St Lucia, April 24
South Africa will have to shed their burden of history and perform out of their skin to halt the unstoppable march of Australia as the two teams square off in an epic semifinal showdown of the World Cup tomorrow.

Emotions will run high as world's top two cricketing nation once again slug it out for a place in the final.

South Africa had grabbed the number one ranking from the Australians last month; chased down 434 at the Wanderers last year and will be now on a mission impossible to stop Australia's winning run of 26 matches.

But history is against the Proteas. They have twice reached the semifinals of the World Cup before but were unlucky to lose on both occasions, rather dramatically.

In 1992, a flawed rain rule did a miracle for England and ruthlessly snatched a certain victory from the South African hands. While chasing 252, a rain interruption turned the equation upside down for South Africa. Their gettable target of 22 from 13 balls was revised to 22 from one ball.

The 1999 tied semifinal against Steve Waugh's Australia at Edgbaston will still be fresh in the memories of at least four players -- Shaun Pollock, Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Herschelle Gibbs — who were part of that epic encounter, rated as one of the best one-dayers ever.

In a match of fluctuating fortunes, South Africa needed nine runs in the last over with one wicket in hand, but Allan Donald's run out tied the match. Australia scraped their way to the final on account of their another back-to-wall win against South Africa in the Super six.

Harsh words are exchanged and psychological warfare extended when the two sides meet and it's no exception this time around.

"The 1999 game was a game in history. It doesn't get mentioned much within the set-up," South African captain Graeme Smith said.

Australia's vice-captain Adam Gilchrist, however, would beg to differ.

"They will be even more determined given what seems to be a bit of a curse at cricket World Cup. I am not so sure (if they are not haunted by previous failures).

Australia had the upper hand in six of their past 10 games against South Africa, including the pummelling they handed over to the Proteas in their Group match in the World Cup.

But it was not drubbing all the way in the encounter at St Kitts. South Africa, chasing a mammoth 377, were on their way to make a match of it.

A belligerent Smith (74) and A B d'villiers (92) gave South Africa a rollicking start but then lost their way in the middle.

Australia have reached the semifinals without raising a sweat whereas Smith's men have just about made it to the last four, after losing matches against Bangladesh and New Zealand.

But Gilchrist believes the equation in semifinals would be different.

"They've probably not quite dominated all the teams like many would have expected, but they have done enough to get to a World Cup semi-final and that's all you set out to do at the start of the tournament," said Gilchrist.

South Africa is planning though to shield Shaun Pollock from the hammering he received at the hands of Matthew Hayden and Gilchrist in the St. Kitts game.

Pollock conceded 83 runs from his 10 overs while Hayden raced to the fastest century ever in the World Cup history in a mere 66 balls.

Proteas are now planning to give Pollock the new ball but remove him off the attack as soon as Hayden goes after him.

"We have a plan with (Pollock). I suspect he will take the new ball, but if there's nothing happening, we will probably whip him off early and go for the pace of (Andre) Nel. It is something we learnt from the last game," Arthur said.

"When you get to the back end of these tournaments, you need your top players to have big games," Arthur said.

"The teams are going to be quite close so it's going to be a bit of stability and a match-winning performance from one of them that could be the difference," he said.

Smith, meanwhile, is confident that the sprained left knee he suffered after practice in St. Lucia would not stop him from leading the side in the semifinals tomorrow. — PTI

St Lucia, April 24
South Africa will take aim at Australia’s strongest area by targeting their top order batsmen in their semifinal on Wednesday, skipper Graeme Smith said.
Australian opener Matthew Hayden has hit three hundreds, including smashing the fastest in tournament history in the 83-run win over South Africa in a group match in St Kitts.
Hayden leads the list for most runs in the tournament and skipper Ricky Ponting shares the second spot with South Africa number three Jacques Kallis.

“Australia haven’t looked like being beaten,” Smith told a news conference on Monday. “We’re not sitting here expecting them to play a bad game. We’re hoping to beat the Australian team.”

Smith said the key would be taking early wickets because the Australian batting line-up ran deep.

“Hayden especially upfront has been phenomenal throughout. We will look at those things and come up with a game plan on how we can get into the middle order as quick as we can,” he said.

