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It wasn’t easy to drop Sourav: Dravid
Mumbai restrict UP
Cool Hingis rolls on in blazing heat
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Mahesh-Moodie win, to take on
Paes-Damm
Kamsky stuns Anand
Railways pedal to victory
Johl, Jeev, Ashok tied 4th
Air-India win
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Pak flay Indian attack
Faisalabad, January 21 Afridi provided the thrust late in the day with some lusty hitting in his 84-ball knock to propel the home team to a commanding 379 for four at the Iqbal Stadium. Vice-captain Younis Khan (83), Mohammad Yousuf (65), and captain Inzamam-ul Haq, batting on 79, were the other notable contributors as the Indian bowlers found the going tough on yet another placid track which brought back memories of the run glut at Lahore. The Indians made the bold move of going into the crucial game with five specialist bowlers, dropping deposed skipper Sourav Ganguly in the process, but none of the bowlers could really put the skids on the free-flowing Pakistani batsmen who scored at 4.2 runs an over to seize the initiative. Electing to bat, the home team was in some trouble at 65 for two, losing both openers Shoaib Malik (19) and Salman Butt (37) but staged a brilliant recovery with two big partnerships. Younis Khan and Yousuf brought the innings on track with a strokeful 142-run stand for the third wicket before Inzamam and Afidi consolidated the position with an unfinished 163-run partnership which demoralised the visitors. Debutant left-arm seamer R.P. Singh was the pick of the Indian bowlers as he claimed three wickets to justify his inclusion. Yousuf and Younis, architects of a 319-run partnership for the third wicket in Lahore’s drawn first Test, steadied the boat before both departed in quick succession. Their dismissal set the stage for Inzamam and the big-hitting Afridi to feature in another big partnership. Inzamam, who scored a century in each innings in the last Test played here against England, had faced 122 balls and hit nine fours so far. Afridi, who scored 103 off 80 balls at Lahore, had hit 11 blistering fours and three huge sixes in his 133-minute stay at the wicket. Scoreboard Pakistan (1st innings) Malik c Dravid b R.P. Singh 19 Butt c Dhoni b Zaheer 37 Younis c Yuvraj b R.P. Singh 83 Yousuf c Dhoni b R.P. Singh 65 Inzamam-ul-Haq not out 79 Afridi not out 85 Extras
(lb-4, nb-6, w-1) 11 Total (4 wickets, 90 overs) 379 Fall of wickets:
1-49, 2-65, 3-207, 4-216. Bowling: Pathan 11-1-70-0, R.P. Singh 17-1-77-3, Zaheer 19-5-61-1, Harbhajan 21-1-75-0, Kumble 22-3-92-0.
— PTI |
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It wasn’t easy to drop Sourav: Dravid
Faisalabad, January 21 “It is very difficult to drop someone like Sourav, with his experience and his ability. But we had to pick the right combination that we thought would win us the game,” Dravid said after the first day’s play. “We are looking to win games irrespective of the conditions, and we felt we required five bowlers to take 20 wickets on this track. It was a tough decision, and Sourav was unlucky to miss out,” the Bangalore stalwart explained. “Seeing the kind of wickets, we had to try something different. We hadn’t done well with the ball in Lahore and we wanted to strengthen that department, so we played with five bowlers,” he said. Ganguly insulted, says Kapil
Kapil Dev has termed the exclusion of Sourav Ganguly from the Indian team for the Faisalabad Test as an insult to the former captain. Kapil said someone who had played his heart out for the country did not deserve to be treated in such a manner. “The player should retire gracefully, everybody knows his strengths and if one wants to lie to himself then it is his problem but I think that the player who contributes to the game should be given a respectful farewell. It is always better to resign than being sacked,” he told Aaj Tak. Asked what step he would have taken had he been in a similar situation, the World Cup winning captain said, “maybe I would have decided to pack my bags but on the other hand, another thought comes to my mind that I will bounce back with a bang and decide my own time for retirement.” Calling for more involvement of former cricketers in the functioning of the BCCI, Kapil asked, “If a player who has given 20 years of his life to the game and wants to contribute to its betterment, how will he do it if 99 per cent of the people who run the board are either businessmen or politicians.”
— PTI |
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Mumbai restrict UP
Mumbai, January 21 Mumbai, dismissed for 199 in their first innings, were 21 for no loss in their second outing at close, with openers Sahil Kukreja on 10 and Onkar Khanvilkar on 11. The visitors, who were four for no loss overnight, were bowled out 11 overs before stumps. Medium pacer Avishkar Salvi set the ball rolling with two wickets in the third over of the day. He scalped opener Jyoti Yadav and Praveen Kumar in quick succession while pace partner Usman Malvi trapped Shivakant Shukla two overs later to leave Uttar Pradesh reeling at 13 for three. Only a 123-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Uttar Pradesh skipper Mohammad Kaif and 19-year-old left-hander Suresh Raina salvaged the visitors as they took the first innings lead just before tea. In the process, Kaif and Raina raced to their half-centuries. Bengal take lead
Kolkata: Aided by opener Subhomoy Das’s chanceless hundred, Bengal overcame a shaky start to take a first innings lead over Baroda on the second day of the five-day Ranji Trophy Elite group cricket semifinal here today. With half of their batting line up still intact, the hosts are now five runs ahead of Baroda’s modest total of 241. Skipper Deep Dasgupta (50 batting) and Laxmi Ratan Shukla (22 batting) were in the middle as Bengal reached 246 for 5 at stumps after being 10 for 2 at one stage. Pacer Rakesh Patel utilised the morning juice in the wicket to get rid of Arindam Das (0) and the promising Avishek Jhunjhunwala (0) within his first four overs to give an early jolt to Bengal, before Das (115) set about to repair the damage and put his side in command at a near-empty Eden Gardens.
