 |
|
India crush Pakistan by 87 runs
Ganguly feels relieved
Captains shake hands with HIV-positive kids
Railways set to emerge
Ranji champions
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Haryana press for victory
JCT meet Mahindra United today
TV rights dispute: Zee offers solution to BCCI
Indian eves enter World Cup semis
Narain 8th in practice round
IOA delegation for Melbourne
|
|
India crush Pakistan by 87 runs
Kochi, April 2 The Indians put up a commanding all-round performance with Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid blasting centuries to propel them to a challenging 281 for eight before Sachin Tendulkar picked up his second five-wicket haul to skittle out the visitors for 194 with nearly five overs to spare. It was not a convincing batting display with captain Sourav Ganguly’s first-ball dismissal being a black spot in the bright glow. Also, the failure of the middle order resulted in a scoreline significantly less than the hosts would have settled for on a benign pitch. But Tendulkar’s star turn with the ball (five for 50), combined with the Pakistani batsmen’s reluctance to apply themselves, gave the hosts a facile victory at the packed Jawarharlal Nehru stadium. Incidentally, Tendulkar had grabbed his first five-wicket haul also at the same venue, a match- winning 5-32 against the Australians in 1998. The victory also helped India narrow their win-loss record against Pakistan at home to 5-11 and buck the sequence of four consecutive ODI defeats. Earlier, India seemed to run out of gas as they suffered a middle- order collapse immediately after the record third-wicket stand between Sehwag and Dravid. Sehwag cracked a typically aggressive 108 from 95 balls while vice-captain Dravid made a steady 104 but the hosts lost their way after the former’s departure towards the closing stages. The duo put on 201 runs from 199 balls, which bettered the previous best between the two teams — 161 runs put up by Dravid and Mohammad Azharuddin at Toronto in 1996. Yet, the total, on a perfect batting strip, at best could have been termed as competitive and something the bowlers could defend. The fall of quick wickets on either side of the partnership undermined captain Ganguly’s decision to bat first. Off-spinner Arshad Khan finished with four for 33 to slice through the tail while Rana Naved-ul-Hasan (2-38) did the early damage, removing Sachin Tendulkar (4) and Ganguly (0) off successive balls. India were 205 for two at one stage before they lost six wickets for 64 runs in the last 15 overs. The extreme heat and humidity, a sudden shift from the cooler climes of Bangalore, had a debilitating effect on players from both teams. Shahid Afridi and Rana suffered cramps while India’s scoring rate was affected as Dravid seemed drained from his effort. The vice-captain did not take the field during the Pakistan innings. The ‘Wall’ might have expected the young guns to take charge as he approached his century, but he was let down by Yuvraj Singh (16), Mohammad Kaif (7) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (3), who all perished to innocuous shots. Dravid found the task of providing the late thrust too much to handle, and was run out to a direct hit. India thus lacked that big kick in the last lap and simply crawled towards the final post. The Indians, however, were cruising at jet speed despite the twin dismissals of Tendulkar and Ganguly in the second over. Tendulkar was caught at mid on as he top-edged Rana while attempting a big heave off the bowler. The right-arm pacer then got a bonus when Ganguly shuffled across and lost his leg stump the very next delivery. Sehwag and Dravid did more than a recovery job as they gradually increased the tempo before launching into the rival bowling. Sehwag, dropped twice on 0 and 8, punished the Pakistani attack with three sixes and nine fours before losing his stumps to Razzaq. The 200 came in the 35th over, but with Sehwag went the momentum and the scoreboard moved at a snail’s pace from there on. Pakistan were off to a flier with Salman Butt (26) and Kamran Akmal (17) blasting 45 runs in less than seven overs. But three wickets for fours runs in successive overs quickly changed the complexion of the game. Balaji (2-32) provided the breakthrough when he had Akmal caught by Sehwag before Ganguly held on to a difficult catch at square leg to see off Butt. Shoaib Malik, playing his first match of the tour, flashed at a delivery outside the off stump for a straightforward catch at point. But the biggest blow came three overs later when Yousuf Youhana played early at a full-length delivery from Zaheer Khan and the bowler dived to his right for a superb return catch. Then Tendulkar came on to cast a spell on the batsmen with his vicious leg breaks. Bowling around the stumps, the seniormost member of the team trapped them in a web. The first to go was captain Inzamam-ul-Haq (37) who was beaten for pace by a straighter one that clipped his off bail. Abdul Razzaq (5) played all over a legside full toss and top- edged it to Sehwag at short fineleg. Shahid Afridi (8) was in a hurry and mistimed a sweep shot for a well-judged catch by Zaheer at deep square leg. Mohammad Sami returned a simple catch before Mohammad Hafeez (42) became Tendulkar’s fifth victim. Scoreboard India: Sehwag b Razzaq 108 Tendulkar c Youhana b Naved 4 Ganguly b Naved 0 Dravid run out 104 Yuvraj c Butt b Arshad 16 Kaif c Afridi b Arshad 7 Dhoni c Naved b Arshad 3 Harbhajan not out 14 Balaji b Arshad 0 Zaheer not out 2 Extras:
(b-4, lb-5, w-13, nb-1) 23 Total: (8 wkts, 50 overs) 281 Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-4, 3-205, 4-241, 5-255, 6-260, 7-265,
8-269.
