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Wednesday,
April 3, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Tuffey runs through England innings
Slower pitches to suit India, says Wright |
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Inclusion ‘depends on’ team management
CRPF, Punjab cops in final Martin pulls out of Japan Open Salgaocar rally to upset Churchill Mercedes Trophy
Golf on April 6 Atwal bows out to Suleman Caddy dies after ball hit
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Tuffey runs through England innings
Auckland, April 2 Astle and McMillan turned down an umpires’ offer of bad light to hammer the England bowlers under floodlights as New Zealand zoomed towards a challenging total to shoot for win. Astle’s buccaneering innings came to an end at 6:00 pm (local time) when he was caught just inside the boundary rope by Mark Butcher off Andy Flintoff for 65 off 51 balls with two sixes and eight fours. In echoes of his sensational 222 off 168 balls in the first Test, Astle bludgeoned two sixes off one Flintoff over. When play came to a merciful end for England at 6:49 pm, New Zealand were in command at 269 for nine for an overall lead of 311 runs to set up a fascinating final day of the weather-ravaged Auckland Test. McMillan was leading the charge and was unbeaten on 50. His fifty came off 51 balls with three fours and three sixes. Tuffey claimed a Test career-best 6 for 54 as England faltered to be all out for 160 off 45.4 overs and trail the Kiwis by 42 runs on the first innings. England’s total was their lowest since scoring 125 against the West Indies at Edgbaston in 2000. England have been in the driving seat in the series after their emphatic 98-run victory in the first Christchurch Test, with the second rain-affected Wellington Test drawn, but the Kiwis could finish with a flourish. Tuffey, bypassed for the first two Tests, was New Zealand’s hero, following up on his explosive opening over last evening when he removed Marcus Trescothick and Mark Butcher both for ducks. He snared the wickets today of Mark Ramprakash (9), Graham Thorpe (42), Ashley Giles (0) and Andy Caddick (20). Tuffey was given stout support by Test debutant Andre Adams, who claimed 3 for 44 off 15.4 overs of medium pace. The Kiwis sent out wicketkeeper Adam Parore, in his 78th and final Test, to open the second innings with Mark Richardson after Lou Vincent was hit in the chest while batting in the first innings. Parore shared in an opening stand of 53 to get the Kiwis safely away and was given a standing ovation by home supporters upon his dismissal for 36, caught in the slips by Thorpe off Matthew Hoggard with one that jerked off the pitch. Stephen Fleming was out for one to a freakish dismissal when a Hoggard delivery flopped off his thigh pad and trickled onto his stumps. Richardson stayed around for 169 minutes for his 25 before he was out to a juggling catch by substitute Usman Afzaal off Butcher. Chris Harris put on 75 runs for the fourth wicket with Astle before he was out lbw to Butcher for 43. Adams and Daniel Vettori went cheaply. Injured Lou Vincent, batting with Fleming as a runner, chipped in with 10 before he was caught in the deep. The major talking point of the morning was an astonishing decision by local umpire Doug Cowie to give England’s Flintoff out to a catch behind. Cowie gave Flintoff out even though television replays showed that there was a considerable gulf between the ball and the bat. Bowler Adams didn’t appeal and the English supporters in the crowd howled in disbelief at the subsequent replays on the giant screen at the ground. Flintoff, who had cracked 29 off 29 balls with five fours and a six, had threatened to seize the initiative. Flintoff stalked away from the crease angrily swooshing his bat with England at 118 for six. The giant Lancashire all-rounder had been dropped by Astle at second slip when on six and Parore also grassed Foster before he had scored. Foster went on to make 16 not out in a valuable 35-run stand with Caddick. England, resuming at 12 for three, lost the wickets of Michael Vaughan and Ramprakash in the first hour today. Adams, bowling first change, got Vaughan to feather an edge to Parore to be out for 27. Just 15 minutes later Ramprakash played a rash shot outside the off stump to give Parore his second catch off Tuffey for nine. The Test has been badly affected by the weather. Only 54 overs were possible on Saturday’s opening day before play was abandoned for bad light. The entire second day was washed out and only 28 overs were possible on the rain-affected third day, yet despite all that a result is still possible. Scoreboard New Zealand (1st innings): 202 England (1st innings): Trescothick lbw b Tuffey 0 Vaughan c Parore b Adams 27 Butcher c Richardson b Tuffey 0 Hussain c Fleming b Drum 2 Thorpe b Tuffey 42 Ramprakash c Parore b Tuffey 9 Flintoff c Parore b Adams 29 Foster not out 16 Giles lbw b Tuffey 0 Caddick b Tuffey 20 Hoggard c Fleming b Adams 0 Extras: (b1, lb11, 3nb) 15 Total:
(all out, 45.4 overs) 160 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-0, 3-11, 4-60, 5-75, 6-118, 7-122, 8-124, 9-159. Bowling: Tuffey 19-6-54-6, Drum 10-3-45-1, Adams 15.4-2-44-3, McMillan 1-0-5-0. New Zealand (2nd innings): Richardson c Afzaal (sub)
b Butcher 25 Parore c Thorpe b Hoggard 36 Fleming b Hoggard 1 Harris lbw b Butcher 43 Astle c Butcher b Flintoff 65 McMillan batting 50 Adams b Flintoff 11 Vettori c Foster b Flintoff 0 Vincent c Giles b Hoggard 10 Tuffey b Hoggard 5 Extras: (b-3, lb-9, w-1, nb-10) 23 Total: (for 9 wkts, 63.1 overs) 269 Fall of wickets: 1-53, 2-55, 3-91, 4-166, 5-217, 6-232, 7-235, 8-262, 9-269. Bowling: Caddick 11-3-41-0, Hoggard 19.1-3-68-4, Flintoff 23-1-108-3, Butcher 9-2-34-2, Giles 1-0-6-0.
