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Australia register 217-run victory We can bounce back, says Ganguly Sehwag fined for showing dissent
India win final Test; Pakistan claim series 4-2 FIH asks
India to be ready for |
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Ashok records impressive
title victory Bhutia to lead Sikkim in Santosh Trophy
Kidwai honours Haryana sportspersons
Sanaa achieves tennis treble
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Australia
register 217-run victory
Bangalore, October 10 Needing just four wickets on the final day’s play, the visitors were made to wait for nearly three hours before breaking the dogged late-order resistance to dismiss India for 239 and inflict one of the heaviest Test defeats on the hosts in their own backyard. The Indians were thoroughly outplayed in all departments of the game from the very first day and overhauling a record target of 457 on a wearing track at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium was well beyond the reach of a batting line- up which has been miserably out of form. Resuming at the overnight score of 105 for six, tailenders Irfan Pathan (55) and Harbhajan Singh (42) managed to delay the inevitable by batting with a determination not shown by their famed top-order batsmen. The young Pathan cracked his maiden Test half century and got able support from Harbhajan to not only frustrate the visitors but also ensure that India’s margin of defeat was less than 329 runs — their biggest defeat by runs so far which had come against South Africa at the Eden Gardens in 1996-97. Ironically, the last two wickets fetched more runs than the first eight combined for India. Pathan and Harbhajan added 89 runs for the ninth wicket that lifted them from 125 for eight to 214. Pathan repeatedly stepped out to Warne and smacked him to the on-side boundary, with the ball sailing twice over the ropes. Harbhajan at the other end showed guts to take on the pacers, and was careful to avoid the fate of being foxed by a slower one by Glenn McGrath. He also clouted Warne for a huge six over midwicket. In the process, the Aussie leg spinner was denied from equalling Mutthiah Muralitharan’s world record of 532 Test scalps. He will now have to wait another three days at least to achieve the feat in the second Test that starts in Chennai on Thursday. Gilchrist, after allowing Warne an extended spell, had to finally take the second new ball. Jason Gillespie, who was suffering from a side strain, struck almost immediately when he had Pathan caught behind.
The 20-year old faced 141 balls and struck eight fours and two sixes, showing that he had the potential to become an allrounder. Harbhajan then lifted McGrath over the head to the long-off boundary before Gillespie forced a miscued pull for a catch at fine leg. Placards in the galleries read “India discover new openers” when Pathan and Harbhajan were on song. It was more of indignation over India’s top order failure than praise for the tailenders. India lost vice-captain Rahul Dravid after a watchful 60 in the 16th over of the day and the end seemed near when Anil Kumble dragged one on to his stumps. The scoreboard read 125 for eight at that stage and the target of 457 a monumental 332 runs away. But Pathan and Harbhajan put the Aussie bowling to the sword with some belligerent shots. Pathan was dropped on seven by Michael Clarke, who was declared the man of the match, in the morning session, a lapse which made the Australians spend a lot more time on the field. As it were, the morning session saw 92 runs come India’s way from 29 overs, the run rate a healthy 3.12. It was a far cry when Dravid and Pathan began the day with the chance of saving the match remote. Dravid’s vigil ended when Michael Kasprowicz’s reverse swing found him plumb in front of the wicket. Kasprowicz then had another success in the next over when Kumble played on to his stumps. Scoreboard Australia (1st innings) 474 India (1st innings) 246 Australia (2nd innings) 228 India (2nd innings) Chopra lbw Gillespie 5 Sehwag lbw McGrath 0 Dravid lbw Kasprowicz 60 Ganguly run out 5 Laxman lbw Warne 3 Yuvraj c Gilchrist b McGrath 27 Patel lbw Warne 4 Pathan c Gilchrist b Gillespie 55 Kumble b Kasprowicz 2 Harbhajan c McGrath
Zaheer not out 22 Extras (b-6, lb-5, nb-3) 14 Total
(all out in 87.4 overs) 239 Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-7, 3-12, 4-19, 5-81, 6-86, 7-118, 8-125, 9-214. Bowling:
McGrath 20-10-39-2, Gillespie 14.4-4-33-3, Kasprowicz 14-7-23-2, Warne 32-8-115-2, Lehmann 6-3-14-0, Clarke 1-0-4-0.
