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India win as Ganguly leads from front
King Ganguly now a pauper, says Atherton
Zee bags BCCI telecast rights
Hockey: Security concerns may see Champions Trophy out of Pak
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Sharapova, Moya bow out; Federer rolls on
Bhupathi, Mirnyi in
pre-quarters
Baba Lodhiana Academy boys enter final
Huge defeat for Srinagar school
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India win as Ganguly leads from front
London, September 5 After being bundled out for a modest 204, Sourav Ganguly’s men rediscovered their familiar nerve in the face of adversity to snuff England out for 181 in 48.2 overs for a morale-boosting win. Young wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthick lost and reinvented his fledgling career in the same day as he dropped Michael Vaughan on 36 and then produced an out-of-the-world stumping to dismiss the England captain in the nerve-wracking closing stages. Vaughan’s piece de resistance, 74 off 141 balls with eight fours and a 92-run seventh-wicket partnership with Ashley Giles (39), looked set to lead England to a white-wash of the Indians but Ganguly’s men were not be denied this day. The English batting that had given the Indian bowling a hiding in the previous two games floundered against some inspired seam bowling and the mesmering off-spin of Harbhajan Singh. The Turbanator finished with three for 28 while Ashish Nehra scalped three for 26. The Indians, reeling under a string of losses beginning with the defeat to Pakistan in a Super League match of the Asia Cup in July, rung in changes and shuffled their batting order. Earlier, a captain’s knock by Sourav Ganguly failed to inspire India to a formidable total after the batsmen faltered once again. Ganguly and vice-captain Rahul Dravid, who overcame his scratchy form and hit a 91-ball 52, were the only batsmen to reach double digit scores. Steve Harmison picked four for 22 and Darren Gough claimed his 200th wicket in one-day internationals when he had Harbhajan Singh caught by Michael Vaughan in the 45th over. Dravid was relieved of the wicketkeeping duties and the 19-year old Karthick was handed his India cap. Virender Sehwag was pushed down to number four and VVS Laxman moved up to open the innings but two, put together, could only make 10 runs. Laxmipathy Balaji, Ajit Agarkar and Rohan Gavaskar made way for Ashish Nehra, Anil Kumble and debutant Karthick. Mohammad Kaif also batted at an unusual position, number three, but made no contribution worth mentioning. For Laxman, it was a forgettable outing. For once the stylish opener’s bat didn’t make a sweet sound from the 27 balls he faced for his nine runs before a Steve Harmison yorker pegged back his off-stump. The horrors of running between the wicket cost India another wicket when Ganguly pushed a delivery to mid-wicket and took off with Mohammad Kaif rooted to his spot. By the time Kaif (2) responded it was too late. Ganguly, after a watchful start, batted beautifully and a century was there for asking before his penchant for the pull shot once again ended in catch at short mid-wicket. Ganguly pulled Harmison's first delivery in his recalled spell into the hands of Vaughan to bring curtains on an entertaining innings. Ganguly played several pleasing strokes, none better than a lofted four over extra cover and then a straight six off Paul Collingwood which cost the seamer 13 runs from the over. Scoreboard
India: Ganguly c Vaughan b Harmison 90 Laxman b Harmison 9 Kaif run out 2 Sehwag c and b Giles 1 Dravid c Collingwood Yuvraj c Giles b Wharf 9 Karthik c Jones b Harmison 1 Harbhajan c Vaughan b Gough 0 Pathan b Wharf 14 Kumble c Wharf b Gough 5 Nehra not out 2 Extras:
(lb-5, w-10, nb-4) 19 Total (all out in 49.3 overs) 204 FoW:
1-24, 2-46, 3-48, 4-141, 5-170, 6-181, 7-182, 8-184, 9-195 Bowling:
Gough 10-0-41-2, Harmison 10-0-22-4, Wharf 9.3-0-41-2, Giles 10-0-43-1, Vaughan 5-0-23-0, Collingwood 5-0-29-0. England: Trescothick c Laxman b Nehra 1 Solanki c Harbhajan b Nehra 9 Vaughan st Karthik b Harbhajan 74 Strauss lbw b Pathan 2 McGrath lbw b Pathan 2 Collingwood run out 4 Jones c Sehwag b Harbhajan 11 Giles c and b Harbhajan 39 Wharf c Karthik b Yuvraj 9 Gough b Nehra 10 Harmison not out 4 Extras
(lb-11 nb-1 w-4) 16 Total (all out, 48.2 overs) 181 Fall of wickets:
1-5, 2-22, 3-27, 4-29, 5-48, 6-62, 7-154, 8-155, 9-166 Bowling:
Pathan 9-0-32-2 (w-1), Nehra 7.2-1-26-3, Kumble 10-1-36-0, Harbhajan 10-1-28-3, Sehwag 6-0-24-0, Yuvraj 6-0-24-1.
