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Dhoni’s blistering 148 powers Indian win
Promoting Dhoni was a team decision: Ganguly
Agarkar inducted as cover to Balaji
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PCB to be given 2,000 tickets for
Delhi one-dayer
Kallis helps SA salvage draw
Rathore fires a salvo
6 Indians to battle for British Open berth
Atwal misses title by a whisker
Shruti, Isha score impressive wins
FIFA pays homage to Pope
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Dhoni’s blistering 148 powers Indian win
Visakhapatnam, April 5 The 26-year old from Jharkhand struck 148 from 123 balls for his maiden one-day hundred that propelled India to its third ever highest total of 356 for nine at the ACA-VDCA stadium. Pakistan's chase of the biggest ever target their arch-rivals had ever set them relied on a counter attacking innings by allrounder Abdul Razzaq who, promoted to number three, plundered 13 fours and a six for his 93 ball 88. But the visitors never managed a truly big partnership and although Yousuf Youhana sustained their hopes with a stylish but aggressive 71 from 56 balls, the Indian target was never under threat as the tourists were all out for 298 in 44.1 overs. Dhoni's knock, the highest by an Indian wicketkeeper, was studded with 15 fours and four sixes. His innings put into shade yet another blitzkrieg of a knock by Virender Sehwag who made 74 off 40 balls with 12 fours and two sixes. The two batsmen added 96 runs for the second wicket in 10.2 overs and even better was the fourth wicket stand between Dhoni and Rahul Dravid who fetched 149 runs from just 22 overs. The Indian vice-captain pitched in with a 59-ball 52. India, with the 87-run win in the first one-dayer in Kochi, now lead the six-match series 2-0. Young Dhoni celebrated his promotion to the number three spot with an audacious display of strokeplay that left the rival bowling in tatters and enabled India recover from the early loss of Tendulkar (2) who got needlessly run out attempting a cheeky single. Coming to the crease at 26 for 1, Dhoni first added 96 runs for the second wicket in the company of Virender Sehwag, with the latter continuing to dominate the Pakistan bowlers with another blazing knock of 74 consuming only 40 balls. Skipper Sourav Ganguly disappointed yet again, managing only nine during a 26-minute tentative stay in the middle. Sehwag made his aggressive intentions clear by picking up two boundaries as the first over by Mohammad Sami produced nine runs. More punishment was in store for the pacer in his next over as Sehwag went on the front foot and hoisted him over extra cover for the first six of the match, and then guided the next ball to the thirdman boundary. But India suffered a big blow in the fourth over as Tendulkar got run out in attempting a cheeky single. The little master played Rana Naved-ul-Hasan to mid on and Yousuf Youhana's direct throw hit the stumps at the non-striker's end with the batsman yet to reach home. Dhoni began with a straight driven boundary of Sami before Sehwag brought up the 50 of the innings in 5.1 overs with a lucky boundary as his edge of a Rana delivery flew over the slips. Dhoni then launched into Shahid Afridi straightaway with a four through mid wicket and then sent him over the ropes in the same region for a six in the very next ball as the 50 of the partnership was posted in only 24 minutes. Sehwag, who seemed unstoppable, the executed a short arm pull of Rana to reach his 50 of only 26 balls. Looking in complete control of the situation, the Najafgarh man then picked up Afridi for some special treatment hitting each of the first four balls of his second over for boundaries, courtesy two square cuts, a flick and a cover drive. As many as 18 came from the over, which also saw India reaching 100 of 10.3 overs. Sehwag finally departed as he attempted to further push up the scoring rate. The right hander went for a big hit and only succeeded in scooping the ball to mid wicket and Salman Butt accepted the high catch calmly. Sehwag struck two sixes and 12 fours during his 66 minute stay. Ganguly in between played across the line to an overpitch ball for Sami and saw his stumps shattered. Dhoni reached his half-century in the same over with a single, taking 78 minutes and 49 balls for the effort. Dravid looked his composed self, playing copybook cricket but never hesitated to punish the loose balls. Playing only his fifth one dayer, Dhoni reached the three-figure mark of only 88 balls as he pushed Afridi to extracover for a single in the 32nd over of the innings. On a high after the feat, Dhoni decided to increase the tempo even further and the 40th over saw Afridi conceding 18 runs, that included two sixes and one four struck by the wicket-keeper batsman. Dhoni's only blemish came when he was on 126. He tried to pull Hafeez but Afridi failed to latch on to the sharp chance at deep mid wicket. Dhoni was finally dismissed in the 42nd over