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Gayle propels Windies into final
BCCI hits back at Speed |
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Shoaib, Asif to appeal against ban
Ball tampering at Champions Trophy?
In-form Jeev in joint lead
Uberoi sisters stun top seeds
Huge win for Punjab
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Gayle propels Windies into final Jaipur, November 2 The West Indies will meet world champions Australia in the title clash in Mumbai on November 5. The Caribbeans owed their victory to Gayle who made a mockery of the seemingly competitive target with his breathtaking display of aggressive batting during his unbeaten knock of 133 that came off just 135 balls and contained 17 fours and three sixes. It was only apt that Gayle hit the winning runs, a powerful four off Robin Peterson, to bring cheers in the West Indies dressing room. The 27-year-old opener knocked the daylights out of all the other South African bowlers as West Indies overhauled the South African total of 258 for 8 with as many as six overs to spare in a completely one-sided contest at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium. Gayle, playing his 150th ODI, also stitched the highest partnership of the tournament so far with Shivnarine Chanderpaul of 154 runs before the latter retired hurt with leg cramps on 57. Also making merry on the sporting, easy-paced track was Ramnaresh Sarwan who chipped in with a run-a-ball 27, rendering the South African attack stingless. The pyrotechnics of the cavalier West Indian batsmen put to shade the effort of Herschelle Gibbs (77), who shrugged off a form slump and controversy over his first appearance in India in six years owing to match-fixing allegations and put on 92 runs for the fourth wicket with AB de Villiers (46), the only other notable contributor to the total. Gibbs anchored the innings for the most part before being dismissed in the last over by Dwayne Bravo (2-41). His 90-ball knock contained four fours and a six. De Villiers was unlucky as he fell short of his 50 when he was run out by a brilliant direct throw by West Indies skipper Brian Lara. His 46 came off 57 balls and contained three fours. The West Indies were off to a flier with the in-form Gayle and Chanderpaul unleashing a flurry of boundaries to dent the confidence of the South African new-ball bowlers who had enjoyed early success in the previous two matches. In fact, Makhaya Ntini had to be forced off the attack after just three overs which cost a whopping 23 runs and the usually accurate Shaun Pollock also ended up conceding 34 runs in his first spell of five overs. Gayle, who completed 1,000 runs in 2006 when he reached 10, hoisted Pollock over long off for a huge six as the West Indies raced to 76 runs in 10 overs. Frustrated by the failure of his fast bowlers to effect a breakthrough, skipper Graeme Smith introduced himself into the attack but only to be smashed for two fours on the trot by Gayle, who raced to his 29th ODI 50 off just 48 balls with help of seven fours and a six. Scoreboard South Africa Smith b Taylor 19 Bosman c Gayle b Samuels 39 Kallis c Sarwan b Bravo 16 Gibbs c Lara b Bravo 77 De Villiers run out 46 Kemp b Bradshaw 3 Boucher c Sarwan b Samuels 16 Pollock b Taylor 4 Peterson not out 15 Nel not out 0 Extras
(b-1, lb-6, nb-1, w-15) 23 Total (8 wickets, 50 overs) 258 Fall of wickets:
1-27, 2-65, 3-96, 4-188, 5-195, 6-219, 7-227, 8-256. Bowling: Bradshaw 10-0-58-1, Taylor 10-1-48-2, Bravo 7-0-41-2, Smith 4-1-12-0, Gayle 10-0-48-0, Samuels 9-0- 44-2. West Indies Gayle not out 133 Chanderpaul retd hurt 57 Sarwan lbw Ntini 27 Bravo run out 15 Lara c and b Smith 9 Morton c De Villiers b Peterson 0 Samuels not out 5 Extras
(lb-7, nb-3, w-6) 16 Total (4 wickets, 44 overs) 262 Fall of wickets:
1-196, 2-226, 3-243, 4-244. Bowling: Pollock 5-0-34-0, Ntini 7-0-49-1, Nel 10-1-60-0, Smith 10-0-43-1, Kallis 5-0-33-0, Peterson 7-0-36-1.
— PTI
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BCCI hits back at Speed
Mumbai, November 2 In a strongly worded statement, BCCI’s Chief Administrative Officer Ratnakar Shetty also challenged Speed by asking whether he would have the guts to say that the England and Wales Cricket Board was not running its affairs well because the England team had never won the World Cup, cricket’s piece de resistance. “What Speed did by talking about the status of Indian cricket and the performance is nothing but gross interference in the affairs of the Indian board. “In any case, we wonder how much does he actually know about the stakeholders in Indian cricket to take such swipes from time to time? Speed has chosen the wrong time and wrong place to debunk Indian cricket and its stakeholders,” Shetty said. “The press conference in Mohali on Wednesday was ostensibly called for Percy Sonn, President of the International Cricket Council, to interact with the Indian media, but it was hijacked by the irrepressible ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed. “Speed, for the umpteenth time, harangued the Indian board. This time he went a step further, deriding the entire Indian cricket itself,” Shetty charged. Significantly, the war of words between the two parties has been renewed just prior to the two-day ICC Executive Board meeting here scheduled from tomorrow, in which the Members Participation Agreement (MPA), which the BCCI has refused to sign in its present form, will come up for discussion. The BCCI rejoinder came a day after Speed had criticised the Indian board, saying that sports organisations were not judged by the amount of money they possessed but on the basis of the performance of the team that they represent. “The criteria for judging organisations is how their team has performed, how well they look after their stakeholders and how many good cricketers they produce. I am not trying to be critical of India, but the last time they have won a major title was in 1983,” Speed said. Giving a pointed reply to this statement of the ICC CEO, Shetty reminded Speed that the three teams from the subcontinent had won the World Cup and that India had won the World Championship of Cricket in 1985 and were the losing finalists in the World Cup four years ago.
