De Villiers leads SA to victory

St George’s, April 10
West Indies moved another step closer to elimination as they lost their Super Eight match against South Africa here today.

Set a stiff target of 357, West Indies could only muster 289 for 9 in 50 overs, handing a resurgent South Africa a 67-run win.

Earlier, AB de Villiers (146) blasted his maiden one-day ton as South Africa, hell bent to prove that the shock defeat against Bangladesh was an aberration, treated the West Indies as a punching bag pummeling them to post a mammoth 356 for four in 50 overs in a crucial Super Eights tie at National Cricket stadium here today.

Asked to bat first in a must-win tie — a defeat here could end either of the teams' World Cup campaign — South Africa lost their skipper Graeme Smith early but AB de Villers played a memorable and probably most opportune innings of his career so far hitting 146 in just 129 balls.

Together with old warhorse Jacques Kallis (81 off 86 balls), he added 170 runs for second wicket to put South Africa in a commanding position.

Towards the end, Herschelle Gibbs (61, 41 balls) and Mark Boucher (52, 32 balls) scored lightening fast to leave the hosts with a mountain to climb.

The duo plundered 86 runs in just six overs sharing eight massive sixes in between them.

With the exception of Correy Collymore (two for 41), not a single West Indian bowler was spared and Protea bats went on to hit 14 maximums in the innings.

In last ten overs, South Africa belted 134 runs losing only two wickets and Brain Lara's tactics to use his third power play in the death also did not work as his bowlers conceded 77 runs. West Indies fielding just wilted under pressure as few easy catches were dropped and lot many runs conceded which could have been prevented.

Gibbs remained unbeaten with three sixes and four fours in his 41-ball innings while Boucher sent the ball two times to the rope and five times over it before being dismissed in the final over.

Earlier, South Africa skipper Graeme Smith gave West Indies fans some thing to enjoy when he departed early caught behind off Collymore. His contribution was just 7 in a total of 21 but after that, it turned out to be a punishment time for the bowlers as de Villers and Kallis went after them.

Twenty three-years old de Villiers, playing his 38th ODI, celebrated his maiden ton in a style blasting five sixes and 12 boundaries. While his innings enthralled South Africa fans, it turned out to be a night mare for the bowlers.

His partner Kallis, who has been team's crisis man on many times, again showed his class masterminding the partnership that give their team a platform to launch an offensive.

Helping the South Africans was some poor bowling and Dwayne Bravo was the worst culprit as he helped the South African duo get their eye in initially. The medium-pacer's very first over went for 18 runs, the 14th of the innings, as the total jumped from 62 to 80.

It was to set the tone for the rest of the partnership, Kallis hitting him for a six and three boundaries.

Kallis was more dominant of the two batsmen and even though he was briefly hobbled by a twisted ankle, the burly all-rounder made a strong recovery.

South Africa brought in hard-hitting opener Loots Bosman though Graeme Smith opted to open the innings, besides Andrew Hall with Charl Langeveldt and Justin Kemp banished to the sidelines after the defeat to Bangladesh.

For the home side, Keiron Pollard was given his debut to become the third inclusion alongside Devon Smith and Corey Collymore, who replaced Jerome Taylor, Marlon Samuels and Dwayne Smith.

Scoreboard

South Africa

De Villiers c Chanderpaul b Collymore 146

Smith c Ramdin b Collymore 7

Kallis b Gayle 81

Gibbs not out 61

Boucher c & b Bravo 52

Pollock not out 0

Extras (lb-3, w-6) 9

Total (4 wkts; 50 overs) 356

Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-191, 3-261, 4-347. Bowling: Collymore 10-0-41-2, Powell 10-0-78-0, Bradshaw 10-0-73-0, Bravo 7-0-69-1, Pollard 3-0-20-0, Gayle 6-0-42-1, Sarwan 4-0-30-0.

