 |
|
|
Raina steers India to thrilling win
Dravid salutes young guns
Pietersen equals Richards’ record
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Three hurt in lathi charge
Indian team to be named on April 3
Prince steadies SA
Anand shares title with Topalov
Sania loses in doubles
Kuznetsova, Sharapova to clash in final
Trupti bows out of Asian championship
Shooting eves fail to qualify
Dempo outplay JCT Mills 3-0
|
|
Raina steers India to thrilling win
Faridabad, March 31 Chasing a target of 227 for victory, India were precariously placed at 92 for 5 when the 19-year-old left-hander turned the game on its head with his responsible knock on a turning track at the Nahar Singh Stadium. Raina, who showed maturity beyond his years, found an able ally in Mahendra Singh Dhoni (38) as the duo put on a vital 118 runs for the sixth wicket to give India a 2-0 lead in the seven-match series. Irfan Pathan hit James Anderson for a boundary to bring about a memorable Indian victory, achieved with one over to spare. The win, which brought the capacity 25,000 crowd on its feet, was India’s 14th win on the trot while chasing, which equalled the record of the West Indies achieved between 1984 and 1986. Raina cracked eight fours and a six in his 89-ball knock, while Dhoni hit two fours in his 55-ball effort as India overhauled England’s total of 226 all out in 49.5 overs comfortably in the end. Declared man of the match, Raina justified the faith shown in him by the selectors after having failed to build on his starts in his earlier 13 one-day outings. His earlier highest one-day score was 39. The teams now move to Goa for the third match of the series to be played on April 3. Earlier, India made good use of their slow bowling options to restrict England to a modest total, founded on a fine knock of 71 from Kevin Pietersen and 61 by opener Andrew Strauss. Ramesh Powar, who came into the team in place of RP Singh, was the pick of the Indian bowlers with 3 for 34, while paceman S Sreesanth was the other successful bowler with 3 for 40. The Indian top order once again failed to deliver and wasted a solid start by Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, who put on 61 runs for the first wicket. Sehwag seemed to return to form as he played some delightful shots. The slow-paced wicket suited his style and the batsman showed his form with a punch to the point boundary off Flintoff who had won the toss and elected to bat. The Delhi batsman, who has not scored a century in his last 25 innings, then played a paddle sweep to Ian Blackwell only to see the ball roll on to his stumps behind his legs. Gambhir, who too timed the ball well while adding 61 with Sehwag, was too late to react to a short-pitched delivery from Anderson and top-edged for a return catch. Dravid and Mohammad Kaif then fell while trying to make the most of the third set of power play which Flintoff delayed by four overs. The urgency was understandable with the asking rate going above five but the Indian captain committed hara-kiri. Dravid tried to steal a single after wicketkeeper Geraint Jones’s throw had shattered the stumps, but Paul Collingwood swooped down to throw the stumps down at the batsman’s end. Kaif played all over an incoming delivery to be adjudged leg before. It was the batsman’s third duck in four innings. Yuvraj, in the meantime, had struck two fours each off Anderson and Kabir Ali at the other end. But the first ball after the power play, he dragged an innocuous delivery from Blackwell on to his stumps. Raina and Dhoni, however, denied England further breakthroughs. Raina reached his first ODI fifty from 69 balls before hoisting Blackwell into the stands in the next over. The partnership was broken when Flintoff induced an inside edge from Dhoni on to his stumps. Scoreboard England Strauss b Powar 61 Prior lbw Harbhajan 33 Shah c Dhoni b Powar 0 Pietersen c Dravid
b Yuvraj 71 Flintoff st Dhoni b Powar 5 Collingwood run out 5 Jones c Gambhir
b Sreesanth 22 Blackwell b Sreesanth 9 Plunkett b Pathan 4 Ali not out 1 Anderson b Sreesanth 2 Extras
(b-4, lb-3, nb-4, w-2) 13 Total (all out, 49.5 overs) 226 Fall of wickets:
1-66, 2-71, 3-135, 4-143, 5-174, 6-193, 7-214, 8-221, 9-223. Bowling:
Pathan 8-2-29-1, Sreesanth 6.5-0-40-3, Harbhajan 10-1-43-1, Powar 10-0-34-3, Sehwag 4-0-21-0, Yuvraj 10-0-39-1, Gambhir 1-0-13-0. India Sehwag b Blackwell 26 Gambhir c & b Anderson 29 Dravid run out 5 Yuvraj b Blackwell 18 Kaif lbw Plunkett 0 Raina not out 81 Dhoni b Flintoff 38 Pathan not out 12 Extras
(lb-4, nb-1, w-16) 21 Total (6 wkts, 49 overs) 230 Fall of wickets:
1-61, 2-70, 3-72, 4-80, 5-92, 6-210. Bowling: Anderson 10-0-60-1, Ali 7-0-50-0, Flintoff 10-1-29-1, Blackwell 9-0-39-2, Plunkett 9-3-29-1, Collingwood 4-0-19-0.
