Sachin mania sweeps New Zealand media
WELLINGTON, Dec 11 — New Zealand media is in the grip of a Sachin Tendulkar mania. Columns, features, profiles and statistics on the Indian superbat are logging up a huge chunk of space in newspapers and magazines.

Slender lead for Pakistan
LAHORE, Dec 11 — Saeed Anwar hit an elegant 75 today as Pakistan ended the second day of the second Test against Zimbabwe one run ahead, with five wickets in hand.

Windies 'A' pacemen dash Indian hopes
HYDERABAD, Dec 11 — West Indies ‘A’ continued their winning spree after sweeping the two-Test series, by registering an emphatic 119-run victory over India ‘A’ in the first of their three one-day internationals played here today.

Windies all out for 121 runs
PORT ELIZABETH, Dec 11 — Fourteen wickets fell by tea of second day of the second Test between West Indies and South Africa today as the tourists collapsed to 121 all out.

North 299 for 5 VALSAD, Dec 11— North Zone were 299 for 5 at close in their second innings against Central Zone on the third day of the five-day Duleep Trophy semi-final cricket match here today.

Rana disappoints; golf medal hopes brighten

BANGKOK, Dec 11 (PTI) — Indian men failed to retain their team title in tennis, losing 0-3 to Japan in the semifinals, and provided India with their third medal while ace marksman Jaspal Rana failed to blossom for the second event running at the Asian Games today.

Both Prahlad Srinath and Davis Cup star Mahesh Bhupathi lost their singles to Japanese rivals Satoshi Iwabuchi and Hideki Kaneko as India stumbled in the race to reach final.

The tennis bronze, awarded to losing semifinalists, boosted India’s tally in six days to a meagre three following a silver for woman weightlifter Karnam Malleswari (63 kg class) and team bronze in the equestrian three-day event.

Equally disappointing was Rana’s failure to win any medal in standard pistol. He had to battle not only his rivals but also a malfunctioning gun while finishing fifth after a shoot-off for the bronze medal with Thailand’s Wirat Karndee and South Korea’s Park Byung-Taek after all three shot identical 573 to be entangled in a three-way tie.

Adding to the picture of gloom was the Indian men’s football team which bowed out of the competition with its third successive loss, beaten 0-2 by North Korea, to finish in the cellar of group one in the second round.

But hopes of a medal brightened on the golf course with national champion Harmeet Kahlon striking a purple patch to return a sub-par round (69) which helped him lie in second spot overall at 141 behind leader Tomohiro Kondo of Japan (one under 139) after 36 holes in the 72-hole competition.

The efforts of Kahlon, who finished 13th four years ago at Hiroshima where the team finished fourth, helped India occupy the second spot jointly with Taiwan with an aggregate of three over 435. Japan, with 430, led the field.

There was more good news for India from the hockey field when the men’s team pummelled Bangladesh 7-0 (half-time 3-0) with goals from Dhanraj Pillay (3), Baljit Dhillon, Anil Aldrin, Mohd Riaz and Dilip Tirkey (one each). The team had swamped Singapore 9-0 in their first group.

In the morning, Japan dashed India’s gold medal hopes in tennis with their pint-sized Kaneko providing the knock-out blow by hammering out a surprisingly easy 6-3, 6-3 verdict over Mahesh Bhupathi in the second singles.

Earlier, left hander Iwabuchi Rallied well after losing the first set against India’s Srinath to give Japan a 1-0 lead with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 scoreline.

At the shooting range, Rana tried his level best to make good with a pistol which misfired. The first tie-break failed to break the deadlock, all three shooting 139, before another series of shots settled the bronze medal in favour of Thai Karndee. Rana finished fifth, a rung below Byung-Taek.

Rana’s scores in the six rounds were 97, 96, 95, 95, 97 and 93. In the tie-break, he shot 45, 48 and 46 for a tally of 139.

Very upset with the turn of events, shooting coach Sunny Thomas said: "It was very unfortunate that Pandit and Vivek Singh did far below the score of 565 they were very much capable of. Scores of 565 each from these two would have helped India win the team bronze too’’.

It was the second straight event that the 23-year-old Rana had drawn a blank at the ‘city of angels’. He finished outside the medal bracket in the men’s air pistol when he finished ninth with 575 out of 600 in the 60-shot qualifying round after narrowly failing to make the eight-man final by one point on Wednesday.

Today’s fresh reverse was certainly not the end of the road for India’s best bet in shooting in the games. He will be back at the range on Sunday to defend his centre fire pistol title.

India failed to strike it good in the canoeing and kayaking discipline too where their challenge sunk without a trace.

K-2 500m women’s pair of Minimol Kuttappan and Srimati Sardar were out of depth in the final and finished sixth and last clocking a poor 2 minutes, 7.24 seconds.

The only Indian women competitors in the event, finished more than seven seconds behind fifth-placed North Korean pair of Ri-Jong Sim and Ri Myong-Bok.

India settle for bronze in tennis

BANGKOK, Dec 11 (PTI) — India’s dreams of retaining their men’s tennis team title gold were today lowered to bronze standard when they squandered early initiative and went down to second seeds Japan in the semifinal at the Asian Games.

India, looking to re-establish their supremacy in the continent without the imposing presence of Leander Paes, miserably failed by going down 0-3 to the Japanese.

