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| Tuesday, March 6, 2001, Chandigarh, India    |
Chance for
Hirwani to stake claim
Embarrassing
defeat for Pak |
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India,
Pak to clash in Dhaka Tollygunge
hold Churchill Spirited
JCT fail to win against ITI Harvey
hopes to make India tour |
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Vettori
ruled out of first Test Kasparov
defeats Alexei Shirov India
thrash lowly Nepal
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Chance for Hirwani to stake claim New Delhi, March 5 Ganguly was expected to fly into Delhi from Kolkata today, but did not turn up. According to Delhi and District Cricket Association Senior Vice-President C.K. Khanna, the Indian skipper was now scheduled to arrive by a late evening flight. There was also no news from Hirwani, who was to come from Indore, and Yadav. The Australian team went on a sight-seeing trip to Agra, leaving behind first Test centurion and vice-captain Adam Gilchrist, who is nursing a hip strain. The Aussies have asked for New South Wales wicket-keeper batsman Brad Haddin to be flown in, to stand behind the wickets for the match, in place of Gilchrist. In the absence of Ganguly, the original skipper of the Board President’s XI Vijay Dahiya conducted the net session as even Indian coach John Wright was missing from the Kotla ground. National selector Madan Lal, and Board XI manager Rakesh Shukla kept a watch as the boys went through their eager paces in the afternoon. Ganguly, who has volunteered to lead the Board President’s XI, apparently to have another close look at the Aussie game plan after the Indian debacle in the Mumbai Test, will have a tough job on hand, as the hard-looking Ferozeshah Kotla track, with a slightly greenish top (the green may vanish by tomorrow morning), seems to be tailor-made to suit the Aussie tastes. But the look may be very deceptive, as the Kotla turf has the habit of playing the spin-trick. The three-day match will afford a chance for leg-spinner Narendra Hirwani to stake his claim for the playing eleven of the second Test in Kolkata, after sitting out the first game in Mumbai. Though the Australians are likely to rest their key players, and may field those who did not get a chance in the first Test, the Board President’s XI will find the going tough, as the Aussies have a pretty good lineup. For the Board XI, other than Ganguly and Hirwani, the match will be crucial for many others, like Delhi batsman Gautam Gambhir, who had hit a double century against England in the Under-19 Test a few weeks back, prolific run-getter Dinesh Mongia of Punjab, spinner Sharandeep Singh, batsman S. Sriram, Mohammad Kaif, J.P. Yadav, Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Vijay Dahiya and Vinayak Mane, who slammed a double hundred against Australia in the three-day game in Mumbai. The national selectors will be here in full strength, to keep an eye on the performance in the three-day match before finalising the team for the second Test. Selector from North Zone Madan Lal said the selection committee would review the Indian performance in the first Test, to find out what went wrong. Among the Board President’s XI players, Ramesh Powar and Vinayak Mane were in the Mumbai team for the match against Australia match, before the first Test. Indian team manager Chetan Chauhan announced that out of the proceeds of the match, Rs 10 lakh would be donated to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund, for the earthquake victims of Gujarat. Teams: Australia:
Steve Waugh (captain), Damien Fleming, Matthew Hayden, Michael Kasprowicz, Jason Gillespie, Justin Langer, Damien Martyn, Glenn McGrath, Colin Miller, Ricky Ponting, Michael Slater, Shane Warne, Mark Waugh and Brad Haddin (wk). Umpires: Sanjeev Rao (Indore) and Subrata Banerjee (Kolkata). Play will start from 9.30 am. Doordarshan will telecast the match live. |
