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India relish Dutch treat
Yuvraj Singh (left) celebrates with Harbhajan Singh after the fall of a Dutch wicket during a warm-up match in Trelawny on Tuesday. — AFP
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Dravid’s success mantra |
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COUNTDOWN
Mashrafe Mortaza of Bangladesh in action during a warm-up match against New Zealand in Barbados on Tuesday. — AFP photo
Inzy undergoes dope test
Mata Gujri College wins hockey
tournament
Anand retains sole lead
Sridhar fails to qualify
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Trelawny (Jamaica), March 7 Apart from setting the mood perfectly for the tournament proper, this match provided an opportunity to the Indians to acclimatise with the conditions in the Caribbean. After setting an uphill target of 301 to win, the Indians bundled out their opponents only for 118 runs in 37.5 overs to script a convincing win yesterday. Batting first, India were off to a good start with Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag scoring 60 runs for the opening stand. But the top order squandered the advantage due to poor shot selection and at one stage India were looking vulnerable at 82 for three. However, Dravid and Tendulkar batted sensibly to set the platform for a big total after the mini collapse. The veteran duo steadied the innings and tried to gather runs at a decent pace, adding 116 runs for the fourth wicket. Tendulkar’s run-a-ball innings was attractive as he punished the inexperienced Dutch bowlers, belting five fours and two sixes during his knock of 61. Dravid, who provided a solid support to Tendulkar, subtly switched to aggressive mode and played some entertaining shots. His 74 came off 92 balls and was studded with five boundaries and two lofty sixes. However, Dutchman R ten Doeschate stole the show with his five-wicket haul followed by a gritty 31. Ten Doeschate, with his slow medium pace, delivered a double blow by scalping Ganguly (19) and Sehwag (28) in two successive overs. Majority of the Indian batters threw away their wickets while going for big shots and the trend started with Ganguly, who committed the crime of pushing a wide ball on the off-side and hand out an easy catch to W.F. Stelling. Sehwag perished to an sharp inswinger which knocked off his middle stump after rushing through the yawning gap between his bat and pad. Robin Uthappa, who came after the fall of Ganguly, played some glorious shots before dragging a Darron Reekers delivery on to his stumps at 20. When Dravid and Tendulkar were going smoothly, it seemed they would guide India to a 300-plus total. But, Tendulkar was caught brilliantly by Dutch captain Luuv van Troost off Tim de Leede. Dravid now took the responsibility of scoring quickly and in his bid to do so he was caught by Alexei Kervezee while playing a big shot off P Borren. Within seven overs, India lost four more wickets thereby jolted their chance of getting a bigger total as they were restricted at 300 for 9. Ten Doeschate took the opportunity to snatch his prized five-for. Apart from Ganguly and Sehwag, he accounted for Yuvraj Singh (14), M.S. Dhoni (21) and Harbhajan Singh (0) in a dream preparation to his World Cup campaign. The task to polish off the Netherlands batting line-up was cakewalk for the Indian bolwers, who rolled their arms mainly for having some practice before the crucial games ahead. India will take on the West Indies in their next warm-up game on March 9. Scoreboard
India Sehwag b Ten Doeschate 28 Ganguly c Stelling b Ten Doeschate 19 Uthappa b Reekers 20 Tendulkar c Van Troost
b De Leede 61 Dravid c Kervezee b Borren 74 Yuvraj c Kervezee b Ten Doeschate 14 Dhoni c Reekers
b Ten Doeschate 21 Karthik b Borren 3 Pathan not out 25 Harbhajan c Van Troost
b Ten Doeschate 0 Kumble not out 2 Extras (b-3, lb-7, nb-12, w-11) 33 Total
(9 wkts, 50 overs) 300 Fall of wickets: 1-60, 2-64,
3-82, 4-198, 5-244, 6-248, 7-251, 8-283, 9-284. Bowling: Jonkman 5-0-36-0, Reekers 8-1-34-1, Ten Doeschate 10-1-57-5, De Leede 10-1-41-1, Stellng 5-0-33-0, Kashif 5-0-44-0, Borren 7-0-45-2. Netherlands Zuiderent c Karthik b Patel 32 Reekers lbw Pathan 6 Kervezee st Dhoni
b Harbhajan 14 Ten Doeschate lbw b Kumble 31 Van Bunge st Dhoni Szwarczynski lbw Yuvraj 5 De Leede c Dhoni b Yuvraj 4 Van Troost c Ganguly
b Kumble 0 Borren c Dhoni b Yuvraj 13 Stelling not out 0 Smits lbw Yuvraj 0 Extras
(lb-2, w-4, nb-3) 9 Total (all out, 37.5 overs) 118 Fall of wickets:
1-19, 2-56,
3-64, 4-69, 5-100, 6-102, 7-105, 8-105, 9-118. Bowling: Pathan 6-2-12-1, Sreesanth 7-1-24-0, Patel 8-0-30-1, Harbhajan 8-0-24-2, Kumble 5-1-14-2, Yuvraj 3.5-2-12-4.
