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India gift victory to Lanka
Sourav, Sachin fell when well set
England rise from the Ashes
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South Africa slaughter Pak
Richa rules the pool
Sharath, Poulumi fall
at last hurdle
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India gift victory to Lanka
Rajkot, February 11 Chasing Sri Lanka’s 257-8 built around Kumar Sangakkara’s brilliant 110, the Indians were cruising along comfortably at 235-5 at one stage before losing the plot completely to give the visitors a 1-0 lead in the four-match series. The capacity crowd at the Madhavrao Scindia Stadium was left shell-shocked as the hosts made a hash of their chase, losing their last five wickets for just 17 runs from 27 balls. It was a disappointing end for the Indians who had the game under control till the 45th over with Sourav Ganguly (62) and Sachin Tendulkar (54) putting them on track with a 100-run third-wicket partnership. The hosts needed 11 runs from Sanath Jayasuriya’s last over but the dismissal of the hard-hitting Mahendra Singh Dhoni (48) off the penultimate ball made the task even more difficult. Last man Sreesanth had to hit a six off the last ball to fetch an improbable win but he failed to even connect the ball. The two teams will now travel to Goa for the third match of the series to be held on Wednesday. India started poorly by losing the wickets of Robin Uthappa and skipper Rahul Dravid cheaply. Uthappa (7) guided Farveez Maharoof to the slip cordon in the second over and then Dravid (5) dragged a ball from the pace bowler on to his stumps. Ganguly (62) and Tendulkar (54) then put on 100 runs in 122 balls for the third wicket. Lanka introduced leg-spinner Bandara to check the run-flow and the bowler not only applied the skids on the run-rate but also managed to lure Tendulkar out with a teasing leg break and got him stumped by Sangakkara. Ganguly left 25 runs later at 154 by edging Malinga, brought back in to the attack after Tendulkar’s fall. Ganguly hit six fours and a six. When the out-of-form Virender Sehwag fell to an injudicious off-glide, things looked wobbly for India. Sehwag looked a bit rusty in his first innings after returning from the South Africa tour and fell by playing an indiscreet off-glide off Bandara which he managed to only nick to the wicketkeeper. But Dhoni, who was bowled off a no-ball by Bandara off the first ball he faced, and the doughty Karthik got together and piloted India out of troubled waters but the latter fell in trying to force the pace in the 46th over and at his dismissal the hosts needed 23 off 26 balls. Dhoni tried his level best thereafter but could not succeed in guiding India home. The catch that sent him back with Maharoof running back 10 yards and catching the ball spiralling down ended the hosts’ victory hopes. Earlier, the in-form Sangakkara scored a masterly ton to help Sri Lanka post a competitive total. Dilshan gave the Lankan stumper good support with calm assurance after the Indian new-ball bowlers Munaf Patel and S. Sreesanth had made deep inroads by capturing two wickets each. The 30-year-old Dilshan scored 56 in quick time, with four fours in his 65-ball innings before he was deceived by off-spinner Harbhajan Singh’s “doosra” and bowled off stump in the 36th over. It was his eighth fifty in his 107th match. The fifth-wicket partnership steadied the Lankan ship after Patel and Sreesanth had bowled incisive opening spells, the latter even bowling his 10 overs on the trot for figures of 2 for 39, including the wickets of opener Upul Tharanga and Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene. Scoreboard India
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Sourav, Sachin fell when well set
The
last 25 overs of the Rajkot one-dayer illustrated the oft-repeated “definition” of the sport. Cricket, it has been said since time immemorial, is a game of glorious uncertainties. Mahela Jayawardene and his men proved it with a remarkable win.
