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Saturday,
April 12, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Yuvraj
stars in India’s huge victory New-look
SA team exudes confidence |
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Mane,
Rayudu put Elite ‘B’ in command Badani
slams ton Madan to
head NZ academy Revive
Indo-Pak cricket ties: Miandad Serena
sails past Martinez Sanam
ousts top seed AICS
ponders law to curb doping IWF alters travel schedule IHF
selects 30 probables for hockey camp Top
teams to participate
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Yuvraj stars in India’s huge victory
Dhaka, April 11 The dashing Yuvraj Singh struck a career-best unbeaten 102 to pull the visitors out of a mid-innings slump and take them to a challenging 276 before the bowlers got into the act under floodlights to bundle out the hosts for a meagre 76, which equalled their lowest total, in 27.3 overs. The Indians were struggling at 172 for six at one stage before Yuvraj, whose previous beat was 98 against Sri Lanka in 2001, took centrestage with some amazing strokes to completely change the complexion of the game. His rollicking 85-ball knock contained nine boundaries and four sixes and also fetched him the man-of-the-match award. Chasing a target of 277, the home team never seemed to be in the hunt after losing two wickets in the first two overs to suffer their 33rd consecutive defeat in one-day internationals. It were the Indian fast bowlers who made merry taking all but one wicket between them. Zaheer Khan picked four wickets while Ajit Agarkar scalped three. Debutant speedster Avishkar Salvi claimed two wickets. Vice-captain Sehwag (63) laid the foundation with his strokeplay but it was Yuvraj Singh who guided the visitors to the good total with his late assault after a middle order collapse. Yuvraj struck his
career-best 102 off just 85 balls, virtually toying with the Bangladeshi attack on a good batting track to completely change the complexion of the game after the Indians lost four wickets in quick succession in the middle stages. His rollicking knock contained nine fours and four sixes. Electing to bat, the Indian innings began on a brisk pace with the very first over from Manjurul Islam producing seven runs as he failed to control his line and length while the other paceman Tapash Baisya was also quite
erratic in the initial stages. Debutant Gautam Gambhir, who took first strike, got a reprieve when he was on three as he completely mistimed a pull but Manjurul Islam was slow to react and the ball fell just a few yards in front of him in the third man region. The dashing Sehwag allowed himself to get a feel of the track before unleashing some delightful strokes on both sides of the wicket, picking both the pacers for special treatment. The new opening pair stitched 46 runs for the first wicket before Baisya struck for his team by evicting the left-handed Gambhir whose first one-day international fetched him just 11 runs. The Delhi batsman edged a rising delivery to wicket keeper Khaled Mashud much to the delight of the home crowd. Captain Sourav Ganguly joined the action after Gambhir’s departure but it was Sehwag who took the centrestage as he launched a savage assault on the Bangladeshi bowlers to race to his half ton. Sehwag was particularly severe on anything pitched short and notched up his fifty in style, clobbering Baisya for a mighty six over long on. But his belligerence, as usual, did not last long as he fell prey to left arm spinner Mohammad Rafique in his very first over. Sehwag blasted 11 fours and a six during his whirlwind knock of 63 which came off 51 balls.
PTI SCOREBOARD India: Gambhir c Mashud b Baisya 11 Sehwag lbw b Rafique 63 Ganguly c Rafique b
Kapali 30 Kaif c Mashud b Hossain 23 Yuvraj not out 102 Mongia lbw b Kapali 3 Patel c and b Hossain 4 Agarkar c Imran b
Mahmud 20 Harbhajan b Baisya 3 Zaheer b Baisya 0 Salvi c Kapali b Mahmud 0 Extras
(lb-5, w-10, nb-2) 17 Total (all out in 49.3
overs) 276 Fall of wickets:
1-46, 2-82, 3-132, 4-144, 5-162, 6-172, 7-264, 8-271, 9-271. Bowling:
Islam 6-0-31-0, Baisya 10-0-65-3, Mahmud 7.3-0-46-2, Rafique 8-0-52-1, Kapali 10-0-42-2, Hossain 8-0-35-2. Bangladesh: Ashraful c Sehwag b Salvi 5 Hossain lbw b Salvi 0 Imran b Zaheer 2 Kapali c Salvi b Zaheer 5 Mashud lbw b Agarkar 12 Akram c Patel b Agarkar 9 Hossain c Gambhir
