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Sunday,
June 24, 2001, Chandigarh, India   |
India keen to reassert
supremacy
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West Indies down crisis-struck
Zimbabwe Consolation win for India Malaysia beat
India 2-1 |
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Jyoti Randhawa
misses cut
Fencer to move court against
dept Sonal walks away with title
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India keen to reassert supremacy Harare, June 23 With a 26-6 win-loss record, India obviously have an edge against their rivals and start favourites against the home side devoid of charismatic Andy Flower and which has a new captain at the helm. Grant Flower took over as the new captain of Zimbabwe after Heath Streak stepped down just ahead of the opening match against West Indies today. That the Indians have left the setback of the four-wicket loss in the second Test far behind was in evidence in the thumping 10-wicket win over Zimbabwe ‘A’ in a practice match yesterday. But probably the most important reason for the Indians to feel confident about their prospects would be the absence of Andy Flower, the most prolific Zimbabwean scorer against India. For the same reason, Zimbabwe would be a bit worried, for it is the inspirational Andy Flower around whom the entire innings of the team revolves. He has played the sheet anchor role on so many occasions that it has become almost impossible to think of a Zimbabwe side without him. The Indians have some more reasons to cheer about. The four players called specially for the one-dayers looked in fine touch in the practice match yesterday with Virendra Sehwag making a blistering unbeaten 75 off just 53 balls. Sehwag is almost a certainty for tomorrow’s match along with Hemang Badani who too has been quite consistent in the limited overs matches. Captain Saurav Ganguly must be feeling a little better after scoring a few runs yesterday and the team would be hoping his bad run with the bat finally gets over here. Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid have all looked good here though the big innings has eluded them so far. They have got accustomed to the conditions though they need to adhere to Streak’s advice of exercising a bit more patience while batting. All-rounder Reetinder Singh Sodhi and middle-order batsman Dinesh Mongia, who joined the one-day team along with Sehwag and fast bolwer Harvinder Singh, would find it difficult to make it to the team considering they are yet to have a feel of the conditions here. It would be interesting to see the bowling composition of the team. With Delhi Seamer Ashish Nehra being asked to stay back after performing exceedingly well in the Test series, India have four pace options and at least three of them are certain to play considering the seamer-friendly wickets here. For Zimbabwe, 17-year-old schoolboy Tatenda Taibu, who made his debut against West Indies today, has been entrusted with the job of keeping the wickets in the place of Andy Flower. In the absence of Andy Flower, his brother and new captain Grant Flower, who had a tremendous Test series against India, will have to shoulder the major responsibility. Stuart Carlisle and Dion Ebrahim have shown their hunger for runs and Alistair Campbell in long overdue for a big innings. In the bowling department, David Mutendera and Mluleki Nkala form a formidable combination in the company of Streak and Andy Blignaut. Grant Flower and Brian Murphy will take care of the spin department. Teams (from): India: Saurav Ganguly (capt), Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid, Hemang Badani, Virendra Sehwag, Dinesh Mongia, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Samir Dighe, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Debasish Mohanty, Ajit Agarkar, Ashish Nehra, Harvinder Singh. Zimbabwe:
Grant Flower (capt), Alistair Campbell, Dion Ebrahim, Stuart Carlisle, Guy Whittall, Heath Streak, Brian Murphy, Mluleki Nkala, Andy Blignaut, Tatenda Taibu, Dirk Viljoen, David Mutendera.
PTI |
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Saurav Ganguly writes THE
one-day series starts tomorrow at the Harare Sports Club. It’s a series which starts with lot of things going around in both the Zimbabwe and the West Indies teams. Heath Streak resigned from captaincy in the morning of the game duu to some problems with the selectors over the composition of the team. It’s a problem which seems to affect or rather happen will all countries and I find it rather strange taking into consideration that all of them have one thing best possible fourteen. The injury to Andy Flower will also be a blow to them for he has been one of their consistent scores. The return of Brian Lara will also be sad news to the crowds and fans for he would have also provided some entertaining cricket. After the Test series, we are all keen to succeed in the one-dayers and return home with our heads high. The first warm-up game against Zimbabwe A went very well. We won by 10 wickets. The bowlers bowled a very good line and the fielding was top class. Sehwag looked in great touch and at ease with the ball moving around. Our one-day record has been pretty good in the last six months. We have won 65 per cent of our games, but one worry is that we lost three out of four finals. We have got to keep that in mind. But at the same time I believe in the best-of-three finals. I think it is necessary to have such a system and it gives a fair chance to both the teams specially in triangular tournaments. The wicket looks to be very good, with a bit of bounce which makes it good for strokeplay and that’s what the crowds come to see. Our fielding would be a key aspect in this
tournament, and the area in which we have improved vastly in the last four months. We need to do our basics right and bowl a good line in this series because the ball is going to move around and we can get easily carried away. We have a good record against both the teams in the last one year and that could give some confidence to me. It is heartening to note that both Tendulkar and Nehra are fit in time for the series, and since both performed well in the Tests, I’ m sure they will be eager to come good in the abbreviated form of the game too.