— PTI
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Dravid’s success mantra
Montego Bay (Jamaica), March 7 “Batsmen who get set should get big scores since the pitches (here) gets slower,” Dravid said.
“As the tournament goes on, one would find that in any significant score, there would be at least one big innings”, he said. In yesterday’s warm-up match against the Netherlands, both Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar got impressive half centuries in the team total of 300 for nine but the likes of Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly, Robin Uthappa, Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni failed to make the most of their good starts. Dravid, however, asserted that he was pretty comfortable with the team he had got and so was the case with other members of the side. “I’m happy with the three in the top-order. Robin Uthappa, given the freedom with which he bats, can utilise the Power Play overs well. It’s important to do so for once the field is spread and restrictions have been removed. Flexibility is key”, Dravid said. Team India skipper also hinted that he could be trying out Yuvraj and Dhoni up in the order in the final practice game against the West Indies. “Sachin and I used up a few overs so we could promote Yuvraj and Dhoni. My position in the team is that of a floater who could bring himself up or down depending on the situation.” Dravid revealed that he had deliberately opted to bat first on a damp and slow wicket yesterday as he sensed there would be moments in the tournament when his side could find itself in a similar situation. Dravid was also happy that the fifth bowler’s option was being taken care of impressively by his side. “Zaheer (Khan) and Ajit Agarkar are our frontline bowlers but they didn’t play and we wanted to try out others. But we are keen for our fifth bowler’s options and are getting close to the answer.” — PTI
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COUNTDOWN Gopal Sharma
A team, they say, is as good as its last performance. If one goes by that yardstick, New Zealand’s 3-0 whitewash of the mighty Australians in the Chappell-Hadlee ODI series puts New Zealand among the most formidable outfits for the World Cup. The Australians were playing without two of their best players — skipper Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist. But they have the luxury of an impressive bench strength. Hence, even the replacements are not expected to be pushovers.
The clean sweep should rank among the finest achievement by the Kiwis in the history of one-day cricket. Coming as it did close to the World Cup, it should be the biggest possible morale booster for them and a huge setback for the Australians in pursuit of an unprecedented third successive World Cup triumph. The Black Caps are, in fact, on the roll despite the minor hiccup they suffered against Bangladesh in a warm-up game on Tuesday. The loss could be attributed to the sudden change in the playing conditions. On the whole, their recent display shows that they have the right ingredients needed to be a successful one-day side. Skipper Stephen Fleming is credited with having the shrewdest brain among his contemporaries. Besides, he is a top-class batsman and a match winner with the bat. Like South Africa, Kiwis have always been a superb fielding side. In fast bowler Shane Bond, they have another proven match winner. The way he is bowling right now, Bond could be a major threat in the tournament. He has fully recovered from injuries and is relishing the prospect of leading his team’s bowling attack. Left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori is a wily customer and one of their most reliable performers. Of late, he has started contributing with the bat too. Kiwis have the batting strength that can be tough to contain. Opener Lou Vincent has grown tremendously as a batsman. Previous results are a confirmation of the fact. Vincent and Fleming were the architects of the sensational 10-wicket victory in the first match of the Chappell-Hadlee series at Wellington. In the second match Ross Taylor and Peter Fulton were a revelation as the Kiwis overhauled the 337-run target. In the last match, the Kiwis fared even better. Veteran Craig McMillan bludgeoned a 96-ball 117 as the hosts pipped Aussies scoring 350 for 9 in a nail-biting clash. New Zealand look like a transformed side in the wake of emergence of these talented young batsmen. Technically sound and capable of playing a variety of strokes, Taylor and Fulton have thrived under pressure. There had never been any doubt about the class of McMillan as a hard-hitting batsman. He has not been able to do justice to his prodigious talent. His timely return to form augurs well for the Black Caps. Wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum despite being agile behind the stumps is no mug with the bat. Presence of all rounder Scott Styris gives balance to the side. Injury to all-rounder Jacob Oram could not have come at a worse time. Besides being stingy with the ball, Oram is also hard-hitting batsman. Daryl Tuffey is a good seam bowler well capable of supporting Bond. A lot will depend as to how other seamers perform. If Bond gets good back-up support from Tuffey, James Franklin, rookie Mark Gillespie and Styris, Kiwis will be hard to beat. There is a talk of Australia looking vulnerable after a long reign at the top. Even this is no mean achievement for which Kiwis deserve full credit. — TNS