b Harbhajan 0 Mahmud c Patel b Agarkar 10 Rafique not out1 8 Baisya c Patel b Zaheer 2 Islam c Harbhajan b Zaheer 1 Extras
(lb-5, w-5, nb-1) 12 Total (all out in 27.3 overs) 76 Fall of wickets:
1-2, 2-5, 3-11, 4-24, 5-37, 6-43, 7-43, 8-65, 9-75. Bowling:
Salvi 7-1-15-2, Zaheer Khan 7.3-1-19-4, Agarkar 7-2-18-3, Harbhajan Singh 6-2-19-1. |
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New-look SA team exudes confidence
Dhaka, April 11 “The World Cup disappointment is behind us. We are looking forward to this tournament and are determined to do well. We have a few new guys and they are all raring to go”, Simons said. The South Africans, co-hosts of the World Cup, failed to make it to the Super Six stage of the mega event by a whisker after the Duckworth and Lewis method was called into play in their crucial match against Sri Lanka but the coach said his boys had got over that shock. The World Cup disaster promoted the selectors to sack Shaun Pollock as captain and appoint the 22-year-old Graeme Smith in charge of a team which has seen a number of World cuppers being dropped. Smith himself was not in the original World Cup squad but was inducted into the team after an injury to Jonty Rhodes and the selectors apparently found him to be the right man to lead the South African resurgence. Simons and captain Smith have gone about their business of re-building the team in right earnest and the new-found enthusiasm is evident in the practice sessions. Smith looks to be in control of the team and the players have readily responded to his style of leadership. The coach believes the key to doing well in the tri-series was to adapt to the conditions as early as possible. “It was fantastic that we had two good practice sessions here. The boys have adjusted themselves to the weather here. It is good to get opportunities before you start playing competitive matches.” South Africa are scheduled to play one warm-up match against a Bangladesh Board XI before opening their campaign in the tournament with the match against India on Sunday. “The warm-up match will be very helpful for the team. Rather than spending time in the nets, the boys will get chances to work on their game”, Simons said. Simons had a lot of faith on the new players selected for this tour saying they had the potential to succeed at the highest level. “We are looking forward to the warm-up game because it will give us an indication on the form of the players. We have a number of all-rounders to choose from”, he said. “Smith, Pollock and Andrew Hall are all good all rounders. We have to see the pitch first and then decide who will play”, he said, adding “its not a problem. We have just 13 players”. Jaques Kallis pulled out of the team at the last moment to attend to his ailing father but the selectors have not named a replacement for him. The team management is expecting him to join the squad for the Test series, if not the one-dayers, but would not like to put him under any pressure. “There is no expectancy as such. We have left it on him since it is very personal. He will have to take the decision depending on the situation back home”, South Africa’s media manager Gerald de Kock said.
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Unbeaten centuries by Langer, Ponting
Georgetown, April 11 Langer, who looked in good nick, was unbeaten on 129, while Ponting had just completed his century before the break and was batting on 103 as none of the host bowlers looked impressive. West Indies left-hander Shivnarine Chanderpaul smashed a scintillating 69-ball century earlier yesterday, but Australia still took command of their first cricket Test. Andy Bichel (three for 55) floored the West Indies with help from Brett Lee (two for 41) and spinners Brad Hogg (two for 40) and Stuart MacGill (two for 49). Chanderpaul dominated the home team’s effort after it won the toss and chose to bat on a lifeless pitch and lightning-fast outfield. The 28-year-old gave impetus to the innings after the rampant Australians reduced the score to 53 for five a half-hour before lunch with the key wicket of captain Brian Lara for 26. Chanderpaul’s counter-attack came after the break off 69 balls, with 15 fours and two sixes in 101 minutes. It was his seventh test century and his first against