SPORTS

Vijay Dahiya replaces Amit Bhandari in North team
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, January 13
Wicket-keeper batsman Vijay Dahiya has been included in the North Zone team in place of Amit Bhandari, who has been selected for the India team, in the Deodhar Trophy Cricket Tournament to be held in Cuttack.

North Zone convenor Sunil Dev, who is also the sports secretary of the Delhi and District Cricket Association, announced in Delhi on Tuesday that he has been informed by chairman of the North Zone selection committee Kirti Azad to include Dahiya in the team caused by the vacancy of Amit Bhandari’s selection to the Indian one-day team for the triangular series being played in Australia.

Dahiya, Rajat hit tons

Vijay Dahiya blasted a mesmerising century (166, 25x4, 3x6) and Rajat Bhatia hit a stunning 159, studded with 20 boundaries and four sixes, as they put on 260 runs for the opening wicket to help Indian Airlines defeat Subhania Club by 262 runs in a Super A Division match of the DDCA League at the Mohan Meakin ground.

Scores: Indian Airlines: 383 for 2 in 40 overs (Vijay Dahiya 166, Rajat Bhatia 159). Subhania: 121 for 8 in 40 overs (Azeem Ahmad 34, Arun Pandey 3 for 21, Subhash Choudhary 2 for 14).

In another match, R R Gymkhana defeated Youngsters Club by two wickets in a Super A Division match at the Yamuna Sports Complex ground.

Scores: Youngsters: 203 for 7 in 40 overs (Sunil Rawat 75 n o, Mohit Soni 32, Rajat Gupta 30, Rachit Kapoor 3 for 38). R R Gymkhana: 204 for 8 in 39.3 overs (Neeraj Chawla 97 n o, Rachit Kapoor 31, Mohit Soni 2 for 34).

India move up in Test cricket ranking
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, January 13
India have improved their Test ranking to sixth position after their scintillating display in Australia whereas the Australians continue their domination in world Test and ODI rankings. Pakistan follow Australia as the second best team in ODI and share the second spot with South Africa in world Test ranking. Sachin Tendulkar has regained his top position in ODIs while West Indian Brian Lara rules the world in Tests, according to the just-released Samsung Cricket Ratings.

Australia continue to rule in the Test arena with 80 points while India have earned 40 points to take the sixth position. Pakistan and South Africa share the second spot with 65 points, followed by England and West Indies, who share the fourth spot with 50 points. New Zealand are placed seventh, with 33 points, and Sri Lanka eighth with 15 points.

Australia remain the clear leaders in the world ODI rankings with 88 points, followed by Pakistan at 75 points. Pakistan bolstered their position following their 5-0 victory against New Zealand at home. India are joint fourth with England on 65 points behind South Africa (66). Sri Lanka (53), West Indies (39), New Zealand (37), Zimbabwe (35) and Kenya (18) fill up the positions down the order.

Sachin Tendulkar, with 108 points, has reclaimed his top spot in the ODI batting ranking. Imran Farhat of Pakistan with 98 points occupies the second position. Jacques Kallis (93) of South Africa, Chris Gayle (92) of West Indies and Saurav Ganguly (72) fill up the other positions down the order.

In Test batting, Brian Lara is on top with 164 points while Australian Ricky Ponting has moved to the second spot with 160 points. Mathew Hayden (139), South African captain Graeme Smith (124) and Rahul Dravid (112) take the other positions, in that order. In Test bowling, Anil Kumble, with 77 points, is placed tenth while the top position is occupied by Makhaya Ntini of South Africa. In ODI bowling, Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka leads with 139 points with Ntini a close second at 138.

Gurjeet, Ashu shine for GHPS
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, January 13
A dashing knock of 66 by Gurjeet Singh and deadly bowling of 4 for 16 by Nripraj Singh helped Guru Harkrishan Public School (GHPS), Vasant Vihar defeat South Delhi Colts by 168 runs in the fifth R G Williams Memorial Under-15 Cricket Tournament at the Frank Anthony Public School ground.

Scores: GHPS: 267 for 6 in 35 overs (Gurjeet Singh 66, Ashu Adhlakha 40, Kanwar Singh 32, Bhavjeet Singh 31, Aditya Sharma 4 for 41).

South Delhi Colts: 99 all out in 26.3 overs (Gur Kamal 32, Nripraj Singh 4 for 16, Harpreet Singh 3 for 9).

Umed Club stun ONGC

An all-round display by Dinesh Yadav (3 for 19 and 34 n o) helped Raja Umed Singh Club beat Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) by two wickets and entered the quarter-final of the 8th Sahibzada Ajit Singh Cricket Tournament at the Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce ground at Pitampura. Dinesh was named the man of the match.

