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April 23, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Baroda wrest initiative with early wickets Rahman stuns Lewis to lift crown
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South Africa need 386 for victory Omar shines as B’desh
humbled NFL heading for photo
finish Gopichand to lead challenge Ricky, Laxman guide IA into
final Rajeev for Birmingham
league
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Baroda wrest initiative with early wickets Baroda, April 22 After bowling out Baroda for 373, Railways set upon the task with confidence but some tight bowling from the hosts, helped by a turning wicket, made them sweat for every run. Valmik Buch and Ajit Bhoite claimed two wickets each to lead the Baroda fightback. Bhoite bowled Railway opener Sanjay Bangar for 7 and within a space of four runs, caught and bowled Amit Pagnis for 31. Baroda exploited the pressure on the Railway team to their advantage and impressed with agile fielding which paid dividends when new man in Tejinderpal Singh failed to judge a delivery from Buch and holed out to Zaheer Khan for five. Captain Abhay Sharma, who looked in good nick, and Yere Goud, could hardly settle down when Buch struck again to have Sharma caught by Connor Williams for 17. With six wickets in hand, Railways still need 132 runs on the final day for their first Ranji Trophy triumph. Yere Goud, batting on 17, and Sudhir Wankhede, unbeaten on 11, have the enormous responsibility of enabling their team to reach the target when play resumes tomorrow. Earlier, Baroda rode on Satayjit Parab’s highest Ranji Trophy score of 141 runs to post a healthy 373 in their second innings. Parab, who hit his fourth century this season, added 116 runs with his captain Jacob Martin which erased their first innings deficit of 151 runs. Parab, who hit 15 fours in his 263-ball knock, was finally stumped by Abhay Sharma off Tejinderpal Singh after three and half hours at the crease. Martin took the centrestage after Parab’s dismissal and held forte from one end as he saw wickets fall at regular intervals from the other. Tenjinderpal struck again when he had Tushar Arothe caught by Bangar for 21 after the addition of 40 runs to the Baroda total. Railways took the new ball after the 100th over and the move bore fruits immediately when H. Jadav was caught behind the wickets by Abhya Sharma off Bangar for just one. Bhoite joined his captain and stayed there for sometime to provide able assistance to Martin. Martin reached his 50 off 151 balls with the help of five fours shortly before lunch break and continued to stroke freely in the second session too. Bhoite fell after the addition of 13 runs in the post-lunch session with the score reading 324 for six. Bhoite made 14 before
being caught by Sharma off Bangar. Buch (0) and Irfan Pathan (6) followed him to the pavillion soon. Zaheer Khan (19) added 28 runs for the ninth wicket with his captain before Martin ran out of partners with Zaheer and Rakesh Patel falling in quick succession. Martin remained unbeaten on 87. Scoreboard Baroda (1st inning): 243 Railways (1st inning): 394. Baroda (2nd innings): C. Williams c Bangar b Tejinderpal 41, S. Parab st Sharma b Tejinderpal 141, N. Nongia c Harvinder b Kartik 15, J. Martin not out 87, T. Arothe c Bangar b Tejinderpal 21, H. Jadhav c Sharma b Bangar 1, A. Bhoite c Sharma b Bangar 14, V. Buch c Kartik b Harvinder 0, I. Pathan c Sharma b Bangar 6, Z. Khan c Sharma b Tejinderpal 19, R. Patel c Gody b Kartik 0. Extras:
(b-9, lb-3, nb-14, w-2) 28 Total: (all out, 124 overs) 373 Fall of wickets:
1-102, 2-143, 3-259, 4-299, 5-302, 6-324, 7-325, 8-342, 9-370. Bowling:
Harvinder 25-3-83-1, S. Bangar 34-10-94-3, Kartik 36-4-82-2, S. Khanolkar 2-0-20-0, Tejinderpal Singh 27-0-82-4. Railways (2nd innings): A. Pagnis c and b Bhoite 31, S. Bangar b Buch 7, Tejinderpal Singh c Zaheer b Bhoite 5, Y. Goud batting 17, A. Sharma c Williams b Buch 17, S. Wankhede batting 11, Extras:
(lb-1, nb-2) 3 Total: (for 4 wkts, 32 overs) 91 Fall of wickets:
1-40, 2-44, 3-46, 4-69. Bowling: Zaheer Khan 9-0-27-0, I. Pathan 2-0-13-0, V. Buch 12-4-26-2, A. Bhoite 9-1-24-2.