after a 153 minute stay at the crease. He went for a slog off Mohammed Hafeez and the ball ballooned up to mid wicket and Shoaib Malik came running in from the deep to take the catch. Pakistan's bane was their opening combination. After the experiment with Kamran Akmal backfired in Kochi, Shahid Afridi returned to the top but he was back in the pavilion after facing only two balls without making a run. Razzaq and Salman Butt (36) 84 runs for the second wicket which was the only worthwhile partnership Pakistan managed before the latter top edged Ashish Nehra for a high catch to Sehwag. Inzamam-ul Haq announced his arrival with a six but was soon cursing his way back to the dressing room when Razzaq failed to respond to his call and was run out for 16. Razzaq, however, carried on with his cavalier batting and put on 47 runs for the fourth wicket with Youhana. The breakthrough came from unlikely bowler, Yuvraj Singh, and as the right hander tried to run down a leg side delivery, Dhoni picked up the faint edge with a low take. Youhana went for a cross batted shot against Nehra and Mohammad Kaif held on to the top edge at cover region. And there ended all hopes of Pakistan's. Scoreboard India: Sehwag c Butt b Rana 74 Tendulkar run out 2 Dhoni c Malik b Hafeez 148 Ganguly b Sami 9 Dravid c Afridi b Rana 52 Yuvraj lbw b Arshad 15 Kaif lbw b Rana 0 Harbhajan b Arshad 11 Balaji not out 17 Zaheer c Razzaq b Hafeez 17 Extras
(lb-2, nb-1, w-8) 11 Total (for 9 wickets in 50) 356 FoW:
1-26, 2-122, 3-140, 4-289, 5-300, 6-301, 7-318, 8-325, 9-356. Bowling:
Mohammad Sami 9-0-65-1, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan 10-0-54-3, Abdul Razzaq 10-0-55-0, Shahid Afridi 9-0-82-0, Arshad Khan 5-0-43-2, Mohammed Hafeez 7-0-55-2. Pakistan: Butt c Sehwag b Nehra 36 Afridi b Nehra 0 Razzaq c Dhoni b Yuvraj 88 Inzamam run out 16 Youhana c Kaif b Nehra 71 Malik c Sehwag b Yuvraj 12 Hafeez c Balaji b Yuvraj 7 Akmal lbw b Zaheer 41 Hasan c Dhoni b Nehra 2 Sami c Yuvraj b Harbhajan 2 Arshad not out 2 Extras:
(LB-6, W-15) 21 Total (All out in 44.1 overs) 298 FoW:
1/5, 2/89, 3/129, 4/176, 5/204, 6/222, 7/263, 8/268, Bowling: Lakshmipathy Balaji 6-0-33-0, Ashish Nehra 10-0-72-4, Zaheer Khan 6.1-0-38-1,Sachin Tendulkar 7-0-44-0, Harbhajan Singh 7-0-50-1 Yuvraj Singh 8-0-55-3.
— PTI |
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Promoting Dhoni was a team decision : Ganguly
Visakhapatnam, April 5 Dhoni slammed his maiden century with a rollicking 148 which played a big part in India's 58-run victory against the arch rivals. "Promoting Dhoni was a team thought. Looking at the wicket in the morning we thought it would crumble in the later stages and we wanted to utilise the first 15 overs", Ganguly said after India took a 2-0 lead in the six-match series. "Since Dhoni can hit the ball hard and I would have taken some time to settle since I am not batting well we decided to send him up the order." However, the pitch stood the test of time and played well for the entire 100 overs. Ganguly also conceded that Pakistan gave them a run for their money but said his team kept picking up wickets at regular intervals to maintain the upper hand. "Yes it was a close one. But chasing 357 on any wicket, anywhere, is not easy. And we kept on picking wickets which kept us in control," he said. The Indian captain acknowledged that the wicket was very good for batting and said it hardly helped the bowlers even when they were bowling in the rough. On extensive travelling during the series, Ganguly felt it was a part and parcel of any one-day itinerary and said they were looking for an additional day's rest before the Jamshedpur match. Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq said his team put up a brave effort and had they been able to keep a few wickets in hand to bat for entire 50 overs, the end result could have been different. "It is very difficult to chase 357 runs. But it was good effort from the boys and if we could have had wickets in hand and played 50 overs the result could be in our favour." Inzamam was however, not willing to throw in the towel as yet even after being 0-2 down in the series and said "we will bounce back". Dhoni, who was adjudged the man-of-the-match admitted that he was feeling the pressure when he walked in to bat in the morning but gave credit to Virender Sehwag to help him settle down. The 23-year-old gloveman, who was promoted up the order after the run out of Sachin Tendulkar, got a chance to play his normal game as Sehwag, who made a 40-ball 74 to take the attack to the opposition, took away all the pressure. "It was a good track for batting and the ball was not moving in the air or off the pitch. I was under pressure in the morning but Viru helped me to settle down," said Dhoni. On what his plans were in the middle, he said "I was well guided by Sourav and Rahul (Dravid)." Dhoni said he had been doing well against Pakistan and would like to continue in the same way at his home town Jamshedpur.
