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Thursday,
March 13, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Doughty Kenya create history Odumbe sets
sights on final Kenyans have arrived
and need to be taken notice of Indians determined not to lose focus Sachin confronted with Bond menace |
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We are ready to make up for losses: Sehwag We’ll open up India’s wounds: Fleming Harris keen to frustrate India India should consider regular 5th bowler Batting, bowling will carry India to victory Internal competition good for bowlers Brett Lee is really looking ominous Brett Lee epitomised the resilient Australians Bich, Bev beware! McGrath fancies new role Port Elizabeth pitch to be reviewed PROFILE OF THE WEEK
Chandigarh Police,
BSF advance Top golfers to take part
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Doughty
Kenya create history
Bloemfontein, March 12 With their upset victory, the Kenyans made their maiden entry into the semifinals for which Australia and India have already qualified. Kenya created history by becoming the first non-Test playing nations to enter the semifinals. The fourth place will go to either Sri Lanka or New Zealand, depending on the outcome of their respective last Super Six matches. The upset victory by Kenya ensured them a third-place finish which means they will meet India, second in the Super Six table behind Australia, in the semifinals. India, who have 16 points and a match to go, had beaten Kenya by six wickets last week. New Zealand will take on India on Friday and a win there would ensure them the fourth place in the semifinals. The fate of Sri Lanka, who are to meet Zimbabwe in their last match, will be decided by the result of the India-New Zealand match, only an Indian victory clearing the way for the islanders who have 7.5 points against 8 for New Zealand. In today’s game, Kenya made mincemeat of Zimbabwe, skittling them for a paltry 133 runs before racing their way to victory in just 26 overs. Maurice Odumbe hammered 38 unbeaten runs from just 20 deliveries while Thomas Odoyo made 43 not out to star in Kenya’s second big upset in this tournament. They Kenyans had earlier stunned former champions Sri Lanka in the league matches. Zimbabwe, who elected to bat, were never allowed to settle in by some accurate bowling by medium-pacer Martin Suji and leg-spinner Collins Obuya, both of whom claimed three wickets. Veteran Andy Flower, who has announced his decision to retire after this competition, waged a lonely battle among the ruins, top-scoring with 63 runs. But the rest of the batsmen, including recalled former captain Alistair Campbell just caved in to pressure in this must-win game for them. Martin Suji dismissed both the openers, Campbell and Craig Wishart in his first five overs, leaving Zimbabwe at 26 for two, a position from which they never recovered. Andy Flower batted comfortably at one end but had no one to give him company as wickets fell at quick intervals at the other end. After Martin Suji had dismissed Grant Flower (7) too, Collins wrecked the middle order with key wickets of Tatenda Taibu (3), Dion Ebrahim (13) and Heath Streak (0) to leave Zimbabwe panting at 97 for seven in the 31st over. PTI Scoreboard
Zimbabwe Wishart c Otieno b M Suji 5 Campbell lbw M. Suji 7 A Flower b Odoyo 63 G Flower c Otieno b M. Suji 7 Taibu c Otieno b C. Obuya 3 Ebrahim st Otieno
Blignaut run out 4 Streak c Shah b C. Obuya 0 Marillier b Tikolo 21 Olonga c Odumbe b Tikolo 3 Hondo not out 0 Extras:
(lb-1, w-4, nb-2) 7 Total: (all out, 44.1 overs) 133 Fall of wickets:
1-8, 2-26, 3-45, 4-66, 5-85, 6-95, 7-97, 8-114, 9-129. Bowling:
M. Suji 8-2-19-3, Odoyo 10-0-43-1, Ongondo 5-2-16-0, C Obuya 10-0-32-3, Karim 9-0-20-0, Tikolo 2.1-0-2-2. Kenya Obuya lbw Olunga 19 Shah run out 14 Tikolo c Streak b Blignaut 2 Odoyo not out 43 Odumbe not out 38 Extra:
(Lb-4, W-6, Nb-9) 19 Total: (for 3 wkts, 26 over) 135 Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-33, 3-62. Bowling:
Streak 6-0-24-0, Blignaut 9-1-36-1, Olonga 4-0-21-1, Hondo 3-1-14-0, G.Flower 3-0-27-0, Marillier 1-0-9-0. |
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Odumbe sets sights on final Bloemfontein, March 12 “People said we shouldn’t be in the Super Sixes and then they said we shouldn’t be in the semi-final,” said the former skipper who was unbeaten at the end on 38 as Kenya beat Zimbabwe by seven wickets.“They will probably say that we shouldn’t go to the final either, but who knows? “Now we play India in the semi-final and anything can happen.” Kenya bowled out Zimbabwe for a paltry 133 and then knocked off the runs in 26 overs at Goodyear Park reaching 135 for 3 to canter to victory and set up a semi-final clash with Sourav Ganguly’s India in Durban on March 20. Thomas Odoyo was also unbeaten at the end with 43. “It’s a great feeling,” aid Odumbe. “It isn’t every day you reach the semi-finals of the World Cup especially when so many great teams have been knocked out. “We have proved with our performances that we can play tough, good cricket.” AFP
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Kenyans
