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Thursday,
August 16, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Jayasuriya puts Lanka on
top Hussain’s return bolsters
England ‘Bradman considered
Sachin nearest to him’ Akram sets sights on World
Cup Shimla may come on cricket
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Clashes mar Games
meeting Minnows Venezuela
shock Uruguay Gayatri, Manmeet get top
billings Punjab basketball
league 2 Indians
achieve
GM norm Mohanty knocked out; Chatwinder wins Basketball trials on Aug 17, 18
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Jayasuriya puts Lanka on
top
Galle, August 15 India could add just 24 runs to their overnight 163 for five before being bundled out for 187 midway through the morning session. The nemesis for the Indians was Dilhara Fernando who bowled a fiery spell and claimed three of the four wickets to fall today — Javagal Srinath was retired hurt — for a five-wicket haul. Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya then blasted a brilliant century to put his team right on top. The Indian bowling was wayward and gave the Sri Lankan batsmen a lot of room to play their shots. The hosts had reached 264 for three when stumps were drawn after two balls of the 73rd over of the innings with the batsmen appealing for bad light. Kumar Sangakkara was unbeaten on 54 while Russel Arnold was batting on 19. The day saw a contrasting display by the two sides with Sri Lanka dominating throughout. The Indian batsmen struggled against the pace of Fernando and Chaminda Vaas who generated a lot of pace and bounce from the pitch. Fernando was particularly dangerous, and surprised the batsmen on quite a few occasions with his well-directed bouncers. However, when the Sri Lankans came out to bat, the bowlers could hardly trouble them. Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad, coming back to the national team after a long gap, were wayward initially. They bowled short and wide and Jayasuriya was very quick to pounce on them and despatch them for boundaries. The Sri Lankan captain hit three fours in Prasad’s four overs that set the tone for the acceleration of scoring. The hosts scored at around four runs an over, again in sharp contrast to the Indians whose run rate was under two. In fact, Jayasuriya batted as if he was playing in a limited-overs game, not hesitating to go over the top and punishing every loose delivery. He got able support from his opening partner Marvan Atapattu, who too looked solid, though not as flamboyant. The Indian bowlers had nothing to show for in the first hour of the Sri Lankan innings and all of them were taken to task by the Sri Lankans. Sri Lanka, who were 44 without loss at lunch, raised 117 runs in 28 overs during the second session with Jayasuriya doing bulk of the scoring. The only consolation for India during this session was that Harbhajan Singh had been able to dismiss Atapattu, caught by Hemang Badani at silly point, for 33. The loss of wicket did nothing to dampen the spirits of the home team though, with one-down batsman Sangakkara getting into the groove quickly. Jayasuriya was on a song and he duly completed his eighth Test hundred, third against India, off just 105 balls. It was a dominating knock by the captain who smashed 16 fours and a six, off Srinath, before he was out for 111, made of 138 balls. The credit for the wicket went to Zaheer Khan who produced a gem of a ball which bounced a lot, came in sharply, touched the bat of Jayasuriya and flew to the first slip where Rahul Dravid held on to a good catch. Jayasuriya, whose average against India is almost double of his overall Test average, had done his job though, building a solid foundation for the later batsmen to capitalise on. PTI/Reuters SCOREBOARD India Ist innings (overnight 163-5) Das c Jayasuriya b Vaas 40 Ramesh c Jayasuriya b
Muralitharan 42 Kaif b Fernando 37 Dravid c Arnold b Muralitharan 12 Ganguly c Sangakkara b
Fernando 15 Badani c Sangakkara b Fernando 6 Dighe c Sangakkara b
Fernando 9 Srinath retd hurt 0 Singh b Fernando 4 Khan not out 0 Prasad b Muralitharan 0 Extras (b-4 lb-3 nb-13
w-2) 22 Total (all out, 95.3 overs) 187 Fall of wickets: 1-79 2-105 3-124 4-155 5-161 6-176 7-181 8-185 9-187. Bowling:
Vaas 22-10-38-1 (5nb), Fernando 25-9-42-5 (2nb 1w), R. Perera 12-4-25-0 (3nb), Muralitharan 24.3-8-41-3 (1nb), S. Perera 12-0-34-0 (1w 2nb) Sri Lanka Ist innings: Atapattu c Badani b Singh 33 Jayasuriya c Dravid b Khan 111 Sangakkara not out 54 Jayawardene c Dighe b
Srinath 28 Arnold not out 19 Extras (lb-3 nb-11 w-5) 19 Total (for three wickets,
