 |
Wednesday,
March
20, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
|
Dinesh Mongia inspires India’s 101-run win
‘Victory means a lot for young side’ Gavaskar comments No camp before Windies tour |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Jaffer helps West pile up 334
Bopanna, Uppal advance Irina Brar takes lead Indian eves placed in
tough pool Trials for academies FC Kochin win; Salgaocar held
|
|
Dinesh Mongia inspires India’s 101-run win
Guwahati, March 19 Mongia batted through the 50 overs, producing a career- best 159 not out off just 147 balls as India posted a mammoth 333 for six after electing to bat. The total proved to be too daunting for the Zimbabweans, especially since they were docked two overs for their slow bowling rate, and they were bowled out for 232 in 42.1 overs to give India a comprehensive 101-run victory. The win also broke India’s hoodoo in final matches with the hosts winning their first summit clash in more than two years. It was truly Mongia’s day at the Nehru Stadium here as he notched up his maiden one-day century to put India in command. He was associated in a blistering 158-run partnership with comeback man Yuvraj Singh who played another flamboyant knock today after his match-winning innings in the previous match at Hyderabad. The two engaged in some lusty hitting towards the end of the innings, adding 133 in the last 12 overs. Yuvraj was out in the 49th over for a 52-ball 75 that included five fours and three mighty sixes but Mongia continued with his superlative show to register the fourth highest individual score for an Indian in one-day internationals which earned him the man of the match and the man of the series awards. Zimbabwe never looked like getting anywhere near the target after a middle-order collapse saw them losing three important wickets within a space of seven deliveries. Grant Flower (48), Dion Ebrahim (42) and Heath Streak (39) were the top-scorers for Zimbabwe but their contributions were too little. Going in with only three genuine bowlers, the Indians did well in keeping things tight and maintained the pressure with regular wickets. Most of the Zimbabwe batsmen were dismissed while trying to accelerate the pace of scoring. The opening pair of Alistair Campbell and Ebrahim could put on only 50 runs when Zaheer Khan, who finished with three wickets, struck the first blow for India. Campbell (31) failed to control an intended hit over mid-off and Vijay Bhardwaj, who replaced left-arm spinner Murali Kartik in the Indian team, latched on to a well-judged catch. Travis Friend, who was once again promoted in the batting order, put on another 61 for the second wicket with Ebrahim before Harbhajan Singh changed the complexion of the game in the 23rd over. The off-spinner had Friend (31) stumped by wicketkeeper Ajay Ratra for the second time in this series and then produced the big wicket of Andy Flower just three balls later. Andy Flower miscued an attempted big hit and Zaheer Khan completed a fine catch running backwards. In the very next over, skipper Saurav Ganguly bowled Ebrahim from around the batsman’s legs to reduce Zimbabwe to 114 for four. Grant Flower and captain Stuart Carlisle, the two last recognised batsmen in the Zimbabwean ranks, made a valiant effort to salvage the situation but with the asking rate shooting to around 11 an over, it was a herculean task. Carlisle (17) went for a mighty heave against Bhardwaj but could not time it properly and Rahul Dravid took a smart catch on the deep midwicket fence. Zimbabwe lost their fifth wicket at 143 in the 29th over. Heath Streak and Grant Flower then carried the score to 227 in the 40th over when another collapse wiped the Zimbabweans out of the match. Zaheer Khan produced two perfect yorkers to uproot the stumps of Grant Flower and Douglas Marillier (0), the hero of Zimbabwe’s win in the first match at Faridabad, within a space of three deliveries. After Tatenda Taibu and Gary Brent fell in the next over by Harbhajan Singh, Streak became the last wicket to fall when he gave a simple catch to Zaheer Khan at short fine leg trying to reverse sweeep Harbhajan Singh. Earlier, the Indian batsmen put up a sterling performance and paced their innings beautifully. There were healthy partnerships for almost every wicket and runs came fluently, but not necessarily from boundaries. Mongia and Ganguly put up 52 for the opening wicket before the skipper snicked a Streak delivery to Taibu after making 28. V.V.S. Laxman could manage only 16 but his second wicket stand with Mongia produced 46 runs. Mongia added another 51 for the third wicket with Dravid who was out for 26. However, it was the fifth wicket stand between Mongia