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Wednesday,
June 20, 2001, Chandigarh, India   |
Favourable
draw for Sampras
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Pak 290 for nine Our
pacers bowled too short, says Wright ICC sets deadline for
Gupta
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Ganguly
should have opened innings KUMBLE WRITES
Costa
Rica upset Netherlands Thuram
expensive defender Jansher Khan
retires Hoshiarpur
in command Easy
for Archana Ferozepore
skittled out for 198 |
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Favourable draw for Sampras London, June 19 Sampras, seeking a record eighth title at the All-England club, is paired with clay court specialist Francisco Clavet of Spain in the first round and should then face the winner of the match between two British Wildcards Barry Cowan and Mark Hilton. The American is scheduled to meet Ecuador’s Nicolas Lapentti in the last 32. Lapentti is seeded 30th in the expanded 32-seed draw but has never gone beyond the second round at these grasscourt championships. If the seedings go according to plan Sampras should meet local hero Tim Henman, seeded sixth, in the quarter-finals and Marat Safin of Russia in the last four. Sampras beat Henman in the 1999 semifinal while the 21-year-old Safin has yet to get to grips with the slick grass surface at Wimbledon. World number one Hingis, bidding for a first Grand Slam title since the Australian Open in January 1999, should ease past Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain in the first round, but will be severely tested in the second round by rapidly improving Russian Lena Krasnoroutskaya, ranked 38th in the world, in the next. Waiting for the Swiss 20-year-old in the last 16 should be one of two experienced Spaniards — former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez seeded 19th or Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (13th) who are set to meet in the third round. Hingis should meet eighth seed Justine Henin of Belgium in the quarter-finals and could then confront, for the third successive Grand Slam, Jennifer Capriati. Capriati, who beat Hingis in the Australian Open final and in the semifinal in Paris on the way to French Open title, starts against Maria Alejandro Vento of Venezuela and has a fairly smooth ride to the last eight if she avoids a hiccup against Russian Tatiana Panova in the third round. But waiting for her in the quarter-finals should be the younger Williams sister Serena who is seeded fifth and was beaten in last year’s semifinals by her sister Venus. Defending champion Venus Williams is scheduled to meet Amelia Mauresmo of France in the quarter-finals and either the woman she beat in last year’s final Lindsay Davenport or losing French Open finalist Kim Clijsters of Belgium in the semis. On the men’s side second seed Andre Agassi, a winner here in 1992 is due to meet fifth seed Lleyton Hewitt of Australia, winner of the Queen’s grasscourt title last week, in the quarter-finals. If the 31-year old American wins through to the semifinals he could find himself up against third seed Patrick Rafter the Australian who knocked him out in a memorable semifinal last year.
Reuters |
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Easy 1st round draw for Paes-Bhupathi London, June 19 The Indian duo, ranked second in the world and seeded sixth here, should have no problem in crossing the first hurdle against their unseeded opponents, given their recent form on the ATP tour. They reached the semi-finals of a Wimbledon warm-up grass court event over the weekend. Top-seeded pair of Jonas Bjorkman and Todd Woodbridge have been drawn to play their opening match against French pair of Arnaud Clement and Nicolas Escude. The Paes-Bhupathi duo won the prestigious Wimbledon and French Open titles in 1999 and also reached the final of the other two Grand Slams the same year on their way to becoming the top doubles pair in the world. Wimbledon, the third Grand Slam of the year, starts on June 25.