72.2 overs) 264 Fall of wickets: 1-101, 2-171, 3-211. Bowling (to date): Srinath 17-3-82-1 (1w 7nb), Prasad 12.2-4-51-0 (2w 3nb), Khan 16-1-62-1 (2w 1nb), H.Singh 27-8-66-1. |
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Hussain’s return bolsters England London, August 15 In England’s last eight innings, despite a succession of strong starts, they have passed 300 just once. At Edgbaston, in the first Ashes Test, eight wickets were lost for 85 and then seven for 22, at the Lord’s seven for 66 and six for 39 before in the second innings at Trent Bridge eight wickets disappeared for a mere 47 runs. To make matters worse for England, Headingley is notorious as the most pace bowler friendly Test pitch in the country: last year’s Test there against the West Indies ended inside two days. For England the rot set in when in the second Test against Pakistan at Old Trafford earlier this summer eight wickets were lost for 60 runs as the visitors won a match that seemed destined for a draw. England were still unbeaten in five series but the alarm bells were ringing. Their middle order problems have not been helped by injuries to Hussain (finger), Graham Thorpe (calf/hand) and Michael Vaughan (knee) that have seen coach Duncan Fletcher unable to name his first choice batting line-up against the world champions. Hussain returns for this match after having his finger broken by Australian quick Jason Gillespie in the first Test at Edgbaston but whether he alone can stiffen England’s batting line up is open to question. Surrey left-handed batsman Ian Ward and Yorkshire all-rounder Craig White have been dropped after failing to make much of an impression so far. “Ian Ward has had a tough time against a high quality attack, but he is the sort of player who has the character to go away and learn from his experiences and come again,” said England Chairman of selectors David Graveney. He added: “Craig white is a similar situation and has not been dropped because of his batting as some have said, but because he seems to have lost confidence in his bowling. “I don’t see this is a major setback for him because he has the ability to come back. He will remain in our thoughts for the winter and could be an important figure on the sub-continent.” The discarded pair’s places have been taken by Nottinghamshire batsman Usman Afzaal and Hampshire left-arm quick Alan Mullally. The former will probably play as England’s seventh batsman while the latter is set to add variety to n all right-arm pace attack of Darren Gough, Andrew Caddick and Alex Tudor, that performed well at Trent Bridge. That would mean no place in the line up for Glamorgan off-spinner Robert Croft, ineffective with the bat and barely given a chance with the ball in the third Test. But all bowlers need a target to defend. Australia No 3 Ricky Ponting has had a poor tour but the strength of the middle order has meant his lack of runs has barely been noticed.
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‘Bradman considered Sachin nearest to him’ Sydney, August 15 “It is known that Bradman had said Sachin’s shot production, style and compactness were closest to him. Sir Don, being pragmatic, selected Sachin as someone nearest to him in the modern era,” Perry told PTI in an interview. “Both players had mutual friendship and respect for each other. Bradman had great respect for Sachin Tendulkar,” he said. “My own observation is that Sachin has more oriental flair and he hits the ball high whereas Bradman’s shots were more along the ground,” Perry, who chronicled all the 12 members of the dream team in his book, said. “Their grips were different. Sachin’s cover drives are more noticeable and elegant than Bradman’s though the effect of both was the same. They were both big-occasion players, pulling out the best under pressure and men of great humility,” said Perry who revealed he had thoroughly enjoyed writing the book. “It was like writing 12 mini biographies where one had to get to the heart of the matter and performance of each player,” he said. Bradman followed other players’ performance keenly and his vision of cricket spanned the entire 20th century, Perry said. “He was watching cricket with a keen eye for 80 years, keeping abreast with players in all cricket-playing nations by watching them on global TV channels.” The book was launched in Sydney and London simultaneously yesterday. Sir Arthur Morris, a long-time friend of Bradman who was present at the launch, said being included in the dream team was his greatest achievement. “It is a great honour and the greatest accolade of my career to be included in Bradman’s dream team,” he said.
