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India upbeat, Pak promise fightback
Akhtar ruled out of ODI series
Aussies bury Lankans
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Leander still the best bet in singles: coach
Punjab score win over Delhi
Africans assert supremacy
Punjab in last eight
Dayala shines on day three
Kapur finishes tied 12th
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India upbeat, Pak promise fightback
Lahore, February 12 The Indians tasted their first success of the tour in the Rawalpindi tie, registering a comprehensive seven-wicket victory which boosted the sagging morale of the side and brought a spring in the steps of the players. With the series now tantalisingly poised at 1-1, the rubber has been thrown wide open and it would be foolhardy to discount any of the sides which match each other in strength. Indian skipper Rahul Dravid conceded as much, saying his team would have to continue playing good, hard cricket to get the better of their rivals in the day-night encounter expected to be watched by a sell-out crowd at the Gaddafi Stadium. “I think we played some good cricket to win the game at Pindi but it doesn’t mean that we can turn up the next day in the hope that we will win again,” Dravid said ahead of the match. The Indians indeed had put up a much-improved performance in all the departments of the game. Chastened in the series more often than not, the Indian bowling line-up did well to take some early wickets before bowling out the strong Pakistani batting line-up in 49.2 overs. Irfan Pathan looked a changed bowler in conditions that were helpful and even went on to bag the man-of-the-match award for his haul of three wickets while youngster Sreesanth also impressed after the whacking he got in the opening match at Peshawar. However, the chinks do remain in the Indian bowling attack with off-spinner Harbhajan Singh still to recover from a finger injury. The absence of the wily Punjab bowler as also a regular fifth bowler was felt by the Indians who nevertheless do have the option of playing either Mumbai offie Ramesh Powar or left-arm spinner Murali Kartik. The hosts are also not without worries in the bowling department. The home team clearly lacked the firepower in the absence of Akhtar as the bowlers took a carting from the Indian top order, especially Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh. Sehwag’s return to form in one-dayers was heartening for India as the cavalier batsman is capable of turning a match on its head single-handedly. His belligerent stroke-making and a century stand with master batsman Sachin Tendulkar set up the game for India before Dravid and Yuvraj capped their efforts to give India a thumping win. Another aspect which must have left the coach and support staff smiling was fielding. The Indians were exemplary in the field, evident from the four run-out dismissals that they effected. Dravid feels it is the presence of players like Mohd Kaif, Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina who make a qualitative difference to the side with their extra-ordinary efforts. Meanwhile, Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul Haq today said the defeat in Rawalpindi had not dampened the spirit of his team which was confident of bouncing back in the third cricket one-dayer against India here tomorrow. Inzamam said the day-night match was crucial for both sides as a victory would give a psychological edge to the winners before the last two games of the series. “It’s a very important game for both the teams as whoever takes the lead at this stage would have a big advantage in the rest of the series,” the 35-year-old batsman told reporters. “Yes, we did not play well yesterday. The crucial factor was the four run-outs. Even after this we managed to score 265 and had they not happened we would have scored over 300 runs which would have been a good target,” he said. Wise from experience, the curators have worked hard to prepare a sporting track this time around so as not to disappoint and deprive the fans, many of whom would be crossing the border to catch the action, of a good day’s cricket. The toss would be important, given it is a day-night affair and also because Inzamam had probably erred in opting to bat first in Rawalpindi where the early morning conditions helped the Indian seamers and the track eased out as the day progressed.
— PTI |
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Shoulder injury puts Sehwag in doubt Lahore, February 12 Sehwag had a scheduled meeting with team physiotherapist John Gloster this evening and the outcome did not seem to be encouraging although there was no official confirmation one way or the other on the player’s participation for tomorrow’s match. Assistant team manager Wg. Cdr. K Baladitya said it would be the player’s decision to make and did not depend on Gloster’s observation. There was also speculation that the batsman might return home but it could not be confirmed. Off spinner Harbhajan Singh was also in doubt as he was yet to recover from the injury to his index finger of the bowling hand he suffered before the start of one-day series. Sehwag developed the problem in his left shoulder during his half century in the second ODI at Rawalpindi yesterday. Sehwag smashed 22 runs in an over off Rana Naved-ul-Hasan but clutched his left shoulder after hitting a patented slash over point. The batsman needed medical attention and was seen rubbing the injured area throughout his innings of 67.