— PTI |
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Cool Hingis rolls on in blazing heat
Melbourne, January 21 Hingis, the former world number one, continued her remarkable return to Grand Slam tennis by crushing Czech Iveta Benesova 6-4, 6-1 under a blazing sun. Officials closed the retractable roofs on the two main stadiums and postponed matches on the outside courts after Michaella Krajicek retired from her match suffering heat stress. There was better news for Belgian Kim Clijsters, who has struggled all week with hip and back injuries. The world number two and US Open champion showed no obvious signs of problems as she romped to a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Italian Roberta Vinci. Clijsters will play Italy’s 15th seed Francesca Schiavone in the fourth round after she thrashed Maria Sanchez Lorenzo 6-0, 6-0 in 42 minutes, leaving the Spaniard with a dreaded “double bagel”. Twelfth seed Anastasia Myskina continued the Russian charge through the women’s draw by brushing aside Sweden’s Sofia Arvidsson 6-3 6-1. Myskina became the fifth Russian woman to reach the fourth round, where she will play seventh seed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland who beat Japan’s Aiko Nakamura 6-2, 6-3. France’s Mauresmo, runner-up to Hingis in the 1999 Australian Open final, will play Czech Nicole Vaidisova after the 14th seed beat Italian Flavia Pennetta 6-4, 6-2. Coria bows out
In the men’s section, Argentine sixth seed Guillermo Coria also wilted in the blazing sun, losing 6-2, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 to France’s Sebastien Grosjean. The 25th-seed Grosjean now faces compatriot Paul-Henri Mathieu in the fourth round after the 24-year-old beat Peru’s Luis Horna 7-6, 7-6, 6-1. Argentina’s Juan Ignacio Chela defeated Kristof Vliegen 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 victory over to set up a fourth-round clash with Nicolas Kiefer. The German beat Spanish baseliner Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2, while in-form German Tommy Haas beat local wildcard Peter Luczak 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Fifth seed Nikolay Davydenko beat another local wildcard Nathan Healey 6-2, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 to reach the fourth round. Slovakia’s 12th seed Dominik Hrbaty beat Russia’s Igor Andreev 1-6, 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 in the third round.
— Reuters |
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Mahesh-Moodie win, to take on
Paes-Damm
Melbourne, January 21 Bhupathi and Moodie battled from being one set down to beat Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra of France 4-6, 7-6 (10-8), 7-5 in three hours and two minutes to advance to the third round. The Indo-South African pair will play Leander Paes and the Czech Republic’s Martin Damm in the third round. In a high-quality contest, there were only five unforced errors from either pairs. That the Indo-South African pair had one less total points won, 135 to 136, than their rivals and still went on to win the tie proved that the 11th seeds played better at the crunch. Clement and Llodra also had lesser number of double faults, four, as against eight by Bhupathi and Moodie. Paes-Dechy stun top seeds
Leander Paes and Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy upstaged top seeds Kevin Ullyett (South Africa) and Cara Black (Zimbabwe) in straight sets in the first round of mixed doubles here today. It was a brilliant show by Peas and Dechy who needed less than an hour for their 6-3, 6-4 win. In the second round, Paes and Dechy will take on the winners of the match between Simon Aspelin-Meghann Shaughnessy and Sebastian Prieto-Virginia Ruano Pascual. Paes and Dechy meant business right from the word go and they held their serves and broke the top seeds once to pocket the first set in just 28 minutes. Ullyett and Black put up a better fight in the second set and both pairs were level at 3-3, but Paes and Dechy raised their game when it mattered the most and broke their rivals to race to a 5-3 lead and eventually went on to win the set in half an hour.
— PTI, UNI |
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Kamsky stuns Anand
Wijk Aan Zee, January 21 The loss cost Anand his sole lead as Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria joined him in lead on 4 points after settling for a hard fought draw with Sergei Tiviakov of Holland in the category-19 event. As things stand now, both Anand and Topalov have 4 points each after six games and are followed by Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine, Michael Adams of England, Boris Gelfand of Israel and Sergei Karjakin of Ukraine, who all have 3.5 points in their kitty. World Junior champion Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan and World Cup winner Levon Aronian of Armenia are in the joint seventh spot on 3 points each while Hungarian Peter Leko, local stalwarts Loek Van Wely and Ivan Sokolov and Tiviakov are not far behind on 2.5. In the ‘B’ group being played simultaneously, Grandmaster Koneru Humpy went down to Erwin L’Ami of Holland with white pieces. Norwegian boy wonder Magnus Carlsen is leading this section on 5 points from six games while Humpy is on 3 points in the 14-player tournament.