and Yuvraj Singh which really boosted the Indian innings. Coming after the fall of Mohammad Kaif, who was out for five, Yuvraj batted fluently right from the start with the confidence from his brilliant 60-ball 80 in Hyderabad clearly in evidence. Mongia, who in the meanwhile, had reached his half-century with his fifth four, continued to play solidly. The duo brought up India’s 200 in the 38th over after which the fireworks began. The two batsmen went for their shots and punished every Zimbabwe bowler on show. The visitors did not help their cause by bowling short and a series of full-tosses. The real acceleration started after the 42nd over at which stage India were comfortably placed at 222 for four. Travis Friend and Gary Brent took the maximum hammering as India moved from 250 to 300 in just 16 balls. Brent was taken for 36 runs while Friend conceded 31, in their last two overs. Yuvraj gave a simple catch to Friend off Marillier in the 49th over but Mongia, who had reached his maiden one-day century with his 11 four, continued in the same mould to finish unconquered. The Indians showed exemplary running between the wickets today. They ran the first runs quickly and converted the singles into twos. As a result, the scoreboard kept moving at a healthy pace even when boundaries were hard to come by. PTI Scoreboard India: Mongia not out 159 Ganguly c Taibu b Streak 28 V.V.S. Laxman run out 16 Dravid b Hondo 26 Kaif c A Flower b Hondo 5 Yuvraj Singh c Friend
b Marillier 75 Bhardwaj run out 0 Agarkar not out 6 Extras: 18 Total: (for 6 wkts, 50 overs) 333 Fall of wickets: 1-52, 2-98, 3-149, 4-157, 5-315, 6-316. Bowling: Streak 9-0-54-1, Hondo 10-2-56-2, Friend 10-0-68-0, Brent 9-0-74-0, Marillier 6-0-38-1, G. Flower 6-0-35-0. Zimbabwe: Campbell c Bhradwaj Ebrahim b Ganguly 42 Friend st Ratra b Harbhajan 31 Andy Flower c Zaheer Grant Flower b Zaheer 48 Carlisle c Dravid b Bhradwaj 17 Streak c Zaheer b Harbhajan 39 Marillier b Zaheer 0 Taibu run out 0 Brent c Kaif b Harbhajan 0 Hondo not out 1 Extras: (b-2,lb-8,nb-4,w-8) 22 Total: 232 all out (42.1 overs) Fall of wickets: 1- 50, 2-111, 3-113, 4-114, 5-143, 6-227, 7-227, 8-228, 9-229 Bowling: Zaheer Khan 8-0-29-3, Ajit Agarkar 8-0-44-0, Vijay Bhradwaj 4-0-32-1, Saurav Ganguly 10-0-62-1, Harbhajan Singh 9.1-0-33-4, Yuvraj Singh 3-0 -22-0.
|
|
‘Victory means a lot for young side’
Guwahati, March 19 “I think we played very well in the series. It is quite satisfying to win by such a big margin since we have a young and inexperienced side,” Ganguly told reporters after the match. The victory must have been all the more satisfying for the Indian skipper after having tasted defeat in nine previous final matches and Ganguly said, “better late than never. Yes, we had not been winning in the finals but at the same time we must have played quite well to reach the finals.” Underlining some of the positives that had emerged from the series, Ganguly said, “The performance of Dinesh Mongia, Yuvraj Singh, Md Kaif and Ajay Ratra have been quite impressive. They just have to be consistent.” Ganguly said a number of young players had been tried out recently keeping in mind the World Cup and healthy competition augured well for Indian cricket. “We have tried out a lot of youngsters and some of them have started delivering the goods. It is a good sign if these youngsters can win matches on their own for the team. In fact, Yuvraj Singh turned the series for us,” he said. PTI
|
|
Gavaskar comments In the not too distant past, India had come a cropper in the decider whether it were the finals of a tournament or the deciding game of a series and most Indian cricket lovers would have had their hearts beating a bit quicker before the game at Guwahati. Remember India were without Tendulkar, Srinath and Kumble and another star Sehwag was on the injured list. Therefore it was most heartening to see that the major contributors to the Indian victory were the youngsters and while you cannot take anything away from the other players it would be fair to say it was Punjab who won the day for India. Dinesh Mongia has been a heavy scorer in domestic cricket for some time now but it was only a couple of months ago against England in the one-dayers was he given a long opportunity to prove that he could produce the runs even at a higher level. He grabbed the chance and has gone from strength to strength. There was a time last year when it looked as if he was being deliberately ignored inspite of being in the squad as the favourites got chance after chance even though they were making a mess of it. Mongia hung on and most importantly kept scoring runs at the domestic level so that if and when his turn came he would have the confidence