West Indies

Gayle run out 32

Chanderpaul c Smith b Pollock 4

Smith c de Villiers b Nel 33

Lara b Kallis 21

Sarwan c Pollock b Ntini 92

Bravo c Gibbs b Pollock 6

Pollard b Kallis 10

Ramdin c sub b Smith 4

Bradshaw c Hall b Smith 20

Powell not out 48

Collymore not out 12

Extras (lb-4, w-3) 7

Total (9 wkts; 50 overs) 289

Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-65, 3-69, 4-119, 5-142, 6-169, 7-181, 8-213, 9-254.

Bowling: Pollock 8-0-33-2, Ntini 10-1-57-1, Nel 10-0-54-1, Hall 9-0-49-0, Kallis 8-0-36-2, Smith 5-0-56-2. — UNI

B’desh after England scalp

Bridgetown, April 10
Bangladesh hope their spin king trio can bamboozle England, just like they did South Africa, and boost their bid for a World Cup semifinal place tomorrow.

The left-arm trio of seasoned Mohammad Rafique, effective Abdur Razzak and emerging Saqibul Hasan spun Graeme Smith’s side to a humiliating 67-run defeat in Guyana on Saturday, their first ever win over South Africa.

The win was only Bangladesh’s fifth over a major Test playing country in 155 matches and they now seek their first over England in eight matches.

“If we beat England we get closer to the semifinals but for that we have to work really hard,” said Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar ahead of the match against struggling England at the new-look Kensington Oval.

“Definitely we need to play consistent as well. We don’t want to play one good game and then play three bad games. But the South Africa win has increased the confidence and morale in the team.”

Bangladesh, who upset India by five wickets in the group stage to earn a second round place for the first time since their World Cup debut in 1999, have two points from four matches. Bangladesh’s win over South Africa, which also dethroned Smith’s side as world No. 1, not only increased their chances, but also threw open the race for semifinals.

“It was a historic win over South Africa and now we need to win three more matches to come into contention for a semi-final. The boys know it’s hard work but they are ready for it,” said Bashar, who hoped his spinners come good once again.

“If we can get the same kind of wicket as we had in Guyana our spinners can repeat that, but England also have some pretty good players who score runs against spinners.”

Michael Vaughan’s team are in a tight corner after Sunday’s seven-wicket defeat against Australia left them with two points from four games, and another loss will mean the exit door for them. Their only win in the Super Eight came against Ireland.

The world’s top batsman Kevin Pietersen struck a magnificent century but Australia put the brakes on the innings as from 164-3 in the 30th over, England managed just 83 runs in the last 20 overs to be bowled out for 247.

Australia reached the target with half-centuries from skipper Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke.

“I think we are very close to being a really good one-day team,” insisted Vaughan.

“We’ve lost games against Sri Lanka and Australia and we’ve put them under a lot of pressure. We are just not winning critical periods and doing enough during the whole game to win the match. That’s disappointing and we’ll need to play well against Bangladesh, South Africa and the West Indies and win those games, but we’re certainly a team that can do that.

“We know we have to win the next three games now, so it’s sometimes a good thing to know exactly what you have to do to reach the next stage.” For Vaughan, his own form, and that of all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, is a major worry. — AFP

Fleming: We have the spin firepower

Georgetown, April 10
New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming says Daniel Vettori’s irresistible bowling performance in the World Cup Super Eight clash against Ireland has demonstrated the “firepower” his team has in the spin department.

Vettori claimed 4-23 as the Black Caps, defending a strong total of 263 for 8, skittled out the Irish for 134 in 37.4 overs at the Providence stadium here on Monday.

“Sure it has sent a message out to other teams. Unlike in the past, we don’t have just one spinner now. There is also Jeetan Patel. We have enough firepower there,” Fleming said after the 129-run win. — PTI

Tamim overwhelmed by Dravid’s gesture
Ashish Shukla

Barbados, April 10
After spoiling India’s party in the cricket World Cup, young Bangladeshi opener Tamim Iqbal treasures the good words showered on him by rival skipper Rahul Dravid.