— PTI
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Shoaib Akhtar ruled out of ODI series
Lahore, February 12 Akhtar, who also missed out on the first two games of the five-match series, is nursing a strained ankle and has been advised a six-week rest.“Akhtar will not take any further part in the series as he is yet to recover from his ankle injury,” Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul Haq said. “He (Akhtar) tried to bowl in the last two days in the nets and aggravated the injury and is now feeling pain,” Inzamam said. “He has been advised rest for six weeks and that’s the reason he’s been left out of the series.” Inzamam said a replacement for Akhtar would be named for the last two matches. “His absence would be felt as he’s our main strike bowler. We certainly would be calling for a replacement. “But our squad for tomorrow’s match would consist of fifteen players only,” the Pakistan captain said. — PTI
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Sydney, February 12 There was always going to be only one winner after the Australians amassed their highest-ever ODI total of 368 for five off 50 overs. The Sri Lankans found it a far too difficult assignment and succumbed to be all out for 201 off just 36 overs. Coming together at a perilous 10 for three after the first 18 balls, Ponting clobbered 124 off 127 balls and Symonds pounded the highest one-day innings of 151 off 127 balls at the ground to surpass Australia’s all-wicket partnership record with 237. In a day of records, Australia’s 368 for five also bettered the previous highest innings of 359, set twice against India in the 2003 World Cup final in Johannesburg and two years ago in Sydney. Ponting and Symonds surpassed Australia’s previous best ODI stand of 234 between Ponting and Damien Martyn for the third wicket in the 2003 World Cup final against India. Australia now take winning momentum into Tuesday’s deciding third final at Brisbane’s Gabba ground. The last time a team came from losing the opening final in the tri-series here was in 1994 when Australia beat South Africa in the final two matches. Australia, stunned by their 22-run loss to the Sri Lankans in the opening final in Adelaide last Friday, were in trouble early on, losing the wickets of Adam Gilchrist (0), Simon Katich (1) and Martyn (8), all to the swing left-arm bowling of Chaminda Vaas. But Ponting and Symonds combined to snatch the match away from the Sri Lankans with their overpowering partnership. Once Sri Lanka lost their top four batsmen, Sanath Jayasuriya (0), Kumar Sangakkara (13), Marvan Atapattu (24) and Jayawardene (50 off 48 balls), they were always struggling in the face of Australia’s massive total. Scoreboard Australia
Gilchrist c Dilshan b Vaas 0 Katich lbw Vaas 1 Ponting c Vaas b Perera 124 Martyn c Jayawardene b Vaas 8 Symonds lbw Vaas 151 Clarke not out 54 Hussey not out 23 Extras
(lb1, w4, nb2) 7 Total (5 wkts, 50 overs) 368 Fall of wickets:
1-0, 2-2, 3-10, 4-247, 5-320. Bowling: Vaas 10-0-56-4, Perera 10-0-72-1, Kulasekara 5-0-41-0, Muralitharan 10-0-99-0, Dilshan 2-0-10-0, Jayasuriya 8-0-52-0, Bandara 5-0-37-0. Sri Lanka
Atapattu c Gilchrist b Clark 24 Jayasuriya c Lee b Bracken 0 Sangakkara b Bracken 13 Jayawardene b Hogg 50 Arnold not out 64 Dilshan c Ponting b Symonds 13 Kapugedara run out (Clarke) 1 Vaas c Clarke b Hogg 0 Bandara c Clark b Symonds 0 Muralitharan c Lewis b Bracken 27 Perera c Ponting b Bracken 0 Extras
(lb-4, w-2, nb-3) 9 Total (all out, 36 overs) 201 Fall of wickets:
1-4, 2-26, 3-74, 4-116, 5-139, 6-145, 7-146, 8-147, 9-200 Bowling:
Lee 8-0-42-0, Bracken 6-0-30-4, Clark 5-0-28-1, Lewis 5-0-30-0, Symonds 5-1-32-2, Hogg 7-0-35-2.