— PTI |
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We can bounce back, says Ganguly
Bangalore, October 10 “We did not play well but we can always turn it around... we will have to play well and pick it up from here,” a dejected Ganguly said after Australia coasted to a 217-run victory. Ganguly said the performance of his team had not been good in the past 3-4 months and the players were now really keen to set things right. “The boys in the dressing room are keen to turn things around and we know we have the ability to do that,” he said. While crediting Australians for batting well, the skipper admitted that his side failed to lift up its game. “Obviously that was the best part of the wicket when the Australians batted but we must give credit to their batsmen. We could have batted better in the first innings but we could not lift up our game.” Ganguly said there was still a lot of cricket left to be played in the series and if the team managed to put some big scores, they could stage a comeback in the series. “There is lot of cricket left to be played. If we can put up some runs on the board, we can turn things around,” he said. On Sachin Tendulkar’s availability for the second Test starting in Chennai on Thursday, Ganguly said he could not say at the moment what exactly his chances were of playing the match. “We have to wait and see. He is improving. The team physio is monitoring him. We are hopeful but I cannot say at the moment what exactly his chances of playing the match are.” Tendulkar, who missed the first Test, is recuperating from a tennis elbow. Australian captain Adam Gilchrist said he was “delighted” with the comprehensive win but was wary of Indians staging a comeback like they had done in 2001. “We are delighted to be 1-0 up. But we have been in this scenario before. We know India will rebound after this defeat,” said the stand-in skipper. Gilchrist said winning the toss had worked in his team’s favour but added that everything could not be put down to the toss of the coin in these conditions. “In these type of conditions, it is helpful to win the toss. But the most important thing is that whatever you do first you have to do well — be it batting or bowling.” Describing the win as “outstanding”, he said the team hoped to maintain the momentum in the coming matches. Gilchrist did not think that his team did not play their naturally aggressive game in this match and adopted a different strategy. “We were aggressive where we needed to be. We got runs at a reasonably good pace. Our field placings were also attacking. All in all we are very happy with the way we played in this match.” Praising the youngsters in the team, Gilchrist said he was happy to lead “a very good team”. He singled out Michael Clarke and Simon Katich, for special praise. “Katich was very very strong in his position (in the batting order). He stepped into Ricky Ponting’s shoes,” he said. Asked whether Ponting was a certainty for the third Test, Gilchrist said the team was hopeful of the skipper joining the side sooner than later. “Ponting was watching the match at home. He just called up to congratulate. As far as his playing the third Test is concerned, we hope it is sooner than later.”
— PTI |
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Sehwag fined for showing dissent
Bangalore: Opener Virender Sehwag was today docked 65 per cent of his match fee for showing dissent after his dismissal during the first Test against Australia.
ICC match referee Ranjan Madugalle said in a statement that Sehwag was found guilty of breaching the ICC’s Code of Conduct for players and, considering his past record, it was decided to only penalise him with a fine. Sehwag exchanged words with umpire Billy Bowden after he was declared leg before wicket on the fourth day’s play yesterday. Madugalle said Sehwag was guilty of a Level-2 offence under the ICC’s Code of Conduct. Sehwag was called for a hearing yesterday after the two field umpires, Bowden and Steve Bucknor, reported the matter to Madugalle.