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CAPTAIN’S COMMENTS THE first Test ended in Mumbai on Thursday, and we got beaten by a team which played better cricket than us in all departments of the game. Not to mention the innings of Adam Gilchrist, which was absolutely sensational. We also have ourselves to blame to a certain extent. Steve Waugh handed over the advantage to us by putting us in on the first day. I as captain would have batted first, considering the wicket would turn and bounce as the match would have progressed. It was bad batting on our part on the first day, and we had no business to score 176 on a good batting wicket which did a bit in the first hour, something that can be expected. Sachin Tendulkar played very well once again as he has done quite often against this side. Some players have a tendency to flourish against certain teams and Sachin probably enjoys scoring runs against the Aussies. It was a poor first innings total on such a track but we knew that with the ball turning we could come back into the Test. We made inroads into the Australian batting and at 99 for five we really bounced back in the game. What happened next was seen by everybody and according to me it was one of the best Test innings I have seen under pressure. Adam Gilchrist just smashed his way out and some of the shots which he played on that track, were absolutely amazing. He scored runs at the rate of six an over, which is outstanding at this level of cricket. After the game I heard a lot of people passing judgement on how it could have been handled, but I think most would not have had any answers to it. Anyway, this game is much easier from the stands and the air-conditioned boxes, so the less attention one pays to it the better. As a captain on the field I think it was Gilchrist’s innings that took the game away from us — hats off to him. By saying this I am by no means taking away any credit away from Mathew Hayden. I thought he also played very well. Our batting in the second innings was also disappointing. Being at 150 for two and then getting out for 210 was really frustrating. We should have capitalised after the way Sachin and Rahul battled in the first session, but unfortunately we could not. On the whole we lost to a team which played gutsy cricket and showed a lot of character under pressure. But all is not lost for us. We have two Tests to go and we have a chance of getting back into the series. But for that we have to raise our game. We have to put runs on the board for our bowlers to defend and for that we have to show a lot of guts and character. I have a lot of confidence in my team and I know my boys are a tough lot and they are going to come back. There is a lot of potential in the team and it is time we put our hands up and say: “I am going to do it for my team today. Lastly, I want to make a special mention of Javagal Srinath. He showed what a strong character he possesses by bowling right through the game with a fractured finger. He did not even once make an issue of it. Such toughness lifts the whole team and sends a strong message among the boys and the senior cricketers. He has
shown the right attitude to the team members. Gameplan |
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Christchurch, March 5 New Zealand A bowlers Chris Drum and Andrew Penn took five wickets for 16 runs between them as Pakistan plummeted from 108 for four overnight to be all out for 124 in the space of 27 balls. Compounding Pakistan’s woes was the absence of experienced opener Saeed Anwar, who didn’t bat after injuring his groin while fielding yesterday. Drum ended with eight wickets for the match after second-innings figures of four for 42, while Penn took three wickets today to end with four for 44 and seven for the match. Pakistan trailed by 70 runs today, and it took until just the third over for New Zealand A to make further inroads. Penn took wickets in successive balls when he bowled Younis Khan for four then had Mushtaq Ahmed caught by Lou Vincent at third slip. Stand-in captain Waqar Younis survived the hat-trick ball but in the next over drum got in on the act, removing Saqlain Mushtaq and Arshad Khan in the space of four balls. Saqlain had a wild swing and was bowled and Arshad suffered the same fate when he tried to turn the ball to leg. Pakistan’s misery was sealed in the next over when tailender Mohammad Sami edged Penn to Glen Sulzberger at first slip. The first Test starts at Eden Park in Auckland on Thursday. Scoreboard New Zealand A (1st innings):
278 Pakistan (1st innings): 100 Pakistan (IInd innings): Imran Farhat c Mills b Walker 51 Elahi b Drum 20 H Farhat c Walker b Drum 10 Youhana c Nevin b Penn 10 Younis Khan b Penn 4 Saqlain b Drum 5 Magbool Ahmed c Vincent
b Penn 0 Younis not out 11 Arshad b Drum 0 Sami c Sulzberger b Penn 0 Anwar absent injured Extras:
(lb9, nb4) 13 Total: 124 Fall of wickets:
1-59, 2-75, 3-95, 4-107, 5-113, 6-113, 7-119, 8-119, 9-124. Bowling:
Drum 12-1-42-4, Penn 11.3-1-44-4 (2nb), Mills 7-0-25-0 (2nb), Walker 3-2-4-1.