— PTI |
|
Dravid salutes young guns
Faridabad, March 31 “It was a great partnership. The way they kept a cool head under pressure showed good temperament and is a great sign for us,” Dravid said after India won the match by four wickets to take a 2-0 lead in the seven-match series. But he was quite critical of the team’s top order that caved in early for the second match in succession. ‘The top order suffered from poor shot selection and at 92 for five I was very worried,” Dravid said. He also complimented Ramesh Powar for bowling “beautifully” and said the side now had the flexibility to play the eleven according to the conditions. His opposite number Andrew Flintoff said there were visible improvements in his team’s performance but they were beaten by a “special knock” as 226 was a decent score but it would have been nice to get a few extra runs, he said. “We were in the game for a long time before Raina and Dhoni took the game away from us,” the world’s leading all-rounder said. “However, there are good signs and the bowlers stuck to their tasks well,” he added. Man of the match Raina said previous experience of chasing down a total along with Dhoni proved useful. “I just played my shots and knew that if we batted 50 overs, we would win,” the teenager said.
— PTI |
|
Pietersen equals Richards’ record
Faridabad, March 31 The 25-year-old South African-born reached the landmark in his 21st innings when he scored 71 during the second one-dayer against India here. He was 66 short of the mark before the start of the match. Pietersen and Richards now jointly hold the record of completing 1,000 runs in 21 innings, followed by former West Indies opener Gordon Greenidge (23), New Zealand’s Glenn Turner and Pakistan’s Yasir Hameed (both 24). Richards scored 6,721 runs in 187 one-day internationals before retiring in 1991.
— PTI |
|
Three hurt in lathi charge
Faridabad, March 31 A middle-aged woman and her child had to be rushed to a nearby hospital after they suffered injuries in the lathi charge. Another woman, newly married, was also at the receiving end of the extreme reaction of the men in khaki. The incident happened at Gate No. 7 when people with valid tickets were stopped from entering the stadium. The Haryana Police said they resorted to lathi charge to prevent ticketless persons from sneaking into the stadium. “There were a large number of ticketless persons who were trying to forcefully entry the stadium from Gate No. 7. They were pushing the valid ticket holders and were bent upon sneaking in. At this juncture we resorted to a mild cane charge,” Faridabad police chief Mahender Singh told PTI. “We took action keeping in mind the interests of genuine ticket holders. Still, we exercised maximum restraint and tried to ensure people were not put to inconvenience,” he said. He stated that another unruly group, which was trying to create ruckus, had been stopped about 1 km from the stadium. Earlier, an hour’s cut in power supply at the start of the match made the mediapersons anxious. Although the supply was restored, the response of the board Secretary did not comfort the agitated journos. “Faridabad always has such problems,” Niranjan Shah told an agency reporter when the latter sought to place in front of him the state of affairs in the media box. This press enclosure, as usual, was filled with non-media people, some even in an inebriated condition. Incidentally, the Haryana Cricket Association had refused to give accreditation to more than one reporter from an organisation due to lack of space. The facilities at the media centre also smacked of the lack of understanding on the part of the HCA as to the mediapersons’ requirements. Only four — fixed, tiled cement — tables were provided for the journalists numbering more than 100. The tables could accommodate only about 20 at the maximum and the rest had to do with chairs fitted with writing pads to the arm-rest. It was not as if the mediapersons were a whingeing lot. Cricket is being played on a track that has not seen any relaying of the top in the past eight years. And the fans, without whom the BCCI could not have attained the financial strength it has now, had to bear with seatless concrete stands.
