Chasing the West Indies’ total of 229 for five wickets, India reached their target with 11 balls to spare in what was a dress rehearsal for Saturday’s final of the triangular tournament which also involved Zimbabwe.

Tendulkar was never troubled as he struck a six and 12 fours. He has now scored 282 runs in the tournament and been dismissed just once.

Earlier, half centuries from Wavell Hinds (66) and Daren Ganga (55) helped West Indies post a reasonable total after being put into bat.

West Indies were unable to do justice to a fine start and settled for 229 for five.

After Indian captain Saurav Ganguly won the toss and put the opposition in to bat for the fourth time in row, West Indies top order batsmen laid a solid foundation but the Indian bowlers got their act together and were able to restrict them to a manageable limit.

Openers Darren Ganga and Chris Gayle laid a good foundation for the West Indies putting on 47 runs for the opening wicket and Wavell Hinds played an attacking innings to take their team to 118 runs in the 32nd over. But the momentum could not be sustained after the fall of Ganga amidst some tight bowling by the Indians.

West Indies lost two wickets at crucial junctures and even a 220 seemed to be out of reach for them before improvising innings from captain Carl Hooper and Ridley Jacobs anchored them to the final score.

For the Indians, Harvinder Singh claimed two wickets but was a bit expensive conceding 65 runs off his 10 overs. Debasish Mohanty and Harbhajan Singh took one wicket each.

For the first time in this tournament, India were unable to effect an early breakthrough with the West Indian opening pair remaining inseparable for the first 15 overs.

India retained Mohanty and Harvinder Singh, who had performed exceedingly well in the previous game, were given another chance to prove their worth. Mohanty opened the bowling with Ashish Nehra, replacement for Zaheer Khan who played in the last match, and both were fairly accurate.

Both Ganga and Gayle applied themselves well and looked comfortable against the Indian pace attack. They denied the Indians a wicket till the 15th over when Ganguly introduced Harbhajan Singh into the attack.

The off-spinner produced result immediately when Gayle drove uppishly without reaching to the length of the ball and Reetinder Singh Sodhi brought off a brilliant diving catch at mid-off. Gayle made 23 off 43 balls including two fours.

Hinds and Ganga were then associated in the most fruitful partnership for the West Indies adding 71 runs for the second wicket. They scored at a brisk pace running quickly between the wickets before Ganga was run out to a direct throw by wicketkeeper Samir Dighe after making 55 which came off 94 balls and included three fours.

Ganga dropped a ball short near the silly point and started for a quick single but Dighe swooped on the ball quickly and threw down the striker’s stumps before the batsman could regain his crease.

Hinds and Shivnaraine Chanderpaul struggled to get going for the third wicket and by the end of the 40th over, West Indies were just 157 for two.

The pressure to accelerate the scoring forced the batsmen into committing mistakes and Chanderpaul, after being let off by Harbhajan Singh at mid-off, was caught by Ganguly off the very next ball he faced from Mohanty in the 42nd over after making 17 off 27 balls.

Hinds followed him soon when he tried to pull Harvinder Singh across the line and only managed to give a simple catch back to the bowler. His 66 came off 90 balls and contained five fours and a six.

West Indies had a lucky break in the 45th over when Hooper, on 13, lofted Harvinder Singh to long on and Nehra failed to judge the catch. However, Hooper was out to the same bowler but to a different fielder when his cross-batted pull was easily held by Rahul Dravid.

Harvinder was taken for 14 runs in his final over, with Ridley Jacobs hitting him high for six into the long-on stands.

Scoreboard

West Indies:

Ganga run out 55

Gayle c Sodhi b Harbhajan 23

Hinds c and b Harvinder 66

C’paul c Ganguly b Mohanty 17

Hooper c Dravid b Harvinder 24

Jacobs not out 27

Sarwan not out 12

Extras (w-2, nb-3) 5

Total (for 5 wkts) 229

FOW: 1-47, 2-118, 3-162, 4-170, 5-201.

Bowling: Mohanty 10-1-39-1, Nehra 9-1-33-0, Harvinder 10-0-65-2, Harbhajan 10-1-33-1, Sehwag 5-0-30-0, Tendulkar 2-0-11-0, Sodhi 4-1-18-0.

India

Ganguly c Ganga b Dillon 62

Tendulkar not out 122

Sehwag st Jacobs b Hooper 4

Badani b Hooper 4

Dravid b Gayle 15

Sodhi not out 16

Extras (lb-1 nb-1 w-5) 7

Total (for 4 wkts, 48.1 overs) 230

FOW: 1-133 2-138 3-152 4-207

“Players indeed are guilty but more guilty are the officials. The investigating agencies should study the life-styles of the officials connected with the ICC and boards of the member-countries,” says sports writer K.R. Wadhwaney in his latest book “Cricket’s Murky Underworld.”