PTI |
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Nottingham, June 19 Saleem Elahi and Yousuf Youhana contributed 79 and 44 runs respectively. Earlier, Steve Waugh led his Australian side off the field after 45 overs after pace bowler Brett Lee appeared to be hit by a firework thrown from the crowd. Pakistan were 250 for six when a series of firecrackers were let off in a stand before Lee, fielding at fine leg, appeared to be struck. The Australian players gathered in the middle of the pitch for a discussion before Waugh led them off. Announcements were made in English and Urdu, urging the crowd to stop letting off fireworks. Play resumed after 20 minutes. The incident is the latest controversy to hit the triangular tournament also involving England. Two matches involving Pakistan and England have been interrupted by pitch invasions. The second game, at Headingley on Sunday, ended with home captain Alec Stewart conceding the game rather than lead his players back on after hundreds of fans, mostly in Pakistani colours, ran onto the pitch with their team on the brink of victory. Pakistan: Saeed Anwar lbw b Lee 34 Saleem Elahi lbw b Warne 79 Razzaq c Fleming b Lee 5 Youhana st Gilchrist b Warne 44 Younis Khan c Gillespie b Martyn 23 Faisal Iqbal run out 12 Rashid Latif run out 26 Azhar Mahmood st Gilchrist b Symonds 15 Wasim Akram not out 28 Waqar Younis b Symonds 3 Saqlain Mushtaq not out 1 Extra: (b1, lb 2, w 14, nb 3) 20 Total: (9 wickets, 50 overs) 290 FOW: 1-61, 2-71, 3-164, 4-190, 5-207, 6-233, 7-257, 8-261, 9-274. Bowling: Fleming 10-2-38-0, Gillespie 10-0-58-0, Lee 10-1-41-2, Warne 9-1-60-2, Symonds 6-0-45-2, Martyn 5-0-45-1. |
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Our pacers bowled too short, says Wright Harare, June 19 A dismal failure with the bat himself — aggregating just 49 runs in the last seven Test innings — Ganguly blamed his batsmen for the defeat. As for the bowlers, “they did not bowl badly,” he said. New Zealander Wright, however, had tough words for both batsmen and bowlers from whom he expected greater discipline. Analysing India’s defeat which enabled the home side to level the series 1-1, Wright said the Indian batsmen must have the discipline and the ability to graft. “We must produce at least 300 runs on wickets that seam,” he said. “I think from the batting perspective, firstly, there are certain shots which are more difficult to play in conditions such as here. We have to adjust in places where the ball moves around a bit,” he said. India made just 237 and 234 batting first and most of its top order batsmen were out chasing deliveries outside the off-stump. “That to me is the stand-out reason. You probably got to occupy the crease a little more and rein in some of your attacking instincts,” the coach said. Ganguly conceded that his team lost the game in the first hour of the fourth morning. “You can’t lose seven wickets for 37 runs and expect to win. It was poor batting from top to number eleven,” he said. About his own inglorious role in the defeat, the skipper said: “There was a game plan for me to see off the new ball. I am a regular. It was my responsibility to see the new ball (off) and then hope the tailenders would do well later”. Wright was critical of the medium-pacers and the kind of line and length they maintained in the series. “We bowled too short. I think our medium-pacers have to learn to make the batsmen commit more on the front foot and bowl the off-stump line,” he said adding that currently India was not exactly overflowing with its bowling resources. “If you look at the two bowling sides, the Zimbabwe attack was good enough to dismiss the Indian batting line up which, on paper, looks very strong. I can’t see any reason why our bowlers can’t do the same,” the coach said. Ganguly, however, didn’t blame his bowlers. “I don’t think our bowlers bowled badly. Even the way we fought to defend 157 was heartening. If we had got to 225, it would have been a different ball game altogether,” he said. The skipper praised seamer Ashish Nehra and off spinner Harbhajan Singh for their bowling in the series. “Nehra bowled fantastically. He was our main bowler. We just didn’t have enough runs on the board (for him) to win us the game,” Ganguly said and added “as for Harbhajan, a haul of 32 wickets on these pitches was not possible. But still, he did a good job, he didn’t go for many runs and tied up one end”. Though lamenting the lack of bowling resources, Wright conceded that the bowlers did “a great job” and said “they were not the reason why this Test match was lost”. He said: “I think we do lack quality bowlers but we have to work hard. We got to use our resources as best as we can. Having said that, I am very encouraged by the performance of Ashish
Nehra. He has done brilliantly on this tour. PTI |
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ICC sets deadline for Gupta London, June 19 ICC’s anti-corruption chief Sir Paul Condon told newsmen here yesterday that he had issued an ultimatum to Gupta that unless he “lets us know by July 1 that he is willing to co-operate and give evidence either in India or outside of India, we must assume that he is not prepared to co-operate further.” A two-member team of the ACU will visit India later this week reinforcing this message. “Gupta will either agree to be a formal witness or he won’t. It’s a personal call,” Condon said. The ACU has interviewed Gupta twice and he verbally confirmed all the allegations he made as outlined in the report last year by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). These allegations have been denied by the individual players. However, Condon said Gupta will now have to agree to be a witness in legal or disciplinary proceedings as his claims were at the core of evidence in the CBI report. “It was not the only evidence but it was the principal evidence,” Condon said. “Gupta’s evidence is clearly central to the allegations. My concern is that, in addition to repeating the allegations, he has to stand up and be counted in disciplinary and legal proceedings”.
