 |
|
|
Afridi gives Pakistan
thumping win
Afridi made the difference: Dravid
Dravid to lead in 6th ODI
Beloff to hear Ganguly’s appeal
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
JCT, Fransa battle to goal-less draw
IHF to decide on tsunami hockey series on April 19
Daunting task ahead for hockey veterans
Paes in semis, Bhupathi ousted
Digvijay claims title in style
Patiala 90 for 2
Sanam, Vivek in semis
BSF draw with Karnataka
MDU honours sportspersons
|
|
Afridi gives Pakistan
thumping win
Kanpur, April 15 With this win, in what is the 100th ODI between the cricketing arch-rivals, Pakistan go 3-2 up in the six-match series and will play the final one-dayer in Delhi on April 17 eyeing a series win while India will now strive to level it. Set a victory target of 250, Pakistan got a flying start with Man of the Match Shahid Afridi going berserk during his 45-ball century. In the very first over, Afridi hit Lakshmipathy Balaji for a couple of sixes and a boundary and sent the lanky pacer again for a six and a boundary in his next over. Afridi's 45-ball knock was the second fastest century in one-dayers and equalled the endeavour of West Indian Brian Lara. Incidentally, the record for the fastest hundred is also in the name of this young Pathan. Nine years ago he had reached the milestone in a mere 37 balls against Sri Lanka in Nairobi. Stand-in skipper Rahul Dravid introduced Anil Kumble to stop the run-riot but Afridi greeted the leggie with three sixes -- two in the first two balls -- and a four as Kumble conceded 23 runs in his first over. The Afridi blitzkrieg left the Indian bowlers with figures they would prefer to forget. A hapless Dravid brought the spinners Kumble and Dinesh Mongia fast, only to take them away faster. Whenever Afridi took strike, half the Indian team assembled to guide the bowler. On 98, Afridi played a shot resembling a tennis forehand off Harbhajan Singh that raced to boundary to fetch his fourth ODI century in just 45-balls but the Turbanator's very next delivery foxed him and went through his gate to knock off the bails. His 46-ball knock was studded with nine huge sixes and 10 boundaries. Kumble then trapped Salman Butt (21) leg before to reduce Pakistan to 135 for two but Yousuf Youhana (24) and Shoaib Malik (41) put on 58 runs before Kaif ran backwards and dived ahead to take a blinder off Kumble to remove Youhana. Malik holed out to Zaheer Khan in the deep off Sachin Tendulkar but it just underlined the Little Champion was brought too late and Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul Haq (24 not out) and his deputy Younis Khan (24) reached near the target before Virender Sehwag castled the latter with Pakistan just two runs away from victory. Inzamam completed the formality with a boundary as Pakistan won the match with 7.5 overs to spare. Earlier, it took a 135-run fifth wicket partnership between skipper Rahul Dravid (86) and Mohammad Kaif (78) to bail India out of the morass after Naved-ul Hasan's three-wicket burst had left the hosts reeling at 26 for three. Team India top order blew away the advantage after Dravid won the toss and opted to bat. Naved-ul Hasan silenced the chock-a-block stadium in the third over with a delivery that saw Little Master Sachin Tendulkar perish caught behind with just one run against his name. A lot was expected from Virender Sehwag (5) and the Delhi swashbuckler had started off with a boundary off Naved in the first over. But Naved's third over saw Sehwag completely misreading a delivery that sent his off-stump cartwheeling amid groans across the stadium which expected fireworks from the buccaneering opener. Mahendra Singh Dhoni (11) did not realise that the slow Green Park track was not exactly tailor-made for his kind of daredevilry and the young wicketkeeper edged Rana to Pakistan vice captain Younis Khan in the slips to join the openers in the pavilion and India were tottering at 26 for three. Yuvraj Singh (18 off 33 balls, 4x4) joined his skipper in the middle and the duo shunned risks as India crawled to 50 for three in 12.4 overs. The southpaw drove Iftikhar for two consecutive boundaries but Razzaq induced him for a drive. There was not enough room for the shot and the delivery took an inside edge before ricocheting on Yuvraj's timberworks. That