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Kallis steers SA home
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Dravid only player to attend BCCI meeting
Poor man’s ball returns as souvenir
Cricket banned in 28 Haryana villages
AFI cracks whip on marathons
Shooters miss Olympic berths
Railways beat MP
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St John’s, April 4 Mahela Jayawardene’s side had looked short of a good total when four wickets from Sajid Mahmood and three from Andrew Flintoff had restricted them to 235 all out. However, England could only make 233 for eight from their 50 overs despite a late fighting partnership of 87 by Ravi Bopara and Paul Nixon. Sri Lanka have six points while England remain on two and now face a tough task to finish in the Super Eights top four and reach the semifinals. Earlier, Mahmood took four for 50 and Flintoff claimed three for 35 to cap England's clinical display on the field, confounding critics who predicted their formidable rivals would set a target around the 300-mark. James Anderson bowled a tidy 10-over spell for 38 runs after skipper Michael Vaughan chose to bowl first on a good pitch. Mahmood struck at the other end to remove the dangerous Sanath Jayasuriya for 25 after he played on to the stumps. The 37-year-old, making a one-day record 385th appearance began aggressively after scoring a match-winning 115 against hosts West Indies in the previous game on Sunday. Flintoff joined the attack to peg Sri Lankan scoring before Mahmood was brought back and had Kumar Sangakkara (17) caught at point with a slow full toss. Opener Upul Tharanga top-scored with a patient 62 and added 91 runs for the third wicket with skipper Mahela Jayawardene, who hit 56 off 61 balls. However, Vaughan shuffled the bowlers well to stop quick runs and both batsmen fell in quick succession attempting to hit out to reduce Sri Lanka to 175 for four in the 39th over. Flintoff forced Tharanga to miscue a pull to Kevin Pietersen at mid-on. Collingwood, who passed a fitness test for a stiff neck, then had Jayawardene caught at deep midwicket. Sri Lanka managed just 52 runs in the last 10 overs before they were all out off the last ball of the innings with a run out. Scoreboard Sri Lanka Tharanga c Pietersen b Flintoff 62 Jayasuriya b Mahmood 25 Sangakkara c Collingwood Jayawardene c Joyce Silva b Flintoff 24 Dilshan run out 5 Arnold c Joyce b Mahmood 20 Vaas c Collingwood b Flintoff 4 Malinga c Nixon b Mahmood 2 Muralitharan not out 2 Fernando run out 2 Extras (b-3, lb-5, w-4, nb-4) 16 Total (all out, 50 overs) 235 Fall of
wickets:1-37, 2-69, 3-160, 4-175, 5-193, 6-215, 7-219, 8-226, 9-231 Bowling:
Anderson 10-1-39-0, Mahmood 9-0-50-4, Flintoff 10-0-35-3, Collingwood 10-0-44-1, Panesar 8-0-45-0, Vaughan 3-0-14-0. England Joyce lbw Malinga 10 Vaughan c Sangakkara b Vaas 0 Bell run out 47 Pietersen c&b Murali 58 Collingwood lbw Fernando 14 Flintoff c Malinga b Fernando 2 Bopara b Fernando 52 Nixon c Jayawardene b Malinga 42 Mahmood not out 2 Extras (b-1, lb-1, w-2, nb-2) 6 Total
(8 wkts, 50 overs) 233 Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-11, 3-101, 4-126, 5-133, 6-133, 7-220, 8-233. Bowling:
Vaas 8-1-45-1, Malinga 10-1-50-2, Fernando 9-0-41-3, Jayasuriya 8-0-31-0, Dilshan 5-1-16-0, Muralitharan 10-1-48-1.
