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Wednesday,
March 13, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Kumble, Andy Flower doubtful starters
English ‘slur’ motivates Kiwis |
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Ponting takes Aussies to tense victory
6th defeat for Pak in 14 home Tests |
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Indian golfers show greater
skill Rashid
volleyball: India thrash
Austria
Crucial match for Mahindras Vasco meet Tollygunge TN, Railways cagers champs Bopanna, Srinath
survive Coaches’ plea to CM
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Kumble, Andy Flower doubtful starters
Kochi, March 12 While Kumble had been experiencing pain in his right shoulder and did not bowl in the nets, Andy Flower had suffered a hip muscle strain and in all probability, would sit out of the all-important match tomorrow. Talking to newsmen after a strenuous nets session, Indian coach John Wright said a decision on fielding Kumble in the final eleven would be taken by the selectors tomorrow morning. “In case Kumble does not play tomorrow, it will only be a precautionary measure as we do not want to aggravate his injury’’, he stressed and added that if the leg spinner had to sit out, offspinner Sarandeep Singh would be the replacement. Having shrugged off the Faridabad shock with a comprehensive 64-run victory in the second match, India would now be hoping for a smooth sailing in the remainder of the
series. India have won both the matches they have played at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here and on their current form, a hat-trick at this venue looks a distinct possibility. India have certainly been the better side in the first two matches, the defeat in Faridabad being more due to an extraordinary knock by Douglas Marillier than any major lapse on the part of the hosts. The best thing to come out from the first two matches for the Indians has been their team effort. There have been useful contributions from almost every member of the team and they haven’t shown over-dependence on any single individual. The opening combination, which was one of the worries after both Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag were ruled out for the series due to injuries, looks to have been sorted out with Dinesh Mongia showing sound technique and temperament at the top. Mongia and skipper Saurav Ganguly have done reasonably well in both the matches, putting on 45 runs in Faridabad and 109 in Mohali. Mongia has produced fluent innings in both the matches and, if anything, he can only be faulted for not being able to convert his fine starts into a big knock. He was out for 25 and 45 after looking well set and he would surely like to get a big score here. Ganguly, on the other hand, seems to be enjoying the Zimbabwe bowling attack. After getting his first Test century as captain in Delhi, he has played two brilliant knocks of 57 and 86 in the one-dayers. V.V.S. Laxman has also looked in tremendous touch in this series, playing fluent knocks in both the matches. Under attack for his penchant of throwing his wicket away after getting into 30s and 40s, Laxman has shown good application this time and scored half-centuries in both games. Rahul Dravid was a revelation in Mohali when he played an unusually attacking knock. Mohammad Kaif also produced a fine innings under pressure in Faridabad. The only real failure has been Sanjay Bangar, who failed to open his account in both matches. The bowlers have also looked in top-form with left-arm seamer Zaheer Khan and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh leading the way. Zaheer Khan has bowled exceptionally well even though his figures were badly mutilated by the Marillier onslaught in his last two overs in Faridabad. He has troubled the batsmen with his yorkers and bouncers and always looked very dangerous. Local speedster Tinu Yohannan would certainly like to make his one-day debut at his home ground but it is very difficult to see at whose place he can be included in the side. Ajit Agarkar has done reasonably well, contributing both with the bat and the ball and unless India decide to go in with an unlikely combination of three fast bowlers, Yohannan would have to wait further for his first match. Zimbabwe have also had quite a few positives from the first two matches. Expecting Marillier to emulate his Faridabad knock everytime he goes out to bat would be asking for too much but the fact that Andy Flower, Alistair Campbell and even Travis Friend have been among the runs would be giving comfort to the Zimbabweans. However, Zimbabwe have not been able to click in unison and that is one area of worry for them. The bowling is another concern with their attack lacking the sting to bowl India out. They have conceded huge totals in both the matches and even their main strike bowler Heath Streak has gone for runs. Having been asked to chase in both matches, Zimbabwe captain Stuart Carlisle would be hoping to be more lucky with the toss this time. With the pitch here not very different from those at Faridabad and Mohali, Zimbabwe would certainly like to bat first and set a good total so that they can put the Indians under pressure. PTI,
