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Tuesday,
February 5, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Shoaib, Razzak inspire Pak win Hussain smiles, stops complaining Rathore ruled out
for q-final tie Gavaskar comments Saurav Ganguly writes
Waugh escapes punishment |
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YMCA BOXING
CHAMPIONSHIP Punjab fencers reign supreme Sasikiran emerges
champion Rural sports meet concludes BSF, Army XI
in quaterfinals |
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Shoaib, Razzak inspire Pak win Sharjah, February 4 Shoaib picked up a career-best 5 for 24 and Razzaq took 4 for 25 as the West Indians lost nine wickets for 56 runs — the last seven for 25 - to be shot out for 171 in their second knock at tea on the fifth and final day. Set an improbable victory target of 342, the West Indians caved in despite a solid start that had propelled them to 115 for one soon after lunch. The second and final Test of the short series, being played at the neutral venue of the Sharjah cricket stadium, starts on Thursday on an adjacent wicket. Shoaib put aside the controversy over his bowling action to work up hostile pace even on the slow wicket to better his previous best of 5 for 43 against South Africa at Durban in 1998. The tuition he received during the course of this Test from former West Indian bowling great Michael Holding, who is here as a television commentator, worked wonders as Shoaib beat batsmen with lightening speed. Seven West Indian batsmen were either bowled or trapped leg-before, indicating the speed at which both Shoaib and Razzaq bowled. Shoaib began the destruction in the third over after lunch when he clean bowled Chris Gayle, who hit an impressive 66 with 15 boundaries. In his next over, Shoaib produced a fast, lifting delivery that took the glove of Wavell Hinds and was snapped up by wicket-keeper Rashid Latif. It was Latif’s 100th dismissal in his 28th Test, during which he also completed 1,000 runs while making 150 in the first innings. The West Indies suffered another blow soon after when She-rwin Campbell was declared run out by third umpire Athar Zaidi after responding to Carl Hooper’s call for a sharp single. Razzaq took over from there, removing Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Hooper and Ridley Jacobs in one over to reduce the West Indies to 150 for 7. Razzaq was denied a hat-trick, as was Shoaib soon after when he clean bowled Mervyn Dillon and Cameron Cuffy off successive balls. The last-wicket pair of Ryan Hinds and Pedro Collins put on 16 before Razzaq bowled Collins for 12 to signal Pakistan’s win. Pakistan (1st innings): 493 West Indies (1st innings): 366 Pakistan (2nd innings) declared for the loss of 6 wkts: 214 West Indies (2nd innings): Ganga b Shoaib 34 Gayle b Shoaib 66 Campbell run out 20 Hinds c R. Latif b Shoaib 8 Hooper lbw b Razzaq 13 Chanderpaul c R. Latif
R. Hinds not out 9 Jacobs lbw b Razzaq 0 Dillon b Shoaib 0 Cuffy b Shoaib 0 Collins b Razzaq 12 Extras:
(b-1 lb-1 nb-7) 9 Total: all out 171 Fall of wickets: 1-76, 2-115, 3-125, 4-146, 5-149, 6-150, 7-150, 8-155, 9-155. Bowling: Waqar 9-2-35-0, Saqlain 11-5-30-0, Kaneria 19-7-55-0, Shoaib 16-7-24-5, Razzaq 7.5-1-25-4.
AFP |
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Waqar praises
Shoaib, Latif Sharjah, UAE, February 4 Paceman Shoaib, nicknamed the “Rawalpindi Express”, took Test best figures of five for 24 as the West Indies folded from 146 for three to 171 all out. “I am pleased with my team’s performance, especially with the work of Shoaib who really bowled well — as did Abdur Razzaq,’’ said Waqar. “Shoaib, I think, has struck peak form and has no fitness problems. He has found the rhythm in his bowling which is a great thing for us. “I must also pay tribute to Rashid Latif for his excellent batting and keeping in the match. We were all concerned about the pitch but it played well very and surprised us.
