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Ramesh, Tendulkar shine
Lanka ‘A’ concede
125-run lead Mongia, Dharmani shine for Punjab |
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Punjab in a spot against J&K Punjab Police lift Nehru hockey title Another hockey star set to dazzle India-Pak Punjab Games on the anvil Dwain Chambers in dope net Punjab, Rajasthan cyclists advance Panjab varsity beat KU by 4
goals
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Ramesh, Tendulkar shine
Melbourne, November 25 Both Ramesh and Sachin Tendulkar, who were dismissed in their 80s, put on 128 runs for the fourth wicket but the Indians still struggled to recover from the early stutter of 45 for three and finished the day at a sorry-looking 266 for nine. Ramesh, drafted in into the eleven, because V.V.S. Laxman was down with flu, concentrated for four-and-a-half hours for his 87 made from 191 balls with 10 fours before he drove a catch off leg-spinner Cameron White into the covers. Tendulkar, in contrast, needed only two hours for his 80 runs with 14 fours, most of them being ferocious hooks and fiercely struck square cuts as he readied himself for the short-pitched stuff which the Australians are planning for him this summer. Tendulkar arrived when Indians were already three wickets down, including the ones of openers Akash Chopra (2) and Virender Sehwag (23), and had struggled to 56 for three by lunch. But the face of the innings was completely transformed in the third hour which yielded 85 runs as Tendulkar tore into the home bowling with a half century from just 65 deliveries. Two of the flops for the Indians, who elected to bat, concerned both the captain and the vice-captain of the side, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, who both fell to the left-arm pace of Matthew Innes. Ganguly, returning to the side after a groin injury which put him out of action for 10 days, lasted a mere five balls when he flicked straight to the midwicket fielder. Dravid, disconcerted by two deliveries which rose from a length, finally perished when he cut low but straight to the point fielder, failing to open his account even after 21 deliveries. Sehwag too looked too casual in lifting a catch straight to the mid-off fielder though his partner Chopra was done in by a good delivery which lifted abruptly and took the handle of his bat enroute to the wicketkeeper, giving debutant Brett Hopp his maiden wicket in his second over. Tendulkar batted, as he has rarely played in recent times, giving full range to his strokes and even came down the track to drive and flick leg-spinner Cameron White to distraction. Ramesh put his head down for the job and looked to meet the qualities which the team is looking from an opener. The 28-year-old Tamil Nadu opener who averages 37.97 in 19 Tests last played against Sri Lanka at Colombo in 2001. The left-hander was rarely in trouble and even showed discretion on deliveries pitched outside his off-stump. He continued to find gaps despite a packed off-side field and reached his half century with a thumping square drive off Ian Harvey. It upset Harvey no end up, who had earlier got into an argument with umpire John Ward for declaring one of his beamers as no-ball. India also had their grave concerns about its tail reconfirmed as Harbhajan Singh, Laxmipathy Balaji and Zaheer Khan were involved in soft dismissals, all helping to improve the figures of White who finished with four for 59. While Harbhajan and Zaheer hit catches to the deep, Balaji tamely went forward and lobbed a catch straight back to the bowler as India lost four wickets for 29 runs. But wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel did his cause no harm by battling gamely for his unbeaten half century which came from 107 balls after over two hours of vigil in which he hit five fours. Scoreboard Indians (Ist Innings): Chopra c Roach b Harrop 2 Sehwag c Hodge b Innes 23 Ramesh c Harrop b White 87 Dravid c Moss b Innes 0 Tendulkar c Hussey b Innes 80 Ganguly c Arnberger b Innes 2 Patel batting 52 Harbhajan c Harvey b White 3 Balaji c and b White 4 Zaheer c McDonald b White 2 Nehra batting 0 Extras: (lb-7, nb-4) 11 Total: (9 wkts, 90overs) 266 FoW: 1-8, 2-41, 3-45, 4-173, 5-175, 6-220, 7-233, 8-241, 9-249. Bowling:
Matthew Innes 20-5-64-4, Brett Harrop 16-2-55-1, Jonathan Moss 18-10-31-0, Ian Harvey 9-2-22-0, Andrew McDonald 9-4-28-0, Cameron White 18-1-59-4.
