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Aussies pull off thrilling win
Jacob Oram battles in vain
Windies take on Zimbabwe |
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Chandigarh, November 3 Test cricketer Dinesh Mongia will lead the Punjab state senior cricket team for the forthcoming season. According to Mr MP Pandove, Secretary of the Punjab Cricket Association, the team will play its first match against Kerala at Pallakad (Kerala) from November 7 to 10. Punjab 204 for nine against Delhi Salgaocar win in
Durand Cup Akash Deep, Renu shine in police games
Pepsu walk away with first prize Top teams for Surjit hockey Banks’ Olympiad: RBI shuttlers in final
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Aussies pull off thrilling win
Pune, November 3 Chasing a competitive 259 for a victory, the formidable Australians managed to overhaul the target with just one ball to spare riding on Symonds’ breezy 39-ball 37 after the young Michael Clarke pulled the team out of the pits in a nail-biting contest stretched to the wire. The Aussies needed 21 runs off the last 12 balls and the Kiwis had themselves to blame for not being able to make amends for the Faridabad fiasco as they dropped two catches in the last over. While Symonds capitalised on two dropped chances to take his side to victory, the 22-year-old Clarke gave ample display of his class with a sparkling knock of 70 and pile on the misery on their Trans-Tasman rivals for the second time in five days. The world champions have assured themselves of a berth in the final by securing 18 points from four matches while India are placed second with eight points from three outings. New Zealand have just four points from four matches. The Kiwis raised hopes of avenging the Faridabad defeat by reducing the Australians to a precarious 65 for four but Clarke and the experienced Michael Bevan (50) changed the complexion of the game with a determined 108-run partnership to put the Aussies on course again. Put into bat, New Zealand overcame a top-order batting collapse to post a healthy 258 for nine in their allotted 50 overs with Jacob Oram leading the spirited fightback with a career-best 81. Brendon McCullum (51) and captain Stephen Fleming (40) were the other notable performers on a track which provided a great deal of assistance to the pace bowlers in the morning. The match became very exciting in the closing stages of the Australian reply as the Kiwis not only managed to contain the run rate but also took wickets at regular intervals. Symonds, who was dropped by Lou Vincent on one with the Australian score on 176 for five, took a single off Jacob Oram in the penultimate ball of the innings to send his team-mates into a frenzy. Spinner Daniel Vettori gave away 17 runs in the 49th over to ease the pressure on the Australians who have now won their last three matches in the tri-series. The Australian run chase began on a dismal note as they lost the in-from Matthew Hayden (9), Adam Gilchrist (25), Ricky Ponting (16) and Damien Martyn (10) in quick succession to slump to 65 for four by the 15th over. But Clarke and Bevan showed no signs of nerves as they performed the rescue act with a 108-run partnership to put the world champions back on track on a pitch which became increasingly slower as the day wore on. Clarke, promoted in the batting order, began cautiously before opening up to exhibit some glorious shots on both sides of the wicket while Bevan was quite content to keep the scoreboard moving with gentle nudges and pushes. The right-handed Clarke steered Chris Harris to the third man boundary to notch up his third half century in one-day international and picked up spinner Daniel Vettori for special treatment clobbering him for 11 runs in his second over. Speedster Daryl Tuffey, who did the bulk of the damage to the Australian top order, broke the partnership by evicting Clarke who inside-edged the ball onto his stumps. Clarke struck eight boundaries and a six during his 80-ball 70. The Kiwis kindled their victory hopes by getting rid of Bevan a few overs later with Chris Cairns plotting his downfall for a 72-ball 50 which contained five boundaries and a six. After Ian Harvey (19) and Andrew Bichel (9) also threw their wickets, it was left to all-rounder Symonds and Brad Williams to take the Australians to the victory target in the tension-ridden last few overs. Put into bat, the Faridabad specter returned