Reuters |
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Hussain smiles, stops complaining
London, February 4 He almost sounded another man as he praised the Indian people saying “the way they have supported the cricket has made it very fulfilling for all of us and we enjoyed the tour immensely”. His comments that appeared in British media today after England snatched a five-run victory in the sixth and final one-dayer yesterday, focussed solely on the positives of the tour. “Obviously we haven’t won either series, which would have been nice, but the inexperience in our squad is immense compared to the Indian squad and to do what we have done is very pleasing. “The most pleasing thing for me, apart from the character and fight shown by my players, has been that we have enjoyed the tour immensely,” one of the reports in the dailies quoted Hussain as saying. “A few months ago, there was a lot of talk about us may be not coming and things like that and I’d like to say to the Indian people that the way they have supported the cricket has made it very fulfilling for all of us. “We do not see crowds like theirs in England, we don’t play on wickets like theirs at home and we’ve learnt a lot”. Hussain, who left along with his team for New Zealand for a three-Test and five one-day match series last night, admitted “a 3-3 draw is not worth going over the top” but said “we’ve won eight out of 11 one-day internationals in Zimbabwe and India this winter, so we’re going in the right direction”. The Times daily said Marcus Trescothick won the man-of-the -match award last night scoring 95 off 80 balls, but it was Andrew Flintoff, who effectively won the game by holding the England innings together after a familiar batting collapse and then keeping his head in the final over. The Guardian said England have grown in stature against spin bowling on three successive tours of the sub-continent. They have tamed Saqlain Mushtaq in Pakistan, padded Muttiah Muralitharan to distraction in Sri Lanka and gradually learned to cope with the two-pronged attack of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh in India.
PTI |
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Rathore ruled out
for q-final tie SAS Nagar, February 4 Assam have quality players like skipper S S Das, who opens for India in Tests, seamer Debashis Mohanty, Sanjay Raul and Rashmi Ranjan Parida in the squad. By all counts an engrossing contest appears to be on the cards as play starts on the morrow. Squads: Punjab: Pankaj Dharmani (captain), Ravneet Ricky, Munish Sharma, Dinesh Mongia, Ankur Kakkar, Yuvraj Singh, Vineet Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Navdeep Singh, Ishan Malhotra, Harish Puri and Sandeep Sawal (12th man). Orissa (from): S S Das (captain), P Jayachandra, Sanjay Raul, Debashis Mohanty, Rashmi Ranjan Parida, Prabhanjan Mallick, Sanjay Satpathy, Ajay Barik, Goutam Gopal, B B C C Mohapatra, Subrat Behera, Sujan Mahanty, Bipin Singh and Niranjan Behera. |
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Gavaskar comments IT was the old familiar story once again as India snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. The signs were ominous when Trescothick was dropped off the first ball of the match by Badani. It wasn’t the easiest of chances but it meant India’s first step was the wrong one. Trescothick played superbly after that and with Hussain producing some sparkling shots off his pads England for the first time in the series had got off to a flying start. It was this start that allowed them to play cautiously towards the end after Harbhajan had engineered a middle-order collapse and still get a total in excess of 250 which India has struggled to overhaul in recent times once it loses its champion batsman cheaply. The pitch at the Wankhede Stadium was the best of the series. There was pace and bounce for the new-ball bowlers and there was turn for the spinners and with the ball coming on to the bat the batsmen could also play their shots. No wonder the crowd got to see about 500 runs being scored and also saw both sides being dismissed. Unfortunately for India their stubbornness in not changing the team meant they missed out on the opportunity to put pressure on the Englishmen having only four regular bowlers and Ganguly operating as the fifth one. If they had picked Bangar they could have exploited the bounce and seam movement even more and with Bangar being no mug with the bat the balance would have been right. So Ganguly had to bowl a longish spell and with both his hamstring muscles not exactly in great shape it was always going to be a bit hard on him. To his credit, he not only bowled and got wickets but was running briskly between the wickets too. England looked like getting 300 or more around the half-way mark but Michael Vaughan’s illogical sortie down the pitch to Ganguly and then Harbhajan’s magic had them reeling and it looked as if they may be lucky to get to 200. In fact they were, as Flintoff survived an appeal for a catch at forward short-leg. The English skipper has obliquely referred to the decisions that have gone against his team as the reasons for his team’s defeat, but when you look at the decisions that went in his side’s favour there has been not even a beep and of course nobody from the media has even asked him about it. He himself got the benefit of the doubt in the Delhi game. Considering that India lost that game by only 2 runs, that decision made a difference, as did the one from which Flintoff profited here in Mumbai, for he was not even in double figures at that stage and India lost by only 5 runs. But then, trust the champion whingers of the world to only moan about what affects them and not utter a word when it benefits them, and trust our media even more not to bring up such uncomfortable questions to our visitors because it might affect their campaign against our captain. India has to look seriously at its batsmen getting to 20s and 30s, and then throwing it away. Sehwag played some cracking shots and while he is wonderful to look at when he gets to free his arms, when he is tucked up on the leg-stump he is not able to get the same power. Thrice now he has got out at mid-on because his arms are constricted and it shows an unwillingness to learn from previous errors. But then why single him out when there is an inexplicable stubbornness about the combination of the team. Its all very well to have faith in some but blind faith leads to disaster as we saw at the Wankhede Stadium.
