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Dhoni batters Pakistani attack
BCCI’s no to cricket in C’wealth Games
Aussies lack depth: Smith
Mohammad Kaif guides UP to historic win
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Paes-Damm enter quarterfinals
Anand reclaims joint lead
Dhruv
academy triumphs
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Dhoni batters Pakistani attack
Faisalabad, January 23 Captain Rahul Dravid’s gritty 103 were overshadowed as the swashbuckling Dhoni gave a breathtaking display of strokeplay to not only notch up his maiden Test century but steer his team to a relatively safe position of 441 for five at stumps on the third day. The prospects of a follow-on loomed large at one stage when the visitors were left struggling at 281 for five but Dhoni showed no signs of nerve by unleashing a blistering assault on the Pakistani bowlers who bowled well in patches. The wicketkeeper-batsman found an able ally in young Irfan Pathan (49 not out) as the sixth wicket pair put on a record unfinished 160-run partnership to leave the tourists 147 runs adrift of Pakistan's mammoth first innings total of 588 on a placid track at the Iqbal Stadium. Resuming at the overnight score of 110 for one, Dravid recorded his 22nd Test ton and stitched 197 runs for the second wicket with the stylish V.V.S. Laxman (90) to put India in a comfortable position. But the dismissal of Laxman triggered off a middle order collapse as Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar (14) and Yuvraj Singh (4) perished in quick succession to leave the visitors in a spot of bother. The 24-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman paid scant respect either to the bowlers' reputation or the situation the team was in as he counter-attacked the fiery Shoaib Akhtar-led rival attack with gusto to race to his ton in only 93 balls. Dhoni tamed Akhtar and company with his forthright batting, hooking, cutting and pulling the short balls served to him repeatedly even as a senior like Tendulkar struggled to find his feet. His 123-ball essay was embellished with four huge sixes and 14 fours. The Indian stumper's knock, that bettered his previous best of 51 not out made in Delhi in the last series against Sri Lanka, guided the tourists out of trouble after a dramatic mid-session collapse reduced India from 236 for one to 281 for five in just 11 overs. The day, interspersed with a lot of chanting between the Pakistani players and the Indian batsmen, turned out to be the best of the series so far in terms of intensity and sudden change in fortunes. Left-handed Pathan, who played second fiddle to a nicety, was one short of his third half century in 20 Tests after being let off towards close by wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal, when on 48. He had so far hit four fours and a six in his 96-ball knock when play was called off six overs before scheduled close due to bad light. Earlier Dravid struck his 22nd Test hundred and fifth against Pakistan, in making 103, before being run out by a brilliant pick-up and throw at the non-striker's end by Imran Farhat, substituting for injured home team captain Inzamam-ul-Haq. It was also Dravid's second successive three-figure innings of the series, having made an unbeaten 128 in the drawn first Test at Lahore. The Bangalore stalwart put on 197 runs with VVS Laxman for the second wicket in 396 balls after India resumed from overnight 110 for one before the tourists suffered a sudden and alarming slump from a comfortable lunch-time score of 227 for one. The wickets lost during this dramatic collapse were those of Laxman, caught off Danish Kaneria who broke the stubborn stand in the third over of the post-lunch period, Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, caught hooking off Mohammed Asif, and Tendulkar who walked off without waiting for the umpire's finger to go up. As it emerged later in TV replays, Tendulkar could very well may have been ruled not out as the ball had brushed past his right glove when it was not in contact with his bat. Tendulkar, who like Laxman and Yuvraj from among the frontline batsmen was batting in a match situation after a fortnight, looked unduly subdued during his short stay at the wicket. However, undanuted by these reverses, Dhoni took over the attacking reins to slam a quick-fire half century, in only 60 balls and with the help of three huge sixes and seven fours. At tea, Dhoni was unconquered with 56 in a team score of 338 for five. He continued in the same vein after the interval and also singled out Kaneria for severe punishment, clubbing the leg spinner for three sixes over the straight field to force him out of the attack. Later, he attacked the other leggie, Shahid Afridi, by cutting the bowler for three fours after hitting Abdul Razzaq off the attack with a flurry of offside fours. Scoreboard Pakistan (1st innings) 588 India (1st innings) Sehwag c sub (Farhat) Dravid run out 103 Laxman c Akmal b Kaneria 90 Tendulkar c Akmal b Akhtar 14 Yuvraj c Kaneria b Asif 4 Dhoni batting 116 Pathan batting 49 Extras
(b-2, lb-12, w-2, Total (for 5 wkts, 121 overs) 441 Fall of wickets:
1-39, 2-236, 3-241, 4-258, 5-281. Bowling: Akhtar 22-7-73-1, Asif 27-4-89-1, Razzaq 23-1-109-1, Kaneria 32-3-94-1, Afridi 17-0-62-0.
