India restrict Windies to 198
Ashis Ray

Kingston, May 20
Emphasising their distinctly higher ranking in the shorter version of cricket, India contained the West Indies to 198 for nine in their 50 overs in the second one-day international here today. Indeed, but for a patiently compiled and unconquered 98 from vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan, who held his nerve despite surviving three run-outs and one stumping chance, they would have more embarrassed than they were.

A target of less than four an over, though, was one the present, more consistent Indian squad was unlikely to be troubled by. It was sunshine from sunrise in this balmy coastal city and it being a weekend, the bulk of seating on offer at the half re-constructed stadium was occupied. As you would expect, there was Caribbean music to herald the occasion, with scantily clad women wiggling to the beat.

Rahul Dravid, though, dampened the high spirits of locals and warmed the cockles of the Indian contingent by calling correctly for the second successive time in this series and, as in the opening clash, inviting Brian Lara to bat.

Earlier, off-spinner Ramesh Powar, recovering from a twisted ankle, was given a birthday gift by being included in the eleven in place of Rudra Pratap Singh – a move dictated by the difficulties posed by Harbhajan Singh to the West Indian batsmen on Thursday. The move paid off.

However, it was the decision to hand Ajit Agarkar the new ball that started the slide for the Windies. Swinging the ball both ways, he removed Chris Gayle, who scored his 12th ODI hundred on Thursday, for nought and could have scalped Brian Lara as well, but Suresh Raina in an unaccustomed position of second slip could not complete an easy catch.

This, however, did not prove costly, as Irfan Pathan foxed the Trinidadian maestro with an outswinger and this time Dravid made no mistake. With opener Runako Morton earlier trapped lbw by the left-arm medium pacer, the West Indies had slumped to 24 for three in the 11th over.

A modest recovery followed, but Shivnarine Chanderpaul was deceived by the higher bounce of a Harbhajan off-spinner to slash it into the hands of the ubiquitous Mohammed Kaif. The hosts, thus, crumbled further to 43 for four in the 19th over.

Much rested on Sarwan’s shoulders, who should have been run out before he opened his account, but Yuvraj Singh’s underarm shy missed the stumps. Having escaped, the Guyanese right-hander of Indian origin was circumspect, refusing to hook and, indeed, consumed 119 balls to reach his 50. But he succeeded in pushing the field back by lofting over the inner ring. Not for nothing does he average nearly 45 in one-dayers.

Marlon Samuels is a tall, muscular right-hander, who has promised much for several years, but never wholly delivered. Now, as his compatriots enthusiastically cheered him on from attractive white marquees, he attempted to correct the anomaly. But with Powar entering the attack, the double spin combination kept him guessing. And when Yuvraj replaced Harbhajan – and the Jamaican made the mistake of relaxing – he snicked a drive off the left-arm spinner.

Carlton Baugh provided a cameo, but Powar had him caught at deep midwicket. The West Indies’ last hope vanished when Ian Bradshaw holed out to long-on. At 163 for eight in the 47th over they were still deep in the woods, but an eighth-wicket stand provided a moderate rescue.

Scoreboard

West Indies

Gayle c Dhoni b Agarkar 0

Morton lbw Pathan 1

Sarwan not out 98

Lara c Dravid b Pathan 14

Chanderpaul c Kaif b Harbhajan 10

Samuels c Dhoni b Yuvraj 19

Baugh c Pathan b Powar 21

Bravo c Raina b Powar 0

Bradshaw c Harbhajan b Pathan 12

Taylor c Dhoni b Agarkar 9

Edwards not out 1

Extras (lb-2, w-8, nb-3) 13

Total (9 wkts, 50 overs) 198

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-1, 3-24, 4-43, 5-103, 6-105, 7-143, 8-163, 9-197.

Bowling: Pathan 9-2-45-3, Agarkar 10-2-25-2, Harbhajan 10-0-32-1, Patel 7-1-39-0, Powar 10-0-38-2, Yuvraj 4-0-17-1.

When umpire Doctrove went missing

Kingston, May 20
A piquant situation was averted when inadvertently a ball was bowled in the second one-dayer between India and the West Indies with only one umpire on the field officiating here today.

Umpire Billy Doctrove was standing at square leg when he went out of the field to get an issue with the sightscreen sorted out.

Unmindful, bowler Irfan Pathan took off from his run-up at the start of the ninth over of the West Indies innings, and what’s more even the main umpire Asad Rauf allowed him to go through at the batsman.