India held a whiphand when number two Prahlad Srinath was dominating Satoshi Iwabuchi in the first singles but the Indian suddenly lost focus in the second set to go down 6-3 3-6 2-6.

Under pressure to pull off a major win to keep India in the race for a summit clash, Mahesh Bhupathi found his power game come to nought against the ambidextrous and rock steady Hideki Kaneko to lose 3-6 3-6 in the second singles which sealed the best-of-three tie and sent Japan into the final.

Japan completed the rout winning the inconsequential doubles encounter when Terachi-Onoda pair defeated Indian duo of Nitin Kirtane and Syed Fazaluddin 6-3 6-4. They will meet the winners of other semifinal tie between top seeds Uzbekistan and South Korea.

India, who won two of the four medals at the 1994 Hiroshima Games in Tennis, looked to be coasting towards a 1-0 lead when the 25-year-old Srinath, ranked 393 in the ATP computer, played flawless tennis to wrap up the first set against the 351-ranked lefthander Iwabuchi at the windswept court three of the Muang Thong Thani tennis complex.

But serving at 3-4 in the second set, the Indian’s game suddenly dipped and he lost serve giving the Japanese just the kind of opening he was desperately looking for from where he lifted his game several notches even as the demoralised Srinath’s game took a nosedive.

The 24-year-old Bhupathi, who had to shoulder the responsibility of pulling India even found the diminutive Kaneko, the world number 222, who serves left-handed and then switches to playing right-handed, a tough nut to crack and went down after a tussle lasting an hour and 10 minutes.

Ever-steady on his service game, he drew Bhupathi into errors at crucial times to break him in the fifth and ninth games of the first set and then staved off the world number two ranked doubles player’s efforts to break him in the fifth game of the second set before clinching the vital eighth game break to serve out for the rubber.

India had already been assured of a bronze once they reached the semifinal beating Pakistan in the previous round on December 9.

Japan were into the games without Takeo Suzuki, the second best ranked Asian behind Leander Paes at 104 and G Motomura (217), but the supremely fit Kaneko with some big wins behind him this season looked a hard nut to crack and Indian hopes hinged on Srinath putting it across Iwabuchi and in the doubles where Bhupathi was to partner Fazaluddin.

The script seemed to go well for the Asia Cup winners when Srinath raced to the first set with breaks in the second and fourth games despite dropping his own. Playing fluent shots to either flanks from the baseline on the slow synthetic courts, he hit deep shots to unsettle the Japanese.

But Iwabuchi, showing great temperament, slowly tightened his game by stepping up power in his shot-making even as Srinath’s first serve percentage began gradually declining and his on court speed started slackening.

Iwabuchi, who found enough time to run around Srinath’s slow returns and blast off winners found the break in the eighth game of the second set when Srinath, leading 40-15, committed two unforced errors and then at breakpoint netted a return from the baseline.

The Japanese quickly touched his flowing best, setting up points at will with neat poach shots to force errors from the Banglore-born Srinath.

The loss of the set seemed to play on Srinath’s mind as he suddenly lost the verve of fight, dropping serve in the very first game of the decider when Iwabuchi hit a great return to force mistake from Srinath.

Pillay stars in India's win

BANGKOK, Dec 11 (PTI) — Skipper Dhanraj Pillay struck thrice as India notched up their second successive big win against a weak team, handing out a 7-0 thrashing to neighbours Bangladesh,in a pool ‘B’ league match of the Asian Games men’s hockey championship here this evening.

Leading lights of the Indian team began getting their act together for sterner tests ahead, against defending champions South Korea and strong China, with Pillay leading the way with three goals to take his tally in the present tournament to an impressive seven from two outings.

The Indian skipper scored four goals when India swamped lowly Singapore 9-0 in their inaugural match here.

The scoreline of 7-0 (half-time 3-0) was par for the course against a team which played to the best of its limited ability.

The Indians took their time to get their rhythm going and the first indication of things to come could be had in the seventh minute with Baljeet Dhillon making a fine run down the left flank and, after getting into the Bangladesh circle firing in a cross, which Pillay could not connect.

The Indian skipper, however, compensated for the miss a little later with a fine reverse flick, off Baljit Singh Saini, to put his team ahead and soon after he struck once more, this off Dhillon.

Shortly before the breather, Dhillon himself found the Bangladesh net with India’s third penalty corner.

Yesterday, Pakistan stepped up their impressive run in the Asian Games men's hockey with a 5-0 demolition of Hong Kong.

Shahnaz Sheikh's men, who had blasted hosts Thailand 8-0 on Tuesday, led 3-0 at half-time of the one-sided pool A match.

China warmed up for tougher outings against defending champions South Korea and India in Pool B by toying with Singapore 6-1.

North Korea beat India
From N. Ananthanarayanan

BANGKOK, Dec 11 — The Indian campaign in the Asian Games men’s football came to an end today when they missed chances galore before going down 0-2 to North Korea in their final group I league clash to be eliminated in the second round at the Supachalasai Stadium.

Showing once again the verve against a superior outfit, the Indians created a number of chances but just lacked the cutting edge in converting them, Joe Paul Ancheri being the main culprit, before conceding a goal each in either half to suffer their third straight loss and finish at the bottom of the group.

So Min Chol snatched the ball as midfielder Carlton Chapman tried to effect a pass to striker and captain I.M. Vijayan and took a stinging shot from the top of the box to beat goalkeeper Feroz Sharif to hoist the lead in the 13th minute.