— PTI |
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Agarkar inducted as cover to Balaji
Visakhapatnam, April 5 However, Balaji has been kept in the squad but was unlikely to play, BCCI sources said while announcing the team here. There was no other change in the team, which has taken a 2-0 lead in the six match series. The third ODI will be played at Jamshedpur on April 9 and the fourth at Ahmedabad on April 12. Teams: India: Sourav Ganguly (captain), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Dinesh Mongia, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Irfan Pathan, Laxmipathy Balaji, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik and Ajit Agarkar.
— PTI |
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PCB to be given 2,000 tickets for
Delhi one-dayer
New Delhi, April 5 Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) vice-president C.K. Khanna said, “When PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan came to the stadium, he demanded 5,000 tickets, saying people in Pakistan were eager to watch the match. But we pointed out that the stadium is not complete yet and we can accommodate only half the capacity.” “We also took the matter with other PCB officials and sorted out the issue and will be sending them 2,000 tickets for the match,” he said. “People will be sitting in the lower tier only, for the second and third tier are under construction. At this stage, we could not give them more.” Mr Khanna, also a BCCI vice-president, added. Meanwhile, according to sources, the 60,000-capacity stadium would not accommodate more than 20,000 people in the April 17 match.
— UNI |
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Kallis helps SA salvage draw
Georgetown April 5 Kallis batted doggedly for close to seven hours to hit 15 boundaries from 346 balls, and reached the landmark when he flicked a delivery from Reon King to long leg for a single. When he reached 45, Kallis joined the retired Gary Kirsten as the only South African to score more than 7,000 Test runs. His century also equalled the South African record for the highest number of individual Test hundreds with which the left-handed Kirsten ended his career. Kallis added 139 for the fourth wicket with Herschelle Gibbs, another South African batsman who had relished the West Indies’ bowling in previous Tests, to effectively put victory out of reach of West Indies. Their stand followed a third-wicket partnership of 51 between Kallis and left-hander Jacques Rudolph that was broken in the final hour before lunch, and went a long way into wearing down the prowling West Indies bowlers. Gibbs, demoted in the South African batting order to bring a little more substance to the middle order, occupied the crease for four crucial hours to hit six fours in 49 from 207 balls. Kallis and Gibbs hardly put a foot wrong and batted with purpose to carry South Africa through the last five hours of a match against a West Indies attack that was emasculated on the benign Bourda Oval pitch. Gibbs, however, was dismissed in the first of the final 15 overs when Ryan Hinds bowled him behind his back to a cacophony of noise from the crowd, that grew steadily throughout the day. This left Kallis and Boucher to bat through another seven overs to spoil any chances of a West Indies comeback. West Indies had a couple of chances before lunch to make their yoke easy and burden light, but twice wicketkeeper Courtney Browne muffed chances, after the visitors continued from their bedtime total of 85 for two. Browne dropped Rudolph, on 20, down the leg-side off Daren Powell, and later, Kallis, on 22, off the uncomplicated leg-spin of West Indies captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who was named man-of-the-match. Rudolph and Kallis spent most of the morning period defying the West Indies attack but the breakthrough for the West Indies came from an unlikely source when Test newcomer Narsingh Deonarine had Rudolph lbw for 24, trapped on the backfoot with his part-time off-spin bowling. West Indies
have won only two of the 15 Tests contested between the two sides. Scoreboard West Indies 1st innings 543 for 5 dec South Africa 1st innings 188 South Africa 2nd innings De Villiers b King 20 Smith b Collins 34 Rudolph lbw Kallis not out 109 Gibbs b R Hinds 49 Boucher not out 4 Extras
(b-16, lb-2, w-2, nb-9) 29 Total (4 wkts, 161 overs) 269 Fall of wickets:
1-46, 2-68, 3-119, 4-258 Bowling: Collins 24-10-44-1, Powell 28-15-46-0, King 24-5-54-1, W. Hinds 14-5-16-0, R. Hinds 27-13-27-1, Deonarine 30-15-35-1, Chanderpaul 13-6-25-0, Ganga
1-0-4-0. AFP |
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Marshall leads Kiwi run feast
Napier, April 5 As the runs flowed on a benign pitch, Sri Lanka were 48 without loss from 12 overs when bad light forced an early end to the day, with Sanath Jayasuriya on 31 and Marvan Atapattu on 14.
