St Kitts, March 20
South African captain Graeme Smith led his team into the second round of the World Cup with a convincing seven-wicket win over Scotland in their Group A match today.

Smith scored a commanding 91 out of South Africa’s 188 for three with more than 26 overs to spare in reply to Scotland’s 186 for eight.

Scotland’s total surpassed their previous highest World Cup score, made in 1999 against Australia, by five runs.

South Africa will meet Australia on Saturday to determine which team will carry two points into the next phase of the competition.

Earlier, South African fast bowler Makhaya Ntini’s return to action was cut short when he left the field with cramp.

Ntini, who is playing his first match in the World Cup because he delayed his trip to the Caribbean until after the birth of his second child, pulled up while bowling the 40th over, his ninth.

He completed the over but then left the field to receive treatment for what the team spokesman said was cramp.

Ntini, the spearhead of the attack, did not return, leaving South Africa to complete a disciplined but not particularly inspired bowling performance.

Medium pacer Andrew Hall took three for 48, while Shaun Pollock was the most economical bowler with his return of one for 25 from 10 overs.

The Scotland batsmen struggled to score freely until the latter overs of their innings, when Dougie Brown and John Blain shared a brisk seventh-wicket stand of 50.

Brown top-scored with 45 not out and Blain made 23.

Ntini had been brought into the South African side at the expense of fast bowler Andre Nel.

Scotland were without captain Craig Wright, who returned home following a death in his family. Ryan Watson took over the captaincy.

Fast bowler Dewald Nel filled the vacancy left by Wright, and Neil McCallum came in for Navdeep Poonia.

Scoreboard

Scotland

Kingston, March 20
West Indies became the second side to book a place in the Super Eight of the World Cup after beating Zimbabwe by six wickets in their Group D match here.

Chasing 203 runs from their allocation of 50 overs, West Indies struck gold with 13 balls to spare when captain Brian Lara lofted Elton Chigumbura over wide long-on for a six.

The victory gave West Indies their second straight win in the competition, following their 54-run triumph over Pakistan in the World Cup opener last Tuesday at the same venue.

The win puts West Indies in the lead of Group D with four points, one more than Ireland, and three ahead of Zimbabwe, leaving Pakistan at the bottom of the table with no points.

West Indies and Ireland complete the group phase on Friday, two days after the Pakistanis and Zimbabweans contest their final match tomorrow.

Lara, unbeaten on 44, and Dwayne Bravo, not out on 37, shared 75, unbroken, for the fifth wicket to take West Indies over the line.

The World Cup hosts had wobbled to 129 for four, after openers Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul had put on 73.

Both Chanderpaul and Gayle were caught at slip off Chigumbura and Christopher Mpofu respectively within four balls of each other.

Anthony Ireland held a return catch to remove Ramnaresh Sarwan for 12 in the 25th over, and Tawanda Mupariwa had Marlon Samuels caught at backward point for 28 in the 33rd over to send a few jitters through the West Indies’ dressing room, but Lara and Bravo made it safe.

Earlier, Zimbabwe, sent in to bat on a hard, true Sabina Park pitch under partly cloudy skies, were indebted to half-centuries from Sean Williams and Brendon Taylor, as well as a late cameo from Chugumbura for getting them to a respectable total.

Left-hander Williams hit an undefeated top score of 70 from 88 balls and Taylor gathered 50 from 121 balls in a vital stand of 83 for the fifth wicket to lead a Zimbabwe recovery.

When Taylor backed up too far and was run out by Bravo’s throw from point to bowler Samuels in the 41st over, Chigumbura arrived and gave the Zimbabweans a late boost.

He collected five fours in the closing overs to gather 30 not out from 29 balls and share an unbroken stand of 60 with Williams.

West Indies had early success, when new ball bowlers Jerome Taylor and Daren Powell bowled both Zimbabweans openers Friday Kasteni and Vusimuzi Sibanda inside the first three overs.

