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Sachin, Sourav prop up India
Ishant to replace unfit Munaf
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Warhorses on song
Twenty20 WC team by August-end
India, Pakistan accept Charles’ ODI invitation
Pak outplay Lanka
Dempo crowned NFL champs
C’wealth Games
Sania-Vania in semis
Gurbaaz jumps to tied 5th
Sasikiran takes sole lead
Santosh Trophy
Joshna crashes out
Students get karate tips
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Sachin, Sourav prop up India
Chittagong, May 18 Coming together after the visitors had lost opener Dinesh Karthik (56) and skipper Rahul Dravid (61) within the space of 12 balls, the two senior cricketers were involved in an unfinished 163-run fourth-wicket stand as India reached 295 for 3 at stumps. Tendulkar and Ganguly had been excluded from the ODI team that played three matches against the hosts in the earlier part of the tour. A determined Tendulkar, his innings embellished with seven boundaries, was unconquered on 80, while Ganguly remained unbeaten on 82 when play ended at the Bir Sreshta stadium. Ganguly, who came up with some audacious strokes, hit ten boundaries and two sixes during his 132-ball knock, as the Indian batsmen had a field day on a docile track that offered very little to the bowlers. Earlier, Dravid and Karthik led the foundation of the Indian innings with a 124-run second wicket partnership that offset the loss of opener Wasim Jaffer off the first ball of the match. The endless speculation about India’s opening combination came to an end with Wasim Jaffer walking out into the middle alongside wicketkeeper batsman Dinesh Karthik, but the ploy did not work. The match started off sensationally, as pacer Mashrafe Bin Mortaza brought the sizeable crowd on to its feet by dislocating Jaffer’s off stump with the first delivery of the match. The ball pitched a shade outside the off stump and came sharply in, as Jaffer became the 25th player in Test cricket history to be dismissed of the opening delivery. Skipper Rahul Dravid, coming in at number three, took a few balls to settle down before starting to punish the bowlers, especially Mortaza. Dravid completed his half-century from 59 balls, with a single to long off, while Karthik pulled the next delivery of Enamul Huq to the fence to post the 100 of the innings and the partnership in 107 minutes. Karthik got to his half-century in the penultimate over before lunch with a single off spinner Mohammad Rafique. Karthik and Dravid got out within a space of 12 balls with India on 132 for 3. Mortaza, who proved expensive in his opening spell in the morning, got back his rhythm later on, to trouble Karthik, as the two constantly made eye contact, trying to play the mind game on each other. Karthik’s 143-minute vigil in the middle came to an end in the seventh over after lunch as he tried to pull a Mortaza delivery from outside the offstump and ballooned a catch to Mohammad Ashraful at mid-off. Karthik’s 102-ball innings was studded with nine hits to the fence and he put on 124 for the second wicket along with Dravid. Dravid, who managed only one boundary after lunch with a drive past mid-off, made the long walk back to the pavilion in the 34th over of the innings. Shahadat Hossain, who replaced Mortaza, got immediate success when he bowled one short outside the off-stump and the 34-year-old Indian batsman was beaten by the additional bounce as he went for a cut and wicket-keeper Khaled Mashud made no mistake in accepting the offering. Tendulkar and Ganguly then quietly went about the task of rebuilding the innings. Scoreboard
India (1st innings) Jaffer b Mortaza 0 Karthik c Ashraful b Mortaza 56 Dravid c Mashud b Shahadat 61 Tendulkar not out 80 Ganguly not out 82 Extras
(b-1, lb-5, w-1, nb-9) 16 Total (3 wkts, 77 overs) 295 Fall of wickets:
1-0, 2-124, 3-132. Bowling: Mortaza 18-5-64-2, Shahadat 9-1-33-1, Rafique 20-2-89-0, Enamul 13-0-57-0, Saqibul 13-2-29-0, Ashraful 1-0-5-0, Saleh 3-1-12-0.
— PTI
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Tendulkar is vice-captain
Sachin Tendulkar has been appointed vice-captain for the Test series against Bangladesh which commenced today.
Indian cricket team’s administartive manager Surinder Bhave said, “Sachin has been appointed vice-captain for the Test series.” India had appointed no vice-captain for the ODI series.
