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Perform or perish, Miandad warns Pak team
South Zone defeat England ‘A’ North register victory |
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Pressure mounts on Woods to perform
RCF beat NCR in football Sasikiran wins PAP players dominate 4 Haryana athletes win medals
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Perform or perish, Miandad warns Pak team
Lahore, February 24 The former Pakistan batsman, known for his aggressiveness, said the two major aspects players needed to work on were fielding and bowling. “The players need to individually work on their fielding drills. Secondly our bowlers must give extra time to reduce their habit of giving away too many no-balls or wides,’’ Miandad warned before the start of the training camp here today. “We will ask the selection committee not to consider any such player in future who is not willing to work hard himself in these two areas. It is no use having a player who scores 50 and concedes 50 in the field. It is better to have an average batsman but who is an outstanding fielder,” he was quoted as saying by ‘The News’. Miandad also made it clear that the Pakistan team did not require a fielding trainer. “The sort of fielding drills we put the boys through it is both practical and theoretical. And I take care to get involved myself in these drills all the time. There is nothing much more anyone can do as far as our fielding drills are concerned. It is just that the boys now have to take individual interest and work hard on their fielding,’’ he noted. “Cricket is played in the mind and heart. If any player is not willing to work hard or takes things easy, there is nothing any coach can do for him. I am there for the players but they have to work hard themselves also,” the daily quoted him as saying. Promising an incident-free series against India, Mianadad said, “We all know how important this series is to future relations between the two countries and the impact it would have on the ongoing peace process. We will ensure there is no sort of bad blood in the series and it is played in the best spirit of the game.” He was of the view that there was a great responsibility on the players and officials in the series to show the world that the India-Pakistan series could be held purely as a cricket series and peacefully. Asked if would agree that the Indians were coming in with the tag of favourites, the former Test skipper replied said, “No, it would be an even contest.” “While India is a good team they have only started establishing themselves in the last two years. Their batting is mature but their bowling is limited.” Miandad said he felt that while India had played well in Australia, they didn’t achieve the desired results in the end. “We won the Test series in New Zealand but lost the ODIs. But personally I think nowadays the past is past and you can’t judge any team on the basis of its previous series.” — UNI
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Sharma
routs Windies in u-19 World Cup
Dhaka, February 24 After posting a challenging 253 for nine, India skittled out the Caribbeans for 157 in 39.1 overs in a day-night match at the Bangabandhu Stadium. After seamer Gaurav Dhiman (3-26) had plunged them to 54 for four, the Windies fOUght back through a 63-run fifth wicket stand between Assad Fudaddin (51) and Jonathan Augustus (29). But Sharma’s spell swung the match away from them. The Delhi spinner first had Augustus caught by captain Ambati Rayudu with the scoreboard reading 117. He then removed R Rampaul before L Sebastien fell to Suresh Raina as the Windies slipped to 138 for seven. When Fudadin, after a 120 minute vigil at the crease, fell to Sharma, the match was sealed. Earlier, Suresh Raina scored a valuable half century to help India recover from a disastrous start as they lost two wickets for 18 runs. Raina made 66 from 84 balls with four fours to add 63 runs for the fourth wicket with Rayudu. Rayudu, who had led the recovery with a 51-run partnership with Rakesh Solanki for the third wicket, played a supporting innings of 47 from 72 balls and hit six fours. Wicketkeeper batsman Dinesh Kartik then made an attacking 46 from 50 balls aided by three fours and two sixes to help India to a formidable total.
