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Awesome twosome smash world record
Abhinav keen to recover from injuries
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Punjab cops beat PSEB
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Awesome twosome smash world record
Colombo, July 29 The hosts’ massive score, the second largest in history by Sri Lanka, left South Africa facing a daunting 587-run deficit with over six sessions left in the game.7 However, the tourists’ long fight for survival started well with openers Andrew Hall (13 not out) and Jacques Rudolph (24 not out), standing in for the indisposed Herschelle Gibbs, finishing on 43 without loss at the close. Jayawardene compiled a 624-run stand spanning 160.3 overs with left-hander Kumar Sangakkara before Andrew Hall finally found the outside edge of the latter’s bat with a full-length reverse-swinging delivery. The previous 576-run record set by compatriots Sanath Jayasuriya and Roshan Mahanama against India in 1997 was broken as wicketkeeper Mark Boucher conceded four byes down the leg side off the bowling of left-arm spinner Nicky Boje. Celebrated with firecrackers around the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, the new milestone was reached with Jayawardene on 278 and Sangakkara on 273. The partnership was also the highest-ever stand in first-class cricket. When he was finally bowled by an Andre Nel delivery that kept low, the 29-year-old Jayawardene, who also passed 6,000 Test runs during his innings, had faced 572 balls, hitting a total of 43 boundaries and one six. His elegant innings was all the more remarkable for the fact that he did not offer South Africa’s fielders a single chance and was only rarely beaten, his biggest scare before his eventual downfall being a lbw appeal from Makhaya Ntini that was slipping down the leg side. The crowd had swollen throughout the afternoon as spectators sensed an opportunity to watch Jayawardene break Brian Lara’s record Test score of 400. But the carnival atmosphere was punctured when his off stump was knocked back shortly after South Africa took the second new ball. The previous highest score by a Sri Lankan was the 340 scored by Jayasuriya against India in 1997 at Premadasa International Stadium. Jayawardene and Sangakkara also became only the second pair in Test history to score 250s in the same innings after Gary Sobers and Conrad Hunte for West Indies against Pakistan in 1957-58. Sangakkara’s 287, also a personal best after his 270 against Zimbabwe in 2004, spanned a total of 457 deliveries and included 35 boundaries. Middle-order batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan, forced to wait over 11 hours with his pads on in the dressing room, assisted Jayawardene with an industrious 45 during a fourth-wicket stand that yielded 113 runs. Paceman Dale Steyn proved the most successful bowler, claiming three for 129 from 26 overs, but it was left-arm spinner Nicky Boje who provided the greatest threat throughout the innings. However, despite maintaining a disciplined line and turning the odd ball sharply, Boje finished wicketless with 0-221 from 65 overs of hard toil. Scoreboard South Africa
(1st innings) 169 Sri Lanka (1st innings) Tharanga c Boucher b Steyn 7 Jayasuriya lbw Steyn 4 Sangakkara c Boucher b Hall 287 Jayawardene b Nel 374 Dilshan lbw Steyn 45 Kapugedera not out 1 Extras
(b-17, lb-5, nb-8, w-8) 38 Total (5 wkts dec, 185.1 overs) 756 Fall of wickets:
1-6, 2-14, 3-638, 4-751, 5-756. Bowling: Ntini 31-3-97-0, Steyn 26-1-129-3, Nel 25.1-2-114-1, Hall 25-2-99-1, Boje 65-5-221-0, Rudolph 7-0-45-0, Prince 2-0-7-0, De Villiers 4-0-22-0. South Africa
(2nd innings) Rudolph not out 24 Hall not out 13 Extras
(nb-6) 6 Total (no loss, 15 overs) 43 Bowling: Malinga 4-0-22-0, Maharoof 3-0-9-0, Fernando 3-1-2-0, Muralitharan 4-1-10-0, Dilshan 1-1-0-0.