of scores under his belt. There are quite a few players like Mongia who keep scoring runs in domestic cricket but do not get the opportunity. Inspite of the fact that our domestic cricket is lop-sided it is performances there that have been the criteria for decades now but some have got the chance to display that they can do it at the international level as well while others do not get so. Sure there are only eleven players in a team but here too some get more tries than others, sometimes unfairly at the cost of other consistent performers at the domestic level. While the old saying class is permanent form is temporary holds true, it is the discerning of the class that is sometime flawed and leads to more chances than the player deserves. One cannot rubbish domestic cricket completely for wasn’t it because Yuvraj got a double hundred in the Duleep Trophy that he was recalled to the Indian team? He took that confidence into the last two one-dayers and scored at a time when India desperately needed the runs. Now the important thing is for the media not to get carried away and call Mongia or Yuvraj ‘sensation’ for that is what can cause the biggest problem, complacency. Cricket is a game where skills have to be honed all the time for there is no such thing in the game as a ‘master’. It is a game where one is learning all the time and so the less the practice the more the chances of failure. By all means keep the expectation high but moderate the praise and you will get better results from young people who are still learning how to deal with fame and the glamour that comes with it. We’ve already seen how it affected not too long ago. It was a well contested series and Zimbabwe did surprise the Indians with their gutsy performances. Having beaten them quite comfortably in the Tests, it did appear that even the one-day series would be one-sided but the first game itself provided the shocks that did rock the home team. Winning the series and the deciding game in such style will certainly make the Indian team that much more confident as they embark on the tour of the Caribbean next month. PMG
|
|
No camp before Windies tour
Mumbai, March 19 The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) accepting the views of captain Saurav Ganguly and coach John Wright has decided against holding a conditioning camp for the players prior to the West Indies tour. BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah from Rajkot said: “I asked them whether they wanted a camp and they said there was no need for it.” The matter was settled amicably, he added. Shah said the players were involved in a hectic one-day series and deserved rest. The Indian team for the West Indies tour will be chosen on March 21 in Mumbai and they will leave on April 1 with the first match of the tour to be played on April 5 at Guyana. The tour party is expected to include 16 players, coach John Wright, physiotherapist Andrew Leipus, a computer analyst and recently appointed trainer Adrian Le Roux. UNI
|
|
Jaffer helps West pile up 334
Pune, March 19 Electing to bat, West Zone lost opener Connor Williams (7) within 23 minutes. However, Jaffer salvaged the position scoring 78 runs, including 13 boundaries off 104 balls. He was ably assisted by Mongia and Bahutule, who displayed impressive batting skills. Mongia made 76 runs off 130 balls which was studded with one six and 14 boundaries. Unbeaten Bahutule also scored a well-made 66 off 88 balls with one six and 12 hits to the fence. Captain Hrishikesh Kanitkar managed only 11 runs when he was sent to the pavilion by Vineet Sharma. Alta Merchant and Ramesh Powar failed to open their account while Vinod Kambli made 33 runs. For North Zone, Mithun Manhas claimed three wickets while Sarandeep Singh and Ashish Nehra got two wickets each. Bahutule (66) and Irfan Pathan (7) were at the crease when stumps were drawn. Scoreboard West Zone (Ist innings): Connor Williams b Nehra 7, Wasim Jaffer b Nehra 78, Hrishikesh Kanitkar c Dahiya b Sharma 11, Altaf Merchant c Manhas b Sarandeep 0, Vinod Kambli c Kavaljit b Sarandeep 33, Nayan Mongia b Manhas 74, Ajit Bhoite c Akash Chopra b Manhas 36, Sairaj Bahutule batting 66, Ramesh Powar b Manhas 0, Irfan Pathan (jr) batting 7 Extras (byes-6, lb-5, nb-9) 20. Total (8 wkts in 90 overs) 334. Fall of Wickets: 1/17, 2/67, 3/68, 4/138, 5/138, 6/215, 7/270, 8/296. Bowling: Vineet Sharma: 15-4-64-1, Ashish Nehra: 18-2-60-2, Sarandeep Singh: 32-7-115-2, Rahul Sanghvi: 13-1-64-0, Mithun Manhas: 12-4-19-3. Kolkata: Opener Deep Dasgupta struck a patient ton as East Zone reached a comfortable 261 for four wickets on the opening day against East Zone here. Scoreboard East Zone (1st innings): S.S. Das lbw Hirwani 60, D. Dasgupta not out 109, R. Parida c J.P. Yadav b S. Pandey 5, S. Raul c Jilani b Parida 40, P. Mullick retd hurt 16, S. Das lbw K. Parida 0, L.R. Shukla not out 9. Extras (b-5, lb-6, nb11) 22. Total (after 90 overs) 261 for 4. Fall of Wickets: 1/115, 2/120, 3/224, 4/243. Bowling: H. Singh 16-3-49-0, S. Pandey 14-5-27-1, J. P. Yadav 11-1-37-0, K. Parida 16-1-26-2, N. Hirwani 18-1-81-1, R. Kanwat 14-5-29-0, Y. Gaud 1-0-1-0. PTI, UNI