PTI |
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Nehra retained
for one-dayers Mumbai, June 19 Nehra, who emerged as the highest wicket-taker in the Test series with 11 wickets, had been left out of the one-day squad announced last week. “Nehra was asked to stay back in Zimbabwe as Indian team manager Chetan Chauhan had requested for him to stay back,” selection committee chairman Chandu Borde told PTI today. “Cricket board (BCCI) secretary Jaywant Lele contacted me last night from London and told me about Chauhan’s request,” Borde said and added that Lele also spoke to BCCI president A.C. Muthiah who gave his consent.
PTI |
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Ganguly
should have opened innings Chandigarh, June 19 There is an old tradition among cricket teams. They never change a winning combination. But India opted to drop Sadagopan Ramesh, a member of the team which won the first Test against Zimbabwe, and replaced with him with Hemang Badani. But the question which arises is: was Ramesh really injured or was he dropped from the team for reasons of poor form. True, Ramesh was not getting enough runs in the recent past but then which cricketer does not go through a bad patch. If one is to believe the team management then Ramesh was dropped due to a bad back, but going by the dressing room intrigues of the Indian team (and it is doubtful whether John Wright can set all things right by himself) then it is quite likely that Ramesh was asked to sit out from the playing eleven due to poor
form. And his team paid the heavy penalty for fiddling with the batting order. And having inducted Badani as a stop-gap opener, the team management made the next mistake by asking Sameer Dighe to open India’s second innings after Badani failed to get going in the first innings. What a huge waste of talent! And with Dighe being pushed up the order the gritty Mumbai batsmen was all at sea. And to compound India’s misery not only did Dighe fail at the top but the Indian tail also could not wag in the second innings as the Indians lost their last seven wickets for just 37 runs. The biggest failure in the batting line-up was the skipper Saurav Ganguly himself. With a score of just five in the first Test he could score just nine and zero in the second Test. But more than just bad cricket one got the feeling that the Indian skipper was trying to hide himself given the fact that he did not come out to bat at his regular place and instead opted to bat after Rahul Dravid. The runs from the bat of the Indian skipper has simply dried up. His last nine Test innings have yielded a meagre 120 runs with the 48 against Australia at Kolkata being his highest score. He will have to go back to the nets to iron out his problems because without his services in the Indian middle order the pressure on the other batsman is all that more. What Ganguly could have done in the second Test against Zimbabwe was to don the mantle of an opener (which he does so with so much success in the shorter version of the game) and let Badani or Dighe bat at their usual places. This move might have given the Indian batting a better success rate. But then there is no use crying over missed chances. The other Indian batsman who cannot escape the brickbats for the Harare defeat is the young V.V.S. Laxman. So elegant a batsmen, he looked to be trying to commit harakiri with his play. Maybe John Wright has to talk to this young lad with so much potential. But potential without application will be of very little use to Indian cricket. Laxman must remember that his recent success against the Australians at home should not go into his head. He still has a lot to learn. Maybe, he can pick up some useful tips from Sachin Tendulkar who always bats with the interest of the team in mind. For once the Indian bowlers cannot be faulted for not trying hard enough but one wonders what Ajit Agarkar is doing in the Indian team. This Mumbai bowler has done nothing of note and his continuation in the Indian team is a slur on the national selectors who have, by and large, done a very commendable job. |
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KUMBLE WRITES It was a very creditable performance by Zimbabwe defeating India by four wickets in the second Test at Harare. Zimbabwe appeared to have resolved to come back in the wake of a 1-0 deficit. Their batting and bowling was a lot more disciplined with their out cricket being excellent. Heath Streak, the skipper led by example with a superb all round display. I reiterate that the first innings of a Test match is always the most important and this is where we lost our way. Having won the toss, 237 runs was not one would expect our batsmen to come up with after having won the first Test so convincingly. Hemang looked nervous in the first innings of his Test career; having opened in the first innings he should have continued to do so in the second. Be that as it may I still believe Rahul Dravid is more suited for this job especially his overseas record as also his great run against Zimbabwe. Yet again he contributed with a useful half century before running out of partners. Das really looks solid after each innings and deservedly he won the Man of the Series award. The pitch at the Harare Sports Club had a spongy bounce and it looked as though our batsmen played too many shots very early in the innings. One man to be most disappointed will be Laxman; after having got a promising start in every innings in this series he did not go on to make a big score. One session in the second innings changed the whole complexion of the game. After losing Rahul in the last over on the third day we lost the remaining six wickets for nothing on the fourth day. Credit must be given to the Zimbabwe bowlers: Heath Streak, Travis Friend in the first innings and Andy Blignaut in the second innings each of whom bowled to a plan. They bowled outside the off stump with the older ball and came closer at the batsmen with the new cherry. From the Zimbabwe viewpoint this series has brought about some young achievers in Dion Ebrahim, Stuart Carlisle, Watambwa, Friend and Blignaut. The Flower brothers were in full bloom again. What a difference it makes when the mental attitude of a bowler changes from being a “stock bowler “ to a strike bowler! This was clearly evident in Blignaut’s performance in the second innings after Watambwa was restricted due to a hamstring injury. A score of 157 runs was never enough - but the way our bowlers went about showed a lot of fight in them. Srinath bowled a fiery spell in the second innings and the determination on his face to achieve his first overseas series victory for India in his 10 yearlong career was clearly evident. There were a lot of positives from this series, Das’s accomplishments with the bat, Nehra and Harbhajan with the ball. This formidable Indian side that achieved victory over the mighty Aussies and beat Zimbabwe in their home front should not get disheartened because of this defeat.