Bowling: Sami 8-1-42-0, Naved 8-0-38-2, Razzaq 8.3-1-50-1, Afridi 10-0-50-0, Hafeez 9.3-0-59-0, Arshad 6-0-33-4. Pakistan: Butt c Ganguly b Nehra 26 Akmal c Sehwag b Balaji 17 Malik c Yuvraj b Balaji 4 Youhana c and b Zaheer 0 Haq b Tendulkar 37 Hafeez c Nehra b Tendulkar 42 Razzaq c Sehwag b Tendulkar 5 Afridi c Zaheer b Tendulkar 8 Sami c and b Tendulkar 2 Naved b Zaheer 25 Arshad not out 14 Extras:
(lb-4, nb-6, w-3) 14 Total: (all out, 45.2 overs) 194 Fall of wickets: 1-45, 2-49, 3-49, 4-64, 5-112, 6-129, 7-146, 8-151, 9-152. Bowling:
Balaji 6-0-32-2, Zaheer 7.2-2-25-2, Nehra 6-2-22-1, Harbhajan 10-0-32-0, Tendulkar 10-1-50-5, Yuvraj 6-0-29-0.
— PTI |
|
Ganguly feels relieved
Kochi, April 2 Ganguly, who received a big cheer from the crowd during the presentation ceremony today, appeared quite relaxed and said it was important for his team to start the series on a winning note. “For a change, I heard something different,” Ganguly said, referring to the cheer from the crowd. When asked whether the win came as a relief for him, Ganguly, struggling with his batting form, said, “It does. That is important. But this is the way life goes.” Turning to the match, which India won to take a 1-0 lead in the six-match series, Ganguly praised his deputy Rahul Dravid and opener Virender Sehwag for their fine effort with the bat. Ganguly said although Pakistan got off to a flying start, his side were confident of checking the opposition. “We knew we had to pick wickets. The wicket was getting slower and it was not easy to score runs. We quickly got three wickets that put us back on track,” he said. Ganguly lavished praise on Sachin Tendulkar, who returned with figures of five for 50 from 10 overs. The Indian captain said his side were keen to continue the winning run. Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq blamed the top-order collapse for Pakistan’s failure to chase the target. He declined to give the intense heat as an excuse for the defeat and added that his side would bounce back into the series. Sehwag, who earned the man of the match award for his 95-ball 106, admitted that he was in the middle of a purple patch with the bat. “Of course I am. Touch wood. I am batting very well this series. I hope to continue it in the future,” he said.
