 |
|
Saturday,
November 2, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
|
Windies take 88-run lead Expert comments by Ravi Shastri Chetan Sharma writes
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Railways on top ITF meet: Pavel Ivanov overcomes Harsh Mankad
Dhanraj Pillay eyeing medal in 2004 Athens Olympics SANTOSH TROPHY
|
|
Windies
take 88-run lead
Kolkata, November 1 Chanderpaul struck his sixth Test hundred, five of which have come against India, and his 191-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Marlon Samuels took the West Indies score to 446 for five at close on a frustrating day for the hosts. Chanderpaul remained unbeaten on 136, having batted for more than six hours and hit 16 boundaries and a six while Samuels was fast approaching his maiden Test hundred, having scored 89 with 15 fours. The Indians could manage just two wickets in the entire day, both coming in the morning session after the West Indies had resumed at their overnight 189 for three. Anil Kumble denied a century to opener Chris Gayle who was caught by Virender Sehwag for 88 before skipper Carl Hooper was brilliantly caught by a diving Parthiv Patel off Ashish Nehra’s bowling after making 19 runs. The two wickets boosted India’s hopes of seeing an early finish of the West Indian innings but Chanderpaul and Samuels, playing his first match of the series, completely dominated the attack after that. The duo batted comfortably for the next two sessions, adding 102 runs in the second session and 83 in the final one before play was called off due to bad light half an hour ahead of schedule. Chanderpaul gave an early signal of what was to follow during the day when he spectacularly drove Harbhajan Singh to the midwicket fence in the second over of the morning. Gayle, who resumed at his overnight 80, produced a perfect straight drive in Javagal Srinath’s second over to post the 200 of the West Indian innings. Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly, who started the day with a spin-pace combination, soon switched to a double-spin attack and the move yielded rewards almost immediately. Kumble got rid of Gayle in his second over when the left- hander played forward and produced an inside edge that was an easy catch for Virender Sehwag at forward short leg. Gayle hit 15 fours and a six during his 331 minute stay at the crease before being dismissed at the West Indian score of 213. Hooper played some ambitious strokes in his 42-run fifth wicket stand with Chanderpaul before he fell to a stunning catch by Patel. Nehra claimed the success in his very first over - the second with the new ball which was taken after 100 overs. The ball was pitched fractionally outside the off-stump and induced an edge from Hooper which was spectacularly taken by Patel, who dived full length to his right to complete a one-handed catch. Chanderpaul and Samuels then carried the West Indies to 261 for five at lunch and later to 363 for five at tea as the Indian bowlers,
particularly the two spinners, Harbhajan Singh and Kumble, failed to make any impact despite obtaining some turn early in the day. Chanderpaul reached his half-century 21 minutes after lunch before launching an assault on Kumble. The West Indies batsman clobbered Kumble for three fours in the 23rd over, before hoisting him over the cover fence for the only six of the day. Chanderpaul who reached a gritty 42 at lunch played a flurry of strokes during the second session in which he plundered 65 runs. The 300 of the innings came in 482 minutes while the hundred of the partnership was reached in 124 minute off 30.2 overs. Samuels played second fiddle to Chanderpaul in the post lunch session but opened up after tea when he scored majority of the runs. The duo continued their good work in the final session too, with Samuels reaching his half-century in 173 minutes off 116 balls aided by seven hits to the fence. The 400 of the innings came in the 10th over after tea with Chanderpaul on 124 and Samuels on 59. Samuels, who came close to being expelled from the tour after he visited a city discotheque, seemed to have
redeemed himself with today’s commendable knock. The 21-year old Jamaican surpassed his previous best Test score of 60 scored against Australia at Melbourne in the 2000-01 series.
Scoreboard India (1st innings): 358 West Indies (1st innings): Gayle c Sehwag b Kumble 88 Hinds c Ganguly b
Sarwan st Patel b Harbhajan 2 Dillon b Harbhajan 0 Chanderpaul batting 136 Hooper c Patel b Nehra 19 Samuels batting 89 Extras
(lb-6, nb-6) 12 Total (5 wkts, 157 overs) 446 Fall of wickets: 1-172, 2-186, 3 186, 4-213, 5-255. Bowling: Srinath 19-3-62-0, Nehra 23-9-66-1, Harbhajan Singh 52-15-101-3, Kumble 47-8-150-1, Bangar 6-3-14-0, Tendulkar 7-0-33-0, Sehwag 3-0-14-0.