to haunt the Kiwis as they were reduced to 68 for five in 15 overs before a dogged fightback by Fleming (40) and career-best knocks by Oram and McCullum rendered respectability to the New Zealand total. While Oram made an 89-ball 81 with the help of 12 fours and a six, McCullum remained unbeaten on a 47-ball 51 (6x4, 1x6). It looked all too familiar to what happened in the teams’ previous match at Faridabad last week when New Zealand were bowled out for 97 in 34 overs by the awesome Aussies. But this time the Kiwis stemmed the rot and did well to bat out the 50 overs. The overnight moisture and dew meant the Aussie quickies got a lot of assistance from it early on as was evident in the way the Kiwi batsmen — Chris Nevin (0), Lou Vincent (1), Scott Styris (0) and Craig McMillan (0) — followed one after the other to the pavilion. But as the match progressed the pitch eased up and batting was made to look easy by Fleming and Oram who put on 62 runs for the sixth wicket. Scoreboard New Zealand: Nevin lbw b Williams 0 Fleming c Harvey b Symonds 40 Vincent c Ponting b Williams 1 Styris lbw b Williams 0 McMillan b Williams 0 Crains lbw b Bichel 27 Oram b Symonds 81 Harris c Harvey b Williams 1 McCullum not out 51 Vettori b Harvey 18 Tuffey not out 1 Extras: (lb-4, w-32, nb-3) 38. Total: (for 9 wkts in 50 overs) 258. Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-10, 3-11, 4-21, 5-68, 6-130, 7-151, 8-190, 9-246. Bowling: Bracken 10-3-39-0, Williams 10-1-53-5, Bichel 9-0-59-1, Harvey 9-1-33-1, Symonds 10-2-56-2, Clarke 2-0-14-0. Australia: Gilchrist c Vettori b Tuffey 25 Hayden c Styris b Tuffey 9 Ponting b Styris 16 Martyn b Tuffey 10 Clarke b Tuffey 70 Bevan c Harris b Cairns 50 Symonds not out 37 Harvey c Styris b Vettori 19 Bichel c McCullum b Vettori 9 Williams not out 3 Extras: (lb-2, w-8, nb-1) 11 Total: (8 wkts, 49.5 overs) 259. Fall of wickets: 1-34, 2-40, 3-54, 4-65, 5-173, 6-204, 7-231, 8-244. Bowling:
Tuffey 10-2-30-4, Oram 9.5-0-65-0, Cairns 10-0-48-1, Styris 7-1-31-1, Vettori 8-0-59-2, Harris 5-0-24-0.
— PTI |
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Jacob Oram battles in vain I am not much of a literature buff but still a material on Greek tragic heroes got me grossly engrossed. Here's what got me hooked: “The Greek hero battles fate with excessive pride and intelligence, yet follows his fate, making serious mistakes. From the beginning of the tale, it is quite clear that the hero will ultimately fail with the only way out being death.” Somehow, after reading it I am inclined to link the Greek hero to Jacob Oram. The Kiwi all-rounder battled hard, got his highest ODI score to pep up the team's score to respectable heights but couldn't quite meet the required standards with the ball, making some serious mistakes of bowling short and wide with the new ball. Again, in sharp similarity to the reference copy, it was always clear from the beginning that New Zealand would end up second best at Pune. The moment the Aussie skipper invited the Black Caps to bat first; the outcome was defined there and then. Oram's antics with the bat helped generate good spectator interest in the game. But despite his best efforts he just couldn't reverse the result of the match. It's quite a misfortune that the 'day matches' in this tournament are literally decided by the spin of the coin. Ponting was lucky with the toss on both occasions and the result was there for everyone to see. Williams and Bracken made the most under helpful circumstances while New Zealand batsmen walked the ramp between the dressing room and the pitch. The 'Ghost of Faridabad' returned once again on Monday to haunt the Kiwis no end. Brad Williams bowled exceptionally well with the white Kookaburra, making optimum use of the new ball swing and reluctance of Kiwis to use some footwork. Bracken provided ample support from the other end and except for those mounting wides, this new ball combination is any skipper's delight. For a while, it seemed this match would wrap up before the afternoon. But Fleming could not see his side go down with such embarrassment once too often. His painfully slow innings provided the platform for New Zealand to resurrect their credibility while Oram and Brendon McCullam stitched together a remarkable late order recovery. Oram played some delectable strokes and is fast developing as a good backup for the ageing all-rounder Chris Cairns. But for me, it was McCullam's innings that