— PTI
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Gurgaon, February 24 The winning runs came from S. Badrinath who clubbed right-arm seamer Bilal Shifayat to midwicket fence to score a perfect hundred of his own. Another innings which laid the platform for South’s six-wicket win came from left-handed Sridharan Sriram who made 117, his 25th first class century. Statistics with regard to the highest ever target successfully chased in Duleep Trophy were not immediately available. But an unofficial source said it was the sixth time in the history of the tournament that a 500 plus target was overhauled. The win gave South four points and put them in strong position to make the final beginning on March 4 at Mohali. East Zone, who had grabbed two points by virtue of the first innings lead against South in the first round, will have to win their second match against England ‘A’ to edge out South and reach the final. Rao’s marathon innings, spanning seven hours and 47 minutes, encompassed two double-century partnerships with Sriram and Badrinath. He added 226 runs for the third wicket with the former and 212 for the unbroken fifth with the latter. Scoreboard England ‘A’ (1st innings) 377
(1st innings) 174 England ‘A’ (2nd innings) 297 South Zone (2nd innings):
Extras
(b-17, lb-8, nb-4) 29. Total (for four wickets in 124.2 overs) 503. Fall of wickets:
1-1, 2-1, 3-227, 4-291. Bowling: Sajid Mahmood 20.1-2-85-2, Simon Francis
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EZ-England ‘A’ tie from Feb 27 Amritsar, February 24 Mr Raminder Singh, Deputy Commissioner, and president of the Amritsar Games Association (AGA) said here today that all arrangements had been made for the smooth conduct of the match. He said Mr R.L. Bhatia, MP had provided Rs 5 lakh for upkeep of the pitch. According to Mr J.P. Shoor, secretary, AGA, the East Zone team will arrive here tomorrow. |
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Gurgaon, February 24 Needing 115 runs for a victory, North were cruising along comfortably at 51 for no loss before stuttering to 97 for five. But Ajay Ratra (12 not out) and Joginder Sharma (11 not out) scored the required runs as the team romped home in the 50th over. Veteran leg-spinner Narendra Hirwani (3 for 31) and left-arm spinner Murali Kartik (2 for 21) shared the spoils. Earlier, Chopra and Gautam Gambhir, resuming on two for no loss made steady progress before Kartik clean bowled Gambhir (24). Six overs later Hirwani castled star Indian batsman Yuvraj Singh (5) as the total read 63 for 2. Hirwani took another wicket in his next over beating the defence of skipper Dinesh Mongia (2) but Mithun Manhas and Chopra weathered the storm taking North to within striking distance before Hirwani consumed Manhas (9), again clean bowling, with the total on 82. With top Indian spinners, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, nursing injuries Hirwani would also be a contender for the spinner’s berth for the Pakistan tour alongwith Railways Kulamani Parida and Kartik, Sarandeep Singh of Delhi and Bengal’s Sourashis Lahiri. Central Zone (1st innings): 154 North Zone (1st innings): 249 Central Zone (2nd innings): 211 North Zone (2nd innings): A Chopra c Saxena b Kartik 43, G Gambhir b Kartik 24, Y Singh b Hirwani 5, D Mongia b Hirwani 2, M Manhas b Hirwani 9, A Ratra not out 12 J Sharma not out, 11 Extras (b-3, lb-3, nb-6) 12 Total (for five wickets, 49.5 overs) 118 Fall of wickets: 1-51, 2-63, 3-66, 4-82, 5-97. Bowling: J P Yadav 13-5-16-0, S Bangar 7-1-20-0, S Pandey 4-0-24-0, M Kartik 10-2-21-2, N Hirwani 15.5-4-31-3. — PTI
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Hockey coach promises good show at Madrid
New Delhi, February 24 The Indian coach was of the view that qualifying for the Olympics should not be a problem as the first seven finishers in the 12-team tourney at Madrid would make it to the Athens Games. “My aim is that the team should finish in the top three. It is virtually going to be a mini World Cup with Sydney Olympic gold medallists Holland, Spain, Pakistan, New Zealand, England, Malaysia, Canada, and Poland also vying for slots for Athens.’’ Rajinder said: “This tournament will provide the boys the much-needed exposure prior to the Olympics and I hope they will take full advantage of the chance that has come their way to study and grasp the gameplan and tactics of other teams.” He refused to comment on the exclusion of Dhanraj Pillay, saying “I have nothing to say in this matter.” The coach asserted that this was the “best possible team to represent the country in such an important event.” “I am satisfied with the performance of the forwards and midfielders. They are in good shape and nick.” Rajinder, however, was a little worried about the penalty corner conversions. “This is one technical area which causes a little worry but I hope Len Aiyappa will come good.” “The forwards are capable of scoring a lot of field goals. I have told them (forwards) that they can’t afford to miss even a half chance at this level of competition,” the coach said. “We have a very solid defence. Dilip Tirkey will have two dependable backs, William Xalco and Kanwalpreet to give him company. Xalco played well in the Azlan Shah tournament at Kuala Lumpur last month.’’ Rajinder said the midfielders were very experienced and with Baljit Singh Saini coming back it has further strengthened the side. He admitted that a “good opening” in the tournament would be a big morale booster for the team. India take on Belgium in their opener on March 2. — UNI