brought in local favourite Mohammad Kaif and the cheeky batsman started off with a boundary off Razzaq and then was involved in some aggressive running between the wickets with his skipper. Both he and Dravid played with soft bottom hands and got the placements rights to keep the scoreboard ticking with ones and twos even though boundaries dried up. Kaif stole a single off Afridi to complete his 11th half century, second against Pakistan, in 66 balls in the shorter version of the game while in the same over, Dravid glanced Afridi for two identical, consecutive boundaries to complete his 59th half century -- ninth against the arch-rivals, that came off 85 balls. Both the players milked the Pakistan attack and Kaif swept Shoaib Malik for two consecutive fours in the same over. His undoing came in the 43rd over when, trying to step up the run rate, Kaif pulled Razzaq to perish. His 78 came off 90 balls that included nine boundaries. With Dravid, he put up 135 runs in 160 balls for the fifth wicket, bettering their 118-run stand in Karachi last year. India reached 200 in 43.5 overs. Dinesh Mongia (33 off 28 balls) looked shaky in the beginning before he hoisted Arshad Khan for two successive sixes. Dravid, on the other hand, paced his innings well and his 113-ball knock, studded with seven boundaries, came to an end when he was run out trying to capitalise on sloppy Pakistan fielding. Scoreboard India: Sehwag b Rana 5 Tendulkar c Akmal b Rana 1 Dhoni c Younis b Rana 11 Dravid run out 86 Yuvraj b Razzaq 18 Kaif c sub (Hafeez) Mongia not out 33 Zaheer not out 1 Extras
(lb-10, w-2, nb-4) 16 Total (6 wkts, 50 overs): 249 Fall of wickets:
1-10, 2-11, 3-26, 4-59, 5-194, 6-248. Bowling: Rana Naved-ul-Hasan 10-2-35-3, Rao Iftikhar Anjum 10-1-46-0, Abdul Razzaq 10-1-51-2, Arshad Khan 9-1-41-0, Shahid Afridi 6-0-32-0, Shoaib Malik 5-0-34-0. Pakistan: Butt lbw Kumble 21 Afridi b Harbhajan Singh 102 Malik c Zaheer b Tendulkar 41 Youhana c Kaif b Kumble 24 Inzamam not out 24 Younis b Sehwag 24 Razzaq not out 0 Extras
(lb-5, nb-5, w-6) 16 Total (5 wkts, 42.1 overs): 252 Fall of wickets:
1-131, 2-135, 3-193, 4-216, 5-248. Bowling: Laxmipathy Balaji 6-0-51-0, Zaheer Khan 7-1-35-0, Anil Kumble 10-1-54-2, Dinesh Mongia 4.1-0-40-0, Harbhajan Singh 10-0-43-1, Sachin Tendulkar 3-0-20-1, Virender Sehwag 2-0-4-1.
— UNI |
|
Afridi made the difference: Dravid
Kanpur, April 15 Indian stand-in skipper Rahul Dravid said apart from Afridi, all batsmen had to work hard for runs and his 46-ball 102 made all the difference. "We thought 250 was a good score. If you see it was a tough going for except for Afridi. He was brilliant today and made all the difference," Dravid said after the match. Insisting that 250 was a fighting total on such a track, Dravid said if not for the great start given to Pakistan by Afridi the match would have been a close one. "But once a team scores 130-odd runs in 15 overs the match is as good as over." Dravid said "it is always difficult to bowl to Afridi and when he gets going the way he did today, no one has any answers.You have to get him out early otherwise he can run away with the match." Despite being 2-3 down, Dravid said his team had the chance to level the series in Delhi and added that they needed to work on a few things. Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq was all praise for Afridi and said his knock made their job really easy. "To chase 250 on such a wicket is not easy. But Afridi made the difference as he gave us a brilliant start," Inzamam said. The Pakistan skipper admitted that the wicket had eased out considerably when they began their chase but said it was still tough to score runs on it. On what he told Afridi before the start of the innings, Inzamam said the batsman had his own way of playing and he only tells him to play his natural game. Inzamam also had a word of praise for Rana Naveed-ul Hasan who rocked the Indians in the morning session with three quick wickets in his opening spell and said they would now go all out to win the series in the final match. Afridi, who was adjudicated the man-of-the-match for his knock, thanked the skipper and coach Bob Woolmer for supporting him despite failing in the earlier innings and added that he always looked to stay positive and give his team a solid start.