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Akram sets sights on World Cup Karachi, August 15 “I have set my sights on playing the next World Cup in South Africa,” the 35-year-old Wasim told Reuters from Lahore today. The former Pakistan captain has not been invited to a training camp in Karachi ahead of the Asian Test Championship match against Bangladesh in Multan on August 29. But Wasim is expected to feature in a trial match on August 17 to prove his form and fitness to Pakistan selectors. “I have no problems about proving my fitness to anyone, although it is disappointing not to be automatically invited for the camp,” Wasim said. Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Lt General Tauqir Zia and chief selector Wasim Bari have said the team to play Bangladesh would be decided after the trial matches. “I believe I am fit and good enough for international competition. I still have set my mind on surpassing Sir Richard Hadlee’s 431 and Kapil Dev’s 434 Test wickets,” Wasim said. “I have always maintained that the day I feel I am not justifying my place in the team, I will retire.” Wasim has 414 wickets in 102 Tests since making his debut as an 18-year-old in 1984. He is also the highest ever wicket-taker in limited overs cricket with 440 victims in 319 matches.
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Shimla may come on cricket
map A letter from the Himachal Pradesh Government has already been despatched to the Defence Ministry asking for the ground, the lease for which ended 16 years back. The Himachal Pradesh Government is pressing for an early decision so that the 20-acre ground can be converted into a modern cricket stadium with all facilities. The Secretary and Treasurer of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Mr J.Y. Lele and Mr P.M. Rungta, were in Himachal at the invitation of the state government. So impressed were the two by the location of the cricket ground that they promised a Rs 2-crore contribution from the board in the construction of the cricket stadium. The President of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association, Mr Anurag Thakur, said the state body would spend Rs 10 crore on the project. “And once we get possession of the ground we will go all out to complete the stadium within two years”. But at the moment the ball is in the Centre’s court. A proper helipad would replace the temporary pad to ensure arrival of teams and other VIPs. If need be the retreat helipad could also be put to use. Seeing the impression gathered by the board officials, the state government is eager to get on with the job once the clearance comes through from the Central Government. As far as the board and lodging facilities go, Shimla already has a number of star hotels. According to Mr Anurag Thakur, Shimla and nearby areas have a hotel room capacity of 25, 000. The construction of the stadium would be a dream come true for Mr Thakur. With Srinagar completely cut off from the cricketing world Anandale would provide the right high-altitude alternative. Mr Thakur said corporate houses were also keen to provide funds for the cricket project. He was sure that once the project was cleared, funds would not be a problem. Mr Thakur was also hopeful of another good cricket ground coming up at Dharamsala. |
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Capriati triumphs Toronto, August 15 America’s Capriati (25) the Australian and French Open champion and No 1 seed, said afterwards she had been inspired in her match by negative criticism. “I kind of like it when people question me,’’ Capriati said in a post-match news conference. “Negative criticism in a tournament is a positive thing for me. I just use it as my fuel.’’ She also said it’s only recently that she stopped feeling like a lightly regarded player. “I still remember those times,’’ Capriati said of three years ago when she was ranked 101st in the world. “Now it’s really changing. Before I still felt like the underdog against the top players. “Now I know that I’ve got to expect everyone to play well against me. Just because they’re not going to be feeling any pressure and have nothing to lose.’’ Capriati, who also made the semifinals at Wimbledon, overpowered Hantuchova after she got her first break, at 1-4 down in the second set. Capriati then dominated the third set, gaining breaks in the fourth and sixth games for a 5-1 advantage. Hantuchova then broke back but Capriati then closed out the two-hour 12-minute match. In other matches, second seed Justine Henin, the beaten Wimbledon finalist and French Open semifinalist, also had to come from 1-4 down in the second set before beating Japan’s Ai Sugiyama 6-4, 7-6 (7-5). Chanda Rubin of the USA beat Canada’s Jana Nejedly, the last Canadian wild card, 6-3, 6-2.