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Pressure mounts on Woods to perform
London, February 24 Twelve months ago, the world number one was halfway towards a run of three victories in his first four starts of the year, following a month-long layoff after knee surgery. This season, however, he has failed to win in his first three tournaments and his long-established grip on the game is widely perceived to have relaxed, with rivals like Vijay Singh and Ernie Els appearing to have closed the gap. However Woods, who failed to clinch a major title last year for the first time since 1998, was in reasonably upbeat mood after a closing seven-under-par 64 lifted him into a tie for seventh at the Nissan Open on Sunday. ‘’I hit it closer and made a few putts,’’ the 28-year-old American said on his official website. ‘’More importantly, I finally hit my irons better. ‘’My goal starting out was either get in the top 10 or build some positive momentum going into this week.’’ Woods, who beat David Toms 2 and 1 in last year’s World Match Play Championship final, will meet fellow American John Rollins in Wednesday’s first round. ‘’I may have played with John once,’’ he said. ‘’I know he hits it very long and is a good left-to-right player. In 18 holes, anything could happen, so it’s important to get off to a good start.’’ The Match Play Championship, the first of the year’s four WGC events, is limited to the top 64 players in the game and Woods has been seeded one. He has always relished the cut and thrust of match-play golf, and is well aware of the format’s unpredictability. ‘’I mean, you could hit the ball like an absolute chop, but if you make putts and put pressure on your opponent, you can wear him down that way,’’ he said. Three players have already withdrawn from this week’s event, including world number three Ernie Els and sixth-ranked Jim Furyk. Three-times major winner Els pulled out for personal reasons last Friday, preferring to spend time in England with his daughter Samantha who is starting her first year of school. — Reuters
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RCF beat NCR in football Kapurthala, February 24 RCF centre-forward Manjinder Singh scored the only important field goal in the dying minutes of play in an evenly played match. Both the teams failed to score any goal till the breather. In another match, Eastern Railway (ER) beat Eastern Central Railway (ECR) by 3-0 in a one-sided match. ER’s Sandeep Kumar scored the first goal for his team in the third minute. After the break, Kuntal Biswas and Mazumdar scored the second and third goal for the winners in the 68th minute and 89 minutes. In the third match Western Central Railway had a walkover against RDSO Lucknow as the RDSO team failed to turn up to play the match.
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Moscow, February 24 GM Valerij Filippov of Russia emerged the sole leader on six points out of a possible seven when he turned the tables on compatriot Alexander Rustemov in his seventh round board yesterday. With two more rounds to go, seven players including Sasikiran, share the second spot with 5.5 points apiece. The other six following Filippov were Fernec Berkes of Hungary, Joel Lautier of France, Dutchamn Loek Van Wely, Russians Pavel Tregubov, Alexander Motylev and second seed Alexey Dreev. P Konguvel shot in to joint third spot with his sixth successive victory in the event. Konguvel accounted for Vitaly Kunin of Russia and took his tally to 6.5 points.— PTI
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Jalandhar, February 24 Punjab Director-General of Police A.A. Siddiqui inaugurated the meet. The results : Handball — PAP Zone-1, Border Zone-2, Jalandhar Zone-3. Kabaddi PAP Zone-1, Patiala Zone-2, Border Zone-3. Volleyball — PAP Zone-1, Jalandhar Zone-2, Patiala Zone-3. Weightlifting — PAP Zone - 1, Border Zone-2, Jalandhar Zone -3. Wrestling — (Greco Roman) PAP Zone -1, Jalandhar Zone -2, Patiala Zone-3.Free Style PAP Zone- 1, Jalandhar Zone -2, Combined Zone-3. Basket Ball — PAP Zone- 1, Border Zone- 2, Patiala Zone- 3. Boxing — PAP Zone- 1, Border Zone - 2, Patiala -3. Judo — PAP Zone -1, Jalandhar Zone - 2, Border Zone - 3. — UNI
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4 Haryana athletes win medals Chandigarh, February 24 Giving details, secretary of the Haryana State Amateur Athletic Association, said that the medal winners would be honoured with cash prizes as per the state government’s sports policy.
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