(Gameplan) |
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Retief Goosen wins US Open Tulsa, Oklahoma, June 19 Goosen led by five strokes with two holes to play and despite bogeys on the last two holes he defeated Brooks with an even-par round of 70 to 72 for his opponent. The victory was sweet vindication for Goosen, who missed a putt from less than two feet at the last hole on Sunday that would have given him the title then and there. Instead, Goosen and Brooks, who both three-putted for bogey on the 72nd hole, finished tied at four-under-par 276 to set up the 32nd playoff in US Open history. “What happened yesterday was tough,’’ Goosen said of his failure to close out victory on Sunday. “I just told myself that day is gone and today is a new day. I slept okay last night.’’ Still, 90 holes over the testing Southern Hills course where only four players broke par for the championship, provided a gruelling test. “It’s been a long week for me. It feels like a year,’’ said Goosen. “It’s just amazing to do this.’’ Victory for Goosen over the 195-ranked Brooks moved the South African from 44th to 26th in the world rankings. Goosen, (32), collected a $ 900,000 top prize in winning his first major championship. “I’m proud of what I’ve done,’’ said Goosen, who joined Ernie Els and Gary Player as South African winners of the US championship. “It’s been a pressure week for me.’’ It was not the first time Goosen has bounced back from a disappointing miss to win a championship. He failed to convert a putt within three feet to win the French Open in 1999, but went on to prevail in a play-off. Brooks held an early one-shot lead after making birdie at the 408-yard third hole, but Goosen caught him with a five-foot birdie putt at the par-three sixth. Goosen, who scrambled to make his pars until late on the front side, gained a one-shot advantage when Brooks bogeyed the seventh. Brooks, (40), was losing control off the tee and spending too much time in the deep rough at Southern Hills.
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Costa Rica upset Netherlands Buenos Aires, June 19 France produced the most impressive performance yesterday as they hammered Iran 5-0, all their goals coming in the last 31 minutes, including a hat-trick from Djibril Cisse. The Netherlands, coached by Louis van Gaal, arrived as one of the pre-tournament favourites but were outplayed by their Central American opponents in the group E match in Salta. Cristian Montero gave Costa Rica the lead after 38 minutes and two goals in six minutes early in the second half by Winston Parks killed off the Dutch challenge before Youssouf Hersi pulled one back midway through the second half. Parks’s goals rewarded an outstanding performance during which he was a constant thorn in the side of the Dutch defence. Ecuador came from behind to beat Ethiopia 2-1 in the group’s other game, their better teamwork overcoming the individually gifted Africans who received the competition’s first red card when defender Tesfaye Kefyalew was sent off in the 88th minute. Solomon Andargachw gave Ethiopia a shock lead with a fourth minute penalty. But Roberto Mina equalised in the 25th minute and central defender Jorge Guagua, who is already with quito army club El Nacional, scored the winner in the 63rd minute. Iran matched France for nearly an hour of their group F game in Mar Del Plata but collapsed after falling behind to a Herve Bugnet goal. Philippe Mexes made it 2-0 in the 62nd minute and Cisse completed the rout with goals after 66, 87 and 90 minutes as the Iranians lost heart. The game was preceded by Ghana’s 2-1 win over Paraguay. The Africans won thanks to two goals in a five-minute spell early in the second half, first from Michael Assien and then from Derek Boateng. Tomas Guzman pulled one back for the South Americans in the 69th minute but Ghana deserved their win. The day’s other games, played in Rosario in group D, saw Angola and the Czech Republic draw 0-0 and Australia beat Japan 2-0. Kenji Haneda put through his own goal after 59 minutes and Gregory Owens scored a second 10 minutes later. Reuters |
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Thuram expensive defender Milan, June 19 Thuram signed for five years with Juventus on Monday, and the daily Gazzetta dello Sport reported the transfer fee was 80 billion Italian lire ($35.40 million). Although neither club announced the fee, the reported figure breaks the previous world record for a defender set when Leeds United signed England international Rio Ferdinand from West Ham United for $25 million last November.