PTI |
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Sodhi, Ratra, Kaif selected Baroda, April 22 Apart from the obvious choices of Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar, national selectors, who met here, also chose Debashish Mohanty, Ashish Nehra, Harvinder Singh and Rakesh Patel for the conditioning camp to be held in Bangalore from May 13 to 18. Sameer Dighe and Ajay Ratra are the two wicket-keepers in the list which also includes four spinners, Harbhajan Singh, Sharandeep Singh, Rahul Sanghvi and Sairaj
Bahutule. India will play two Tests against Zimbabwe followed by a triangular one-day series also involving West Indies. Saurav Ganguly was yesterday retained as the captain of the team for Zimbabwe
tour. Probables: Saurav Ganguly (capt), Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar,
V.V.S. Laxman, Hemang Badani, Sadagopan Ramesh, Shiv Sunder Das, Mohammed
Kaif, Yuvraj Singh, Virendra Sehwag, Dinesh Mongia, Samir Dighe, Ajay Ratra, Deep Das Gupta, Javagal Srinath, Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, Harvinder Singh, Ashish Nehra, Debasish Mohanty, Rakesh Patel, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Harbhajan Singh, Sharandeep Singh, Rahul Sanghvi and Sairaj
Bahutule. Borde gave a list of players who were discussed but finally left out. Prominent among them were Venkatesh Prasad, who for the second consecutive international season has been ignored, Vijay Dahiya who was considered unfit, Jacob Martin, Murali Kartik, Satyajit
Parab, Milap Mewada, Vikram Rathore and Sanjay Bangar. Leggie Anil Kumble was not considered as he had informed the BCCI of not having recovered fully after a shoulder surgery. Kumble, who had missed the entire tour of Australia, said he was still unable to turn his shoulder. When it was pointed out why Railways captain and wicketkeeper Abhay Sharma was left out, Borde said it was due to the age factor and the player was considered too old. When asked that Dighe was
almost as old as Sharma, Borde defended Dighe’s inclusion, saying it was a reward for his scoring the winning runs against Australia in the deciding third test. However, he agreed that Dighe’s work behind stumps was shabby. Bengal’s wicketkeeper Dipdas Gupta’s name was almost pulled out from the hat. Borde defended his inclusion saying it was done keeping in mind the future. Cricket board Secretary Jaywant Lele said a 15-member team for Zimbabwe will be selected in Bangalore at the completion of the camp on May 18. “We might make a few changes for the triangular series involving India, Zimbabwe and West Indies,” Lele said. While Dighe has kept wickets for India, Haryana wicket-keeper Ratra and Bengal stumper
Dasgupta, both of whom had a good domestic season this year, have been considered in the national squad for the first time.
PTI, UNI |
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Rahman stuns Lewis to lift crown
Lewis went in for the kill and had Rahman on the ropes but then inexplicably backtracked across the ring, apparently taunting his struggling opponent. It was to cost Lewis dear. As he came back off the ropes Rahman launched a massive right hand which arced through Lewis’ defence and caught the 35-year-old Briton flush on the chin. Lewis was pole-axed by the blow and didn’t even come close to beating the referee’s count, needing to be helped to his feet by Belgian referee Daniel Van de Vielde. Lewis had entered the ring at a career-high weight of 253 pounds, fuelling speculation that he had not trained properly for the bout after spending time during the build-up on set of a Hollywood movie. But he insisted his preparation had been sound and said Rahman had caught him with a lucky punch. “I’d just like to say people were making a big deal about Hasim Rahman coming here three weeks before me and about my fitness. All I can say is that was nothing to do with it,” Lewis said. “You have to give Hasim Rahman a lot of credit. He came in tough — he wasn’t scared. He was looking to win the fight and throwing lots of good punches — it just so happens that I stepped into one of them.” “I landed on the canvas pretty hard and hit my head and this is what happens in heavyweight boxing. He got lucky.” “He won this round but I will be back. I will be back, said Lewis, who had a rematch clause inserted in the pre-fight contract in the event of him losing.” Rahman admitted he had been in trouble when he landed is sensational counter punch, but said the fight had gone perfectly to plan. “Someone once told me that luck was being prepared when opportunity presents itself, and I feel we were ready and prepared today,” Rahman said. “I couldn’t see out of my left eye because blood was starting to pour into it but I just kept swinging because I knew where he was. I caught him with a great punch and that was it,” he said. Rahman, who won a legion of admirers here during the build-up for his down-to-earth and humble approach, said he was willing to defend his title in South Africa. “The people of South Africa have been amazing to me since I arrived. Everybody has been rooting for me. The people have been truly beautiful and I’m simply happy that I could give this to them,” he said. “I thank Allah, He was with me,” said Rahman, a practising Muslim who prays five times a day. “Lennox Lewis has been a great champion and was a great champion to give me a title shot. It’s only fair that I give him one back so I’m ready to give him another chance,” Rahman said, sidestepping talk of a possible fight with Mike Tyson. Rahman’s win is one of the biggest upsets in boxing history. Only twice in recent times has a heavyweight champion been beaten at longer odds, Tyson in 1990 