“If you get in and get wickets upfront, it does certainly curb a lot of their attacking players.”

Smith is hoping to overcome a knee injury before the semifinal after curtailing his training on Monday.

The 26-year-old was not sure teams could post huge totals at the Beausejour Stadium after Australia amassed their Cup record 377 in the tiny St Kitts ground against South Africa.

Smith said South Africa no longer carried the scars from their 1999 Cup elimination after a dramatic tie against eventual winners Australia. South Africa, dubbed Cup chokers for caving in under pressure, were also eliminated in 2003 at home after the team had misread the Duckworth-Lewis form in a rain-hit first-round game against Sri Lanka and were left one run short of victory.

The players were keen to perform better than hope to get lucky, Smith added.

“You got to make your own luck and hopefully on Wednesday we can make our own luck by playing good cricket,” Smith said.

“Things start to go your way when you put teams under pressure, when you got them on the back foot.

“We don’t come into the semifinal tensed in any way. We seem to have got through a lot of those tentative times.”

South Africa have a psychologist in their entourage but Smith said there had been no special sessions to prepare for Australia. — Reuters

Mumbai, April 24
Sachin Tendulkar, an integral part of the Indian squad in all forms of cricket till recently, today celebrated his 34th birthday with the knowledge that his glittering career is at the cross-roads.

It turned out to be a quiet birthday for the champion batsman who spent most of the day indoor with his family and close friends.

Tendulkar has been 'rested' along with another former captain Sourav Ganguly for next month's one-day series in Bangladesh by the selection committee when the team was announced last week following the World Cup debacle, a decision which has triggered various interpretations in the media.

The sands of time seem to be catching up with Tendulkar with a question mark hanging over his international career which has been nothing short of spectacular so far.

Age coupled with a spate of injuries to back, ankle and elbow, seems to have diminished the all-time great player's powers as an attacking batsman feared by bowlers all around the world.

But Tendulkar is still a world class player in both forms of the game and his decline as a batsman - though palpable going by statistics - still show him to be good enough to command a place in the Indian team which was struggling to maintain consistency.

Tendulkar, who performed poorly like so many of his team-mates in India's disastrous World Cup campaign in the West Indies, has scored only four hundreds in his last 50 ODIs, as compared to his overall tally of 41 in 384 ties while his average during this period - just under 40 — is below his career average of 44.

His plunging Test career graph is more glaring. In the last 20 Tests, the man with the most number of centuries has scored only two three-figure innings, including an innings of 248 not out against Bangladesh when India toured their eastern neighbours in December, 2004.

It's true that because of injuries Tendulkar missed quite a few tours and with them the opportunities too, but still a steep slide of 12 points from his overall career average of close to 55 in an Indian record 135 Tests itself is a pointer to his declining form. — PTI

New Delhi, April 24
The policy of rotating and giving rest to senior cricketers must be done with great care since no player likes to be out of the Indian team, former chairman of selectors Kiran More has said.

Current national chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar has touched a raw nerve with his recent statement that all senior cricketers, including captain Rahul Dravid, would be 'rested' for a few matches during the busy season ahead.

More, while backing Vengsarkar on the issue, said the players have to be talked into such decisions.

"For tours like Bangladesh, you have to rest the top players. Someone like Sachin Tendulkar who has been playing for so long, you have to talk to him and tell him to look for tough tours," the former wicketkeeper told PTI.

"Players like Sachin and Anil Kumble have to be preserved for tougher tours because the wear and tear is more in their case," he added.

It is worthwhile to recall Dravid's comments on the subject made, incidentally, during the Indian team's visit to Bangladesh in 2004 December.

"I have never really felt the need to have a rest. I know the cricket schedule is crammed full, but if you are fit and the mind is willing, then there's really no need to rest," Dravid said then.

"When you are playing Test cricket, or even international cricket for the country, you want to keep doing that.

"And you always want to do well, whether you have made a hundred in the last match are in good form, or struggling and made a duck," he said.

Not for him the difference between playing a number one team and the minnows.

"No one innings is easier than any other. You say playing against Bangladesh is easier, but I was also out for nought in the last Test." Dravid spoke the words after he set a world record of playing in 85 consecutive Tests since making debut.