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Bridgetown, March 7 Pace bowler Mashrafe Mortaza proved to be the hero with bat and ball. After taking 4-44 to limit the Black Caps to 224 all out, he then smashed two successive sixes off the hapless James Franklin to secure victory in the 49th over of an enthralling contest. New Zealand came into the tournament as many peoples’ dark horses for the title having swept world champions Australia 3-0 in a recent home series. But they never managed to get to grips with either the clever pace of Mortaza or the left-arm spin of Abdur Razzak. Off-spinner Daniel Vettori took three wickets for the Kiwis as he tried to put a brake on the scoring but Mortaza’s big hitting was to have the final say as Bangladesh celebrated their first ever win over New Zealand. Earlier, New Zealand all-rounder Jacob Oram, who came into the World Cup nursing a broken ring finger on his left hand, batted through the pain barrier to rescue the Black Caps. Oram top-scored with 88 off 107 balls as New Zealand were all out for 224. Mortaza, who learned his trade under the watchful gaze of West Indies legend Andy Roberts, took 4-44 while Razzak’s flighted left-arm spin earned him figures of 4-26. Australia labour against Zimbabwe
KINGSTOWN: World champions Australia used eight bowlers without managing to dismiss Zimbabwe in the first of their two World Cup warm-up matches. After Michael Clarke had scored 82 from 81 balls and Shane Watson 81 from 89 in Australia’s 290 for seven, Zimbabwe reached 184 for seven to give Australia victory by 106 runs in the 13-a-side match yesterday. The Australians struggled to find their timing on a docile pitch which gave nothing to the faster bowlers. They reached 91 for no wicket but the middle-order then faltered with captain Ricky Ponting (2), Brad Hodge (17), Mike Hussey (15) and Brad Hogg (5) departing in quick succession. Clarke, who missed the 3-0 series defeat to New Zealand last month after injuring his hip, looked in fine touch, driving the ball crisply on both sides of the wicket. When Australia took the field, Shaun Tait was quick but erratic, opening the innings with two consecutive wides, while the rest of the Australia pace bowlers were economical but unpenetrative. Australia fielded only 12 men with opener Matthew Hayden and all-rounder Andrew Symonds still recovering from injuries. Wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist was not considered for selection after delaying his arrival to the Caribbean until Monday because of the birth of his third child. He is scheduled to return to the side for Friday’s match against England. Easy win for Pak
ST AUGUSTINE: Solid batting and efficient bowling eased Pakistan to a 77-run victory over Canada in their World Cup warm-up match. With the Canadians unable to provide much resistance, the only drama Pakistan encountered in their opening match in the Caribbean yesterday was when a toppled sightscreen resulted in play being held up for 77 minutes. Pakistan totalled 273 for eight in a match that was reduced to 48 overs-a-side after grounds staff struggled to lift the screen which had been blown over by gusting winds. The 1992 champions had slipped to 66 for four when captain Inzamam-ul-Haq (59) and Mohammad Hafeez (61) combined for a 93-run fifth-wicket stand to rescue their side. The Canadian attack looked less penetrative once early moisture in the pitch dried under a hot sun. Late order hitting by Kamran Akmal, who clipped his unbeaten 56 off 37 balls with two fours and four sixes, boosted Pakistan to their total. Akmal and Azhar Mahmood, who scored 23, needed just 38 balls to realise their eighth-wicket stand of 66. Medium pacer Iftikhar Anjum took three for 23 from five overs to help dismiss Canada for 196 in 46.4 overs.
— Agencies
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St. Augustine, March 7 This followed after ICC decision to ‘target test’ players for banned substances during the World Cup, underlining its zero tolerance policy against drug use by players after the doping scandal involving Pakistani pace duo of Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif last year. These target tests would be in addition to ICC’s commitment to randomly test four players-two from each side-in 17 of the showpiece event’s 51 matches. The ICC had said it could start the tests anytime from March 2 onwards. All the players in the Pakistan squad had cleared dope tests conducted internally by the Pakistan Cricket Board before leaving for the West Indies. ICC clears Sami, Arafat for WC
KARACHI: Pakistan have received International Cricket Council (ICC) approval to include fast bowler Mohammad Sami and all-rounder Yasir Arafat in their World Cup squad, a Pakistan Cricket Board said on Wednesday. “We have clearance from the ICC technical committee to replace Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif,” PCB director of cricket operations Saleem Altaf told Reuters, adding the
replacements had left for the Caribbean and would join the team by Thursday. The PCB withdrew Shoaib and Asif from their World Cup squad last Thursday on fitness grounds and submitted their medical reports to the ICC this week. Shoaib (knee and hamstring) and Asif (elbow) have been initially advised to rest for three weeks. Pakistan open their World Cup campaign against hosts West Indies on March 13.