As Ramnaresh Sarwan was called for a leg bye by non-striker Brian Lara, Suresh Raina at midwicket picked up the ball and hit the striker’s stumps. Instantly, an appeal for run-out went up.

When everyone looked up at the square leg umpire for the decision, they suddenly realised that Doctrove was missing.

The appeal was still referred to the third umpire while Rauf and Doctrove began the blame game in the middle with each other.

As word reached out from the third umpire, Rauf finally signalled the ball as dead.

Luckily for him, the replays also showed that Lara had made his ground. — PTI

Four in the race for football coach’s post

New Delhi, May 20
Bob Houghton, Clemence Westerhoff, Ian Porterfield and Brian Kerr will vie for the post of India’s football coach. The Technical Committee of All-India Football Federation shortlisted these names from the 11 which were recommended two weeks ago.

The four men, with a wealth of experience at international and club levels, have been invited for interviews on May 24 and a successor to Syed Nayeemuddin would be in place before the end of this month.

Nayeemuddin was sacked after disastrous performances in the two Asian Cup qualifying matches against Japan and Yemen earlier this year.

“A special general body meeting has been called on May 26 to discuss certain amendments to the federation’s constitution and the name of the new coach may be announced then,” an AIFF spokesman said. PTI

The meeting has been called to discuss the changes suggested by the Asian Football Confederation after which responses were asked for from various clubs.

Brian Kerr was in charge of Ireland till it failed to make it to the 2006 World Cup.

Porterfield is a former Chelsea manager, while Dutch coach Clemence Westorhoff has managed teams like PSV Eindhoven and Ajax, apart from Netherlands’ Under-21 side. He also guided Nigeria to the 1994 World Cup.

Porterfield has to his credit an FA Cup victory with Sheffield United.

Other than coaching Chelsea from 1991 to 1993, he also coached Bolton Wanderers and the national teams of Zambia, Oman and Trinidad and Tobago.

Englishman Bob Houghton, who took Swedish side Malmo to the Champions Cup final in 1978-79, is also in the running.

Salgaocar lose, get relegated

Margao: Salgaocar went down 1-4 to Mohammedan Sporting to bow out of the 10th ONGC National Football League here today. Mohammedan Sporting, who needed only a draw to avoid relegation, started positively and surged ahead in the 14th minute.

Patrick Okanji accepted a pass inside the box from Mukhter, dodged past a couple of defenders and keeper Sangram Mukherjee before slotting the ball into the net to put Sporting 1-0 up at half time.

Gley Rodrigues than doubled the lead for Sporting in the 55th minute when he slammed the ball in after Patrick split the defence with a through pass.

Substitute Satyajit Bose killed off the match for Salgaocar when he headed home a cross from the right by Mohammed Mukhter in the 70th minute. — PTI

Kaif vows to keep up good work
Ashish Shukla

Kingston, May 20
Mohammad Kaif admits that being left out of India’s one-day team for a few matches forced him to have a closer look at his batting technique and gives credit to captain Rahul Dravid for helping him to rediscover his form.

Kaif cracked an unbeaten 66 and was involved in a match-defining partnership with skipper Dravid which helped India win the first one-dayer against the West Indies.

“When I came in, it was comforting to hear your captain tell you not to worry about dot balls and take your time to get settled. He prepared me for the role ahead,” said Kaif after his century stand with Dravid on Thursday.

Kaif said he was inspired by Dravid’s form at the other end, which he termed as nothing less than sublime. “Every match he goes out and scores runs. I don’t know how to explain his character. As a captain he sets example and you can see the boys responding.”

Kaif watched Dravid shift gears effortlessly. Even though they have similar styles, Kaif said because of past failures, he wanted to take his time to settle down. “He is in top form so you too feel good about yourself. But the kind of form I was in, I needed time to settle in. When you are lacking runs, you want to make sure you feel good.”

So it did not matter to Kaif when he got off the mark only on the 12th ball or when West Indies had briefly flickered into life bringing the equation down to 12 runs in the final two overs.

“It wasn’t a worrying equation. The way their field was set (not attacking enough), I knew there was a run every time the ball hit the bat.” The equation was down to four runs in the final overs and the first two balls yielded nothing.

Suresh Raina, at the other end, cursed himself when he took only a single out of a rank half volley. “I was mad at myself for I could have hit it for six,” he said later but Kaif was his unflappable self.