Dravid, despite being devastated by India’s loss to Bangladesh on March 17, gave a good account of his largesse and gamesmanship.

Once back in his hotel in Port of Spain, Dravid asked Tamim if he could see him in his room.

Tamim, not knowing what to expect, knocked at Dravid’s door with a little trepidation. And to his surprise, he saw Dravid waxing eloquent platitudes on his brilliant batting on the day.

Tamim had scored a half-century in stirring fashion after his side had been set a target of 192 in the afternoon. The 17-year-old left-hander had gone after Indian medium-fast bowlers with gusto and even hoisted Zaheer Khan deep into the second tier of the midwicket stands.

By the time he was out, Bangladesh was well on its way to script one of the most stirring moments of his nation’s cricket history.

Dravid, in that evening, not only praised Tamim but also presented him with a bat as a token of his appreciation.

Tamim was overwhelmed but his happiness knew no bounds when the Indian captain gave him another bat to be given to young wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim.

Mushfiqur too had proved a big thorn in India’s flesh that day when he scored an important half-century for Bangladesh and anchored their innings to safety.

Mushfiqur, promoted to one-drop, had batted sedately and opened out only towards the end to rush his team to victory.

“I am overwhelmed. For him to do so after India’s chances in the World Cup had taken a knock shows the spirit in which Dravid plays his cricket.

“We have a number of admirers for the Indian captain in our dressing room,” he said.

Dravid is known for his gestures in international cricket. Periodically he offers advice to a number of young cricketers from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka on how to improve their cricket.

A number of Bangladesh cricketers benefited from his insight and advice on the game when India last toured the neighbouring country in 2004. — PTI

Cruise ships dock for WC

Bridgetown (Barbados), April 10
Barbados is wearing a festive look as more than 6000 passengers, half of that from the two chartered cricket World Cup cruise ships, started descending here for the showpiece event.

However, another 400 passengers that are supposed to come from India and stay at a special cruise ship are now uncertain. The BCCI had booked that ship extending free invitation to every affiliated state units but that now stands cancelled.

Notwithstanding that, by this afternoon, the date of the first Super Eight clash at Kensington Oval between England and Bangladesh, the other chartered ship, Galaxy, along with three other ships, will be in the port.

For the matches here on April 13, 15, 19 and 21, four cruise ships, including the two chartered ships, will bring in a capacity 6000 passengers.

However, the biggest fan influx will be coming in for the April 17 clash between South Africa and England, and the final on April 28.

Nine ships with a full house of 9000 are scheduled to come for the former, while 11 are set to be here for the final match along with more than 10000 passengers.

These were apart from several other smaller vessels that will be sailing in for the various matches in the next few days.

“All systems are go,” said Martin Ince of Foster and Ince Cruise Services Inc, the port agents for Carnival Cruise Lines, as he commented yesterday on the number of cricket fans scheduled to be here.

Freida Nicholls, head of marketing and public relations at Barbados Port Inc., which is responsible for the operation of the Bridgetown Port, said the facility was ready for the influx.

“We are accustomed to handling 10000 passengers a day when we have five of those mega ships in port. We have that experience and we can handle it,” she said.

Nicholls added there was an agreed berthing sequence for the ships and none of them was so large that space in the port would become a problem.

She said a few ships had already requested to berth outside of the port after their passengers had disembarked, and this would also relieve any congestion. — UNI

Captain is the boss: Shastri

New Delhi, April 10
In a refreshing approach to his task as the Indian team’s cricket manager, Ravi Shastri declared today that captain of the team is the “boss”.

“Captain is the boss and that is how it should be,” the former Indian captain, who has been appointed manager for next month’s Bangladesh tour, told PTI in a telephone interview from Singapore.