— Reuters
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Georgetown, April 4 Asked to bat first in hostile conditions and amid repeated rain interruptions, Ireland climbed up to 152 for eight from their 35 overs. Defending the total, they ensured it was not exactly a stroll in the park for South Africa and fought well within their limitations before succumbing in the 32nd over. Ireland, which had delivered the knock-out punch to Pakistan in the group stage, simply didn’t have the wherewithal to plot yet another upset but they did a good account of themselves in the match. Fancying a semifinal berth, South Africa now face Bangladesh while Ireland take on New Zealand at this very venue on Saturday and Monday, respectively. After their bowlers restricted Ireland to a modest total, South Africa faced a revised target of 160 under the Duckworth-Lewis rule in the afternoon. Kallis (66) proved the mainstay of the innings who kept South Africa straight on purpose after three wickets were lost for 85 runs by the 17th over. It was Kallis’ unbeaten 80-run association with Ashwell Prince (47), which saw South Africa through amid deepening gloom. Ireland’s lanky right-arm medium-pacer Boyd Rankin gave South Africa early jitters with the wicket of AB de Villiers (0) off the third ball of the innings and then had Herschelle Gibbs (6) midway through the passage. Scoreboard
Ireland Bray lbw Pollock 0 Porterfield c Kallis Morgan c Prince b Hall 28 O’ Brien c Gibbs White c Gibbs b Smith 30 Botha c De Villiers b Hall 14 Johnston not out 13 McCallan c Boucher Mooney c Boucher Smith not out 17 Extras
(b-1, lb-3, w-4) 8 Total (8 wkts, 35 overs) 152 Fall of wickets:
1-0, 2-31, 3-63, 4-77, 5-116, 6-119, 7-124, 8-124. Bowling: Pollock 7-2-17-2, Ntini 7-2-14-0, Langeveldt 7-0-41-3, Hall 7-0-37-2, Kemp 3-0-14-0, Kallis 3-0-20-0, Smith 1-0-5-1. South Africa De Villiers c Porterfield Smith c and b Johnston 41 Kallis not out 66 Gibbs c White b Rankin 6 Prince not out 47 Extras
(nb-4, w-1) 5 Total (3 wkts, 31.3 overs) 165 Fall of wickets:
1-1, 2-71, 3-85. Bowling: Rankin 7-1-26-2, Smith 5-0-31-0, Mooney 3.3-0-40-0, Johnston 3-0-15-1, Botha 6-0-18-0, McCallan 5-0-27-0, White 2-0-8-0.
— PTI
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Kallis slams critics
Georgetown, April 4 Kallis followed up his knock of 86 against Sri Lanka last week by top-scoring with 66 in South Africa’s seven-wicket win yesterday. However, before those two performances Kallis’s slow batting was blamed for South Africa’s 83-run defeat by Australia in the group stage of the tournament in St Kitts. Some commentators said Kallis should be axed from the team but the all-rounder has had the last laugh. “I’ve been playing a big role in helping South Africa win games and that's the most satisfying aspect,” Kallis told a news conference. “I’ve never minded criticism but I think there’s a line you don’t cross and certain people crossed that line. That's fine, I will remember who those guys are in future.”
— Reuters
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Greg fades in comparison with Wright
New Delhi, April 4 In contrast to Wright, country’s first foreign coach, Chappell’s tenure with India would be remembered mostly for the wrong reasons - be it his spat with Sourav Ganguly, obscene gesture to Eden Gardens crowd and the latest behind-the-scene feud with senior players. An outspoken Australian who never minces words, Chappell beat a star-studded field — comprising Tom Moody, Mohinder Amarnath and Desmond Haynes — to bag the lucrative job back in 2005, his first international assignment as coach. Since then, India played 62 ODIs, winning 32 and losing 27. Of the 32 matches they won, 19 out of 28 were at home while the side registered only 13 wins out of 34 when they travelled abroad. It was little surprise that Rahul Dravid’s men struggle to shrug off the ‘poor travellers’ tag. India, however, created a world record by successfully chasing 17 ODIs on-the-trot. In the longer version of the game, Chappell’s wards played 18 matches, won seven, lost four and drew seven Test matches. The major highlight was of course the historic Test series win in the West Indies. Wright may not enjoy the same stature as a cricketer but the former Kiwi captain was more impressive with his coaching records. Under Wright, India played 130 ODIs, of which they won 68 and lost 56. And the Sourav Ganguly-led team won 21 out of 52 Test matches and lost 15 besides drawing 16.