— PTI
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India win final Test; Pakistan claim series 4-2
Hyderabad, October 10 India, who came here having already lost the series, rode on fine goals by Sandeep Michael (17th minute) and Tushar Khandekar (21st) to chalk out the victory and salvage some pride in the first series between the arch-rivals in five years. This was also India's first win of the series on home soil as their earlier victory had come during the Pakistan leg, in the second Test in Quetta. Pakistan, who came to India with a 2-1 lead, won in Delhi and Amritsar while the Test in Chandigarh ended in a draw. India came to Hyderabad with happy memories of the venue where they had a cent per cent record against Pakistan, having won the earlier two encounters convincingly. Both the matches were held during the Afro-Asian Games last year when India won the league contest before going on to beat the same side in the final for the title. Captain Dilip Tirkey returned from injury, that force him miss two Tests, to guide the team to victory at the Gochibowli Stadium. Though the series was already lost, their was lots of pride at stake to play for and the players did not disappoint as they played as a cohesive unit by using the both the flanks well to put pressure on the Pakistani defence before a Michael's goal gave the hosts a 1-0 lead. Khandekar initiated a fine move when he had a good run down the left before giving the ball to Vikram Pillay who returned the ball to the forward, whose goal-bound reverse hit was deflected in by Sandeep. Khandekar made it 2-0 in favour of India four minutes later with an equally brilliant goal that put the hosts in the driver's seat. Prabodh Tirkey had a good solo run on a counter attack following a penalty corner and at the half-line sent it across to Khandekar who rolled the ball inside the circle before taking the shot that beat the Pakistani goalkeeper all ends up. The Pakistani custodian could hardly react as the powerfully hit went through his leg, prompting Khandekar to pump his fist in the air before being being joined in by his jubilant teammates in the celebration. — PTI
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FIH asks India to be ready for Champions Trophy
New Delhi, October 10 The FIH has communicated to the Indian Hockey Federation to be ready for the six-nation event, to be held in Lahore in December, in case any of the teams decline the invitation or withdraw at the last moment. Confirming this, IHF Secretary General K Jothikumaran said that a response in this regard has already been sent to the FIH. "We got a communication from the FIH yesterday which asked us to be ready for the event in case any team did not accept the invitation or withdraw at the last moment," Jothikumaran told PTI. "They have kept us as the first reserve and we have already conveyed that we are ready for the tournament." India missed a berth in the Champions Trophy after Australia, Holland, Germany, Spain and New Zealand got automatic qualification for the event by virtue of their performance in the Athens Olympics. Pakistan qualified as the hosts though they also finished in the top-six of the competition. FIH's communication to IHF comes in the wake of news reports that Australia and New Zealand may pull out of the competition citing security concerns. Hockey Australia Chief Executive Lyndon Adamson recently said he had asked the organisers for details of security plans after some team members expressed reservations about touring Pakistan. His statement followed the Australian government renewing its warning to nationals to avoid all non-essential travel to Pakistan for security reasons. Australian cricketers have previously pulled out of a tri-series and Test series in Pakistan on security grounds. New Zealand Hockey Federation also said that they were consulting the Australians and the world governing body about playing in the tournament. In 2002, New Zealand's cricket team packed their bags and left Pakistan after a suicide bomb blast outside their hotel in Karachi killed 15 people including 11 French naval
staff. Meanwhile, Jothikumaran said he was not aware whether any of these two teams are planning to pull out of the competition.
— PTI |
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Beckham stars in England win
London, October 10 Beckham scored his team’s second goal at Old Trafford, but suffered a hairline rib fracture after a tackle by Welsh defender Ben Thatcher. He’s certain to miss Wednesday’s Group 6 game at Baku and will be examined next week by Real Madrid. Beckham drew a yellow card minutes after the injury for a tackle on Thatcher. It was his second yellow card of the qualifying tournament, which also disqualified him from the Azerbaijan match. England lead Group 6 with seven points. Poland moved into second place with six points, winning 3-1 over Austria in Vienna. The Poles have scored six goals in their last two games, both away from home. In other matches, Slovenia upset Italy 1-0 in Group 5, France and Ireland drew 0-0 in Group 4, tiny Liechtenstein drew 2-2 with Euro 2004 runner-up Portugal in Group 3, and Spain defeated Belgium 2-0 in Group 7. Among the 23 European qualifying matches for the World