Georgetown, April 14
Rahul Dravid hammered 144 not out for his 10th Test century as India looked set to save the rain-hit first Test against the West Indies at close of the fourth day's play on Sunday.

Dravid smashed 22 boundaries and shared in a record eighth-wicket stand of 120 with Sarandeep Singh, 39 not out, before heavy rain that had started half an hour before tea forced play to be called off with India 395 for seven in reply to the West Indies first innings total of 501.

The duo had so far added 120 runs, a record for an Indian eighth wicket pair against the West Indies, after the visitors had slumped to 275 for seven this morning. The previous record stood in the name of Yashpal Sharma and Balwinder Singh Sandhu, who had put on 107 in the Kingston Test in the 1982-83 series.

India were still 106 runs behind the West Indian first innings score of 501. Dravid has so far batted for 436 minutes and hit 23 fours from 345 balls. Sarandeep Singh has been at the crease for 165 minutes and hit one four from 119 balls.

Earlier, India lost three quick wickets after they resumed at their overnight 237 for four and were in danger of falling short of the 302 they needed to avoid the follow-on.

But Dravid and Sarandeep Singh showed tremendous patience and concentration as they carried forward the Indian innings.India survived some anxious moments before achieving their primary objective of avoiding a follow-on.

Three wickets in quick succession saw India being reduced to 275 for seven after they resumed at their overnight score of 237 for four. With only tailenders to follow and 27 runs still needed to cross the follow-on mark of 301, India were in a difficult situation. However, vice-captain Rahul Dravid showed a lot of character in adversity and held to his end stubbornly along with Sarandeep Singh, who too showed remarkable application.

Dravid, who was on 57 overnight, completed his 10th Test century and has so far added 70 crucial runs for the eighth wicket with Sarandeep Singh as India reached 345 for seven at lunch. Dravid was batting on 107 while Sarandeep Singh was on 27. India added 108 runs in the extended opening session of two and half hours for the loss of three wickets with Dravid adding 50 runs to his overnight 57.

This was Dravid’s first century in 14 Tests and 13 months after his stupendous 180 against Australia in the Kolkata Test of 2000-01. This was also his first century against the West Indies in six Tests after three scores in the 90s during the 1997 series when he topscored for the Indians with 360 runs in five Tests. This was also his sixth Test hundred abroad, though only the first in last five foreign tours.

But for a swollen jaw, Dravid showed no after-effects of a painful blow from paceman Mervyn Dillon in only the fourth over of the day as he pulled India out of trouble.

Dravid had his revenge when he on-drove the bowler to the fence, his 17th boundary, to reach his hundred after having batted for 316 minutes and faced 250 balls.

Earlier, Dravid’s overnight partner VVS Laxman looked in fine touch when he started the day spanking four boundaries in no time as he crossed his half-century and raced into the sixties.

However, a casual push outside the off-stump against Cameron Cuffy ended in a catch at first slip. Laxman batted for 156 minutes and hit 11 fours off 113 balls for his 69.

India’s position worsened when young all-rounder Sanjay Bangar was adjudged out leg before to Cuffy by umpire Asoka de Silva without a run against his name.

India lost another wicket after the drinks interval when Anil Kumble (3) tried to play Adam Sanford away from his body and Mahendra Nagamootoo picked a fine catch at point. Realising he was running out of partners, Dravid struck two off-side fours in one over from Sanford which greatly reduced the pressure on the visitors.

Dravid was slow to start with, hitting his first boundary only after 50 minutes of play but then played some fine drives and cuts on either side of the wicket.

India crossed the 301-run mark when Dravid hit Dillon for a boundary to the long-on fence.

Earlier yesterday, Sachin Tendulkar, who made a confident 79, put on 78 for the third wicket with Shiv Sunder Das and 45 for the fourth wicket with Rahul Dravid before falling just before tea.