— PTI
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King Ganguly now a pauper, says Atherton
London, September 5 Atherton said in a column in ‘The Sunday Telegraph’ that Ganguly’s once ‘Sun King’ status lay in tatters now after a string of defeats suffered by his team. “Ganguly is one of the most competitive cricketers of the modern era. By the force of his personality he has moulded a group of individuals into a team who have proved to be the only real threat to Australian hegemony. “He carries himself regally, as if leadership for him is pre-ordained and his power absolute. He is the Louis XIV, the ‘Sun King’, of Indian cricket. “(But) today, he holds out the begging bowl, hoping for the scraps from this three-match series. It is unlikely that he will find the opposition in charitable mood,” Atherton said referring to the 2-0 lead of England in the series. He said the gulf between India and England was apparent “in a moment of farce” at the Oval on Friday. “Ganguly pushed Stephen Harmison to mid-off and called for a quick single, only to collide mid-pitch with Laxman. Ganguly dropped his bat in the process and duly found himself three yards short of his ground when the stumps were thrown down.” “He turned to give Laxman a tongue-lashing (The ‘Sun King’ is always right) and then had the indignity of having to walk half-way down the pitch to retrieve his bat before skulking off,” Atherton wrote. “The moment had everything: it showed the menace of Harmison with the new ball (Ganguly was keen to get off-strike); the unathleticism of Laxman - only with Inzamam-ul Haq is there a greater disparity between batting ability and slothful running - and, with mid-off alert to the ensuing shambles, the eagerness of England’s fielding.” Atherton then waxes eloquent about Andrew Flintoff who he believes is “at the heart of everything this England team are doing well right now.” “Flintoff, of course, is at the heart of everything this England team are doing well right now. In the first match at Nottingham it was the bowlers who set up victory... It was flintoff and Harmison, and to a lesser extent Darren Gough, who executed the plan perfectly.
— PTI |
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Chennai, September 5 Announcing the decision, cricket board president Jagmohan Dalmiya told a press conference that “the Letter of Intent will be extended to Zee soon after receipt of $ 20 million by the Board.” Clarifying that there was no separate account for live coverage of domestic matches during the period, Dalmiya said “technically we have not awarded the rights to either of them.” Subhash Chandra, Chairman of Zee Network, told PTI that “we have agreed to the condition of the signing amount to be paid and it will be provided to the board before the stipulated time. “It is an overwhelming feeling to have finally been able to seal the deal. We could share the payment schedule with the BCCI today since the match schedule for the next four years were made available to us yesterday,” Chandra said. Asked whether the tender was reopened today, Dalmiya said there was no question of reopening the tender. “It was part of negotiations and ESPN agreed to pay $ 308 million at yesterday’s meeting. Since Zee were the highest bidder they were given an opportunity to match the figure.” Zee were asked during negotiations with the board’s Marketing Committee whether they could match the figure of $ 308 million offered by ESPN. Dalmiya said ESPN officials were also called for the meeting today to explain to them the situation. “They are still discussing with board officials,” he said. “If Zee fulfils all these formalities, they will get the telecast rights,” he said adding “Zee have stated today that they will pay the required $ 20 million and rights will be awarded to them only then.” Zee had made the highest bid at $ 260 million and promised another Rs 95 crore for coverage of domestic matches, while ESPN had quoted $ 230 million in the tender which was opened on August 14.
— PTI |
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Hockey: Security concerns may see Champions Trophy out of Pak
New Delhi, September 5 This will be another setback for Pakistan which often failed to convince touring sides and on a number of occasions, cricket and hockey teams have cancelled their tours to the country. After Hockey Australia sought detail security plans from the organisers, New Zealand Hockey Federation
(NZHF) also demanded security assurance from Pakistan. Top NZHF officials have also made it clear that they would have to seek the opinions of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the International Hockey Federation
(FIH) and its Australian counterpart before taking a final decision in this regard. Meanwhile, Australian Government only last month renewed its warning for the citizen to avoid travelling to Pakistan citing security reasons. Similarly the New Zealand Foreign Affairs still regards Pakistan as unsafe and the travel advice on its website has an extreme warning - the highest. If Australia and New Zealand pull out, it’s quite possible that Holland, Germany and Spain would follow suit. Meanwhile, if the tournament is shifted, it would be the second time that Lahore would be denied the chance to host the event. Karachi: Pakistan said extensive security arrangements would be in place for the six-nation Champions Trophy hockey tournament to be held in Lahore in December after Olympic champions Australia said they were considering pulling out of the event. “There are no security problems in Pakistan and, through the International Hockey Federation, we have assured a foolproof security arrangement for all the foreign teams,” Pakistan Hockey Federation secretary Brigadier Musaratullah Khan said. “Australian players have played squash in Pakistan recently and their polo team is already here so why there are fears for hockey players,” he asked, adding that he was confident Australian players would compete. If Australia pull out of the hockey competition, India will get a chance to play as they finished seventh in the Athens Olympics. India hope for back-door entry
New Delhi: A seventh place finish in the Athens Olympics was certainly not enough for India to earn a berth in this year’s Champions Trophy hockey, but the side could still make it to the elite six-nation meet — albeit by default. The Indian Hockey Federation officials are keeping their fingers crossed about the country’s chances as two of the six teams in fray, Australia and New Zealand, were contemplating pulling out of the December 4 to 12 competition, to be held in Lahore, on security grounds. But IHF officials were not ready to comment anything on the developments even though they admitted that if any one of the teams pulled out, it would help India’s cause. “We have no information about any such development. So it would not be appropriate on our part to comment anything on the issue,” IHF sources said here today. “But, of course, India will have a chance if any of the teams pull out,” they added. Some members of the Olympic gold medal winning Australian team, which has never missed a Champions Trophy in the 27-year history of the event, are concerned about the visit to Pakistan. “It has been talked about and there are some guys who are saying they don’t think it is the right idea to send a team there,” an Australian player, Nathan
Eglington, said. “We are obviously now Olympic champions and have a responsibility to world level events and we will take that responsibility seriously, but (we take) more seriously the safety of our playing group and our staff,” Adamson said.