The Indians, trying to salvage some pride after going down fighting 2-3 to Turkmenistan and 0-2 to defending champions Uzbekistan, tried hard to draw parity but were guilty of missing many chances with the Korean goalkeeper Pak Kyong Chol also coming up with two brilliant saves.

But the South Asian champions lost all hopes of forcing a draw when Korea made it 2-0 in the 73rd minute following a quick counter attack down the right.

Hyong Yong Chol beat the defence with a low cross from the right and the unmarked Kim Jin Guk had all the time in the world to trap and pass to Ju Song Il on his left and he sent in an angular shot from close.

Korea, needing to win today’s match by a three-goal margin to keep themselves in the race to make it as the second team behind leaders Uzbekistan and at the cost of Turkmenistan scored early only because of the misunderstanding in the passing bout between Jo Paul Anchery, Charlton Chapman and I.M. Vijayan in the midfield.

The Indians quickly picked themselves up and launched several raids with Bhutia, Vijayan, Chapman and Anchery shaping the moves with fine support from S. Venkatesh and Basudeb Mondal. I.M. Vijayan was also guilty of missing at least three good chances created by Bhutia.

Pressing for an equaliser, Anchery moved up as the third forward which saw India carry out quite a few raids in the second half. But the missed chances cost them dear as Korea in a counter raid made it 2-0.

Even in the final minutes, the Indians played with vigour with Anchery missing from close and Vijayan’s shot on the turn after a Venkatesh pass from the left going wide.

The Indian footballers will be the first batch to leave for home when they catch their plane tomorrow. "The boys won’t even have time to shop," quipped Nayeemuddin.

Defender K.V. Dhanesh and Anchery were booked for fouls.

Teams: India — Feroze Sharif, K.V. Dhanesh, Franky Baretto, Roberto Fernandez, Jiju Jacob, Basudev Mondal (S. Venkatesh), I.M. Vijayan, Joe Paul Anchery, Carlton Chapman, Baichung Bhutia, Anit Ghosh (Tushar Rakshit).

North Korea — Pak Kyong-Chol, Rim Kun-Uk, Ri Man-Chol, Kim Jin-Guk, Kang Sun-Il, Ju Song-Il, Ri Chang-Gyu, So Min-Chol (An Yong-Bin), Kang Jong-Nam, Hyon Yong-Chol, Pak Kyong-Chol. — PTI

Eves beaten 0-16

UNI Adds: The Indian women footballers had their cup of woes overflowing as they were mauled 0-16 by fancied China in a group B encounter at the 13th Asian Games here today.

This was the third successive drubbing for the Indian eves who have so far conceded 36 goals scoring only once (against Chinese Taipei).

Touted as a medal prospect, the Indians danced to the Chinese tunes and trailed 0-8 at the breather.

The rout would have been still more ignominious had China converted all the 35 chances that came their way.

In their earlier matches, India lost 0-7 to South Korea and 1-13 to Chinese Taipei.

Golfers in sight of medals

BANGKOK, Dec 11 (UNI) — Indian golfers were well in sight of medals, narrowly trailing the leaders in both men’s individual and team events at the Alpine Sports and Country Club here today.

Asia-pacific champion Harmeet Kahlon(141) gave a dazzling display, shooting three under par 69 to move up to second place, two strokes behind Tomohiro Kondo (139) of Japan.

Harmeet, who was in third spot yesterday, sank four birdies and a bogie in his second round of 69, matched only by Kondo and Gerald Rosales of the Philippines.

In the team event, India shared second spot with Chinese Taipei with an aggregate of 435. Japan with 430 led the pack.

The scores of Harmeet(141), Amit Luthra (148) and Digvijay Singh (146) were considered.

Philippines (440), South Korea (449), Pakistan (450) and China (451) brought up the rear.

In the individual event, Digvijay Singh shot sub par round one under 71 while Luthra and Amit Dubey had a poor round.

In the women’s section, 16-year-old Chandigarh-based national champion Parnita Grewal gave improved performances returning a card of three over par 75 and was lying at eighth position with an aggregate of 152 (77,75).

However, two other Indian ladies — Nonita Lal Qureshi and Uravashi Sethi gave a lacklustre display carding seven over par and 11 over par second rounds respectively.

Gurcharan assured of medal
From K. Jagannadha Rao

BANGKOK, Dec 11 — Gurcharan Singh put the stamp of his authority on the Muang Thong Thani sports complex to storm into the light heavy semifinals and assure India of their first medal in the boxing ring at the Asian Games here tonight.

The 22-year-old soldier from Punjab just refused to be rattled by the reputation of Bisal Masri of Lebanon and might as well have knocked out his rival if the referee had not come to the Lebanese boxer’s rescue and stopped the contest one minute 43 seconds into the fifth and final round.

The Indian, winner of the Guama Cup Tournament in Cuba earlier this year where he was adjudged the best boxer, is next pitted against Sergey Mihalov of Uzbekistan in the semifinals.

As a matter of fact, even if it had not been referee stopped contest (RSC) it would have made no difference to the outcome as the Indian pugilist, who has a made a name for himself with his achievement at the international scene, had built up a huge points lead by then against Masri, who has a good reputation in the African circuit having represented Egypt too.

But the moment the bout began Gurcharan Singh realised the overall superiority he enjoyed in terms of physical fitness, height, speed and boxing skills.