have arrived and need to be taken notice of If you ask me to pen down 500 words about Kenya’s performance against Zimbabwe, then I might as well repeat the word impressive 500 times. I have always known Sandeep Patil personally right through my playing days and what he moulded out of an amateur Kenyan side was just the kind of stuff expected from a professional and a man of exceptional foresight. To his credit, he enjoys the complete faith and support of this Kenyan unit and has commendably marshalled his team keeping Steve Tikolo at the front. It does not happen very often that a non-Test playing nation qualifies for the semifinal of a World Cup. The first time these guys beat West Indies, claims of match fixing were given proper hearing. They beat Sri Lanka few days ago but it was dismissed as flash in the pan. Surely, this win, rather a comprehensive one, against Zimbabwe, should settle the dust over the Kenyans’ big match abilities. From Zimbabwe’s point of view, things went haywire even before the start of the match. They had serious problems pertaining to selection of players and once again, the call-up of Alistair Campbell, presence of four fast bowlers on a slow turning wicket and leaving out Ervine from the eleven raised questions. Things did not improve for Heath Streak as the day progressed and except for winning the toss, the Zimbabwean skipper would find hard to remember any positive outcomings from Bloemfontein. I always feel that one-day cricket is about managing your resources, however few they are, well. The Kenyan side struck to their task, bowled a nagging line and kept the ball in the right places and their military medium fast bowlers, Martin Suji and Thomas Odoyo were just right for the occasion. The batsman found it difficult to drive, the ball was not coming on to the bat and the fielders pressed the lid tight on the Zimbabwean batsmen. That even a batsman of Andy Flower’s calibre found life difficult in the middle is testimony to the way the green and red outfit played on Wednesday. I love the way Collins Obuya bowls and if his run in this tournament are any indicators this lad has a great future ahead of him. Collins is never afraid to throw the ball up in the air for the batsman to drive and keeps pegging on the right length to make the batsman play every ball. After the exit of Warne, Obuya made sure that leg- spin bowling will get its fair share of appreciation. He needs to work more on his bowling, use his height to best effect and evolve various variations of this art.The total of 133 is a dicey one and the Kenyans continued the good work in the second session also, coming out with a positive mindset and blending the right proportions of caution and aggression. To make things easy for them, Zimbabwe, inexplicably, never pressed their spinners, Grant Flower and Marrillier till the fag end of the match and that they were tonked around by Odumbe was irrelevant at that stage of the innings. The seamers too did not help their cause, bowling too many wides and no-balls, pitching the ball short and in the process ensured easy chase for the batters. I know, as the result of this match came out there would have been a roar from the Indian supporters — India play Kenya in the semifinals but India would do good not to get carried away too much. Kenya has arrived and needs to be taken notice of.
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Indians
determined not to lose focus
Centurion, March 12 The Indian team is not going into any match in this premier event without putting their signatures on to a white paper which inscribes the team theme ‘Now or Never’. The theme, provided to the Indian team by the Australian sports psychologist Sandy Gordon, spells out the collective goal of the boys for this World Cup, based on the individual aims of cricketers. The
cricketers penned down their personal goals in an interesting manner after their one-to-one sessions with Gordon. Ganguly, for instance, wrote — “If not now, then when?”, Harbhajan Singh — “Ladenge ya marenge (do-or-die) and Rahul Dravid — “Work hard, results will follow”. Every member of the Indian squad now has religiously followed the practice of putting their signatures on that white sheet of paper in the eight matches they have taken part so far in this competition. Team manager Jyoti Bajpai explained, “It only makes sense for boys to play every match with some goal. You could be dedicating your performance to your wife, coach, parents, country or just to the team. This way when you enter the field, you become selfless and give off more than 100 per cent for a person or object you cherish most”. The team has also been seen getting into a football-style huddle before the start of a game or whenever an opposition wicket falls to highlight team unity and solidarity. The motivational methods are accompanied by a host of other superstitions which cricketers are following to keep their winning run going in this competition. Ganguly, for instance, tried out a pair of shoes which Harbhajan Singh brought for him in his kit bag on this tour and instantly slammed a hundred against Namibia. It was the same pair of shoes with which the Indian captain had scored runs by tons on the previous tour to South Africa in 2001. Ganguly also changed the number of his shirt after his early failures in the competition. He still wears his shirt with the No 99 whenever he is in the field, marshalling his
resources. But when it comes to batting, Ganguly dons a shirt with No 24 on its back, according to a numerical calculation suggested by his extremely religious mother. Ganguly also shaves and unshaves as a part of a superstition, not to speak of regular change of gloves and bats to keep himself going on a cricket field. Fast bowler Ashish Nehra does not enter into a field without first touching the ropes lining the boundary. Harbhajan Singh does not start his day without reciting ‘nitnaam’ (daily prayer) and it has been a practice with him since his father passed away before he could resurrect his international career in 2001. Sachin Tendulkar is left rueing the fact that his family will not join him in South Africa — on account of another superstition. His family was all ready to join the maestro before the semifinals and especially because he is in such superb form. But now they have shelved the plan, believing the team is doing well only because they are not in South Africa and the team’s fortunes could take a beating if they come over and watch the game from the stands.