— Reuters
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England crush Pakistan
Manchester, July 29 The left-arm spinner, who has rapidly gained cult status among England fans, took five for 72 as Pakistan, 342 runs behind after the first innings, were dismissed for 222 in the final session of the day at Old Trafford. Strike bowler Steve Harmison, who took a remarkable six for 19 in the first innings, swept away the lower order with five for 52 and claim the first 10-wicket haul of his test career. No other England bowler took a wicket in the entire match. The 24-year-old Panesar, turning the ball sharply and extracting surprising bounce, snared Pakistan's key men, Mohammad Yousuf (15) and skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq (13), in the space of three overs in the afternoon before adding vice-captain Younis Khan (62) to his list of victims. He got Yousuf for the second time in the match and the third time in three innings with the first ball after lunch. Yousuf, who had saved Pakistan in the first Test with a double century, was lured forward and beaten by the spin, leaving his back toe on the line just outside his crease as Geraint Jones neatly clipped off the bails. Inzamam did not even get that far. He appeared to have survived a barrage from strike bowler Harmison when he fell victim to a wretched piece of luck, dabbing a ball from Panesar down onto his boot and straight to Alastair Cook at silly mid-off. Younis, unsettled by Panesar’s spin with one delivery even spinning past both the edge and the wicketkeeper straight to first slip, fatally opted to pad up to an arm ball and went lbw. The players returned from an early tea provoked by light rain and
Panesar, cheered on by his personal fan club of 17,000 people, immediately returned to centre stage with a classic
left-armer’s dismissal. Faisal Iqbal (3) pushed forward to a ball pitching on his leg stump, the ball zipped off the surface and the edge carried to a delighted Marcus Trescothick at first slip to make it 174 for six. Harmison then barged back into the picture, chipping in with two wickets in three balls and three wickets for four runs. Shahid Afridi snicked behind after a cameo run-a-ball 17 and Mohammad Sami slogged wildly and went in similar fashion for a senseless duck before the innings ended. Harmison had broken through in the morning with a brute of a delivery to dismiss Kamran Akmal (4) after Pakistan resumed on 12 without loss. Scoreboard Pakistan (1st innings) 119 England (1st innings) 461 for 9 declare Pakistan (2nd innings) Akmal c Jones b Harmison 4 Farhat c Bell b Panesar 34 Younis lbw Panesar 62 Yousuf st Jones b Panesar 15 Haq c Cook b Panesar 13 Iqbal c Trescothick b Panesar 29 Razzaq c Jones b Harmison 13 Afridi c Strauss b Harmison 17 Sami c Jones b Harmison 0 Gul c Jones b Harmison 13 Kaneria not out 4 Extras (b-4, lb-4, nb-4, w-6) 18 Total (all out, 67.1 overs) 222 Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-60, 3-101, 4-117, 5-161 6-174, 7-194, 8-194, 9-208. Bowling: Hoggard 14-2-52-0, Harmison 18.1-3- 57-5, Mahmood 6-1-22-0, Panesar 27-4-72-5, Pietersen 2-0-11-0. — Reuters
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Abhinav keen to recover from injuries
Chandigarh, July 29 “My immediate priority is to recover first and get my body back in shape for further improvement in my performance” was his answer, when asked about his planning for the forthcoming Asian Games at Doha later this year. Abhinav was talking to mediapersons at Hotel Taj after arriving here today. Abhinav, who has been suffering from the backache since March this year, is not sure whether his health will hold up till the Asian Games. “At this juncture I cannot say how the things would shape up at the Doha Asiad but one thing which I am sure about is that I would play to the best of my abilities there,” said Abhinav, who has excelled at Zagreb and Melbourne Commonwealth Games despite this injury. However, his doctor, Amit Bhatacharya, who accompanied him to Zagreb, is of the view that it would take a minimum five to six months for him to recuperate. He also suggested him some changes in his technique and style to avoid pain and aggravation of the injury. He assured that he will recover without surgery. Foreseeing a bright future for shooting, Abhinav said the sport had started getting its due. He said, “Now, people are taking it seriously and the country has many talented shooters, who are capable of winning at big events. But he admitted that coaching here needs to be upgraded as per international standards.” “Coaching conforming to international standards should be provided at the grass root level as a sound foundation is the key to success,” said the ace marksman. On his achievements, Abhinav said he was satisfied but his best was still to come. “Like every sportsperson, I too have a dream which is to win an Olympic gold medal for the country,” said Abhinav, who has participated in Athens (2004) and Sydney (2000) Olympics and finished as a finalist at Athens. According to Doctor Amit
Bhatacharya, the main reason for Abhinav’s injury is heavy practice schedule. The six to seven hours daily practice with a five kg weapon causes sprain in the lumbodorsal vertebrae of the spine. “In his case, it is the rupture of the ligament resulting in some loss of function. Medically, we place him in the moderate slot and to prevent the problem to be severe, we have designed a special rehabilitation programme. It is developed in such a way that when he comes in position, the hip locks directly at 12 'O clock and theorises and lumber spine are balanced at almost 80 degrees. This technique has been developed so that whole weight travels equally to both feet and there are fewer sprains on spine. “We have also designed a special schedule where there is an hour long session of spine related exercises in the early morning. Before and after the exercise session, ice massage for 10 to 12 minutes is done. This is followed by half an hour meditation and acupressure for spine relaxing before going out for shooting practice,” said Dr
Bhatacharaya.