“I would not have panicked even if it was to be down to the wire, the very last ball of the match. It does not help to panic because then you could miss a dot ball or get out.” That explains why Kaif did not panic when he missed the last four one-day internationals India played. He, however, admitted that it forced him to take a closer look at his batting technique and style. — PTI

Mohun Bagan eye third spot, meet JCT today
Amardeep Bhattal
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 20
With the top two positions going to Mahindra United and East Bengal, respectively, and Salgaocar SC being relegated to the second division after their 1-4 defeat at Margao today, the focus now shifts to Ludhiana where Kolkata’s Mohun Bagan, strong contenders for the third spot, meet JCT Mills, Phagwara, at Guru Nanak Stadium on the concluding day of the 10th National Football League tomorrow.

Although the race for the third position is still wide open, Mohun Bagan have a fair chance of finishing behind Mahindra United and East Bengal as only a draw would suffice and entitle them to a cash prize of Rs 16 lakh. Hosts JCT, on the other hand, have nothing to lose as they are already assured of the sixth position and a cash prize of Rs 3 lakh.

Incidentally, action is not confined to Ludhiana alone on the concluding day, as Mumbai and Margao are also the venues for two important ties. While Air-India are scheduled to play Sporting Clube de Goa at Mumbai, champions Mahindra United meet Goa’s Dempo SC at Margao.

While Mohun Bagan need only a draw, both Dempo and Sporting Clube de Goa need outright wins to secure the third position. In case Mohun Bagan lose and both Dempo and Sporting Clube register victories, then goal average factor will come into play to decide the third spot.

Of the 16 matches played so far, Mohun Bagan have won seven and lost three, including the home tie against JCT at Kolkata on January 25. The green and maroon brigade’s victories have come against Fransa (2-0); Air-India (2-0); Salgaocar (3-0); Sporting Clube de Goa (1-0); Air-India (home match 2-1); Mohammedan Sporting (1-0); and Mahindra United (2-1). The three matches which they lost were against Mohammedan Sporting (0-1); JCT (0-2) and East Bengal (0-3). The six draws were against Mahindra United (0-0); East Bengal (0-0); Dempo (1-1); Sporting Clube (0-0); Salgaocar (1-1); and Dempo (0-0).

Mohun Bagan’s campaign remained sluggish in the initial stages but it gained momentum with the induction of Biswajit Bhattacharya, who replaced Jahar Das as coach on March 5. Jahar Das had taken over after Amal Dutta quit on December 6, 2005. Biswajit Bhattacharya, a prolific scorer who played for Mohun Bagan many years back and also represented India in the Merdeka Cup, virtually pulled his side from the brink and all the victories registered by the Kolkata outfit have come under his stewardship.

Mohun Bagan, a balanced side, have so far scored 16 goals with as many as seven players sharing the honours. They include skipper Mehtab Hussain, Dharamjit Singh and Eduardo Coelho (three each); Dipendu Biswas, Sushil Singh, and Coffi Agbessi (two each) and Awudu Ibrahim (one).

Among the foreign recruits, stand-in skipper Eduardo Chacon Coelho Lacerda, the Brazilian left back formerly of HAL, Bangalore, has been the most impressive.

However, on the eve of the crucial tie against JCT, coach Biswajit Bhattacharya appeared worried over the spate of injuries to several key players, including skipper Mehtab Hussain, who has already been ruled out for tomorrow’s tie. Talking to The Tribune today, Biswajit said: “Our list of injured players is getting longer. Mehtab Hussain, goalkeeper Subrata Pal, stopper back Mehrajuddin, AS Feroze, international Noel Wilson, Chinmoy Sarkar, and Thomba Singh are out of action due to injuries.”

Nevertheless, Mohun Bagan still have players who are capable of turning the tide in their favour, such as goalkeeper Imran Khan and stand-in skipper Coelho.

JCT, for whom tomorrow’s tie is inconsequential, have settled for the sixth position with 20 points from five wins and five draws. Coach Parminder Singh may rely on Brazilian recruit Marcos Pereira, Johnson Banner, Rennedy Singh, Parveen Kumar and Sunil Chhetri upfront, while Nigerian Julius Akpele, and skipper Daljit Singh are expected to play their usual roles in the defence.

Of the 16 matches that JCT have played, they have won five, drawn five and lost six. Their victories have come against Mohun Bagan (2-0); Air-India (2-1); Salgaocar (3-0); Sporting Clube de Goa (2-1) and Mohammedan Sporting ( 2-0). The drawn ties were against Fransa (0-0), Sporting Clube (1-1), Dempo (0-0), Salgaocar (0-0), and Air-India (0-0). JCT lost to Mahindra United (1-2, 0-1); Mohammedan Sporting (1-2); East Bengal (0-1, 0-1); and Dempo (0-3).

The kick-off is at 4.30 pm.