PMG |
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Saurav Ganguly writes THE series concluded on a disappointing note as we lost two games in the span of three days by margins of two and five runs. Both results were proof that experience matters a lot in one-day cricket. In crunch situations, and we were in similar situations at both Delhi and Mumbai towards the last 10 overs, we lost both games in the same manner. There were some reckless shots played even when the required rate was under five. There was a lot of panic created at the centre every time a few dot balls went by. Anyway the boys were young and seven out of the 11 guys have not even played 30 games. I hope they learn from this series because one-day cricket is all about playing according to the situation and keeping a cool head under pressure. It is also about knowing your game and your strengths, and playing to your strength under pressure. I hope they have learnt from their mistakes and will come back as better players in the future. All our youngsters have plenty of ability and talent and can become successful players. Virender Sehwag looked in superb touch right through the series. He is a clean striker of the cricket ball and is one player who seems to improve in every series. But he has to develop this ability of winning games because a number of times in the series he threw his wicket away at a time when there was no need to play big shots. He had the wonderful opportunity of opening in the series, but he has to develop the habit of batting 50 overs. Dinesh Mongia also looks to be a fine player. He has settled in the groove of international cricket quickly and has a fantastic temperament. But the most heartening aspect of the series was the bowling of Javagal Srinath. He seems to be getting better and better with age, and his bowling in the death overs has been an absolute revelation. He has mastered the art of the slower one and he hardly gave away anything. Harbhajan Singh was once again at his very best. He is a champion bowler and it amazes me how some of these so-called critics, who have probably become better players with the microphone in their hand, make negative comments about his bowling. Anyway, that’s Indian cricket where people become quite personal and vindictive. The English team deserve special credit for levelling the series after trailing 1-3. They showed a lot of character and fought well under pressure. Trescothick batted well right through the series, and is one of the mainstays of the English batting. Andrew Flintoff also did very well in the series, and it is good to see my mate from Lancashire doing so well, because he has it in him to develop into a genuine allrounder. I would like to thank Andrew Leipus for doing such a superb job on my hamstring, and it was only because of him that I managed to play the last three games. It was rather amusing to know that a lot of people knew more about injured hamstrings than Andrew did. But then, Indian cricket is a funny place, isn’t it?
Gameplan |
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I could have done better: Ratra Rohtak, February 4 |
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Waugh escapes punishment Melbourne, February 4 Australian Cricket Board Chief Executive James Sutherland said he had spoken to skipper Waugh about yesterday’s incident. “A couple of ACB representatives were there, I have spoken to them, it would appear it was a pretty difficult press conference at the end of a difficult match and a long summer,” Sutherland said. “He made an off-the-cuff remark to an ACB person on the way out. “I understand the context of that, I have spoken to Steve Waugh and I won’t be taking the matter any further.” It was the second time Waugh’s asides at a media conference have caused him problems. Last month Waugh apologised to South African fast bowler Steve Elworthy over a flippant remark about the paceman’s brain — or lack of it.
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Nigeria, Mali enter semis
Kayes (Mali), February 4 Mali, who have never won the African Cup but were second in 1972, beat South Africa 2-0 while Nigeria topped Ghana 1-0 in Bamako yesterday. Bassala Toure and Dramine Coulibaly scored one each for Mali. Toure got the first one, running down the left side in the 60th minute to beat Ghana goalkeeper Johannes Vonk on his near post, sending the hosts into Thursday’s semifinals. Substitute Coulibaly netted the second in injury time. As the final whistle blew, the ecstatic crowd of about 20,000 flooded the pitch. At least three people were injured in the crush and taken to the hospital for treatment. Mali will play the winners of Cameroon-Egypt quarterfinal. It will be Mali’s third trip to the semifinals. South Africa, who won the tournament on debut in 1996, are FIFA’s second-highest ranked nation on the continent and one of five African sides headed to this year’s World Cup in South Korea and Japan. In Bamako, Garba Lawal put Nigeria into the semifinals with an 80th-minute goal. Lawal finally took advantage of Nigeria’s second-half dominance at the March 26 Stadium, blasting in a shot from outside the area after Ghana thought they had cleared the ball out of danger. Nigeria, who won the African Cup in 1980 and ’94, will play the Senegal-Congo (Zaire) winner in the semifinals on Thursday. The Super Eagles, playing with black arm bands in memory of the more than 1,000 killed in explosions last week in Lagos, controlled most of the play in the second half. Lawal, Julius Aghahowa and Nkwanko Kanu all missed chances to score while Ghana’s Isaac Boakye had his side’s only chance in the second half. Nigeria, who have yet to concede a goal in their four games in the tournament, got a scare in the 33rd minute when goalie Ike Shorunmu was hurt in a collision with team-mate Isaac Okoronkwo in front of the net. The keeper was taken to the hospital and replaced by Murphy Akanji. Shorunmu’s condition was not immediately known.
