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England staring at defeat
We can win, says Pathan
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Kiwis eye victory
GNE lifts PTU overall championship
Cavalry (Red) win polo title
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England staring at defeat
Mohali, March 12 Resuming from the overnight score of 149 for 4, India batted well to take their score to 338 before being bowled out, taking psychological edge and crucial 38-run first innings lead. This leaves England just 74 runs ahead. With not much batting to come, England would be hard-pressed to keep Indian bowlers at bay on the last day's wicket to avert defeat in the three-Test series. In their second essay, England did not get off to a confident start. They could never string together a partnership as wickets kept on falling after regular intervals. The visitors lost last Test's centurion Alastair Cook in debutant fast medium bowler Munaf Patel's third over. Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell kept the Indian bowling attack at bay for some time before Kumble started the slide getting Strauss's wicket when the team score was 50. This wicket opened the floodgates as England lost the wicket of Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood in quick succession with 88 on the scoreboard. When Flintoff and Bell looked like seeing through the rest of the overs without any further damage, Kumble struck again, sending back Bell. The batsman was batting on 57, the highest scorer of the innings, leaving the contest tilted in favour of the hosts. At close Flintoff was batting on 16, while wicketkeeper Geraint Jones was on one. Patel again looked impressive. Bowling with a lot of control and aggression, at times clocking over 140 kmph and making the batsmen hurry through their shots. While batting, he a lusty six of the day, surprising Matthew Hoggard with a lusty straight hit over the bowler's head. Kumble picked three wickets, taking his tally of wickets to 504. Earlier, thanks to skipper Rahul Dravid and the brave efforts of the tailenders, India took crucial lead in the first innings. Dravid was unlucky to lose out on a deserving century. Flintoff ended his 322 minute vigil at the wicket, castling him when the batsman was batting on 95. Dangerous Dhoni was out to a nasty Harmison delivery which rose sharply after pitching to be caught behind the stumps. Irfan Pathan notched up a scintillating half century, while Kumble, in continuance of his good work as batsman, frustrated the rival bowling attack for over two hours and contributed 32. Harbhajan Singh struck 41-ball 36 as India were able to forge ahead by 38 runs. With half the batting side comprising all the recognised batsmen back in pavilion, stand-in skipper Andrew Flintoff would be required to bring all his experience into play if they are to halt a determined Kumble-inspired victory charge of the hosts. Scoreboard
England (1st innings) 300 India (1st innings) Jaffer c Flintoff b Panesar 31 Sehwag c Jones b Harmison 11 Dravid b Flintoff 95 Tendulkar c Strauss b Flintoff 4 Yuvraj c Bell b Hoggard 15 Dhoni c Jones b Harmison 16 Pathan c Collingwood
b Flintoff 52 Kumble b Plunkett 32 Harbhajan c Jones b Flintoff 36 Chawla c Collingwood
b Hoggard 1 Munaf not out 11 Extras (lb-25, nb-8, w-1) 34 Total
(all out, 96.2 overs) 338 Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-96, 3-103, 4-134, 5-153, 6-229, 7-260, 8-313, 9-321. Bowling: Hoggard 18-6-55-2, Harmison 28-9-60-2, Flintoff 22-3-96-4, Plunkett 9.2-1-37-1, Panesar 19-3-65-1. England (2nd innings) Strauss c Dhoni b Kumble 13 Cook c Dhoni b Munaf 2 Bell c Dhoni b Kumble 57 Pietersen c Dravid b Harbhajan 4 Collingwood c Dravid
b Kumble 14 Flintoff not out 16 Jones not out 1 Extras (lb-1, nb-3, w-1) 5 Total
(5 wickets, 51 overs) 112 Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-50, 3-55, 4-88, 5-109. Bowling:
Pathan 6-1-16-0, Munaf 5-2-10-1, Harbhajan 19-5-37-1, Kumble 17-4-41-3, Chawla 4-2-7-0. |
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We can win, says Pathan
Mohali, March 12 "We will go out there in the middle tomorrow and try to dismiss the rivals cheaply. We have a chance and we will go for victory," he observed. "I still have a long way to go, score a couple of centuries before I can be called a all rounder. Honestly, I am a bowler who can bat down the order," a candid Pathan said. Pathan, who struck a breezy 52 to enable his team gain crucial first innings lead earlier in the day, however, was modest enough when asked whether he was the all rounder India needed desperately, saying that he had yet to achieve a lot before being dubbed an all rounder. Pathan did not agree that India's fielding was poor in the Test when asked about a couple of chances going abegging, particularly in the slip cordon where skipper Rahul Dravid was probably sluggish. "Overall Indian fielding was good," he said. Asked to comment on the performance of Indian bowlers, who bowled admirably restricting England to 112 for 5 wickets in the second innings, the Baroda swing bowler said all the bowlers did as fine job. "Debutant Munaf Patel bowled well, I myself was good, while Indian spinners did a wonderful job to put the team in a good situation," he revealed. "The wicket still is good and s offering spin as well as bounce to bowlers."