stood out. The wicket-keeper batsman didn't have the time to get his eye in and was required to score some quick runs without losing his wicket. And he showed immense character to carry the team's order and give his bowlers something to come out and have a go at the opposition. The total of 258 never worried the world champions irrespective of Gilchrist and Mat Hayden falling early prey to Tuffey. Ponting and Martyn's dismissal gave flight to Kiwis but Bevan and Clarke got together and showed how a competent score could be chased without incurring major risks. Still, all was not over yet. The responsible Bevan and promising Clarke undid their good work with hasty shots to return to the pavilion. And, for the first time the Aussies looked in a spot. But trust Symonds to come to the rescue. Symonds gave some telling blows in the last couple of overs to rudely interrupt the Kiwis' dream of pulling off a heroic win. And ironically, our 'Greek hero' Oram was very much there in the thick of action, helplessly watching the match slip away from his grasp. |
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Windies take on Zimbabwe Harare, November 3 Zimbabwe have lost many players through emigration, political dissent, retirements and injuries in the last few months and they all been available, only a few of the present team would get a place. On paper the first of the two Tests — the second will be played in Bulawayo next week — will be a one-sided affair. It will be the first time in 15 years that the Flower brothers Andy and Grant have not been available. Andy, together with fast bowler Henry Olonga, fled the country after condemning president Robert Mugabe’s policies, calling them the death of democracy during the World Cup earlier this year. —
AFP |
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Mongia to lead Punjab Chandigarh, November 3 The other members of the team are:
Reetinder Sodhi, Pankaj Dharmani, Ravneet Ricky, Samrat Sharma, Chandan Madan,Vineet Sharma, Gagandeep Singh, Amit Uniyal, Ishan Malhotra, Navdeep Singh, Rajesh Sharma, Sandeep Sanwal, Munish Sharma and Ankur Kakkar. Bhupinder Singh Senior will be the cricket manager while Sushil Kapoor the administrative manager. The stand byes
are: Harminder Jugnu, SP Singh, VRV Singh and Hardevinder Singh. |
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Punjab 204 for nine against Delhi Patiala, November 3 In reply to the visitors first innings total of 253, the hosts, at one stage, were tottering at 46 for four before a 98-run fifth-wicket partnership between skipper Gaurav Gupta (68) and young southpaw Uday Kaul (51) pulled them out of the woods. Earlier, fiery Delhi medium pacer Deepak Rai rocked the hosts when he removed Shiv Karan Gill, who scored a masterly 161 in the previous match, and left-handed Karan Goel within a space of 11 runs. Brief scores: Delhi
(1st innings): 253 all out. Punjab (1st innings): 204 for 9 (Gaurav Gupta 60, Uday Kaul 51, Satpal 16, Rupeetinder Singh 11, William Victor 4 for 60, Deepak Rai 2 for 24). |
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Big win for
East Zone Amritsar, November 3 In reply, East Zone made 126 runs with the loss of just one wicket in 23.4 overs. Devang Gandhi remained unbeaten at 48. |
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Salgaocar win in Durand Cup New Delhi, November 3 Playing their first match in group C, the Goans, without five regulars, took their time to settle down at the Ambedkar stadium and allowed TFA to go 1-0 up in the seventh minute before restoring parity seven minutes before the break. Earlier in the day, Mahindra United knocked Army XI out of the tournament scoring a 2-0 win in group A. In their first match Army had gone down to JCT 1-2. With today’s big win, Salgaocar are almost through to the semifinal and they just have to ensure a draw against Mohammedan Sporting in their last quarterfinal league match on Wednesday. Sporting had played a 1-1 draw with TFA on Saturday. Salgaocar coach Savio Medeira must have been a happy man at the end of the 90 minutes of play as his team came back from a goal down to score a convincing win. TFA boys began with a flourish, just like in their first match against Sporting and caught the Goans off guard. Following a fast move down the left flank, Centre forward Vimal Pariyar beat Goan custodian Rajat Ghosh Dastidar with a fine placement to trigger celebrations on the TFA bench.