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English ‘slur’ motivates Kiwis Christchurch, March 12 Kiwi captain Stephen Fleming believes the 2-1 series win in England in 1999 was given scant respect by some who treated it as a humiliation for the English to lose to New Zealand. “It’s a general feeling of that series that it was one of the lowest points in English cricket history, and that for me is a slur on us, because we played some pretty good cricket,” he said today. The 1999 victory was only New Zealand’s third triumph in 28 series encounters against England. “It’s certainly nothing personal against any English players, it’s just a general feeling we have,” Fleming said. “We’re not overly respected in England and you get that feeling playing there domestically and from reports you get back. “We still feel we haven’t been given the credit we deserved for beating England the last time we played them. That’s massive motivation for the guys who were there,” he said. The three-Test series gets underway on a portable pitch here with skipper Nasser Hussain claiming underdog status for his touring England team after they lost the one-day series 2-3. Fleming isn’t buying that. “We have a massive point to prove, we don’t buy this underdog tag from England. We know what’s going on, so we’re confident of winning,” he said. “We have a pretty good core of players who remember those (1999) Tests. Fleming pointed to his team’s depth of batting as New Zealand’s strength against an England bowling attack to be led by Christchurch-born Andy Caddick, but which will lack the firepower of Darren Gough, who only came here for the one-day international series. New Zealand’s two key bowlers are Cairns (194 wickets) and left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori (125 wickets), and the Kiwis’ chances will hinge on the support those two receive from pace newcomer Ian Butler and Chris Martin. Butler, who turned 20 in November, takes the place of tearaway paceman Shane Bond, who has been forced out for the remainder of the season with a suspected stress fracture of his left ankle. Last season a recycled drop-in pitch was used for the New Zealand-Pakistan match, which proved lifeless and led to a dull, high-scoring draw. Teams: New Zealand (from):
Stephen Fleming (captain), Nathan Astle, Chris Cairns, Ian Butler, Chris Drum, Matt Horne, Chris Martin, Craig McMillan, Adam Parore, Mark Richardson, Daniel Vettori, Lou Vincent. England (from): Nasser Hussain (captain), Usman Afzaal Mark Butcher, Andrew Caddick, Richard Dawson, Andrew Flintoff, James Foster, Ashley Giles, Warren Hegg, Matthew Hoggard, Mark Ramprakash, Graham Thorpe, Marcus Trescothick, Michael Vaughan, Craig White. Umpires: Asoka de Silva (SL), Billy Bowden (NZ) Match referee:
Jackie Hendriks (WI). AFP |
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Ponting takes Aussies to tense victory Cape Town, March 12 The victory ensured that Australia retained the world Test championship. With three runs needed, Ponting, on 94, swung a short ball from left-arm spinner Paul Adams over the backward square leg boundary to hoist his 10th Test century. Ponting’s spectacular finish capped a tense afternoon in which Adams struck twice within seven balls as the world champions stumbled within sight of their triumph. Australia, set 331 to win, were cruising to victory until Mark Waugh was caught behind off Makhaya Ntini to be third man out in the last over before lunch when 80 runs were still required. But they lost three more wickets before Ponting and Shane Warne (15 not out) settled the series 24 minutes before tea on the final day. Adams bowled Steve Waugh (14) and trapped Damien Martyn leg before wicket and there was another anxious moment for the world champions when Adam Gilchrist was caught at midwicket off Jacques Kallis after making a quick 24 when another 26 runs were needed. Australia had been set to make the 10th highest winning fourth innings total in Test history and it looked easy when Ponting and Matthew Hayden (96) punished the bowlers at the start of the day. Hayden fell four runs short of a fifth successive century in Tests against South Africa when he was second man out with the total on 201. The big left-hander chased a wide