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Harbhajan may be dropped
Chandigarh, March 12 Otherwise, who can explain Harbhajan’s figures of 12-0-31-0 in England’s first innings at the PCA Stadium in Mohali on Saturday. And in the unfinished England second innings on Sunday he had figures of 19-5-37-1 on a pitch which was showing increasing signs of wear and tear. And the wicket of Pietersen came more by luck as the catch taken by Rahul Dravid came off the arm of the English batsman. There is a possibility that the national selectors, who are scheduled to meet on Monday to pick the Indian squad for the third Test, commencing on March 18, might want to rest Harbhajan Singh and induct someone like Murali Kartik in his place. Or the selectors acting on coach Greg Chappell’s maxim ‘‘look towards young players maxim’’ might want to try somebody young and unknown in his place. They might also like to continue with 17-year-old Piyush Chawla, who was capped at Mohali but did not get as many overs as one would have liked. The recent figures of the Punjab bowler speak for themselves. In the last eight Tests he has claimed just 22 wickets at an average of 46.59. He got six wickets in the two Test matches he played against Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe and 14 in the home series against Sri Lanka with seven for 62 at Ahmedabad as his best effort in December last. This was the Test in which he claimed a total of 10 wickets for 141 runs. And then began his decline. At Lahore in the first Test against Pakistan he had figures of zero for 176 runs, which hurt not only India’s effort to force the pace of the game but also dented his own self-confidence. In the second Test at Faisalabad he had figures of zero for 101 in the first innings and zero for 78 in the second before he was dropped from the team for the third Test, ostensibly because he had suffered an injury. And this injury to his spinning finger prevented him from playing in the one-day series in Pakistan. Returning into the team for the Nagpur Test he failed once again, returning figures of two for 93 in the first innings and zero for 79 in the second. He seems to have lost the guile which in the past helped him to pick up more than 200 Test wickets at an average of less than 30. What does Harbhajan have to do to return to his wicket-taking ways? Experts are of the view that for one he has to return to the nets to sort his own problems. But more important, he has to play in competitive cricket to get back his rhythm. He can also look towards the English county circuit.
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SA pull off record chase
Johannesburg, March 12 In the most extraordinary one-dayer of all time, the home side’s victory was achieved with one ball to spare and sparked wild celebrations on and off the Wanderers pitch. Before today, no side had scored more than 400 in a one-day international and South Africa’s total topped Australia’s record 434 for four earlier in the day. Two players, Australian captain Ricky Ponting (164) and South African Herschelle Gibbs (175), scored over 150 in the fifth one-dayer. A total of 872 runs were scored. The previous record was 693 when India beat Pakistan by five runs in Karachi in March, 2004. The previous innings record was the 398 for five by Sri Lanka against Kenya in Kandy in 1995-96. Scoreboard Australia Gilchrist c Hall b Telemachus 55 Katich c Telemachus b Ntini 79 Ponting c Dippenaar
b Telemachus 164 Hussey c Ntini b Hall 81 Symonds not out 27 Lee not out 9 Extras
(lb-4, nb-10, w-5) 19 Total (4 wkts, 50 overs) 434 Fall of wickets:
1-97, 2-216, 3-374, 4-407. Bowling: Ntini 9-0-80-1, Hall 10-0-80-1, Van der Wath 10-0-76-0, Telemachus 10-1-87-2, Smith 4-0-29-0, Kallis 6-0-70-0, Kemp 1-0-8-0. South Africa Smith c Hussey b Clarke 90 Dippenaar b Bracken 1 Gibbs c Lee b Symonds 175 De Villiers c Clarke
b Bracken 14 Kallis c&b Symonds 20 Boucher not out 50 Kemp c Martyn b Bracken 13 Van der Wath c Ponting
b Bracken 35 Telemachus c Hussey b Bracken 12 Hall c Clarke b Lee 7 Ntini not out 1 Extras
(b-4, lb-8, nb-4, w-4) 20 Total (9 wkts, 49.5 overs) 438 Fall of wickets:
1-3, 2-190, 3-284, 4-299, 5-327, 6-355, 7-399, 8-423, 9-433. Bowling:
Lee 7.5-0-68-1, Bracken 10-0-67-5, Clark 6-0-54-0, Lewis 10-0-113-0, Symonds 9-0-75-2, Clarke 7-0-49-1.