Kamsky holds Anand

Sofia, May 20
Gata Kamsky proved once again to be a tough nut to crack for Viswanathan Anand as he held the Indian to a draw and tightened his grip on the title in the Mtel Masters chess tournament here.

The eighth round peace result did not help Anand’s cause to catch up with Kamksy as the Russia-born American kept the Indian ace at a full point distance.

In other games of the day, Russia’s Peter Svidler was also held to a draw by Etienne Bacrot of France while in the clash of world champions, reigning world No. 1 Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria beat former champion Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine in the last game of the day.

Kamsky’s super cruise in the elite event continued with the draw against Anand. With just two rounds remaining in the category-20 tournament, Kamksy took his tally to an enviable 5.5 points and a draw in the last two rounds should ensure a maiden victory on his comeback to competitive chess.

Topalov joined Anand on the second spot on 4.5 points after a tense victory over Ponomariov who slipped to the last spot yet again with 2.5 points. — PTI

Jeev targets top-10 finish

Okayama (Japan), May 20
Jeev Milkha Singh carded a sedate one-under 71 and moved one place up to tied 28th with a total of three-under 213 at the KSB Munsingwear Open golf tournament in Okayama, Japan.

Jeev has now rounds of 71, 70 and 71 over three days and a good finish can help him come closer to top-10 finish.

Starting on the first, Jeev birdied the fifth but gave the shot back on the next when he missed the fairway and had to scramble back.

Jeev, who has been battling slight fever, birdied the 12th but once again the advantage was given away with a bogey on 16th. He took a birdie on the 18th for the third successive day to come under par.

Dublin: Jyoti Randhawa birdied two of the four holes remaining in his second round, which spilled over to the third morning, but it was still not enough to keep him for the weekend rounds of the Nissan Irish Open.

Randhawa finished with a total of seven-over after rounds of 79 and 72 and was tied 101st. The cut came at four-over in this rain-hit tournament.

Macau: Ashok Kumar carded a two-under 69 for the second day in a row and was the best Indian golfer at tied 31st spot after three rounds at the $ 300,000 Macau Open.

Ashok, who arrived here the night before the start of the tournament after playing in the Aamby Valley Asian Masters, teed off without a practice round but managed to shot two-under 69 and came to par for day three at 213.

Among the other Indians in the field, Arjun Singh (71) was tied 41st, Amandeep Johl (72) was tied 46th, SSP Chowrasia (74) was tied 53rd and Digvijay Singh (77) was tied 62nd.

Fort Worth (USA): Double bogeys on each nine marred his show as Arjun Atwal failed to make the cut but Daniel Chopra came up with a splendid six-under 64 to jump to the tied 13th spot after the second round of the $ 6 million Bank of America Colonial tournament being played at the Colonial Country Club here.

Atwal (71), who earlier missed the cut in last week’s $ 6.6 million EDS Byron Nelson, could not shake off his recent poor form and finished with a two-day total of four-over 144. — PTI, UNI 

Radek Stepanek enters final 

Hamburg, May 20
Czech Radek Stepanek defeated Argentina’s Jose Acasuso 6-4, 7-6 today to reach the final of the Hamburg Masters. Stepanek, seeded 15th, will face either Mario Ancic of Croatia or eighth-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo in tomorrow’s final, with all three bidding for their first Masters title.

With the umbrella-like retractable roof over centre court closed to keep out the frequent showers, Stepanek broke the unseeded Argentine in the first game of the match on another chilly day at the Am Rothenbaum.

That was enough to clinch the first set. Stepanek, runner-up at the Paris Masters event in 2004, sealed the second-set tiebreak 7-5 on his first match point.

The winner of tomorrow’s final will be the 50th different Masters champion since the series began in 1990. — Reuters

Top cop in the dock for contesting poll

Ranchi, May 20
A senior police official in Jharkhand has been served a notice for contesting a cricket body election without permission in which he defeated the state’s home minister — his political boss.

Amitabh Chaudhary, Inspector-General (human rights), fought and won the election for the post of president of the Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) on May 14, defeating home minister Sudesh Mahto.

Of the total 955 voters in the body, 700 cast their ballots. While Chaudhury got 400 votes, Mahto managed only 299 votes.

The state government then served a notice to Chaudhary within 24 hours of the election results.

“According to service code, civil servants should seek permission before fighting such elections,” said an official of the home department that served the notice. The state government was awaiting Chaudhary’s reply.

“Chaudhary had fought elections and won twice before. But no such questions were raised earlier. It is nothing but a political move,” said an office-bearer of the association. — IANS