— PTI |
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BCCI’s no to cricket in C’wealth Games
New Delhi, January 23 BCCI treasurer N Srinivasan, who along with secretary Nirajn Shah addressed the media after the Working Committee meeting here, informed that the BCCI would not participate in any tournament with the Twenty-20 format. The International Cricket Council (ICC) wanted the Twenty-20 format for the Commonwealth Games, but with the BCCI making it clear that it will not play in the shorter version, the Indian Olympic Association’s (IOA’s) slim hope of getting cricket for the Commonwealth Games has been dashed. There is also a question mark on the ICC Champions Trophy to be held in India in October-November this year at three venues — Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkatta — as the BCCI wants to hold matches in more venues and not just confine to three venues, as has been suggested by the ICC. “It was decided at the Working Committee to discuss with the ICC the problems faced by the three venues selected by the ICC and resolve the same,” Mr Srinivasan clarified. The BCCI is apparently upset at the selection of venues and the scheduling of the tournament to October-November without taking into consideration India’s cricket calendar. Moreover, it would be quite a cumbersome task to compress 21 Champions Trophy matches into the three venues. Hence the BCCI has decided to talk it over with the ICC “the procedural problems” faced by the host association. The treasurer said he has been appointed the convener-secretary of the PILCOM to disburse Pakistan’s share of the profits from the $ 4 million lying with it. The PILCOM (Pakistan-India-Lanka Organising Committee) was formed to host the 1996 World Cup in the sub-continent, but Pakistan’s share from the cup proceedings could not be disbursed due to tax problems. The Working Committee has authorised Srinivasan to disburse the amount due to Pakistan Cricket Board “subject to their submitting a suitable indemnity so that if any tax problems crop up with the Indian Government, the PCB will be accountable for it. Various other important decisions were taken at today’s meeting, and one of them was to authorise BCCI President Sharad Pawar to form a committee to hold discussion with the representatives of the Women’s Cricket Association of India about the feasibility of merging it with the men’s body. “The BCCI is keen to promote women's cricket,” noted Srinivasan. Karnataka Cricket Association secretary Brijesh Patel has been issued a show cause notice, and has been given 15 days to reply, for making some uncomplimentary remarks against Sharad Pawar. Other important decisions taken include the approval of the extension of the Players’ Pension Scheme to widows of Test cricketers/Test umpires who retired prior to December 31,1975, for their lifetime; all the cricketers who have represented India in One-Day International matches will be eligible for a pension of Rs 5,000 per month; Ranji Trophy cricketers who have retired prior to 1959-60 and have played a minimum of 25 first class matches will be eligible for a pension of Rs 5,000 per month and Ranji Trophy cricketers who made their debut up to December 31, 1975, and have played a minimum of 50 first class matches will be eligible for a pension of Rs 5,000 per month. The proposal of the Finance Committee to pay the entire match fees to Ranji Trophy Cricketers in cash with effect from the 2004-2005 season has also been given the green signal. In 2004-2005, the cricketers were paid Rs 4,000 per match day and Rs 12,000 per match day was credited to their benevolent fund. The Vizzy Trophy (Inter-University) players will be paid an allowance on the same pattern as the under-19 players and the State cricket associations would be given infrastructure development subsidy of Rs 10 crore, which is 6 crore more than the prevalent amount. |
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Aussies lack depth: Smith
Adelaide, January 23 Smith, preparing to take on Sri Lanka in the triangular series one-day match tomorrow, said the Australian attack without pace spearhead Glenn McGrath had been exposed. The host nation chose to rest veteran McGrath from yesterday’s match at the Sydney Cricket Ground and Smith said it showed as Sri Lankan opener Sanath Jayasuriya smacked 114 off 96 balls. “It shows how important McGrath is to their set-up. McGrath and (Brett) Lee,” he said. “I know McGrath hasn’t got many wickets but they’ve really bowled well up front this series and created pressure. It just may be show the depth is just like ours. It takes a while to get those guys up to a level they need to be.” Australian all-rounder James Hopes was hammered for 65 runs off six overs by the Sri Lankans while Brett Dorey was substituted by captain Ricky Ponting after being smashed for 35 runs off four overs. Smith questioned why the Australians continued to ignore Jason Gillespie, despite his poor form in Australia’s Ashes tour of England. “I know he struggled through the Ashes but he’s a world-class bowler, and certainly it has been a surprise that he hasn’t even been spoken of much,” he said.
