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Friday,
April 18, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Jaques Rudolph stars in
Ganguly to lead team today Good outing for young Indians Kiwis get a taste
of Colombo heat |
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USA “covered up” positive tests Dhanraj Pillay scores hat-trick India favourites in SAARC Golf Trouble brewing in Mohun Bagan Volandri upsets Norman
Mini basketball results
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Jaques Rudolph stars in South Africa’s win Dhaka, April 17 The young Rudolph struck an elegant 81 off 113 balls to steer South Africa to a respectable 261 for five before the bowlers stuck to their tasks to bundle out the hosts for 168 in 49 overs despite Alok Kapali’s valiant 71-run knock. Electing to bat, South African skipper Graeme Smith (67) and Rudolph provided the platform with a 101-run stand before Neil McKenzie and Shaun Pollock set the stadium blaze with some lusty hits which virtually took the game away from the hapless Bangladesh who were knocked out of the competition after today’s defeat. Former captain Pollock was given the new ball after two matches and he responded with another fine performance, claiming three wickets for 17 runs from his seven overs. Andrew Hall also scalped three wickets while Allan Dawson took two wickets. The tournament’s last league match between India and South Africa tomorrow would now be a dress rehearsal for the final on Sunday. Earlier, Rudolph exhibited a blend of caution and aggression during his elegant knock of 81 while captain Greame Smith was the other notable scorer with 67 after South Africa elected to bat first. The innings lost a bit of momentum as South Africa lost a few quick wickets after the dismissals of Smith and Rudolph before Neil McKenzie and Shaun Pollock produced cameos to push the score past 250 in a match that the hosts must win to keep alive their theoretical chances of making it to the final against India. The South African innings began on a disastrous note losing opener Herschelle Gibbs (0) with just five runs on the board with Tapash Baisya providing the vital breakthrough. But captain Smith and Rudolph steadied the innings, playing cautiously in the initial stages before unleashing a flurry of shots on both sides of the wicket. SCOREBOARD South Africa: Smith b S Hossain 67 Gibbs b Baisya 0 Rudolph c Salim b S Hossain 81 Dippenaar c and b Kapali 16 Boucher c M Hossain b Kapali 12 McKenzie not out 39 Pollock not out 38 Extras: (lb-4, w-3, nb-1) 8 Total: (for 5 wkts, 50 overs) 261 Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-106, 3-143, 4-174, 5-192. Bowling: Islam 10-0-38-0, Baisya 8-0-57-1, Rafique 10-2-42-0, Mahmud 4-0-40-0, Sanwar Hossain 8-1-40-2, Kapali 10-1-40-2. Bangladesh: M Ashraful lbw b Pollock 13 M Hossain c Boucher b Ntini 6 H Bashar lbw b Pollock 1 Akram Khan c Boucher b Dawson 3 A Kapali c Adams b Hall 71 K Mahmud c Boucher b Hall 24 S Hossain c and b Adams 9 M Salim c Boucher b Pollock 9 M Rafique c Boucher b Hall 3 T Baisya c Smith b Dawson 7 M Islam not out 5 Extras: (lb-2, w-9, nb-6) 17 Total: (all out, 49 overs) 168 Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-19, 3-25, 4-29, 5-84, 6-104, 7-145, 8-150, 9-157. Bowling:
Pollock 7-0-17-3, Ntini 8-1-22-1, Dawson 10-1-29-2, Hall 10-1-32-3, Adams 10-0-40-1, Rudolph 4-0-26-0.
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Ganguly to lead team today Dhaka, April 17 The Indians had demolished new-look South Africa with a comprehensive 153-run margin in the previous league match and would be keen to keep them on the mat not only to maintain the winning sequence but to go into Sunday’s final with an edge. But fitness worries to some of the key players have left the Indians a worried lot though the team management is confident that they will be fit to take the field tomorrow. Dashing left-hander Yuvraj Singh is down with flu and had a high temperature till this morning and remains a doubtful starter while pace bowler Zaheer Khan, who suffered a slight hamstring injury in the first round match against South Africa, may not play so as to be fully fit for the final. Although off spinner Harbhajan Singh has been carrying a finger injury for some time, he will be fielded to strengthen the bowling department as the Indians do not want to go in with an inexperienced bowling attack and allow the South Africans to get into the groove. With India having already reached the final, the team management is not too keen on making Zaheer Khan take the risk of aggravating his injury. The return of the regulars will mean that all-rounder Sanjay Bangar, Abhijit Kale and Sarandeep Singh, who were given a look-in in the previous match against Bangladesh, will have to sit out. With Ganguly, who had decided to skip the Bangladesh match to rest his injured back, returning to the team, Parthiv Patel who was promoted to the number three position in the batting order will go back to the lower middle order. The South Africans put up a vastly improved performance in their second match against Bangladesh and Ganguly and his young brigade can hardly afford to be complacent in what promises to be an exciting contest under floodlights at the Bangabandhu Stadium. Coach John Wright has cautioned his young wards not to get too carried away by the three consecutive victories in the tournament and take it game by game. “We have to take it game by game. It is important that we maintain the winning habit. The youngsters have a lot of talent and they have fitted in particularly quickly. We need to have this hunger to win,” Wright said.