— PTI
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Sachin dismisses reports of rift as rumours
Mumbai, April 4 “I don’t think that is correct because senior players have always encouraged junior players and you can go and ask any of the junior players what kind of relationship they share with me. “I am always joking around, pulling around with them and when it comes to cricket, we are extremely serious. If I notice something that they are not doing correctly, I would always walk up to them and tell them that this is what you should do and vice versa,” Tendulkar told CNN-IBN. He was asked about conflict between seniors and juniors in the backdrop of newspaper reports quoting sources close to Chappell that the seniors did not encourage juniors but “hammered” them. Asked about reports of rift with Chappell, Tendulkar said: “No, I haven’t had any rift with anybody and I do not know where these rumours start from. I do not have any rift with anyone.” However, he said it did hurt him if the coach had said anything against him. He denied he had used any strong language against anyone. “I have never used this (strong words) language. My nature is not to get into fight with anyone. I have got nothing against anyone. I was really asked a question to which I replied if the coach has said this, than I am hurt.” Asked whether the team was united during the World Cup, Tendulkar said it was united and he thought that reports of groupism “were all rumours.” “The reality is something else. We are all together. We have played cricket for a long time together and the youngsters who will take the team forward eventually are also part of us. “It is not that seniors belong to one group and youngsters belong to another. It is not like that. We are all extremely close to each other and close friends and will always be like that no matter what X, Y, Z talks about the team. He said these controversies crop up when the team does not do well but when the team performs well, everything is fine. Describing the last 10 days after the World Cup exit as “terrible”, he said it was extremely sad because nobody “in our wildest dreams” thought India would be back so early. “This was beyond our imagination and we want to tell the fans that we are extremely sorry for having disappointed the entire nation. All the hopes were on us and we were unable to live up to expectations,” he added. — PTI
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Dravid only player to attend BCCI meeting
Mumbai, April 4 “No player other than Dravid, who is to be present at the morning review meeting with the BCCI office bearers, will be called on April 6,” said a BCCI source today. Also present at the meeting would be selection panel chief Dilip Vengsarkar, coach Greg Chappell and tour manager Sanjay Jagdale, who is also a member of the five-member selection committee. Yesterday, BCCI’s joint secretary Mahendra Pandove had said that senior players could be asked to attend the meeting if deemed necessary by the board. “We will first discuss the World Cup reports submitted by Chappell and Jagdale in detail along with former Indian captains. If the need arises, we will definitely call senior players to hear their version,” Pandove had said. The BCCI office bearers meeting with seven ex-captains is scheduled for Friday afternoon. The Working Committee will meet on April 7 to take stock of the situation and is to on renewing Chappell’s contract or otherwise.
— PTI
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McGrath: We can beat England
St John’s, April 4 England gained some consolation for their 5-0 Ashes whitewash by winning the one-day tri-series final against Australia 2-0 this year but they have not looked convincing in the Caribbean and lost their main group match to New Zealand. “They played well to finish off the summer in Australia. We probably let our guard down a bit and did things differently to the way we’d been doing it all summer,” McGrath told reporters at the team’s hotel yesterday. “Since we’ve been over here we’ve prepared exactly the way we’ve wanted to prepare. We’ve been ready for every game we’ve played. We’ve played some awesome cricket and to be honest no team has really got close to us. “So with the way England have been playing and the way we’ve been playing we should win this game pretty well.” McGrath, 37, who will retire from all cricket after the World Cup which concludes with the final in Barbados on April 28, said he had always liked playing against England. “I always enjoy playing England, I prefer to beat them. It could be the last time I come up against these guys before I hang my boots up so it would be nice to finish on a good note,” he said. Australia have taken a three-day break from training in the eight days between their match against Bangladesh last Saturday and the match against England and McGrath spent most of Tuesday playing golf and kayaking. “It’s good that you can get around and have a look at the island and have bit of a break. But when you are in a tournament like this and playing well you want to keep the momentum up and to have eight days off in between a game is probably a bit too long,” he said. “But there’s plenty of things to do and if you keep yourself interested it does go by quite quickly.” McGrath, who broke Wasim Akram’s World Cup wickets record against Bangladesh, said he still felt fit enough to continue playing at the top level.
— Reuters
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Ponting is the best: Richards
Melbourne, April 4 As the debate goes on over who is the world's top batting star and with some of the big names like India's Sachin Tendulkar, Pakistan's Inzamam ul-Haq and Mohammad Yousuf either failing or being victims of substandard team performances, Ponting has emerged the leading star over a consistent period of time. Even Brian Lara's form is patchy in a West Indies side who rely on him to an unhealthy degree. Sir Viv said, ''I don't like saying one great player is greater than another but Ponting's consistency makes him top of the pile.'' ''I have been watching him bat throughout the tournament and have been most impressed,'' said Richards. ''I was commentating when he was batting against the West Indies and said that his bat looked to have the width of a barn door. He was playing beautifully straight between mid-on and mid-off,'' he was quoted as saying by 'The Daily Telegraph'. Matthew Hayden has dominated the tournament while Ponting already has scores of 113 and 91 in the Cup and is looking in imposing touch. Ponting has been in sublime form in both versions of the game as he is officially ranked the No. 1 Test batsman in the world ahead of Pakistan's Mohammad Yousuf and No. 2 after England's Kevin Pietersen in the one-day game. Ponting has averaged more than 60 in Test cricket in six of the last nine calendar years and his average of 59.29 after 110 games is among the best in the game's history. Ponting's catch phrase for his batsmen in the Caribbean is ''be free and let your natural instincts flow''. He surely is practising what he is preaching.