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Slower pitches to suit India, says Wright Georgetown (Guyana), April 2 “Though it would not be right to comment on the wickets without looking at them first, still I believe they are slower these days compared to the past. “It would boost India’s chances if the wickets were to be slow, devoid of pace and bounce which have been the India batsmen’s failing throughout the history,” Wright said after the team arrived here last night, sans skipper Sourav Ganguly. Ganguly, who chose to stay back with his indisposed wife, is expected to join the team tomorrow evening. The coach also dismissed speculations regarding the fitness of star leg spinner Anil Kumble who skipped the last three matches of the one-day series against Zimbabwe. “He is absolutely fine,” Wright said of Kumble who will be India’s key bowler alongwith offie Harbhajan Singh. Kumble is central to Ganguly’s scheme of things, but speculations were rife about his right shoulder after he missed the matches against Zimbabwe. India could ill-afford to miss an important bowler like at the start of their last tour in 1997 when paceman Javagal Srinath pulled out with a shoulder (rotator cuff) injury. The Indians, who Wright said were tired after the long journey, would be put through their paces this afternoon. “The boys would have a little workout,” he said adding “nothing strenuous but just to keep them going.” “They are very tired from all the travelling they have undertaken in the last few months and this one being such a long flight, with few stop-overs, was particularly exhausting,” Wright said. The coach though was happy with the little break he could afford for himself. He joined the team in London after a fortnight-long vacation with his family. Both India and West Indies are desperately looking for a series win after a string of disappointments. India has not won a Test series abroad in the last 16 years since Kapil Dev led the team to a 2-0 win over England. The West Indies on the other hand were recently humiliated 0-3 by Sri Lanka and then lost 0-2 to Pakistan in Sharjah. Vice-captain Rahul Dravid cautioned that the West Indies had the advantage of playing at home. “The pressure will be on them much more than it will be on us because we have nothing lose, but much more to gain from winning,” Dravid said. “Though they have not been playing too well on the road, West Indies have only lost two series at home in over 20 years, so that suggests it will not be an easy task for us,” he noted. “We will have to play competitively all around to be able to win this series.” The team was met on arrival yesterday at Grantley Adams International Airport here by West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president Wes Hall and other officials. They were in transit for three hours before flying on to Guyana. After dominating international cricket for 15 years between 1980 and 1995, when they went unbeaten in any Test series, the West Indies are now rated only above Zimbabwe and Bangladesh among the 10 Test-playing countries. Beaten in five of their last six series in the past two years, the West Indies lack their previous all-round strength and depth. They depend heavily on their only star player, left-handed batsman Brian Lara, holder of the world record scores in both Test and first-class cricket. Lara is fighting to be ready for the first Test after fracturing his elbow in an on-field accident while batting in a one-day international in Sri Lanka on December 15. He has not played a match since then. The retirements of their great fast bowlers Curtly Ambrose, in September 2000, and Courtney Walsh, last April, have reduced the effectiveness of their bowling attack. They have conceded one total over 600, two over 500 and two over 470 in their last six Tests.