ball from Jacques Kallis and edged a catch to South African captain and wicketkeeper Mark Boucher. Hayden hit centuries in each of the first four Tests which Australia played at home and away against South Africa this season. Australia won all four games but needed to win the three-match series in South Africa to retain the championship crown ahead of the second-placed home team. Hayden and Ponting took command from the start of play, hitting Adams out of the attack after just two overs. Australia started the day at 131 for one, needing 200 more to win. South Africa opened with Adams, who took four for 102 in the first innings, but Hayden and Ponting took 18 runs off him in two overs, including a cover-drive for four and a straight six by Hayden. With the pitch playing easily, Adams was the bowler most likely to trouble the tourists but the early assault followed similar tactics last evening. Boucher took Adams off with figures of none for 65 off 10 overs and he did not return until he bowled a single over shortly before lunch. South Africa’s below-strength seam attack did not cause any major anxiety as the two batsmen continued to play aggressively until Hayden was out. SCOREBOARD South Africa (1st innings): 239 Australia (2nd innings): 382 South Africa (2nd innings): 473 Australia (2nd innings): Langer b Pretorius 58 Hayden c Boucher b Kallis 96 Ponting not out 100 M. Waugh c Boucher b Ntini 16 S. Waugh b Adams 14 Martyn lbw b Adams 0 Gilchrist c McKenzie b Kallis 24 Warne not out 15 Extras (lb-6, nb-5) 11 Total (for 6 wkts) 334 Fall of wickets: 1-102, 2-201, 3-251, 4-268, 5-268, 6-305. Bowling: Ntini 24-4-90-1, Pretorius 14-5-60-1, Adams 21.1-0-104-2, Hall 3-0-6-0, Kallis 17-2-68-2.
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6th defeat for Pak in 14 home Tests Islamabad, March 12 “The Pakistan team struggles on home grounds because they do not bat and field properly. They must stop taking home series easy and add more professionalism in their approach,” The News, quoting former captain Zaheer Abbas, reported today. Pakistan were bowled out for 234 and 325 and conceded a mammoth 528 against Sri Lanka in the Asian Test Championship final on Sunday last. That poor showing resulted in Pakistan’s sixth defeat in the last 14 home Tests with only two wins. They have lost home series against Sri Lanka, England, Zimbabwe and Australia since 1998. “The team did not look settled in this match and lost to Sri Lanka which had only Muttiah Muralitharan as their only match winner,” Zaheer observed. Sri Lanka broke Pakistan’s unbeaten home sequence when an Arjuna Ranatunga-led side beat Pakistan 2-1, their first home series defeat since 1980-81. A 1-0 defeat against South Africa followed. Pakistan’s only home series win in this period came against West Indies whom they thrashed 3-0 in 1997-98. “Home defeats prove that there is a lack of planning and that is why I left the coach’s job”, former captain and coach Intikhab Alam said. Pakistan had sacked Intikhab mid-way through the home series against Sri Lanka two years ago. “You cannot win a Test without an experienced spinner and it was a poor selection because Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik cannot win you a Test with their bowling,” he said. Alam pointed out that Pakistan surprisingly left out their experienced off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq and opted for all-rounder Malik and did not consider veteran pacer Wasim Akram and opener Saeed Anwar. “Openers are not allowed to settle with Pakistan playing every time with a new set of openers. After such results, the chief selector must go,” he added. Defending the selection process, chief selector Wasim Bari said, “We select 14 or 15 players and it is up to the captain and coach to select the final eleven. In my opinion, pressure of expectations on the home grounds and lack of experience of our curator are the reasons behind our poor home record.” Bari said Pakistan’s lone curator Mohammad Bashir has little experience and everyone was left wondering how the pitch would behave. “Even England is facing such problems and are considering using Australian pitches.” The former stumper denied there was a lack of harmony between the selection committee and captain Waqar Younis. “There is no disharmony. We take all the aspects into consideration and then select the squad and pass it to the team management”, the chief selector said defending Akram’s omission. “There is no doubt on Akram’s ability and experience but in the past one year he has struggled with his fitness and its our wish he regains full fitness to assist the side in the 2003 World Cup,” he said. Pakistan now take on New Zealand in a two-Test and three-one day series in April-May.