— PTI |
Dravid to lead in 6th ODI
Kanpur, April 15 Asked whether it would be he who would continue to lead the side in the last match as well, Dravid told reporters, ''at least I was told so.'' On whether he felt Sourav Ganguly's absence in today's match which India lost by five wickets, Dravid replied, ''I think talking about someone who is not present is a disrespect to others who are. "So we were not thinking about his absence but concentrating on this match.'' Asked if he was not prepared for the captain's responsibility, Dravid said, ''Not at all. I'm prepared for that.'' Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul Haq, however, said his team had benefited from Ganguly's absence even though the Indian was out of form. ''He has been leading the side for the last four five years and it does help the opposition is he is not there,'' Inzamam said.
He also had encouraging words for stand-in skipper Rahul Dravid.
''Rahul also did a good job in today's match,'' he opined.
— UNI |
|
Beloff to hear Ganguly’s appeal
London, April 15 Mr Beloff will hear and determine the appeal within the next seven days unless the parties agree otherwise. The process for hearing is at the discretion of Mr Beloff. Mr Beloff is a prominent English lawyer with a wealth of experience in sports law. He has been a Member of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (“CAS”) from 1996. He was on the CAS ad hoc panel for dispute resolution during the Olympic Games at Atlanta in 1996, at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur in 1999 and at the Olympic Games at Sydney 2000, the Commonwealth Games in Manchester 2002 and at the Olympic Games in Athens 2004.
— UNI |
|
JCT, Fransa battle to goal-less draw
Ludhiana, April 15 Keen to grab full points after a series of setbacks on home turf, the Phagwara team, incidentally the only outfit in the high-profile league from North India, found the going tough in the face of a tight Goan defence. Fransa coach Norbert Gonsalves opted for a cautious approach with emphasis on defence and was more or less satisfied with the one point gained from today’s tie. JCT, who also earned one point, have boosted their tally to 23 points from 17 matches while Fransa have now accumulated 26 points. Naming foreign recruits Julius Irabor Akepele and Alexander Jebba in their starting line-up, JCT went all out to gain the upper hand from the onset but close man-to-man marking by Fransa frustrated their designs. Stopper backs Ambalath Suliman and Louis Aniweta defended their citadel with fortitude with wing backs Sanjeev Maria and Cresson Antao lending full support. Louis Aniweta, taken on loan from East Bengal, proved unbeatable in aerial duels. Fransa’s midfield was effectively marshalled by former JCT star Hardip Singh Saini and international Jules Alberto. Saini’s error-free ball control lent strength to the attack spearheaded by Saikhom Singh and Nigerian Joseph Ogor. Whenever JCT did manage to make some close calls, it was former India goalkeeper Kalyan Chaubey who rose to the occasion to thwart the moves. JCT made the first serious move midway into the first session when Manjit, incidentally named man-of-the-match, trapped a cross by Jaswinder from the right and sent a lob for Alexander Jebba inside the box. Jebba attempted a reverse volley but failed to beat Chaubey under Fransa’s bar. Fransa took time to hit back and shortly before half time, right winger Peter Rodrigues, who scored the match winner against East Bengal at Kolkata three days back, sought to capitalise on a cross from the right when he volleyed from the edge of the box but missed the target. At the stroke of the lemon break, JCT had a good chance to forge ahead. A flag kick by skipper Ram Paul saw Manjit back-heeling goalwards but his shot was blocked by a defender. In the second half, JCT brought in the young Sakatar Singh in place of Alexander Jebba. The move added some sting to the attack with Sakatar, Jaswinder and Sukhjinder displaying good understanding. Fransa counter-attacked through Jules Alberto and Joseph Ogor and off one move, Hardip Saini attempted a long-ranger which proved to be of no avail. JCT forced a corner thereafter and the flag kick by Ram Paul saw Sukhjinder heading high over the bar. In the 68th minute, JCT had a good chance when Manjit centred for Sakatar and the goalkeeper was beaten but unluckily Sakatar was ruled off-side. The substitution of Ram Paul with Hardip Gill did not make much impact although Manjit toiled hard upfront. Off one move, Manjit’s back pass to Julius Akepele on the edge of the box saw the latter balooning the ball high over the bar. In the dying minutes, a booming volley by JCT’s Manjit Singh from the top of the box brought out the best in Fransa goalkeeper Kalyan Chaubey who dived to his right like lightning to punch the ball out for a corner. Outgoing Indian coach Stephen Constantine was among the distinguished gathering who watched the proceedings with keen interest. |