The Indian, winner of gold in Asian juniors at Taiwan, sixth SAF games at Chennai and 9th Mayor’s Cup at Manila in 1995, maintained his distance from the shorter and slower opponent and relied on scoring points with ease.

"That was good tactics by Gurcharan Singh as he is pitted against Mihalov", said boxing coach Gurbux Singh Sandhu who formulated the plan.

Gurcharan has to put his best foot forward against Uzbek Mihalov who is ranked eighth in the world.

India have two other ring medal hopes left in the fray bantamweight N.G. Dingko Singh and superheavy Harpal Singh who have reached the quarter-finals.

Commonwealth Games medal winner Jitender Kumar made his exit by losing his middle-weight quarter-final bout last night.

Indian Amateur Boxing Federation vice-president Ashok Gango-padhyaya expressed his resentment with the ‘treatment’ meted out to boxing both by the government and the Indian Olympic Association.

"They have difficulty in clearing boxers who have been consistently bringing in laurels for the country while having no qualms about bringing those squads who have no business to be here", he fumed in the aftermath of Gurcharan’s telling quarter-final win. (— PTI)

Indonesia scoop men's gold

BANGKOK, Dec 11 (Reuters) — Indonesia overpowered China 4-0 to scoop the men’s badminton team gold medal at the Asian Games today to the delight of their boisterous flag-waving supporters.

The Indonesians had a surprisingly easy time in the single on the way to their country’s first gold of the December 6 to 20 games as Hendrawan Hendrawan beat Jun Sun 15-7 15-6 and Taufik Hidayat upset Luo Yigang 15-6 15-5.

In the first doubles, Indonesian pair of Ricky Subagdja-Achmad and Rexy Ronald-Mainaky beat Jun Zhang and Wei Zhang 15-11 15-8. In the other, Chandra Wijaya and Tony Gunawa beat Lu Yong and Zinhao Yu 15-0 15-11.

South Korea and Malaysia shared the bronze.

China, however, restored their pride with a 3-1 win over South Korea to win the women’s team gold medal. Indonesia and Japan shared the bronze.

In the first singles in the final Zhaoying Ye beat Ji Hyun-Kim 11-9 13-10, then gong Zhichao beat Lee Joo-Hyun 11-4,11-1.

In the doubles Ge Fei and Jun Gu beat Kyung-Min La and Jae-Hee Chung 15-13 15-11 and South Korean pair Kim Sin-Young and Yim Kyung-Jin beat Zhang Ning and Tang Hetian 15-11 15-7 in the dead rubber.

Youth the key, say Chinese

BANGKOK, Dec 11 (Reuters) — How do you jump backwards off a 10 metre high diving board, perform three perfect somersaults and two twists before sliding into the pool with hardly a ripple?

Get up at dawn and try it 100 times a day, six days a week from the age of nine.

That’s the advice of the Chinese diving team who swept up all the gold and silver medals at the Asian Games diving competition this week.

"It’s all about training," said 16-year-old Huang Qiang, silver medallist in the men’s 10-metre platform event on Tuesday.

"Diving is a precision sport, so if you take your mind off it for a moment, you might lose it."

Cai Yuyan, 16, who took gold in the women’s 10-metre platform on Wednesday and scored a perfect 10 points on her final dive, said flexible young limbs are suited to the sport.

"It’s much easier for young people to do some of the dives," said Cai, who began training at the age of nine. She was a silver medallist at the world championships in Perth, Australia, this year.

But Li Na, the youngest of the diving team at just 14 and already a national champion, said the demanding training routine meant she could not live the life of a normal teenager in China.

"When I’m not training, I have to study," she said, adding that comic books were her favourite choice of reading. "There’s not much time to go out."

But Li, who took silver behind Cai in the 10-metre platform final, said she was happy to spend her teens at the pool.

"When I was young I loved water," she said. "But swimming itself is just too tiring."

Her inspiration was China’s Fu Mingxia, who became the youngest-ever world champion as a 12-year-old Waif in Australia in 1991, and won two Olympic golds at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.

The minimum age for divers was raised to 14 after Fu’s victory in Australia.

"One day I hope to be as good as her," Li said. "My ultimate goal is to take gold in the Olympics."

Elephant twins steal the show

BANGKOK, Dec 11 (Reuters) — Japan’s heartthrob swimming brothers Shusuke and Shunsuke Ito may have met their match as the most popular pair of twins at the Asian Games.

Jum and Jim, a pair of female elephant twins, dazzled spectators at Bangkok’s Thammasat University sports complex on Friday with a repertoire of sporting and musical skills to rival the Ito brothers’ swimming talents and chiselled looks.

While Jum showed off her fancy footwork with a wicker football, Jim serenaded the crowd on a harmonica and executed an elegant acrobatic routine.

"They’ve only started football recently so they can just dribble the ball on the ground," said keeper Aun Salangam. "But when they’re bigger I’ll teach them to kick it in the air. They are world champions," he said.

The five-year-old elephants, born 15 minutes apart on the banks of the river Kwai and now living with their mother at a zoo in Kanchanaburi province, were the inspiration for the Chai-Yo elephant mascot of the Asian Games, Salangam said.

Elephants rarely give birth to twins and Jum and Jim are believed to be the only female Asian elephant twins in captivity in the world, he said.

"They are very adorable and well-behaved," he said. "As long as you keep feeding them".