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Sachin confronted with Bond menace
Centurion, March 12 Shane Bond of New Zealand has sizzled in the World Cup with his fearsome pace and a spinner’s control on his line and length and his contest with the Indian superstar could be the highlight of this World Cup when the two sides meet in a Super Six match on Friday. Tendulkar has been in admirable control of his and the team’s destiny with a succession of impressive scores which has fetched him 571 runs at an average of 71.37. Bond warmed up for the Friday contest with devastating figures of six for 23 against world champions Australia yesterday. Bond bowls with tremendous pace and generally likes to bring the ball in at a vicious speed. He also has the ability to take it away from a right-hander as Australia’s Damien Martyn found out to his dismay at Port Elizabeth. He also has a deadly bouncer and the accuracy of a nuclear submarine with his reverse swinging yorkers which unerringly hit the base of batsman’s stumps. It is no wonder Bond reminded Pakistan’s Inzamam-ul Haq of Waqar Younis in his prime after a particularly deadly spell he watched on television. “There are Shoaibs and there are Brett Lees but Bond is the deadliest,” said Haq while comparing Bond to his skipper Waqar. Tendulkar has buried the likes of Shoaib Akhtar and Abdur Razzaq, Andrew Caddick and James Anderson, Chaminda Vaas and Muthiah Muralitharan, in his exceptional run in this World Cup but he still has to get even with the likes of Bond and Australia’s Glenn McGrath. Tendulkar was a picture of misery on seamer friendly wickets in New Zealand a couple of months ago where he scored only two runs from three one-day innings and totalled 100 runs from four innings of two Test matches at an average of 25 per innings. Tendulkar watched his side crumble to scores of 161 and 121 at Basin Reserve in the Wellington Test and suffered the ignominy of being bowled out twice by Bond in one innings -mercifully the first one was called a no-ball by the umpire. Tendulkar appeared in discomfort against Bond’s extreme pace and had even started heading for the pavilion when his non-striker Parthiv Patel pointed it out to him it was a no-ball. So good is Bond that no less than bowling legend Sir Richard Hadlee sought his autograph after he had annihilated the mighty Australian line-up in the triangular series Down Under last year and bagged the player of the tournament award. Hadlee rates Bond as the key component of a side which he already reckons is the best-ever one-day team New Zealand has fielded in its history. “It’s a complete team and Stephen Fleming has got options to burn - whereas three years ago he did not even know some of his players,” Hadlee, now the chairman of selectors, said. “It’s a beautifully balanced side, probably better balanced than any other team in the competition. There’s no doubt in my mind that this is the best one-day side we’ve had, certainly in my experience. “It’s a very proactive side in terms of flexibility and what it is capable of. Other sides have become predictable in the way they play the game, but these guys have so many options - as an opponent it’s difficult to anticipate how they will come at you,” Hadlee said. Tendulkar has deep respect for Bond and now returns to the same venue where he destroyed Shoaib Akhtar with such disdain in the match-up against Pakistan. But Bond, it seems, cannot be clobbered with such disdain. Not only he puts more mind to his bowling than Shoaib, but he is also backed by an extremely fit team and modern cricket’s best captain in Stephen Fleming. PTI
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‘Sachin keen to chip in with ball too’
Kolkata, March 12 “Sachin has himself expressed his eagerness to bowl in the coming matches,” skipper Saurav Ganguly said in an interactive column in a Bengali daily here today. Tendulkar, who has emerged as the leading run scorer in the tournament so far amassing 571 runs from eight matches at an average of 71.37, bowled in only one match in the tournament, a four-over spell against Holland. “I was toying with the idea of giving him the ball at a particular stage of the game against Pakistan. But I had to drop the idea as two left-handers were at the crease,” Ganguly said. “I couldn’t utilise his services as well as that of offie Harbhajan Singh against Sri Lanka as the islanders’ innings folded in only 23 overs. But I definitely have plans to use Sachin’s bowling skill in the remaining matches,” the Indian captain said. He said Tendulkar’s style of bowling depended on how well he gripped the ball. “I have seen him have a good grip of the ball at the nets during the tournament.” PTI
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We are ready to make up for losses: Sehwag
Centurion, March 12 “We are ready to make up for the losses we suffered in New Zealand,” said Sehwag referring to India’s defeat both in the Tests and the one-dayers on their away tour in December-January. “They are a quality side but we want to prove a few points,” the aggressive strokemaker said. Sehwag heralded his return to form with a cracking 66 against Sri Lanka at the Wanderers on Monday and said he was now ready to take on Shane Bond and company. “He (Bond) is a good bowler but our batting is also in form. Besides, we are playing at Centurion Park which uplifts our morale because of our win over Pakistan,” he said. India had defeated arch-rivals Pakistan at the same venue on March 1 in style. Sehwag cracked two centuries in an otherwise disastrous Indian campaign in New Zealand but did not believe that he stood a better chance here because of flatter wickets. “There were dfferent wickets in New Zealand but I made big scores. Here I have batted on flat wickets but am still searching for a big knock. So flat wickets are