Taylor added the wicket of Justice Chibhabha also bowled for 12 in the 10th over before Dwayne Smith had Stuart Matsikenyeri caught at mid-on for 16.

Scoreboard

Zimbabwe

Sibanda b Powell 1

Kasteni b Taylor 0

Chibhabha b Taylor 12

Taylor run out 50

Matsikenyeri c Powell b Smith 16

Williams not out 70

Chigumbura not out 30

Extras (b-1, lb-7, w-15) 23

Total (5 wkts, 50 overs) 202

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-2, 3-31, 4-59, 5-142

Bowling: Powell 6-1-15-1, Taylor 10-0-42-2, Collymore 9-0-29-0, Smith 5-0-28-1, Gayle 10-1-32-0, Samuels 10-1-48-0.

West Indies

Gayle c Sibanda b Mpofu 40

Port of Spain, March 20
After a record win against minnows Bermuda put its World Cup campaign back on track, Indian skipper Rahul Dravid cautioned his team-mates against any slip-up in their must-win game against Sri Lanka on Friday.

“There are some things which are not in our control, like the net run-rate. The other teams’ matches and results are not in our control. What is in our control is to go and try to win the next game and win it as well as possible,” Dravid said after India beat Bermuda by 257-runs.

Dravid asked his boys not to sit on their huge win against Bermuda but look ahead for the bigger challenge of overcoming Sri Lanka.

“The real challenge is ahead of us. We had two must-win matches, but have won just one. The guys know what they have to do now,” said Dravid, with man of the match and centurion Virender Sehwag sitting in tow.

India now need to put it across Sri Lanka to have a realistic chance of qualifying for the Super Eight stage.

India posted the highest Cup total of 413-5 and then bowled Bermuda out for 156 to record the biggest victory in one-day internationals by run-margin. Dravid underlined the fact that not only his team needed to win but also do it handsomely to up the run-rate.

The Indian skipper saw it as a good sign that dashing opener Virender Sehwag returned to his swashbuckling ways ahead of vital clash against the Sri Lankans.

“Viru (Sehwag) is a very good player and I’m happy he’s part of my team — a key member. He’s back into form just when we need him before a very critical match,” said Dravid.

Sehwag, without a hundred in the last 61 games, smashed 114 off only 87 balls with 17 fours and three sixes and looked a relieved man.

“The effort he has put in is fantastic. It is nice for him to get runs. All credit to him. To be honest, we expect a lot from him. He has been picked to score more than one hundred for us,” said Dravid.

Sehwag said a big innings from him was long overdue and he was just waiting for his chance.

“I had the confidence. I knew the captain, coach and selectors were backing me up and I had to deliver,” said the aggressive opener. — PTI

India’s massive win over Bermuda will make the team feel fighting fit to take on the Sri Lankans, for the game that could well decide who goes into the next stage. If Lanka do beat Bangladesh, then they will be under less pressure than India and will have to ensure that if they lose to India, the margin of defeat is not too great, so that they can go through on the net run-rate.

So not only is the Sri Lanka-Bangladesh match crucial, but also the last group game between Bermuda and Bangladesh. The Bangladeshis will have the benefit of going into that game with the knowledge of exactly how many runs they need to better the net run-rate of Sri Lanka and India, and so they can plan accordingly.

India did well not to look a gift horse in the mouth when Bermuda’s captain bafflingly opted to field first after winning the toss. That also allowed the out-of-form player and India’s main worry Virender Sehwag to get valuable runs under his belt, and feel a lot better for the big clash against the Lankans on Friday.

The Bermuda attack was such that “Geoffrey’s mum” could have also got runs against them, but in cricket, we all know that the lesser the challenge, greater were the chances of a batsman getting careless and getting out. After all, it takes just one mistake for the batsman to be back in the pavilion.

To his credit, Sehwag did not fall for that and instead concentrated on getting the ball away along the ground than in the air till he was set and on his way. By the time he got past 50, he was hitting the ball sweetly and there was nothing the Bermudans could do to stop him. Not that there was anything they could have done to stop the others either, as batsman after batsman came in and got some useful batting practice out in the middle.

