 |
Monday,
September 3,
2001, Chandigarh, India  
|
Humiliating
innings defeat for India ‘Murali made the difference’ Kumble writes |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Michael Owen hat-tricks as England shatter German dreams Rafter set to clash with
Sampras; Henman ousted
Venus wishes to
emulate Sampras
School soccer
in Malaysia Athletes turn to ‘Ayurvedic’ preparations Sharmila retains
title
|
|
Humiliating innings defeat for India Colombo, September 2 The Indian second innings folded at 299 one hour 15 minutes into the morning session on the fifth and final day today, giving Sri Lanka, who had declared their first innings at 610 for six, an innings and 77 run win. The writing was on the wall for the Indians, who had scored 234 in their first innings, when they lost two quick wickets early today after resuming at 217 for six overnight while attempting to wipe out a huge 376-run deficit. Hemang Badai and Sameer Dighe, the overnight batsmen, were out cheaply without troubling the scorers much before Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan indulged in pyrotechnics to delay the inevitable somewhat. Both Harbhajan and Zaheer went for the shots and produced a number boundaries, adding 48 runs for the ninth wicket. Zeheer continued to plunder runs off Muthiah Muralitharan even after Harbhajan was out, while trying to pull Chaminda Vaas, but his heroics could only reduce the margin of India’s defeat. Going for another six off Muralitharan, Zaheer was caught by Marvan Atapattu at long-on which gave Sri Lanka their first innings win over India. Muralitharan, who bagged 11 wickets in the match, was declared man of the match. India’s cause was as good as lost yesterday itself when they had slumped to 217 for six. With 159 more runs required to make Sri Lanka bat again, it was always going to be a herculean task for the tailenders. Badani and Dighe started tentatively and could add just four runs to the overnight total before both got out in quick succession. Badani was trapped plumb before the wicket off Vaas in the fifth over of the day while Dighe was the third batsman run out while going for a non-existent run in the next over. India were eight down for 221 when Harbhajan and Zaheer came together to play some good shots. Harbhajan lifted Muralitharan for a straight six and then attempted a reverse sweep on the next ball. He missed but succeeded in confusing the wicketkeeper which resulted in four byes. That over from Muralitharan brought India 17 runs as Zaheer had already hit him for a four on an earlier delivery. In the next over, it was Zaheer’s turn to get after Vaas. He hit the bowler over point region and two balls later followed it up with shot over cover for two boundaries that had Vaas fuming. But that was not all. In the next over off Muralitharan, Harbhajan’s reverse sweep fetched three runs and then Zaheer hit a mighty six over long-on and a four to long-off. The duo had added 48 runs in just five overs before Harbhajan was out trying to go for another big hit. Harbhajan pulled a short ball from Vaas but could not give it enough power to enable it to go over the ropes. Atapattu took a diving catch at the mid-wicket fence much to the relief of his team. Harbhajan made 17 off 20 balls hitting a four and a six. Zaheer then hit two mighty sixes off Muralitharan in two overs, the second one bringing the deficit under 100 runs. He was out in the same over while trying for the third one. The ball went high up in the air and once again Atapattu took a good catch. Zaheer hit 45 runs off just 40 balls that included five fours and two sixes. This was Sri Lanka’s second series win against India, the first coming in 1985. Sri Lanka had won the first Test in Galle by 10 wickets while India registered a seven-wicket win in Kandy to level the series 1-1.
Scoreboard India (1st innings): 234 Sri Lanka (1st innings): 610-6 declared India (2nd innings): Das c Tillekeratne b Murali 68 Ramesh b Murali 55 Dravid run out 36 Ganguly c Jayawardena b
Samaraweera 30 Kaif run out 5 Badani lbw b Vaas 11 Bahutule b Jayasuriya 0 Dighe run out 4 H Singh c Atapattu b Vaas 17 Z Khan c Atapattu
b Murali 45 Prasad not out 4 Extras (b-8, lb-5, nb-9, w-2) 24 Total (all out, 124.4 overs) 299 Fall of wickets: 1-107, 2-147, 3-186, 4-196, 5-210, 6-211, 7-221, 8-221, 9-269. Bowling: Vaas 27-9-62-2, Fernando 17-3-59-0, Muralitharan 46.4-17-109-3, Jayasuriya 21-10-34-1, Liyanage 5-0-12-0, Samaraweera 8-4-10-1.