—
PTI |
|
Abu Dhabi one-dayers
Mumbai, March 31 “The team for Abu Dhabi and the last four ODIs against England would be chosen in Goa on April 3,” BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah said today. “The team would depart on April 16 for Abu Dhabi,” he added. The last four ODIs against England are scheduled at Kochi (April 6), Guwahati (April 9), Jamshedpur (April 12) and Indore (April 15). The ODIs at Abu Dhabi are to be held on April 18 and 19. Shah also confirmed that the Indian and Pakistan boards had agreed to pay fees to the Abu Dhabi Sports Council for using the Zayed Stadium. Abu Dhabi would also host an Euro-Asia ‘A’ tournament from April 22-May 5 featuring the A teams of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Holland, United Arab Emirates and Ireland. Ground rights sold for Rs 16 cr The ground rights for the two one-dayers to be played between India and Pakistan in Abu Dhabi have been awarded for $3.61 million (approximately Rs 16 crore) to Percept D’Mark, BCCI Vice-President Lalit Modi announced here today. There were three bidders, but one of them — Nimbus — was disqualified as it did not fulfil the requirements of the invitation to tender. Among the eligible bidders, the Abu Dhabi Cricket Club’s bid was for $ 3.512 million, which was lower than that of Percept, Modi said. — PTI
|
|
Prince steadies SA
Johannesburg, March 31 South Africa were 238 for six when bad light ended play 11 overs early. The patient Prince batted for 182 minutes, faced 128 balls and hit 10 fours. Prince shared partnerships of 55 for the fifth wicket with Jacques Rudolph and 72 for the sixth wicket with Mark Boucher. Fast bowler Stuart Clark led Australia’s disciplined attack with figures of two for 61 from 20 overs. Jacques Kallis captained South Africa in the absence of Graeme Smith, who withdrew from the match with a finger injury. Dippenaar replaced Smith in the team. Earlier, South Africa won the toss and chose to bat. Brett Lee and Clark shared the new ball and they found their line and length immediately. South Africa struggled to get going, and their first run was scored in the fifth over when AB de Villiers drove a ball from Lee for a single. South Africa’s troubles started when De Villiers lifted a drive off Clark and was neatly caught low down by Damien Martyn at cover for 12. Three overs later, the home side were reduced to 38 for two when Gibbs left a delivery from fast bowler Michael Kasprowicz and was bowled for 16. Jacques Kallis and Boeta Dippenaar batted solidly for the rest of the morning session to take South Africa to lunch on 67 for two. They were separated in the 10th over after lunch when Dippenaar, who hit seven fours in his 32, drove expansively at a delivery from Clark and was caught behind by wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist to end a partnership of 59. Lee bowled Kallis for 37 with an inswinger that nipped through the gate. Scoreboard South Africa (1st innings) De Villiers c Martyn
b Clark 12 Gibbs b Kasprowicz 16 Dippenaar c Gilchrist b Clark 32 Kallis b Lee 37 Prince not out 79 Rudolph c Hayden
b Warne 25 Boucher lbw Symonds 24 Pollock not out 4 Extras
(nb-9) 9 Total (6 wkts, 79 overs) 238 Fall of wickets:
1-26, 2-38, 3-97, 4-106, 5-161, 6-233. Bowling: Lee 15-6-28-1, Clark 20-8-61-2, Kasprowicz 23-4-74-1, Warne 13-2-49-1, Symonds 8-2-26-1. —
Reuters |
|
Anand shares title with Topalov
Monaco, March 31 Both Anand and Morozevich finished with an identical score of 14.5 points out of a possible 22 games played in the tournament and shared the honours in the combined standings of the annual event. For Anand this was a fifth Amber victory while Morozevich took his third title here. The third place went to a consistent Francisco Vallejo Pons of Spain who finished with an impressive score of 12 points. Russian Alexander Grischuk finished fourth overall with 11.5 points while Topalov and Peter Leko of Hungary finished joint fifth in the Euros 2,16,000 prize money tournament. The rapid title went to Anand who finished with eight points out of a possible 11 here while Morozevich won the blindfold section scoring an incredible 9.5 points.