— AFP |
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Korea humble India
Changwon, February 12 The lose means India will now have to battle it out in the play-off with the zonal Group 2 winner to avoid relegation from the Asia-Oceania Elite Group I. Hyung-Taik Lee took an unassailable 3-1 lead for the hosts outclassing Bopanna in the first rubber 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 while Amritraj tried to salvage some pride against Woong-Sun Jun in the already dead rubber by coming back from behind to win the second set. But the Indian soon ran out of steam and eventually lost 3-6, 6-3, 5-7. India needed to win both the rubbers today to win the tie, after Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi had beaten the Korean pair of Oh Hee Kwon and Woong-Sun Jun 6-2, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 to make it 1-2 for the visitors yesterday. Earlier, both Bopanna and Amritraj had lost their first two singles matches. — UNI
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Leander still the best bet in singles: coach
New Delhi, February 12 India went down 1-4 to Korea in
Changwon, Korea, after Rohan Bopanna and Prakash Amritraj lost their reverse singles rubbers to Hyung-Taik Lee and Jun
Woong-Sun, respectively. India now play Pakistan in the first play-off after the subcontinental rivals lost to Chinese Taipei 3-2 in another first round promotional tie. Bal said India need to quickly unearth some singles talent and till then would have to look up to captain Paes to deliver the goods. “It is clear that one doubles point is not getting us anywhere. Having said that, Leander himself has another two years in him. We will have to look to him in the next two years, and hopefully by that time we will have a few players,” Bal told PTI from Korea. Bal said Paes did not play himself against Korea because the captain thought the youngsters, Bopanna and
Amritraj, were in better form and shape than himself. “It was just that he was not ready, he has never ruled himself out of playing singles. You must remember he played the opening match against
Ubzekistan,” Bal said. Bal said Bopanna opened strongly but had to bow to the might of 89th ranked Lee, 6-3 6-1 6-2. “Rohan was outplayed. Lee was the best player in the tie,” he said. “He was right up with Lee till 3-3 and was up 30-15 when one bad point from him changed the game. Lee went 4-3 up and from there he stepped up his game.” Bal said a combination of complacency and poor form let Amritraj down in the dead rubber, 6-3 3-6 7-5 to Jun
Woong-Sun. “Prakash played a bad first set but got back in the second. In the third, he left the fight back too late,” the coach said. “In the third set, he was 5-5 but then became a little complacent. In sport, you must make the opponent fight back, but Prakash was always catching up with his rival.” India have now lost all their four away ties to Korea. And that Sun was the hosts’ fourth choice singles player must hurt Amritraj more. Bal, however, said the elements had a huge role to play. “I won’t say the players were lacking. The conditions played a big role. The same Koreans, we have beaten them all times when we played them on our soil,” he said. “It was tough to get going. It was freezing out there and took a lot of time to just get the fingers moving.” Bal also revealed that Harsh Mankad was not picked for the tie because the player did not make himself available for selection. India have a 5-0 head to head record over Pakistan whom they played last in 1973 at a neutral venue, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, owing to the post-war situation. The previous tie was hosted by India and the venue for the first round play-off would in all probability be decided by the toss of the coin.
— PTI |
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Punjab score win over Delhi
New Delhi, February 12 V.R.V Singh picked three for forty to restrict hosts to 193 for nine before skipper Dinesh Mongia (97) and Reetinder Singh Sodhi (70) saw Punjab home in 42.5 overs at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground. The visitors are now on eight points with two wins while Delhi have five points. The hosts failed to carry on the momentum of their win against Jammu and Kashmir in the first match as they lost too many wickets early into the match. V.R.V Singh and Gagandeep Singh (2-18) justified Mongia’s decision to bowl first as they ransacked the Delhi top order and left them reeling at 14 for 4. Manhas (54) and Rajat Bhatia (54) then put their heads down to bail the team out of trouble. Manhas hit six boundaries that came in 79 balls while Bhatia found the fence four times. Chetanya Nanda chipped in with 33 runs lower down the order. Mongia and Reetinder Singh Sodhi was involved in a 149-run partnership for the second wicket. Mongia was unlucky to get run out to a Gourav Chabra throw just three runs short of his century. Mongia struck 10 boundaries in his 110-ball knock. Sodhi found the fence on nine occasions and also hit two sixes. Easy victories for Haryana, Services
Haryana scored a 104-run victory over Himachal Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy limited overs North Zone league cricket match at Harbaksh ground here on Sunday. Electing to bat, Haryana piled up a huge 335 for 8 with centuries from Sumit Sharma (142) and Sunny Singh (103) while Himachal ended with 231 for seven. A solo effort by Sandeep Singh’s (118) was not enough to surpass the huge target. In another Ranji Trophy one-day match, Services clinched a 131-run win against Jammu and Kashmir. Electing to bat, Services rode on the century of Yashpal Singh (100) and contributions from Narendra Singh (50)
Sarabjeet Singh (54) to score 304 for the loss of six wickets. Jammu and Kashmir was skitted for 173 with Narendra taking five wickets.