Probe ordered into bookie deal

SYDNEY, Dec 11 (PTI) — The Australian Cricket Board (ACB) today announced a full probe into the bookmaker affair involving star players Shane Warne and Mark Waugh after other cricketers revealed they were also approached for providing match information while touring the sub-continent.

Announcing the ACB decision to launch an inquiry into the affair, board chairman Dennis Rogers said in Adelaide: "Two former players said today they were approached to provide information. What I want to clear up is that there are no other sleepers in the Australian team in this context."

He was referring to former New Zealand paceman Danny Morrison’s claim that he was offered money by an Indian player to pass on information to a bookie in 1994 and revelations by ex-Australian cricketers Dean Jones and Greg Matthews that they too were approached like Warne and Waugh to sell information about weather and pitch condition but rejected the offers.

"Given the circumstances of the hour, people would expect me to take a positive lead," he said.

Admissions by Warne and Waugh had showed the ACB in poor light as it became known that the board had fined the two but kept it under wraps for four years.

Rogers earlier told a commercial television that the whole matter should be taken up internationally. "We believe the issues should not be handled by home boards, we believe these issues should be handled by the international governing body."

Rogers was reacting to a report in a Wellington-based paper which quoted Danny Morrison as saying that he declined an offer for taking a call from a bookmaker and provide him with information during the 1994 Hamilton Test.

Media reports also said Greg Matthews claimed to have turned down money offered to him for the same purpose in Sri Lanka in 1992.

Meanwhile, reports from Lahore said the Pakistani inquiry commission probing the match-fixing charges against some cricketers of the country was contemplating to ask the ACB to allow Warne and Waugh depose before it again following their revelations.

The Pakistani Cricket Board (PCB) also asked its Australian counterpart to make public all information on the bookmaker issue to ensure the matter is not covered up this time also.

Indian player offered money: Morrison

WELLINGTON, Dec 11 (PTI) — Former New Zealand fast bowler Danny Morrison has claimed he was offered $ 1,000 by an Indian player during the 1994 Hamilton cricket Test for providing information to a bookmaker,.

The offer to take a phone call and provide information was declined, the Dominion Newspaper today said.

"I just looked at him and said: "Are you serious?", the paper quoted Morrison as saying.

Morrison’s statement comes barely three days after news of Australian players Mark Waugh and Shane Warne having received money from a Chennai-based bookmaker in exchange for information on pitch and weather conditions shook the cricket world.

According to the reports, the approach made to Morrison during the Test, which ended in a draw, was a common practice familiar to players, officials and journalists.

The Evening Post said: "Journalists and cricket match officials in New Zealand are well aware of the phonecall frustrations linked to Indian bookmakers.

"During the 1989-90 Indian tour of New Zealand, Press box telephones were constantly called by an Indian gentleman wanting to know the state of play and the weather, and team line-ups. Match officials took similar calls".

Sachin mania sweeps New Zealand media

WELLINGTON, Dec 11 (PTI) — New Zealand media is in the grip of a Sachin Tendulkar mania.

Columns, features, profiles and statistics on the Indian superbat are logging up a huge chunk of space in newspapers and magazines. Even though the team is here for a week now, the build up on Tendulkar shows no signs of abating.

The media is full of quotes from past cricketing greats — Richie Benaud, David Gower, Barry Richards — waxing eloquent on the most destructive batsman in contemporary cricket.

Former Australian skipper Benaud, one of the best-known TV commentators on the game, has described Tendulkar’s backfoot stroke off the pace bowlers as something special.

"With Sachin, his stroke off the back foot, particularly off the pace bower, is extraordinary — the next thing you know is that somebody is picking the ball from the gutter."

Ex-England captain David Gower, one of the most stylish left-handers to grace the game, said: "The great bulk of players have definite movements before the shot is in the player’s mind. For Sachin the balance is there. He is quick to complete his shot. He covers the crease much better than mere mortals."

All-time South African great Barry Richards has been quoted as saying: "His hand speed is so quick, it gives tremendous acceleration to the ball. He hits a single or a four, very rarely a three."

New Zealan’s Gavin Larsen, Richard de Groen and Danny Morrison have also unstintingly praised the little Indian champion.

Larsen, one of one-day cricket’s most economical bowlers, has been among the latest to sing Tendulkar’s praise.

"I remember one game in Auckland. I bowled two overs for 24 runs. The unusual thing was the first five balls were dot balls. The sixth went for six and then he calmly took 18 runs from my next over. He just has the ability to explode," he says.

Citing another instance, Larsen says: "There was another one-dayer in Calcutta when Heath Davis and Andrew Penn were taken apart by Tendulkar. Chris Harris and I came on, which tends to happen in those situations, and my first over was a maiden."

"But you always knew something was going to happen. The first ball of my next over was a flat six straight over my head and into the sightscreen. It was like he was saying, no one is going to get on top of me," Larsen says.

De Groen, now working for the New Zealand Olympic committee, remembers having bowled to Tendulkar in India and getting a pasting.

"It was pretty horrifying; not a good experience. He has got so much time and you feel he is dominating you. It is quite an unusual experience," he says.

"It can be even worse when there are 20,000 people screaming at you, and it all happens so quickly. You bowl five overs for 40 runs and you think to yourself, what’s happened? I guess that’s inexperience.

"You are not bowling badly, it’s just the batsman is so dominant. Tendulkar is a class above others. Fortunately, players like him are rare," De Groen says.