Not even the most patriotic Sri Lankan supporter would have hoped for a resurgence of this magnitude when Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly were cruising in the middle overs. The vice-captain and former captain, who joined forces after the early departures of Robin Uthappa and skipper Rahul Dravid, rekindled memories of their partnerships at the top of the order. Rajkot spectators couldn’t get enough of the exhilarating strokes played by the duo, and understandably so. Unfortunately for them and the rest of the country, both batsmen fell when well set, and at the wrong time. The two wicketkeepers in the Indian XI battled hard against some disciplined bowling and tight fielding. Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik placed the ball around and ran superbly, but the visitors did not lose heart. Jayawardene would have reminded his players that this was the last recognised batting pair in the Indian line-up, with a long tail to follow. The visitors’ application resulted in the dismissal of Karthik, which from the Indian point of view, was as untimely as it could get. The Sri Lankan captain juggled his bowling resources admirably. The Sri Lankan think-tank should be delighted with the performance of Bandara, the leg-spinner, for it is not often that a bowler of his type bothers Indian batsmen. Lasith Malinga went for runs initially, but he displayed resilience when brought back. Sanath Jayasuriya, veteran of many a tense tussle, bowled a superb last over, not giving Dhoni the chance to free his arms. Like his fellow bowlers earlier in the game, Jayasuriya was complemented by the fielders. Young Farveez Maharoof deserves all the credit for keeping his eyes on a lofted hit by Dhoni and clinging on to it, despite the genuine possibility of a collision with his colleague, which could well have ruined his World Cup chances. We all remember what happened to Steve Waugh and Jason Gillespie when they collided while going for a catch. It was a memorable day for the Sri Lankans, commencing with a brilliant hundred by Kumara Sangakkara, and culminating with that last over by Jayasuriya. One hopes that budding batsmen observed and studied Sangakkara’s innings for the manner in which he constructed it. The Indian players will be an unhappy lot after this defeat. They, as well as their supporters, will be troubled by the fact that they failed to achieve a target of 258 against a bowling attack sans Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan.
— PMG
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Sydney, February 11 The tourists followed up their thrilling four-wicket win in Melbourne on Friday with a second victory to wrap up the best-of-three final with a game to spare and salvage some pride after losing the Ashes 0-5. Paul Collingwood continued his golden run with a defiant 70 to help England reach 246 for eight from 50 overs. Australia were set a revised total of 211 off 33 overs to win after the match was interrupted by four rain delays but could only muster 152-8 when foul weather stopped play a fifth time and England were awarded victory by 34 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis system. Liam Plunkett produced a superb spell of seam bowling to capture the wickets of Ricky Ponting (7), Adam Gilchrist (20) and Michael Clarke (0) as the Australian top order collapsed on the damp pitch. Australia had bowled and fielded brilliantly to restrict England to less than 250 but were never in the hunt after their to win after foul weather forced them to chase quick runs. England’s innings was also disrupted by two showers but with no reduction in overs, Collingwood was able to patiently build his team’s total. The Durham batsman followed up his back-to-back hundreds in his past two knocks with a watchful 70 off 90 balls after England had slumped to 112-4 in the 26th over. He shared a 97-run partnership for the fifth wicket with skipper Andrew Flintoff, who made 42 from 50 balls, after opener Mal Loye (45) and Ian Bell (26) had laid the foundations before both were run out by direct hits. England had seemed poised for an even bigger total after reaching 209-4 in the 43rd over but added just 37 for the loss of four wickets from the last seven overs to leave Australia chasing a relatively modest total. The Australians made a flying start when Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden smashed 25 off the first three overs but the wheels fell off when they lost Hayden and Ponting cheaply before the third rain delay. When play resumed, Australia were set 227 off 41 overs to win but their chances were dashed when Plunkett dismissed Gilchrist and Clarke in the first over after resumption. A further rain delay saw the target reduced to 211 off 33 overs, which proved beyond the Australians despite a fighting 49 from Brad Hodge. Scoreboard Collingwood c Gilchrist b