PTI
Colombo |
|
‘Murali made the difference’ Colombo, September 2 “Murali changed the whole game. The need was to get them out for less than 250. And the batsmen made maximum use of it,” he told reporters after Sri Lanka claimed the Colombo game by an innings and 77 runs on the fifth morning. Muralitharan, named man-of-the-match and series, captured eight wickets to restrict the Indian first innings to 234 before Sri Lanka hoisted 610 for six declared to set up the win. India were bowled out for 299 in their second innings. Muralitharan finished with a match haul of 11-196 and 23 wickets for the series with his world class spin bowling. Jayasuriya said losing the toss was a blessing in disguise and revealed he also would have elected to bowl first. “Telling the truth, we were thinking to bowl first. That was the plan,” he said, adding that the Sinhalese Sports Club ground pitch always afforded some bounce early in the match. The captain added he was always confident of victory despite Indians Shiv Sundar Das and Sadagopan Ramesh chalking up a 107-run opening wicket partnership. “We had a 376-run lead. I knew at some stage they will panic. They can’t wait for two days.’’ Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly was disappointed with his team’s batting in the series, especially in the first innings of the Colombo game when they collapsed from 97 for no loss to 234 all out. “That cost us the game. Getting out for 234 on a flat pitch. “They batted better than us. They had seven hundreds in the series, we had none. They batted us out of the series,” he said. Ganguly’s 98 not out, which lifted his side to victory in the second Kandy game and square the series, was the highest score by an Indian as the others failed to cash in on good starts. He said the absence of injured batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and Vangipurappu Laxman besides bowlers like paceman Javagal Srinath was no excuse for the series defeat. “No point in giving excuses. Players were not there, but I don’t think it is a right way to approach a game,” Ganguly said. He added the young batting replacements in the side should have grabbed the opportunity, but refused to blame anyone in particular. Both Mohammad Kaif and left-hander Hemang Badani failed with the bat and added extra pressure on the middle-order. “All the top six batsmen, they should have made a few hundreds,” he said. Reuters |
|
Kumble writes Sri Lanka dominated the third and final Test against India to win a series against the visitors for the first time in 16 years. It was really commendable to see the way the Sri Lankans went about their batting in this Test. Our bowlers never threatened to put pressure on the batsmen and on the field, opportunities went abegging. It became all the more difficult for our bowlers to pick wickets. One glaring aspect that was evident in this Test series was the fact that none of our batsmen scored a hundred while in comparison the Sri Lankan batsmen had seven centuries to their credit. In this Test, both Atapattu and Jayawardene’s centuries were not only crucial, but also blunted the Indian attack. The other big partnership between Hashan Tillekaratne and debutant Samaraweera consolidated and stretched the lead beyond India’s reach. The Sri Lankan batsmen scored runs at a brisk pace thereby giving their bowlers enough time to have a go at the Indian batsmen. In the second innings, India had to play for survival and once again the openers gave a good start. Das used his feet well against Muralitharan, but perished to a brilliant catch at silly point by Tillekaratne. A beauty from Murali deceived Ramesh and what followed was total disaster. If India had any chance of saving this Test, it entirely depended on their batsmen, Rahul and Saurav. Once Rahul perished to a suicidal run-out, followed closely by Kaif, the writing was on the wall. The tentative mood in the Indian camp was reflected in their running between wickets, and Sri Lanka took these opportunities and fielded brilliantly to affect three run-outs. The return of Tillekaratne will give the Sri Lankan batting the much-needed depth and experience in the middle order. Credit should go to the way he played knowing fully well that this could have been his last Test if he failed. The debutant Samaraweera looked at ease even as he batted brilliantly to score a century. You cannot ask for a better start to one’s career in Test cricket! Murali showed his class to reap his highest haul against India in a Test series in his career. The Indian team will be playing a lot of cricket in the coming months with tours to South Africa and the home series against England. Albeit, the conditions are different in South Africa to that in Sri Lanka, the experiences gained by the younger players will stand them in good stead, for the season ahead. With the new bouncer rule coming into effect, it will be interesting to see the batsmen going about their one-day innings, especially in the first 15 overs.