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Lanka to meet Pak in the Sharjah opener Dubai, March 12 Sri Lanka clinched the Asian Test title with an emphatic eight-wicket win over Pakistan at Lahore recently. The Kiwis are also in the hunt for the laurels in the tournament which is likely to be telecast by Taj television, the newly-formed production company of Abdul Rehman Bukhatir, the mastermind behind the CBFS. Sri Lanka and Pakistan had shared the honours last year, with the former taking the ARY Gold Cup in April but conceding the Khaleej Times trophy to Pakistan in October-November. With India opting out of the events featuring Pakistan, it has been a difficult proposition for live CBFS to draw the crowds. India-Pakistan clashes have always been a big draw at Sharjah. The schedule: April 8: Pakistan v Sri Lanka, April 9: New Zealand v Sri Lanka, April 10: rest day; April 11: New Zealand v Pakistan, April 12: Pakistan v Sri Lanka, April 13: rest day April 14: New Zealand v Sri Lanka, April 15: New Zealand v Pakistan, April 16: rest day, April 17: Final.
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Jaffer slams century Rajkot, March 12 West Zone batting first finished the day, 15 minutes before the scheduled end due to bad light, on 286 for five off 85.3 overs with former Indian stumper Nayan Mongia batting on 17 and Sairaj Bahutule on seven. For Central Zone, off spinner Kulamani Parida finished with two for 65 while former Test leg spinner Narendra Hirwani took two for 99. Despite getting a fine start, the zone batsmen failed to consolidate their position losing their skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar (0), youngster Altaf Merchant (32) and southpaw Vinod Kambli (6) cheaply. First to go was Williams. After making a stylish 74 he fell victim to Hirwani, giving Rahul Jhalani an easy catch. Kanitkar, who came one down did not stay long and was caught by Jyoti Yadav at forward short leg off Hirwani for no score. Merchant hung around for some time before being caught by Yadav at forward short-leg off Parida. Kambli hit a six off Parida but was out in the same over when Yere Goud took a good catch at gully off Parida. Earlier, Jaffer was bowled by Harvinder Singh playing across the line for a well made 122. Jaffer and Williams batted together for 183 minutes scoring almost run a ball.
PTI |
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Nehra wrecks South Faridabad, March 12 Electing to bat, South lost three early wickets. Test discard Sadagopan Ramesh’s dismal domestic form continued when he was caught by wicketkeeper Vijay Dahiya off Nehra for nought. Sridharan Sriram (10) and Hemang Badani (4) also fell cheaply. Vinay Kumar (50) and Karnataka’s Vijay Bharadwaj (64) tried to stem the rot with a 78-run stand for the fourth wicket but that turned out to be the only bright phase of the South innings. Two quick wickets, with Nehra taking the crucial wicket of southpaw Sridharan Sharath (0), sounded the death-knell from which South never recovered. South Zone (1st Inning): Sriram c Dahiya b Sharma 10 Ramesh c Dahiya b Nehra 0 Vinay c Sanghvi b Nehra 50 Badani c and b Sanghvi 4 Bharadwaj b Sanghvi 64 Sharath b Nehra 0 M S K Prasad c Sharma 5
b Sanghvi R V Ch Prasad b Nehra 1 Shahabuddin c and b Sanghvi 6 Suresh b Nehra 0 V Prasad not out 4 Extras (b-11, nb-11, lb-1, w-1) 24 Total (all out, 63.3 overs) 168 FoW: 1-1, 2-18, 3-38, 4-116, 5-116, 6-147, 7-148, 8-155, 9-156. Bowling:
A Nehra 25-5-46-5, Vineet Sharma 14-5-38-1, Vishal Bhatia 8-3-20-0, R Sanghvi 15.3-1-47-4, M Manhas 1-0-5-0. North (for one wkt):
96 (Scoreboard incomplete)
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Indian golfers show greater