Australia. Only fellow West Indian Viv Richards (56 balls) and Australian Jack Gregory (67 balls) have reached centuries quicker in 126 years of test matches. Wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs shared a vital sixth-wicket stand of 131 with Chanderpaul. The 35-year-old Jacobs hit an unbeaten 54, batting most of the way with a runner after straining his groin. He faced 106 balls and hit six fours and a six in 162 minutes. Earlier, Australia’s bowlers had quickly seized the initiative with the new ball, but its first breakthrough came as 21-year-old new opener Devon Smith (3) was adjudged leg before to Lee. Smith got a huge inside edge on the well-pitched up delivery. The next strike was more compelling as Jason Gillespie rattled Daren Ganga’s stumps, as the batsman was late on his backward defensive stroke. Ganga, in his 18th test but first in the Caribbean, failed to score. Lara arrived with the innings in peril at 10 for two and reeled off a succession of sweet offside strokes. He and fellow left-hander Wavell Hinds added 37 for the third wicket in a rearguard stand, when left-arm bowler Hogg, in only his second Test and his first since October 1996, removed Hinds through a loose drive to mid-off. Next ball, Marlon Samuels misread a googly and edged to first slip to leave Hogg on a hat-trick. Chanderpaul safely avoided that danger, but Bichel put Australia even further on top with the wicket of Lara. Lara stroked six fours before his blossoming knock was ended by an lbw verdict. Chanderpaul and Jacobs entertained a healthy crowd before Bichel struck again with two quick wickets. Reuters SCOREBOARD West Indies (first innings): W.Hinds c Langer b Hogg 10 D.Smith lbw b Lee 3 D.Ganga b Gillespie 0 B.Lara lbw b Bichel 26 M.Samuels c Hayden b Hogg 0 S.Chanderpaul lbw b Bichel 100 R.Jacobs not out 54 V.Drakes c Gilchrist b Biche l 0 M.Dillon lbw b MacGill 20 P.Collins st Gilchrist b MacGill 3 J.Lawson b Lee 0 Extras (b-10 lb-2 nb-6 w-3) 21 Total (all out in 50.3 overs) 237 Fall of wickets: 1-9 2-10 3-47 4-47 5-53 6-184 7-184 8-222 9-236. Bowling: Lee 10.3-1-41-2 (nb-5 w-3), Gillespie 12-3-40-1, Bichel 8-1-55-3, Hogg 8-1-40-2, MacGill 12-4-49-2 (nb-1). Australia(1st innings): Langer not out 129 Hayden run out 10 Ponting not out 103 Extras: (lb 5, nb 6) 11 Total: (for one wicket) 253 Fall of wicket: 1-37 Bowling: Dillon 15-0-77-0, Collins 17-1-60-0 (nb-3), Lawson 9-0-48-0, Drakes 13-4-35-0 (nb-3), Samuels 8-0-28-0. |
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Mane, Rayudu put Elite ‘B’ in command
Chennai, April 11 Resuming at overnight 87 for 2, Elite ‘B’ were all out for 329 in 104.5 overs with Mane top-scoring with 76 and Rayudu making 52. The two added 106 runs between them in 31.2 overs to help their side tighten its grip on the match by crossing the 300-mark. At stumps on day two, Plate ‘A, who had scored 135 in their fist innings, were 72 for two with Roland Barrington and Rajiv Kumar batting on 35 and five respectively. The two batsmen to be dismissed were opener Rajeev Jaiswal (0) and captain Hrishikesh Kanitkar (30). Earlier, Mane hit six fours and a six during his knock while Rayudu’s score contained six boundaries and three sixes. Vinayak Mane and A.T. Rayudu consolidated the position adding 106 runs for the second wicket in 31.2 overs, as Elite B had to play it safe and force a big first innings lead. But the Plate B spinners, especially captain, off spinner Hrishikesh Kanitkar (3 for 24) put the breaks on them bowling in tandem with leg spinner K.S. Anantapadmanabhan (2 for 69) and left arm spinner Sunil Joshi (2 for 85). Hrishikesh removed his rival team skipper left hander Rohan Gavaskar for a duck, after Anantha got the wicket of Rayudu, who was threatening to tear into the bowling. He also had the Elite B opener Vinayak Mane and Amit Uniyal. Sunil Joshi trapped another in-form batsman M.S.K. Prasad for just 10 runs to see Elite B under pressure at 240 for 7. However, Elite B recovered again with the help of good knocks from Ramesh Pawar (37) and left handed Sairaj Bahutule (29), who was the last man out two minutes before the tea break. Ramesh and Sairaj added 42 runs for the eighth wicket in 13.2. Anantapadmanabhan removed Ramesh Pawar having him caught off his own bowling. Plate A began their second essay on a disastrous