In a separate chapter on the ICC, accusing it of racism, Wadhwaney says: “They consider the subcontinent as the centre riddled with bribing and match-fixing... but it is these `whites’ who are unable to resist the temptation of pocketing ill-gotten money.

“Indeed, there may be more betting syndicates in the subscontinent then, says, pubs in New Zealand, the UK and Australia, but it is these `whites’ who have shown their fallibility and vulnerability.”

The writer accuses the ICC of converting itself into a commercial outfit. “It is a hot bed for politics instead of administering and promoting cricket.” He says money through TV has been the root cause for the majority of evils plaquing the ICC.

He points out the corruption among officials as the root cause of the mess. “Players’ indulqence in match-fixing is because of lax control by officials. Some of them are even more corrupt than the players.”

Giving an example, he says for chief of South African cricket board Ali Bacher knew about the attempt to fix the 1996 India-South Africa match (Mohinder Amarnath benefit tie) in Mumbai. “Why did he not take any action then? Why cannot he be penalised for keeping the lid on that sin, if not crime?”

He also refers to the alleged cover-up by the Australian Cricket Board of the wrongdoings by Shane Warne and Mark Waugh who are said to have given information to bookies on payment.

If confidence alone decided sporting encounters, Australia should win 5-0. Sixteen Test wins in a row confirmed their world supremacy, despite the ensuing glitch of a 1-2 series defeat in India. A comprehensive victory in the just-concluded one-day series against Pakistan and England — who lost all six of their matches including being bowled out for 86 by the Australians — will have strengthened the Aussie self-belief.

Captain Steve Waugh will doubtless translate that into some choice words to help accelerate his opponents’ “mental disintegration”.

Hussain, relatively unscathed after missing the triangular one-day series, will prefer to forget the last few months — which also included an England collapse to defeat against Pakistan in the second Test at Old Trafford.

Instead, he will hark back to the mental resilience that helped his side grind out laudable series wins in Sri Lanka and Pakistan around the turn of the year.

In a sense, however, Hussain has been forced to concede ground to Waugh by not only acknowledging the Australians as the world’s best but also by saying that he was as interested in how his injury-hit side competes as in the results.

If Australia’s batting and bowling were not formidable enough, it is the way they dictate the pace of matches which makes them so dangerous.

They regularly score at between three and four an over, always giving their bowlers a chance to bowl out the opposition twice. In the first Test in India in February, they scored 349 in 73.2 overs in the first innings.

England are far more conservative, looking to establish a solid if unspectacular platform before gauging their chances of victory. Over their last 10 Tests, they have averaged 2.45 an over — 220 a day — while the Australians over the same period made 3.43 an over, adding up to 90 more runs per day.

The series will throw up a series of confrontations but none more important than that between Michael Atherton and Glenn McGrath. The omens for England are not good.

Cricketing Bible Wisden has calculated that, in a direct head-to-head, the English opener averages just 12 against Australia’s main strike bowler. He also loses his wicket once every two innings to the pace bowler.

More worryingly for England, McGrath appears to have begun his homework on Atherton’s opener partner, bowling him both times in their last two meetings in the recent triangular one-day series. The final encounter, at the Oval, lasted just six balls before Marcus Trescothick returned to the pavilion without scoring.

England’s recent run of success — four wins and one draw in five Test series — has been built to a large extent on shoring up their batting. The traditional English collapse seemed to have been consigned to history as the tailenders began to contribute with the bat at long last.

But that vulnerability returned with a vengeance in the second Test against Pakistan as England lost their last eight wickets for 75 in the first innings at Old Trafford and eight for 60 in the second. Shane Warne may have been ground down by injuries in recent years but he remains among the spinning elite.

He has also feasted on Englishmen ever since removing Mike Gatting in 1993 with “the ball of the century”, taking 34 wickets in his first series, 27 in 1994-95 and 24 in 1997.

England, in contrast, are short of spinning options, a weakness made all the more glaring if left-armer Ashley Giles is ruled out with tonsilitis. It is hard to see how they will force a win on a fifth-day turning pitch.

Considering the Australians’ all-round supremacy, England will need plenty of good fortune to have any real chance. Well-timed rain showers on appropriately prepared seaming pitches would help for a start.

Compatriot Marion Jones also expects to sparkle as she aims to put her name back at the top of the women’s 100 metres rankings after a sluggish start to her outdoor campaign.

Jones, the only female track and field athlete to have won five medals at an Olympics, will start favourite but Zhanna Pintusevich, the Ukrainian who will be lined up beside her, has run the fastest time of the season of 10.93.