New Zealand were dismissed for their sixth highest Test total, one hour into the final session.
Marshall top-scored with 160, Astle scored 114 while disappointed wicketkeeper McCullum became the seventh New Zealander to be dismissed for 99 in a Test innings. James Franklin chipped in with his highest Test score, reaching 55, before he was last man dismissed. With little in the wicket to worry the batsmen, it was left to Lisath Malinga and his unorthodox slingy action and he was rewarded with four wickets, including those of Marshall and McCullum. Marshall set the tone for the day in the morning session as he progressed untroubled from his overnight 133 to pass his Test best 146, set against Australia last month. He reached his 150 off 235 balls with a single to deep cover off Chaminda Vaas. New Zealand 1st innings Cumming lbw b Vaas 12 Marshall c Samaraweera Marshall c Vaas Fleming b Malinga 16 Astle c Jayasuriya Vincent c Dilshan McCullum lbw Franklin c Malinga Mills b Malinga 4 Wiseman c Atapattu Martin not out 1 Extras (b-5 lb-4 nb-10 w-2) 21 Total
(all out, 159.1 overs) 561 Fall of wickets: 1-35 2-142 3-187 4-312 5-317 6-446 7-487 8-497 9-540. Bowling:
Vaas 33-5-125-2, Malinga 35-5-131-4, Kulasekara 24-7-69-1 Herath 30.1-5-91-2 Chandana 33-4-123-1 Jayasuriya 3-1-8-0 Dilshan 1-0-5-0 Sri Lanka 1st innings Atapattu not out 14 Jayasuriya not out 31 Extras
(lb-2 nb-1) 3 Total (no loss, 12 overs) 48 Bowling:
Martin 5-1-14-0 Franklin 4-0-18-0 Wiseman 2-1-4-0 Mills 1-0-10-0.
— AFP |
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Rathore fires a salvo
New Delhi, April 5 He lamented that the achievements of Indian shooters in international competitions went largely unnoticed and suggested sending camera crews with the shooters during foreign trips to give the sport a wide coverage. Rathore quoted the example of Italy and Sweden who take their camera crews with the shooting teams to highlight the achievements of the shooters to audience back home. Rathore, while opening the first dedicated website for shooting in the country--indianshooting.com--said if cricket was a popular sport in the country, it was due to the excellent exposure given to the players and the game. He said the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) should play a more pro-active role to give more visibility to the shooters so as to attract sponsorship for shooting and shooters. Presently, not many shooters can boast of any sponsorship tie-up, barring Rathore himself. NRAI secretary Baljit Singh Sethi said the association has been doing a lot to promote shooting, but will try its best to make shooting very popular. Rathore said the website was a great idea which will provide instant access to shooting data in the country. He said he was an internet buff and this facility would attract more fans to the sport. Rathore said it was time the myth surrounding shooting was cleared as it was not such a costly sport as is being made out, and it is not an elite sport either. And it also does not require huge spaces to create shooting ranges. He said if the middle class take up the sport in a big way, sky is the limit for the growth of shooting in the country. |
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6 Indians to battle for British Open berth
Kuala Lampur, April 5 Other Indians hoping for a trip to St Andrews, the home of golf, are Jeev Milkha Singh, who missed out on a spot in 2004, losing in a play-off, Gaurav
Ghei, who played at the Open in 1997, Amandeep Johl, Harmeet Kahlon and Rahil
Gangjee. A total of 31 players will battle it out for three tickets to the Open at the Saujana Golf and Country Club. Randhawa has played in three British Opens, the last being in 2004, when he made his first cut and tied for the 27th place. He became the first Indian to play in four rounds. “A few guys in Asia are certainly capable of winning anything. This year, we have had Thongchai
(Jaidee) and Thaworn (Wiratchant) winning European Tour-sanctioned events and Arjun (Atwal) nearly won the Bellsouth (on the PGA Tour yesterday),” said Randhawa, currently ranked third on the Asian Tour Order of Merit.