PTI |
|
Expert comments by Ravi Shastri The West Indies put up their most spirited performance in many months, and I am sure that my good friend Sir Vivian Richards would have been happy to see old-fashioned spunk and guts on show from his team. Only two wickets were claimed by India in the entire day, and if the West Indies can add another 150 runs, the Indians will be under some pressure to save this match, though the wicket continues to play true. Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Marlon Samuels dominated the day, and full marks to their application and stamina. Once they settled down, there was no giving up, and the Indian bowlers were left to toil away without any great success. Skipper Carl Hooper, who promised more than he delivered, would be wondering why his batsmen had caved in so easily in the earlier Tests. Chanderpaul played like a true professional. Even if he was beaten, he would reconcile to play the next delivery strictly on merit. And he rarely let the loose ball go unpunished. Chanderpaul is not a very attractive player to watch, but he is very, very effective. He watches the ball closely, which gives him time to adjust and improvise. He is not aggressive by nature, but wears down bowlers and forces them to make errors in line and length, then capitalises on their lapses. I was even more impressed with the comeback of Marlon Samuels. When I first saw him in Australia, he looked to be a very talented player, a handsome striker of the ball, somebody of pedigree. He looked a long-term prospect, but then appeared to have missed the plot and was dropped from the team only to make his return for this tour. He has adapted quickly, even though he has had few opportunities, and looked a class act in his partnership with Chanderpaul, which now threatens India’s domination of the series. How long this pair can bat on the fourth morning will determine whether the West Indies can pin India down when they bat again. With four fast bowlers, and the wicket of little assistance, they will need something out of the ordinary to pull off a win. But they have done this with the bat, so who knows.
(Gameplan) |
|
Chetan Sharma writes The West Indians have as good a chance of winning the Test as any after a brilliant batting performance on the third day. If it was the pair of Chris Gayle and Wavell Hinds yesterday, Shivanarine Chanderpaul and Marlon Samuels kept up the tempo today to deny Indian bowlers any chance. The West Indians lost only two wickets in the entire day and have also extended their lead to 88 runs and if they can add another 100 runs or so, India will be left playing to save the Test. Chanderpaul continued to make merry against the Indian bowlers with another century to his name while Samuels is just 11 runs short of the landmark. Both batted with style and made Indian bowlers look less than average. If India were looking for a good start this morning they got one. Gayle missed his century when Anil Kumble took his wicket with his score at 88 but it wasn’t India’s day. Even Carl Hooper fell to Ashish Nehra when Parthiv Patel claimed an excellent catch but after that it was Chanderpaul and Samuels all the way. While Chanderpaul was playing his strokes at one end, Samuels played defensively. Only in the last session of the day did he start playing his natural game. In fact, I was surprised that Samuels was not played in the first two Tests at Mumbai and Chennai. He was playing the spinners with confidence so I am sure Carl Hooper must be ruing the decision of not playing him earlier. I must say I was disappointed with the way Harbhajan Singh and Kumble bowled today. I know sometimes a bowler is bound to have an off day but that is no excuse for them.
|
|
ICPA dinner raises Rs 50 lakh
Kolkata, November 1 The dinner at a recently
opened five star hotel of the city showed the entire India and West Indies team along with some former cricketers and cricket administrators rubbing shoulders with the industry top guns and prominent socialites of the city. Significantly BCCI President Jagmohan
Dalmiya, who had till now remained non-committal about holding discussions with the new body not only attended the function but also donated Rs 1 lakh to the fund. Mr
Dalmiya, however, told PTI that he attended the function and donated the amount in his personal capacity and not as the BCCI President.