— PTI
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Shoaib, Asif to appeal against ban
Lahore, November 2 However, the two fast bowlers did not elaborate as to when they would challenge the PCB
decision. Shoaib will serve a two-year ban and Asif will be unable to play for one year after testing positive for banned anabolic steroid nandrolone in tests conducted by the PCB in Malaysia. “After a thorough inquiry, we feel they failed to prove their innocence,” inquiry tribunal chairman Shahid Hamid had said while recommending the ban on the two bowlers. The three-member tribunal, comprising Hamid, former Test captain Intikhab Alam and dope test expert Dr Waqar Ahmed, announced a detailed 19-page judgment. The quantity of the banned substance in Asif’s sample was 13.07
nanograms/ml, while in Shoaib’s sample it was 14.06ng/ml which was much higher than the maximum limit of 2
ng/ml. According to the tribunal ruling, the ban will come into effect from October 15, the date on which the two players were suspended by the PCB. The tribunal took the view that Shoaib had knowingly taken the banned substance while it showed a degree of leniency to Asif because he had little knowledge about performance-enhancing drugs. ICC hails verdict Chandigarh: The International Cricket Council on Thursday commended the Pakistan Cricket Board for setting a “fine precedent” by taking a strong stand against Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif. “The PCB has done extremely well in handling this matter in such an efficient manner and its strong stand against doping is a fine precedent,” ICC President Percy Sonn said in a statement issued
here. — UNI, PTI
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Ball tampering at Champions Trophy?
Sydney, November 2 According to a report in The Australian, umpires Simon Taufel and Billy Bowden expressed concerns about the condition of the ball to Younis but decided against laying any formal charge against the subcontinental team. Pakistan won the match by four wickets but the incident went completely unnoticed. The newspaper reported
that the ICC, when contacted, refused to comment on the matter. ICC cricket manager Dave Richardson said, “During
the course of a match, umpires routinely inspect the ball and speak to the (fielding) captain.” The daily said the team might have been let off because the incident came close on the heels of the infamous Oval Test fiasco, which led to a four-ODI ban on
Pakistan’s regular skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq. The Oval drama had raised
a major furore with umpire Darrell Hair, who along with colleague Billy Doctrove accused Pakistan of ball
tampering, and the PCB remaining firm on their respective stands. Hair was subsequently dropped from the ICC panel of umpires for the Champions Trophy after concerns were expressed about his security in the subcontinent.
— UNI
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Delhi, PSB enter final
Today’s matches Third-place playoff IOC vs Namdharis (10 a.m.) Final PSB vs Delhi (2 p.m.)
Jalandhar, November 2 Delhi have reached the final of the championship for the first time since Independence. PSB had won on their first entry into the final last year. Delhi last entered the final in 1946 and lost. They last won the championship in Lahore in 1942. In a last-minute effort, PSB rallied in a group inside the IOC goal area to score the solitary goal that came off the stick of Taswarjit Singh in the 69th minute. A minute earlier, PSB had wasted a penalty corner. In one of the most exciting matches of the championship, Delhi defeated the Namdharis 2-1. Delhi were the only team to have qualified for the semifinals among the teams which played preliminary league matches at four venues in Punjab. The other semifinalists were associate members. The Namdharis had a psychological edge over Delhi because they had defeated two top teams, Punjab and Indian Airlines, in the super league to reach the semifinals. The thrilling match kept the spectators on the edge of their seats, particularly during the last 15 minutes. The first goal for Delhi was scored by Parmod Kumar. It was a classic display of teamwork by at least five players, especially Gurwinder Singh, who clicked in tandem with the scorer. Prem Kumar scored the second goal for Delhi in another brilliant display of stick work. The Namdharis struck in the 60th minute through a field goal by Gurcharn Singh. The game became very fast after the Namdharis reduced the margin. A massive crowd support for the Namdharis did not produce the desired result as at least three penalty corners went abegging in the last 10 minutes or so. They got a total of five penalty corners against one by Delhi, but none was converted. Dinesh Mustafa of Delhi had to go off the ground for five minutes in the 16th minute when he was shown the yellow card. His team-mate Harvinder Singh also had to leave the ground for the same reason in the 58th minute. Delhi captain Bikash Toppo and goalkeeper Jasbir Singh were each shown the green card. Gurpreet Singh of the Namdharis was shown the yellow card in the 65th minute. Things came to a near boil after the match. The championship organisers, including Mr H.S.Dhillon, secretary of the Punjab Hockey Association, intervened to avert a clash. In the other semifinal, the IOC team lost despite having an impressive line-up featuring Deepak Thakur, Prabhjot Singh, Devesh Chauhan, Sardara Singh and Didar Singh. However, their finishing left a lot to be desired. IOC earned four penalty corners, while PSB got two. Meanwhile, the organisers said Mr Shivraj Patil, Home Minister, would be the chief guest on the concluding day of the championship tomorrow.