— UNI
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Lara should quit: Garner
Bridgetown, April 4 “We have it all tangled up in West Indies cricket, we have it all wrong,” said Garner, who took 259 wickets in 58 Tests between 1977 and 1987. “To see the real problems we cannot just look at what is happening now. We have to go back a few years. He (Lara) is not doing the job and has to be replaced. There is no doubt about that. “He had the job as captain twice before and could not produce a string of successes for us. We simply need to find a new captain. We have many problems and he is not the solution.” Meanwhile, former West Indies captain Richie Richardson said he was disappointed by the team’s performance and criticised the decision to allow players a short break before their next match. The 45-year-old Richardson said he was also amazed at how the team plunged to three defeats after three wins in the preliminary round in Jamaica. “I saw them in the first round in Jamaica and I felt they looked really good,” said Richardson, who has to his credit 5,949 runs from 86 Tests. “Then, when they came to Antigua it was a totally different ball game and they look totally flat. “Now we are hearing they want time to go home and relax. That’s unbelievable in the middle of a tournament when they should be representing their people. They have let us down,” he said.
— IANS
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Poor man’s ball returns as souvenir
Gorgetown, April 4 Every cricketing legend of Guyana be it Rohan Kanhai, Clive Lloyd or his cousin Lance Gibbs, grew playing with Balata ball and now a lady entrepreneur by the name Debita Harripersaud brought it back to the centrestage of the mega event. Having grown up in a cricket-mad family, Harripersaud, a physiotherapist by profession, who sometimes work with the Guyanese cricket team, commissioned 200 special editions of balata balls to be handmade by the Makushi tribe of the Guyanese interior in order to pay tribute to the time and ethos during the World Cup, decades after the sap of the Bulletwood tree had transformed to a tiny crafts industry of souvenir items. These balls have been autographed by three of the four living legends of Guyanese cricket - Rohan Kanhai, Clive Lloyd and Lance Gibbs (Roy Fredericks, the fourth, who died seven years ago at the age of 57). Like hundreds of others who grew up in the fifties, these legends too, have had an experience with balata balls as there was scarcity of money at that time and all cricketing equipments had to be made at home. During the fifties cricket balls were made from balata, whose other uses include cavity fillings to making of golf balls. The balata would be bled into calabashes and spread out to harden into sheets. Then it was boiled, after which the hot sap was shaped using curved bottoms of cider or rum bottles. In the end, a cork would be inserted inside, so that when the ball fell into the ubiquitous trenches of Guyana, it would float to the surface. Similarly, a worn-out ball could also be revived by reboiling the balata. A balata ball was heavy and barely bounced, though it responded well to fast breaks. Above all, to say it in local term, ‘it sting like rass bai’ means ‘if you don’t get your foot out of the way, it can kill your shin’. “The one word that, if you talk to anyone who’s played with balata, they will tell you is ‘Ouch’” says Roger Persaud, a Guyanese cricket writer for Stabroek News, who played as a opening batsman in the United States cricket team a couple of decades ago. According to legendary West Indian Clive Lloyd, nothing encourages footwork like a balata ball: when it hurts, it really hurts. It is sometimes offered as a theory to some modern day batsmen for their static footwork. But the great Everton Weekes has a entirely different explanation. “They never learnt how to dance,” Everton said. Interestingly, Guyana has given many breeds of balls to the world cricket. Balata’s time came and went away. They were first replaced by much lighter cork balls which were cheap but wore out after some use. Then arrived the ‘Compo balls’, a composite of cork and rubber which were a big hit for a while. They were of reasonable weight and bounced much higher than the cork ones, even their longevity was
higher too. After ‘compo balls’ came the ‘bumper balls’, a light sponge ball, which bounces to the eyebrow level and would swing feet. Mention must also be made of the superbly named ‘Windpuss’, a battered tennis ball of flannel dipped in puddles to provide some zip. However, the most popular ball for informal cricket at present is ‘tape ball’, an insulation of tape around a tennis ball.