not a guarantee a batsman would score big. “But these wickets are a lot like Indian strips. Only it has a little extra bounce and pace, otherwise there is no difference,” the right-hand bat said. “I got a 50 in the previous game and I feel I am now ready for a big score,” Sehwag said. Sehwag denied that he gets carried away after playing a few shots and gets out in the process. “I don’t throw my wicket. No batsman in the world likes to do it. But I am a strokemaker and like going for the hits. Sometimes I get out but it is also the way I chalk up good scores,” he said. Sehwag was criticised for the manner in which he got out on 66 against Sri Lanka, going for a big shot against Muttiah Muralitharan after having collected 16 in one over off Sanath Jayasuriya. “If the ball is there to be hit, I go for it. It does not matter whether I have played a maiden or taken 20 runs in the previous over.” Against New Zealand though, Sehwag is willing to bide his time before exploding in the latter part of the innings. “We would be looking to bat well in the initial overs and ensure we don’t lose wickets in the first five or ten overs,” he said. Sehwag was full of admiration for Sachin Tendulkar’s batting ability as well as the support the little master gives to the batsmen at the other end. “I love watching him execute shots from the non-striker’s end. He also tells me from time to time to bat with determination. He tells me you play in flow but when runs don’t come, you must stick it out. The longer you stay, the better it is.” Sehwag said it made no difference to him whether Tendulkar opened the innings with him or Sourav Ganguly. “It does not put any pressure on me. When both you and your partner are strokemakers, the pressure to score runs quickly is non-existent,” he said. Sehwag termed the performance of the medium-pacers had given an added advantage to the Indian team. PTI
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We’ll open up India’s wounds: Fleming Johannesburg, March 12 Sourav Ganguly’s men were thrashed 2-0 in the Tests and 5-2 in the one-dayers on the tour of New Zealand in December-January amidst complaints of poor wickets heavily tilted in favour of the bowlers. But the Indians have put aside the disappointment of that tour to win seven of their eight World Cup matches so far and book a place in the semi-finals alongside Australia. The Kiwis, meanwhile allowed Australia to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat at Port Elizabeth and must now defeat India at the Centurion on Friday to keep their semi-final hopes alive. Fleming, however, was unconcerned about the terrific form shown by the Indians at the tournament. “They’ll be confident but sometimes that can be a weakness. Hopefully we can open up some of the wounds we opened in New Zealand,” Fleming said. The Kiwis allowed Australia to recover from a blistering spell by fearsome fast bowler Shane Bond who grabbed 6 for 23 to reduce the reigning champions to their knees at 84 for 7. But Michael Bevan and Andy Bichel, Australia’s saviours against England, saved their side again with defiant half-centuries that lifted the score to 208 for 9 before the Kiwis were shot out for 112. “We had a pretty good start, but then ran out of juice,” Fleming said. “We needed a partnership because you can knock off the total with some good partnerships but it didn’t happen for us. “We made 80 per cent of the match when we got them early but the other 20 per cent did not go our way.” Fleming said his side should not have allowed Bevan and Bichel to get away. “We should have knocked them over for a hundred. You walk away after a partnership like that and think ‘what if?’ “They played well and we just couldn’t grab the final few wickets.” Fleming, who gambled by bowling out Bond by the 29th over, admitted: “We ran out of ammo. When you use up your resources you rely on your second and third bowlers and the guys didn’t quite deliver. Fleming, however, would not let the Indians, or anyone, forget Bond’s magnificent bowling. “I feel delighted for him,” the captain said of his premier fast bowler. “On a losing day, you have got to keep it in perspective. It was a fine spell and it shouldn’t be pushed aside because we lost the game.” Bond’s figures were the best by a New Zealander in one-day history and joint fifth on the list of World Cup bowling performances. “I think we should celebrate it,” Fleming said. Fleming now needs Bond on Friday to counter Indian superstar Sachin Tendulkar, the leading run-getter at this World Cup with 571 runs, and the rest of the star-studded batting. AFP
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Harris keen to frustrate India
Centurion, March 12 Harris is now waiting to unleash his frustrating mix of deliveries at the Indians in their final Super Six game on Friday. “There could be a few tricks,” the burly bowler said.
“Obviously I can’t tell you what they are. Then they wouldn’t be tricks,” he chuckled. Harris was at the forefront of New Zealand’s plan plotted against the Australians yesterday. His figures of none for 24 from his 10 overs, tells its own tale even though it was Shane Bond who hogged the limelight ripping the heart of the rivals with six for 23. Harris works out a batsman’s weakness with his captain Stephen Fleming and they prey on him together. On his renowned variations — cutters, straight ones, inswingers, outswingers and the occasional off-spinner — Harris said: “I try not to make any two balls the same in an over. I don’t really try to vary it too much, just the variations within the variations. That’s where the variations come from. “It’s pretty hard to put the ball on the same spot all the time and the pace obviously varies unintentionally as well. There’s variation just in trying to do the same thing, if that makes sense,” he said tongue-in-cheek.