— AFP |
Mohammad Kaif guides UP to historic win
Mumbai, January 23 Requiring 214 for victory, Uttar Pradesh, who were 39 for one overnight, reached the target half an hour before tea on the fourth day. Uttar Pradesh’s passage to the championship round was facilitated by 36-time champions Mumbai’s shoddy fielding this morning, as Kaif (64) and Suresh Raina (44) enjoyed reprieves to steer their side to a well-deserved win. Kaif was on 17 when he was dropped by Vinit Indulkar at long-on off medium pacer Avishkar Salvi with Uttar Pradesh on 54 for two. Raina was lucky that Onkar Khanvilkar’s throw missed when the visitors were 63 for two. The left-hander had made only two then. Kaif, who escaped the very next ball after overnight batsman Shivakant Shukla was dismissed, and Raina took advantage of Mumbai’s lapses and went on to add 76 runs for the third wicket. The captain then
put on 43 for the fourth wicket with Rizwan Shamshad (29) and 25 for the fifth with Jyoti Yadav (26 not out) to put Uttar Pradesh firmly on the road to victory. Uttar Pradesh has never won the Ranji title and have been runners-up to Karnataka on the only two occasions they have reached the final in 1977-78 and 1997-98. Bengal in command Kolkata: Having virtually sealed a place in the final after a 12-year gap, Bengal were now eyeing an outright win against Baroda in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group semifinal today. At close of day four, Baroda were 101 for two, still needing 277 runs to avoid an innings defeat with a full day’s play still left at the Eden Gardens. Earlier, the Bengal first innings folded for 619, 23 minutes into the post lunch session, taking a mammoth 378-run lead over the visitors. — PTI
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Clijsters, Mauresmo win
Melbourne, January 23 Clijsters next faces Martina Hingis, who beat Samantha Stosur of Australia 6-1, 7-6 (10/8). The fifth-seeded Davydenko also saved three break points in the last game, winning five straight points and closing the 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 victory with an ace. No. 21 Nicolas Kiefer had a 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-3 win over Juan Ignacio Chela, who had ousted third-seeded Lleyton Hewitt in the second round. Kiefer next plays No. 25 Sebastien Grosjean, who had a 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 win over fellow Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu and has reached the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park for the
fourth time. WTA Championship winner Amelie Mauresmo cruised into the quarterfinals, committing only two unforced errors in a 6-1, 6-1 victory over 16-year-old Nicole Vaidisova. Mauresmo next plays Switzerland’s Patty Schnyder, who beat 2004 French Open champion Anastasia Myskina 6-2, 6-1 in 55 minutes.
