-277, 7-277, 8-295, 9-388. Bowling:
Edwards 23-4-114-3, Powell 24-6-80-0, Collymore 23-1-59-0, Bravo 27-7-84-6, Smith 17.3-3-59-1, Hinds 9-1-25-0. West Indies (2nd innings) Hinds st Gilchrist b Warne 15 Smith c Ponting b Lee
0 Sarwan batting 53 Powell batting 0 Extras 0 Total (2 wkts, 21
overs) 68 Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-60. Bowling: McGrath 7-2-14-0, Lee 7-1-25-1, Symonds 2-0-9-0, Warne 4-0-17-1, MacGill 1-0-3-0.
— AFP |
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Four cities shortlisted as venues
New Delhi, November 27 Sources close to the International Cricket Council
(ICC) say ground studies, like collection information on climate and weather of these cities and others, is underway to ensure that the competition is trouble-free. A final decision on the venues is yet to be taken for the tournament, to be organised in October and November. “The ICC is taking a whole lot of factors into account while choosing the venues, a maximum of four, as decided earlier,” a well-placed source said. “Ground studies include finding out how far the airports are from the hotels as well as the grounds, rainfall during that period, standard of the ground, stadium capacity,” the source said. The venue of the final had also not been
finalised. Eight top Test-playing nations, which would be divided into two groups, would contest the tournament, in which all matches were likely to be day-night affairs. The top two teams from each group would qualify for the semifinals, which would be followed by the final. The top six nations in the ICC one-day international championship table as on April 1, 2006, plus the top two teams from a qualifying tournament to precede the main event, would form the final line-up. India, the 2002 joint champions with Sri Lanka, would be one of the teams, whether or not they were among the top six on the ODI championship table on the cutoff date. Delhi Cricket Association Secretary
S.P. Bansal confirmed that the ICC had approached him to find out essential information about the main stadium, the Ferozeshah
Kotla, and aspects associated with holding an international match. “An ICC official called me up to find out if the stadium will be ready by the time of the Champions Trophy and basic things — what kind of weather, including rainfall, is normally there in Delhi between October 5 and November 5,” Bansal said. The source also said while the four cities had been shortlisted for the tournament, the ICC was doing a survey of 10 Indian cities to keep alternative venues ready. “The ICC is doing a random study of 10 cities so that a few venues are kept as standby for any last-moment changes due to unforeseen reasons,” he said. Of the four venues
shortlisted, Delhi was the only one whose stadium had been undergoing a massive Rs 600-million renovation. But Bansal was confident that the venue would be ready in a few months. “I told the ICC official that the stadium would be ready in about three months with floodlights in place,” he said. Amongst the other information the ICC was collecting was the capacity of the stadiums and the number and standard of hotels in the city. “We are also collecting information from meteorological departments of these cities,” said the source. — IANS |
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Eves lose by 20 runs
Faridabad, November 27 David picked four for 48 to restrict England to a modest 188, but the hosts suffered a middle-order collapse and ended up with 168 for nine. England led the five-match series 1-0, with the second tie to be held in Lucknow on December 1. India were strongly placed at 109 for one at one stage before Laura Harper pulled the rug from under their feet with her controlled off-spin. Harper returned with 4 for 33 as India, needing 35 runs in the last four overs with seven wickets in hand, lost six wickets for only 15 runs in the closing stages. England captain Charlotte Edwards was named player of the match for her 122-ball 68, punctuated with six fours, that laid the foundation of England’s total. Jenny Gunn was the other notable contributor, with 56 from 101 balls, and she added 90 runs for the third wicket with her captain. India began well, with Monica Sumra (59) providing a solid start in the company of Jaya Sharma (18) as the two put on 68 runs for the opening stand. Anjum Chopra (33) then joined Sumra for a second-wicket partnership before the latter fell leg before wicket to Rosalie Birch.