note. Off the third ball of the innings, medium pacer Harvinder Singh had their opener Ritesh Jaiswal caught low at gully by Wasim Jaffer for a duck. But the other opener Barrington Rowland (batting 35, 112 mnts, 59 balls, five fours) skipper left hander Hrishikesh Kanitkar (30, 82 mnts, 69 balls, four fours) added 50 runs in 17.5 overs. SCOREBOARD Plate A (Ist Innings ): 135 Elite B (Ist Innings): Mane c sub b Kanitkar 76 Phagnis c Barrington b Shaik 55 Jaffer c Yashpal b Joshi 15 Rayudu c Jaiswal b Anantapadmanabhan 52 Gavaskar c Yohanan b Kanitkar 0 Yadav c Naidu b Yohanan 12 Prasad LBW Joshi 10 Pawan c & b Anatapadmanabhan 37 Bahutule c A’padmanabhan b Ganesh 29 Uniyal c Jaiswal b Kanitkar 20 Harvinder (not out) 5 Extras (B 9, LB 7, NB 2) 18 Total (all out in 101.5 overs) 329 Fall of Wkts: 1-57, 2-163,, 3-195, 4-195, 5-213, 6-220, 7-240,8-282, 9-321, 10-329. Bowling: Dodda Ganesh 11.5-3-37-1, Tinu Yohanan 18-6-30-1, Sunil Joshi 24-4-85-2, K N Anantapadmanabhan 22-3-69-2, Faizal Shaik 16-0-68-1, H Kanitkar 10-1-24-3. Plate A (IInd Innings) Jaiswal c Jaffer b Harvinder 0 Rolland Batting 35 Kanitkar b Pawar 30 Rajesh Batting 5 Extras: (B 2, LB 1, NB 1) 4 Total: (For 2 Wkts) 74 Fall of Wkts: 1-0, 2-50. Bowling: Harvinder Singh 7-4-14-1, Amit Uniyal 6-0-20-0, Rohan Gavaskar 4-0-10-0, Ramesh Pawar 5-0-21-1, A T Rayudu 1-0-6-0.
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Badani slams ton
Kochi, April 11 Replying to Elite ‘C’ mammoth total, Plate ‘B’ openers captain J Arunkumar (41 batting) and Sujith Somasundar (34 batting) did well to score 76 without being separated at close of play. Resuming at their overnight score of 273 for 3, Elite ‘C’ received a jolt losing Pankaj Dharmani after the batsman had added just one run to his overnight score of 72, edging an easy catch to point fielder Venkatesh Prasad off Rakesh Dhruv. Nikhil Doru, who replaced Dharmani, gave ample support to Badani, who continued his good work. Badani, 99 overnight, executed some delightful shots through the covers and was looking well set for a big score, but Venkatesh Prasad got the breakthrough when the batsman edged a catch to keeper Ajay Ratra. Badani’s 342-ball knock consisted of 15 fours and two sixes. Doru scored a useful 30 while Jyoti Yadav made a patient 41 with the help of five boundaries and a six. Plate ‘B’ left-arm spinner Sreekumar Nair returned figures of 3 for 84, Venkatesh Prasad 2/36 and leg-spinner Narendra Hirwani 2/121. Plate ‘B’ would have been in trouble had Jyoti Yadav taken the catch offered by Arunkumar when he was on 30 and his side on 52, off Kulamani Parida.
PTI |
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Madan to head NZ academy New Delhi, April 11 Though an announcement made by the BCCI from Kolkata stated that Madan Lal will be assisted by former Indian player Gursharan Singh and Delhi Ranji Trophy captain Bhaskar Pillai, the list released by NCA vice-chairman C.K. Khanna has omitted Bhaskar’s name, and included Suresh Luthra’s. Mr Khanna said Bhaskar was unavailable as he was committed to play in the minor county in England, and hence Luthra’s name was added. The NCA meeting, held in Kolkata on Thursday, was chaired by NCA chairman Sunil Gavaskar, and attended by BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmia, secretary S K Nair, treasurer Kishore Rungta, NCA director Brijesh Patel, vice-chairman C K Khanna and chairman of the Talent Research Development Wing Dilip Vengsarkar. The other former players who have been selected to head the zonal academies of the NCA in other zones of the country are: Central: Parthasarthy Sharma, Shashikant Khandkar and Kailash Gattani.
East: Ashok Malhotra, D Mukherjee and R Venkataram. West: Dinesh Nanavaty, Padmakar Shivalkar and N Satham.
South: Robin Singh, A Raghuram Bhatt and W V Raman. |
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Revive Indo-Pak cricket ties: Miandad Sharjah, April 11 Miandad, who began his third stint as Pakistan coach after the World Cup, attacked the Indian government’s policy of severing bilateral cricket ties with Pakistan, saying it was an “anti-people” policy which ignored the wishes of masses. He said the common people must raise their voice against such a policy and advocated holding a referendum to decide whether the two countries should start playing again.