Gameplan |
|
Michael Owen hat-tricks as England shatter
Munich, September 2 The shock scoreline turned qualifying for next year’s World Cup finals from group nine on its head as England took control. England, whose last victory on German soil dates back to 1965, made a shaky start and went behind to a sixth minute strike by Carsten Jancker. Germany had only once lost a World Cup qualifier at home - 16 years ago to Portugal after the Germans had already booked their place at the 1986 finals in Mexico - and Rudi Voeller’s side soon looked set to take the direct route to the 2002 finals. But Owen’s 14th minute equaliser put England back in the match and Steven Gerrard’s superb 22-metre drive in first-half injury time dealt them a stunning blow. Owen struck again three minutes after the re-start, then again in the 66th, while Emile Heskey completed the rout in the 74th minute as England’s counter-attacks tore the German defence to shreds. It was Germany’s worst home defeat in 70 years, since a 6-0 defeat by Austria, while British bookmakers had been offering odds of 100-1 for the final scoreline of 5-1. All three scorers for England had played in Liverpool’s 3-2 Super Cup victory last week over Bayern Munich, in whose Olympic Stadium Saturday’s qualifier was played, with Owen and Heskey also on the scoresheet in Monaco. The remarkable feat means that England now trail Germany by only three points, 16 to 13, and have a game in hand next Wednesday against Albania at home in Newcastle. Germany take on Finland in their final game, while England are at home to Greece in the battle for the automatic qualification slot, with the English now heavily favoured because of a better goal difference than the Germans. Despite the nightmare ending, Germany made a dream start, testing England’s defence before taking a sixth minute lead when Michael Ballack found Oliver Neuville and the German striker chipped the ball through England’s defence. Defender Sol Campbell and keeper David Seaman both hesitated for the split-second that allowed Jancker to steer his shot home. Owen levelled six minutes later after Germany failed to clear properly following a David Beckham free kick on the left side of the box. As the ball came back into area, it was headed across the face of the goal for an unmarked Owen to swivel round and crash a waist-high half-volley past Germany captain and goalkeeper Oliver Kahn. England were suddenly back in the game and the 21-year-old Owen nearly set up a bizarre second for England when he pressurised Kahn into a schoolboy error — picking up Sebastian Deisler’s back-pass deep inside his own area. Germany players stood across the goal-line while Paul Scholes teed up Beckham for the indirect free kick from 15 metres, only for his Manchester United team mate’s shot to cannon off the Germany wall. Joerg Boehme suffered the same fate with a 36th minute free kick that was charged down by the England wall, but the German followed up with a barrelling 25-metre drive which Seaman struggled to hold. Germany kept up the pressure in the closing minutes of the half with a series of corners, while Seaman did well to get down to a wicked low drive. But just as injury time came to an end, Gerrard smacked home a superb 22-metre drive from a Rio Ferdinand header to give England a lead at the break. The re-start was only three minutes old when Owen crashed home his second, giving England the kind of lead they would never have dreamt of before yesterday night. Beckham won back possession on the right hand side and curled a high ball into the box, which Heskey headed into the path of Owen, who buried his shot between Kahn and the near post. Germany hit back and should have pulled one back first through Deisler and then on the hour when Jancker chose to head back -instead of for goal - from point-blank range and Ballack cannoned his shot over the top. Rudi Voeller’s side paid a high price for the miss as Owen completed his hat-trick, springing the off-side trap to race on to a through ball and smack a stinging shot past the helpless Kahn. Heskey completed the demolition job in the 74th minute, like Owen catching the Germans on the break as the hosts pushed forward. Scholes took the ball unchallenged though open space before placing a perfect pass into the path of the Liverpool striker, who made no mistake with his shot from close range. Ironically, it was the same result as the first ever match between the two nations, back in April 1908 in Berlin. Poland also had a day to remember, beating Norway 3-0 in group five to qualify for the finals for the first time since 1986. Russia’s chance of ensuring their place in the finals slipped when they lost 1-2 in Slovenia in a group one match, which, coupled with Yugoslavia’s 2-1 win over Switzerland in Basle, threw that group wide open again. Italy also failed to book their ticket to the finals by only drawing 0-0 in Lithuania where a victory would have sealed their place. Ireland’s memorable 1-0 win over the Netherlands in Dublin guaranteed the Irish (21 points) second place in the group at worst and all but eliminated the Dutch (14). Portugal’s 7-1 win over Andorra