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Ganguly leaves for Windies Kolkata, April 2 Ganguly had delayed his departure to the West Indies due to his wife Dona’s illness. The Carribeans from Mumbai on March 31, Ganguly stayed back at home to attend to his ailing wife. Ganguly had taken permission from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) officials to join the team a few days later. The team management was informed about Ganguly’s delayed departure in Mumbai just before the squad left for the two-month tour of the West Indies. The Indian captain was expected to join his teammates in Guyana by tomorrow night, a day before the tour opener against Guyana XI gets underway. The team will play five Tests and as many one-day internationals during their stay in the West Indies.
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Windies to rely on pace: Hooper Georgetown, April 2 Pace was the key to the West Indies’ success against the Indians in the last Test series between the two teams in the Caribbean in 1997. Sachin Tendulkar’s team lost the five-Test series 0-1, their lone defeat coming in the third match at Bridgetown in Barbados. India, chasing a modest 120-run target, were shot out for 81 as pacemen Ian Bishop grabbed four wickets, while Curtly Ambrose and Franklyn Rose shared the other six. “Since we don’t have world-class spinners we’ll go for pace,” said West Indian skipper.
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Inclusion ‘depends on’ team management Indore, April 2 He was talking to reporters on sidelines of the Duleep Trophy match here. On allegations by leg spinner Narendra Hirwani that selectors had no criteria for picking or dropping someone from the team, Malhotra, in the presence of another selector Sanjay Jagdale, said “It may be Hirwani’s personal opinion”. He said “it was also a fact that though Hirwani was in the team for the Mumbai Test against Australia last year, he was not included in the final eleven. But the decision to include or not lies mainly with the team management as he may not be fitting in the scheme of things applicable for that particular day”. Malhotra said Hirwani was picked for the team at that time as Anil Kumble was not fit. Malhotra dismissed suggestions that age was a factor in Hirwani’s case, saying “if a player is fit in the eyes of the selectors, then age factor normally does not matter, but certainly a player above 40 years of age was not considered for inclusion in the team”. On the controversy over inclusion of Deep Dasgupta for the West Indies tour, Malhotra said the selection committee took Ajay Ratra as a main wicketkeeper for the team and not Dasgupta as projected in some media reports. Describing the non-inclusion of Sarandeep Singh for the West Indies tour as “unfortunate”, Malhotra said Sarandeep is a good player and has given consistent performance. It was expected that Sarandeep would be picked for the West Indies tour, but at the last moment it was decided that only two spinners will be taken for the Caribbean tour and therefore, Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble were taken in the team. “As by that time the selection for the India ‘A’ team for South Africa was already over, unfortunately, he was not included in the team,” he said. Reacting to criticism by former BCCI president Rajsingh Dungarpur and others, Malhotra said: “It is very easy to criticise someone by sitting in the drawing room or in the TV studios. They conveniently forget their own actions when they were at the helm of affairs”. Talking about the National Cricket Academy (NCA), Malhotra said it is a good idea with a slow pace of implementation. On identifying probables for the World Cup, Malhotra said players like Mohammad Kaif and Gautam Gambhir are promising. “There are others also. In fact, there is a pool of 20-25 players,” he said. Malhotra, who would soon be completing three years as a selector, said: “I am satisfied with my tenure, but there are moments of frustration also”. “I believe there is a need for more transparency in the work of the selection committee to justify its actions like recently in the case of Nayan Mongia,” he added.
PTI |
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Bundela props up
Central Zone
Indore, April 2 Central Zone suffered a blow early in the day when skipper Gagan Khoda was bowled by Vineet Sharma for a duck in the very first over of the match. In the third over, Sharma again struck and claimed Paresh Sutane’s (9) wicket. Sarandeep Singh then claimed the wicket of Yere Goud (2) to have Central zone struggling at 38 for three. SCOREBOARD Central Zone (1st innings): Jyoti Yadav c Y. Singh b Sarandeep 80, Khoda b Sharma 0, Sutane b Sharma 9, Goud c Rathour b Sarandeep 2, J.P. Yadav c S. Khan b Sanghvi 68, Bundela batting 98, Jhalani c Manhas b Sarandeep 11, Harvinder lbw b Manhas 31, Parida c Sangram b Sarandeep 0, Pande batting 10. Extras (nb-22, lb-6, b-2)
30 Total (for 8 wkts, 91 overs) 339. Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-15, 3-38, 4-149, 5-175, 6-217, 7-303, 8-304. Bowling: Vineet 16-4-42-2, Shakti 10-3-39-0, Sangram 2-0-9-0, Sarandeep 31-3-142-4, Rahul Sanghvi 25-6-78-1, Mithun Manhas 7-2-21-1.