West Indies (1st innings): 501

India (1st innings): (overnight 237-4)

Das b Sanford 33

Dasgupta lbw b Cuffy 0

Ganguly c Nagamootoo b Dillon 5

Tendulkar lbw b Nagamootoo 79

Dravid not out 144

Laxman c Gayle b Cuffy 69

Bangar lbw b Cuffy 0

Kumble c Nagamootoo b Sanford 3

Sarandeep not out 39

Extras (b-4 lb-12 nb-5 w-2) 23

Total (7 wkts, 140.3 overs): 395

Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-21, 3-99, 4-144, 5-263, 6-270, 7-275

Bowling: Dillon 32.3-5-115-1, Cuffy 27-6-57-3, Sanford 25-5-81-2, Nagamootoo 40-13-103-1, Hooper 12-4-16-0, Gayle 4-2-7-0. Reuters/PTI

Sri Lanka, who have won three of their opening four games in the tournament, made 243 for nine from their 50 overs before restricting the New Zealanders to 197 for nine.

Marvan Atapattu made 82 and Kumar Sangakkara 50, sharing a second-wicket partnership of 114 to give Sri Lanka a solid foundation after the early fall of captain Sanath Jayasuriya for a duck.

New Zealand’s most successful bowlers were Chris Harris, who completed figures of three for 43, and Scott Styris, who took two for 47. The Kiwis lost opener Matt Horne to the first ball of their reply and despite a battling 49 from Craig McMillan they never threatened to overhaul the Sri Lankan total.

Sri Lanka threatened to post a huge score when they took the score 162 for two by the 32nd over, but New Zealand hit back to take the next six wickets with the addition of 46 runs to reduce them to 208 for eight.

Chris Harris, Ian Butler and Scott Styris shared seven wickets to keep the Sri Lanka score in check.

Sri Lanka needed a late flourish from Chaminda Vaas (20 off 20 balls) to hit a challenging score.

Earlier, Atapattu completed his half-century, his third in a row, in 58 balls with nine fours while Sangakkara reached his 50 in 63 balls with five fours and one six.

Sangakkara fell on the same score, miscuing an intended drive to Craig McMillan off Scott Styris.

Sri Lanka were placed comfortably at 114 for two by the 22nd over when Sangakkara returned to the pavilion.

Scoreboard

Sri Lanka:

Jayasuriya lbw b Tuffy 0

Atapattu b Butler 82

“The messages of goodwill I have been receiving have been overwhelming — I have always said that Manchester United fans are the best in the world and times like this remind you just how great they are,” Beckham said yesterday.

Beckham broke his left foot on Wednesday in a Champions Cup match playing for Manchester United, and will be lost for six to eight weeks - making him touch-and-go for the World Cup.

The state of Beckham’s foot has preoccupied English newspapers for several days.

On Friday, the tabloid Sun ran a picture of the star’s foot on its front page under a headline “Beck Us Pray.” It also urged everyone in the country to put a hand on the photo of Beckham’s foot at noon Friday to speed the healing.

Yesterday, the paper followed up with a page one photograph of England manager Sven-Goran Ericksson with his hand on the previous day’s front page photo.

The accompanying headline read: “Sven lends us a hand.”

British bookmakers Williams Hill are offering odds of 1-7 that Beckham will be ready to play in the World Cup with England’s first game June 2. It is offering 4-1 that he will not.

In another Beckham move, a cookie manufacturer that is making World Cup gingerbread cookies in his image, is holding up production until it can add a bit of icing in the shape of a foot cast.

Beckham said he was just as upset about missing Man United games as missing the World Cup.

“Having seen the newspapers in the last few days, the media focus seems to have been mainly around the World Cup whereas I have been thinking about the Manchester United games I will be missing.

“The season has been building up to a great finish and I wanted to play my part in another triumphant year.”

Beckham said he would join the fans in the stands “for the next few weeks, giving the lads every support as they try to make this another great year for our manager and everyone connected with the club.” AP

Woods, bidding for a third green jacket at Augusta, yesterday began the round four strokes behind leader Singh but finished the day level with Goosen at 11-under-par 205.

Goosen, the U.S. Open champion, was one ahead of the field playing the last but ran up a bogey-five after pushing his tee shot right into the trees and had to settle for a 69 and a share of the lead.

Singh, the 2000 winner, had been joint-pacesetter with playing partner Goosen at 11 under after 14 holes but dropped shots at 15 and 17 to slip back to third at nine-under 207 after carding a level-par 72.