Bracken 70 Flintoff c&b Lee 42 Dalrymple run out 5 Nixon c Hodge b McGrath 6 Plunkett not out 8 Extras (b-5, lb-4, w-9, nb-5) 23 Total (8 wkts, 50 overs) 246 Fall of wickets: 1-34, 2-79, 3-86, 4-112, 5-209, 6-231, 7-233, 8-246. Bowling: Lee 10-0-53-1, Bracken 10-1-38-2, McGrath 10-0-41-2, Watson 8-0-46-0, Hussey 2-0-12-0, Hogg 10-0-47-0. Australia Ponting c Strauss b Plunkett 7 Clarke c Nixon b Plunkett 0 Hussey c Strauss b Flintoff 0 Hodge c Bell b Dalrymple 49 Watson c Dalrymple b Collingwood 37 Hogg c Flintoff b Collingwood 10 Lee not out 10 Bracken not out 3 Extras (lb-2, w-6, nb-3) 11 Total (8 wkts, 27 overs) 152 Fall of wickets: 1-25, 2-33, 3-39, 4-40, 5-63, 6-109, 7-132, 8-139. Bowling: Plunkett 6-0-43-3, Mahmood 6-0-31-1, Flintoff 5-1-10-1, Panesar 2-0-15-0, Dalrymple 4-0-25-1, Collingwood 4-0-26-2. — Reuters
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Cape Town, February 11 South Africa won by 10 wickets to take an unbeatable 2-1 lead in the series with one match to play. Pakistan were dismissed for 107 in 45.4 overs, to which South Africa replied with 113 without loss in 14 overs. De Villiers scored an unbeaten 50, while Smith was 56 not out. Wicketkeeper Mark Boucher took six catches, a record for dismissals in an ODI for South Africa. Boucher’s feat made him the fourth player after Australia’s Adam Gilchrist, Alec Stewart of England and West Indian Ridley Jacobs to claim six dismissals in a one-dayer. The last match of the series will be played in Johannesburg on Wednesday. Scoreboard Razzaq b Kallis 1 Mahmood c Boucher b Kemp 1 Naved c Boucher b Ntini 3 Rehman c Boucher b Langeveldt 0 Asif b Hall 0 Extras (lb-1, nb-1, w-4) 6 Total (all out, 45.4 overs) 107 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-6, 3-23, 4-41, 5-87, 6-93, 7-94, 8-100, 9-106. Bowling: Pollock 10-4-13-2, Ntini 10-2-20-1, Hall 6.4-0-29-2, Langeveldt 8-1-18-1, Kallis 8-1-17-1, Kemp 3-0-9-2 South Africa
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J-K skipper rues poor infrastructure
Chandigarh, February 11 But as luck would have it, rain intervened in their first match against Delhi yesterday at a time when the minnows were in the midst of a contest, which promised to be engrossing. Young fast bowler Abid Nabi looked to have settled into his groove, while slow bowlers like Dhruv Mahajan and others had been keeping marauding Delhi batsmen under leash. Jammu and Kashmir are slated to play their second match against Services at Ludhiana tomorrow. With the northern region being lashed by incessant rains for the second day today, the match to be played at the PAU ground is as good as washed out. While talking to The Tribune, Kawaljeet Singh, skipper and the most experienced player of the side, lamented lack of good competition and the absence of proper infrastructure for the players as the reasons for the lackluster performance of the team in domestic matches over the years. The mainstay of the team’s batting, Kawaljeet Singh said there was no dearth of talent in the state. “If we have better infrastructure, the players are sure to perform better. They are all motivated and eager to do well” Dwelling on the infrastructure, the veteran cricketer, who first played for the state 1991-92, revealed that the only ground the players have to practice in Jammu was under sports council. “It is a multi-purpose ground. The basic facilities like turf wicket, mechanical rollers, covers, pavilion et al are not there. Now, wickets are being prepared in nearby college ground.” The current North Zone one-day matches had earlier been allotted to Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association by the BCCI. They had to be shifted to Punjab later due to the non-availability of cricket infrastructure in the state. In the cricketing set-up in the country, where zonal selectors back their zonal players for selection to the higher grade, Jammu and Kashmir players are at an obvious disadvantage. “We do not any such advantage with the result that our performance in the zone are never highlighted or recognised.” Kawaljeet Singh himself has been at the receiving end. Despite that he was the second highest scorer from North Zone after Dinesh Mongia last year, he never got the nod to play in Duleep Trophy or Deodhar Trophy for North Zone. Earlier in 2002, Kanwaljeet toiled hard. With 704 runs in the kitty, he was the second highest scorer from zone. After scoring these runs, one Duleep Trophy game was all he got in the season. After all the hard work, young Srinagar fast bowler Abid Nabi got the nod for two Duleep Trophy games last year. The hapless bowler was left even more disappointed after the matches as he got to bowl just six overs in two games! “It is only the love for the game which keeps us going. I only hope that the talented youngsters do not suffer and get the opening at the right time to prove there mettle,” he remarked.