Cup, the Czech Republic bounced back from a 0-2 loss to the Netherlands by beating Romania 1-0. Finland beat Armenia 3-1 to draw even on nine points with Romania. Borussia Dortmund striker Jan Koller scored the Czech’s lone goal, ending a three-game winless streak. In the other group game, the Netherlands were held to a 2-2 draw at Macedonia. Both teams have four points. In Group 2, Turkey and Ukraine share the lead with five points. Ukraine drew with European champion Greece 1-1, and Turkey hammered Kazakhstan 4-1. Denmark moved in a point behind the leaders with a 2-0 victory at Albania. The day’s shocks came in Group 3 where Liechtenstein drew 2-2 with Portugal. Slovakia lead the group with 10 points after a 4-1 win over Latvia. Portugal is second with seven. Thomas Beck netted the 76th-minute equaliser for Liechtenstein after Franz Burgmeier scored earlier. It was Liechtenstein’s first points ever against Portugal. Paulo Pauleta scored for Portugal with the other coming on an own-goal by Daniel Hasler. In another group game, Russia’s Dmitri Sychev scored a hat-trick in a 4-0 victory at Luxembourg. In Group 4, France and Ireland played a 0-0 draw in Paris with both clubs improving to five points. Switzerland also improved to five with a 2-2 draw at Israel. Italy, after winning its first two games in Group 5, were upset 0-1 on Saturday at Slovenia by Bostjan Cesar’s goal. Italy and Slovenia each have seven points. Norway and Belarus each picked up wins to reach four points. Belarus defeated Moldova 4-0, and Norway won 1-0 at Scotland on Steffen Iversen’s penalty. In Group 7, Spain defeated Belgium 2-0 on second-half goals by Raul and Alberto Luque. The victory moves Spain on top with Lithuania. The two play on Wednesday in Lithuania. In a group game between bitter Balkan rivals, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia-Montenegro played a 0-0 draw under intense security in Sarajevo. In Group 8, Croatia settled for a 2-2 draw with Bulgaria but still kept the lead with seven points. Sweden improved to six points, beating Hungary 3-0 on goals by Fredrik Ljungberg, Henrik Larsson and Anders Svensson. Tail-end teams Malta and Iceland drew 0-0. RIO DE JANEIRO: Argentina and Brazil scored crushing victories in World Cup qualifiers, the former beating Uruguay 4-2 in Buenos Aires and the world champions romping home 5-2 in Venezuela.
— AP, Reuters |
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Ashok records impressive
title victory New Delhi, October 10 Ashok Kumar’s four-day tally of 21-under 267 was the lowest tournament aggregate ever at the par-72 Classic course, beating the earlier record of 17-under set by Thongchai Jaidee in 2001. Ashok, who carded a three-under 69 today, won by four strokes over Asian gold medallist Shiv Kapur, earning himself a fat paycheck of Rs 1,62,000. Shiv also returned a card of three-under for the day and received Rs 1,12,000 for his effort while Shamim Khan finished third with a four-day tally of 273, earning Rs 63000 in prize money. With this win, Ashok jumped to the top of the Order of Merit, with Rs 1,00,400 ahead of second-placed Mukesh. On his way to victory, Ashok duplicated his lowest tournament aggregate of 21-under, which he set at the Hindu Open this season. Mukesh Kumar got his revenge of sorts when his team won the pro-am event. Mukesh, who fired a three-under 69, led his team of Nikhil Dhodapar, G Ravindran and Moni Bhalla to victory. Close on the winners’ heels were Wg. Cdr Aparajit, Navnit Singh and Arjun Mondayil, along with professional Vishal Singh, at the second place. Ashok Kumar carded 67 and together with his team-mates Atul Malhotra, Prabhat Singh and Ranjan Bhattacharya, finished third. |
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Bhutia to lead Sikkim in Santosh Trophy New Delhi, October 10 The Sikkim team will arrive here on October 12, even though the inflow of teams has begun with the arrival of the Maharashtra squad today. Defending champions Manipur will reach Delhi on October 12, a week ahead of their opening quarterfinal league match. Manipur, along with last year’s runners-up Kerala and semifinalists Goa and Services, have been directly seeded into the quarterfinal league, which will begin on October 21 at the Ambedkar Stadium. Leading national players will represent various other state teams like Bengal, Kerala, Goa and Punjab. Organising secretary Narinder Kumar Bhatia said hosts Delhi would take on Gujarat in the opening match of the championship at the Ambedkar Stadium on October 14, after the opening ceremony. This will be the only match that will be played at the Ambedkar Stadium before the quarterfinal league, which will begin on October 21. The semifinals will be played on October 28 and 29 and the final on October 31. The other preliminary round matches to be played on the opening day will be between Railways and Uttaranchal, Bihar and Chandigarh, Maharashtra and Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh. Mr Bhatia said Chandigarh, in their other cluster III matches, would take on Uttaranchal on October 16 and the Railways on October 18, while Punjab, who have been placed in Cluster V, will play their matches against Chhattisgarh on October 15, Tripura on October 17 and Meghalaya on October 18. |