The one to miss out was Uthappa, who was caught brilliantly by perhaps the heaviest man to play at this level, and maybe because of that catch, the skipper kept giving him the ball even when he was getting clobbered all over the ground by Sehwag, Ganguly, Yuvraj and Tendulkar.

India’s bowling was efficient in dismissing the Bermudans, though they took more overs than the Lankans to get them all out. It was a clinical performance by the Indians, and the only thing they need to look at and tighten is the extras in the form of wides and no balls. The wides down the leg-side are sometimes inevitable, but it is the wides on the off-side that they have to control and they simply have to avoid giving extra runs and deliveries to the opposition by not bowling any no-balls.

India have picked themselves nicely off the floor after their shock loss to Bangladesh and have shown a great deal of character doing so. They have to show the same determination and commitment in the next game and win it, after which they could well be on a roll and hard to stop. I am still extremely optimistic that this Indian team will go all the way and lift the Cup. — PMG

Melbourne, March 20
Sunil Gavaskar has apologised for linking Australian cricketer David Hookes’ death with the champion side’s poor on-field behaviour, saying his remarks were “uncalled for and inappropriate”.

“On live television and radio, sometimes you respond on the spur of the moment with a remark that can cause hurt and pain to others. I realise and I accept that what I said was uncalled for and inappropriate,” Gavaskar reportedly told SEN radio here.

“Having said that, I hope they have the bigness of heart to forgive me for what I said about David Hookes,” he was quoted as saying in SEN by the local media.

The former Indian captain recently wrote in a column that Australia were an “unpopular” team despite their world domination in cricket due to their “awful” on-field behaviour.

It invited a stringing response from skipper Ricky Ponting who drew attention to Gavaskar almost walking off the field with his batting partner during a Test match in Melbourne in the early 80s.

Gavaskar reacted by saying that the Aussies would not get away if they behaved the same way in a bar and cited the instance of Hookes who was punched outside a Melbourne hotel and died due to injury a few years ago.

Those remarks invited widespread criticism from former and current players, including his contemporary Allan Border who said the comment would put their friendship under strain.

Gavaskar, however, maintained his criticism of the Aussies. “What I was trying to say, the West Indies in the 1970s and 80s ... they were winning just about everything, but they were universally admired,” he said.

“There are so many champions who are universally admired, like your Rod Laver, today there is Roger Federer.

“The Australian team can also be universally admired if they can only curb their behaviour on some occasions.” — PTI

Karachi, March 20
Pakistan’s unceremonious exit from the cricket World Cup today prompted a host of resignations with the PCB chairman Naseem Ashraf and the entire selection panel quitting their posts, accepting moral responsibility for the debacle.

A day after captain Inzamam-ul Haq announced his retirement from one-day internationals following the fiasco against Ireland and the mysterious death of coach Bob Woolmer, it was the turn of Ashraf to put in his papers as the cricket-crazy nation tried to come to terms with the shocking developments since Saturday.

According to PCB sources, Ashraf has submitted his resignation to President Pervez Musharraf, who is also the chief patron of the board.

“Ashraf spoke to an official of the Presidency and told him he wished to resign in the wake of the team’s poor performance”, the source said.

It was still not known whether the President had accepted his resignation yet.

Ashraf had taken over as the PCB chairman last October after the resignation of Shaharyar Khan and the local media had launched a scathing attack on him, demanding his resignation for Pakistan’s humiliating World Cup ouster.

Initially, Ashraf had said that he would not resign as he had been in the board only for six months and would announce a new action plan for the future.

But the PCB chief today told reporters in Mirpurkhas that he was disturbed with the team’s performance and wanted to apologise to the nation for letting them down.

General Musharraf, in a recent television interview, had made it clear that there would be a massive overhaul of the cricket administration following the World Cup debacle.

Hours after Ashraf’s decision to quit, the national selection panel headed by Wasim Bari, also tendered their resignations.