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India should consider regular 5th bowler Chandigarh, March 12 The loss to Australia on February 15 seems to be like a distant dream as India have gone ahead and notched up six wins on the trot (their best in recent times) and at the moment seems to be the one outfit which can stop Australia from retaining the world crown which they had won in 1999. The Australians are on a roll and their level of confidence is skyhigh. If they have to bite the dust in this tournament, then it is only India which seems too have the firepower to make them do so. In World Cup 2003 only Australia has a better win record than India and time and again the Aussies have shown why they are touted as the best cricketing outfit in the world. On Tuesday in the match against New Zealand the Australians showed remarkable resilience to bounce back when it seemed that all was lost. As India prepare to exorcise the ghost of the disastrous tour of New Zealand when they take on Stephen Fleming’s squad on March 14, the Indian think tank should weigh all the options in front of the team. The focus of skipper Saurav Ganguly should not only be on avenging the defeats in New Zealand but also working out a game plan for the semifinal and final. With all the top-order batsmen coming good India should examine whether it is worthwhile to play with seven batsmen and four bowlers or should a regular bowler be brought into the squad so that the bowling attack can be properly balanced, India have tended to give away easy runs to the opposition whenever the irregular bowler/bowlers have operated. This should be plugged specially when playing against top-class opposition. With a world class bowler like Anil Kumble cooling his heels in the dressing room India could examine the options of resting Dinesh Mongia and bringing in Kumble into the playing team specially now that the strips in South Africa are showing signs of wear and tear after so many matches. Mongia’s work at the centre can be looked after the bowlers as well in company with No 6 batsman Rahul Dravid, whose performance so far has been outstanding, but unsung, specially with the top five batsmen firing on all cylinders. In any case, if the top-order batsmen come good how many overs does Mongia get to face? No captain likes to fiddle with a winning combination but Saurav Ganguly should keep in view the larger picture, specially in a tournament like the World Cup. |
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Batting, bowling will carry India to victory The confidence and team spirit that is evident in the Indian team has grown out of the belief that they can fight fire with fire under any conditions.
No longer do they require pitches to be suitable for the spinners before they can hope to upset the top teams on foreign soil. Possibly for the first time in history, India has a pace attack that can match with any going around for pace and versatility. I believe the combination of batting and bowling depth, allied with new found agility in the field and the spirit evident in this Indian squad, will carry them to victory over New Zealand on Friday. A win will cement them into the first or second position on the table going into the semifinals and should set them up for the much-awaited rematch with the title-holders. I cannot wait! New Zealand will be shattered by their loss to Australia. Having asked Australia to bat first on a slow wicket containing moisture, and then reducing the champions to 84 for seven, they should have won. The lack of a potent pace partner to help Shane Bond finish the lower order proved to be the downfall of Stephen Fleming and his men. Fleming made all the right moves. He had to have Bond bowl out his overs because he could have finished the Australians off. Likewise he had to keep Daniel Vettori going at the other end as he was helping Bond to build the pressure. There was little else he could have done. This is the worrying thing for New Zealand for the upcoming match with India. It is a must-win game for them and the pressure will be immense. Apart from Bond and Vettori, the rest of the New Zealand attack lacked
control and ideas. Andre Adams has bowled well under similar conditions, but he made little impact here apart from a doodle-bug that hit Bichel a solid blow to the head. Chris Harris was his usual frugal self. The slow wicket is his preferred surface so he must have felt at home, but he could not make a break through for his captain either. In many ways, Bond’s good form, and the fact he was the only bowler taking wickets, worked against the New Zealand captain on this occasion. He will need to get wickets at both ends if he is to stop the rampant Tendulkar and co. On the other hand, Saurav Ganguly is enjoying a rare embarrassment of riches. His pace attack is really starting to come together. India has never had such a potent three-pronged pace attack before. Javagal Srinath is the elder statesman and is confirming what we have recognised for quite some time. He is an excellent bowler who combines good pace with intelligent strategy. Ganguly will be thankful to have him back because he is the ingredient that has been missing in recent times. No doubt the captain will hope that this series may inspire the good-natured paceman to extend his career. Srinath has never had such support in the pace bowling ranks before. Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra are growing in stature every day. The two left-handers have combined well with Srinath, offering variation to his incisive away swing to the right-handed batsmen. Khan is not as quick as Nehra, but he does hit the bat hard as well as bowling a probing line and length. Allied to the left-handers’ angle this variation in the new ball attack has worked well
for India. Nehra is the rising star. The young man showed in his demolition of Pakistan that he has pace and he has the ability to swing the ball back into the right-handed batsman. This is a proven winning formula.