skill New Delhi, March 12 After the first-ever skills match of its kind in India, which kick-started the week-long Indian Open golfing feast at the DGC, the Indian duo went home richer by $ 8,000, which is to be split between Vijay and Mukesh. Kang and Wiratchant shared $ 4,000. The stage is now set for the Royal Challenge Pro-Am which is to be held on Wednesday with corporate bigwigs and celebrities rubbing shoulders with some of the top professionals in Asia. The main tournament begins on Thursday with 156 players fighting it out for the total purse of $ 300,000 of which the winner will take home $ 48,450. Indians showed themselves to be quite adept at both the long and the short game, as they emerged winners in driving, the 150-yard iron shot and the bunker shots. Vijay Kumar won the honours in the driving competition with a huge drive of 299 yards, which tied with Thaworn Wiratchant. In the tie-break drive, Wiratchant went outside the ropes placed on the fairway, while Vijay sent his drive soaring to 295 yards. Mukesh took the top spot in the 150-yard iron shot, where he stopped the ball 9 ft 2 inches from the hole. Vijay was only slightly behind at 10 ft 11 inches, while Kang and Wiratchant took the third and fourth places. That gave India a comfortable lead of 30-14. |
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Rashid volleyball: India thrash Austria Dubai, March 12 The Indians who did well in every department of the game scored a facile 25-15, 25-12, 25-15 win with captain Tom Joseph putting up an excellent show. The Indians who finished third last year said they hoped to do better this time. “We have come here in full strength this time unlike last year when a depleted team had represented India”, coach Chander Singh told PTI. “We played excellent game, particularly setter Ravikant and captain Tom Joseph, who were ably supported by blockers Rajesh and Ashish. “Tomorrow we are playing the UAE juniors, but our real test comes the day after when we face Iran,” he said. Group A includes Iran, Austria, India and the UAE Youth team while group B has Tunisia, Pakistan, Ukraine, and the UAE Senior team. Each group will play a round-robin league with the top team and runners-up qualifying for the semifinals. Indian team: Tom Joseph, Amir Singh, Jobi Joseph, Balwan Singh, Rajovir Singh, Abhijit Sharan, Ashish Arora, Rajesh Kumar, Yiego Suba, Yadav Kumar, Ravikant Reddy and Silvaraso Rajan.
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Crucial match for Mahindras Margao, March 12 Tomorrow’s match is vital for Mahindra if they are to remain in contention for the title as they are placed sixth with 23 points, from 15 outings, five points behind leaders Mohun Bagan. Mahindras’ strikers, who have not performed well in their last few matches, will once again be handicapped without the services of Austin Okolo on account of double booking. Raman Vijayan is likely to play in Okolo’s place, though he is yet to show his potential. However, return of key player Anthony Pereira, after a two- match suspension, will strengthen the Mahindra defence.
PTI |
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Vasco meet Tollygunge Kolkata The Goa club zoomed up the league table in the 12-team competition after defeating challengers Mahindra United through Marcos Pereira’s goal in a home match on March 9. While the result at Margao dimmed further the chances of the Mumbai club, the win gave Vasco 28 points from 15 matches. But soon they were being trailed by two-time champions and Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan. The century-old club, after defeating traditional rivals East Bengal through a Jose Ramirez Barreto goal at Salt Lake Stadium here on Monday came up to be on top with Vasco. Both Bagan and Vasco have played an equal number of matches, won eight each, drew four each, lost three each and have 28 points each. Both of them scored 17 goals each.