— Reuters
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Kiwis eye victory
Auckland, March 12 At the close of play, they had been reduced to 246 for eight, still needing a further 45 runs from tailenders. Scoreboard N. Zealand (1st innings)
275 W. Indies (1st innings) 257 N. Zealand (2nd innings)
272 W. Indies (2nd innings) Gayle c Fleming b Astle 82 Ganga c How b Astle 95 Sarwan c Styris b Bond 4 Lara b Bond 0 Chanderpaul c Fulton Bravo lbw Bond 17 Smith c Fleming b Bond 0 Ramdin c Franklin
b Vettori 15 Bradshaw not out 8 Taylor not out 0 Extras (b-1, lb-3,
w-1, nb-5) 10 Total (8 wkts, 94 overs) 246 Fall of wickets:
1-148, 2-157, 3-182, 4-211, 5-216, 6-218, 7-221, 8-246. Bowling:
Bond 23-5-66-4, Franklin 14-1-46-0, Martin 16-5-39-0, Vettori 31-10-78-2, Astle 10-4-13-2.
— AFP |
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JCT Mills edge out Air-India 2-1 in NFL
Ludhiana, March 12 Playing their third home match here in front of a responsive crowd, JCT went all out to subdue their rivals, and the hard-earned victory boosted their tally to nine points, propelling them to the fifth position. The hero of JCT’s win was undoubtedly dashing Brazilian striker Marcos Pereira, who first brilliantly connected a pass from team-mate Parveen Kumar to put JCT ahead by one goal and then converted a free kick to give his side a comfortable 2-0 lead in the first half. Air-India managed to reduce the margin in injury time when Benoy Kuruvilla capitalised on a pass from substitute Narendra Meetei to provide his side some consolation. Badly in need of a morale-boosting win to improve their position after some lacklustre performances in the earlier rounds, JCT dominated the show for a long spell except for a brief period towards the end when Air-India hit back to reduce the margin. JCT coach Parminder Singh, looking relieved after the gruelling encounter, said his team achieved the desired result as everything went according to plan. However, the refereeing drew criticism as JCT manager Sukhwinder Singh, former international Deepak Kumar and Mr Ashwani Thapar felt that their team were denied a penalty after Pereira was brought down inside the box. Some other decisions also earned the ire of both teams. Playing an aggressive game from the onset, JCT carried out well-orchestrated attacks through Pereira, Johnson Banner, Parveen Kumar and Baldeep Singh with the diminutive Sunil Chhetri joining the proceedings in the second half, replacing the injured Johnson. However, it was Pereira’s brilliance which drew praise from every quarter and fetched him the man-of-the-match award. Goalkeeper Kalyan Chaubey, and defenders Daljit Singh, Julius Akpele and Harish Sharma also played their hearts out, although Chaubey earned his second yellow card and would thus miss his next match against Salgaocar. Air-India, who had humbled defending champions Dempo earlier, put up a good fight but found the going tough in the face of a stout JCT resistance. Deep defender Benoy Kuruvilla not only defended well along with former East Bengal star Suleh Musah but also scored his team’s goal in the fag end. Nigerian striker Bashiru Abbas and former international Narendra Meetei also remained in the limelight with intelligent moves. JCT made a promising start with striker Parveen Kumar racing down the left flank but Air-India’s Ghanian defender Suleh Musah’s bicycle kick sent the ball out of danger zone. It was in the 12th minute that JCT took the lead. Parveen controlled the ball on the left and sent a quick pass to the onrushing Pereira inside the box. Pereira connected brilliantly giving Air-India goalie Sundar Rajan absolutely no chance (1-0). A counter-attack earned Air-India a free kick soon after but Napoleon Singh failed to beat Kalyan Chaubey, who dived to make a neat collection. The second goal followed in the 35th minute when JCT earned a free kick on the top of the box following a foul. Pereira’s curling right footer beat the wall of defenders and the ball sailed into the net making it 2-0 in favour of the mill men. Air-India hit back with a counter-attack and Bashiru Abbas cut in dangerously. However, JCT custodian Chaubey made a timely save. In the second half, Air-India brought in Narendra Meetei who introduced urgency in the attack. However, the JCT defence did not allow him much freedom. Midway into the second session, JCT had another good chance when Chhetri’s lob inside the box was wasted by Parveen who shot wide. Substitute Jaswinder Singh also made a good attempt soon after but his well-taken left footer missed the target by inches. An excellent move by Air-India’s Bashiru Abbas went waste as Narendra Meetei’s shot missed the far post by inches. It was in injury time that Air-India’s sustained efforts bore fruit. Narendra Meetei raced into the box and put Benoy Kuruvilla in possession whose quick shot from close range beat the JCT custodian (1-2). With today’s defeat, Air-India remain stranded at the sixth position. |