— Agencies |
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Sharapova, Moya bow out; Federer rolls on
New York, September 5 Federer, who is trying to become the first man since Mats Wilander to capture three majors in the same year, took another step in that direction by overpowering spirited Frenchman Fabrice Santoro yesterday. But former French Open winner Carlos Moya, the third seed, was knocked out while Wimbledon women’s champion Maria Sharapova was also a casualty yesterday. Federer is on a collision course to meet Andre Agassi in the quarter-finals. Along with American favourites Roddick and Agassi, Federer is the centre of attention in the men’s draw. Federer hammered 10 aces, 56 winners and converted four of eight break point chances and now faces Andrei Pavel, of Romania, who beat South Korea’s Lee Hyung-Taik. Henin-Hardenne looked less fatigued against Raymond than in her previous match. Henin-Hardenne moves on to the fourth round to face Russia’s Nadia Petrova who beat Italian 19th seed Silvia Farina Elia. There were a number of upsets yesterday but the biggest involved Sharapova. The Russian beauty crashed out, losing 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 to Frenchwoman Mary Pierce in the third round. The 1995 Australian Open champion Pierce advances to face Russian ninth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, who beat American Amy Frazier in straight sets. The 17-year-old Sharapova was hoping to become the third woman in four years to win Wimbledon and the Open back-to-back. Serena Williams did it in 2002 and Venus in 2001. Sharapova served poorly against Pierce making 14 double faults and 47 unforced errors in the two hour, four minute match. Third seed Carlos Moya also had some mental lapses, double faulting on match point as he was upset by unseeded Belgian Olivier Rochus 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 7-5. The 1998 French Open champ Moya had 10 aces but he could not overcome eight double faults, including the one that clinched the victory for Rochus. Moya also had more unforced errors (61-36) in the three hour, 38 minute match. Rochus moves on to the fourth round where he will face Slovakia’s Dominik Hrbaty who defeated 15th seed Paradorn Srichaphan 7-6 (10/8), 6-3, 6-3. Other seeded men to win yesterday include sixth seed Agassi, who beat Czech Jiri Novak 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 and German Nicolas Kiefer who stopped Sweden’s Thomas Johansson 6-4, 6-0, 6-1. Agassi moves on to play Armenia’s Sargis Sargsian, who survived his second consecutive five-set marathon beating France’s Paul-Henri Mathieu 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (7/4) in four hours, 41 minutes. Sargsian reached the third round by beating Chile’s Nicolas Massu in a match that lasted five hours, nine minutes — the second longest in US Open history. On the women’s side, fifth seed Lindsay Davenport, 11th seed Venus Williams, Russian 14th seed Nadia Petrova and Japan’s Shinobu Asagoe joined Henin-Hardenne in the fourth round.