Left-hander Phil Mickelson, aiming for his first major in his 35th professional start, carded a tidy 68 to finish the day in a share of fourth place at seven-under 209, alongside Ernie Els (72) and Spaniard Sergio Garcia (70).

Woods, aiming to become only the third player to win back-to-back Masters titles, dropped a solitary shot at the par-three fourth and collected seven birdies as he relentlessly climbed the leader board on what is traditionally termed “moving day” in championship golf.

“I rolled the rock (the ball) pretty well today and hit some pretty good putts,’’ the world number one said afterwards.

“The only putt I missed today was on nine. I felt like I played pretty well.

“The course is playing tough, though, because the fairways are so wet and you can catch flyers.

“I hit some good par putts in the morning session to keep the momentum going and this afternoon I just kept it going.’’

Mickelson began the third round five off the lead and stayed in touch with a blemish-free performance that featured four birdies.

“I played well enough today to put myself in position to shoot a low number tomorrow — which I will need to do to have any chance of winning,” Mickelson said.

“The golf course is susceptible to birdies at the moment, even though it is playing long after all the rain.’’

Goosen and Singh, after strong starts to the third round, had both faltered late on the front nine to allow Woods to close to within a stroke of the early lead.

The South African dropped his first shot of the round at the par-five eighth and the tall Fijian bogeyed the seventh before the playing pair reached the turn at 10 under.

Woods had reeled off birdies at seven, 10 and 11 to get to nine under after 12 holes on a dry but overcast afternoon with high humidity.

Goosen, in red-hot form with his putter, had set the early third-round pace when he birdied the first three holes.

The big-hitting South African, one behind leader Singh when the rain-hit second round was finally completed in the morning, holed a monster putt from 35 feet for birdie one at the par-four first.

He then holed out from 10 feet at the 575-yard second and sank a curling 20-footer to pick up his third shot at the par-four third.

That moved the 32-year-old South African to 11 under for the tournament, two ahead of Singh who could only par his first three holes.

Singh led after 36 holes following rounds of 70 and 65.

Brad Faxon eagled the par-four 11th during the third round with a six iron from 193 yards on his way to a 69 and a one-under total of 215.

His eagle was the second only at the hole in Masters history, the first having been achieved by Jerry Barber in the first round of the 1962 tournament.

Earlier, the halfway cut was made at three-over-par 147, with 45 players advancing to the third round.

Bernhard Langer extended his run of consecutive Masters cuts made to 19, just four behind the record 23 held by Gary Player.

Among players failing to make the cut were British Open champion David Duval (148) and former Masters winners Larry Mize (148), Mark O’Meara (149) and Ian Woosnam (155).

Four-times Masters winner Arnold Palmer completed his final competitive round at Augusta with a 13-over-par 85 in front of packed galleries.

The 72-year-old, who won the Masters in 1958, 1960, 1962 and 1964, ended up at 30 over par, following his opening 89 on Thursday. Reuters

The men’s race had been billed as track legend Gebrselassie’s first serious attempt at the distance but Khannouchi held off the challenge of Paul Tergat of Kenya and Gebrselassie, to clock 2hr 05min 38sec.

Khannouchi, Moroccan-born but now a naturalised American, beat his own previous world best time of 2hr 05min 42sec set in 1999.

Radcliffe clocked 2hr 18min 56sec, the second fastest women’s time in history, as the woman so often edged out of the medals on the track destroyed a world-class field.

In the men’s race, Khannouchi broke away from Paul Tergat - runner-up for the second successive year in 2:05:48 -with less than a mile remaining.

Gebrselassie dropped off the pace just before 25 miles and eventually placed third in 2:06:35 while two-time London winner Abdelkader El Mouaziz was fourth.

Khannouchi said: “It was very tough. Everybody has to work so hard to win and thank God I had the strength to win.”

The top-seeded Williams scored a convincing 7-5 6-0 win over Anne Kremer of Luxembourg in yesterday’s semi-finals.

Unlike Henin, Williams did not have her quarter-final match postponed to yesterday morning.