Morrison had experienced similar feeling. "I certainly remember the game at Eden Park where he was on track for the fastest one-day century. He is a modern-day Viv Richards".

"I remember another occasion in Nagpur in 1996 when my first two overs went only for three runs. My third over went for 20. My first ball was a slower one that went back over my head for a six. He then produced so many great cricket shots. You have to have something that is a little different to get him," Morrison says.

Slender lead for Pakistan

LAHORE, Dec 11 (Reuters) — Saeed Anwar hit an elegant 75 today as Pakistan ended the second day of the second Test against Zimbabwe one run ahead, with five wickets in hand.

When stumps were drawn 35 minutes early because of fading light, the home side were 184 for five in answer to Zimbabwe’s modest first innings total of 183.

Yousaf Yohanna was on 30, which included five fours, and skipper Moin Khan was not out 18 in the unbroken sixth-wicket stand of 37.

Anwar struck 11 fours in his 114-ball knock, spanning 182 minutes, for his 17th half century in his 36th Test.

The left-hander, along with debutant Mohammad Naveed Ashraf (32), gave Pakistan a sound start of 69 in 29 overs before Zimbabwe, leading 1-0 in the three-Test series, wrested the initiative by claiming four quick wickets for 36 runs.

The slump began with the dismissal of Anwar, who was taken behind the stumps by Andy Flower off paceman Neil Johnson at 121 after Pakistan had done reasonably well to reach 111 for one at lunch.

Johnson then removed Ijaz Ahmad for 16 at 129 while Salim Malik, in his 100th Test, could score only two before being run out by Heath Streak with the score on 132.

Zimbabwe (first innings) 183 (A. Flower 60 not out; Saqlain Mushtaq 5-32, Waqar Younis 4-54)
Pakistan (first innings): Saeed Anwar c A. Flower b Johnson 75
Naveed Ashraf b Streak 32
Ijaz Ahmad c Huckle b Johnson 16
Salim Malik run out 2
Yousaf Yohanna not out 30
Hassan Raza c Rennie b Huckle 3
Moin Khan not out 18
Extras (LB-3, NB-5) 8
Total (for five, 67 overs) 184
Fall of wickets: 1-69, 2-121, 3-129, 4-132, 5-147.
Bowling: Streak 18-6-50-1, Olanga 16-4-47-0, Mbangwa 16-3-39-0, Johnson 16-2-40-2, Huckle 1-0-5-1.

Windies 'A' pacemen dash Indian hopes

HYDERABAD, Dec 11 (PTI) — West Indies ‘A’ continued their winning spree after sweeping the two-Test series, by registering an emphatic 119-run victory over India ‘A’ in the first of their three one-day internationals played here today.

Put into bat, the Caribbeans scored a respectable 234 for nine in the stipulated 50 overs. In reply India ‘A’, chasing the victory target with 4.7 runs per over, surrendered meekly to the visitors and fell short of 119 runs by scoring paltry 115 for 9 in 42 overs. The last batsman Rahul Sanghvi, could not bat due to a right thumb injury.

Even though West Indies lost their opener Keith Semple for zero in the fifth ball of the first over to Reetender Singh Sodhi, a 50-run second wicket partnership between opener Andrian Griffith (33) and three-down batsmen Wavell Hinds (70) which came in 12.5 overs in 50 minutes repaired the damage for the visitors.

Thereafter, Hindis (70) and fourth-down batsman Richard Smith (38) kept the scoreboard moving. Their third wicket partnership of 92 runs came in 72 minutes off 19 overs.

West Indies ‘A’: Griffith b R. Sodhi 33, K. Semple run out 0, W. Hinds c Ganesh b Sodhi 70, R. Smith lbw b Ganesh 38, Christopher Gayle c Kareem b Pratap 24, R. Sarwan c Pratap b Ganesh 37, C. Brown c Khurasia b R. Sanghvi 3, Ian Bishop c Khurasia b Ganesh 12, Neil McGarell c & b Ganesh 5, Mahendra Nagamotto not out 0.
Extras: (nb 2, lb 5, w 4, b 1) 12
Total: (in 50 overs for 9 wkts) 234
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-52, 3-140, 4-157, 5-191, 6-206, 7-218, 8-232, 9-234.
Bowling: D. Ganesh 10-2-41-4, R.S. Sodhi 10-1-33-2, V. Pratap 6-0-40-1, H. Kanitkar 10-0-40-0, N. Chopra 7-0-25-0, Rahul Sanghvi 6-0-37-1, R. Gavaskar 1-0-12-0.
India "A":
Debang Gandhi b Reon King 0, Ramesh c Richard Smit b Reon King 0, Amay Khurasia c R. Smit b Ian Bishop 11, H. Kanitkar c Richard Smith b Reon King 4, Rohan Gavaskar c Courtney Browne b Keith Semple 20, Vanka Pratap b Keith Semple 7, Syed Saba Karim c Reon King b Neil McGarell 22, R.S. Sodhi st Courtney Browne b Christopher Gayle 18, Nikhil Chopra b Richard Smith b Christopher Gayle 10, Dodda Ganesh (not out) 13, Rahul Sanghvi (did not bat-injured). Extras: (NB-1, LB-2, W-7) 10.
Total (in 42 overs for 9 wickets) 115.
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-2, 3-18, 4-25, 5-38, 6-59, 7-81, 8-95, 9-115.
Bowling: Reon King 8-2-17-3, Ian Bishop 6-0-20-1, Keith Semple 10-1-18-2, Neil McGarell 10-0-32-1, Christopher Gayle 5-0-18-2, M. Nagamootoo 3-0-8-0.