— PTI |
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Akash Deep, Renu shine in police games Madhuban, November 3 Akash Deep of the HAP Range dominated in gymnastics, winning four gold medals, in vaulting horse, Roman rings, parallel bars and horizontal bar. Kuldeep Singh, also of HAP Range, was the other gymnast to impress and won silver in Roman rings and horizontal bar. Rohtash of HAP Range, among men, stole the show, winning two gold. In high jump, he leapt to a distance of 1.65 metres to win gold. Then he hurled the javelin to 46.91 metres for gold. Ram Pal of HAP Range cleared 4.30 m to win the pole vault gold, while Rohtas of HAP Range won silver. Durga Dass of Ambala Range had to content with the bronze medal. Renu of Special Range, emerged the best athlete of the day among women, winning three gold medals. She cleared 25.9 m in discus, 30.25 m in javelin and 8.27 m in shot put. Mr A.N. Mathur, Chief Secretary, Government of Haryana, who inaugurated the games, said special emphasis laid on sports by the state government had started to pay dividends. An astro-turf had been laid at Gurgaon, while work on laying synthetic surface at other centres would start soon. He appreciated the efforts of Mr M.S. Malik, Director-General of Police, who is also secretary-general of the Haryana Olympic Association, for playing a key role in improvement of sports in the state. Mrs Promila Essar, Principal Secretary, Home, Government of Haryana, said sports inculcated discipline and cooperation among sportspersons, which was a basic requirement in police. Mr M.S. Malik, state police chief, praised the police sportspersons of the state for winning many medals at various national and international meets. He also appealed to the Chief Secretary to help set up a sports academy at Madhuban Police Complex for grooming talented sportspersons of the Haryana Police. The
results: Athletics (women) Athletics (men): Gymnastics: Basketball:
HSR b Combined Range 42-10, HAP Range b SPL Range 75-30. Kabaddi:
HSR Range b Combined Range 55-21. Football: RTK Range b GGN Range 7-0 Hockey:
GGN Range b AMB Range 3-0 Volleyball: HAP Range b Combined Range 25-15, 25-14, 25-18. |
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Pepsu walk away with first prize Jalandhar, November 3 The event, Mata Chanan Kaur Dhanoa Memorial Tournament, witnessed competitions for special players in which even some of the polio-afflicted players participated. Hira Singh of Moga, whose lower limbs are paralysed due to a polio attack, gave an impressive display of his sinews, competing with other bodybuilders. Then there were track and field events for deaf and dumb and even blind students from Patiala, Jalandhar and Ludhiana participated. In Kabaddi, Pepsu beat Majha in the final. Gurlal Ghanuar and Jagdeep Kaonke were adjudged the best raider and best “jaffi” of the tournament, respectively. Mr Harjinder Singh Dhanoa, the chief organiser of the event, announced the tournament would be made an annual feature. A new stadium at a cost of Rs 1 crore is being constructed in the village. A number of eminent sportspersons and organisers of the state, were also felicitated. Those honoured were Pargat Singh, Teja Singh Dhaliwal, Kartar Singh, Surinder Singh Gurmail Singh, Balwinder Fidda, among
others. Mr Rajdeep Singh Gill, Additional Director-General of Police, Punjab, and President, Basketball Federation of India, gave away the prizes. |