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Kumble writes IT'S
one-day cricket again and the crowds will be back to capacity at the Harare Sports Club over the weekend. After defeating India in a two-Test series and thereby leveling the series, the mood will be upbeat and the support for the home nation will be tremendous. The three teams — India, West Indies and Zimbabwe will be fighting for honours to win the Coca-Cola Trophy spread over a fortnight of exciting cricket. India after a disappointing loss in the second Test will be all set to take on the challenges and only a victory in the finals will please our supporters. We have the best opening pair in the business in Sourav and Sachin. They will be geared up to give India a great start yet again. Albeit Sourav is finding things difficult in the middle, I believe attack is the best form of defence and he should go about his batting with a very positive approach and back his natural instincts. Our middle order looks solid with Rahul, Laxman and Hemang sharing the responsibility. Virender Sehwag’s last performance for India won him the Man of the Match award, this should be the indication that he will be once again keen to contribute as an all-rounder returning from an injury, that he sustained during the first One-Dayer against the Aussies. Our bowling attack will miss the experience of Srinath, who opted out of the tri-series, it will now revolve around the younger lot of Zaheer, Mohanty, Nehra, Ajit, Harvinder and Harbhajan. Ashish Nehra should grab this opportunity — that of his inclusion in the one-day squad — after a brilliant performance in the recently concluded Test series with arms. Our superb fielding effort in the Test series should give an added edge in this tournament. Zimbabwe will sorely miss their key batsman, Andy Flower in this tournament. But they are still a formidable force in this form of the game with their all-round ability. They are a wonderful fielding side and their batsmen are not afraid to innovate in one-day cricket. Their bowling will revolve around their captain Heath Streak. This, along with the fact that they are playing at home, should give them confidence and will be a difficult team to beat in this competition. The West Indies under the leadership of Carl Hooper will be looking for a reversal in fortunes. They too will miss their star batsman Brian Lara, who is going back home to nurse a hamstring injury. The West Indies batting will depend on the experience of Carl Hooper, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Jacobs and the exuberance of Samuels, Hinds, Sarwan and Gayle. Their bowling attack is on the young shoulders of pacemen Dillon, King, Cuffy, Collymore and spinners Nagamotoo and McGarell. The West Indies is a highly unpredictable side and this would make the job of the other two sides of what to expect from them a bit difficult. All in all, it is going to be an interesting series. With all our eyes on Sourav and our team, waiting for the moment on 7th
July. Gameplan |
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Aussies trounce Pakistan London, June 23 But the presentation ceremony was soured when Michael Bevan was struck in the face by a full beer-can thrown from the crowd. Needing a modest 153 in excellent batting conditions, Australia surged to success in 26.3 of their 50 overs as wicketkeeper-batsman Gilchrist led the way with his third consecutive half-century of the competition. He received effective support from fellow opener Mark Waugh (36) and Ricky Ponting (35 not out). Steve Waugh’s one-day world champions, who trounced Pakistan in the 1999 World Cup final at the same ground, established such a stranglehold in dismissing their opponents for 152 in 42.3 overs that the best individual score was opener Saeed Anwar’s 27. Relentlessly accurate and incisive pace bowling, led by Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee and Ian Harvey, pinned Pakistan down from the outset and the problem their batsmen had in asserting any authority was underlined by the fact they managed only three boundaries in the first 19 overs. It seemed only a matter of time before Australia made inroads, and it was McGrath who did the trick in the seventh over when Elahi pushed forward tentatively and was caught behind off an outside edge for 10. The potentially dangerous Anwar was next to go when he miscued a drive and skied a catch to Bevan at extra cover after making his 27 off 40 balls. Australia tightened their hold by seizing two wickets in five deliveries with the Pakistan total 60, a double strike that accounted for Yousuf Youhana, Pakistan’s leading batsman in the series with 252 runs from five matches before the final, and then Younis Khan. The combination of Warne and Lee then accounted for the next four wickets as Pakistan subsided to 110 for seven in the 30th over, evoking memories of a similar collapse against Australia in the 1999 World Cup final. Rashid Latif and Akram, on his last appearance at the Lord’s, shared the highest stand of the innings — 41 for the eighth wicket — before Warne, Gillespie and Harvey completed a clinical demolition job. SCOREBOARD Pakistan: Anwar c Bevan b Harvey 27 Elahi c Gilchrist b McGrath 10 Youhana run out 11 Haq lbw b Warne 23 Khan c Warne b Lee 0 Razzaq c Warne b Lee 24 Latif b Warne 23 Mahmood b Warne 1 Akram b Gillesie 17 Waqar lbw b Harvey 0 Saqlain not out 0 Extras (b-2 lb-3 w-8 nb-3) 16 Total (all out, 42.3 overs) 152 Fall of wickets:
1-28, 2-47, 3-60, 4-60, 5-92, 6-102, 7-110, 8-151, 9-152, 10-152. Bowling:
McGrath 10-2-28-1, Gillespie 7-1-25-1 (nb-1, w-2), Harvey 7.3-0-18-2, Lee 8-1-20-2 (nb-2, w-1), Warne 10-0-56-3 (w-5). Australia: Gilchrist not out 76 M. Waugh run out 36 Ponting not out 35 Extras (lb-1, w-8) 9 Total (for 1 wicket, 26.3 overs) 156 Fall of wickets: 1-78. Bowling: Akram 7-0-15-0, Waqar 5-0-32-0, Saqlain 8-0-50-0, Razzaq 5-0-40-0, Mahmood 1.3-0-18-0.
Reuter
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West Indies down crisis-struck
Zimbabwe Harare, June 23 Put in to bat, the West Indies scored a 266 for five in their allotted 50 overs with all their batsmen making handsome contributions. They then restricted Zimbabwe, playing without the charismatc Andy Flower and amidst row over the resignation of Heath Streak from captaincy, to 239 for nine. Zimbabwe sorely missed the services of Andy Flower, who has been ruled out of the series due to a broken thumb. As they lost wickets at regular intervals, they did not have someone of the calibre of the wicketkeeper batsman to carry his bat through the innings. Alistair Campbell tried to fit into that role and stuck to his ground for greater part of the innings but couldn’t get a partner to engage in a big stand. When Campbell was out as the sixth wicket in the 44th over with the total at 188, Zimbabwe’s campaign was virtually over. Campbell topscored with 68 off 108 balls with three fours. Earlier, the West Indies shrugged their recent poor form and put up a disciplined batting performance, even without Brian Lara, to set an asking rate of 5.34 for the hosts. Openers Darren Ganga and Chris Gayle laid a solid foundation, putting up 113 runs for the first wicket, for the later batsmen to capitalise on. The West Indies were helped in their cause by some wayward bowling by the hosts, especially Travis Friend and Mluleki Nkala. They gave Gayle a life on 15 when Stuart Carlisle failed to latch on to a regulation catch in the third slip off Andy Blignaut with the total on 27. Gayle capitalised on the chance and went on to play some lusty shots over the infielders. He scored 53 off 76 balls including seven fours before being the first man to be out, caught by friend off Murphy. Ganga, meanwhile had overtaken his partner and scored at an easy pace even after