|
IHF to decide on tsunami hockey series on April 19
Jalandhar, April 15 Mr K.Jyotikumaran, secretary of the IHF, talking to The Tribune over phone confirmed that the hockey series had not been officially cancelled even as they were in the process of finalising the schedule keeping in view engagements of the Indian team. "We have agreed in principle to the proposal of Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) to hold series in aid of Tsunami victims. Though discussions were held with Pakistani counterparts and it was decided to play three matches during the series, but a final word is still to come," said Mr Jyotikumaran, adding that the series was not cancelled as reported in a section of media. "I will meet the IHF chief Mr K.P.S.Gill at Delhi on April 19 and he will decide about the status of the series. We will consult the PHF officials about fresh dates before taking any decision in this regard," he added. The Pakistan Hockey Federation secretary, Mr Musarratullah Khan, had reportedly declared that the series had been postponed and that fresh dates would be announced after consultation with the IHF officials, he was quoted as saying. Earlier, both the countries had agreed in principle to play three matches - one each at Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka. The arch rivals were scheduled to play inaugural match at Karachi on April 22 while the third and last match was to be played at Colombo in Sri Lanka on April 28. The venue for the second match was yet to be decided by the IHF as either New Delhi or Chandigarh was to host the April 25 game. The earnings from this series were to go to President General Pervez Musharraf's Tsunami Relief Fund. The IHF sources, however, confirmed that there was every possibility that the apex hockey body of India in consultation with the PHF would cancel the series since there was not much time left to hold the series in view of national and international engagements of both the countries. |
|
Daunting task ahead for hockey veterans
Amritsar, April 15 Pakistan have remained unbeaten so far by winning the ties at Jalandhar, Bhopal and Delhi. Both teams will have to fight a common enemy — rising mercury. It will become more threatening as the match will start at noon. Local resident Balwinder Singh Shammi, an Olympian, has said he, along with Nirmal Singh, Baljit Singh Randhawa and B.S. Randhawa, have been preparing for the last one month. He has hoped that they will put up a strong fight to make the match a memorable one. The team will include Dhanraj Pillay and Pargat Singh, who will be a treat to watch. The presence of a large number of Olympians will encourage the young generation to emulate them. The members of the team are Dhanraj Pillay, Pargat Singh, Balwinder Singh Shammi, Edward (goalkeeper), Rajinder Singh, Gundeep Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar, Hardeep Neeta, Deedar Singh (all Olympians), Mohan Singh, Nirmal Singh, Ranjit Singh, Ripudaman Singh, Jasbir Jassi, Jagmohan Singh, Balwant Singh, Baljeet Singh Randhawa, B. S. Randhawa, Darshan Singh, Hardeep Dhillon, Surinder Singh Bhappa and Iqbal Singh Sandhu. Fighteen former Olympians will watch the match. They are Ashok Kumar, Harcharan Singh, Rajinder Singh (former Indian team coach), Surinder Sodhi, Mukhbain Singh, Balbir Singh, Dharam Singh, Tarsem Singh, Gurmail Singh, Charanjit Kumar, Ajit Singh, Chand Singh, Ajit Pal Singh, R.P. Singh, Harpreet Singh, Ashok Dhyan Chand, Mohd Shahid and Baldev Singh Randhawa. |
|
|
Paes in semis, Bhupathi ousted
New Delhi, April 15 They will next play fourth seeds Warye Arthur and Paul Hanley of Australia who beat Mahesh Bhupathi and Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 6-7 6-3 6-3 in another last eight stage match. In the other quarterfinal matches, French duo of Michael Llodra and Fabrice Santoro upset the top seeds Mark Knowles of Bahamas and Daniel Nestor of Canada 7-6 (4) 1-6 6-4. They will take on American Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, who defeated Mario Ancic and Ivan Ljubicic 6-2 6-1, for a place in the final.