— PTI |
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Dilip Tirkey to lead India
Chennai, November 27 Olympic gold medallists Australia, defending champions Spain, the Netherlands, Germany and Pakistan are the other teams competing in the meet, to end on December 18. The Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) has selected 17-year-old V. Raja of Tamil Nadu on the basis of his performance in the World Junior Cup in Rotterdam and in the Dutch league. “Collating the inputs from the chief coach and other officials on the performance of the players at the camp, the selection committee deliberated for two hours in finalising the team. They are the best performers in the trials,” IHF Secretary K. Jothikumaran said while announcing the team here today. On the omission of Lakra and Prabodh, Jothikumaran said, “It is not a question of having dropped these players. This is not the only tournament. Our international schedule is tight for 2006.” Lakra seemed to have been dropped as V.S. Vinay and Vikram Pillai had the wherewithal to play as forwards, whenever necessary. Besides Vinay, Vikram and Ignatius were considered to be utility players and could be shuffled as forwards. Chief coach Rajinder Singh (Junior) expressed happiness over the composition of the team. “The best available players have been given to me. I hope that we will perform well. Most players have played for the country. The six players who have played in European leagues are experienced and it will be to our advantage.” Team: goalkeepers: Adrian D’Souza, Bharat Chetri; defenders: Dilip Tirkey (captain), Kanwalpreet Singh, Harpal Singh; half-backs: V.S. Vinay, Vikram Pillai, Sandeep Singh, Arjun Halappa, Viren Rasquinha, Ignatius Tirkey; forwards: V. Raja, Adam Sinclair, Rajpal Singh, Prabhoth Singh, Gagan Ajit Singh, Tushar Khandekar, Ravipal. —
PTI |
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Randhawa falters, finishes tied seventh
Shenzhen, November 27 England’s Paul Casey enjoyed a sensational playoff victory when he defeated compatriot Oliver Wilson. The Ryder Cup star, who started the final round five strokes off the lead, charged into contention with a course-record-equalling seven-under-par 65 and then won with a birdie in the first playoff hole. A gutsy Wilson, who shot four birdies in a row in the middle of the back nine and tied Casey on 13-under-par 275 with a 69, eventually succumbed in the playoff. A costly bogey in regulation on the 17th proved to be decisive. He again shot a bogey in playoff. Gaurav Ghei shot a par 72 to finish at seven-under 281 and in tied 12th place. Rahil Gangjee (70) finished four-under 284 in tied 28th place. Shiv Kapur disappointed with no birdies and four bogeys in a 76, that saw him drop from overnight eighth to tied 32nd. Randhawa at one stage was just one shot off the lead at the end of the 12th, which he had birdied to go 11-under. What spoilt his rhythm was the short putt he missed for birdie and missed a short return putt for par on the 14th. Randhawa began very well with four birdies and one bogey on the front nine for a 33, but later faded away a bit. Jeev is tied 20th
Kochi (Japan): Finding his best putting touch of the week, Jeev Milkha Singh registered a card of two-under 70 to end up tied 20th in the World Open here. Jeev finished with a total of three-under 285 with rounds of 71, 71, 73 and 70 in a fairly consistent display. He needed just 25 putts for his last rounds, as against 32 in the previous round. He had birdies on the first and sixth and dropped a shot on the ninth. On the back nine, he picked shots on the 10th, 14th and 18th, but had bogeys on the 11th and 16th. Overnight leader Toru Taniguchi won the title comfortably with a last-round 69, that saw him finish 11-under 277. The 35-year-old Taniguchi turned in even par with two each of birdies and bogeys and J.D. Kim and others still had a chance to catch up. But then, with three birdies on the 13th, 14th and 18th, he sealed the issue and claimed the title. Kim (70) was second, two shots behind at nine-under 279, and Y. Imano (68) was third at eight-under 280. — PTI |
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IOA fines Assam body
Chandigarh, November 27 Confirming the development, Randhir Singh, Secretary General of the IOA, said the general house of the IOA had decided that any host state unable to hold the National Games within the stipulated time would have to pay the heavy penalty. He said Guwahati would hold these games in 2006. He also said the 2011 National Games had been allotted to Goa while the 2009 National Games would be held in Uttar Pradesh. The 2007 National Games would be held in Jharkhand, which had assured the IOA that the games would be held as per allotted dates. |
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Mumbai, November 27