— PTI |
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Kale issue PUNE: Tainted cricketer Abhijit Kale’s main supporter Maharashtra Cricket Association today backtracked on its stand saying he had lost its “trust” by going to court on the bribery issue. “The MCA will no longer support Kale since he has gone to the court and also made MCA a party,” association chairman Balasahab Thorve said here. Talking to PTI after the court hearing, Thorve said “I had earlier backed him because he was suspended merely on the basis of allegation without being given an opportunity to present his side. I told him that the MCA will stand by him when he faces the inquiry
committee. “But by going to court and making us a party he has lost our trust and now we will not support him in this matter,” Thorve said.—
PTI |
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Lanka ‘A’ concede
125-run lead Ahmedabad, November 25 After conceding a first innings lead of 125 to the hosts, Lankans were precariously placed at 196, with four of their top batsmen already in
pavillion, at the close of play today. The visitors lead by a wafer-thin margin of 76 runs and with no specialist batsmen to come next, the onus rests heavily on Nawaz and T. Kandamby (not out 16), to pose a daunting total for India ‘A’ to chase tomorrow. With batting prowess of India ‘A’ players Mohammed Kaif, Hemang Badani and Shiv Sundar Das, Lankans will also expect tailenders like O.
Wijisiriwardane, who scored a tenacious 49 in the first innings, to repeat a similar batting display. Earlier, Lankan left-arm spinner C. Herath removed three Indian tail-enders to restrict the hosts to 369, but not before overnight batsman Ramesh Powar scored a vital 42. Herath took his innings tally to six. Wicketkeeper batsman P. Jayawardane struck form at the right time to score a patient 76, as Sri Lanka began their second innings, but was bowled by off spinner
Powar. Jayawardane put on 94 run partnership with Nawaz, who remained unbeaten on 72 with four boundaries and a six. Gujarat pacer Munaf Patel and Siddharth Trivedi struck in quick succession to remove opener Ian Daniel and one-down Jehan Mubarak respectively.
— PTI |
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Mongia, Dharmani shine for Punjab Vadodara, November 25 It will be interesting to see whether Baroda manage to skittle out Punjab early to take lead or the visitors surpass the rival’s score with the wicket playing easy and Punjab tailenders putting up a good fight. Punjab, resuming at their overnight score of 98 for two, saw their innings propped up by a resolute 99 -run third wicket partnership between Dinesh Mongia and Pankaj Dharmani. Mongia edged one into the gloves of Nayan Mongia off Rakesh Patel for 60 that was sprayed with 10 boundaries. Dharmani, who was in good nick, was rather unlucky as Patel made him snick and Nayan Mongia jumped with joy when just two short of his century. His 98 was punctuated with 15 hits to the ropes. Reetender Sodhi chipped in with a fine 66, sending the cherry eight times to the fence. He was trapped lbw by Patel. Earlier, Dharmani and Sodhi were locked in a 100 runs partnership for the fourth wicket. Patel claimed four wickets for 90 but bowled 19 no balls. Shekhar Joshi and Rajesh Pawar claimed two wickets apiece. If by any chance Baroda concede first innings lead it will be their third consecutive match where they would any be able to take any. Gagan Deep (33) and V. Sharma (7) were at the crease on the draw of stumps. |
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Railways tighten grip in Ranji Trophy New Delhi, November 25 Railways, who were 200 for nine in their first innings at the draw of stumps yesterday, replying to Delhi’s first innings total of 195, added 34 runs in almost even time before folding up for 234 off 82.5 overs, in the morning. Tailender Zakir Hussain, who had not opened his account at close last evening, made 17 while Kulamani Parida carved an unbeaten 17. They expectedly went for the bowlers in the morning and reaped the reward by garnering some quick runs. Delhi, batting for a second time, once again failed to cope up with the Railway bowling and lost wickets at regular intervals to be placed in a none-too-comfortable position at the end of the day. Opener Puru Raj Singh was held by Sanjay Bangar at second slip off Harvinder Singh in the 13th over for 6 with the Delhi total reading 22. The other opener, Salil Obrai, who had a miserable outing in the first innings, looked like erasing that blot in the second knock when he put on a doughty defence to hold his end up. He and wicket-keeper Vijay Dahiya were cruising along the right course when Salil Obrai glided one into the gloves of keeper Sudhir Wankhede off Zakir Hussain to be out for 36. Delhi were two wickets down for 75. Obrai’s 36 came off 114 balls with four boundaries. Vijay Dahiya, who was floored by Wankhede off Harvinder when he had scored just eight runs, with Delhi on 31 for 1, made the most of that reprieve to score 61 with seven boundaries off 176 balls. After the exit of Dahiya, Delhi seemed to fall into a predictable rut with Harvinder calling the shots. With his fine line and length, Harvinder kept the batsmen on the backfoot, but Pradeep Chawla grafted a defiant unbeaten 48 to keep the Delhi flame flickering. Pradeep’s knock, off 112 balls, contained five boundaries while Mithun Manhas, the first inning hero, Varun Kumar and N.S. Negi all perished without offering any resistance. Sarandeep, on 3 not out, was giving Pradeep company at the draw of stumps. With just a day’s play left, it will be a Herculean task for Delhi to prevent Railways from taking at least two points for gaining the first innings lead, though Delhi cannot get away from the spectre of facing an outright defeat, either. Scores: Delhi (1st innings):