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India, Pak to clash in Dhaka Dhaka, March 5 The South Asian rivals have been kept apart in the group stage of the 11-day Prime Minister’s Gold Cup tournament. But they will be strongly fancied to advance to a meeting in either the semifinals or final. The two countries have not faced each other on a hockey field since playing an eight-match series in 1998. Besides India, Pakistan and hosts Bangladesh, the tournament features China, Egypt, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia and Scotland. Singapore had been scheduled to play but pulled out at the last moment. Draw: Group A: Bangladesh, India, Scotland and Japan. Group B: Pakistan, Egypt, Ireland, Malaysia and China. Fixtures: March 10: Bangladesh-Japan; March 11: China-Pakistan, India-Scotland, Egypt-Malaysia; March 12: China-Ireland, Bangladesh-Scotland; March 13: India-Japan, Ireland-Malaysia, Egypt-Pakistan; March 14: Bangladesh-India; March 15: China-Malaysia, Japan-Scotland, Ireland-Pakistan; March 16: Egypt-Ireland, Malaysia-Pakistan; March 17: rest day; March 18: semifinals, classification matches; March 19: classification matches; March 20: final.
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Kolkata, March 5 The home team had themselves to blame for not carving out a victory as their forwards muffed scoring opportunities with exasperating regularity in a fast paced encounter. Tollygunge, desperate to collect full points in this home match, abandoned their generally defensive strategy but lacked the finishing touch to pose problems for their opponents. Churchill, boasting of a number of quality players in their ranks, could never really find their rhythm and were at the receiving end for most part of the contest. After a barren opening session, both teams played their hearts out after the breather but failed to break the goal-less deadlock on a slippery and soggy ground. With this draw, Tollygunge have secured just nine points from 11 outings while Zee Churchill have 15 points to their credit from as many matches. The two Tollygunge strikers Abdulateef Seriki and Emeka Achilefu, who have not been in the best of form in the league so far, invariably failed to get their acts together inside the box after managing to pierce the defence. MUMBAI: Substitute Bungo Singh sizzled with a hat-trick as Air-India crushed State Bank of Travancore 6-1 at the Cooperage. Air -India, who have 12 points to their credit after this win, rallied magnificiently after conceding a goal in the 29th minute as sbt striker T. Ashif Saheer scored off winger M.A. Abdul Hakim’s pass. However, with a minute to go for the interval, Bungo Singh, going in for Raju Singh, equalised off a winger Godfred Pereira pass. Soon after half time, the hosts pumped in two goals in quick succession. A minute after the break, Bungo Singh beat a hoard of defenders and lobbed beautifully over an advancing SBT custodian M. Rajeev Kumar and the very next minute converted a penalty kick, which was awarded after winger Anthony Fernandes was brought down inside the box. In the 65th minute, the bankmen scored a ‘self goal’ when their skipper Martin C. Mathew deflected Air-India defender Khalid Jamil’s essay following a flag kick.
PTI |
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Spirited
JCT fail to win against ITI Ludhiana, March 5 With one point gained from today’s draw, JCT remain at the bottom with five points from five draws. It is for the first time that JCT will be going into the second of the league without a victory to their credit. ITI, who also gained a point today, now have eight points from one victory and five draws. It was another frustrating day for Punjab’s premier outfit as the Bangalore team thwarted their moves through some intelligent marking. ITI coach Mohammed Habib, himself a former international who led Mohun Bagan to many a historic win in the seventies, was not happy with the outcome. “My boys are losing confidence due to the series of draws. In fact the long break due to the Millennium Cup has really upset the rhythm. We started off well beating East Bengal in the second round but the long break that followed affected our campaign, “ he remarked. Although ITI fielded four of their foreign recruits namely A. Majid of Iraq, Yusuf Hamed of Oman, and Nigerians George Ekeh and Kenneth Ugwo, they failed to achieve a breakthrough. Regular goalie N. Balaji, who injured his finger in the last match against Zee Churchill, was rested and his place was taken by Mark under the bar. Skipper KV Dhanesh did initiate some moves but to little effect. JCT, on the other hand, introduced the partially fit Hardip Sangha and medio Hardip Saini in the starting line-up. The duo did bolster the attack to some extent. A few minutes from the kick-off, Sangha tested Mark with a powerful shot from the top of