Asked for his comments on the topic from a player's viewpoint, More said, "It depends on the situation. If I am playing at the top level, I would be selective about the tours." — PTI

Shahbad Markanda, April 24
Women hockey players from this sleepy township are in a joyous mood as a European club has approached them to play in the European league.

It is for the first time that Indian women hockey players have been approached to play for any overseas club.

An Azerbaijan hockey delegation interacted with fifteen players having international exposure at the National Stadium in New Delhi today.

Veteran player and coach at the hockey nursery here Baldev Singh is a proud man today.

He informed The Tribune that former Pakistan international Tahir Zaman was in New Delhi to hire the promising players to play for the Republic of Azerbaijan in the forthcoming European Club Hockey Championship schedule to be played in Azerbaijan, sources said.

Federation of International Hockey (FIH) has appointed Zaman as director of the hockey tournament to be held in Azerbaijan.

Impressed with the talent here, he has reportedly come to hire these players from Shahbad.

Players will be signed for five months and the organisers have also offered to bear the expenses of guardians or caretakers who wish to go along with the selected players.

Baldev has trained several players of this city who have played in international and national hockey tournaments.

As many as seven girls from this town were part of the 18-member Indian squad for the World Cup held last year in Madrid.

“At this juncture when the performance of men’s hockey is in doldrums, Indian women hockey players have brought laurels to the country,” he said.

He said the final decision will be taken in the next two days.

“Playing for professional foreign clubs will definitely boost the morale of the players. Besides exposure at the international level these players will also be financially benefited,” said the coach.

New Delhi, April 24
A week of inactivity after many weekends of below-par golf saw Jeev Milkha Singh dropping out of top 50 in the latest official world golf rankings.

The ace Indian, who's away from the greens after his disappointing show at the Verizon Heritage Classic, slipped a rung to 51st with 2.26 average points.

Jeev, who became the first Indian play at the Augusta Masters earlier this month, has failed to reproduce the same form which earned him four titles across three tours last year.

Meanwhile, another Indian in the top 100, Jyoti Randhawa was static at 88th spot although he registered a drop of two percentage points (.02) and now has 1.52 average points.

Meanwhile, Orlando-based Arjun Atwal, who's enduring a horrid time on and off the greens, was further down at 363rd spot with 0.44 average points. with 0.46 average points.

Atop the chart, American Tiger Woods (20.16) held the numero uno position for 440th week extending his lead over compatriot and number two Jim Furyk to 12.11 average points.

Australian Adam Scott was third with 7.23 points followed by Phil Mickelson (7.22). South African Ernie Els completed the top five with 7.03 average points. —UNI

New Delhi, April 24
National Football League champions Mahindra United went down 1-2 to Hong Kong’s Happy Valley in their AFC Cup match today.

The Indian outfit was hit hard by two strikes in quick succession from Chun Bong Law in the 21st and 23rd minutes. Mahindra’s Ghanaian star Yusif Yakubu pulled one back in the 68th minute, but it was not enough to avoid their first defeat in the competition after three straight victories.

Kolkata: A spectacular volley from Jose Ramirez Barreto gave Mohun Bagan a solitary goal win over Thailand’s Osotpa M-150 FC in an AFC Cup group-F tie. The Brazilian’s strike, coming a minute into the second session, took Bagan to the top of the group with eight points from four games. — PTI

Malmo (Sweden), April 24
World's youngest Grandmaster Parimarjan Negi came a cropper against GM Emanuel Berg of Sweden and went down in 43 moves to register his third loss in six rounds of Sigeman and Co Chess tournament here.

Negi, who had showed flashes of brilliance in his fifth round match where he shocked defending champion Jan Timman, showed a pale shadow of himself against the Swede.

Playing with black pieces, he messed it up in the middlegame ceding advantage to the local favourite, who had started with sacrificing a piece for three pawns in a sharp Najdorf variation.

The 14-year-old Indian tried desperately to salvage the situation but ultimately surrendered after the 43rd move.

Joint fifth on the table, Negi now has 2.5 in six games with three losses, two wins and a draw. He takes on another Swede GM Tiger Hillarp Persson in the next round. — UNI