Bari said he had sent the resignations of the entire committee, which also included former Test players Iqbal Qasim and Ehteshamuddin, to the PCB.

“I think it does not matter if we were responsible completely or partially for the team’s poor performance. The thing is we have to accept the fact we were part of a cricket set up that failed in the eyes of the nation,” Bari, a former test captain and wicketkeeper said.

“We have sent in our resignations because we feel that is the least we can do after what has happened.” Bari served since 1998 on the national selection committee and sources said he had only relented to resign after being pressurised by his fellow selectors.

“It is the least we can do specially after the price Bob Woolmer paid for the team’s poor performance,” one selector said. — PTI

London, March 20
Hours before his mysterious death in Kingston on Sunday, Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer sent an e-mail to his wife, saying that he was depressed over his team’s humiliating defeat by Ireland.

The 24-year-old son of the late England cricketer said Woolmer also spoke to his wife just after the defeat. “He often said it’s a very stressful job. He spoke to mum after the defeat. He sent an email saying he was depressed,” said Russell Woolmer.

Woolmer, who coached Pakistan and South African cricket teams, was found unconscious in his hotel room on Sunday morning and was immediately taken to Kingston University Hospital, where he was declared dead.

Team not to leave till mystery is resolved

Karachi: Pakistan is out of the World Cup but they will have to stay two extra days in the Caribbean till the mystery about their coach Bob Woolmer’s death is solved. — Agencies

Kingston, March 20
The colourful and controversial Inzamam-ul-Haq brings the curtain down on his one-day career here tomorrow as Pakistan end their tragedy-hit World Cup with a match against Zimbabwe.

Professionally shattered by the defeat against Ireland and personally devastated by the sudden death of coach Bob Woolmer in the aftermath of the loss, the 37-year-old is left playing only for pride.

Ironically, a much-needed victory for his team would also have the knock-on effect of putting his tormentors Ireland into the Super Eight.

Inzamam has told his misfiring team that they owe it to Woolmer’s memory to win in style on Wednesday. “He was always helpful to the players and his feelings were with them,” said Inzamam.

“He was a very good coach but a super human being. Because of this he had a lot of respect from the team. After the match against Ireland he was upset but he said to me and to all the players that these things happen in cricket. He was brave and knew how to handle the situation when everybody was feeling down.

“He will be well remembered. Now we are in trouble because we are out of the World Cup. But over the last three years our win ratio has been very high.”

Inzamam has played 377 one-day matches over a 15-year career, scoring 11,702 runs at 39.53 including 10 hundreds and 83 fifties.

He was part of the 1992 World Cup winning team famously sparking his side into the final with a blistering 60 from 37 balls in the semifinal against New Zealand.

Younis Khan, the man widely expected to take over from Inzamam as skipper, said that the whole team is still shocked by the events of the weekend.

“Every Pakistani wanted us to do well at this World Cup and we are very sorry we let them down,” Younis said.

“After we beat West Indies at home everybody expected us to win the first match against them here and we should have won it.” Zimbabwe, who arrived at the World Cup in another state of crisis after disposing of all their senior players, have one point in Group D to their name following their last ball tie against Ireland.

Monday’s defeat against the West Indies means that only victory against Pakistan will be enough to keep them in the competition.

Even if they achieve that, they would then have to hope that Brian Lara’s side defeat Ireland in the last group game to leave second round qualification to be calculated on run rates.

“We were trying for a win (against the West Indies) to put us in a better position to reach the Super Eight, but I thought the guys fought well which was good, so we will have to get it in our next game,” said Zimbabwe’s 21-year-old skipper Prosper Utseya. — AFP

Port of Spain, March 20
On a high after their shock victory over the Indians, Bangladesh would be keen to repeat their giant-killing against Sri Lanka in the crucial Group B tie of the World Cup here tomorrow.

Coach Dav Whatmore, who was brain behind Sri Lanka’s success in 1996, has come with another efficient strategy for his new wards.