— PTI |
|
Captains shake hands with HIV-positive kids
Kochi, April 2 The organisers of the first one-day international between India and Pakistan here took the two children to the centre of the field and introduced them to Ganguly and Inzamam just before the toss. The two captains shook hands with the children, who had lost both their parents to AIDS three years ago, a move that should send a very strong signal to cricket fans against isolating patients of the disease. Bency and Benson have become synonymous in Kerala with the fight against AIDS and the social stigma it brings. The brother and sister hail from Kollam and have been in the news since February 2003, when they staged a protest in front of the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram after they were thrown out of four schools because of the disease. Then Chief Minister A.K. Antony had got them admitted to a government school in Kollam. But following pressure from the school authorities and other parents, they had to be shifted from there too, and were continuing their studies from home. But last year, the children got back to school. Tragedy, however, struck again when their aged grandfather died, leaving them in the company of their grandmother. They are now being sponsored by Hindustan Latex for a five-year period.
— IANS |
|
Railways set to emerge
Ranji champions
Mohali, April 2 At 362 for 8 at close and ahead by 46 runs in the first innings, making it an overall lead of 408, Railways are set to emerge the champions from the Elite group in the Ranji Trophy championship on the last day tomorrow. Punjab skipper Pankaj Dharmani, desperate to get breakthroughs and bring an end to the innings, shuffled and reshuffled his bowlers. But Railways batsmen were resolute enough to deny the bowlers success at the right time. Yere Gaud was batting on unbeaten 96, while Harvinder was at the crease on 2 at close. For Railways, skipper Sanjay Bangar, allrounder JP Yadav and Gaud proved too hard to dislodge and frustrated Punjab bowlers no end. They showed remarkable tenacity and character to put Railways firmly on the path to what could be a historic victory. Railways went into the match without Murali Kartik, their key bowler selected for the Indian one-day squad, while Punjab were also handicapped by the absence of regular skipper Dinesh Mongia, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh for a similar reason. They were further frustrated by a couple of decisions which, as Punjab stand-in skipper Pankaj Dharmani said after the match, were close and could have gone either way. The decisions went in favour of the rivals, Dharmani observed. These things apart, Railways deserve credit for the ways they played as a unit. For JP Yadav it would be a memorable outing. Besides taking wickets, he was impressive with the bat. Resuming his innings from the overnight score of 64, Yadav continued to bat in scintillating fashion. Playing his strokes as soon as the play started today, Yadav scored runs at a fast clip. He again clobbered hapless off-spinner Rajesh Sharma for two
sixes. When a century was there for taking, Yadav edged a VRV Singh delivery to be caught behind the stumps by Dharmani. During his 107-ball innings, Yadav hammered 10 fours and four sixes and was out after making 97. Bangar again played the role of a sheet anchor to perfection and contributed 77. But it was middle-order batsman Yere Gaud who found the most opportune moment to find his rhythm. Though their main batsman, Gaud was not very successful during the earlier part of the Railways campaign. But he showed today what a batsman he was. He had an answer to whatever was hurled at him. Batting with confidence and application, Gaud kept the rival bowlers at bay in the company of tail-enders. He has been at the crease for over three hours so far for his unbeaten knock of 96 runs. Punjab had a great chance when at the lunch break Railways were 209 for 5. Bangar, Yadav and Raja Ali were back in the pavilion. But the bowlers found the late order batsmen TP Singh, S. Wankhede and K. Parida tough to dislodge. Wankhede remained at the crease for two hours, while TP Singh and Parida also spent ample time at the wicket along with the seasoned Gaud and have succeeded in putting the match beyond Punjab. Saying that this could be best innings of his career, Gaud came to the rescue of the beleaguered bowlers. “There is nothing for the bowlers in the wicket,” was his candid observation. Dharmani said even on the first day of the match, the wicket did not provide as much bounce to the bowlers as was expected. Vinod Sharma, the Railways coach, said an experienced spinner was needed to exploit the track on the last day. “Parida spins the ball a lot. So he could be effective on the last day,” he remarked. Scoreboard Railways: (1st innings) 355 Punjab:
(1st innings) 309 Railways: (2nd innings) Pagnis lbw Gagandeep 0 Bangar b Rajesh 77 Khanolkar run out 3 JP Yadav c Dharmani
b VRV Singh 97 Raja Ali c Dharmani
b Gagandeep 14
Yere Gaud batting 96 TP Singh lbw Rajesh 12 S Wankhede c Dharmani
b Sodhi 24
K Parida lbw Kakkar 6 Harvinder batting 2 Extras: (nb-5, b-22, lb-4) 31 Total: (8 wickets, 119 overs) 362 Fall of wickets:
1-0, 2-31, 3-179, 4-205, 5-205, 6-236, 7-302, 8-333. Bowling: Gagandeep Singh 24.4-10-42-2, Vineet Sharma 19-2-65-0, Rajesh Sharma 30-5-106-2, VRV Singh 18.2-4-40-1, Ankur Kakkar 13-4-46-1, Sandeep Sawal 1-0-1-0, Reetinder Sodhi 13-3-36-1. |
|
Haryana press for victory
Gurgaon, April 2 At stumps, Services were 76 for three with KG Chawda (0) and S. Upadhaya (9) at the crease and they require another 388 runs to win with seven wickets. Amit Mishra claimed all three wickets in Services’ second innings. He first removed opener MP Reddy (16), who was caught by Shafiq Khan and then claimed Jasvir Singh (3) who perished the same way. Services came in for another jolt when they lost Narender Singh (26), who holed out to Ishan Ganda. Earlier, resuming on their overnight score of 136 for two, Haryana lost their overnight batsman Ishan Ganda (21), who was castled by Sudhakar Ghag, while Arun Sharma had Shafiq Khan(3) caught by Chawda as Haryana slumped to 151 for four. Scoreboard Haryana: (1st innings) 342 Services:
(1st innings) 191 Haryana: (2nd innings) Bagheshwar Bist c Reddy
b Mohanty 37
Chetan Sharma lbw b Ghag 45 Sunny Singh c Reddy b Ghag 118 I. Ganda b Ghag 21 Shafiq Khan c Chawda b Sharma 3 Joginder Sharma b Sharma 38 Ajay Ratra c Jasvir b Sharma 21 Sachin Raina b Mohanty 10 Amit Mishra not out 6 Extras:
(b-5, lb-3, nb-5) 13 Total: (8 wkts dec, 107 overs) 312 FoW:
1-82, 2-104, 3-147, 4-151, 5-216, 6-256, 7-277, 8-312. Bowling: Yashpal 20-7-69-0, Sudhakar Ghag 29-7-74-3, Arun Sharma 33-5-97-3, AK Mohanty 24-6-61-2, Jasvir Singh 1-0-3-0. Services:
(2nd innings) Narender Singh c Ganda
b Mishra 26
MP Reddy c Shafiq b Mishra 16 Jasvir Singh c Shafiq b Mishra 3 S. Upadhaya not out 9 KG Chawda not out 0 Extras:
(b-14, lb-1, nb-2, pen 5) 22 Total: (3 wickets, 29 overs) 76 FoW:
1-44, 2-48, 3-64. Bowling: Joginder Sharma 8-2-17-0, Sachin Rana 4-1-15-0, Jitendra Malik 5-2-8-0, Gaurav Vashisht 5-4-1-0, Amit Mishra 7-3-15-3.
— UNI |
|
JCT meet Mahindra United today
Ludhiana, April 2 JCT Mills, after 14 matches have garnered 21 points and are placed fifth while Mahindra United have secured 20 points from as many matches and are placed sixth on the points table. |
|
TV rights dispute: Zee offers solution to BCCI
New Delhi, April 2 “Without waiving any of our legal rights and contentions, we are still willing to find a negotiated solution to the entire problem, that will save the BCCI and Mr Jagmohan Dalmiya, former BCCI President, from further loss of face as well as monetary loss by way of damages,” said Zee Telefilms in its communication sent to the board and Mr Dalmiya yesterday. Zee Telefilms, which was given liberty by the high court to take legal remedy for enforcement of its contract, which the BCCI cancelled on September 21 last year under purported pressure from the Australian cricket board prior to the tour of the Australian cricket team to India, at the same time, threatened to sue the BCCI for recovering estimated damages of Rs 1,630 crore, if the proposal was not acceptable to it. “In case the fresh proposal from Zee Telefilms meets with no response, the company will be forced to file for damages from the BCCI, estimated at Rs 1,630 crore,” the communication sent by Zee’s Vice-President Himashu Mody said, adding that in case the board failed to respond in writing within a week, it should be treated as a notice of intent to claim the damages from the board and Mr Dalmiya jointly and severally for the losses caused to the It said Zee Telefilms had tried “everything possible” to seek an amicable solution to the issue of telecast rights and had made many attempts in the past to approach BCCI President Ranbir Singh Mahendra