The second-seeded Henin, playing her second match of the day, was presented with a quick 6-2 4-1 semi-final victory over third-seeded Jelena Dokic when the Yugoslavian retired with a stomach virus.

Williams was the winner in both matches against Henin this year — at Adelaide in January and Antwerp the following month.

Williams has a career record of 4-1 over Henin, including a win in the final of Wimbledon last year.

“I think she’s very versatile — she can do anything,” said Williams, of Henin.

“She has great hands, she can volley, she can return, she can hit groundstrokes, she can serve-and-volley if she has to.

“She can do whatever it takes to win a match and not every player can do that these days.”

Henin said it’s important for her to keep focused in the final.

“This surface will be different and that could be good for me. The last time we played was at home for me and it was 6-3 in the third and a very good match.

“Maybe I was a little bit afraid to finish the match at the end. But I’m really happy to be in another final here.” Williams struggled with her first serve in the first set and allowed Kremer to go ahead 5-3.

But a weary Kremer was unable to take advantage of her lead as Williams went on to win the first set and didn’t surrender another game in the 65-minute match. AFP

Defending champions Punjab Police take on hosts Karnataka and IOC play Indian Airlines in the semifinals tomorrow.

The last day of league fixtures had its sizeable share of controversies and disruption of play due to players’ behaviour, protest by spectators and power failure.

Karnataka topped pool ‘B’ when they drew with Indian Airlines 2-2 to ensure a berth in the last four while the latter pipped Punjab and Sind Bank on better goal average to make the grade as the runners-up team.

In pool “A” reigning champions Punjab Police and IOC, who have already qualified for the knock-out, finished their final engagement on a controversial note with the cops losing 0-3 to IOC, apparently with an intention of not topping the table.

In pool “B”, though Punjab and Sind Bank men defeated BPCL 2-1 and pushed their points tally to 10, they could not qualify to the semi-final, as Indian Airlines had plus eight goal average advantage as against three by the bankmen.

The match between Punjab Police and IOC was marred by protests from spectators.

Both Punjab Police and IOC, began play on a sedate note, which drew protests from spectators forcing the umpires K. Krishnamurthy and Venu Uthappa to stop the play and warn the teams.

So dull was the encounter, that the sparse spectators started booing Punjab Police, and at one stage Baljit Singh Dillon lost his cool and hurled the stick into the stands.

After the warning, IOC scored three goals in 11 minutes in quick succession with Rajpal Singh, Lakhwinder Singh and Bikramjeet Singh scoring in that order.

Punjab Police continued to play an under par game much to the irritation of the spectators and hardly made any worthwhile move till half time.

The list contains five goalkeepers, eight defenders, nine midfielders and six forwards for the camp which will start here on May 1, a press note quoted AIFF secretary Alberto Colaco as saying.

The team is likely to leave for South Africa on May 7, he said.

Sukhwinder Singh has been retained as chief coach for the tour to South Africa while Derrick Pereira and Aloke Mukherjee will be assistant coaches, Mr Colaco said.

List of players for the camp.

Goalkeepers: Kalyan Chaubay (Salgoacar), Gumpe Rime (HASC), Virender Singh (Mahindra United), Rajat Ghosh Dastidar (Mohun Bagan), N. Balaji (ITI).

Defenders: M Suresh and Tapan Ghosh (both from Mahindra United), Deepak Mondal (East Bengal), Debjit Ghosh (Mohun Bagan), Agnelo Colaco (Vasco), Mahesh Gowali (Churchill Brothers), K V Dhanesh (ITI), Satish Bharti (Tollygunge Agragrami).

Midfielders: Abhay Kumar (Vasco), Noel Wilson (Churchill), Rennedy Singh (Mohun Bagan), Dipankar Roy (East Bengal), S Venkatesh and Jules Alberto Dias (both from Mahindra United), Hardip Singh Sangha (JCT), Roque Barreto (Churchill), Jo Paul Anchery (East Bengal).

Forwards: Bijen Singh (East Bengal), R C Prakash (Mohun Bagan), Parveen Kumar (Punjab Police), Alvito D’ Cunha (Salgaocar), K Kuluthungan (FC Kochin) and Alex Ambrose (Salgaocar). PTI