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TN, Railways cagers champs Ludhiana, March 12 For once, the hosts proved that inside every sporting dream there lurks a nightmare waiting to happen and the inexplicable loss of form in the first two quarters of the game could not have come at a worse time for the hosts. It was in this period that Punjab lost the match even though they managed a late resurgence- an effort that came too slow and too late in the contest. Tamil Nadu extracted sweet revenge as just five months earlier the hosts had knocked them out 85-73 to annex the National games title at the same venue. To tame the hosts in their own home ground, with a boisterous crowd sending up a roar every time Punjab made a move or sank a basket, it was indeed a gigantic task for the Tamil Nadu. The hosts relied too heavily on Gagnesh Kumar and Parminder (senior) and paid the price for it as Tamil Nadu had planned things to near perfection by marking them. Once these two were bottled, the hosts game plan went awry. At the end of the third quarter, Tamil Nadu led by a six-point margin. However, a clever shift in strategy by the Tamil Nadu cagers, from man-to-man marking, to zonal marking pulled the rug from under the hosts feet, much to the embarrassment of the 2500 strong crowd. For Tamil Nadu, the star performers were Sabeer Ahmed and S.Robinson who matched each other point for point to put their team on the path to victory. On the distaff side, Railway eves crushed Kerala 96-63 to clinch the Baslat Jha Azad trophy for the 13th time in succession. Down 13-29 in the first quarter, the Kerala eves found themselves fighting a losing battle and the only interest in the match was the margin of Railway’s win. In the men’s section, Railways scampered past Services 86-84 to bag the third place while the Tamil Nadu eves routed Punjab 84-58 to be placed third. |
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Bopanna, Srinath survive Chennai, March 12 Only Rohan Bopanna (ATP ranking 585), pulling off an upset win over the higher ranked Russian Alexander Sikanov, ranked 748, earned a 6-3, 6-2 straight set victory at the singles event held here. His Karnataka colleague Prahlad Srinath was fortunate to get a win by default with his Dutch opponent Fred Hemmes Jr conceding the match after the first set which Srinath won 7-5, breaking Fred in the fifth and 11th games. In fact, it was Fred who seemed to be set to outplay Prahlad leading 5-4, breaking the Indian in the second game to be up 2-0. But as the heat did Fred in, Srinath levelled 5-5, led 6-5 and served out the set. Fred’s father and coach Hemmes averred that his son was suffering from fever ever since he landed in Chennai. But it was Vijay Kannan who was the luckiest. He was pitted against second-seeded Israeli Nir Welgren in the first round match. But Welgren cried out and according to chief referee Punit, he did not assign any reason till now. Febi Vihyanto, the lucky loser in the qualifiers yesterday, was given an entry into the main draw but Vijay, despite committing many errors, managed to win 6-4, 6-3 battling for an hour and 20 minutes. Febi broke Vijay in the seventh game, down 2-4 and made it 4-3 with some good volleying but could not measure upto the heat on the centre court. Vishal Uppal, another wild card, however, had an easy passage into the second round, trouncing qualifier Eliran Dooyev in straight sets 6-4, 6-2. In another first round match, unseeded JalalChafal- Alaoui of Morocco crushed another unseeded Ben Quiang Zhu of China 6-3, 6-2. However, another Indian Mustafa Ghouse conceded the match to qualifier Ju Jr Wang of China, down 0-5 in the first set due to sickness.
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Coaches’ plea to CM Ludhiana, March 12 In a letter addressed to the Chief Minister, a copy of which was released to the press today, Mr Dharam Singh, president of the association criticised the previous government’s (Akali-BJP) decision to close the sports wings from colleges for which the orders had been received by the DPI (Colleges). The association also appealed the Education Minister, Mr Khushal Singh Behal that this would be a big blow for the sports colleges and the decision to take back coaches from the colleges would further demoralise sportspersons in institutions. |
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