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South Korea oust India
Kolkata, November 2 The Indian boys, however, played some inspired football in the first half, but lost their way midway through the second half with the three goals coming in the final quarter of an hour. Korea had to wait till the 75th minute to open the scoring through striker Young Sung. The second and third goals followed soon after in the 85th and the second minute of added time. Korean striker Young Sung scored the first goal for his team with an excellent half volley on the move, after getting a floating centre inside the box. India got a golden chance to restore parity in the very next minute, but striker Sushil Singh’s feeble shot, with only the goalkeeper to beat, was way off target. Korea consolidated their lead in the 85th minute when medio Jinhyung placed the ball into the goal after a centre from Youngrok. With the Indian defence in total disarray, Youngrok scored with an excellent header as Indian defender Rakesh Masih was reduced to a virtual spectator. India got a few good chances to score in the first half, but strikers Branco and Sushil wasted all of them. Indian custodian Souvik Mondal kept India in the game by stopping several goalbound shots. Korea scored 13 goals in three Group A league matches, topping the pool with nine points. Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates were ousted from the championship after losing to China 1-2 in a keenly fought Group B league match at the Salt Lake Stadium here last night. China took the lead in the fifth minute through a penalty and consolidated it with the second goal in the 46th minute, while UAE scored their lone goal in the 50th minute. The West Asian team’s problems were only heightened by the ouster of their defender M Fayez in the 68th minute. China were awarded the penalty after Fayez’s third attempt to clear a ball from his team’s penalty area resulted in a kick on opponent striker YP Wang’s jaw. Wang made no mistake in converting the penalty. China’s second goal came just after half-time when X Yang gave an excellent through pass to striker Yang, who received the ball thanks to a defensive error by Fayez, and tapped the ball into the goal. After UAE strikers failed to find the way to the goal, it was left to defender M Hassan to reduce the margin and make the score a respectable 1-2 with a beautiful long-range shot which curved into the goal beating Chinese custodian DL Wang, who failed to judge the flight of the ball. Japan, N. Korea in quarters Bangalore: Japan and North Korea advanced into the quarterfinals from Group C in contrasting style in the Bangalore leg of the championship here on Thursday. An injury-time header by P Chol Min helped North Korea defeat Tajikistan 1-0 and earn their berth in the last eight ahead of Iran, who, despite a gallant 2-1 win over favourites Japan, had to bow out owing to poor goal average. Iran, despite trailing by a goal at breather, bounced back in style to upstage Japan who seemed little overconfident as they had already ensured their berth in the quarterfinals. Tusukasa Umesaki put Japan in the lead in the 21st minute. However, egged by their coach Oliviera, the Iranian boys fought back in the second half and scored twice through substitute Kamaleddin Kamyabinia and Farhad Alkhamis in the 52nd and 72nd minutes, respectively.
— PTI, UNI
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In-form Jeev in joint lead
Fukuoka (Japan), November 2 The Volvo Masters champion was tied for the top spot with Ik-Je Chang at the Asoiizuka Golf Club. The seasoned pro was in good form and started with an eagle on the par-five third hole before gaining another shot on the seventh. Making the turn at three-under, Jeev hit successive birdies on the 10th and 11th and sank in another on the 14th to make a solid start in the 100,000,000 yen event. Toyokazu Fujishima, along with seven others, followed the leaders a shot behind.
— UNI
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Uberoi sisters stun top seeds
New Delhi, November 2 In the second round, they take on the American pair of Laura Granville and Carly Gullickson, who downed Angela Haynes (USA) and Agnes Azavay (Hungary) 6-4, 6-2 in another first-round match. It was a brilliant display by the Uberois who didn’t lose heart despite conceding the first set and stretched the second to tie-breaker and held their nerve to clinch it and force the decider. In the third set, they completely outplayed their Russian rivals and walked away with the match, according to information received here today. Earlier, Fed Cup player Shikha had failed to make it to the main draw after the US-based Indian was handed a straight- set defeat by her German opponent Greta Arn in the final singles qualifying round.
— UNI
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Huge win for Punjab
Patiala, November 2 Overnight 261 for 2, Punjab resumed their second innings today on a whirlwind note. Pargat Singh (116), Mandeep Singh (112), Ankit (91) and Amandeep Singh (58) flogged the mediocre J&K bowling attack. Punjab declared the innings at 487 for 7. The Punjab bowlers bundled out the puny rivals for 51 in their second innings in 21.2 overs. Raj Kamal took 5 for 20 and Sandeep Sharma captured three wickets giving away 18 runs.
— UNI
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