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Top teams for Surjit hockey Jalandhar, November 3 The tournament will be played on a league-cum-knock-out basis. For the first time two foreign clubs — Indian Hockey Club, Canada and Concordia Hockey Club, Croatia, would participate, according to president of the Surjit Hockey Society. Eight teams, including Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala, Border Security Force, Indian Oil, Mumbai and Surjit Hockey Academy, Jalandhar, will face off in a knock-out encounter to decide the two qualifiers for the quarterfinal league. These two teams will join the other six directly seeded teams, which also included the two foreign clubs. The other teams getting a direct entry to the last eight are holders Bharat Petroleum, Mumbai, Punjab Police and Air-India, Mumbai. In the women’s section, four teams, including last year’s champions Northern Railway and Air-India, Mumbai, will clash in the Super League. The winners in both the men’s and women’s event will take home a purse of Rs 1 lakh each while the runners-up in the two categories will be richer by Rs 60,000 and 40,000 each. The Indian hockey team, which won the prestigious Asia Cup in Kuala Lumpur last month, would also be honoured during the event, the organisers said. The final in the women’s section will be held on November 13 while final in the men’s section will be held on November 14. Doordarshan Kendra, Jalandhar, will telecast the finals directly while commentary can also be heard on All-India Radio.
— PTI |
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Banks’ Olympiad: RBI shuttlers in final Patiala, November 3 Results: (semi-final):
RBI beat Syndicate Bank 3-0 (Sanjay Dass beat Vinayak Kamath 15-2, 15-3; Rudra Kaushik beat K.P Vasanth Kamath 15-9, 15-5; Sanjay Dass and K. Madhu beat Jay Ram and Vinayak Kamath 15-9, 15-8); Canara bank beat Punjab National Bank 3-0 (Abhijit beat S.Sharma 15-1, 15-1; D. Guruparsad beat Rajiv Verma 15-0, 15-2; D. Guruparsad and B.G Kiran beat Deepak Sharma and Rajiv Verma 15-9, 15-1). Earlier, the meet was inaugurated by Mr Y.L Madan, General Manager, Patiala circle while Mr P.G Chawla, Deputy General Manager, Circle office, Chandigarh, proposed a vote of thanks. In hockey, favourites Punjab and Sind Bank, playing with the services of several international players including Baljit Singh Saini and Baljit Singh Chandi, chalked up their second successive win when they walloped the Bank of India 11-1 while Indian Bank, who lost their opening match yesterday, downed the Union Bank of India 4-2 . In chess, the Union Bank of India, who have landed with the virtual Indian team including Grandmasters Parvin
Thipsay, Ravi Hegde, Sharad Tilak and N. Sudhakar Babu, kept their title aspirations intact when all four star players notched up impressive wins against their respective rivals. While Parvin Thipsay downed Girish Koradia of Bank of Baroda, N.Sudhakar Babu beat Dalip Deshpande of the same bank in first round matches. Ravi Hegde too scripted an easy win against Kiran Shah of the Bank of Baroda while Sharad Tilak easily downed Mohammad Ayub Khan of Jammu and Kashmir in the inaugural round. Other results:
Ummed Singh (State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur) beat Vishal Mishar (State Bank of Indore); KV Shantaram (Indian Bank) beat P.Panwalkar (State Bank of Indore); Moti Ram (State Bank of Patiala) beat N.Shirke (State Bank of Indore); V.Hariharan (Indian Bank) beat L.N Rathore (State Bank of Indore); Ravinder Kumar (Punjab National Bank) beat N.Neekantan (Central Bank of India); Shaymalol Dutta