the dismissal of Gayle. He got good support from the next batsman Wavell Hinds, another left-hander who is quite similar in physical appearance to Gayle. But Murphy struck to have Ganga, who went for a big hit, stumped by Taibu, the schoolboy’s first victim in international cricket, for 66. Ganga’s 98-ball knock contained five hits to the fence. Scoreboard West Indies Gayle c Friend b Murphy 53 Ganga st Taibu b Murphy 66 Hinds run out (Streak) 37 Chanderpaul c Friend b Blignaut 51 Hooper c Flower b Streak 29 Samuels not out 7 Jacobs not out 0 Extras (b-4, lb-3, nb-3, w-13) 23 Total (for five, 50 overs) 266 Fall of wickets: 1-113, 2-168, 3-180 4-242, 5-264. Bowling: Blignaut 9-0-47-0, Streak 10-0-35-1, Friend 7-0-62-1, Nkala 4-0-34-0, Murphy 9-0-43-2, Flower 10-0-38-0. Zimbabwe: Campbell c sub b Dillon 68 Ebrahim c Jacobs b King 11 Carlisle c Hooper b Dillon 17 Flower c Jacobs b Nagamootoo 29 Blignaut run out 25 Whittall c Hinds b Samuels 32 Streak b Samuels 16 Nkala c Jacobs b Dillon 0 Friend b Samuels 17 Taibu not out 1 Murphy not out 15 Extras:
(b-2, lb-4, w-1, nb-1) 8 Total: (for 9 wkts, 50 overs) 239 Fall of wickets:
1-18, 2-44, 3-99, 4-137, 5-187, 6-188, 7-190, 8-221, 9-224. Bowling: Cuffy 10-2-20-0, King 9-0-57-1, Dillon 10-2-48-3, Hooper 6-0-29-0, Nagamootoo 10-0-51-1, Samuels 5-0-28-3.
PTI
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Streak steps down as skipper Harare, June 23 Though there is no official word on the resignation as yet, sources in the Zimbabwe Cricket Union said Streak did not approve of the 17-year-old schoolboy’s inclusion in place of wicketkeeper batsman Andy Flower who has been ruled out of the series due to a thumb injury. Surprisingly, even vice-captain Guy Whittall refused to lead the team and it was left to Grant Flower to take over the responsibility. Streak and some of his collegues, it is learnt, wanted Don Campbell, younger brother of Alistair Campbell, instead of Taibu. However, Taibu justified his selection with a smart stumping of Darren Ganga, top-scorer for West Indies in today’s match, and was generally very energetic and athletic behind the stumps.
PTI |
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Consolation win for India Auckland, June 23 Despite their performance not much to write home about, the Indians gained much-needed preparation and exposure before the World Cup qualifiers in Edinburgh after this outing. Smarting under a 1-2 loss at Wellington on Thursday, it was young forward Gagar Ajit Singh who infused life in the otherwise dead match with a superb hat-trick of goals for India. After captain Baljit Singh Dhillon was successful with the penalty stroke, awarded for an infringement inside the striking area, the nippy forward, Gagan increased the lead to 2-0 and then went on to achieve the only hat-trick of the four match series. Close to the hooter, New Zealand’s Umesh Parag scored the lone goal for the home team. Indian coach Cedric D’Souza was all praise for his boys. “The Kiwis were straddling around with their heads high having won the series but we wanted to teach them a lesson. My boys’ superiority in all round play was exhibited.... the result was because of fewer mistakes that we committed today.”
PTI |
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Malaysia beat
India 2-1 Kuala Lumpur, June 23 Earlier, Uzbekistan, attacking hard, downed Thailand on a lone goal by striker Hamidullaev Bakhtiyor in the group opening match. Indra fired a quick goal in the 46th minute, weaving past a defender and making his way into the penalty box to blast a sharp, low shot that went through Indian goalkeeper Virendra Singh’s legs. Play swung from end to end until Mohamad added the insurance 18 minutes later with a flying header off a cross by skipper Hairuddin Omar. India’s Jules Alberto was unmarked in the penalty area and blasted a ball into the roof of the net in the 85th minute.