— AP |
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Paes-Damm enter quarterfinals
Melbourne, January 23 The two-hour long match ended with Leander-Damm recovering, after losing the first set, to win the match 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. With this win the Indo-Czech pair advanced into the quarterfinals where they will take on the second seed pair of Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi, who beat 13th seed Argentinean pair of Jose Acasuso and Sebastian Preito. Meanwhile, Sania Mirza’s campaign in the Australian Open came to a crashing end after the Indian ace, already out of contention in the singles
and doubles, made an early exit from the mixed doubles championship losing in
straight sets. Sania and her partner Australian Stephen Huss were beaten 6-3, 6-3 by the third seed US-Russian pair of Bob Bryan and Vera Zvonareva. The third seeded pair took little over one hour for their facile 6-3, 6-3 win. Sanam advances
Third seed Sanam Singh’s straight set 6-2, 7-5 win in boy’s singles was the only silver lining in an otherwise gloomy day as other Indian juniors, including sixth seed Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and the Sandhya Nagaraj-Sanaa Bhambri duo, bit the dust in the Australian Open here today. Chandigarh-based Sanam was impressive in his first round match against Rasmus Moller of Denmark and it took the Indian just 23 minutes to win the first set dropping two games. Moller, however, put up a better show in the second set and twice broke Sanam but the Indian reacted positively to clinch the set and the match in 66 minutes to sail into the second round where he meets local favourite Todd Ley. His pal Jeevan, however, had a disappointing outing as the sixth seed fought a two-and-a-half hour battle before going down to unseeded Australian Steven Goh 7-6(7/4), 4-6, 8-6. In the girls singles, Sandhya Nagaraj tried her best but could not avert a 4-6, 6-3, 5-7 defeat while fellow Indian Sanaa Bhambri bit dust against American Lauren Albanese who won 6-4, 6-4. —
UNI |
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Anand reclaims joint lead
Wijk Aan Zee, January 23 The much-needed victory for Anand came at an appropriate time as the Indian ace joined world champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria, who was held to a draw by Israeli GM Boris Gelfand, in the lead on 5.5 points. Anand had earlier lost the sixth round against Gata Kamsky of the United States and drawn the next one rather quickly with Michael Adams of Britain. With five more rounds remaining in the category-19 round-robin tournament after the second rest day slated today, Sergey Karjakin is on the sole third spot on five points while Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine, Gelfand and Adams are not far behind on 4.5 points. In the ‘B’ group being held simultaneously, Koneru Humpy cruised to a fine victory over Jan Smeets of Holland. Playing the white side of an oft repeated variation of the Semi Slav Humpy came good in all departments of the game and caught her opponent’s queen unawares on the queen side to win in 41 moves.
— PTI |
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Dynamos tame Lions Chandigarh, January 23 Dynamos now head the points tally with 12 points. Till the dying minutes of the regulation time, it was Bangalore Lions who were leading 1-0 and on the verge of victory when Deepak and Sandeep changed the fortunes of the Dynamos. Lions were awarded six penalty corners while Dynamos got two. Lions were the first to score with a penalty corner in 50th minute of the match. In the fourth quarter of the match, when just 40 seconds were left, Deepak got a out of circle pass from Sandeep and made no mistake in scoring a superb field goal. Till regulation time, both sides were level at 1-1. In the first half of extra time, Deepak passed the ball to Tejbir who managed to sneak into the Lions’ circle. He was obstructed and a penalty corner was awarded. Sandeep Singh made no mistake and scored the winner. Tejbir Singh was adjudged the man of the match. “The absence of Rajpal Singh and Jugraj Singh did not deter the Dynamos from playing with great vigour and we hope to continue in the same vein,” said N. S. Sodhi, coach of the team. Tomorrow, Hyderabad Sultans will play Sher-e-Jallandhar at 7 pm. Chandigarh Dynamos with six matches are on top with 12 points, while Maratha Warriors are second with eight points, followed by Bangalore Lions (7), Hyderabad Sultans (6) and Sher-e -Jallandhar (6).
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Dhruv academy
triumphs Patiala, January 23 Brief scores: Dhruv Cricket Academy: 205 got 9 (Gagandeep Singh 57 n.o, Rohit Nahar 20, Pardeep Kumar 22, Harpreet Singh 15, Bhupinder Gill 5 for 34, Satinder Singh 2 for 32) DMW Academy: 177 all out (Sahil Mehra 28, Ramanpreet Singh 39, Beant Singh 32, Pradeep Kumar 2 for 42, Harpreet Singh 2 for 24, Randeep Singh 3 for 7, Mahaveer Singh 2 for 14)
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