(UCO Bank) beat Rama Nathan (Syndicate Bank); V.U. Diwakar (State Bank of Hyderabad) drew with Atul Gupta (J&K Bank); Shyam Shetty (United Bank of India) drew with I.Murlidhar (State Bank of
Hyderbad); R.B Singh (SBOP) beat D.Vallabha (Syndicate Bank); Kamal Verma (Bank of Baroda) beat K.B Hari Kumar (State Bank of
Travancore); Rachpal Singh (UCO Bank) drew with Ajay Gupta (State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur); and A.K Raijada (United Bank of India) beat P.K Mishra (Bank of Baroda). In table tennis, fancied Dena Bank set up a title clash with Indian Bank in the men’s team championship event while Indian Bank will cross swords with Union Bank. In the men’s team championship semi- finals, Dena Bank downed State Bank of Patiala 3-1 while Indian Bank scrapped past State Bank of Saurashtra by an identical margin. Results: Women’s team championship
semi-finals: Indian Bank beat Syndicate Bank 3-0
(K.Shamini beat Sunanada Rao 11-2, 11-5, 11-5; A. Arul Selvi beat K.Minalini 11-4, 11-7, 11-6; K.Shamini and N. Arul Selvi beat Sunanada Rao and K.Minalini 11-2, 11-2, 11-3); Union Bank of India beat Dena Bank 3-1 ( Ashwini beat Sherry Crawford 6-11, 13-11, 11-3, 11-8; Suchitra lost to Presanna 7-11, 6-11, 9-11; Indu Puri and Ashwini beat Presanna Sherry Crawford 8-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-4; Ashwini beat Presanna 11-8, 8-11, 14-12, 11-6). Chandigarh
Bank of India outplayed Oriental Bank of Commerce 6-0, in the football competitions of the Banks’ Olympiad being played here at the Sector 17 football ground. The goals were scored by Velu (three goals), Sanjay
Hizari, Hasan Rizvi and Anton Sardana one each. The team included Eversto
Cartdoz, former international player. In another match of the day, State Bank of Travancore defeated Union Bank of India 3-1. Abdul
Hakim, Pradeep and Ignatious were the main scorers for State Bank of
Travancore. Avinash Puthrian was the only scorer for Union Bank of India. In the third match of the day, State Bank of Hyderabad beat Punjab National Bank 4-0 with goals scored by
Salam, Siraj, Zulfi Quar and Prakash. In the fourth match of the day, Allahabad Bank beat Jammu and Kashmir Bank 1-0, which was scored by Som Nath
Pramanik. In cricket, Bank of Baroda got the better of Saraswat Cooperative Bank by six wickets. Brief scores: Saraswat Coop. Bank:
125 runs all out in 37.2 overs
(Dhiraj 38, Ropesh 37, Kapil Malhotra 5 for 47, Arpesh 2 for 120; Bank of Baroda:
126 runs for four in 26.3 overs (Deepak 45 n.o., Sanjay Kalyanpur 35). In another tie, Syndicate Bank defeated Bank of Hyderabad by eight wickets. Brief scores:
BOH: 174 runs all out in 43.4 overs (Rangraj 41, M Sriniwas 36, R Nanth 2 for 17, Satish 2 for 33);
Syndicate Bank: 178 runs for two in 38.3 overs (Rajesh Kamat 73 n.o., Arvind Sethi 63). In another tie, Bank of India, Mumbai, beat Reserve Bank of India by eight wickets. Brief scores:
RBI: 227 runs for nine (Keith Ward 53, Raju More 51, Manish Joshi 29, Subash 4 for 23, Vinit 2 for 46);
BOI, Mumbai: 231 runs for two (Mangesh Vaidya 84 n.o., Yogesh 79 n.o.). In the last match of the day, Union Bank defeated Dena Bank by 10 runs. Brief scores: Union Bank: 179 runs for seven (Naresh 44 n.o., Apnay Thakur 35, Anthony 4 for 32).
Dena Bank: 169 runs all out (Vinod Raghvan 41, Melash 23, A Shetty 3 for 18, Sudhakar 3 for 34). |
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