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YMCA
BOXING CHAMPIONSHIP New Delhi, February 4 The nationals, to be hosted by the Railway Sports Control Board, will witness, besides Dinko, many leading boxers in action, namely Arjuna awardee Jitender Kumar of Railways in heavyweight, Ramanand of Services in light weight, Olympian Suresh Singh of Central Industrial Security Forces (CISF) in fly weight, Som Bahadur Pun of Services Sports Control Board in light welter and World Junior Boxing Championship bronze medallist Praveen Kumar of CISF in the light welter. Interestingly, there was no official information about the national championships from the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF). In fact, many of the top IABF officials had no clue about the nationals being held under their very own noses. Nor was any Railway official available to give out useful information. However, sources said about 250 to 270 boxers were expected to participate in the nationals, in which Services are the defending champions and Railways the runners-up. The 47th edition of the Senior National Boxing Championships were held in Pune (Maharashtra). The opening day tomorrow will have a crowded programme as over 60 bouts are scheduled to be held on two rings. Mercifully, the YMCA in Delhi has excellent facilities for boxing, and IABF working president R.S. Dalal was very pleased with the arrangements for the Nationals, though the role of the Railways was still very hazy. |
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Punjab fencers reign supreme Patiala, February 4 In the team championships of the foil event for (U-19) boys, Punjab notched up a facile 2-1 win against Jammu and Kashmir in the final to retain the title they had won in the previous edition of the games while in the team championships for the sabre event, the hosts subdued a fighting Assam 2-1 to emerge victorious. In chess, introduced for the first time, Maharashtra boys (U-19) were leading after the third round by garnering 11.5 points. Meanwhile, in athletics six new meet records were established. In the hammer throw event for girls (U-19), Livya V.S of Kerala threw the hammer to a distance of 12.31m to lower the old record of 12.05m set by Pony George, also of Kerala. In javelin throw for (U-19) girls, Sarabjit Kaur of Punjab created a new record by throwing the javelin to a distance of 42.37m. The old record stood in the name of Suman Kumari of Haryana at 42.13m. In the 100m (U-19) boys, Ram Naik of Delhi clocked 10.07 seconds to lower the previous record of 10.8 seconds which was in the name of N.M. Reddy of Andhra Pradesh. In the (U-19) boys high jump, Vinod Kumar of Haryana jumped 2.01m to put to shade the old meet record of 1.98m set by Sanjay Kumar of Haryana in 1998. The oldest record to be lowered was in javelin throw for boys (U-19) when Jagmohan Kumar of Gujarat, with a distance of 63.02m, put to shade Harikrishan Kumar’s record of 61.51m set in 1987. In basketball, volleyball, handball and kabaddi events for both boys and girls, the hosts have booked a berth in the quarterfinals. Other results: javelin throw (boys, U-19): Jagmohan (Gujarat)-1, Satpal (Haryana)-2, Hem Raj Singh (UP)-3. (girls): Kalyani Chetia (Assam)-1, M.K. Prajisha (Kerala)-2, Sanjo Devi (HP)-3; shot put (boys, U-19): Satyendera Singh (UP)-1, Sandeep Kumar (Haryana)-2, Pushpinder Yadav (Delhi)-3; triple jump: (girls, U-19): Livya V.S. (Kerala)-1, Pony George (Kerala)-2, Tucy Deshmukh (WB)-3; hammer throw: (girls, U-19): Sarabjit Kaur (Punjab)-1, Soman Baddiwal (Haryana)-2, Pawanjit Kaur (Punjab)-3; (boys): Himanshu Mishra (UP)-1, Ashish Singh (UP)-2, Malkit Singh (Punjab)-3; pole vault (boys, U-17): Assan Mohammad (TN)-1, Deepchand Yadav (UP)-2, Jinto Kapp (Kerala)-3. |
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Sasikiran emerges champion Nagpur, February 4 GM P. Harikrishna (14), lucky to win his last round today, tralied by just half a point margin and finished runner-up. Sasikiran and Harikrishna were richer by Rs 35,000 and Rs 27,000, respectively. International Master S.S. Ganguly (IOC) and GM Dibyendu Barua (TISCO) were held to a draw in their matches today and finished third and fourth, respectively. GM Abhijit Kunte (IOC) settled for a quick draw with IM Neeraj Kumar Mishra (TISCO) to increase his score to 11 points and secure fifth place while IM R.B. Ramesh (IOC), who got the better of B.T. Murlikrishna (Railways) was placed sixth. All the top six players have qualified to represent India in international chess competitions. This was a repeat performance of Sasikiran who had won the 1999 edition of the championship also played here. He opened with his king pawn and faced the modern defence of IM V. Koshy (ONGC). Sasikiran won a pawn on the 19th move but had to give it back on the 27th move.