PTI |
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Serena sails past Martinez Charleston, April 11 Having opened the day with a 6-2, 6-4 second-round win over Italy’s Tathiana Garbin, Martinez, twice a winner here, had little in reserve for Williams, who overpowered the 15th-seeded Spaniard to stay on course for her fourth title of the season. The holder of all four grand slam titles, Williams will now take on sixth seed Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia, who put out 13th-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva 4-6, 6-4 7-5.
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Sanam ousts top seed
New Delhi, April 11 In the semifinal, third seed Sanam K. Singh lost the first set but came back strongly and conceded only one point in next two sets to knock out Rupesh Roy 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 to set up title clash with unseeded local challenger Wirk Ganguly. Ganguly overpowered J. Vishnu Vardhand (Andhra) in straight sets 6-3, 7-5 in other semi final. In boys under-14, the final will be between fourth seed Navneetha Kannan and third seed Kaushik Das (Assam). Kannan lost the first set to Kinshuk Sharma but then played some attacking tennis in the next two sets to romp home as the top seed failed to hold on to the first set lead. The Tamil Nadu player won 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. In other semifinal contest Kaushik Das overpowered second seed Mesheer Vaswani (Kar) 6-1, 3-6, 6-1. In the girls under-18
section, top seed Parul Goswami kept the local challenge alive as she swept out 6th seed Parija Maloo (Maharashtra) 7-5, 6-3 on her way to the final. Parul will take on unseeded Deepa Chakravorty (Guj) in the final. Deepa had to battle it out against D.Tejaswini (Andhra) before emerging winner 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-1. The title contest in the girls under-14 section will be between second seed Gayatri Krishnan (Tamil Nadu) and fifth seed Varsha Dutta (Assam).
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AICS ponders law to curb doping New Delhi, April 11 AICS president Prof.Vijay Kumar Malhotra said after the second meeting of the council at the National Stadium here that he would take up the matter with the government after having consultation with the IOA for enacting a legislation to root out the evil of doping from Indian sports. Prof Malhotra said the matter related to “prevention of drug abuse in sports” was discussed in length at the AICS meeting, and the members expressed their “deep concern” over the growing menace of drug abuse by athletes, and called for urgent remedial action. Prof Malhotra said all members of the AICS called for “urgent and stringent” action by the National Sports Federations
(NSFs) the IOA and SAI against the athletes who have tested positive for banned substances. They also demanded that the names of the guilty athletes be immediately made public. Prof Malhotra suggested that SAI should create a separate mechanism to check drug abuse during national coaching camps. He said the element of “surprise check” at national camps was missing, as the camps were organised jointly by the NSFs and
SAI. “It is, therefore, necessary that a separate mechanism be developed to monitor the prevention of drug abuse during national camps and to conduct surprise checks”, he suggested. The AICS meeting was attended by life president of the IOA B Sivanthi
Adityan, and many other prominent sportspersons. Prof Malhotra said a draft National Plan of Action has been circulated to the AICS members for their comments and suggestions to be incorporated in the final Plan of Action. He said the National Plan of Action for achieving excellence in sports has been prepared according to the directions given by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. He said the Prime Minister was expected to chair an All-India Sports Congress to be convened by the AICS in May this year at Vigyan
Bhawan. The first session of the All-India Sports Congress was held at Vigyan Bhawan on March 12, 1962, which was presided over by the Maharaja of Patiala, who was then the president of the
AICS. |
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IWF alters travel schedule Patiala, April 11 The lifters, both in the men’s and women’s section, are currently undergoing a training cum preparatory stint at the senior national weightlifting camp being held at the NIS here. Dr Ashok Ahuja, Head of the sports medicine faculty at the NIS, and who is closely associated with the preparations of the lifters at the camp, said,” We are closely monitoring the situation. Since SARS is turning out to be major disease, we will take all the necessary safety measures which include altering the travel plans of the team.” Earlier, arrangements were being made for the 14 member squad to travel to the southern Pacific country of Tonga via either Singapore or Hong Kong. However, since both these countries are worst hit with the SARS virus, the IWF is now contemplating sending the squad