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Lahore, June 19 “I achieved what few people have achieved at the international level and I enjoyed my career to the hilt,” Khan told AFP. The 33-year-old Khan won over 100 international titles including a record eight world opens, six British Opens and nine Hong Kong Open crowns. The Peshawar-born Khan was number one in the world rankings for a record 10 years from 1987 to 1997. “I now want to spend most of my time preaching Islam throughout the world,” Khan said.
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Hoshiarpur
in command Patiala, June 19 Brief scores : Fathegarh Sahib (Ist Innings) 115 all out (Parminder Singh 28, Ajay Channi 27, Lucky 24, Prince Bhatia 18, Varun Sharma 3 for 11, Deepak Gatta 3 for 43, Vikramjit 3 for 22) Hoshiarpur (Ist Innings) 157 for 2 (Jatinder Pal 81 n.o, Kuldeep Singh 51 n.o, Manmeet 1 for 19, Satwant Singh 1 for 19) In another match played at the Dhruv Pandove stadium, a blazing unbeaten century by Tavish Gupta (105 n.o) and a sedate 45 by Karan enabled Ludhiana to pile up 160 for 1 against Moga. Earlier Moga were all out for 106 with medium pacer Love Sharma ripping the innings with a fine spell of 6 for 23. Brief scores: Moga (Ist Innings) 106 all out (Charankamal 32, Love Sharma 6 for 23, Ashish 3 for 36, Varun 1 for 14) Ludhiana: (Ist Innings) 160 for 1 (Tavish Gupta 105 n.o, Karan 45). |
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Easy for
Archana New Delhi, June 19 Sekar was the only player to be extended the full distance, and made to fight for each point as results on day two went on expected lines. Like Archana, third seeded Sheetal Goutham also posted a quick victory, rushing past Nandini Perumal 6-2, 6-2 without any fanfare. The other seeded player, sixth seed Nandita Chandrasekhar, beat Sricharanya Thiagarajan 6-3, 6-0 while unseeded Isha Lakhani got the better of Vishika Chhetri 6-3, 6-4, to complete the singles first round matches. In doubles too, seeded players exerted their supremacy by posting straight set wins, though the second seeded pair of Karishma Patel and Sonal Phadke were given a run for their money by Kamini Murugabhoopathy and the US-based Laila Shetty before coasting home by 7-6, 6-1. Top seeds Sheetal Goutham and Liza Pereira made mincemeat of Marutha Devi and Nandini Perumal 6-0, 6-1 while third seeds Preeti Rao and Samrita Sekar made short work of Nandita Chandrasekhar and Yamini Thukkaiandi 6-3, 6-1. The Venkataraman sisters, Archana and Arthi, seeded fourth, beat Naina Karsolia and Surabhi Singh 6-3, 6-0 while the unseeded Danish-Canadian pair of Amanda Parson-Seigel and Annie Trepanier crushed Mansi Majeji and Sonali Sanap 6-0, 6-1. In other doubles matches, Sai Swapna Ramakrishnan and Sandra Sasidharan beat Noopur Desai and Ridhina Parekh 7-5, 6-2, Ankita Bhambri and Isha Lakhani beat Vishika Chhetri and Tara Kanbargimath 6-2, 6-3 and Lata Assudani and Rati Kumar beat Deepa Chakrabarthy and Sricharnya Thiagarajan 6-3, 6-4. |
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Ferozepore
skittled out for 198 Amritsar June 19 For Amritsar Dinesh Murli and S.P. Singh picked up three wickets each. At close of play Amritsar were 150 for two with S.P. Singh 82 not out and Baljit 38 not out. Brief scores: Ferozepore 198 all out (Deepak Creanu 96, Digvijay 25, Dinesh Murli 3/39, S.P. Singh 3/41, Varinder 2/49). Amritsar: 150 for 2 (Varun Mishra 30, S.P. Singh 82 not out and Baljit 38 not out). |
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Ropar shooting Chandigarh, June 19 |
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