Langer hits century; M Waugh jeered

ADELAIDE, Dec 11 (AFP) — Justin Langer defied searing heat and his own impetuosity to carve out his first Test century on home soil and put Australia in the driving seat on the first day of the third Ashes Test against England here today.

The left-hander did not give a chance as he notched up 108 not out in more than five hours at the crease as Australia ground to a potentially match-winning first innings 266-4.

Langer’s knock came four Tests after he hoisted his maiden Test hundred, a first innings 116 in Peshawar in October during the Pakistan tour.

As he completed his century, the Western Australian player leapt in the air jubilantly, knowing he had justified his place as regular fixture in cricket’s strongest batting line-up.

While Langer was the hero, his team mate Mark Waugh was jeered by the crowd. Waugh, exposed earlier in the week as one of the two Australians who accepted money from an Indian bookmaker four years ago, was booed loudly by a section of the crowd as he went out to the crease.

Probably unsettled by the massive publicity generated by the scandal, Mark Waugh looked ill at ease in 35 minutes for seven runs.

Australia were in minor difficulties at 156-3, but Langer and Steve Waugh (59) tipped the balance strongly the home team’s way in the final session. They completed a 108-run partnership in just over two hours before Steve Waugh fell to speedster Darren Gough before stumps.

Mark Taylor, leading Australia for the 48th time in Tests, won a crucial toss, enabling his side to bat first on a day when temperatures soared to 40 degrees centigrade and turned the Adelaide Oval into a steaming cauldron.

England plugged away manfully in torrid conditions and it was only in the last hour they had their first casualty.

Fast bowler Dean Headley was forced off the ground with agonising cramp, being replaced in the field by Ben Hollioake.

But England were let down yet again by their atrocious fielding. Two more catches went down early in the day, taking to 12 the total of missed chances in the series.

Scoreboard
AUSTRALIA (first innings):

Taylor c Hussain b Such 59

Slater c Stewart b Headley 17

Langer not out 108

M. Waugh c & b Such 7

S. Waugh c Hick b Gough 59

Ponting not out 0

Extras (lb-5, nb-11): 16

Total (for 4 wkts): 266

Fall of wickets: 1-28, 2-140, 3-156, 4-264.

Bowling: Gough 20-2-74-1, Mullally 20-5-39-0, Headley 14-0-64-1, Such 27-7-57-2, Ramprakash 9-1-27-0.

Windies all out for 121 runs

PORT ELIZABETH, Dec 11 (Reuters) — Fourteen wickets fell by tea of second day of the second Test between West Indies and South Africa today as the tourists collapsed to 121 all out.

South Africa were dismissed for 245 in their first essay after 35 minutes of play and the tourists then crashed in 37.3 overs, leaving South Africa with a lead of 124.

At tea South Africa were also struggling, 11-2 in their second innings and the match appeared set to finish long before its scheduled five days.

South Africa resumed on 223-8 and the ninth-wicket pair of Pat Symcox and Allan Donald stretched their partnership to 66 before Symcox had his middle stump uprooted by Nixon Mclean to be out for 36.

Five runs later Donald became the fourth batsman in the innings to be caught by Carl Hooper, at second slip, in reaching a new career best score of 33.

West Indies (first innings):
S. Williams b Terbrugge 37
C. Lambert c Cronje b Pollock 0
B. Lara c Cullinan b Donald 4
C. Hooper b Terbrugge 15
Chanderpaul lbw b Pollock 4
R. Jacobs b Terbrugge 1
F. Reifer c Boucher b Pollock 0
N. McLean c Cronje b Donald 31
C. Ambrose b Pollock 12
M. Dillon c Rhodes b Pollock 9
C. Walsh not out 2
Extras: (lb-1 nb-5) 6
Total: (all out, 37.3 overs) 121
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-31, 3-58, 4-63, 5-64, 6-67, 7-75, 8-103, 9-112.
Bowling: Donald 10-1-33-2, Pollock 13.3-2-43-5 (nb-5), Terbrugge 9-4-27-3, Kallis 3-1-8-0, Symcox 2-0-9-0.

South Africa (first innings) overnight 223-8
G. Kirsten c Jacobs b Walsh 29
H. Gibbs b Walsh 2
J. Kallis c Hooper b Walsh 30
D. Cullinan b Dillon 4
H. Cronje run out 21
J. Rhodes c Hooper b Ambrose 17
S. Pollock c Williams b Ambrose 28
M. Boucher c Hooper b McLean 17
P. Symcox b McLean 36
A. Donald c Hooper b Walsh 34
D. Terbrugge not out 2
Extras (b-4 lb-6 w-1 nb-14) 25
Total (all out, 70.4 overs) 245
Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-52, 3-67, 4-67, 5-89, 6-138, 7-142, 8-175, 9-241.
Bowling: Ambrose 17-6-28-2, Walsh 23.4-0-87-4, McLean 19-4-66-2, Dillon 11-1-54-1.

North 299 for 5

VALSAD, Dec 11 (PTI) — North Zone were 299 for 5 at close in their second innings against Central Zone on the third day of the five-day Duleep Trophy semi-final cricket match here today.