Shastri saw no need for a batting coach “at the moment”, saying that he would impart his knowledge “to help the team in whichever way. Venkatesh Prasad is the bowling coach and Robin Singh the fielding coach.” “Once I sit down with skipper Rahul Dravid, a plan can be formulated for each and every player”, he said in response to a question about his approach.

Praising Dravid, Shastri said, “Rahul is a great ambassador for sports and so are other senior players”.

Asked about his approach to his assignment, Shastri said, “A good team cannot be a bad team in two weeks and a good team cannot be an excellent team in two weeks.” “My endeavour is to work hard to make the team enjoy the sport in the spirit of sports and not to make it like nine-to-five desk job behind computer,” he said.

The former Indian all-rounder said that “the bottomline is to make sure that everything goes smoothly at the end of the day.” When asked how difficult it would be for the team to recover from the World Cup setback, Shastri replied “I’m never one to dwell in the past, neither am I one who looks into future. I would like to concentrate on the present and try hard on our present.”

Shastri was of the view that India required a pool of 25 players considering the amount of cricket in the next 14 months.

About the prospects of the team which is to play two Tests and three one dayers in Bangladesh, Shastri said, “No one in the team would underestimate Bangladesh, especially after they have thrashed South Africa in the World Cup.” — PTI

Dungarpur rubbishes Srikkanth’s charge

New Delhi, April 10
Former India captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth alleged in comments published yesterday that an attempt was made in 1989 to divide the team over graded payments, but Raj Singh Dungarpur rubbished the charge.

Srikkanth said in an account published by a newspaper that Dungarpur told him that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) would back him if “I abandoned my senior colleagues” in the team following some players’ demand for graded payments. Srikkanth was then the captain and Dungarpur the BCCI chief.

“Most senior cricketers had threatened not to go to Pakistan (in 1989) unless the board accepted their terms and conditions. Interestingly, I would not have been particularly affected by the graded system as despite being captain, I was neither very senior nor very junior, and would not have benefited too much or lost too much,” wrote Srikkanth in Hindustan Times.

Contacted at his Pune residence, Dungarpur told IANS that Srikkanth was only a “stand-in captain” for that tour and was hence replaced.

According to Srikkanth, Dungarpur, the then “powerful chairman of selectors”, was staying in the same Taj Palace hotel in New Delhi and called him (Srikkanth) to his (Dungarpur’s) room.

“He told me in no uncertain terms that if I abandoned my senior colleagues, he would give me a brand new team, a second XI of sorts made up totally of youngsters, for the Pakistan tour. He said I would have BCCI’s complete backing. I refused,” claimed Srikkanth.

When told that Srikkanth has alleged that he was sacked as captain after that tour because he refused to toe the line of the chairman of selectors, Dungarpur said: “Kindly see his scores on that tour.” Srikkanth tallied 97 runs in seven innings of four Tests at 13.85. His highest was 36. On the entire tour, the opening batsman managed 119 runs in eight innings of five Tests at 14.87.

“Since I refused, Dungarpur was extremely upset but eventually the regular players went to Pakistan under protest, after announcing we would forfeit the tour fees. There, while I did not make many runs myself, we did very well as a team, not losing a series in Pakistan for the first time ever - a great achievement for India,” he wrote of the drawn series.

“On my return, even as I was preparing to go to New Zealand in a week’s time, came the news of my being dropped not just from the captaincy but also the team. I realised that Raj Singh was very unhappy with me. That was literally the beginning of the end of my career,” he added.

Mohammed Azharuddin replaced Srikkanth on the tour of New Zealand.

Dungarpur said he would issue a rebuttal in a column that he would write on reaching Mumbai. “It is below my dignity to respond to this. I have been a strong man. Nobody can challenge it,” he said over telephone.

“He (Srikkanth) was sent as a stand-in captain,” pointed out Dungarpur, who is currently president of the Cricket Club of India.

The Srikkanth-Dungarpur war of words is a consequence of India’s debacle at the World Cup in the West Indies. India crashed out in the first round. — IANS

Sachin, Yuvraj given 7 days to reply

Mumbai, April 10
Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh, slapped with notices for talking to the media, have been asked to explain within seven days their conduct by the BCCI.