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GNE lifts PTU overall championship Fatehgarh Sahib, March 12 On the concluding day of the athletics meet held at Baba Banda Singh Bahadhur Engineering College, Fatehgarh Sahib, GNE won both men and women’s overall championships by securing 53 points on the basis of sports competitions held by the PTU during 2005-2006. In women’s category, RIET, Phagwara, won the atheltics championship, while Gaini Zail Singh Engineering College (GZSEC), Bathinda, won the atheltics trophy in men’s category. Brig Labh Singh was the chief guest, while M.S. Grewal, Registrar PTU was the guest of honour at the prize distribution function. Former Director of Sports, Panjab University, Chandigarh, Dr Ajmer Singh, Brig G.J. Singh and college Principal Dr D.S. Hira were also present. Dr Hira said Rupinder Kaur of RIET, Phagwara, was declared best athlete in women’s category for the second year in a row and Harpreet Singh of GZSEC, Bathinda, was declared best athlete in men’s category. Results: women: triple jump: 1 Rupinder Kaur (RIET), 2 Amandeep Kaur (GNE), 3 Gursharanpreet Kaur (GNE). 200m: 1 Rupinder Kaur (RIET), 2 Amandeep Kaur (GNE), 3 Amanjot Kaur (SLIET, Longowal). 100m: 1 Amandeep Kaur (GNE), 2 Amanjot Kaur (SLIET), 3 Jasmine (Rayat Engg College, Ropar). 4x400m relay: 1 Balwinder Kaur, Joshna Sharma, Savita and Rupinder Kaur (RIET), 2 Minakshi, Gurpreet Kaur, Harleen Kaur and Shivani (REC, Ropar), 3 Harwinder Kaur, Gurpreet Kaur, Ruchika Sharma and Manpreet Kaur (DAV, Jalandhar). 400m: 1 Amanjot Kaur (SLIET), 2 Rajni Rangra (CT Institute, Jalandhar), 3 Shivani (BBSBEC). Men: 200m: 1 Navkaran Singh (LLRM, Moga), 2 Mandeep Kumar (GZSEC), 3 Ankush Chopra (BCET, Gurdaspur). Pole vault: 1 Atul Kumar (IET, Bhaddal), 2 Sunil (DAV), 3 Ravinder Singh (GNE). 10,000m: 1 Paramjit Singh (PTU Regional Centre), 2 Saurav Singla, (LLRIET, Moga), 3 Gurinder Singh (BBSBEC). 110m hurdles: 1 Harpreet Singh, (GZSCE), 2 Kulbir Singh (BCE, Ludhiana), 3 Sushil Kumar (BBSBEC). 400m hurdles: 1 Harpreet Singh (GZSEC), 2 Kulbir Singh (BCE), 3 Satwinder Singh (Rayat CE, Nawan Shahr). High jump: 1 Sohal Singh Gill (DAV), 2 Pankaj Goyal (RIET), 3 Jaspreet Singh, (IET) and Pranav Arya (Chitkara College of Engineering, Rajpura).
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Cavalry (Red) win polo title
Patiala, March 12 Capt Ravi Rathore scored four goals, while FIP Ambassador from Uruguay Carlos Booket pumped in two for the winners. In the forward line, Capt Ravi Rathore proved to be formidable. He was well supported by Capt Saurav Saran. The defence was handled with aplomb by Moroccan FPI Ambassador David Amer. For the losing team, Maj Navjeet Sandhu shone but his heroics came too late in the match to make any difference to the outcome. Starting with a two-goal advantage, 61st Cavalry (Yellow) managed to add just one goal to their tally, while for the winners Capt Ravi Rathore outsmarted his rivals by scoring four goals, including a hat-trick. Earlier, the organisers, due to a soggy field, decided to reduce the area of the ground and decrease the distance between the goal posts, which meant that players were prohibited from making use of the full swing of the mallet. During the presentation ceremony, the Army band played out a truncated version of the National Anthem, raising many an eyebrow among the audience, which included the Governor, Gen S.F. Rodrigues, who was the chief guest, the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, his wife and Patiala MP Preneet Kaur, the CM’s Cabinet colleagues, dignitaries from the International Polo Federation (FIP), FIP Ambassadors and a galaxy of top-notch polo players. |
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Bakhshi nominated U-14 team manager
According to Principal Ravinder Talwar, President of the Chandigarh football Association, this was communicated by Mr Alberto Colaco, General Secretary of the All-India Football Federation New Delhi. This is the second time that Mr Bakhshi has been given such an assignment. Earlier, he had been appointed manager of the Indian team which participated in SAF Games held at Islamabad, Pakistan, in 2004.
— TNS |
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Namdhari XI beat BSF 4-1
Ludhiana, March 12 In the opening match, Namdhari XI defeated BSF, Jalandhar, 4-1, while Punjab Police XI registered an identical win over ONGC XI of Dehra Dun.
— OSR |
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In
video: Sourav Ganguly commends Kumble
for joining
Chandigarh, March 12