— PTI |
|
Sania loses in doubles
New Delhi, March 31 Sania and Ivanovic handed over an easy 5-7, 0-6 victory to eighth seed pair of Shinobu Asagoe of Japan and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia, who reached the semifinals of the Tier I tournament at Cradon Park. Earlier, Sania faltered in the singles opening round against Anna Tatishvilli of Georgia at the elite event.
— PTI |
|
|
Kuznetsova, Sharapova to clash in final
Miami, March 31 Mauresmo had won their first four encounters before Kuznetsova posted a 7-6 (13-11), 6-4 win in the Dubai quarterfinals earlier this year. The 2004 US Open champion, Kuznetsova will meet fourth-seeded countrywoman Maria
Sharapova, who was awarded a 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 4-3 triumph after Tatiana Golovin retired with a left ankle injury.
Golovin, who was born in Moscow but is a French citizen, jumped to a 2-1 lead in the third
set. Sharapova has won her two prior meetings with Kuznetsova, both on grass.
— AFP |
|
Trupti bows out of Asian championship
New Delhi, March 31 Murgunde, who had a impressive run in the competition, lost 18-21, 11-21 to Li, according to information received here. Murgunde had upset world No. 17 Kanako Yonekura of Japan to make a place in the last eight. Chetan Anand, bronze medallist at the Commonwealth Games, bowed out of men’s singles yesterday after he went down 14-21, 14-21 to top seed Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in the third round of the $ 125,000 tournament.
— PTI |
|
Shooting eves fail to qualify
New Delhi, March 31 Army shooter Saroja Kumari finished 21st after firing 575 (285+290). Saroja shot rounds of 92,98,95 and 97,96,97 in the first and second stages. Compatriot Sushma Rana, who had teamed up with Saroja to win the pairs gold medal in the recent Melbourne Commonwealth Games, was also no better in her individual endeavour. Rana ended up 36th as she shot a total of 570 including 282 (96,92,94) in stage one and 288 (95,96,97) in stage two. Shweta Chowdhary was a lowly 40th after aggregating 567 (285+282). She shot rounds of 94,95,96 and 95,93,94, according to information received here. Lalita Yauhleuskaya of Australia won the gold medal with a score of 789.5 (587+202.5) while Ying Chen of China, picked the silver for an effort of 789 (586+203). Gundegnaa Otryad of Mongolia took the bronze medal after shooting 787.8 (583+204.8). —
PTI |
|
Dempo outplay JCT Mills 3-0
Mapusa, March 31 All three goals came in the first half through Nascimento Silveira, Renty Martin and Isfaq Ahmed. Dempo men began on a rousing note and shot into the lead in the 21st minute through Silveira. A free kick by Roberto Mendes Silva (Beto) hit the goal post and Silveira pounced on the rebound to shoot into the net. Dempo continued to attack and increased their lead in the 25th minute through Martin off a pass from Clifford Miranda to make it 2-0. Ahmed made it 3-0 in favour of Dempo in the 28th minute. With this win, Dempo took their tally to 13 points from 10 outings with three wins, four draws and three defeats, while JCT remained on same 10 points from equal number of matches. Dempo’s forward Roberto Mendes Silva (Beto) was adjudged the man of the match today. —
UNI |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Jayasuriya