— PTI |
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Shers down Chandigarh Dynamos
Chandigarh, January 21 Shers, throughout the match, marked key rival players and it was an intelligent display of hockey which helped them have an edge over the Dynamos. The half time score was 1-0. The absence of Jugraj Singh, due to injury, was a blow for the Dynamos but their play in the midfield was below par even as more than 15,000 fans cheered them on. This was Dynamos second defeat in two days. Sher-e-Jallandhar deserved all praise for their brilliant offensive play. Their goalkeeper Maninder Singh was in thick of action saving many sure goals. Earlier, in the sixth minute, Shers were successful in converting a penalty corner with the final hit taken by Gagan Ajit Singh. Deepak Thakur of Dynamos had a lacklustre match, much to the disappointment of his fans. Shers earned two penalty corners while Dynamos got three. But Chandigarh Dynamos remain on top with nine points from five matches, followed by Bangalore Lions with seven points from four matches, Maratha Warriors with six points from four matches are third. Sher-e-Jallandhar are fourth with six points from five matches and Hyderabad Sultans are last with five points from four matches. Hockey experts view Sunday’s tie between Maratha Warriors and Hyderabad Sultans crucial as it will decide the fate of all the five teams. Dazzlers beat Nawabs
Two brilliant saves in the tie-breaker by Delhi Dazzlers goalkeeper Sandeep Kumar enabled his team to register a 6-3 win over Lucknow Nawabs in the penultimate Tier II match of the Premier Hockey League at the Sector 42 Hockey Stadium here today. The Dazzlers added two points to their tally to reach eight points, while after getting one point from the match, the Nawabs are at fourth place with seven points. Today’s match went into the tie-breaker as both teams were level 2-2 at the end of regulation time. Even extra time failed to break the deadlock. The match started on a brisk pace as forwards of both teams strived to put pressure on the opposition. Several golden chances were missed by both teams in the first quarter. The first opportunity for the Dazzlers went abegging as Mandeep Singh could not latch on to a pass in front of the goalmouth. A good move by Nawabs forwards Prateek Srivastav, Hamza Mujtaba and Sanjay Yadav was thwarted by Dazzlers custodian Shakti Singh. Tomorrow, the last match of Tier II will be played between Orissa Steelers and Imphal Rangers. |
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Railways pedal to victory
Patiala, January 21 For the past nine years, Punjab Police had reigned supreme in the men’s section. However, this time they found their nemesis in Railways who made a strong comeback after trailing the cops on the first three days to garner a total of 37 points. Railways cyclists took the maximum points on the concluding day today, with ace cyclist Sukhjinder Singh giving a much-improved performance. Punjab Police ended up with 32 points, while hosts Punjab, who proved their superiority in the junior section, settled for the wooden spoon with just 10 points. Punjab Police cyclists, in an attempt to overtake the eventual winners, were banking for a 1-2 finish in the Keirin race for men held in front of the chief guest, former Union Minister S.S. Dhindsa this afternoon. However, neither of their cyclists finished among the first three riders even as 18-year-old Abhishek Rana of Patiala, pitchforked into the senior category at the last minute, stunned everybody by emerging victorious. In the women’s section, Kerala lived up to their top billing by winning the overall title. The winners collected 37 points and were followed by Manipur (35) and Punjab (18). In the junior age categories (u-19), Punjab seemed to have no match as they won the title in both boys and girls sections. The hosts boys also triumphed in the under-12 and under-17 categories. Final standings: Overall titles (men): Railways-1, Punjab Police-2, Punjab-3. (women): Kerala-1, Manipur-2, Punjab-3. (Boys, u-19): Punjab-1, Rajasthan-2, AP-3. (Girls, u-19): Punjab-1, Maharashtra-2, Kerala-3. (Boys, u-17): Punjab-1, AP-2, Kerala-3. (Girls, u-17): Kerala-1, Punjab-2, Andaman and Nicobar-3. (Boys, u-12): Punjab-1, Maharashtra-2, Jharkhand-3. (girls, u-12): Kerala-1, Orissa-2, AP-3. |
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Johl, Jeev, Ashok tied 4th
Karachi, January 21 The Indian threesome was seven off the lead as Q-School winner, Chris Rodgers, shrugged aside a double bogey to card a 68 and total 15-under 201 for 54 holes. India had four players in the top 10 and Pakistan, too, had a good representation with three. Rodgers was followed by Mark Mouland (71) and local hope, Muhammed Munir (66), who were both at 12-under 204. Another Indian in the top 10 was Digvijay Singh, whose two-under 70 saw him reach six-under 210 and he shared the 10th place with two Pakistanis, Shabbir Iqbal and Mathloob Ahmed and German Jochen Luprian.
— PTI |
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Air-India win
Margao, January 21 Dempo, who suffered their second
successive defeat, have two points from four matches, while Air-India who scored their first win, have three points from three matches.
— PTI |
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Tennis body’s office-bearers Patiala, January 21
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