the box but the latter leapt high to punch the ball over the horizontal at the cost of a flag kick. ITI made a similar attempt with Kenneth aiming a long-ranger which JCT custodian Arvind fisted over the bar. George Ekeh also made a close call but stopper back Tarsem Lal kept his nerves to make a goal-line save. A few minutes before the breather JCT had a good chance following a move initiated by medio Harinder. Harinder’s pass to Sangha saw the latter relay the ball to Jaswinder who put striker Hardip Gill in possession. However, despite having a clear view of the goal, Gill shot wide. In the second half, JCT made a couple of substitutions as Hardip Sangha made way for Jaswant and Jagjit Randhawa replaced Saini. Randhawa made some impact by aiming a crisp right-footer which the ITI goalie managed to punch away. Hardip Gill also had a good chance but his angular shot from close range was saved at the cost of a corner. The JCT citadel had a narrow escape in the 63rd minute following a corner but the dependable Harinder standing on the goal-line made a timely save. Thereafter JCT went on the offensive . First Jaswinder, who was a bit off-colour today, relayed the ball to Gill who only had one defender to beat but he ran out of ideas. Towards the end, JCT had a good chance. Randhawa after gaining possession on the right gave a quick pass to Jaswinder who aimed a right-footer but was wide off target. JCT will now travel to Mumbai where they will meet Air-India in an away match on March 10. |
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Harvey hopes to make India tour Melbourne, March 5 “Hopefully things will be right for India,” Harvey told a news conference in Melbourne. “It’s getting better each day,” said Harvey, who has taken 26 wickets in 27 one-day internationals for Australia. The Australian Cricket Board (ACB) is expected to announce the one-day squad later this week. The series starts in Bangalore on March 25. Harvey (28) a right-handed batsman and medium-pacer suffered a hairline fracture of the tip of his right thumb while batting during Victoria’s four-day interstate match against Tasmania in Hobart on Saturday. He was unable to bat in the second innings on Monday, instead returning to Melbourne for treatment. ACB doctor Trefor James said Harvey’s injury could take up to three weeks to heal.
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Rusedski upsets
Agassi, lifts title San Jose, California, March 5 The British ace upset
Australian Open champion Andre Agassi 6-3, 6-4 here yesterday to win the $ 400,000 ATP Sybase Open, his first title in 18 months. “In ’99, I had a lot of injuries and now I’m taking better care of myself,” Rusedski said. “I just hope that in the big tournaments, I could come through.” Rusedski used 13 aces for his 10th career title, only his second on the US soil. It was his second career victory in five matches against Agassi, both of them having come here. “When I woke up, I felt really confident,” Rusedski said. “I knew what I had to do.” Rusedski lost only one set on the way to his first title, or championship match, since capturing the Vienna crown in October of 1999. The eighth-seeded left-handed won $ 54,000 and his 10th career title. The lefthander battled injuries last season but has bounced back with a 14-5 record in 2001, including victories over world No. 1 Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil at the Australian Open and No. 2 Marat Safin of Russia last month in Milan. Rusedski reached the 1997 final here but suffered a wrist injury against Pete Sampras and had to retire. Rusedski inflicted the first loss of the year upon the American after 11 wins in a row. Agassi was seeking his fifth San Jose title after crowns in 1990, 1993, 1995 and 1998. Thirty-year-old Agassi had to withdraw last year due to a back injury but has reached the quarterfinals in eight of his previous nine appearances. His record here fell to 35-5. Rusedski gained the early break at love in the fourth game for a 3-1 advantage in the opening set and served it out in the ninth game. He produced 17 winners in the set. “My plan was to stay back and that kind of surprised him,” Rusedski said. “I used a lot of top spin from my backhand.” Agassi got himself in further trouble in the first game of the second set as he fell behind love-40 on his serve before hitting a backhand wide two points later to give Rusedski the break. SCOTTSDALE (Arizona): It took a year, but top seed Lindsay Davenport finally won the Scottsdale title as she powered her way past hometown favourite Meghann Shaughnessy 6-2 6-3 at the State Farm Women’s Tennis Classic on Sunday. Davenport was set to play Martina Hingis in the final here last year only to have the championship match rained out with no winner crowned. This time around, with the weather cooperating, Davenport made sure there would