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Clashes mar Games
meeting THE Rs 130-crore eight-discipline Afro-Asian Games in November are indeed “goodwill exercise”, but there is little goodwill among top functionaries. This disturbing situation surfaced in yesterday’s seven-member Empowered Committee in which ego and clash of personalities led to meeting turning extremely stormy. Words hard to forget and forgive were exchanged. Ms Uma Bharti, Minister for Sports and chairperson of the 0rganising Committee, lost cool and directed Suresh Kalmadi, working chairman of the OC, to leave the meeting on at least three occasions (actual words used were to get out). Other members attending the meeting were shocked to watch for themselves the development on the eve of arrival of the foreign sports official for the two-day meeting on August 17 and 18. The bone of contention, among several other vex issues, is “control and management of Games”. The Indian Olympic Association President Kalmadi wants `direct involvement’ of the IOA in the Games, while Sports Minister has different ideas. Ms Uma Bharti’s viewpoint is based on the experience of the 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi. The Games then were successfully organised by the Special Organising Committee (SOC), which was promoted, sponsored, funded, controlled and managed by the
Government. Rajiv Gandhi and his team provided all the support to the then SOC chairman Buta Singh. The IOA then had nothing to do directly with the organisation of the Games. An official of the stature and reputation of Raja Bhalindra Singh was at the helm of the IOA but even he was not directly involved with the organisation of the Games though he was time and again consulted. Similar situation is obtaining now. Uma Bharti is reported to have said: “It is government money, government stadia, equipment imported and installed by government and facilities are also provided by the Government”, adding: “Why should then Kalmadi’s IOA drag its feet or dictate terms to us?” The fall out between Ms Uma Bharati and Suresh Kalmadi has widespread repercussions as it may affect smooth staging of the Games which, beyond goodwill, honour and prestige, will not enhance India’s over-all standing in the world of sports. After leaving the meeting, Kalmadi immediately apprised of the developments to his friends and colleagues. He is unlikely to attend any other meeting. The IOA secretary Randhir Singh and A.S.V. Prasad, former Sports Authority of India official, may attend the meetings. Disturbed as Kalmadi is, he is contemplating of writing to the Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee whose intervention has led to Games being staged in Delhi. Ms Uma Bharti and her ministry often seek expert opinion of the former International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Ashwini Kumar and Vijay Kumar Malhotra, president of the Archery Association of India (AAI). |
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Minnows Venezuela shock Uruguay Maracaibo (Venezuela), August 15 Second half goals by Ruberth Moran and Alexander Rondon gave Venezuela only their fourth win yesterday in a qualifier since 1965 and kept Uruguay in fifth place in the South American group, below Brazil on goal difference. Uruguay and Brazil have 21 points but Brazil, who face Paraguay at home on Wednesday, have played a game less. Venezuela remained bottom of the 10-team group with seven points from 14 games. Uruguay had been banking on three points against their opponents who lost 0-6 at home to Brazil, 0-4 at home to Argentina and have conceded 40 goals in their 13 previous games. The top four teams qualify for Japan and South Korea next year and the fifth play off against Oceania winners Australia. SANTIAGO: Striker Marcelo Salas scored twice on his international comeback to salvage a 2-2 draw for Chile at home to Bolivia in their World Cup qualifier. Chile ended a run of six successive defeats in the competition on Tuesday but had still expected to do better against Bolivia, who picked up their first away point on coach Jorge Habbeger’s debut. Both teams are effectively out of the running for a place at next year’s World Cup. Bolivia remained seventh in the South American group with 14 points from 14 games, while Chile stayed ninth with 11 points. Julio Baldivieso put Bolivia ahead from an 11th minute penalty against the run of play after Milton Coimbra was cut down by Jorge Vargas. Salas, who had not played since last November due to a knee injury, equalised from another penalty in the 35th minute after Fernando Solis was pushed in the area. Bolivia went back in front in the 73rd minute when Coimbra got between two defenders to head in a long cross from the left. Four minutes later, a Cristian Montecinos header rebounded off the crossbar and Salas headed Chile level as Bolivia goalkeeper Mauricio Soria remained rooted to the ground and punched the air.