|
|
Goal glut in eves’
hockey Jalandhar, March 19 Mumbai established their dominance over Tamil Nadu in the very beginning of the first match of the day when its Krati Baaby successfully converted a penalty corner in the 6th minute. Though Tamil Nadu were awarded two penalty corners in the 12th and 13th minutes of the game, Mumbai’s custodian Seema Lakra thwarted both the attempts. Mumbai also got chances to increase the lead in the 13th, 18th, 20th and 26th minutes when they got penalty corners, but could not make use of these and the score was 1-0 till the lemon break. Mumbai increased their tally in 37th minute as Pauline Surin scored a field goal followed by Elina Christy, who scored another goal in the 49th minute to (3-0). A total of 33 goals were scored by the three winning sides,with last years runners-up Haryana pumping in 17 goals against a hapless Madhya Pradesh. Hosts and former champions Punjab had the tiny Manipur girls at their mercy as they pumped in 10 goals. In the third match Mumbai blanked out Tamil Nadu by six goals. The three losing sides in
today's league matches failed to score even a single goal against their respective opponents. The highlight of the day was the first hat-trick of the tournament by Punjab forward Mohan Davinder
Kaur, who in all scored five goals. The Haryana-Madhya Pradesh encounter turned out to be a dull one with the former offering no
resistance. For the winners Balwinder Kaur netted in six goals while Kiran Bala scored four. The other goal scorers for Haryana were Kamla (2) and one each from Jasjeet, Simranjit, Ramnek, Harjinder and Saravjit. The winners led 14-0 at half time and they could have doubled the number of goals but in the second half they eased the pressure on their opponents by playing the ball amongst their own players. Hosts Punjab too had an easy time
against Manipur with their forward Mohan Davider Kaur scoring the first hat-trick. In all she accounted for five goals,while Mukta and Rajwinder scored two goals apiece and Renu Bala accounted for one. Punjab led 4-0 at half
time. They however wasted a number of opportunities including four of the five penalty corners. In the third match, Mumbai with the help of two goals from Elina Chrisy blanked out Tamil Nadu 6-0.The other goals scorers for the winners were Silvaniya Toppo, Pauline Surin, Poonam Surin and Laxmi Shree. |
|
Bopanna, Uppal advance New Delhi, March 19 Bopanna led the Indian charge as four other Indians also moved up, to make a total of six players from the host country, to figure in round two. If Bopanna scored a taxing victory, which took him two hours and 10 minutes’ of toil under a blazing sun, Vishal Uppal and Shivang Mishra scored upset victories. Uppal stunned third-seeded Mark Hilton of the Great Britain 6-3,2-6, 6-4 while Shivang Mishra ousted fourth-seeded Anton Kokurin, who retired from the contest when Mishra was leading by 7-6 (7-4), 3-2. Eighth-seeded Prahlad Srinath beat lucky loser Igor Levine of Russia 6-4, 6-5 after the later replaced Josef Nesticky of the Czech Republic due to a last-minute withdrawal. Srinath was broken twice in the first set to trail 3-4, but he fought back to gain the upper hand and win the contest. Manoj Mahadevan overpowered Prima Simpatiaji of Indonesia 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 7-6 (7-1) while two other Indians, Mustafa Ghouse and Vishal Punna failed to cross the first-round hurdles. Vishal Punna lost to Meir Deri of Israel 4-6, 3-6 while Mustafa Ghouse went down to a lower ranked Chinese player, Yu-Jr Wang 6-4, 1-6, 2-6. The performance of Bopanna and Vishal Uppal stood out as both played aggressively to bring their opponents to their knees. The Bopanna-Widhiyanto match was full of double faults with the Indonesian committing 11 double faults in all. Bopanna utilised his powerful serve, backhand return and volleys to keep his game a notch higher than the Indonesian player, whose ranking hovers around 1000 compared to Bopanna’s 590. But the Indonesian was no spring chiken and he gave a tough fight with his clean returns and quick-footed court craft. Eventually, Bopanna’s resilence and staying power, and the big points he earned at crucial moments, helped him get the better of his opponent. The match between Vishal Uppal and Mark Hilton was full of breaks and