PTI |
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Good outing for young Indians Bangladesh, I am afraid, continue to struggle, but it was a good outing for the younger members of the Indian side on Wednesday. With most of the seniors resting, the bench strength of the side got into the act, and had a field day, as they say. Bangladesh were never in the hunt after losing four quick wickets, though their final tally of 207 gave them some self-respect and a some hope. The home supporters were at least enthused by their batsmen crossing a landmark, though everybody knew that this was unlikely to trouble the Indian team too much. India lost six wickets in chasing this meager total, but a few of these came through impetuous strokeplay and Kaif was run-out. The Bangladesh bowlers stuck to their task without ever looking threatening, but unless their batsmen can put up scores of 240-250 regularly, they will always be at the receiving end. Virender Sehwag enjoyed his stint as captain by batting with abandon. he flayed the bowlers from the first over and the Bangladesh players will have heaved a sigh of relief when he was dismissed for only 43. The biggest knock came from Gautam Gambhir, who had not done much in the earlier two games. Gambhir’s 71, while pleasing, also showed that he has some way to go at this level. From the point of view of Indian cricket, however, it was important because he is an opening batsman, and there is need for men at the top. The others chipped in with useful scores, though Abhijit Kale would have liked a few more runs to his name. In the overall context, India’s bowling was more impressive than the batting. Ajit Agarkar has been the player of the series yet for India and he had another good day in the office, picking up three wickets. He has got better control over line, length and swing and with runs under his belt, emerged as a fine utility player. I was happy to see two spinners in the side and both perform well. The team is fortunate to have another high quality off-spinner in Sarandeep Singh, who was the pick of the bowlers this day. He flighted the ball beautifully and troubled all batsmen. But his fielding remains weak. Perhaps if he spends more time with this side, it will improve. Leg spinner Amit Mishra has talent which he has to build on. His stock ball is one which turns from leg to off, which is a good sign, and he gets the ball to land and bounce, which makes this even better. Most significant aspect of India’s performance in the field was the wicket-keeping of Parthiv
Patel. he was simply outstanding and showed why a specialist is always great value.
TCM |
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Kiwis get a taste of Colombo heat Colombo, April 17 The Black Caps arrived in Colombo yesterday and stayed overnight in the Taj Hotel, overlooking the Indian Ocean. The New Zealanders’ arrival was good news for Sri Lankan cricket officials who feared that worries over severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, would force them to cancel the tournament. “We are pleased to inform that the New Zealand team is here and everything is fine,” said Tracy Francis, a spokeswoman for the local cricket board. New Zealand cricket authorities had earlier expressed fears of travelling to Asia because of SARS, which has killed at least 162 people, mainly in Asia. Sri Lanka has not reported any cases of SARS. New Zealand abandoned its tours to Sri Lanka in 1987 and 1992 due to bomb attacks in Colombo by Tamil Tiger rebels. There is now a truce in place between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Sri Lankan government. The New Zealanders held a two-hour practice session in the morning and were scheduled to hold another in the afternoon. During April, the humidity level in the capital can reach 90 per cent, with temperature registering 35 degree Celsius.
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USA “covered up” positive tests London, April 17 Dr Wade
Exum, the former USOC Director for Drug Control from 1991 to 2000, released more than 30,000 pages of documents to Sports illustrated. He says they show that athletes such as Carl Lewis and Mary Joe Fernandez tested positive but were allowed by the US Olympic Committee to compete anyway. The Orange County Register reviewed more than 10,000 confidential USOC documents for a story about the committee’s failure to deal with doping issues. Wada head Dick Pound said the documents reinforce what some critics believed all along. “It’s what many people suspected about the US Olympic Committee, that it was being covered up,” he said in a telephone interview from Montreal.
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Dhanraj Pillay scores hat-trick Mumbai, April 17 The policemen did well to stop the star studded IA team from scoring in the first half. But once the flood-gates opened, a minute after the half time, there was no stopping the Airlines’ team who went on the rampage. After former India captain Mukesh Kumar opened the account with a fine goal, the veteran forward took over sounding the board in the 42nd, 45th and 50th minute with superb skill. Mukesh then added his second goal to put IA 5-0 ahead tapping home a Arjun Halappa pass in the 57th minute. The cops’ agony continued when Girish Pimple scored from the seventh penalty corner with three minutes left on the clock to complete the rout.