PTI |
|
|
Railways
on top
New Delhi, November 1 Yadav, who scored an impressive 104 in Railways first essay, made a strong claim for a berth in the national squad claiming all his wickets in the second spell which saw him bowl 17 overs in a trot. Off-spinner Kulamani Parida then polished off the tail as Rest, who made 266 in their first innings, were sent packing for 292 with two overs still to be bowled. Already enjoying a cushion of 50-run first innings lead after making 316, Railways now require 243 runs for an outright victory with one full day in hand. Even if Railways choose to play defensive, as batting would not be quite easy on the deteriorating pitch, and go for a draw, the prestigious Cup would be theirs by virtue of their first innings lead. Rest of India: 266 Railways: 316 Rest of India: Chopra c Pagnis b Parida 59 Jaffer c Pagnis b Harvinder 116 Yuvraj b Yadav 26 Kale lbw b Yadav 6 Gavaskar c Zakir b Yadav 0 Dahiya b Yadav 0 Lahiri c Khanolkar b Yadav 4 Sarandeep c Pagnis b Yadav 16 Patel lbw b Parida 11 Pathan c Sharma b Parida 29 Yohannan not out 16 Extras
(b-7, lb-1, w-1) 9 Total: 292 Fall of wickets: 1-123, 2-170, 3-194, 4-194, 5-204, 6-210, 7-235, 8-235, 9-267. Bowling: Harvinder Singh 14-1-59-1, Zakir Hussain 7-4-12-0, JP Yadav 22-4-39-6, M Kartik 39-12-77-0, K Parida 35.2-6-97-3.
PTI |
|
|
ITF meet: Pavel Ivanov overcomes Harsh Mankad Chandigarh, November 1 Ivanov got 12 ATP points for the win while Harsh Mankad got 8 points. After
the energy-sapping three-hour-21-minutes duel, Ivanov said he was
happy to win the title. “The conditions were perfect, everything was
perfect. All I was trying to do was relax to put in my best. I tried to take everything point by point and I am happy I got through.” This is the first futures title for Ivanov, who had earlier played in the European circuit. His best showing before this here were the
quarterfinals. “It was tough coming from the indoor tournament to the outdoor ones, but everything was perfect.” A dejected Harsh Mankad said Ivanov handled the conditions better than him “I should have won this match but was let down physically. The physical aspect is something I have to look into and work on if I want to win consistently.” Mankad first broke Ivanov in the third game to take the lead. Up 4-3 Mankad faced two break points on his serve. He saved one but then netted an easy volley after serving deep to hand the break to Ivanov to level the score at 4-4. At 5-6 down Mankad was again broken as be double-faulted to give Ivanov two breakpoint, who took charge to take the set 7-5. “I had a good chance in the first set but I was happy to come back in the second. I know he is a solid baseline player and I did not want to get into grinding points from the baseline”, Mankad said later. The second set was fiercely contested with most of the games going to deuce. Mankad was broken in the fourth game as he double-faulted to hand the advantage to Ivanov. Mankad struggled on his first serve through the match. In the next Ivanov was broken and then Mankad held his own to even the scores (3-3). He then went ahead on Ivanov’s serve and was stretched to deuce eight times before going 5-3 up and then taking the set. Both players called for the doctor in the third game. Ivanov was the first to seek medical attention as Mankad went 1-4 up. A charged up Ivanov came back strongly and broke Mankad twice to even the score at 4-4. ‘‘Even up 4-1 I knew I was in trouble as I could barely jump for the serve, I could feel the cramps in my legs”, Mankad summed up. “It is disappointing to lose after being 4-1 up in the third set.” Mankad went up 5-4 on Ivanov serve and then called for medical attention. He double-faulted at 15-40 down to let Ivanov even the score at 5-5. Serving at 5-6, 15-30 he served two double faults to hand the match to Ivanov. In the doubles Sipaeya/ Ramaswami came back from 0-3 down in the first set to take it to the tie-breaker. Down 2-5, they reeled off five straight points to take the set 7-6 (7/5). The second set was an easy affair as they broke Vijay Kannan twice to quickly wrap up the match. |
|
Dhanraj
Pillay eyeing medal in 2004 Parwanoo, November 1 Employed as Assistant Manager(Commercial) with Indian Airlines, Dhanraj Pillay, a veteran of four World Cups, three Olympics, and four Asian Games said the current Indian team had improved a lot under coach Rajinder Singh. "Rajinder loves attacking hockey and I am happy with the strategy that he adopts. Even in the Kuala Lumpur World Cup we stood a good chance of making it to the semis but a wrong strategy adopted by Cedric D' Souza put paid to our aspirations. I am good as a centre forward but our coach preferred to play me as a right winger. The message was that I should not play with the ball, but act as a dummy player and clear space for others. However, I have always been effective with the ball and this was proved in the Champions Trophy as well as the Asian Games," said Pillay