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Rs 10 lakh award for Bindra Chandigarh, June 23 While presiding over a simple but impressive function to honour young Abhinav Bindra, rifle shooter of international repute who recently equalled the world record at World Cup rifle shooting championship at Munich, the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, congratulated the upcoming shooter for bringing laurels to the country. He said the state government was thinking of providing good jobs to outstanding sportspersons. A shooting range had been set up at his native village Badal to promote the sport amongst the youth. Mr Badal expressed his desire to provide the best available equipment to Abhinav Bindra to further accentuate his performance at the international level. Earlier, Mr Badal honoured Bindra by presenting him a cheque of Rs 10 lakh and a plaque. The function was attended by various ministers, senior officers besides the family members of Abhinav Bindra. |
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Jyoti Randhawa
misses cut Singapore, June 23 The duo shared the lead at 10 under par 134, one stroke ahead of the South African trio of Hendrik Burhmann, James Kingston and Wallie Coetsee. The cut after the second round came at two under par and one of the big names not teeing off in the third round was defending champion Jyoti Randhawa of India, who had a score of one under par 143 — his second round of one over par 73 putting him out of contention. Another big name not playing at the weekend was Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee, who also finished at one under par after two rounds. The Thai shot a disappointing three over 75 in the second round yesterday to bow out of the tournament only a week after making the cut in the US Open in Tulsa, Oklahoma. One player who did make the cut was Morio Ohara of Japan, a first for the Brisbane-based teaching pro. Ohara has never before made the cut in three years on the Asian tour but his rounds of 68 and 71 put him joint 22nd at five under par 139, five shots off the lead.
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Fencer to move court against
dept Patiala, June 23 Preet Mohinder Singh was issued a B (junior) sports gradation certificate (No.19067) by the PSD as he won a gold medal in the epee (team) event in the 7th Junior National Fencing Championships held at Pondicherry last year. This would have enabled him to seek admission to a professional engineering college in this academic year. However, on May 31, the local District Sports Office (DSO) officials wrote a letter to the fencer asking him to return the original certificate. The reason cited was that some changes had to be made and the fencer in good faith promptly returned the certificate. Sources disclose that under no circumstances can the authorities withdraw a gradation certificate once it has been duly issued by the authorities. On June 18, much to the shock of the fencer, the PSD issued Preet Mohinder a ‘revised’ certificate (No.19172) in which he has been evaluated on basis of some of his earlier performances and not on the Pondicherry Gold medal winning performance. The fencer, apparently sensing foul play, refused to receive this certificate as it would not have helped him in seeking admission. Mrs Jaskeerat Kaur, mother of Preet Mohinder, received a letter on May 31 from the Patiala DSO asking her to return the original certificate. Intriguingly, PSD officials have recorded that the original certificate had already been returned by the fencer to the department on May 21. How the PSD officials recorded this is baffling as till May 31 the certificate was in the possession of Mrs Jaskeerat Kaur. As if the bungling in dates was not enough it has also come to light that the PSD has formulated two sets of rules for issuing gradation certificates. This is reflected from the fact that when Mrs Jaskeerat Kaur contacted Mrs Chanchal Randhawa, Joint Director in the PSD, she was told that gradation in fencing was not done on basis of a player’s performance in team events. However, contrary to the claims of the Joint Director, the PSD on June 20 had issued a certificate to a Patiala-based fencer Rashmi Arora who took part in a team event in a state championships. Moreover, in the covering letter sent by the PSD along with the `revised’ certificate, it has also been put forth that the the fencer’s original certificate had been ‘revised’ as he had never taken part in individual epee events prior to the Pondicherry meet. However, documents prove that the fencer had taken part in individual epee events in various state championships prior to in the Pondicherry nationals. The disillusioned family members of Preet Mohinder are now planning to move the court and have even sought an appointment with the Chief Minister, Mr P.S Badal, and the Sports Minister, Mr Nusrat Ali Khan. |
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Sonal walks away with title New Delhi, June 23 However, Sonal could not sustain her form in the doubles, as she and Karishma Patel went down tamely to Sheetal Goutham and Liza Pereira 4-6, 1-6. Sheetal and Liza asserted their class yet again as they reaped their third consecutive title. The one-hour oncourt labour to down Samrita took a heavy toll of Sonal’s stamina as she was a mere passenger in the doubles when the match hotted up under the blazing sun. Neither her serve nor her return had any
meaningful impact. Though Liza Pereira too had to struggle with her serve, she made up for that shortcoming with some of her returns. And with Sheetal Goutham providing solid support, their title victory was a foregone conclusion. But Sonal had done enough in the singles matches to walk away with the day’s honours. After racing through the first set, when Samrita was allowed to hold her serve only once, in the second game, Sonal encountered a lot of resistance from a determined Samrita. Sonal seemed to cruise to a comfortable straight-set victory when she broke Samrita in the third and fifth games. But the tables were turned when Sonal was broken in the eighth and ninth games. But Sonal broke back in the 11th game and held her serve in the 12th, to coast to the crown. |
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