If 11 years ago he let Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana to have a go at the bowlers when field restrictions were on, Whatmore is asking the medium-pacers to exploit the damp morning conditions to restrict the opposition.

The prodigious line-up, comprising Shahriar Nafees, Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Aftab Ahmed, Saqibul Hasan and Mohammad Ashraful, would take care of the rest.

It has largely been the method of Bangladesh who also stopped New Zealand in a warm-up game.

“The win against India has put us in a good position to enter the next round,” said Bangladesh skipper Habibul Bashar.

It would be an exciting proposition to watch Iqbal, Rahim and Hasan, who scored half-centuries against India take on the seasoned Sri Lankan attack.

While a win would confirm Bangladesh’s berth in the Super Eight, Mahela Jayawardene and his team-mates have a double task on their hand. Not only do they have to avoid the banana skin, but also win comprehensively so that they have a better net run-rate in case of a loss against India.

“The word pressure just does not seem to exist for them. They are mostly young and have not been around long enough for opposition to work out their strength and weaknesses,” said Sri Lanka’s veteran batsman and former captain Marvan Atapattu.

“We haven’t played against most of the Bangladeshi players, but we watched them against India and they looked very good,” he said.

There is a potential three-way tie in the Group with the Asian teams managing two points each.

Sri Lanka sit at the top on basis of a better run rate (+4.86) from their only game against Bermuda.

India is second with run rate of (+2.51) after one and one loss while Bangladesh is placed third (+.14) following their upset win over India.

With the last match of the group scheduled between Bangladesh and debutants Bermuda, the former would be in a position to know the permutation and combination required to go through.

Sri Lanka, who have won 17 of their 18 ODIs against Bangladesh, would therefore hope to post a crushing win tomorrow to get two points and swell their run rate.

The Island nation will count on its experience bowlers to rein in the free-flowing Bangladeshi teenagers who showed exemplary batting abilities against India.

The quality of Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara and Jayawerdena would be tested against the nagging pace attack of Mashrafe Mortaza and Syed Rasel and the choking length of spinners Mohammad Rafique and Saqibul Hasan.

Teams: Sri Lanka: Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Kumar Sangakkara, Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Marvan Atapattu, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Russel Arnold, Chamara Silva, Chaminda Vaas, Farveez Maharoof, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Nuwan Kulasekara, Muttiah Muralitharan and Malinga Bandara.

Bangladesh: Habibul Bashar (captain), Shahriar Nafees, Tamim Iqbal, Aftab Ahmed, Saqibul Hasan, Mohammad Ashraful, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Rafique, Abdur Razzak, Mashrafe Mortaza, Shahadat Hossain, Tapash Baisya, Syed Rasel, Rajin Saleh and Javed Omar. — PTI

Monaco, March 20
Viswanathan Anand met with mixed luck as he won one and lost one against Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine in the third round of Amber blindfold and rapid chess tournament now here.

Anand lost the blindfold, which has been his problem area in the competition so far, but was at his best in the rapid game to draw level with Ivanchuk who was picture of concentration in the blindfold but appeared all at sea in the return game.

Meanwhile reigning world champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia maintained his clean slate in blindfold section accounting for one of the main rivals Alexander Morozevich in a fine game.

The rapid game between the two was drawn leaving Kramnik in sole lead in the combined standings as well.

With 16 games still to come in this unique annual event, Kramnik has five points in all while Levon Aronian of Armenia is his closest rival a half point behind. Ivanchuk is next in line on four points while Anand is on fourth spot with 3.5 points. — PTI

New Delhi, March 20
Continuing their hire and fire policy, the Indian Hockey Federation has sacked national coach Vasudevan Baskaran following an unending streak of dismal performances and handed the post to another Olympian Joaquim Carvalho.

According to Indian Hockey Federation sources, Carvalho’s appointment will follow more tough policy measures by the IHF to overhaul the “dysfunctional system”.

“IHF chief K.P.S Gill had time and again made it clear that a change in the coaches could be expected after the World Cup and Doha Asian Games, the sources said.