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Gayatri, Manmeet get top
billings Chandigarh, August 15 There was unprecedented rush for entries for the qualifying rounds. Former badminton player Pawan Joshi who came from Patiala alongwith his son Puneet taking part in below 13 section, said the meet has generated a lot of interest among all badminton lovers of this region. The final seedings are: Under 13: Girls-Anita (Har) 1, Harleen (Chd) 2, Kannu Aggarwal (Har) 3, Nishu (J&K) 4. boys-Saurabh Kapoor (Har) 1,Vipul Saini (J&K) 2, Gaurav Sharma (Har) 3, Raj Kumar (Pb) 4. Under16 : Girls-Mala Gaba (Chd) 1, Samarika (J&K) 2, Saumaya (raj) 3, Anita (Har) 4. boys-Sumeet Dahiya (Har)1, Puneet Bansal (Chd) 2, Sachin Garg (Har)3, Sahil Arora (Pb) 4. Under 19: Girls- Deepti Rajan (Del) 1, Mala Gaba (Chd) 2, Samarika (J&K) 3, Saumaya (Raj) 4. boys-Vivek Sharma (Chd) 1, Sandeep Kaushik (Del) 2, Deepak Sidhu (Chd) 3, Mayank (Pb) 4. Women: Gayatri (Del) 1, Sharda Devi (Chd) 2, Nazma (Pb) 3, Deepti Rajan (Del) 4.
Men: Manmeet Singh (Del) 1, Rohan Kapoor (Pb) 2, Vivek Sharma (Chd) 3, Sukhwinder (Har) 4. The following have qualified for the main rounds in different events as per matches held today. Under 13: boys-Navjot Singh (Pb), Deepak (Har), Sameer (J&K), Tarun Ray (Pb), Sumit Tyagi (Har), Aman Matta (Chd), Himanshu (Pb), Puneet Joshi (Pb). Under16: Sumit Arora (Del), Sondhi (Chd), Munish (Har), Jaswinder (Pb), Ramneek (Pb), Apoorv (Del), Anuj Gupta (Del), Harpreet and Navdeep (Pb). Under 19: Varun Khanna (Pb), Yogesh (Pb), Sachin (Har), Raman (Pb), Ishan Sharma (Chd), Asim, Sandeep and Iqbal (all Pb). |
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Punjab basketball
league Chandigarh, August 15 He said that six teams in the men’s section and five in the women’s section will participate in round robin league tournament. The participants would include defending champions Punjab police, Border Security Force, Punjab State Electricity Board, Rail Coach Factory, Junior Punjab and Rest of Punjab in men’s section and defending champions Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Rest of Punjab in women’s section. Mr Teja Singh, Secretary, PBA, said that the league would serve as selection trials for the Punjab teams for the ensuing National Games to be held at Ludhiana in November. Changes in the probables already undergoing training can be made, Mr Teja Singh said. An organising committee under the chairmanship of Mr H.S. Sidhu has been set up. Meanwhile, trials to select Rest of Punjab teams, both men and women, will be held on August 18 and 17 respectively. While the trials for men’s team will be held at Hans Raj Stadium, Jalandhar, on August 18 at 4 p.m. Interested players should report to Mr P.S. Nijjar, Joint Secretary, PBA. For the women players, the trials will be held at Guru Nanak Stadium, Kapurthala, on August 17 at 4 p.m. Players should report to Mr Yashveer Walia. |
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2 Indians
achieve
GM norm Kolkata, August 15 While P. Harikrishna got their third and final GM norm, Surya Sekhar Ganguly got his first GM norm. Harikrishna, however, has to maintain his average rating in the coming two rounds to become India’s sixth grandmaster. India has five grandmasters — Vishawanathan Anand, K. Sashikiran, Abhijit Kunte, Dibyendu Barua and Pravin Tipsey.
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Mohanty knocked out; Chatwinder wins Chennai, August 15 Mohanty, a regular in the circuit, failed to strike any rhythm against unseeded P. Ravikrishna of Andhra Pradesh and lost 3-6, 0-6 without any fight as the contest fizzled out once the Andhra lad stepped up the tempo midway in the first set. Fourth seed R Arunprakash of Tamil Nadu humbled Divij Sharan of Delhi 6-2, 6-2, sixth seed Chatwinder Singh of Chandigarh defeated qualifier Ajay Selvaraj of Tamil Nadu 6-1, 6-2 and eighth seed Harshit Sharma of West Bengal packed off wild card entrant Vijay Sundar Prasanth of Tamil Nadu 6-3, 6-1.
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Basketball trials on Aug 17, 18 Ludhiana, August 15 All the players should report to the Joint Secretary, PBA, at the venue. Trials for women will be held on August 17 at Guru Nanak Stadium, Kapurthala. Players should report to Treasurer, PBA, at the venue. |
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Sydney, August 15
Chandigarh, August 15