— PTI |
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Atwal misses title by a whisker
Duluth (Georgia), April 5 In a tournament reduced to 54 holes because of incessant rains and bad weather, Atwal carded the tournament’s best round of eight-under 64 in the third round to gatecrash into a five-man play-off, which was ultimately won by the defending Masters champion Phil Mickelson yesterday. Atwal, who got into the main tournament rather late, lost out in the five-man play-off as he hit his approach shot into the water guarding the 18th green at the Sugarloaf golf course. He shot one-over for the hole — ironically he birdied that hole in his second and third rounds. “My game has been showing progress and I am glad that I am coming close,” said Atwal, playing the season on a conditional card, which would give him about 18 starts. The Bellsouth Classic was only his third start, and with finishes of tied 16th at AT&T Pebble Beach and then tied 26th at Chrysler Classic of
Tuscon, Atwal was well on making his card for 2006. Atwal picked up a $ 330,000 cheque, the highest-ever for an Indian golfer anywhere, and it catapulted his earnings to over $ 418,000 in just three starts. He also rose to 55th on the money list in US Tour. Mickelson, the tour’s leading money winner, earned $ 900,000 of the $ 5 million purse.
—PTI |
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Shruti, Isha score impressive wins
Mumbai, April 5 Wild cards Dhawan and Lakhani won in contrasting fashions as Dhawan overcame unseeded Julia Vorobieva of Russia 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (0) in a gruelling three-setter, while Lakhani crushed unseeded Cassandra Barr of Australia 6-3,
6-3. Krushmi Chheda was the other wild card to advance after her opponent Julia Dziedzic of Australia retired due to medical reasons when the Indian led 4-1 in the first set. While top seed
Chin-Wei Chan of Chinese Taipei prevailed over wild card Megha Vakharia of India 6-4, 6-2, number two Montinee Tangphong of Thailand survived a scare against formidable Sai Jayalakshmi Jayaram of India before winning 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 in a contest that lasted 2 hours and 15 minutes. Punam Reddy took much longer as she upset fancied Archana Venkataraman 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (6) in a three-hour long first round tie. Results: singles (1st round):
Chi-Wei Chan bt Megha Vakharia 6-4, 6-2; Natsumi Hamamura bt Nudnida Luangnam 7-5, 7-5; Shruti Dhawan bt Julia Vorobieva 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (0); Isha Lakhani bt Cassandra Barr 6-3, 6-3; Montinee Tangphong bt Sai Jayalakshmy Jayaram 4-6, 6-2, 6-4; Thassha Vityaviroj bt Karishma Patel 6-2, 4-6, 6-2; Punam Reddy bt Archana Venkataraman 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (6); Krushmi Chheda bt Julia Dziedzic (Aus) 4-1, retd; Kavita Krishnamurthy bt Adriana Szili 4-0, conceded; Mihaela Buzarnescu bt Tara Iyer 6-4, 6-3.
— UNI |
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Paris, April 5 “The FIFA family joins the world in mourning for the passing of Pope John Paul II,” the press note said. “The Pope, himself a former goalkeeper, was an outstanding advocate of peace and love in the world and was always a man of good humour,” it added. “Long a friend of the international football community, His Holiness received a number of FIFA delegations in the last 15 years, including all referees prior to the 1990 FIFA World Cup and both FIFA and Italian all-star teams playing on the occasion of the Italian Football Federation’s centennial celebrations in 1998, ” it noted. “Always an impressive person, the world will miss the presence of His Holiness and we share our condolences with all the people who have been touched by his life. May he rest in peace,” it said.
— AFP |
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