After surpassing Central Zone’s lead of 233, they scored 66 runs more with five wickets in hand. Rajiv Nayyar on 57 (6x4s) and V. Dahiya on 49 (8x4s) were at crease when stumps were drawn.

The second, fourth and sixth wicket partnerships yielded 76, 81 and 58 runs, respectively.

Brief scores: first innings: North Zone 113. Central Zone 346 for nine declared.

Second innings: North Zone 299 for 5 (V. Shewag 66, R. Nayyar 57 batting, V. Dahiya 49 batting).

PSEB go down to Ludhiana cops

NABHA (Patiala), Dec 11 (FOSR) — Ludhiana Police downed formidable PSEB, Patiala 3-2 to make the quarterfinal grade of the 23rd All-India Liberals Hockey Tournament at the Ripudaman College grounds here today.

For Ludhiana Police, the fulcrum of attack remained with skipper Jagdip Singh. The inconsistent and complacent powermen conceded as many as three penalty strokes. Centre-half and skipper Jagdeep converted two and Mandeep slotted in the third. Trailing by the odd goal in three, the powermen managed to reduce the margin when centre-half Gurmeet scooped the ball into the roof of the net off a penalty corner towards the end of the absorbing contest.

Punjab Police pumped in four goals against local outfit Green Chillies, Nabha. After ASC Jalandhar cried off at the last minute the harried organisers were left with no option but to substitute ASC with Green Chillies to provide target practice to the cops.

FCI, Delhi with goals by Krunesh and Gajinder scraped past a fighting MEG, Bangalore 2-1. The lone goal scored for the sappers was scored by Dennis.

L. Kunjur slotted the ball home to enable Air Force Delhi to upset the applecart of last year's runners-up CISF.

HVPN, DFA Rohtak in semis

YAMUNANAGAR, Dec 11 (FOC) — Haryana Vidyut Parsaran Nigam will meet DFA Rohtak tomorrow in the first semifinal of the 25th Haryana State Senior Football Championship here.

The second semifinal will be played between Haryana Police and DFA Yamunanagar. Today in the first match, HVPN defeated DFA Faridabad 3-0. For HVPN Sanjay scored all the three goals. In another match DFA Rohtak defeated DFA Bhiwani 4-2 via the tie-breaker. DFA Yamunanagar defeated DFA Hisar 2-1 in the last match and qualified for the semifinal. Virender Singh scored the first goal for Yamunanagar and Ravinder Yadav scored the second goal.

According to Mr Satish Bhardwaj, president of the organising committee, 19 teams participated in the tournament. The final will be played on December 13, '98. Mr L.M. Jain, Principal Secretary, Haryana will be the chief guest.

PU Campus triumph

CHANDIGARH, Dec 11 (BOSR) — Panjab University Campus, Chandigarh, emerged victorious in the Panjab University Inter-College Softball Tournament for Women which concluded here today. MCM DAV College for Women secured the second position, while Ramgarhia Girls College, Ludhiana finished third.

Today’s results: PU Campus b Ramgarhia Girls College, Ludhiana, 17-3. MCM DAV College for Women, Chandigarh b GCG, Sector 11, Chandigarh by 11-1.

In the Women’s Tennis semifinal, Government College for Girls, Sector 11 whipped MCM DAV College for Women, Sector 36 by 2-0.

Results: Simmi Rani (GCG-II) b Surbhi (MCM DAV) 6-0, 6-0. Tarminder (GCG-11) b Harsimran (MCM DAVC) 6-3, 6-1.

Salim in semis

SANGRUR, Dec 11 (FOSR) — Top seed Salim and third seed Rohan Kapoor entered the semifinals in men's singles in the Arun Memorial Panjab State Major Ranking Badminton Championship which is in progress here.

Results: Women' single: quarter finals. Yogita (Pta) beat Nimrata (Jal) 2-11, 11-0,11-1. Nazma (Jal) beat Kamljit (Hsp) 11-2, 11-I. Sapna (Jal) beat Saloni (Asr) 11-1, 8-11, 11-6, Nancy (Pat) beat Kashmir Kaur (Hsp) 11-4, 11-I. Men's singles: quarter finals: Salim (Sang) beat Ranjit Singh (Jal) 15-5, 15-5, Rohan Kapoor (Jal) beat Amandeep (Ldh) 17-14, 15-7. Neeraj Bansal (Jal) beat Gagandeep (Jal) 15-9, 6-15, 15-8. Vijaydeep (Pta) beat Ram Lakhan (Jal) 15-5, 15-9.

SGGSC Mahilpur lift title

NAWANSHAHR, Dec 11 (FOC) — Ludhiana Police and SGGS Khalsa College, Mahilpur lifted the "Shaheed-e Azam Sardar Bhagat Singh Trophies" by defeating JCT, Phagwara and S.N. College, Banga, respectively, in the finals of the state-level Shaheed-e Azam Sardar Bhagat Singh Memorial Football Tournament, which concluded here today.

Eight clubs and four colleges participated in this tournaments. In the club section, Ludhiana Police beat JCT, Phagwara 4-3 in a hard-fought match. In the college section, SGGS Khalsa College, Mahilpur beat S.N. College, Banga 3-1.

Mr S.C. Chobbe, DGM, Union Bank of India, Punjab and Mr Iqbal Singh, president of the Truckers Union, gave away the prizes.