against James ‘Buster’ Douglas, a 42-1 outsider, and Tyson again in 1996 when Evander Holyfield beat him as a 25-1 underdog. The odds on Rahman had narrowed sharply to around 9-1 at the Carnival City casino, but a spokesman for the glitzy resort on the outskirts of Johannesburg would not speculate on whether the casino had suffered a loss on the fight. The defeat was only the second in Lewis’ long career leaving him at 38-2-1. Rahman moved to 35-2 after the victory. Defeat was a bitter humiliation for Lewis who had asked to have the fight staged in South Africa to emulate his hero Muhammad Ali’s famous “Rumble in the Jungle” victory over George Foreman in 1974. But he had endured an unhappy time since arriving in South Africa, with local promoters and media branding his camp arrogant for arriving late at Press conferences. His camp’s unpopularity was reflected by the fact that the crowd at Carnival City soon started roaring “Hasim, Hasim” the moment it became apparent Lewis was not going to seal the easy victory he had been expecting. Worse still for Lewis his exit from the ring was greeted by a chorus of boos from the home fans, who had feted Rahman on his exit.
AFP  Johannesburg, April 22 But while Rahman had said last week he was glad at the prospect of “making people rich” by winning the title at such massive odds, no one in his camp had wagered on the 28-year-old’s upset. The boxer’s manager Stan Hoffman said Rahman’s camp had a strict no gambling policy. “It’s a policy I insist on — none of us are allowed to bet on one of our own fighters, or fights that they are involved in,” he said. “We figure it’s not very good for morale and potentially it could put you in an awkward position,” the affable 57-year-old said. “But I’m happy for all those people who made a little bit of money tonight,” he added. The betting for Rahman defeating Lewis opened at 20-1 but narrowed in the hours before the fight. Odds on Rahman winning by knockout in the fifth round remained at a whopping 100-1.
AFP |
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South Africa need 386 for victory Kingston, April 22 Only two teams have successfully chased a target of more than 386. India made 406 for four against the West Indies in Port of Spain in 1975/76 and Australia made 404 for three to beat England at Leeds in 1948. The West Indian innings ended shortly before lunch when Courtney Walsh, who was given a guard of honour by the South African players as he walked out to play his last Test innings, skied a catch to point. West Indian vice-captain Ridley Jacobs, who has been their batsman of the series with his maiden century and an unbeaten half-century, again frustrated the South African bowlers, taking his overnight score of 67 to 85 on a morning during which half an hour’s play was lost because of rain. Jacobs and Cameron Cuffy thwarted South African hopes of wrapping up the innings quickly when they put on 32 for the ninth wicket in 19.1 overs after the home side had lost overnight batsman Dinanath Ramnarine in the day’s first over. South African captain Shaun Pollock took a wicket with his third ball when ramnarine edged a low catch to Daryll Cullinan at first slip. After catching the ball, Cullinan threw it up in the air as he fell to his left. He then tried unsuccessfully to grab the ball again before it fell to the ground. Ramnarine stood at the crease before being given out by umpire Srinivas Venkataraghavan. The decision was greeted by boos from some of the crowd. Although Cullinan clearly held the ball cleanly his own actions indicated he was not entirely sure he had fulfilled the requirements of law 32.3 that a catch is completed “when a fielder obtains complete control over the ball and over his own movement.” Jacobs was content to keep most of the strike and to use up overs to reduce the chances of South Africa making a successful chase on what remained a good pitch for batting. The 34-year-old was ninth man out when he pulled Lance Klusener to deep midwicket after facing 191 balls and hitting seven fours. Walsh received a standing ovation from his home town crowd as he walked through a guard of honour formed by the South African players and not out batsman Cuffy. There were loud cheers when Walsh lofted left-arm spinner Paul Adams over mid-off for two but when he tried to repeat the shot he hit an easy catch to Gary Kirsten at point. Earlier yesterday the home side, who earned a first innings lead of 84 after bowling the tourists out for 141 on the second day, collapsed to 126 for five — a lead of just 210 — before Jacobs (67 not out) and Samuels (59) restored their superiority yesterday with a sixth-wicket stand of 58 as South Africa’s disciplined bowling and fielding withered under a sweltering sun. Resuming in apparent command at 34 without loss and a lead of 118, the day soon turned against the West Indies when opener Leon Garrick was out after superb fast bowling from Allan Donald had set him up during a counter-punching exchange half an hour into play. SCOREBOARD West Indies (1st innings): 225 South Africa (1st innings): 141 West Indies (2nd innings): (overnight 255-7) Garrick c Boucher b Donald 27 Gayle b Pollock 32 Chanderpaul c Cullinan b Kemp 7 Lara b Adams 14 Samuels b Pollock 59 Hooper c Pollock b Kallis 5 Jacobs c McKenzie b Klusener 85 Dillon c Gibbs b Pollock 13 Ramnarine c Cullinan b Pollock 9 Cuffy not out 13 Walsh c Kirsten b Adams 3 Extras (b-14, lb-13, w-4, nb-3) 34 Total (all out, 129.5 overs) 301 Fall of wickets:
1-47, 2-55, 3-77, 4-103, 5-126, 6-184, 7-229, 8-255, 9-287. Bowling:
Donald 20-8-54-1, Pollock 34-8-66-4, Kallis 28-10-56-1, Adams 21.5-7-54-2, Kemp 18-9-30-1, Klusener 8-3-14-1.