“I know she (Pintusevich) is running very fast but so are others and I’m looking forward to trying to run fast as well,” said world and Olympic champion Jones, who clocked the year’s second-best time of 10.96 last Friday in rainy Rome.

“I think my body and mind needed a bit of a rest after Sydney and we decided to start the season a bit slower than in the past.”

Jones can also expect challenges from compatriots Inger Miller, who is returning to form after withdrawing from 2000 Olympic team due to injury, and Kelli Jones, one of just four women to have run under 11 seconds this season.

The lightning-quick Pontaise track has been the launching-pad for some of the fastest 100 metres ever run, including a world record from Leroy Burrell in 1974.

That and an Olympic-Calibre field could combine to put Greene’s 100 metres world mark of 9.79 under threat.

The line-up includes the three men who chased Greene to the line at the Sydney Olympics — silver medalist Ato Boldon of Trinidad, bronze medallist Obadele Thompson of Barbados and fourth-placed Briton Dwain Chambers.

The only names missing from that Olympic final will American Jon Drummond and Briton Darren Campbell, who finished fifth and sixth, respectively.

“The track here is very fast, I’ve always run fast times here,” said Greene, who clocked 9.90 on the Olympic capital track in 1997. “Of course I’ll try to break the record, I try to break the record every time I’m in the starting-blocks.”

Training partner Boldon, who ran a sizzling 9.86 on the same track two years ago, and American Bernard Williams are the only men besides Greene to have slipped under 10 seconds this season and should pose the biggest threat.

But it is world and Olympic champion Greene who has clocked the three top times of the year, including a season-best 9.90 ina heat at the US championships.

There are growing worries, however, that Greene is struggling with a knee injury. He limped noticeably after his victory at the Rome Golden Gala on Friday.

“I don’t believe the knee is slowing me,” Greene said, dismissing any talk of an injury. “But I don’t think I’m at the top of my form.

“I’m seeking perfection and I’ll be doing my best to run a perfect race here.” Next month’s world championships in Edmonton, Canada, will be on the minds of most competitors, including javelin world record holder and triple Olympic champion Jan Zelezny of the Czech Republic, who will take time off from his duties as an IOC member for his final tune-up.

The men’s pole vault could witness the first 6.00 metres clearance of the season, with Olympic silver medallist Lawrence Johnson and fellow American Jeff Hartwig both having recorded year-bests of 5.90 metres.

The field will also reigning Olympic champion Nick Hysong of the USA and 1996 gold medallist Jean Galfione of France.

The Australian third seed used his accomplished serve and volley game to down the 10th-seeded Swede who had not lost a set on his way to the quarter-finals.

Rafter, who lost last year’s final to Pete Sampras, broke Enqvist’s rocky serve six times in the match, dropping his own only once. Rafter won the tiebreak 7-5.

Rafter, probably playing his final Wimbledon, beat Agassi in last year’s semifinal but lost to him at the same stage in 1999.

Goran Ivanisevic made Wimbledon history when he reached the semifinals as a wild card by beating fourth seed Marat Safin 7-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-6.

The 29-year-old Croatian is now one match away from his fourth final here after losing three in the 1990s.

Ivanisevic has lost just three sets in five rounds.

Australia’s Pat Cash reached the quarter-finals of the men’s singles in 1986, the best performance by a singles wild card before Ivanisevic. Ivanisevic’s ranking has fallen sharply in recent months following a long-term shoulder injury.

Goran Ivanisevic is the sort of man who jokes even when he has lost, keeps the locker room amused and deserves his success at Wimbledon, fellow semifinalist Pat Rafter said here. “He’s a funny fella,” Rafter said after a straight sets quarter-final win over Thomas Enqvist.

“He’s always been good to me even when he was at the top and I was just starting. He treats everyone the same,” Rafter said.

“He’s great to have a laugh within the locker romm, a good fella to have around...even when he has lost he is funny,” the Australian said.

Rafter said he was amazed at the Croatian’s resurgence after being so long out of contention.

“The way he has played in the last two weeks has been exceptional. It’s a good story. He’s a good fellow and he serves it,” the third seed, who could meet the Croatian in the final, said

Second seed Andre Agassi battled past Nicolas Escude to reach his fifth semifinal with a 6-7 6-3 6-4 6-2 victory.

Although the American raced to a 3-1 lead in the first set after breaking France’s Escude in the opening game with a delicate lob, the 24th seed fought back bravely to level at 3-3 with superb attacking net play.

The set saw another exchange of breaks before Escude, conqueror of Lleyton Hewitt and Sebastien Grosjean in the previous two rounds, captured it on his sixth set point in the tiebreak 7-3.