195. Railways (1st innings): 234. Delhi (2nd innings):
198 for 6 (Salil Obrai 36, Vijay Dahiya 61, Pradeep Chawla 48 n o, Harvinder Singh 3 for 38, Khanolkar 1 for 14). |
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J&K stage impressive fightback Rohtak, November 25 Haryana bowlers who bowled with penetration yesterday, failed to impress on day three. They looked so ordinary that J&K batting continued to flourish in the second innings. An unfinished partnership of 70 runs for the sixth wicket between skipper Dhruv Mahajan (42) and Majid Dar (30) did a lot of good for the visitors. Joginder Sharma gave his team the most desired breakthrough in the very first over of the day three as he trapped Rajesh Gill (18) in front of wickets without any addition to the overnight total of 31 runs. One down batsman Kawaljeet Singh played with great authority to form a partnership of 54 runs with Vikrant Taggar. Kawaljeet was brilliantly run out by Pradeep Sahu who threw the ball from short fine leg to dislodge the stumps on striker’s end. Kawaljeet contributed 41 runs off 64 balls. Ashwani Gupta also showed good resistance as he hammered 44 runs in 82 balls and gave a good company to Taggar who has been playing sheet anchor role at the other end. Gaurav Vashisht accounted for Ashwani Gupta’s wicket as he found him in front of the wickets to be adjudged lbw. The duo added 58 runs for the third wicket partnership. Vashisht took another wicket of Vikrant Taggar as he was caught at mid wicket by Shafiq Khan with the scoreboard reading 152 runs for the loss of 4 wickets. Taggar’s knock of 39 runs came in 278 minutes after facing 218 balls. It cost Haryana another 7 runs to get rid of Fazyaz Ahmed in shape of 5th wicket. Scores:
Haryana (first innings): 304 J&K (first innings): 96 J&K (second innings):
V. Taggar c Shafiq b Vashisht 39, Rajesh Gill lbw Joginder Sharma 18, Kanwaljeet Singh run out (Sahu) 41, Ashwani Gupta lbw Vashisht 44, Dhruv Mahajan batting 42, Fayaz Ahmed lbw Aparajit Singh 1, Majid Dar batting 30, Extras (b-8, lb-6) 14. Total:
229 for 5 in 100 overs. Fall of wickets: 1/31, 2/85, 3/143, 4/152, 5/159 Bowling:
Joginder Sharma 18-5-48-1, Sumit Narwal 13-3-29-0, Gaurav Vashisht 35-12-75-2. Aparajit Singh 22-10-29-1, Pradeep Sahu 12-3-34-0. |
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Punjab in a spot against J&K Patiala, November 25 Resuming at their overnight 104 for 3, the hosts put up a pathetic display and barring Gaurav Marwaha (49) no other batsman was able to make his presence felt in the middle. Punjab put on a much improved display in the bowling department and their medium pacer V.R.V Singh ripped open the heart of the visitors batting in their second innings by picking up four crucial wickets conceding 43 runs. Brief scores: J&K (1st innings):
143 all out Punjab (1st innings): 180 all out (Gaurav Marwaha 49, Sachin Sachdeva 20, S.P Singh 17, Inderjit Singh 3 for 17, Hardeep Singh 3 for 11, Imtiaz 1 for 40, Pranab 1 for 34) J&K (2nd innings): 126 all out
(Inderjeet Singh 24, Imraz Thakur 17, Satyajit 13, V.R.V Singh 4 for 43, Sandeep 2 for 28) Punjab (2nd innings):
13 for 2. |
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Himachal on brink of defeat Dharamsala, November 25 On the second day, Delhi who were 170 for three at the close of play yesterday, were all out for 273. Rajiv was highest scorer with 62 while Dalip T.T. made 40, Kuldeep scored 33, Agnesh scored 32 and Suhail made 31 runs. For Himachal Pradesh Vijay, Bhaskar, Ankit and Amit captured two wickets each. Himachal, on 206 for six wickets lost all the remaining wickets for addition of no run as Kuldeep claimed a hat-trick. Vivek had captured five wickets in the first innings, took three wickets for 43 today. Delhi now need only 69 runs to win the tie. |
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Punjab Police lift Nehru hockey title New Delhi, November 25 The Jalandhar team, who had defeated the same opponent 3-2 last year, converted three of their four second half penalty corners to prove beyond doubt that they were the best team of the tournament and also added a sixth title to their kitty. It was, however, a lacklustre performance by nine-time champions Indian Airlines with their forward line lacking co-ordination and the defence found wanting on a few occasions against the policemen’s forward line. After a barren first half in which both the teams focused more on getting the measure of their opponents than creating openings, it were Indian Airlines who started the aggression as mercurial Dhanraj Pillay made a few probing runs into the opponents box. But none of the Airlines attacks looked threatening as both their wingers - Sameer Dad and Arjun Halappa — were very much off-colour and could not make an impact. It was in the 45th minute that Punjab Police got their first real chance to break the deadlock but the reverse flick by their skipper Gagan Ajit Singh went wide. However, it was just the begining of the policemen’s complete domination