AFP |
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Omar shines as B’desh
humbled
Bulawayo, April 22 Bangladesh resumed on the fourth day on 91 for two needing 200 to make Zimbabwe bat again, but they were dismissed for 168 in the fourth over after lunch. Zimbabwe had scored 457 in reply to Bangladesh’s first-innings total of 257. Zimbabwe captain and fast bowler Heath Streak led by example, bowling tightly and aggressively for his figures of three for 37. Bangladesh opener Javed Omar provided the only real resistance with an undefeated 85 for the tourists. Bangladesh wicketkeeper Khaled Mashud did not bat in the second innings after fracturing his ankle during the warm-up yesterday. The second and final Test starts in Harare on Thursday. Bangladesh’s problems began in the fifth over when Aminul Islam, on 11 and with the score on 105, slashed a ball from fast bowler Heath Streak to Dion Ebrahim at third man. His dismissal sparked a slide that saw six wickets fall for 55 runs. Ebrahim took a second catch at short square leg to remove Akram Khan off fast bowler Andy Blignaut. Scoreboard Bangladesh (1st innings): 257 Zimbabwe (1st innings ): 457 Bangladesh (2nd innings): J. Omar not out 85 M. Hossain b Streak 0 Bashar c Murphy b Watambwa 24 A. Islam c Ebrahim b Streak 11 A. Khan c Ebrahim b Blignaut 8 N. Rahman c and b Nkala 6 M. Rahman c Nkala b Watambwa 2 H. Hossain c G. Flower b Streak 6 M. Sharif c Whittall b Blignaut 8 M. Islam c and b Blignaut 6 Extras (lb2, w6, nb4) 12 Total (9wkts, 58.3overs) 168 Fall
of wickets: 1-6, 2-61, 3-105, 4-116, 5-129, 6-138, 7-149, 8-160, 9-168 Bowling:
Streak 19-5-42-3, Blignaut 13.3-3-37-3, Watambwa 13-3-44-2, Nkala 9-0-34-1, Murphy 4-1-9-0.