included an eight-minute hat-trick in the first-half from substitute Nuno Gomes, who also scored a fourth in the second half and leaves Portugal (18) and Ireland poised to take the top two places. Bulgaria’s 2-0 win over Malta moved them up from third to first place on 17 points with two matches to play, one point ahead of deposed leaders Denmark, who played poorly and were held to a 1-1 draw by Northern Ireland in Copenhagen. Iceland, who have never qualified for the finals of a major competition scored one of their greatest-ever results with a 3-1 win over the Czech Republic, who had striker Jan Koller sent off six minutes from halftime. Sweden’s 2-1 win over Macedonia and Turkey’s 1-0 win over Slovakia mean that they have wrapped up the top two positions between them with Wednesday’s visit by the Swedes to Turkey likely to decide who finishes top. Moldova won their first international for six years, beating Azerbaijan 2-0 to leapfrog over Azerbaijan, who are now bottom of the standings.
Reuters |
|||||||
|
School soccer
in Malaysia Chandigarh, September, 2 Carrom has been introduced for the first time from this year’s National School Games calendar UT Education Department to host the National School Games in this discipline for under 19 boys and girls from November 4 to 7 at Chandigarh. |
|||||||
|
Rafter set to clash with Sampras; Henman ousted New York, September 2
The 28-year-old Australian booked into a Labour Day Monday fourth-rounder, which would be the envy of a Grand Slam final as he takes on 10th seed Pete Sampras for a quarterfinal spot. That pair played the 2000 Wimbledon finale, the last event that Sampras won. Joining the Queensland sixth seed and Sampras, a 13-time winner of majors in the next round are second seed Andre Agassi, holder Marat Safin and a pair of up-and-coming European hot rackets, Roger Federer and Xavier Mailisse. Agassi and Sampras, the reigning royals of the American game, own six titles on the Gotham cement between them. Agassi lifted his last just two years ago, while Sampras, who can’t seem to work his trophy magic these days except on grass courts, last won here in 1996. Sampras is quietly desperate to renew his love affair with Manhattan after going out in a one-way finale a year ago to Russian Safin, while Agassi is keen to end his year at the majors with a wrap-up Grand Slam honour after Australia in January. Agassi notched a 7-5, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 victory over Paraguay’s Ramon Delgado. Sampras sharpened his hard-court game, beating Russian Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. Third seed Safin has been playing himself into the defence of his first Grand Slam title. He advanced over stylish Moroccan Hicham Arazi 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) on his fifth match point. The 13th-seeded Federer ousted Dutchman Sjeng Schalken 6-4, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3), while Malisse accounted for ninth seed Tim Henman 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4. Federer didn’t have the chance to play any tune-up events on hard-court, as he let an abductor injury heal. Rafter earned his fourth victory without a loss against former top 10 player Lapentti. The Aussie had to get through an opening tie-breaker before cracking the match open under the lights in windy conditions. Sampras stands 11-4 against Rafter, but the Aussie won their only US Open match in a 1998 semifinal on the way to his second title. Thomas Johansson, the No 14, remained the last Swede in contention, beating Chile’s Marcelo Rios 6-4, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 to earn a showdown with Safin. Women’s 2001 double Grand Slam winner Jennifer Capriati overcame Spaniard Virginia Ruano Pascal, who put out Martina Hingis in the Wimbledon first round. The American second seed, a longtime New York crowd-pleaser, won 6-4, 6-4 and admitted to a healthy dose of confidence. “My form is as good as when I won in Australia and Paris — maybe even better,’’ said Capriati. “I coped with the wind on court. I’m happy with how my game is going.’’ Capriati had lost just five games in her first two matches and had beaten Ruano Pascal in the Australian Open third round in January. Fourth seed Venus Williams, the defending champion, ripped through another opponent, adding fellow American Lisa Raymond to her victim’s list 6-3, 6-4. Number 5 French Open finalist Kim Clijsters of Belgium beat Henrieta Nagyova of Slovakia 6-3, 7-5. A trio of French players reached the last 16, with wins for Amelie Mauresmo over American Chanda Rubin 7-5, 7-5; a 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 decision for Nathalie Tauziat against Canadian Jana Nejedly, and 18th seed Sandrine Testud beating Slovenian Maja Matevzic 6-2, 6-0. Henman squandered a 3-0 lead in the fifth set as he was eliminated in a five-setter for the seventh time in his last eight Grand Slam tournaments. Rusedski, the Open runner-up in 1997, fell to 103rd-ranked Mariano Zabaleta of Argentina 6-7, 6-4, 7-5, 7-6 in a battle of lefthanders on court 11. Capriati will next face Austrian Barbara Schett, also 25 and seeded 19th.