PTI
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Internal
competition good for bowlers India won a crunch match in superb style. Beating England and Pakistan may have carried greater fervour, but in the Super Six stage, Sri Lanka were no pushovers, and had to be beaten to win a place in the semifinal. India will be happy that they did this in commanding fashion. What I liked most about this win was the intensity of the bowlers. Though they had a huge total to defend, they showed the ruthlessness which makes for a champion side. The pressure on the batting was never relaxed once Srinath had got the breakthrough, and both Zaheer and Nehra competed hard to get amongst the wickets. This internal competition can be healthy, and must be encouraged. In the World Cup I have seen these three bowlers help each other out ever time, and this camaraderie is balanced by the competitive streak which drives all three of them. The Indians took the field 10 to 15 minutes before the Sri Lankan innings began, warming up, getting the adrenalin flowing which is a sign of hunger for success. I have not seen any Indian team do this in many, many years. Jayasuria clearly blundered in fielding first after winning the toss, but I think he may have been worried about his own vulnerable batting on a wicket which he read as being helpful to seamers. It was, but only to the Indian bowlers in the latter half of the day. In the first half, the runs flowed as if on a perfect track. India got off to a solid start with Tendulkar continuing his golden form. In this mood he can tear any attack to shreds, and Sri Lanka were perhaps lucky that he got out to the only poor shot he played when in sight of yet another hundred. It was good to see Sehwag exercise better judgement in shot selection and get some runs in his kitty finally. With Tendulkar in such glorious form, he really does not need to go betting every ball. He will have learnt that sometimes it is important to pick and choose his moment of attack. India’s score proved just too much for
Sri Lanka, who had no answer to Srinath, Nehra and Zaheer. Srinath in particular, was very impressive, pitching the ball up, slanting it across the left-handers and getting it to cut in or away from the right-handers. With this momentum and with the batting, bowling and fielding all peaking, India look good to take on all comers, Australia included. The only point of dispute I have is in the choice of the person at the No. 7 spot. Dinesh Mongia had only nine balls to face and could not do much. Even Tendulkar would not be able to do much if he had only so few balls to play. I think the team would be better served with an all-rounder at this spot.
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Brett Lee is really looking ominous I remember a one-day match we played against South Africa during our tour here last year. The hosts put up 326, and we overhauled it with plenty of overs and wickets to spare. The venue was Port Elizabeth. I have never seen a wicket get transformed so completely in such a short time, but the current PE wicket is not upto scratch for a World Cup semifinal. Curators at the ground told us that the way the wicket played depended on the direction in which the wind blew. That’s pretty unscientific if you ask me, and I hope the groundsmen produce a better wicket for the semifinals, with or without the assistance of the wind. Our undefeated record remains unsullied, though England and New Zealand gave us strenuous workouts. Watching television, I see that Kenya have got Zimbabwe out pretty cheap. If the former win, they will meet India in the semis, and we will have to meet either Sri Lanka, New Zealand or Zimbabwe. Without meaning disrespect, I think the Lankans will beat Zimbabwe, so it all boils down to the India-Kiwi game. Since the semifinals will be played at Port Elizabeth, Sri Lanka would be the more dangerous side. They have spin bowlers who will be able to use the slowness and softness of the wicket pretty well. Once again Andy Bichel and Michael Bevan bailed us out on a wicket that was slow, and did not suit batting too much. At 84 for seven, we were hoping to reach 150 at best, so every run in excess of that was a bonus, and the score of 208 looks pretty easy to defend. While Bond bowled beautifully, I don’t think Lee acquitted himself too badly in the pace-bowlers’ encounter. These are conditions in which reverse swing comes into the equation, and once the ball got old, Lee was lethal in the way he polished off the tail. It’s interesting to note that the faster bowlers did all the damage on such a slow wicket. This shows that if you get it in the right places, wickets will follow. Lee is really looking ominous as the tournament progresses. He will be one of the key players if we get to play India in the finals of this tournament. He is fast, and now he is reversing — two things Indians don’t like. Our bowling has adjusted well to the conditions at St. George’s Park, but out batsmen are still struggling a bit. Andrew Symonds, who is in great touch, will be back from the Durban game against Kenya, and he should help bolster the batting. Eventually what set the two sides apart was depth, both in batting and in bowling. The Kiwis have a long batting line-up but most of those guys have very little experience of playing outside of New Zealand. On the other hand, players like Bichel and Lee have played in various conditions, and they have the confidence to carry on even when the top orders has not fired. Similarly, in the bowling, once Shane Bond was bowled out by the 29th over, the rest of the New Zealand bowling looked pretty thin.