Reuters |
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NFL heading for photo
finish Chandigarh, April 22
East Bengal, eyeing their maiden title victory, are currently leading the table with 40 points. Arch rivals Mohun Bagan, placed second, are in hot pursuit with 39 points. With both the teams due to play two matches each, the contest is wide open. While victories in the remaining ties against FC Kochin(April 24) and SBT(April 30) will put the title in East Bengal's lap, Mohun Bagan also need to win their remaining two ties against Vasco(April 26) and ITI(April 30) and simultaneously hope that their arch rivals draw or lose one game. In case East Bengal draw their remaining two ties and Mohun Bagan win one and lose one, both outfits will be level on 42 points in which case Mohun Bagan may pip their rivals for the title on better goal average. Till now, Mohun Bagan have scored the maximum 37 goals while East Bengal have scored 25. FC Kochin, trailing at the third spot with 34 points, can only hope for maintaining their current position. The other teams, including Goa's Churchill Brothers, Salgaocar, and Vasco, besides Tollygunge Agragami of Kolkata will be hoping to finish somewhere in the middle. Five
teams, namely Mahindra United, ITI, JCT, Air-India, and SBT are in the relegation zone and two finishing at the bottom will be out of the National Football League next season and will be replaced by the winners and runners-up of the second division currently under way at Malda(West Bengal).At present Air-India and SBT with 18 and 17
points, respectively, are at the bottom and the last two rounds will be crucial as their fate hangs in the
balance. The league is scheduled to end on April 30. |
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Gopichand to lead challenge New Delhi, April 22 Eight teams, including Indonesia, the winner of the last two editions, South Korea, China, Japan, Malaysia, India, Hong Kong and Singapore — will vie for the top honours in this $ 170,000 prize-money event. The title winning team is assured of a cheque of $ 80,000. Apart from Gopichand other members of the Indian team are, Abhinn Shyam Gupta, Jaseel Ismail and Vincent. After the Asian championship, the world team championship (men and women) for Sudirman Cup will be held in Seville, Spain, from May 29 to June 2 to be followed by the individual world championships from June 3 to 10. According to an IBF Press note, a record 57 teams have sent their entries for the Sudirman Cup which is second highest ever in the 12-year-old history of the Cup. India is placed in Pool 3B, with Hong Kong, Austria and Wales, for the Sudirman Cup. Title winners for the last three editions China has been top seeded and are clubbed with Korea and Sweden in pool 1A. |
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Ricky, Laxman guide IA into final Lucknow, April 22 Airlines, who made 250 runs at the loss of seven wickets in the alloted 40 overs, today made two changes in their team, bringing in test stars V.V.S. Laxman and Harbhajan Singh. In answer, they gave a superb display in the bowling department as well, bundling out the Railways team for 106 runs in just 25.2 overs. Laxman (70) and Ravneet Ricky (83) put up a valuable 134-run second wicket stand for the airmen. Laxman was finally caught by Jha off Suresh Raina. He hit one six and five boundaries in his 66-ball stay while Ricky’s knock included two sixes and four boundaries in 93 deliveries. After Laxman’s departure just under the 25th over, the Airlines wickets fell at regular interval. However, Munish Sharma hit a hurricane 40 in 43 balls with the help of two sixes and two boundaries. Chasing a victory target of 251, the railway team started their campaign on a disastrous note, losing the first wicket in the very first ball when Awadhesh was caught by Laxman off Abdul Qayoom. Shivadhar Bajpayee (23) and Narender Singh (51 not out) carried the score to 49 before Bajpai was caught behind off Sukhvinder Singh. Narender hit one six and five boundaries in his unbeaten 51 runs. Harbhajan bowled four overs, giving away 12 runs without any success while Nikhil Chopra and Sukhvinder Singh shared five and four wickets conceding 21 and 30 runs, respectively. Brief score: Indian Airlines:
250 for 7 in 40 overs (Ravneet Ricky 83, V.V.S. Laxman 70, Munish Sharma 40, Nikhil Chopra 15 not out, O.P. Tewari 2 for 47, Suresh Raina 2 for 42, Chandra Prakash 2 for 48) Northern Railway: 106 all out in 25.2 overs (Narender Singh 51 not out, Shivadhar Bajpayee 23, Arvind Kapoor 12, Nikhil Chopra 5 for 21, Sukhvinder Singh 4 for 30, A. Qayoom 1 for 19).
UNI |
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Rajeev for Birmingham
league Chandigarh, April 22 This is Rajeev’s seventh assignment to play county matches in England. He is to join the club before the end of April. The assignment with the club, which ends on September 19, includes playing in 28 league matches and eight knock-out competitions. Playing for Himachal Pradesh he crossed 5,000 runs in the Ranji Trophy this year. His average is 48.80 in the Ranji Trophy and 80.88 in the Duleep Trophy. Last year Rajeev broke the 40-year-old world record of Hanif Mohammad (Pakistan) when he stayed at the crease for 16 hours and 15 minutes scoring 271 runs. In this record knock, Rajeev hit 26 fours and one six. Rajeev also became the second highest run-getter last year. He scored 980 runs in eight matches. He was the only batsman to score two centuries in the Duleep Trophy (in the semi-final and final match) Rajeev is all set to leave for his county cricket assignment. The tentative date for his departure is April 26. |
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West Indies fast bowler Courtney Walsh is greeted by Jamaican school children as he was honoured by the West Indies Cricket Board at the Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica, on Saturday. Walsh became Test cricket's highest wicket-taker when he passed Indian all-rounder Kapil Dev's 434 wickets in a Test against Zimbabwe last year. He reached the 500-wicket mark in the second Test of the current series against South Africa and started the fifth and final Test with 513 wickets. 
West Indies fast bowler Courtney Walsh holds a statue of himself as he was honoured by the West Indies Cricket Board at the Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica on Saturday. 