who had arrived from Mumbai after participating on the Mumbai League. However, Pillay supported the move of the Indian Hockey Federation to hire a foreign coach as announced by the federation chief, Mr KPS Gill, in Mumbai yesterday. "The foreign coach should be only for a specific purpose and can play a supplemantary role to remove weaknesses like poor conversion off penalty corners. A full time foreign coach is hardly required as our coaches are good enough to take care of the team," Pillay said. When asked whom he would prefer to train the team in short corners, Pillay said the Germans and Dutch were good in this department. "Pakistan's penalty corner specialist Sohail Abbas was trained in Holland and today he is among the best in short corners flicks." Talking about his experience in Europe, the Olympian said the Europeans relied more on power than skill whereas both India and Pakistan were good in skill. "Our boys are happy with the system," he added. On being asked about his controversial statement prior to the Asian Games, he said he had been misquoted. "There are no differences in the team and in this context I would specifically appreciate the role of the manager, Mr HS Dhillon, who was a great motivator. I feel his association with the team should be prolonged," he said. Dhanraj Pillay, who was born on July 16,1968, happens to be the senior most in the present Indian hockey squad. In a career spanning 14 years, Pillay has not earned a single red card. He has only received the yellow card on one or two occasions. Pillay is one of the four sons of Mr Nagalingam Pillay, an employee of Mahindras. He also has one sister. His brother, Ramesh Pillay also made a mark as a hockey player having represented India in the BMW Seven- Nation Hockey Tournament in 1985. Dhanraj Pillay's debut in international hockey dates back to 1989 when he represented the nation on the Allwyn Asia Cup in New Delhi.Thereafter he remained a regular member of the Indian team except for some brief spells when he was rested after the Bangkok Asian Games in 1998 where India incidentally won the gold. The gold medal victory in 1998 is one of Pillay's cherished moments. He has also played in the French, German and Malaysian leagues. Having risen to fame with his heroics on the hockey field, Dhanraj Pillay wants to give something back to the game. He has set up a hockey academy for children in the 14-20 age group. "Five of my boys have been selected in the junior team.One of them, Girish, also played in Cairo recently, " he said. A veteran of over 380 internationals, Dhanraj Pillay feels the team will benefit by the inclusion of players like Baljit Singh Dhillon. "Baljit is one of the outstanding players and his inclusion will add to the strength," he remarked before mingling with kids who mobbed him in the school ground.
|
|
SANTOSH TROPHY
Imphal, November 1 The winners led 2-1 at the breather. The match began on an even note with both the teams maintaining constant pressure on the rival goalmouth and created some opportunity for the forwards. However, in the ninth minute of the game the hardworking Raghu Kumar of Services sent in a measured volley to Jhony F Gangmei who headed in much to the surprise of the Kerala goalkeeper. It was piece of defensive error for the reinging champions as they failed to mark the dimunitive Gangmei, who was lurking dangerously in front of the goalmouth. Stung by the reverse, Kerala team went into the offensive as a handful of Keralites, who were working in this state capital the north eastern state, vocally supported their team. The result was immediate as only three minutes later T Asif Saheer got a through ball which, was a result of good tackles by S Ignatious and Abdul Noushad, and shot the ball in from inside the box. With the score tied 1-1, both the teams slowed down the pace of the game, preferring not to take too many risks. However, the goal of the match came from Saheer, who produced the famous ‘bicycle kick’ to a measured cross from Shabeer Ali from the left flank to beat the onrushing goalkeeper to make it 2-1 in the 22nd minute of the match. Services did not lose heart by squandering the one-goal lead early in the match as they produced a couple of brilliant chances but on each occasion poor finish brought their downfall. First it was Gangmei who missed a sitter in the 40th minute as he shot wide with only the goalkeeper to beat. There was, however, counter attacks from the Kerala strikers immediately after that as Ignatious failed to reach a through ball in front of the goal and Abdul Noushad scored but was caught offside by referee S Suresh.
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 | |
Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s fascination for Indian bowling fetched him another century as the West Indies saw a dramatic turnaround in their fortunes in this series to take a 88-run first innings lead
in the third and final cricket Test here today.