DPA, Reuters  |
|
Venus wishes to emulate Sampras
New York, September 2 “He’s like a phoenix, you know, never say die. “I guess I just admire Pete’s Wimbledon accomplishments because that’s what I wanted to win.’’ The 21-year-old Williams won her second successive Wimbledon crown in July but the powerful American is clearly not satisfied. “I know Andre did,” she said referring to the 31-year-old Agassi’s sole triumph at the All-England Club in 1992. “But Pete won about six more times. I guess I’d like to have seven, too. One for every day of the week.’’ World No 4 Williams has suffered in the rankings through her decision to limit her tournament schedule. This season she has played in only 11 events, winning five, but trails Martina Hingis, Jennifer Capriati and Lindsay Davenport in the rankings. “At this point, just for myself and my mind, I have to consider myself the best, just really not to give an edge to anyone in my mind,” said Williams, who has decided to beef up her schedule to make a run at a higher ranking.
Reuters |
|
Voeller’s father has heart attack Munich, September 2 “Mr Kurt (Voeller) had a heart attack during the game,’’ a DFB spokesman said yesterday.
Reuters |
|
Athletes turn to ‘Ayurvedic’ preparations Patiala, September 2 At present, the camps being held at the NIS in preparation for the Afro Asian Games are the senior national athletics camp and women’s weightlifting camp. The senior national weightlifting camp for men is being held in preparation for the SAF Games. Top athletes can be seen openly taking ‘ayurvedic’ medicines, with the most common one in use being a concoction manufactured by a Jhansi firm. The herbal products come in various forms, including brown and yellow capsules. A particular type of oil and a syrup is also being commonly used by the athletes. Interestingly, these neither have the name of the manufacturer nor any license number. Sports Medicine experts point out that going by the ingredients mentioned on the package of tablets of ‘Vita-ex gold’, it has been clearly mentioned that the drug includes a substance known as ‘kuchala’, which is nothing but strychnine. |
|
Sharmila retains
title New Delhi, September 2 Sharmila, hailed as the P.T. Usha of Delhi, led the pack from start to finish to post a comfortable victory. Laxmi of Nagar Palika School, who was third last year, took the second position while Nitu came third. In the 6 to 10 age group, Radha won the title, followed by Laxmi and Madhu. In the boys 10 to 14 age group, Vir Bahadur of Government School raced to the first place followed by Sunil Kumar and Nirmal Kumar Jha. In the boys 6 to 10 age group, Birender Kumar Uppal of Govt. School won the first position, while Aman Kumar Mensa and Sailesh Bhardwaj finished second and third respectively. The first 25 finishers in each group was given cash awards and scholarships. Scholarships were also given to the first 25 finishers in each of the four groups, to pursue their education till they complete their higher secondary education. Chopra said the cash incentives being given to the winners are helping promote the sports culture among students, particularly among the under-privileged. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 121 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
New York, September 2