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Bhiwani retain games trophy Chandigarh, October 10 International long distance runner Sunil of Hisar, who won three gold medals, and international jumper Pooja of Hisar were adjudged best athletes in the men’s and women’s sections, respectively. Haryana Police lifted the wrestling team championship. Bhiwani and Rohtak secured second and third places, respectively. Haryana Police also emerged the winner in basketball when they outplayed Rohtak 65-47 in the men’s section. In the women’s final, Jind bagged the first place by beating Sirsa 58-39. The cycling championship was won by Haryana Police who got 16 points while Kurukshetra emerged runner-up. In women’s cycling, Kurukshetra won the trophy while Karnal remained runner-up. In men’s hockey, Sonepat clinched the championship when they downed Karnal 5-0. In the women’s section, Kurukshetra lifted the trophy beating Sirsa while Sonepat finished third. In archery, Mini Nehra and
Veerpal, both from Sirsa, emerged best archers while in the team event, Narnaul bagged the trophy. In the men’s section, Amit of Gurgaon and Deepak of Faridabad won the best archer award while in the team event, Gurgaon clinched the trophy. In badminton, Sumit of Bhiwani won the titles in men’s singles as well as doubles, partnering Praveen. In the team events, Bhiwani bagged the title, Sonepat was runners-up and Panchkula came third. Bhiwani also won the men’s athletics championship by getting 58 points while Hisar bagged the women’s championship by securing 95 points. In women’s soccer, Jhajjar got the first place while Karnal stood second. In circle kabaddi, Kurukshetra won the women’s championship while Haryana Police got the first place in the men’s section. In 50km men’s cycling, Ashok Kumar of Haryana Police was first while in the 30km women’s cycling event, Gurpreet Kaur of Kurukshetra emerged the winner. |
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Kidwai honours Haryana sportspersons Panchkula, October 10 Speaking at a function to mark the closing ceremony of the 20th Haryana games held at the Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex, Dr Kidwai stressed on the importance and utility of the games, saying that these instilled a spirit of discipline, cooperation and team spirit among players, besides keeping them physically and mentally agile. He also distributed the Bhim Awards to outstanding sportsmen. Earlier, Mr M.S. Malik, secretary-general, Haryana Olympic Association, said that state government had recognized 11 games to be nurtured by various departments and profit-making undertakings. A monitoring committee under the chairmanship of the state Finance Minister, Prof Sampat Singh, had been constituted to select budding players to form teams, he added. Dr Kidwai also appreciated the state government for developing the sports infrastructure such as sports stadia, sports centres, sports complexes and a number of other sports facilities. Excellent sportspersons and a healthy spirit of sportsmanship go a long way in making the country a more progressive and prosperous nation, said the Governor. The Governor congratulated the Bhim Awardees and other outstanding players who got prizes on this occasion. He also encouraged those players who did not get prizes in these games, but participated with a sportsmanly spirit. Dr Kidwai gave away the Bhim Awards to six sportspersons of Haryana, Ms Meena Kumari (Hisar) in boxing, Mr Naresh
Yadav(Rewari) in rowing, Kumari Suman Bala Saini(Shahbad) in hockey, Mr Satbir Singh
(Rewari)in Athletics, Mr Sujit Mann (Jhajjar)in wrestling and Ms Shweta Chowdhary (Faridabad) in shooting. He also gave away the over-all championship trophies to Bhiwani for scoring the first position with 50 points, Hisar took second position with 49 points, Rohtak third with 39 points and Kurukshetra fourth with 34 points. He also distributed prizes to the new record holders. A colourful grand finale brought the four-day sports festival to an end. Children from various schools of Panchkula presented cultural items. The special attraction was a mashaal parade presented by the 240 strong contingent of cops from Madhuban, and the fire works at the end of the ceremony. A monitoring committee has also been constituted under the chairmanship of Prof Sampat Singh, Finance Minister, Haryana, to select budding players to form these teams, he added. Mr Ajay Singh Chautala, president, Commonwealth
Table-Tennnis Federation and Member of Parliament, and Mr Abhey Singh Chautala, president, Haryana Olympic Association, that they would leave no stone unturned for the promotion of sports in the State.
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Sanaa achieves tennis treble New Delhi, October 10 She beat Parul Goswami in the girls final 7-5, 6-1. In the women’s doubles, Sanaa and Isha beat Sonal Phadke and Liza Pereira 7-6 (7), 6-1. No one before Sanaa has achieved a treble in the DSCL Open Nationals, though in 1998, Uzma Khan of Hyderabad lifted the women’s and girls under-18 singles titles.
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Golf
tourney Shimla, October 10
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