— Agencies
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Samuels calls bookie row a distraction
Montego Bay (Jamaica), March 7 Samuels has had a good run in recent past and his scores in the last three games that the West Indies have won read 100 not out (v Pakistan), 98 (v India) and 100 against Kenya on Monday at the Trelawny Multi Purpose Stadium. “It’s a good feeling to score a hundred coming from a lot of distractions,” Samuels said in an obvious reference to the recent unpleasant mentioning of his name in India. The stylish right-hander, however, said he was not losing sleep over the issue and knew how to handle it. “I’ve had a lot of distractions in my career and I know how to take the negatives and turn them into positives. The greatest thing was the support I have received from the crowd both in Kingston and in the country, it was delightful,” Samuels said. Of late, Lara has been repeating that for the West Indies to succeed at the World Cup, his team needed to find more match-winners in the ranks. He has been simultaneously cautioning against over-reliance on himself and the other big names like Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul. “I am aware of it. The captain spoke to me and said he is looking for match winners and I told him I have no problem doing that,” Samuels said. “The captain asked for match winners. He is giving me the chance and I’m relishing the opportunity,” the strokemaker said. “I see this as hard work plus opportunity now paying off for me. It’s wonderful to perform well and if the team wins, you really can’t ask for more than that,” Samuels said. Turning his attention to batting higher up the order, Samuels said it was what he preferred. “Batting early, it gives me a chance to assess the conditions and the pitch and pace myself. It’s difficult to score a lot of runs batting at number seven and eight. I love batting early, you get to express yourself and set up your team,” he said. “In the last World Cup, I went in late and played only one game against Kenya. So this World Cup I am hoping I can get the opportunities to do well for my team, put my best foot forward and ensure that my team wins,” he said. “I am not going in overconfident, I am going in as being me, backing myself and staying positive,” Samuels added.
— PTI
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Mata Gujri College wins hockey
tournament Patiala, March 7 For Mohindra college, the goal scorers turned out to be Mukul Bharghav, Dipanshu
and Sandeep Singh, all three of whom ended up scoring a brace each while the other scorers were Sandeep Singh (Jr),
Manvir Singh and Surinder Singh. The Nabha team put in a totally inept show and never looked an
outfit which would give their rivals even a semblance of a fight. After Mata Gujri
college, Fatehgarh Sahib and Government College, Ropar, were locked in a 1-1 draw
at the end of regulation time, the Fatehgarh sahib team managed to win in
the tie breaker by recording a 6-5 verdict. Earlier, the four day tournament was inaugurated at the Punjabi University campus ground in Patiala by the director (sports), Raj Kumar
Sharma in the presence of Dr Gurdeep Kaur, assistant director (sports) and various national and international level sports persons.
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Linares (Spain), March 7 On another day with just one decisive game out of a possible three, Carlsen stole the thunder once more in the category20 event scoring a memorable triumph against the former world championship finalist. Even though Carlsen registered a fine comeback victory after losing to Anand in the previous round, the Indian ace remained in sole lead on seven points out of a possible 11 after an easy draw with Morozevich. With only three rounds to go in the eight-player double round robin tournament held at Morelia in Mexico and now here, Carlsen his on Anand’s toes half a point behind. Three players, Ivanchuk, Peter Svidler of Russia and Levon Aronian of Armenia are in joint third spot on 5.5 points but it is now clear that the battle for top place will be between Anand and Carlsen wherein the Indian holds a definite edge not only because of his slender lead but also because he is slated to play two games with white pieces while Carlsen has two blacks in the remaining games. Top seed Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria is in sole sixth spot on five points while Hungarian Peter Leko and Morozevich share the last spot on 4.5 points apiece. — PTI
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Birmingham, March 7 The world No. 49 Indian reached the semifinals of the German Open Grand Prix last week but could not reproduce his impressive form here and missed out the chance to compete the best shuttlers in the world in the prestigious tournament. He had earlier beaten Jens-Kristian Leth of Denmark 21-6, 21-19 and Scott Evans of Ireland 22-20, 21-16 before losing to Sato who booked one of the four qualifying berths on offer in men’s singles competition. Three of Sridhar’s compatriots - P. Kashyap, Anand Pawar and Nikhil Kanetkar - also lost their qualifying round matches. Kashyap was beaten 15-21, 12-21 by Denmark’s Kasper Odeum while Pawar went down to Nathan Rice of England and Kanetkar lost to Odeum in the opening matches. In the men’s doubles also, Rupesh Kumar and Thomas Sanave lost a close fight to Peter Buur Steffensen and Rasmus Mangor Andersen of Denmark 21-17, 22-24, 24-26. Meanwhile, top Indian man shuttler Chatan Anand was given a tough opening round main draw as he faces third seed Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia while in women’s singles Saina Nehwal will have a relatively easier match against qualifier Anita Raj Kaur of Malaysia. — UNI
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Skipper Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar struck impressive half-centuries as India powered their way to a massive 182-run victory the Netherlands in their first warm-up game in the lead-up to the Cricket World Cup here.
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DAYS TO GO...