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Richa won both the gold medals in individual events. She won the top honours in 1500m freestyle, clocking 18.14.97 minutes, and in the 200m breaststroke with a timing of 2.51.52 minutes. With the two wins today, Richa has four golds to her name. Another gold for Punjab cyclists
Punjab men continued their domination in cycling picking up one more gold at the National Games today. Punjab men pedalled ahead of others in Olympic team sprint to earn their second gold from the discipline at the Rupnath Brahma velodrome. Yesterday, the Punjab cyclists had won top honours in 1500m men’s team trial. The Punjab men’s Olympic team sprint troika of Pavittar Singh, Avishek Rana and Sukhjinder Singh finished with a timing of 70.57 secs to earn their place in the top podium. In women’s Olympic team sprint, Manipur girls clocked 80.25 secs to race away with the gold. Punjab garnered the silver, while Kerala captured the bronze. Hockey: Haryana win, Delhi lose
Jharkhand girls exhibited their prowess in hockey to thrash Delhi 6-0 and seal a place in the semifinals of the National Games today. In other matches of the day, Assam held Uttar Pradesh 3-3, Orissa defeated 5-2 and Haryana beat Maharashtra 1-0. Jharkhand, flaunting as many as 13 internationals, were clearly notches above the Delhi girls, who were made to shuttle helplessly all over the turf. Haryana defeated Maharashtra by a solitary goal from a penalty corner by Suman Bala (66th) in a Pool A game.
— UNI, PTI Players hurt in mishap At least 20 people, including 16 members of the Services team and two sportspersons from Andhra Pradesh participating in the National Games, were injured in a bus accident near Sarusajai stadium complex here today. The bus carrying the players hit a road divider and turned turtle about a kilometre from the complex, Guwahati’s Senior Superintendent of Police S.N. Singh told PTI. Rao said doctors had advised the Andhra Pradesh team members at least a week’s rest and their participation in the National Games was not certain. However, Services’ team members were out of danger.
— PTI
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Sydney, February 11 Draper, 32, is among a rare group of sportspersons to succeed in two professional sports. He won the Wimbledon junior doubles title before taking up tennis professionally in 1993. He reached a career-high ranking of 42 in singles, but retired from tennis in 2005, shortly after winning the Australian Open mixed doubles title, to pursue a new career as a professional golfer. Draper made a brief return to tennis when he agreed to coach Lleyton Hewitt at last month’s Australian Open but turned down the chance to continue with his own golfing career. — Reuters
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Sao Paulo drub JCT, sweep series
New Delhi, February 11 Playing on a wet ground, with occasional drizzles and grey weather adding to the discomfort, the players were vary of going full blast, though the match provided interesting fare. But as has been their wont so far, Sao Paulo got into their scoring mode only after allowing JCT a free run and exhausting them in the process. When Sao Paulo went ballistic in the last 20 odd minutes of the game, the Punjab club were left with little energy to defend their citadel, let alone fight back. Imposing mid-fielder Francisco Alex Sousa Da Silva scored a brace in the space of eight minutes and defender Gustavo Calil Cazao added the third goal to complete the scoring. Sao Paulo thus ended the series without conceding a goal, as they had beaten East Bengal 3-0 in the opening match in Siliguri, Mohammedan Sporting 6-0 in Jamshedpur, Mohun Bagan 2-0 in Kolkata and Kerala XI 3-0 in Cochin before coming to Delhi.
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Sharath, Poulumi fall
at last hurdle
New Delhi, February 11 Fifth seeded Sharath Kamal went down 5-11, 3-11, 12-10, 6-11, 6-11 to top seed Ning Gao of Singapore in their first-ever clash in a world ranking event. In women’s singles, Poulumi was thrashed 8-11, 2-11, 8-11, 3-11 by top seed Bei Bei Sun of Singapore. The Singapore player dominated from start to finish to claim her maiden women’s singles title on the ITTF Pro Tour. However, despite the disappointment of missing out on winning the title, the two Indians will be pleased with their show in the event. While Sharath defeated the in-form Yang Zi of Singapore en route to the final, Poulumi also came up with her best performance on the ITTF Pro Tour. Meanwhile, Singapore also walked away with the women’s doubles and men’s doubles titles.
— UNI
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Rajkot, February 11
Sydney, February 11
Guwahati, February 11