break backs, but the former Davis cupper, who grew up playing tennis at the DLTA, packed too many guns at crunch situations to emerge the winner, on his favourite tennis centre. In other singles matches, Ben-Qiang Zhu of China beat Sanchai Ratiwatana of Thailand 6-2, 6-2; Pen Sun of China beat Alexander Sikanov of Russia 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5). |
|
Irina Brar takes lead Chandigarh, March 19 Irina’s mother, Madhu Brar, shot a nett 67 to be in contention for the Air-India Challenge Cup. Just a stroke behind was Kanika Minocha. The next two days will see several other challenges,
including an electric stableford. There will be mixed doubles on the last day (March 22). The co-sponsors Provogue and WWICS wukk sponsor the prizes and gift hampers for various events played throughout the year. The championship was inaugurated by the Air India Area Manager (Punjab circle), Ms A.K. Bhinder. The results: Grewal Salver: Irina Brar 75, Guneet Raikhy 83 Ladies Challenge Cup (Nett 0-12): Dimple Minocha 74, Irina Brar 74 Air India Trophy (Gross 13-24): Madhu Brar 67, Kanika Minocha 85 Bawa Gill Trophy (Gross 13-24): Madhu Brar 84, Kanika Minocha 85 Rani Jagdish Kaur Cup (Nett 13-24): Madhu Brar 67, Kanika Minocha 68 Meters and Instruments Trophy (Gross 25-36): Neelu Chopra 101, Jaishree Thakur 103 Ell Ess Trophy (Nett 25-36): Kuljit Suri 73, Jaishree Thakur 75. Lady Governor’s Cup for Seniors (Gross): Dalbir Sahi 91, Vijay Wadhawan 94; Nett —-Dalbir Sahi 72, Kuljit Suri 73, Vijay Wadhawan 73. Juniors (Gross under-18): Kanika Minocha 85. |
|
Indian eves placed in tough pool Patiala, March 19 However, for qualifying for the main draw of the World Cup, India will first have to beat the USA in the three-Test match series to be played at Manchester in June, the exact dates of which will be announced by the FIH shortly. If the Indian lose, then the USA will qualify and will be seeded 11th. According to FIH rules, top seven teams in the pre-qualifying tournament make the grade. India had finished seventh but going by the latest FIH directive, the last qualifying spot for the World Cup will be decided only after the India-USA three-Test series. If the Indians win, they will be playing the Netherlands, Australia, Spain, South Africa and England who are seeded higher than the Indians. The pools (seedings in brackets): Pool ‘A’ — Argentina (1), China (4), New Zealand (5), Korea (8), Germany (9), Russia (12), Ukraine (13) and Scotland (16). Pool ‘B’ — Netherlands (2), Australia (3), Spain (6), England (7), S.Africa (10), India/USA (11), Japan (14), Ireland (15). Reserve teams: France (17), Canada (18), Kazakhstan (19). |
|
Trials for academies Chandigarh, March 19 The age group will be between 14 and 19 years for volleyball, basketball and athletics while it will be 16-17 years for hockey. Mr Bedi said sportsmen like Sukhbir Gill and Raj Pal Singh (hockey) and Sunil Kumar (vollyeball) from the school were among those who donned international colours. Recently, the UT schools volleyball (under 17 ) boys team bagged the gold medal in the 47th National School Games in Andhra Pradesh and it comprised six boys from the above school. Mr Bedi further said senior SAI coaches in hockey (BS Randhawa) and volleyball (Mohan Nagreta) would impart training to the selected boys while in athletics and basketball, Rambir Singh and MS Gill would impart training. Free board, lodging, education and kit will be provided to the selected players. He said sportspersons could report at Shivalik Public school, Sector 41, on April 5 at 10 am. The players should bring original date of birth certficates and photographs. |
|
FC Kochin win; Salgaocar held Kochi, March 19 The all-important goal was scored by striker Kulothungan through a penalty conversion in the 87th minutes, much to the delight of the team-mates. BANGALORE: ITI and Salgaocar played out a one-all draw in a Tata National Football League match here today. In a lacklustre performance, the teams failed to score in the first half. Kennet Raj put ITI in the lead in the 7th minute of the second half while Denis Cabral scored the equaliser for Salgoacar in the 19th minute. ITI’s points tally now has risen to 27 while Salgaocar have 28.
PTI |
|
India regain
volleyball
title Dubai, March 19 The match started on an even note and the scores were level till 12-12 in the first game before Iran ran to a 22-15 lead, helped by powerful smashes from Amir Hussain, Ali Reza Nadi and strong net blocks by Momeni and Tarkashvand.
PTI
|
 |
| 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 | | 122 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