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Brett Lee epitomised the resilient Australians Brett Lee shattered the stumps twice in his final overs and in the process devastated a New Zealand side that only a few hours before had been cock-a-hoop at the thought of beating Australia. As the Kiwis discovered to their cost this is a very resilient Australian side and Lee epitomised that quality by bouncing back from an early pounding to decimate the lower order. Lee’s bowling performance followed an earlier revival meeting conducted by the now familiar pairing of Andrew Bichel and Michael Bevan. There’s something about the sea air of Port Elizabeth that agrees with Bichel. It was at St. George’s Park a little over a week ago he routed England with his best bowling and batting performance in a one day international where the opposition had threatened to take the game away from Australia. This time it was Australia’s other arch-enemy New Zealand who was threatening their supremacy with the innings in tatters at seven for 84 when Bichel strode purposefully to the crease and proceeded to exceed his personal best. This time Bichel passed the half-century for the first time in a one day international and in the process added 97 runs of respectability to the Australian total with his preferred partner the unflappable Bevan. Bevan and Bichel are two of the calmer batsmen in world cricket when they are put under pressure. They picked off runs carefully at first and then as their confidence grew and the pitch flattened out they expanded their shot range to find the boundary regularly and clear it twice. Apart from his calmness, Bichel’s other attribute in these situations is his ability to run between wickets with the decisiveness of a top-order batsman. That makes him the perfect partner for the fleet-footed Bevan and not surprisingly this pair has resurrected Australia on both occasions they have been challenged in this World Cup. Having pushed Australia to the brink of respectability this pair departed and it was left to Lee to hit two mammoth sixes off the final deliveries to take the total past 200. This was a tally that had seemed well out of reach when the fast and fast-improving Shane Bond threatened to wreck Australia by producing New Zealand’s best ever bowling figures in a one-day internationals. Bond is making a habit of ruining Australian batting reputations the way his namesake James used to outsmart Russian spies. The problem for New Zealand is there are two parts to the game and while they humbled the Australian batsmen the bowlers are made of sterner stuff. The Kiwis have a lot of players who bat but no one who is a really dominating player. Stephen Fleming is the closest thing they have and once Lee had removed him in slightly fortuitous fashion the floodgates opened his late swinging yorkers flowed through the defence of the lower order. Australia’s great strength is their bowling and Ricky Ponting uses Lee and Glenn McGrath as the battering ram just like the generals in ancient wars. The best way to beat Australia is to post a decent total and then attempt to put their weaker skill under pressure. New Zealand tried the reverse strategy and has now learnt what every other team has in this World Cup they are a very difficult side to beat.
(TCM)
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Bich, Bev beware! McGrath fancies new role Do you know why Australia, the omnipotent one-day cricket machine, is to be feared eve more at this World Cup? Well, Glenn McGrath has scored his first runs in the competition. Imagine what that does to the team defending the title it won without such an awesome contribution from McGrath’s bat! McGrath’s strike rate after his productive innings against New Zealand on Tuesday was 150 per cent. Now you can say with confidence that the Aussies bat right down the order. Those famous innings rescuers Bich and Bev better beware! They have competition down the order where a certain McGrath is beginning to fancy himself with the willow. Thus far, McGrath has been hiding his light under a bushel. Having been called out to bat against Pakistan in the World Cup ’99 league he was bowled by Wasim Akram for a duck. That was only the second time he had batted in a World Cup. Later, in the famously tied semifinal against South Africa, the bowler nicknamed Scrooge for his parsimonious ways at the bowling crease, did not make a run but remained unbeaten. The New South Welshman is a veteran of three World Cups. But he had not troubled the scorer in the 96 World Cup. In the match against India at the Wankhade Stadium, McGrath went out to bat. It was a remiss of Damiem Fleming to have got himself run out before his partner could cross the pitch and take strike. McGrath did not get to face a ball in the entire World Cup in which Australia were downed by Sri Lanka in the final. The world’s most famous No 11’s drought with the willow was getting to be so notorious that McGrath had more nicknames than runs in the World Cups. Pigeon has changed all that with his grandiloquent statement with the bat. Probably Fleming, the most tactically fertile of World Cup captains, is to blame. He had bowled Shane Bond’s 10 overs before the dangerous McGrath could get to the crease. But then Fleming is somewhat prone to doing such things with the fast bowler he has taken a hand in creating. The Fleming-Bond duo has a great history of success in the world of fiction, of spies who love their cocktails shaken rather than stirred and whose women are as famous for their looks as their adventures with the suave British civil servant. It is only on the cricket pitch, in the match against Australia, that Bond’s and Fleming’s success with ball and bat did not translate into a runaway bestseller or a movie. There was another match in which Fleming’s ways with Bond and his 10 quick overs-resource that was exhausted early in an innings, led to the riotous situation in which Zimbabwean bats were waved about and met leather with such ferocity that 62 were taken off three overs. If that run rate were to be factored into a 50-over innings, the total would have been a nice 1033, thank you. Even the Kiwis, who were then famous for chasing totals would have been nonplussed. It was only the target of 209 at Port Elizabeth that floored these merry run-chasers although the tactically imaginative Fleming needs no reminder that his team came a cropper in the chase against Sri Lanka after he invited the islanders to bat in the league. Lee is
a surname you could associate with an oriental villain out to destroy the world who is prevented in the nick of time by a secret agent named Bond. Lee seems to have picked up on the art of the reverse swinging yorker from Bond, who pitched the ball up to good effect against the Aussies and came up with a Kiwi’s best ever figures in the widening world of the one-day international. In the mind games the Aussies tended to play before the match of known mutual antipathies against the Kiwis, the bouncer was said to be the weapon of destruction they had lined up for their trans-Tasman neighbours. Fleming shrugged off talk of chin music and employed his modified version of 007 in a very quick bowler pitching the ball right up on a sluggish pitch. The effect, in Bond’s six for 23, was as dramatic as the secret agent’s conquests in his brushes with the likes of Dr. No and such assorted characters with evil designs. But this was one tale which did not bring about the happy ending with M and his secretary
Money penny desperately trying to find Bond as he lazed on a boat with his lady love after downing villas. Lee had the last laugh with dipping yorkers mopping up the late order.