be a defending champion in 2002, earning $ 90,000 for her second title of the year. Though the eighth-seeded Shaughnessy was unable to play up to Davenport’s standards, the 21-year-old enjoyed a thrilling week, which included a semifinal upset of Monica Seles in front of a crowd packed with family and friends. By reaching the final and beating Seles along the way, Shaughnessy, who earned $48,000 as runner-up, will move up three spots to a career-high 24th on the WTA Tour rankings. Davenport combined a bruising baseline game with an effective serve that produced 10 aces to keep on top of Shaughnessy in the 63-minute romp. She broke in the first and seventh games to take the first set and came up with another key service break in the fifth game of the second for a 3-2 lead. Davenport clinched the title in style by breaking Shaughnessy in the final game at
love. Reuters |
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Ruiz in line for more lucrative bouts Las Vegas, March 5 Did he beat a great champion who never gives up? Or did he beat an aging fighter who doesn’t know when to give up? it might end up being a bit of both. But for now, Ruiz knows one thing for sure — he beat a heavyweight champion. “It can only get easier now because he’s one tough guy,” Ruiz said. “I hope he retires because I don’t want to see him again.” Ruiz almost could not see Holyfield in the late rounds of Saturday night’s fight. Both of his eyes were swelling shut, and blood was flowing from three cuts on his face. Ruiz went down in the 10th round on a low blow, and Holyfield seemed to be rallying, just as he did the first time the two met. But then a crashing right hand to the head of Holyfield early in the 11th round put the champion on the canvas and Ruiz back on top. Two rounds later, Ruiz had a unanimous decision that made him the first Hispanic to win a piece of heavyweight title. “It’s a joy and an honour,” Ruiz said. “I am speechless.” True, the fight was for the WBA portion of the title that a judge ordered stripped from Lennox Lewis. True, most of the world considers Lewis the real heavyweight champion. And, yes, Holyfield appeared to be a shell at the age of 38 that he was the fighter who beat Mike Tyson twice. But the improbable rise of Ruiz to the position where he can call himself a champion is still quite remarkable indeed, considering this was the same heavyweight who was knocked out in 19 seconds by David Tua five years ago. “John Ruiz is everything that is good about boxing,” said his manager, Norman Stone. “We made it to the top on credit cards. Everybody knocked John Ruiz.” It was an ugly fight filled with fouls and clinches, and Ruiz’s bloodied and puffy face looked even worse. But he triumphed in a war against the fighter who calls himself a warrior. “This proves John Ruiz is a good fighter,” Holyfield said. “I thought I was winning the fight. Unfortunately, he hit me with an overhand right to the temple.” Exposed once again as an aging fighter, Holyfield must now answer the questions about why he continues to fight. And continue he will, vowed Holyfield. “It’s not over with me,” Holyfield said. “There’s nothing to think about. I will go out on top and I will go out as a champion.” Ruiz, nothing more than a journeyman before dropping a close decision to Holyfield when they met last August, evened things in the rematch when he took control of a close fight with a huge right hand early in the 11th round that put Holyfield down for one of the few times in his career. Holyfield got up, but desperately hung on to Ruiz the rest of the round, at one point grabbing him around the waist and stumbling all the way across the ring hanging on so he would not fall down. There was no question about the unanimous decision, but there were some about the legitimacy of the title in a division where Lewis is considered by almost all to be the true champion. “He beat the man who beat the man (Mike Tyson),” Stone said. Ruiz earned his second million-dollar payday and put himself in line for far more lucrative bouts against the likes of Tyson and Lewis by consistently beating Holyfield to the punch. The winner was supposed to fight in China on June 30, though that will now be pushed back while promoter Don King renegotiates with Chinese promoters who figured that Holyfield would be the fighter heading their way. Holyfield, meanwhile, was not ready to talk about retirement, despite being seemingly unable to pull the trigger with his punches even though he was in position. Holyfield has not had a knockout since stopping Michael Moorer in November 1997, and is 1-2-1 in his last four fights — though he could easily have been 0-4. “I’ve got to go back and fight like I used to fight,” Holyfield said. “I can’t allow things to go the distance. I don’t think I had a bad day, I just can’t let the judges make the decision.” |