With his unfancied opponent threatening to gain the upper hand, Agassi dug deep to get his blistering service returns back on track in the second set.

Her stomach told a different story. The fifth-seeded American was battling gastroenteritis as well as Jennifer Capriati on Centre Court and, having been pulled back to a set all and 4-0 down in the decider, she pleaded with the match umpire to let her leave the court.

Williams, who had once led by a set, 5-3 and 30-0, returned to lose the match and later her doubles title too. Saying she had been sick for four days, she pulled out of the doubles tournament she had won last year with sister Venus. “For four days now I’ve just been struggling,” said Serena.

“(Friday) was when I got this sickness. I haven’t been able to really eat since. I haven’t been right since. I went to the doctor twice, it was a viral infection. I think maybe I’ve had it for a while and it’s just come to its apex now.”

Williams, who lost 6-7 (4) 7-5 6-3 to fourth seeded Capriati, said she had considered pulling out of the singles tournament in an earlier round against Magdalena Maleeva.

“I went to the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) and it was like ‘I don’t know if I can do it.’ I don’t know how I got through. I was thinking about pulling out before that match,” Williams said.

“I just have no energy. Usually I’m such a strong person, I’m very well conditioned. It’s just like I’m just totally going on emotion, not anything physical at all.”

While WTA trainer Michelle Gebrian admitted that Williams had reported her illness to her, the player has a history of citing illnesses and injuries for her bad performances and Capriati wasn’t surprised to hear a similar story here.

“It’s pretty much the same thing that happens every time I play her, so I’m just used to that,” the fourth-seeded winner of the Australian and French Open.

“Maybe she had a bad case of diarrhea or something, I don’t know. I just asked the umpire. She just said that she had to use the bathroom. It was an emergency. I didn’t want to know the details.”

“Preparations for hosting the series were in full swing and it is disappointing news for the hockey fans here. We were enthusiastic about staging the event after we got confirmation from both Pakistan and India. Both asked us to arrange the facilities and get the Astro-turf ready and we had taken permission from the rulers office for the ground,” said Raza Abidi, coordinator of the committee.

“However, we are still hopeful India will reconsider the matter especially after the talks between Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee,” he said.

He said he would try to convince the Indian hockey officials to play here and that he had not yet lost hope.

India has rejected a proposal for a hockey series against Pakistan to be played in Dubai early next year.

“If we can play against each other in either country, why should we go to a neutral venue?”, asked Indian Hockey Federation President K.P.S. Gill yesterday.

Meanwhile, Abdul Rehman Bukhatir, Chairman of the Cricketers Benefit Fund Series (CBFS) denied it was their idea to host a hockey series in the UAE. “The UAE Hockey Commmittee was planning to stage the event and we were only assisting them. We were willing to promote any sport be it hockey or football in whateverway possible but with regard to the hockey series we never mooted the idea”.

He denied the CBFS had signed any agreement with SM Leisure Sports management Private Limited regarding the staging of the India-Pakistan hockey series in Dubai.

Abidi said the UAE Hockey Committee was going ahead with a proposal to host an international event to promote the game here. He said the committee had approached six nations, India, Malaysia, South Korea, Pakistan, Germany and Australia for the event and were in talks with hockey officials in England.

Ninteen-year-old Western Railway employee Mukthi Saha, who had won the 100 m hurdles yesterday, cracked the record in 200 m to bag the second gold with a timing of 24.07 seconds, which also won her the best athlete award. She eclipsed the record of Shanta of Tamil Nadu, who had clocked 24.9 secs in January this year. Manjit Kaur of Punjab (24.14 secs) and K Priya of Tamil Nadu (25.24 secs) collected silver and bronze, respectively.

Twenty-year-old Lakshmi proved yet again that she was head and shoulder above others in long distance races winning the gruelling 5000 m event in 17 minutes 57.83 seconds. She had bagged the energy sapping 10,000 m race yesterday and was adjudged the best athlete of the championship.

Tamil Nadu won the boys title logging 66 points and Uttar Pradesh finished second with 64 points. Tamil Nadu girls were way ahead of others with a tally of 114 points and Karnataka settled for the second spot with 85 points.

Others to set records were Raveena Antil of Haryana (10 km walk), Archana Bara of Jharkhand (hammer throw), M Sangeeta of Tamil Nadu (high jump), Rakesh Kumar Yadav of Uttar Pradesh (hammer throw), Suman Devi of Uttar Pradesh (javelin throw), P S Pahi of Jharkhand (hurdles), Mallappa of Karnataka (800 m boys) and Karnataka quartet in 4x100 relay.