PTI |
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India favourites in SAARC Golf New Delhi, April 17 Besides India, other countries participating in the championship are Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Nepal.
Maldives, whose non-participation last year had kicked off a row as some Indian players had been reportedly passed off as
Maldives players, will not be participating in this edition either. Over 200 players will be representing the five teams in the championship. Chairman of SAARC steering committee K H Khan said the No 1 and No 2 players on the Indian Golf Union’s Order of Merit Keshav Misra and Harinder Gupta will lead the Indian challenge while the third player in the team will be Jaideep Patwardhan of Pune, who has replaced Sandy Lehal. Lehal has pulled out due to exams. India have never tasted defeat in the championship as they were the title winners in all the four previous editions of the SAARC Cup. And they hope to keep up their high tradition this time too. Mr Yash Nagpal of Navision India, the sponsors of the championship, said the SAARC Golf Championship was a great initiative to promote harmony and enhance goodwill among the countries through golf. The championship will be played in a strokeplay and matchplay format. All three members of the five teams will play on a strokeplay format on the first two days, and the two best scores out of three will count towards the team score. The top two teams, after the strokeplay rounds, will play each other on a matchplay format in the final round. The winner of each match will be awarded one point and the loser zero. The team with higher points will emerge as the title winners. |
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Trouble brewing in Mohun Bagan Kolkata, April 17 Mohun Bagan Captain Dulal Biswas admitted that there was a meeting of senior players to discuss their dues for the last four months. “We had decided that we will either send a letter asking for a clarification or go and meet the club secretary. As the payments are due for over four months some junior players are in a sort of problem,’’ he said. Interestingly, Bhattacharya was sacked from the club for allegedly inciting the players not to take the field till their payments were cleared. It was only within 20 hours of his sacking that senior players like Baichung, Barreto, Dulal, George Ekeh and Yakubu had organised a meeting among themselves to take up the matter. Asked if Bhattacharya had any influence over the developments, Biswas said, “I have no comments.’’ Though club secretary Anjan Mitra had assured them yesterday of payments, he did not make any definite commitment. Ekeh and Yakubu were seen loitering around the club premises during the day seeking answer to queries. Player discontentment could be a problem for Mohun Bagan for they still have two more games for the NFL to be over. Their practice sessions looked like a rudderless ship just after a storm. Most players looked lethargic to say the least and senior players preferred to warm the benches, though interim coach Shyamal Banerjee did his best to get the players in the groove. Asked about the next match, Dulal said” “When we play we keep in mind the colour of the jersey and the legacy we represent. So we always try to give our best. Results are not in our hand.’’ To add to the woes of club officials, Bhattacharya came out with more caustic comments against the officials: “I need a do’s and don’ts from the club management about talking in public. However, are they also thinking of clearing my dues of Rs 1.75 lakh that is long overdue?’’ This came in reaction of the club’s executive body deciding to send an official warning to Bhattacharya cautioning him not to make derogatory comments about the body in public or risk losing even his primary membership from the club. “This is ridiculous. Since the club wants to teach me how to talk in public tell them to give me a class of value education,’’ Bhattacharya added breaking into a laugh. He had earlier scotched Bagan’s allegation of his anti-football activities. “I have played with this club for over two decades and have been one of the most successful coaches of the club. I can never conspire against the club.’’ Mohun Bagan has its dubious legacy of sacking coaches and Bhattacharya only joined an elite group. In 1999 just before Subrata took over the hot-seat, Nayeemuddin was relieved of his duties when secretary Anjan Mitra dropped him outside South Club and informed him that he was no longer required. Just before that P.K. Banerjee left on his own unable to cope with official high-handedness. In 1998 coach Amal Dutta was unceremoniously removed on the day of ‘Dushera’. Sayeed Nayeemuddin had faced the maximum number of expulsions from the club as he was earlier sacked in 1992 and 1996. In between Shankar Banerjee was expelled twice in 1994 and 1995. In 1996 Habib was shown the door after a tenure of eight months and T.K. Chatuni after four months in 1997. Bhattacharya might not find his expulsion surprising for he was sacked once before in 1995 after just five months. In fact he had created a record of being the longest serving coach of Mohun Bagan in recent times after he joined in November in 1999 and sacked on April 15 last.
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Volandri upsets Norman Monaco, April 17 Sweden’s Norman had recovered from 1-6, 2-5 down to dismiss former champion Kuerten yesterday but ran out of steam against a determined opponent who had proved too strong for Argentine sixth seed David Nalbandian in the previous round. “This is the most beautiful win of my career,” beamed Volandri, a 21-year-old from Livorno, who is now hoping to become the first Italian champion here since Nicola Pietrangeli in 1968. Should he manage that he would then be dreaming of emulating compatriot Adriano Panatta, who won the French Open at Roland Garros in 1976. Also advancing to the last eight was Alberto Martin, who edged fellow Spaniard Fernando Vicente 6-4, 7-6 (7/5). Volandri swept into an early 5-1 lead but Norman pulled it back to 5-5 only to concede his service to love and fall a set behind after 40 minutes. The Swede then came back from 1-3 to 3-3 in the second set but found Volandri firing every effort back with interest as the Italian cranked up the rhythm.