— PTI |
|
Digvijay claims title in style
Gurgaon, April 15 The Meerut based pro earned a whopping Rs 4.05 Lakh for his effort. Delhi’s Shiv Kapur hit three-under 69 for sole second position at 12-under 276. Promising Chandigarh golfer Harinder Gupta finished third at ten-under 278 bringing back the days best card at 66, while the quartet of Dinesh Kumar, Gaurav
Ghei, Vijay Kumar and Vishal Singh finished tied-fourth at 280. Ashok Kumar also fired 66 to finish tied-eighth with Sandeep
Syal. Jeev Milkha Singh returned a second successive under-par effort hitting three under par 69 to finish tied-10th at 282 while Mukesh Kumar finished tied 15th at 283. Digvijay Singh teed off with a four stroke advantage which he increased by two to triumph in the end. He started in style with a birdie. Birdies on the sixth and seventh took him to three-under at the turn. He hit fourth bogey in as many days on the 11th. This was, however, made up for with a hat-trick of birdies on 14th 15th and 16th. The 22-year old Shiv Kapur settled for his fifth second place finish of the season. He went on to drop shots early on the second and seventh. A birdie on the eighth placed him at one-over at the turn. He then strung together a remarkable recovery marred by only one dropped shot on the 11th. Vikrant Chopra beat Gaganjeet Bhullar by a solitary stroke to win the amateur title with an impressive four-day tally of five-under 283. Vikrant shot a one-under 71 today. Bhullar who finished at 284 shot a 70.
— UNI |
|
Patiala 90 for 2
Patiala, April 15 Brief scores: Minor Districts: 198 all out (Maninder Sharma 120, Raj Kamal 35, Bhavish Goyal 4 for 33, Amaninder Singh 3 for 43, Robin Dhillon 2 for 20); Patiala: 90 for 2 ( Jeewanjot Singh 56, Aman Bharti 1 for 20). Amritsar 44 for 4
Amritsar: The hosts were at 44 for four while chasing the target of 115 runs of Mohali on the first day fo the two-day (U-15) Sushil Bali Cricket Tournament (group-A) being played at Gandhi Ground here on Friday. For Amritsar, Pankaj and Vinay earned five and three wickets, respectively. |
|
|
Sanam, Vivek in semis
New Delhi, April 15 According to information received here, Sanam K Singh played a superb allround game to make short work of his seeded rival Martin Sayer 6-4, 6-2. In another quarterfinals, Vivek Shokeen overpowered his fancied Japanese opponent 6-3, 6-3. Sanam and Vivek will face each other in the semifinal tomorrow. However, the third Indian in the fray, Jeevan Nedunchezhian lost to Japan’s Sho Aida 4-6, 2-6 in another quarterfinal. In the doubles quarterfinals, Jeevan and Sanam combined well to overwhelm Young Kim and Jin Kim (Korea) 6-4, 6-2 In the second quarter finals, Vivek Shokeen and Kento Bt Yang and Chang (TPE) 6-3, 6-3.
— UNI |
|
Chennai, April 15 Indian Airlines scored all the goals in the first half. Girish Pimpale hoisted the lead with a penalty corner conversion in the eighth minute and Arjun Halappa made it 2-0, seven minutes later through another penalty corner. Sandeep Michael made it 3-0 in the 29th minute, before Altaf-ur-Rehman completed the rout at the stroke of half time. The other match between BSF and Karnataka failed to rise to any height, though the latter had an edge over the bordermen, considering the openings they had in the match.
— UNI |
|
MDU honours sportspersons
Rohtak, April 15 |
| 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 | |