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Scintillating 125 by Gandhi Bangalore, April 2 Gandhi, who played a responsible knock, added 82 runs with R.R. Parida (41) for the second wicket and 58 runs for the fourth wicket with Subhmoy Das (20). Put into bat, openers Devang Gandhi and Parag Das sent the South Zone bowlers on a leather hunt and put on 127 runs in 107 minutes in 24 overs before the latter was bowled by spinner Watekar. Parag Das was belligerent and had hit 14 boundaries in his 87-ball knock. Parida joined Gandhi and the two continued to flay the attack. At 209, Parida fell to Sriram when he was caught at mid off by
Madhukar. Captain Sanjay Raul departed early becoming second victim of Sriram at 225. Subhmoy Das added 58 runs with Gandhi before being trapped leg before by
Watekar. South’s bowling was unimpressive and India discard Dodda Ganesh, coming in place of
B.K. Venkatesh Prasad, failed to achieve any breakthrough. Watekar, who was the most successful
bowler with three for 78, had Gandhi caught by V. Bharadwaj at mid off with East being on 284. In his stroke filled 293-minutes, Gandhi struck 19 boundaries and a massive six. Scoreboard: East Zone
(Ist innings): Das b Watekar 78 Gandhi c Bhardwaj b Watekar 125 Parida c Madhukar b Sriram 41 Raul c Kiran Pawar b Sriram 10 Subhomoy lbw Watekar 20 Rajeevkumar batting 35 Zuffri batting 16. Extras: (b-4, nb-12) 16. Total for five wickets 341. Fall of wickets: 1-127, 2-209, 3-225, 4-283, 5-285. Bowling: D Ganesh 15-4-53-0 N. Madhukar 7-0-60-0 S. Sriram 31-6-75-2 Watekar 21-2-78-3 V Bharadwaj 5-0-19-0 M R Srinivas 11-0-52-0.
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CRPF, Punjab cops in final Kolkata, April 2 After the match ended 2-2, forward Tanver Javed banged in the golden goal in the 7th minute of extra time. Earlier, CRPF forced a 2-0 lead in the first half, scoring through Julien Topno and then Mukesh Kumar, who neatly converted a penalty stroke. Airlines, who looked deshevelled and sluggish, shone in the later part of the second half and managed to draw level through Vinay Kumar and World Cupper Dilip Tirkey (2-2). For CRPF this would be their third entry into the Beighton final, the last time being way back in 1983 when they finished runners-up. Earlier in the first semis, Punjab Police rallied to enter the final also through a golden goal after their match against Punjab and Sind Bank ended 1-1. The matchwinner for the policemen came through a golden goal in the extra time through striker Baljit Singh Buller after being locked 1-1 with bankmen during the stipulated 70 minutes. Former champions PSB started attacking right from the beginning and established their dominance over the star-studded Punjab Police with at least three current world cuppers — Kanwalpreet, Jugraaj and Prabhdeep Singh in the defence. The bankmen drew the first blood when their ebulant striker Gurmit Singh Johny utilised a rosy chance that came in the 20th minute following a Sanjeev Dang free hit from the left flank. Having been shocked by the first half goal and spoiling three
conseucitve penalty corners within two minutes in the early first half, the sturdy policemen held rein in the second session and restored parity in the 44th minute of play with World Cupper Kanwalpreet banging the board off a
penalty corner. While the first part of the 15-minute extra time remained barren, the policemen took the golden chance when Baljit Singh Buller’s stringent hit off a Kanwalpreet pass entered the net kissing a defender’s stick following a penalty corner in the fifth minute. UNI |
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Martin pulls out of Japan Open Tokyo, April 2 The 1999 world champion from Denmark captured the prestigious title for the first time at Birmingham last month, but an injury forced her out of the last Grand Prix event before the Thomas and Uber Cup in May. Japan’s hope Kyoko Komuro, who reached the All-England second round, took Martin’s place in the bottom half. Defending champion Zhou Mi was seeded top with fellow Chinese Zhang Ning, fresh from her victory at the Korea Open last weekend, seeded third and world champion Gong Ruina seeded fourth. The strong Chinese squad also lined up 1999 Malaysian Open winner Dai Yun, 2000 Asian champion Xie Xingfang, and 1998-1999 Asian junior champion Hu Ting. The 1998 Asian Games gold medallist Kanako Yonekura of Japan and Chen Wang of Hong Kong were the only seeds other than the Chinese. China will also lead the men’s singles with Asian champion Xia Xuanze, All England winner Chen Hong and Korean Open winner Lin Dan seeded top three. Top seed Xia was in the same half with defending champion Roslin Hashim of Malaysia, joint third seed Marleve Mainaky of Indonesia, who won the Swiss Open last month, and ninth seed Shon Seung-Mo of South Korea. The top half also includes Indonesian star Taufik Hidayat, who is coming back into action after a break of almost seven months. Hidayat, whose only victory came at the Singapore Open last season, had outraged the Indonesian association by moving to Singapore and declaring he wanted to represent the neighbouring country in international events. Third seed Lin, the 2000 Asian junior champion, will have a tough job to set up a semi-final meeting against second seeded Chen in the bottom half. Lin was in the same quarter with last year’s surprise All-England winner Pulella Gopichand of India, 2001 world champion Hendrawan of Indonesia, and two-time Malaysian Open winner Ong Ewe Hock. His quarter also includes Agus Hariyanto of Hong Kong, joint ninth seed, who caused a sensation by upsetting Xia at the All-England third round.