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Manavjit makes critics eat humble pie
Chandigarh, July 29 With his remarkable performance he has compelled his critics to eat their words. At present, he is without a job. It is hoped that with this win the sports-loving Punjab Chief Minister, Captain Amarinder Singh, will offer Manavjit an appropriate job in the state. The Punjab Government had honoured Manavjit by appointing him DSP in the sportspersons quota some time back. Unfortunately, in a major setback to the Punjab Government, the Punjab and Haryana High Court set aside the selection of seven candidates selected as DSP by the government. The selections raised a stink after it came to light that selection criteria had been fixed to suit the children of the high and the mighty. Apart from Manavjit, others whose selection had been set aside were Vimmy Singh, Gagan Inder Singh, Major R. S. Ahluwalia and Palwinder Singh Cheema. The selected candidates included Bikram Inderjit Singh Chahal and Gulzar Singh, sons of Mr B. I. S. Chahal, Media Advisor to the Chief Minister, and Mr Harinder Chahal,
Ferozepore Senior Superintendent of Police, respectively. The selection had been made by a committee headed by Punjab Principal Secretary (Home) S.K. Sinha, Director General of Police A.A. Siddiqui and Sports Department Secretary. Various petitioners had filed petitions in the High Court challenging the selections on the grounds that inspite of being genuine sportsperson they had been ignored in the selection by making tailor-made criteria to facilitate the selection of favoured candidates. It is pertinent to mention that in a hard-hitting judgement, which was pronounced in the open Court, the Full Bench of Chief Justice Mr Justice B. K. Roy, Mr Justice Rajive Bhalla and Mr Justice Surya Kant had struck down the criteria framed by the selection committee and Punjab Sports Department for the selections. Declaring the criteria adopted, while making the selections, as arbitrary, the Court also directed the Punjab Sports Department to frame fresh criteria for selection of sportsperson. The decision in this regard is still pending. Manavjit’s gold medal-winning achievement has surpassed the record of legendary Karni Singh’s trap silver in the Cairo World Shooting championship way back in 1962. Manavjit’s father Gurbir Singh, a former reputed shooter and President of the Punjab Rifle Association, expressed his happiness while talking to this correspondent on the phone from Delhi. “It is a great day for the country. To win a gold medal at this level amidst intense competition from all over the world is the ultimate for any shooter. I am delighted that he has achieved that. Indeed, it is a proud moment for me,” Mr Gurbir said.
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Punjab cops beat PSEB
Chandigarh, July 29 A goal by Harpreet put Punjab Police ahead in the 12th minute, while Pardeep Singh added another in the 35th minute to make it 2-0. PSEB also had some chances but were unlucky in not finding the target. The power men also missed a penalty midway into the second session. Punjab Police rounded off the tally in the 77th minute through Parminder Singh’s opportunistic strike which brooked no resistance.
— TNS
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