Scores: ONGC: 155 for 8 in 40 overs (Mohd Saif 44, Amit Sharma 39, Ravi Sehgal 27, Dinesh Yadav 3 for 19, Amit Singh 2 for 24, Umesh Choudhary 2 for 34).

RUSC: 156 for 8 in 39 overs (Dinesh Yadav 34 n o, Kapil Mehta 26, Sumit Kumar 26 n o).

Shivesh Kumar deadly

A devastating bowling spell of 6 for 20 by Shivesh Kumar and 3 for 25 by K C Sharma helped Gillette defeat Sadar Bazar by 30 runs in a limited-over match held at the Jamia Milia ground.

Scores: Gillette: 148 for 8 in 25 overs (Rajkumar 33, Sankalp Khanna 31, Bharat 3 for 17, Ashish 3 for 29). Sadar Bazar: 118 for 9 in 25 overs (Ashwani Bhalla 46, Navneet Kumar 30, Shivesh Kumar 6 for 20, K C Sharma 3 for 35).

GAIL beat CR Infotech

Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) defeated CR Infotech by 94 runs in the 11th Teri Cup Cricket Tournament at the Oval ground. Scores: GAIL: 189 for 7 in 25 overs (Akash Bhuvan 72, Gautam Biswan 20, H S Rekhi 20 n o). C R Infotech: 95 all out in 21.3 overs (Raj Kumar 23, Prakash Babu 4 for 14, H S Rekhi 2 for 1). Akash was named the man of the match.

Jheel Khuranji enter semi-final
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, January 13
An unbeaten 96 by Vivek Srivastava and deadly bowling by Vikas Nigam (4 for 29) helped Government School, Jheel Khuranji defeat K N Colts by eight wickets and enter the semi-final of the Shakuntala Devi Cricket Tournament at the Yamuna Sports Complex ground.

Scores: K N Colts: 203 for 9 in 40 overs (Vikrant Dheer 35, Joel Trinidad 34, Sidharth Jani 30, Vikas Nigam 4 for 29, Narender Kumar 2 for 31).

Jheel Khuranji School: 204 for 2 in 32.2 overs (Vivek Srivastava 96 n o, 10x4, 2x6; Rajiv Gupta 42, Rajneesh Kumar 37, Himanshu Sharma 1 for 16). Vivek Srivastava was named the man of the match.

Robin Bisth blasts century

Robin Bisth blasted a strokeful century (100, 15x4, 2x6) and left-arm spinner Arun Choudhary plucked 4 for 30 as Poorvi Delhi Coaching Centre defeated Sonnet Club by 48 runs in the second Rajeev Gandhi Memorial Under-17 Cricket Tournament at the Picnick Hut ground in Ashok Vihar.

Scores: Poorvi Delhi: 222 all out in 39.2 overs (Robin Bisth 100, Ramit Gill 34, Chetan Bisth 24, Harish Kumar 3 for 28, Darshan Kajania 4 for 46).

Sonnet Club: 174 all out in 39.3 overs (Vineet Sharma 63, Shobhit Kaushik 32, Arun Choudhry 4 for 30, Subodh Rathi 3 for 15).

Ashok Kumar jumps to the top slot
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, January 13
Ashok Kumar justified his reputation when he jumped to the No 1 spot in the Hero Honda Indian Golf Tour Order of Merit just 21 months after turning a professional.

A tied third-place finish at the recently-concluded Hero Open West at the Poona Golf Club course was enough for the pro to displace the fancied Mukesh Kumar from the top spot of the money list.

Ashok Kumar also became the first player this season to hit the Rs 6-lakh prize money mark with total earnings of Rs 6,09,610 in 11 starts. The ‘Rookie of the Year’ Ashok has had eight top ten finishes, including a victory at the Servo Masters at Digboi, this season.

Mukesh, who finished 24th at Pune, slid to third position with total earnings of Rs 5,3,990 for 11 outings. The four-time ‘Champion Golfer of the Year’ has two wins in the current season with nine top-ten finishes.

SSP Chowrasia, who has had a fine run in the last four events, winning two of them, held on to his second position with earnings of Rs 5,91,265.

He earned his seventh top-ten finish of the year when he finished joint-fifth at Pune.

Digvijay Singh, who briefly topped the Order of Merit, after winning the Surya Nepal Masters and was tied with Chowrasia in the fifth place, was fourth in the money list with earnings of Rs 5,54,823.

Vijay Kumar, who registered his first victory of the season at Pune, made the biggest move, jumping five slots to the fifth place. A Rs 1,62,000 winner’s cheque at Pune boosted his earnings from nine outings to Rs 5,21,628.

Delhi’s Arjun Singh, who has only played four events on the Indian Golf Tour, was in the sixth position while Uttam Singh Mundy and Feroz Ali were placed seventh and eighth, respectively. Rafiq Ali was at the ninth position and Delhi pro Pappan was at the tenth spot.