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Top judokas unlikely to find berths Patiala, March 5 Sydney Olympian Brojeshwari Devi and Bangkok Asian games star Kamla Rawat are at present attending the National Judo camp being held NIS here, but their selection in the national team looks unlikely. The Judo Federation of India did not include the names of Brojeshwari Devi and Kamla Rawat in the list of probables for the camp as the judoka’s failed to turn up for the trials held at New Delhi on February 14. The reason given by the judokas was that both had sustained minor
injuries and they did not want to aggravate their injuries by taking part in the trials. However, this act of “indiscipline” by the judoka’s incensed the JFI selectors who decided to drop them from the camp. Former Olympian Narender Singh, who along with Uzbekistani Nusrat Khan is coaching the national squad, knowing that the two judokas were the only potential medal winners among all the probables attending the camp, approached the JFI for including the two in the camp. However, when his repeated requests were turned down by the JFI, Narender Singh approached the SAI Executive Director (Teams Wing) who keeping in view their past track record decided to include them in the camp in complete defiance of the stand taken by the JFI. Brojeshwari Devi was placed fifth in the Osaka Asian Judo Championships by virtue of which India had won the a solitary slot in the Sydney Olympics. |
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Vettori ruled out of first Test Lincoln (New Zealand), March 5 The convenor of the New Zealand selectors, Sir Richard Hadlee, said Vettori’s stress fracture of his back which saw him invalid out of the recent tour of Africa had flared again. “We are faced with the reality that Vettori may be out for the whole series,” Hadlee said. “He has said he was not sure he could cope with a workload of perhaps 20 overs in a day in a Test match. He bowled well in the one-day series, but struggled before the Dunedin match and was sore after it.” Hadlee said two players had been brought into the Test squad to cover for the absence of Vettori, the youngest spinner to take 100 wickets in Test cricket. Leg-spinner Brooke Walker, who bowled just three overs for New Zealand A in their innings and 54 run victory over Pakistan, was added along with all-rounder Grant Bradburn, who last played for New Zealand in 1992. “We have the option of a spin bowler who can bat well (Bradburn) and a genuine wicket taker (Walker),” Hadlee said. “We also have off-spinner Paul Wiseman, who is already in the squad. We are trying to cover all bases depending on the look of the pitch.” Also doubtful for the Test is medium-pacer Daryl Tuffey with a hip injury. He was described as “a 50/50 chance” by New Zealand coach David Trist on Sunday, but Hadlee said he was making progress. Pakistan also have a raft of injuries that concern them. Top of the list is key batsman Inzamam-ul-Haq who is still hopeful of making the Test line-up despite groin and calf muscle problems. Also struggling are Saeed Anwar (thigh) and Wasim Akram (leg). Abdur Razzaq, who was ill during that match and stayed overnight in Dunedin hospital on a drip, has recovered and is likely to play in the next Test.
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Kasparov defeats Alexei Shirov Linares (Spain), March 5 The victory yesterday gives Kasparov an unassailable two game lead with two rounds to go. In the other games, former world champion Anatoly Karpov of Russia beat Hungary’s Judit
Polgar, while Hungarian Peter Leko drew with Russian Alexander
Grischuk. With the black pieces, Shirov played the Open Defence variation of the Ruy Lopez, apparently for the first time in his career. After a long think, Kasparov played a temporary knight sacrifice that was first introduced by Karpov in his 1978 world championship match against Viktor
Korchnoi, and has been extensively analysed since. They followed the main line of the variation in which Black sacrifices a piece and gets two connected passed pawns as compensation. |
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India thrash lowly Nepal Guwahati, March 5 The winners were leading at 80-22 at half time at N.F. Railway Stadium. The Nepal team looked jittery on the field and missed several chances except for B.Maharajan, who scored nine points. For the hosts it was captain Parminder Singh who sparkled with 21 points to be closely followed by J.Muralidharan and S.Robnson, who scored 20 each. Buoyed by a partisan vociferous crowd, the Indian men, who had already qualified for the final following yesterday’s match, began with a bang and were on a scoring spree right from the word go. India will meet the winner of the match between Bangladesh and Maldives in tomorrow’s final.
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