— PTI |
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Africans assert supremacy
New Delhi, February 12 It was a thrilling race involving the three Africans with Simon Maliyo finishing first in two hours and 17 minutes leaving behind Markose Yatichi with a narrow margin of three seconds. Francise Kamau came home in 2:17:05 to complete a Kenyan clean sweep. Surender Kumar Mavi was the fastest Indian clocking 2:23:00 in the race, which started and finished at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Surender finished 15th in the overall classification. The marathon route boasted of a flat, loop course supposed to be one of the fastest in the world. In the women’s marathon, the African contingent reigned supreme with Ethiopia’s Enantesh breasting the tape in 2:44:29. Monika Samila of Tanzania was not too far behind clocking 2:44:33 while Kenin Chala of Ethiopia followed in 2:44:37. Leelamma Alphanso was first among Indian women in the 42.195 km-long event clocking 2:53:38. She finished seventh overall.
— PTI |
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Punjab in last eight
Ludhiana, February 12 Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir were the other four teams who joined them in the last eight stage after the completion of 70 league matches on the fourth day of the meet. Meanwhile, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, who finished among the top eight in the 33rd National Meet at Jamshedpur last year, were ousted from meet. In a Group D encounter today, Punjab thrashed Bihar 21-7 to complete their league engagements and topped the pool. Baljit, Charanjit and Sukhdev with five, four and three goals, respectively, scripted the hosts’ easy win. The Group C match played between Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh proved to be a close battle as both the teams exhibited superb ball control and speed in which the former emerged winner with narrow margin of three points (33-30). Despite this defeat, the losers qualified for the quarterfinals as they finished second in their group. Jammu and Kashmir stormed their way into the last eight stage. In their last league encounter in group D, J&K proved too good for Orissa whom they drubbed 24-12. In the Group B match, Karnataka survived many anxious moments before emerging victorious against Kerala 16-15. |
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Dayala shines on day three
Kurukshetra, February 12 Yesterday, Dayala Ram, a student of the Rajkiya Danger college, Bikaner, an institution which has produced numerous national and international riders, had won the 20 km individual time trial for under-19 boys to announce his arrival in style in the championship. Earlier, Dayala shot into prominence by winning two gold, an equal number of sliver and a bronze medal in the National Cycling meet held at Patiala last month. Results: 10 km individual time trial (girls, u-17): Priyanka Desai (Maharashtra) 1, Nikita Bhate (Maharashtra) 2, N.Bambeta Chanu
(Manipur) 3. 10km individual time trial (boys, u-17): B.Rupesh (AP) 1, Gursharandeep Singh (Punjab) -2, Sachin Panwar (Delhi) 3. 50 km mass start (boys u-19): Kamalpreet Sharma (Punjab)1, Sabu Ganinger (Karnataka) 2, Iqbaljeet Singh (Punjab) 3. 5 km mass start (boys u-14): Rajesh Kalebagh (Karnataka)-1, K.H Rakesh Singh
(Manipur) 2, Bachitar Singh (Haryana) 3. 15 km mass start (girls u-17): B.Neeta
(Anadaman Nicobar) 1, Savitha Godar (Karnataka) 2, Nikita Bhate (Mharashtra) 3. |
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Kapur finishes tied 12th
Perth, February 12 Kapur, who turned 24, carded a fourth straight sub-par round at two-under 70 to finish the week at 12-under 276 that pushed him to third place on Asian Tour Order of Merit and improve his chances of getting a full European Tour card for the 2007 season. “I am happy with the way I played, though there were times I left a few shots out there. Still, coming close to a top-10 was quite satisfying,” said Kapur, who interestingly finished one shot behind one of his
childhood idols, Fred Couples. Kapur’s previous best in an European Tour event was tied 19th at the Indonesian Open last year. “I’m pretty satisfied with four decent rounds, to shoot under par over four days on a course like this, especially in the final round when the wind was blowing,” said Kapur.
— PTI |
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Volleyball tournament Kharar, February 12 The Electronic and Communication Department beat the Mechanical Department in an interesting match today. While in the other match, the Computer Science Department beat the Biomedical Department to qualify for the finals.
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Lahore, February 12
In video (