“The notices seeking an explanation were sent yesterday and they have been asked to respond within seven days,” a board source said today.

The two players were pulled up by the board’s working committee for commenting on former coach Greg Chappell as this was in violation of the board’s code of conduct for its cricketers.

Tendulkar was recently quoted as saying that he was deeply hurt by Chappell’s questioning of the senior players’ attitude.

Yuvraj, on the other hand, incurred BCCI’s wrath after saying that the team was backing Tendulkar on this issue. — PTI

Ranji captains, coaches meet on April 20

Mumbai, April 10
The annual Ranji Trophy captains’ and coaches’ meeting will be held here on April 20 with BCCI president Sharad Pawar chairing it.

The meeting, convened to discuss and invite suggestions to improve the standard of senior domestic cricket, will be attended by the BCCI’s Technical Committee Chairman Sunil Gavaskar, a media release from board secretary Niranjan Shah said here today. — PTI

Pillay wants longer term for Carvalho

Kolkata, April 10
Criticising the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) for frequent chopping and changing of national coaches, ageing hockey star Dhanraj Pillay today favoured a two to three-year term for new chief coach Joaquim Carvalho to give him sufficient time to deliver the goods.

“It’s not right to change coaches every now and then. I think henceforth the IHF will not go for such frequent changes. Carvalho should be given two-three years time. It takes time to groom quality players,” said Pillay, who is here to participate in the Beighton Cup for his employers Indian Airlines.

Describing Carvalho’s appointment as a ‘positive development’, Pillay said, “He is rich on experience. He has trained many quality players like Harinder Singh and Patterson. I have also benefitted by training under him”.

Continuing with their hire and fire policy, the IHF last month sacked Vasudevan Baskaran following an unending streak of dismal performances of the national team under him and handed the post of chief coach to Carvalho.

Carvalho and his coaching team has been given a tenure up to the Olympic qualifiers, with the IHF making it clear that they were looking for a foreign coach keeping in mind long-term targets. — PTI

IA lift Beighton Cup

Kolkata, April 10
Breaking a 21-year-old jinx, star-studded Indian Airlines lifted the Oil India 112th All India Beighton Cup hockey tournament with a 1-0 victory over Border Security Force, Jalandhar, here today.

Veteran campaigner Dhanraj Pillay struck the all-important goal a minute from half time to propel the airmen to the title, which they had earlier won way back in 1985.

Putting up a much improved performance, Indian Airlines controlled the proceedings for the greater part of the 70 minutes, playing a fast well-coordinated passing game that the paramilitary side failed to match.

However, BSF also had their moments of glory, especially in the second session, when they pressed hard, but failed to penetrate deep into the rival defence.

Playing before a sizeable crowd at the Mohun Bagan ground, Pillay scored the goal in the 34th minute. The famed player latched on to a loose ball on top of the striking circle and kept his composure to push home, giving no chance to rival goalkeeper K M Subbaiah.

Besides bagging the winners cheque of Rs one lakh, it was also sweet revenge for Airlines, who had gone down 1-3 to BSF in a quarterfinal group league match.

The paramilitary side, who had emerged champions in the blue riband event of Indian hockey on half a dozen occasions in the past, had to be rest content with the runners-up prize money of Rs 50,000. — PTI

JCT’s matches at Ludhiana

Chandigarh, April 10
JCT are all set to resume their campaign on home ground in the ongoing 11th National Football League on April 18 when they meet Mumbai’s Air-India at Ludhiana’s Guru Nanak Stadium.

On April 21, JCT will take on Sporting Clube de Goa followed by the tie against Mahindra United on May 2. On May 5, JCT will meet HAL SC, Bangalore.

All the matches will begin at 4.30 pm, according to Arjuna awardee Inder Singh, secretary, Punjab Football Association. — TNS