— AFP |
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Bhupathi, Mirnyi in pre-quarters
New Delhi, September 5 The fourth seeds were slated to play Rainer Schuettler of Germany and Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, who did not turn up for the match yesterday, according to information received here today. Bhupathi-Mirnyi will next meet Spanish duo of Rafael Nadal and Tommy Robredo in the third round. — PTI
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Albania stun Greece; Israel hold France
London, September 5 Stelios Giannakopoulos replied before half time but Otto Rehhagel’s team, who beat Portugal (twice), France and the Czech Republic and tied with Spain on the way to winning Euro 2004, couldn’t score again. France could not score at all against modest Israel at the scene of its 1998 World Cup triumph. With the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Marcel Desailly, Lilian Thuram and Bixente Lizarazu now retired, the French are rebuilding under a new coach. But the result underlines the decline of a team which lost its world and European titles in two years. “We lacked a little spark,” said new coach Raymond Domenech. But “there are good foundations.” “The problem in such matches is to get a goal quite quickly, which we weren’t able to do with the chances that we had,” he told French television. “That left us at the mercy of a match like that, where the more the game goes on, the more they dig in and it gets harder and harder.” England threw away a 2-0 lead in Vienna as Austria hit back with two goals in two minutes for a 2-2 tie. A cleverly worked free kick inside the Austrian area led to a tap in by Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard powered in a first-time shot from 25-yards. But Roland Kollmann pulled a goal back with a stunning left-footed free kick in the 71st and Andreas Ivanshitz drove home a long range shot that went under the body of goalkeeper David James. Blundering England even took off Gerrard by mistake. “It was a bit of a misunderstanding,” the Liverpool midfielder said. “Wayne Bridge had a kick on his Achilles and I signalled to the bench to change him and they changed me. “I thought the manager wanted me to come off but he thought I had signalled to come off. It’s one of those things, I can’t do anything about it.” England captain David Beckham said the team now had to win in Poland on Wednesday to put things right. “We have to forget this and pick ourselves up for the game on Wednesday,” he said. “We would have settled for four points out of the two games. Now we’ve got to win the game in Poland.” Hometown star Luca Toni came off the bench to score Italy’s winner in a 2-1 beating of Norway in Palermo. Toni, whose 30 goals last season led Palermo to the Serie B title and its first appearance in Serie A in 32 years, fired the winner 10 minutes from the end in the Sicilian city after Daniele De Rossi had canceled out a first minute strike by John Carew. “It was really a stupendous evening, the ultimate,” Toni said. “We had a big desire to put on a good show.” Cristiano Ronaldo shrugged off his Euro 2004 and Olympic woes by leading Portugal to a 2-0 victory over Latvia in World Cup qualifying action yesterday. The Latvian fans booed him off the field. The Manchester United teenager scored the first of two Portuguese goals in two minutes at Riga. But the Latvians were convinced the 19-year-old had handled the ball during the buildup to his strike and he was loudly jeered when he left the field as a late substitution. After Portugal’s Euro 2004 final loss to Greece on home turf and the Olympic team’s first round elimination in Athens, Ronaldo at last had something to smile about. Benfica striker Pauleta scored the other goal from Ronaldo’s cross and coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, who led Brazil to its fifth World Cup triumph two years ago, maintained his streak in the competition. Ireland, who have made it to three of the last four World Cups and each time reached the second round at least, started with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Cyprus in Dublin. Tottenham’s Robbie Keane scored the third from the penalty spot to tie Niall Quinn’s national record of 21 goals.
— AP |
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Baba Lodhiana Academy boys enter final
Ludhiana, September 5 In the first semifinal yesterday evening, Guru Nanak Club scored a facile 71-44 victory over Kapurthala. Till half time, Kapurthala cagers fought well. After trailing they managed to catch up with their opponents at 36-all. During the next two quarters, Kapurthala boys were pale shadow of themselves as Guru Nanak Club dictated the terms and eventually wrapped up the issue quite comfortably at 71-44. For Kotkapura, Prabhjot top scored with 22 points, followed by Inderpreet (17). Other notable contributors for the winners were Harpeet Sr (14) and Harpreet Jr (16). For the losers, Goldy and Sukhi scored five points each. In the second semifinal, Baba Lodhiana Academy survived some anxious moments against Jalandhar before emerging 63-49 winners. At the end of the first quarter, academy lads had established a four-point lead (14-10). Jalandhar boys played aggressively in the next quarter and not only wiped out the lead but surged 24-22 ahead. In the third quarter, both the teams played well and lead exchanged hands a number of times. The two sides were tied at 39 points before the academy trainees adopted man-to-man marking. Jalandhar lads failed to cope up with the pressure and conceded the lead which cost them the match. |
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Huge defeat for Srinagar school
New Delhi, September 5 The Srinagar boys proved no match at all for their much superior counterparts from Varanasi. It virtually rained goals in the match even though the Srinagar boys put up a defiant show in the first quarter. But Nikunj Aswal’s goal in the 15th minute opened the floodgates and there was no looking back for the school from Varanasi as their players scored at will. Sudhakar was the toast of the team scoring in the 40th, 50th, 58th and 59th to register the first hat-trick of the tournament. Amit Kumar Sonkar also shone in the match, scoring three goals in the 30th, 33rd and 40th minutes. Besides the Nikunj-Sudhakar-Amit trio, other scorers for the winner were Shahnawaj Khan (19th), Sanjay Patel (45th) Sammi pal (46th).
— UNI |
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