as Daljeet Singh (56th) and Baljeet (58th, 68th) sounded the board to finish the airmen’s challenge. The sizeable hockey followers who had gathered at the stadium to witness the final between the country’s two best teams were treated to a fast-paced encounter with both the teams trying to outpace their opponents. But with the teams opting for man-to-man marking there was very little possibility of incisive moves and the ball remained mostly in the midfield. “We never though that the match will be so one-sided. But it was great to see the team perform the way it did,” an elated Punjab Police manager Pargat Singh said after the match. “Our players were a bit tired after playing for three days on the trot and we also had some injury worries. Even then we were never under pressure and that shows how well the team played.” Indian Airlines coach Mervyn Fernandes made no excuses for the defeat and said it was the best team on the day which won. “After the performance we put up today we deserved to lose.” Punjab Police went home richer by Rs 2.5 lakh while Indian Airlines received a cash prize of Rs 1.5 lakh. Earlier, Bharat Petroleum defeated Tamil Nadu XI 3-2 to finish third and win a prize purse of Rs 1 lakh. Len Ayappa (4th), Ajay Saroha (18th, 24th) scored for the winners while Laxman Prabhakaran (13th, 34th) sounded the board for the south India team. Tamil Nadu XI also bagged the ONGC fair play trophy while Indian Oil was adjudicated the most promising team.
— PTI |
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Another hockey star set to dazzle Chandigarh, November 25 This was precisely the reason that India went on to win the Asia Cup without their trump card Jugraj Singh, who was hospitalised following a serious road mishap. And India's tale of success did not end with the historic Asia Cup win at Kuala Lumpur. In the inaugural Afro-Asian Games at Hyderabad, India once again romped home with the title, chalking out impressive wins from day one. The final against Pakistan which India won 3-1 was, in fact, a repeat of the Asia Cup title clash which incidentally was won by India. And the Indian team that took on Pakistan in the Afro-Asian Games final at Hyderabad’s Gachibowli Stadium on October 30 was without stalwarts like Dhanraj Pillay, Baljeet Singh Dhillon, Baljit Singh Saini, and Jugraj Singh. Included in the line-up were greenhorns like Harpal Singh, the young and energetic defender who made an impressive debut in the lung opener against Egypt on October 23. Although Harpal was fielded for about 15 minutes in the opener, he impressed the crowd with effective tackling, thwarting penalty corner hits by the Egyptians. The second match against Nigeria which he played for the entire duration boosted his confidence and the third against Pakistan on October 27 saw Harpal once again playing an effective role in India’s victory. Thus when ace defender Kanwalpreet Singh was ruled out of the semifinals and final due to a hamstring injury, Harpal was an automatic choice. He not only defended well in the semifinal against Malaysia and subsequently in the final against Pakistan but also lent support to the attack along with skipper Dilip Tirkey, the other full back. And according to Rajinder Singh, Harpal has sent a strong message through his performance in the Afro-Asian Games and it will be difficult to sideline him. Such replacements at short notice were unthinkable till a few years back. Hardly 19 years old, Harpal Singh belongs to Santnagar village near Sirsa. He is a product of the Namdhari Sports Academy and trains under the watchful eyes of Olympian Didar Singh and Harminder Pal Singh. Son of a farmer, Mr Balkar Singh, Harpal owes his success to the Namdhari head, Satguru Jagjit Singh. A student of BA second year in Kurukshetra University, Harpal was in the India ‘A’ team that toured Egypt in March this year where his team finished third. He was also called for the camps in preparation for the Asia Cup and Champions Trophy this year. Given his young age, the young Harpal is destined to soar higher in the years to come. |
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India-Pak Punjab Games on the anvil New Delhi, November 25 A brainchild of Indian Olympic Association secretary-general Randhir Singh, the games will pit athletes from the two Punjabs in India and Pakistan. They have been tentatively scheduled for next winter, after the Olympic Games. “The Olympic Games are being held in Athens in August next year, so the best time for the Punjab Games would be November-December,” Singh told IANS. He said Ludhiana would be best suited for the games as it had adequate infrastructure. “The games will become an annual feature, and will be alternately held in India and Pakistan,” he said. The games would feature only seven to eight disciplines to keep the numbers manageable. “We have not decided as yet about the number of disciplines, but they would not exceed eight,” he said. Singh said the idea for the games came to him when he visited Lahore for a meeting with his Pakistani counterparts in September. “I floated the idea at a meeting with officials of the Pakistan Olympic Association and they agreed in principle,” he said. Singh said he would send a proposal to the Sports Ministry and also take up the matter with the Sports Minister. “I have already sounded the Sports Minister, he said. “Government clearance will not be a problem,” he hoped.