“There are going to be changes in the system. The announcements will be made next week at a press conference,” they said.

The changes in the system would incorporate the proposals of Federation Internationale de Hockey (FIH), the world body for the sport, to bring back the glorious past of Indian hockey.

The Indian hockey team recorded its worst ever performance in Asian Games when they returned home last year from Doha without a medal for the first time ever at the event after shock defeats at the hand of teams like China.

Before the Doha debacle, India had finished a humiliating 11th in the World Cup.

“We will have technical advisers and administrative managers for senior and junior teams. Like the coaches, these personnel will have separate responsibilities and become accountable to their jobs”, the sources said.

Sources said the IHF considered the names of Harendra Singh, the deputy coach, Carvalho, and A.K. Bansal, who coached Orissa Steelers to victory in PHL this year.

The changes became necessary following a strained relationship between Baskaran and his deputy Harendra and the latter staked claim to be the chief coach of the national team. Harinder was also removed from his post.

This is the fourth time that Baskaran has been axed as the coach of the national team.

Meanwhile, the IHF has decided to have Olympians M.M. Somaiyya as the technical director and Mervin Fernandez as technical adviser of the senior and junior teams respectively.

It also decided to appoint R.S. Shetty of Bangalore as the Administrative Manager.

Besides these three, former coach R. Parameswaran of Bangalore would administer the Junior and Developmental teams.

Mohinder Pal Singh, who has been abreast with the latest developments in world hockey, would be the deputy to Carvalho.

More importantly, there will be constant interaction amongst the Coaches, Technical Director and Administrators for better coordination, which was not existent in the past, sources said.

Both Baskaran and Carvalho refused to comment on the changes. “I have no official information on my being stripped of the job and so I have no comments to make,” said Baskaran.

“Going by the media report, I can definitely say that the federation is going five years backwards and it will take lot more time for a new coach to analyse and implement changes,” he said.

When contacted, Carvalho said, “I am not aware of my appointment. I shall comment after an official communication on this to me by the IHF.” — PTI

Chandigarh, March 20
Under the central government’s new sports policy, the Boys Sports Company of the Rajputana Rifles Regimental Centre, Delhi, has been entrusted with the task of enrolling boys in the company and training them in athletics, basketball and volleyball.

The Army would begin enrolling boys in the company at the centre in Delhi on April 2, which would be followed by the final selection on April 3 and 4, a statement issued here today said.

The basic objective of the company is to prepare a raw individual having potential and aptitude in sports and games for participation in national and international sports events.

Under the policy, boys studying in classes VI-X would be considered for enrolment. They would be provided free of cost facilities for education under the CBSE up to class X, boarding and some other allied facilities.

On completion of class X, they will be recruited in the Army as sepoy or havildar, depending upon their performance in sports. For further enhancement of their career, a provision for study up to 10+2 level has also been kept and subsequently these boys can apply for commission in the Army.

Margao, March 20
A last gasp strike by Ghanian Yakubu Yusif enabled Mahindra United to score a solitary goal win over New Radiant SC Maldives in their second Group E match of AFC Cup 2007 being played here at Nehru Stadium today.

The all-important goal for Mahindra came in the 4th minute of the injury time of the second half through Yakubu, who made amends for his earlier lapse. When Mbaka Dady took a shot, which hit one of the Maldives defender and rebounded towards Yakubu, who was lurking inside the goal, pounced upon the opportunity and banged into the net from close range to gain full points for his side.

Mahindra with this win brighten their chances for the quarterfinal winning both their outings so far. In the first match they defeated Armed Forced Singapore in the away match. They now increased their points tally to six.

For Maldives, this is their second defeat in a row and have not yet open the account.

Mahindra, who made an aggressive start had a complete sway over the proceeding. They attacked fluently but faltered at a crucial juncture.

Such was the dominance of the jeepmen that they could have up by at least two goals had they been quick and perfect in grasping the advantages before them especially in the first half. — UNI