first to a city in eastern part of the USA from where it will fly to Tonga. Tonga is approachable from several cities in USA, including Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco. Meanwhile, K. Malleswari, has joined the camp after undergoing a five-month training stint at Minsk under coach Leonid Taranenko. Taranenko was Malleswari’s coach when she won bronze medal at the Sydney Olympics. However, as this time the IWF failed to rope in Taranenko as its foreign coach, Malleswari directly approached the Sports Minister Mr Vikram Verma who personally granted thelifter permission to train at Minsk. Things has cooled down between Malleswari and chief coach Mr P.S. Sandhu. Both are now said to be enjoying a good rapport. The lifter also scotched rumours about any change in her weight category and maintained that she would complete in her favourite 69 kg weight class-the same in which she brought laurels to the
country at Sydney. The teams: (Men): Vicky Batta (56 kg), Anbu Kathivaran (62 kg), P.Sudhir Kumar (69 kg), Satisha Rai (77 kg), Senthil Kumar (85 kg), Bhagat Singh (94 kg), Dalvir Singh (105 kg plus). (Women) N.Kunjarani Devi (48 kg), Sanamacha Chanu (53 kg), Sunaina (58 kg), Pratima Kumari (63 kg), K.Malleswari (69 kg), Sumati Devi (75 kg), Simple Kaur (75 kg plus). |
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IHF selects 30 probables for hockey camp New Delhi, April 11 The coaching camp is in preparation of the Indian team for an Invitational Tournament (double-leg) to be held in Perth (Australia) from May 28 to June 1 and in Sydney from June 4 to 8. Australia, Australia ‘A’ and Pakistan would be other teams competing in the tournament. The probables have been asked to report in Bangalore on April 28. The probables include four goalkeepers, five full backs, 10 half backs and 11 forwards. Veterans Dhanraj Pillai and Mukesh Kumar figure in the list. The Indian players had attended a brief coaching camp in New Delhi in preparation for the Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament in Malaysia, but the team were denied permission to participate in the tournament by the Indian Government in view of the attack on Indian IT professionals in Malaysia. Goalkeepers: Kanwal Deep Singh (ONGC), Devesh Chauhan (IOC), Bharat Chetri (Karnataka) and Raja Rajan. Full backs: Dilip Tirkey (IA), Kanwalpreet Singh (Punjab Police), Jugraj Singh (PP), Dinesh Nayak (TN), and Sharanjit Singh (PSB). Half-backs:
Ignace Tirkey (Services), Vikram Pillai (Maharashtra), Bimal Lakra (IA), Arjun Halappa (Karnataka), Devender Singh (BSF), Prabodh Tirkey (IA), Sandeep Michael (Karnataka), Prabhdeep Singh (PP), Vinay V S (IA) and Rajbir Singh (PSB). Forwards:
Dhanraj Pillai (IA), Mukesh Kumar (IA), Baljit Singh (PP), Gagan Ajit Singh (PP), Deepak Sonkhla (IOC), Prabhjot Singh (IOC), Tejbir Singh (PP), Tushar Khandkar (BPCL), Rajpal Singh (IOC), Gurcharan Singh and Daljit Singh (PP). Rajinder Singh will be the chief coach while A B Subbiah will be the coach for goalkeeping. Sampath Kumar will be the physical trainer. |
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Top teams to participate
Mumbai, April 11 The president of the Bombay Hockey Association (BHA), Bakshi Dilbagh Singh, told reporters here yesterday that the star studded Indian Airlines, Delhi and reigning champions Air India, Mumbai along with Karnataka XI and Tamil Nadu XI are the other teams to watch out in the tournament to be played on league cum knock-out basis. “The 24 teams in the fray have been divided into four clusters of six each and the top two teams from each cluster will make it to the quarter-finals to be played on league basis with four teams each in pool-A and pool-B. Then the winner of pool-A will take on runner-up of pool-B and winner of pool-B will clash with the runner-up of pool-A in the semifinals before the final on April 30,” he said. The winner of tournament stands to get Rs 1 lakh while the runners-up will take home Rs 50,000. The best player of the tournament and final, best goalkeeper and top scorer will get Rs 5,000 each. The fair play award is worth Rs 11,000. Air-India along with Maharashtra State Police, Bhopal XI, Indian Navy, South Central Railway and India Oil are in the first quarter while the second quarter consists of TN XI, Western Railway, RCF, Mumbai Customs, Sikh Regiment and P and S Bank. The teams in the third quarter are Karnataka Eleven, Central Railway, Maharashtra Eleven, ONGC, Signals and CISF while the fourth quarter consists of Tata Sports Club, EME, Jalandhar, BHA Colts, Mumbai Port Trust and Indian Airlines. On the opening day M S Cops will take on Bhopal XI, Mumbai Customs will clash with the Sikh Regiment, Central Railway will cross swords with Maharashtra Eleven and ONGC will fight it out with Signals.
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Yuvraj
Singh gave ample proof of his class with a blistering maiden century as
India opened their campaign in the triangular one-day cricket tournament
with a huge 200-run victory over hosts Bangladesh here today.