— IANS |
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Dwain Chambers in dope net Paris, November 25 The L’Equipe sports daily said the British athlete and US shot putter Kevin Toth were the two men to have been caught when all 400 urine samples were re-tested for
THG. The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) ordered all urine samples to be re-tested when the previously unheard-of THG was discovered by a Los Angeles laboratory. — AFP |
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Punjab, Rajasthan cyclists advance Ludhiana, November 25 On the third day, medals were given away to the winners who excelled during the first two days of the championship. Mr G.S. Julka, General Manager, Telecom, BSNL, Ludhiana, Dr A P S Mann, Dean Students Welfare, PAU and Mr Apinder Singh Grewal, President, Ludhiana Cycling Association presented the medals to the participants. Today, the qualifying rounds were conducted and the following cyclists advanced into the medal winning stage: 3 km individual pursuit (boys u-18 year)- for the Ist and 2nd place- Rajender Bishnoi of Rajasthan vs Neeraj Sahney of Punjab and Laxman Vyas of Rajasthan vs Gagandeep Singh of Punjab for the 3rd and 4th place. 3 km individual pursuit (girls u-18) Nilamma Malligayad of Karnataka vs Meenakshi Shinde of Maharashtra for Ist and 2nd place and V. Ishwarya of Andhra Pradesh vs Reshmi B.R. of Kerala for the 3rd and 4th place. 4 km individual pursuit (men)- Sarabjit Singh of Punjab Police vs Sandeep Kumar of Services Sports Control Board for the Ist and 2nd place and O. Bikram Singh of Railway Sports Promotion Board vs Kanwaljit Singh of Punjab Police for 3rd and 4th place. 3 km individual pursuit (women)- O Bina Kumari Devi of Railway Sports Promotion Board vs Premlata Andrews of Railway Sports Promotion Board for the Ist and 2nd place and Anitha Andrews of Kerala vs Pritma Lonari of Maharashtra for the 3rd and 4th place. |
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Panjab varsity beat KU by 4
goals Fatehgarh Sahib, November 25 In the second match Punjabi University, Patiala, defeated GND University, Amritsar by 2 goals to nil. The first goal for Punjabi University was scored by Kamalpreet Singh in the 40th minute, while the second goal was scored by Harvinder Singh in the 42th minute. Mr Surjeet Singh Secretary of the organising committee said on the final day tomorrow the match between Kurukshetra University and Punjabi University and the second match between Panjab University and Guru Nank Dev University would be played. He said that Mr. Shiv Kumar SSP, would give away the prizes. He said a wrestling match between Parminder Singh Doomcheri (Bharat
Kesri) and Kala (Delhi Kesri) would also be organised. |
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Doaba College beat DAV College Amritsar, November 25 Varun with four wickets and Chetan Joshi (two wickets) bundled out DAV College for merely 165 runs. Chasing the paltry score Doaba College made the required 166 runs losing just four wickets. |
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Table tennis meet AMRITSAR: Nearly 58 university teams, including 28 women’s teams will participate in the North Zone Table Tennis (men and women) championship scheduled to be held at Gol Bagh Gymnasium Hall from November 28 to December 1. — OSR |
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PUNE: Tainted
cricketer Abhijit Kale’s main
supporter Maharashtra Cricket Association today backtracked on its stand saying he had lost its “trust” by going to court on the bribery issue.
“The MCA will no longer support Kale since he has gone to the court and also made MCA a party,” association chairman Balasahab Thorve said here.
New Delhi, November 25
Indian hockey's strength today lies in its strong bench power. After years of struggle and planning, the team management, including coaches Rajinder Singh and Baldev Singh can derive satisfaction from the fact that for every position in the national team, there are several players ready to don national colours.