to come together and resolve the issue, but there was no response from the board. Zee Telefilms pointed out that if it chose to file for damages, the Board of Control for Cricket in India and other cricket associations in the country might go bankrupt as most of them were facing a financial crunch. Zee Telefilms and the BCCI had signed a $ 320 million telecast contract prior to the Australian tour last year and Zee had paid $ 20 million as advance to the board. The Madras High Court, in its recent order on Zee’s petition, had severely criticised Mr Dalmiya for the manner in which he as the then President of the BCCI had handled the telecast contract issue, while directing the board to deposit the $ 20 million advance. Zee Telefilms, a $ 1.5 billion company, said it did not want to venture into unnecessary legal battles on the issue if the board was ready to accept its proposal. |
|
Indian eves enter World Cup semis
Durban, April 2 Jain hit 68 with the help of five boundaries and Sharma scored 47, including four fours, as India made 139 for two in 33 overs in reply to West Indies’ 135. Put in to bat, West Indies were 20 for 2 at one stage, before Nadine George (33) and Pamela Lavine (43) lifted them to 61 for 3 in a third-wicket partnership of 41. But Jhulan Goswami took 4-16 and Neetu David claimed 3 for 11 to hand India firm control of the match. India with 27 points were behind other semifinalists Australia (32) while New Zealand (26) and England had also made it to the last four stage. Australia trounced Ireland by 10 wickets after knocking out the Ireland for 66 runs for eight wickets. Australia made 68 without losing a wicket. New Zealand beat England by five wickets after bundling out the English for 179 runs. New Zealand made 180 for five. Sri Lanka beat South Africa by 32 runs. After making 158 in their innings, Sri Lanka skittled out the hosts for 126 runs.
— PTI |
|
Narain 8th in practice round
Manama, April 2 The ace Indian driver, however, failed to repeat his performance in the second session as he managed a 16th place finish at the Bahrain International Circuit. Karthikeyan, driving for Jordan-Toyota, clocked 1 minute 32.999 seconds in the morning to finish ahead of Williams’ Mark Webber, Daid Coulthard of Red Bull and Takuma Sato of Bar-Honda. The session was won by Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher. The 28-year-old driver, on his Formula one debut season, improved his timing a bit — 1:32.498 — in the second practice, but his position dropped to the 16th place. Webber took the session with 1:29.527.
— PTI |
|
IOA delegation for Melbourne
New Delhi, April 2 The delegation, to be led by IOA President Suresh Kalmadi, will include Secretary-General Randhir Singh, IOA senior vice-presidents Prof Vijay Kumar Malhotra and Tarlochan Singh and treasurer AK Mattoo. The IOA delegation will press for the inclusion of five more disciplines, from the present 15, in the 2010 Commonwealth Games to be held in New Delhi. India have suggested that basketball, cricket, archery, canoeing and kayaking and tennis be included in the next edition and would argue their case forcefully in the CGF General Assembly. Chairman of the National Minorities Commission Tarlochan Singh, who is also the vice-president of the Archery Association of India and was the media director when India hosted the ninth Asiad in New Delhi in 1982, is on a mission to study the media facilities as he is expected to be given charge of an important department in the organising committee of the 2010 Commonwealth Games. The IOA delegation will leave for Melbourne tomorrow, and will study, in detail, the stadia and other infrastructure being readied for the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in March, 2006. |
|
Federer in final
Miami, April 2 The Swiss would meet Rafael Nadal in the final after he defeated fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 6-4, 6-3. Federer took one hour and 21 minutes to record his third win of the year over Agassi and his 21st victory in succession. The American held his own in some thrilling first set exchanges, but lost his serve at 4-5 down. At 3-3 in the second set, Agassi began to apply some pressure of his own, but Federer’s serve held steady. It proved to be a turning point as the Swiss went on the attack, breaking Agassi in the next game and serving out the match.
— Reuters |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