— UNI
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Cricket banned in 28 Haryana villages
Jind, April 4 Describing the game as “meaningless”, like today’s remix music, the Daadan khap panchayat - a council representing 28 villages - last week decided that their children and youngsters keep away from the game that has the Indian sub-continent fans going crazy. The decision was taken at a panchayat meet held at Uchhana village in Jind district in the heart of Haryana’s landed community of Jats. “If our elders do not want us to play the game, we will follow their wishes. We can play other traditional games like kabaddi and wrestling,” said Ramesh Kumar, a
youth here. Ironically, Haryana has produced cricketing legend Kapil Dev who led India to its only World Cup win
in 1983. The action of the khap panchayat is apparently not without reason. “This game is making the young boys go astray. They are into betting and gambling. This also leads to fights. Its better that the youngsters stay away from this game and don’t even watch it,” said panchayat head Tewa Singh. Other village elders like Ram Singh agree that the sport was ruining the youth. “They should be playing football, kabaddi, volleyball and other traditional games instead,”
he added. Pictures of players like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and M. S. Dhoni have also disappeared from walls of homes in these 28
villages. — IANS
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AFI cracks whip on marathons
Jalandhar, April 4 The decision, taken during the federation’s annual general meeting held on March 30, states: “In order to keep proper standard and technical aspects for its conduct, the federation will only allow its athletes to participate in the marathons approved by the AFI. No athlete would be allowed to compete in an un-authorised marathon in future.” The decision was taken in a bid to regulate the increasing popularity and conduct of marathons which according to the federation officials was merely being held to raise money for the organisers. Talking to The Tribune, Umrao Singh, acting president, AFI, said now-a-days the organisers are merely conducting the marathons to earn money which they take from the various sponsors in the event. “At times they promise to give T-shirts and cash awards to the participants and winners but these are not given. In order to curb these activities we have taken this decision to allow our athletes only to participate in authorised marathons,” he said. “In case any player is found participating in marathon of any kind (half, full or rally) he or she would be suspended from the federation. The player would not be allowed to participate in any competition both on national and international level in the future,” he added. The federation has also decided to make dope tests mandatory in school games and university-level games. States sending over age athletes to participate at the national level competitions would face a penalty of Rs 10,000 and in case more than three athletes are found guilty, the state would be suspended from participating in the competitions.
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Shooters miss Olympic berths
New Delhi, April 4 Harveen shot a total of 478.3 points and finished eighth in the final round of the women's air-pistol event Tuesday. In the qualification rounds, she was sixth but couldn't repeat the same performance in the final round and narrowly lost the Olympic quota. In the men's 10 metres air pistol event, Amanpreet finished 11th with a score of 578 and lost the berth to a shooter who just had a better last series. In the women's air-pistol event, another Indian Shweta Chowdhary finished 13th with a score of 381 points. Czech Lenka Maruskova won the gold in this event with a score of 483.1 while the silver went to Chinese Jie Ren with a score of 483 points. Viktoria of Belarus won the bronze with a score of 482.7. In the men's air-pistol event, Samaresh Jung finished 20th with a score 576 while Vivek Singh finished 47th with a score of 566. Vladimir Isakov of Russia won the gold with a score of 685.7 and Wojciech Knapik of Poland won the silver with 680.7 points. (580+100.7). Vladimir Gontcharov of Russia won the bronze with a score of 680.2.
— IANS
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Jeev begins Augusta campaign today
Augusta (Georgia), April 4 "I am still an ambassador for a billion people. And that is a responsibility in some senses," he said. Coming to what he calls "the Mecca of Golf," Jeev has played two practice rounds and then today he turns up at the traditional Par-3 contest. "This is place has so many traditions, and yet it is so friendly. No wonder, they all say, you come to the Masters once and you are hooked for life," he said. Winner of four titles in 2006, Jeev comes to Masters with the knowledge that he has played all four rounds in both his previous experiences in US Open. "That is a nice feeling to have," he said. Grouped with Ben Crane and Shaun Micheel, Jeev will tomorrow become the first Indian to tee off at the Masters. He is also the first from the country who will play at all four Majors this season by virtue of his having finished in top-50. "This is the dream I have had ever since I picked up a golf club and got to know of the Masters. In India, we often talk of the British Open, but the Masters gives you goose pimples," says Jeev, son of India's iconic athlete Milkha Singh.
— PTI
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Railways beat MP
Jaipur, April 4 Bangar, who was in a devastating form scored his runs in just 40 balls to put on 90 runs second wicket stand with S Khanolkar who scored 45 runs from the same amount of balls. During his sparkling knock, he sent the 'red cherry' seven times to the fence, besides hitting two sixes. He was eventually caught by Mohnish of the balling of Mudassar. He was ably supported by S Khanolkar who too hit five boundaries to help his side reach the victory target off 141 for three wicket in 16.2 overs. Earlier in the day deciding to bat, MP scored 138 runs for the loss of seven wickets in their schedule 20 overs. For Railways, medium pacer Sanjib Sanyal was pick of the bowlers claiming 3 wickets for just 25 runs.
— UNI
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