UNI |
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Port Elizabeth pitch to be reviewed
Durban, March 12 The awkward bounce in the pitch has troubled batsmen a lot and there are fears the semifinals might turn out to be a staid affair on a wicket which is not true. The cricket World Cup committee (CWC), already bothered by the waning interest following the ouster of the host nation in the league round, has decided to take up the mater and examine if there is really any problem in the wicket. CWS media liaison officer Rodney Hartman said concerned officials - Hilbert Smit, Chairman of the SA Cricket Groundsman’s Association, and Brian Basson, Director of Cricket Operations - will travel to Port Elizabeth today itself to oversee preparations for the March 18 semifinal. “Prof Neil Tainton, a world-renowned Grassland scientist and pitch consultant to CWC 2003, will not go immediately to Port Elizabeth but will play a role in association with his two colleagues in ensuring that the St George’s Park wicket is conducive to great one-day international cricket for the semifinal,” Hartman said.
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PROFILE OF THE WEEK Centurion Park: Javagal Srinath is a curious man. No sooner than he had won the gratitude of his team-mates and millions of Indian cricket fans, he decided to do something which has annoyed his captain Saurav Ganguly. Srinath, a happy-go-lucky man, was reported in a couple of Bengal dailies to have desired peace with a few television commentators who were a butt of his, and team’s, ire. In doing so, Srinath broke the understanding among seniors to boycott at least one television channel. Ganguly, if reports are true, expressed his displeasure even as a biggie of the television network flew in from India to broker peace with the cricketers. Srinath since then has tried his best to defend his position. He has said he did so because the seniors themselves were willing to let the water flow under the bridge. According to him, it fell on him to sound the peace bugle because it was he who had first gone public on team’s disenchantment with the commentators. The seniors are not so convinced if he had the brief to offer olive branch to commentators. At a time when the Indian team needs to be at their collective best, such rumblings within the team are undesirable. Srinath is at a stage of his career when he is not willing to fit in into any of his team’s laid-out parameters. He is unwilling to train or bowl in the nets for long but that’s understandable because he has done his hard yards. He is bowling superbly in the middle and that’s what counts for Ganguly. According to reports, Srinath has made up his mind to retire after the World Cup. He says he can bowl his quota of 10 overs but the hard regimen of training is out for him. There was a moment after the game against Sri Lanka when someone wanted Srinath to share his future plans. “I will answer that question for you,” was Ganguly’s brief and curt reply. Ironically, it would surprise many to know what Srinath wants to do after his retirement. He wants to take up the mike and be a television commentator! The Karnataka speedster feels he has a career-in-waiting behind microphone. Only he is blunt enough to blurt out the same language which the Indian cricketers are accusing a few commentators of. Srinath, one of the first Indian cricketers to go on to laptops, has passed the computer bug to all of his team-mates. A trained engineer, Srinath is computer-savvy and has been instrumental in procuring laptops for all his team-members from one of the sponsors he, and a few other cricketers, are contracted with. He is also extremely forgetful. He once forget his laptop in the business centre in Harare for a couple of days before yours’ truly informed him it was in danger of going in someone else’s lap out of neglect. It still took Srinath another 24 hours to secure it again. That’s the man for you. A fast bowler with a ready smile and scowl. He will be missed once he is gone. |
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Chandigarh
Police, BSF advance New Delhi, March 12 BSF toyed with Him Club, Himachal Pradesh, 8-0 while Chandigarh Police hit back to tame Indian Nationals, Delhi, 3-1. However, Chandigarh Police could not qualify for the Super League, to be played from March 14 to 18. The Super League matches will be played among Punjab State Electricity Board, Delhi league champions Hindustan Club, Border Security Force and Jammu and Kashmir Bank. Harwinder Singh scored four goals in BSF’s one-sided victory against Him Club. D.S. Nagi, Prasanto Das and Vijay Kumar chipped in with the other goals. BSF earned 10 points from four matches while Him Club drew a blank. In the second match, Chandigarh Police were surprised by Indian National when they took the lead in the 24th minute through Sanjeev Sharma. In the second half, Jagmohan Singh pulled off the equaliser for Chandigarh Police while Munish Kumar put them in the lead, which was consolidated by Sunil Kumar (3-1). |
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Top golfers to take part Chandigarh, March 12 Other promising golfers who will be seen in action are, Harjinder Singh Kang, Sandy Lehal, Zorawar Singh, Karan Sandhu, and Mohd Wazir. Sanjeev Singh will represent Kashmir Golf club. Players from Godawari Golf club, Poona Golf club, Kashmir Golf club, Narmada Golf club, RCF, Kapurthala, Army Golf club and Shivalik golf course an participating. Anoop Tejinder will be the lone entry from Forest Hill Golf course. Gurbaz Mann had won the tournament last year.
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