PTI |
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Rural sports meet concludes Ambala, February 4 The highlight of the day was weightlifting in which Harish Kumar of Kaula village walked a short distance with a 125 kg sack on his shoulders with a man sitting over the sack. In Kabaddi circle style, Kaleran team came first and Dhanaura team was second. In volleyball, Bhudangpur team came first and Naneola team was second. In bullock cart race, Baldev Singh and Labh Singh from Kaulan village came first, while Baldev Singh also from Kaulan village was second. In high jump, Jagpreet of Naneola was first and Tara Singh Mohda and Mohit Tundli were second. In shot put, Pusphvinder Singh Mohda was first and Jarnail Singh Naneola was second. In discuss throw, Jarnail Singh Naneola was first and Naresh Kumar Mohda was second. In long jump, Rakesh of Naneola came first and Sethi from Jandli was second. In 100 m race, Mohit of Dukheri was first and Vineet of Jandli was second. In 400 m, Sandeep from Ghel was first and Tarsem of Dadiana was second. In 1500 m, Gurmeet Singh of Naneola was first and Sandeep of Ghel was second. In 5000 m, Ajit Pal of Kaula was first and Gurmeet Singh of Naneola was second. In wrestling, 50 kg, Gulab Singh of Dhanora was first and Pawan Deep Singh of Jalbera was second. In 67 kg, Jitender Kumar of Babyal was first and Gaurav Kumar of Jalbera was second. In above 67 kg, Gurmeet Singh of Maila was first and Manpreet of Kaula was second. In Sarpanch-Panch race, Sukhbir of Kaula was first and Jaswant Singh of Khaira was second. Athletics meet A scintillating cultural programme was held on the final day of the four-day athletics meet held at Chaman Vatika School, here today. There was a tie in best athlete, senior category boys, between Akshay Beniwal and Ajit Pal Singh. Best athlete, senior girls, was Megha Kalra. In junior boys, Arshdeep Singh was adjudged best athlete, while Itee Shree was adjudged best athlete in junior girls category. While fastest runner, senior boys was Ajit Pal Singh, in senior girls it was Swati Dogra. In junior boys it was Arshdeep and in junior girls it was Itee Shree. In 100 m, Ajit Pal Singh was first, Amit Nagar was second and Gagandeep was third. In mini-marathon, Akshay Beniwal was first, Abhinav Duhan was second and Rohit Mahendru was third. In 70 m, Gursahab Singh was first, Satnam Singh was second and Tarun was third. In senior girls, 100 m, Swati was first, Rashmi was second and Megha was third. |
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BSF, Army XI
in quaterfinals New Delhi, February 4 Both BSF and Army XI topped their respective groups in the pre-quarterfinal league round with two consecutive wins, earning six points each. While BSF will play in group C of the quarterfinal league, the Army team will fight it out in group D. Twelve teams, divided in four groups consisting three teams each including defending champions Mohun Bagan, will lock horns in the quarterfinal league begining on February 6 after a rest day tomorrow. A brace by left winger J. Ouseph and another by D.S. Negi helped BSF tame a hapless City FC who were no match to their more robust and tough rivals.
PTI |
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