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Amritinder fires 5 under to lead in Hero Golf Chandigarh, April 17 The defending champion, Arjun Singh, along with Kolkata’s Rahil Gangjee and local hero and Asian PGA Tour star Harmeet Kahlon were placed second at three-under 69. Another Chandigarh-based Asian PGA golfer Amandeep Johl was tied with Lucknow’s Bhoop Singh and Delhi’s Rohtas Singh and Jaiveer Virk three-strokes behind the leader at two-under 70. The 31-year-old Amritinder wasted little time in asserting his superiority today. Warming up with a par Amritinder almost immediately changed gears to eagle the second and birdie the third. “I was hitting the ball superbly off the tee and my approach shots were dead accurate,” he said. True enough, Amritinder despite a bad drive on the second, placed his 5-wood 2 ft from the pin for an eagle. A birdie followed on the next hole. All through his round, Amritinder erred only once when he missed a two and a half feet par putt to bogey the fifth. His back-nine saw him unfurl a hat-trick of birdies on the 12th, 13th and 14th for his card of 67. “It was a very satisfying round especially keeping in mind the swirling winds which affected shot execution and ball placement,” said the Asian PGA Tour regular. “The course is playing great and the greens though slightly on the slower side are very true,” he added. If Amritinder Singh is hell bent on winning his fourth Hero Golf Chandigarh Open title, defending champion Arjun Singh looks equally determined to defend his territory. So focussed is Arjun on his task that despite bringing in a card of 69 today, he looked far from happy. “I didn’t putt well at all. Otherwise, I would have fired a five or six under,” he said. Arjun’s front-nine card showcased birdies on the second, fourth, fifth and eighth with bogeys on the third and the sixth. On his return journey, Arjun started with a bogey on the 10th but made up with birdies on the 11th and 13th. “I am very familiar with this course and have played well here each and every time,” said 2002 Hero Honda Masters winner Harmeet Kahlon. Kahlon caught fire early in his round with birdies on the second, sixth and eighth. At this stage he looked less than a six or seven under. However, an unfortunate bogey on the 10th arrested the flow. On that hole, Kahlon’s 3-wood sandwedge combination, was followed by a poor chip and a missed putt. Another birdie on the 13th where he sank a 40 ft putt preceded his second bogey of the day on the 15th. His fifth birdie of the day on the 16th undid the error on the previous hole. “My driving was good but I really need to work on my short game,” concluded a smiling Kahlon. Rahil Gangjee is a changed man after finishing second at the SRF Matchplay Championship last week. His round of 68 in yesterday’s Pro-Am not to mention the third place finish his team returned would have provided an additional elixir to his confidence. Today, Gangjee began aggressively with back to back birdies. A dropped shot on the third was undone by a birdie on the following hole. Three-under on the 10th tee, courtesy his fourth birdie of the day on the eighth, Gangjee went on to birdie the 13th and looked good for an error-free back-nine. However, a missed par chance from as close as 2 ft on the final hole, prevented him from making his own the sole second position. “It was very disappointing,” said Gangjee of his final hole bogey. Karanvir leads amateur field: Delhi’s Karanvir Singh led the amateurs at one-over 73. Anitya Chand (Delhi) and local amateur, 14-year-old Ajitesh Sandhu were tied second at 74. Scores (after 18 holes): 67 — Amritinder Singh; 69 — Arjun Singh, Harmeet Kahlon and Rahil Gangjee; 70 — Amandeep Johl, Rohtas Singh, Jaiveer Virk and Bhoop Singh; 71 — Ajay Gupta, Mohd Khokhan, Rahul Ganapathy, Shiv Prakash and Vishal Singh Amateurs:
73 — Karanvir Singh; 74 — Anitya Chand and Ajitesh Sandhu. |
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Mini basketball results Chandigarh, April 17 On the second day today, Kapurthala boys defeated Ropar 20-4. For Kapurthala, Vishal Shota (10), Jatinder Singh (6) and for Ropar Satwinder (4) were main scorers. In the second match Bathinda defeated Jalandhar 48-33. For Bathinda Jaspal Singh (13), Gurpreet (8), Khush Deep (13), Gagandeep (8) and for Jalandhar, Sumant (8), Vipin (10), Rajesh (10), Rajnish (5) were the main scorers. |
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Dhaka, April 17