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Salgaocar rally to upset Churchill Margao, April 2 Zee Churchill started well and took an early lead through a penalty kick, scored by Yusif Yakubu. Yakubu, the leading scorer with 15 goals, got another couple of chances to increase the lead but his weak header was collected by
keeper Chaubey and later his try missed the target narrowly. Salgaocar took time to settle down but found the rhythm midway into the first half. They went all out in search of the equaliser and after missing few scoring chances scored in the 54th minute through Sunday Seah. Salgaocar, who dominated the entire second half, got the match winner through a penalty by Alex Ambrose in the 71st minute. Salgaocar could have won by a bigger margin but for rival keeper Edward Ansah’s fine anticipation. Ansah was involved in at least three saves. Churchill came off with
occasional moves and nearly succeeded in equalising in the dying minute when substitute Somatai Shaiza’s left footer was brilliantly saved by a diving keeper Kalyan Chaubey. Zee Churchill, who suffered their first home defeat, are second with 36 points from 19 matches. Salgacoar with this win brightened their chance to win the title and are third with 35 points from 19 matches.
PTI |
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Mercedes Trophy
Golf on April 6 Chandigarh, April 2 This exclusive event will be staged between February and April 2002 and players will have an opportunity to contest amongst one of the three handicap categories based on an international format: Handicap Divisions: A. 0-15, B. 16-25, C. 26-36 The winners and runner-ups in each category of the seven regional tournaments will be guests of Daimler Chrysler India at the prestigious Mercedes Trophy finals to be played in Delhi. The Taj Group of Hotels will take care of the hospitality of the players at the finals and host a gala awards function across seven cities. Mont Blanc will be presenting a distinguished limited edition writing accessories to all lucky winners and runner-ups in each category across seven cities. The three lucky winners will be flown by Lufthansa to be special guests of Daimler Chrysler at the Mercedes Trophy World Finals at Stuttgart, Germany in September. |
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Atwal bows out to Suleman New Delhi, April 2 The 22-year-old from Delhi spoiled Atwal’s marriage anniversary celebrations by winning 3 and 2 in the only matchplay tournament on the Hero Honda Indian Golf Tour. Also losing in the first round were eighth seed and one of the pre-tournament favourites Gaurav Ghei and the 16th seed Rahil Gangjee, considered a matchplay expert by his peers. Ghei lost to Mohammed Maqbool on the 20th hole, while Gangjees citymate from Kolkata, Binod Pandey, walloped him 5 and 3. While the top half lost three seeds, all eight from the bottom half survived the first day. Second seed Mukesh Kumar blew away Sheeraz Kalra 4 and 3, while No 3 Feroz won 3 and 2 against Asgar Ali. Sixth seed Uttam Singh Mundy survived a scare from Ashok Kumar before winning on the 19th hole. No 4 Lucknow’s Vijay Kumar, recently crowned Indian Open champion, had a relatively tough time against KPS Sekhon of Chandigarh winning 2 and 1. Fifth seed Arjun Singh won 4 and 3 against Shamim Khan. Ghei won the last three holes against Maqbool to force a playoff, but lost on the 20th when he missed his up-and-down from the bunker on the second hole. Uttam Mundy made up for a three-hole deficit on the last four holes and then parred the first playoff hole to beat Ashok Kumar who three-putted for a bogey from eight feet on the 19th hole.
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Caddy dies after ball hit Amritsar, April 2 Sunil Kumar, a resident of Sadar bazaar, used to work as a caddy in the golf ground where senior Army officials and civilians often used to play. On Sunday when he was in the ground a golf ball struck him on his forehead. However, the boy was sent back after first aid. Later, the boy fell in a drain on his way home. When some people found Sunil in the drain they took him to Army hospital where he was declared dead. A case has been registered. |
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