— UNI
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Ishant to replace unfit Munaf
Chittagong, May 18 Patel strained himself while bowling in the nets yesterday and had to sit out of the first Test against Bangladesh that began here today. Delhi medium-pacer Ishant Sharma, who has been on the fringes for quite sometime now, was named as Patel’s replacement, according to a release from the BCCI. Patel became the third member of the squad to return home due to an injury after S. Sreesanth and Manoj Tiwary. A left-calf injury put Sreesanth out of contention from the two Test matches and R. P. Singh, who was in the ODI team, was asked to stay back for the remaining part of the tour. Tiwary’s dream of earning his maiden India cap turned into a nightmare as he returned home even before the first match was played after injuring his shoulder during fielding practice.
— PTI
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Warhorses on song
See what “rest” can do. Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly were rested from the one-dayers against Bangladesh and were included only for the two Test-match series. Not that they were doing a whole lot of playing in the previous month of April after their return from the West Indies.
But resting from a game is different from resting at home. Whatever take one may have on that, there is no room for complaint after the way the duo batted at Chittagong and thwarted Bangladesh’s ambitions on the first day. Their partnership of 163 on a pitch that afforded a bit of turn was a superb example of how to build a partnership brick by brick. Whenever the bad ball came along, it was despatched to the boundary with very little fuss, and the only discordant note in the partnership was that they were never sure of each other’s calling for a run. Ganguly is notorious for settling for two when there’s a possibility of a third run, and while it is okay if those runs are off his own bat, it can be a bit annoying if it is off his partner’s bat. The little champion made his displeasure clear more than once, but if there is one characteristic that is entirely Ganguly’s, it is unflappability. So all that Tendulkar got in return was a quizzical look from the southpaw, which actually defused the situation. In any case, both are old pros and hardly likely to lose concentration over a missed run and especially on a shirtfront wicket like this one. They would be looking for a double century each in the morning, and make sure that they don’t have to bat again in this game. That would of course mean a lost opportunity for Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Karthik and Rahul Dravid. Jaffer got a “jaffa” of a ball to be out and Karthik got a tad overambitious and tried to pull a shortish ball without moving his feet and holed out to mid-off. Dravid, who was looking to fill his boots with runs and runs, was surprised by the extra bounce that Shahadat got, and must be kicking himself on missing out on a century. If anything, it is harder to get a century against lesser attacks than against better attacks, as the intensity is not the same. While a batsman is physically prepared, it is in the mental aspect that he is not there against lesser attacks, simply because he doesn’t see a challenge in it, but then, as Dravid found out, all a batsman needs to do is make one error and he would be back in the pavilion. So, don’t mock the hundreds that Tendulkar and Ganguly get, because it is a credit to their mental attitude more than their technical skills.
— PMG
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Twenty20 WC team by August-end
Ahmedabad, May 18 “The Indian team for the Twenty20 World Cup will be picked towards the end of the England tour,” he told reporters at the Sardar Patel stadium at Motera. The Twenty20 World Cup starts on September 11 and will feature 10 full-member countries and two associate nations. “Some players (who will be touring Ireland and England from June 23-Sept 8) may have to fly directly to South Africa,” he added. The former India left-arm spinner, however, clarified that national selectors were yet to get together and discuss about the Twenty20 World Cup selection. Raju said India had played just one Twenty20 international match till date and a “preparatory” tournament on the lines of Challenger Trophy could also be held before the World Cup. He said such a tournament could help the players get better acquainted with the shortest form of the game. On being asked selection process for picking the World Cup squad, Raju said they would be banking on the performance of the players in the All India inter-state twenty20 tournament. “Because we had our very first season of twenty20 (last month), we have to go by the performances of the inter-state Twenty20 tournament,” he said. Raju, representing South Zone in the selection committee, was at the Sardar Patel stadium to review an ongoing West Zone Under-19 camp. When asked to rate India’s chances in the tournament, the national selector declined to be drawn into making any outright judgement. “They will be participating in such a big tournament for the first time. We have just played one twenty20 in South Africa. Let’s see how it turns out,” he said. The former left-arm spinner felt that teams having good fielders could benefit in the twenty20 World Cup. “Fielding can win matches in twenty20,” said Raju, who has represented India in 53 ODIs and 28 Tests. “One might be a good batsmen or a bowler but then fielding is going to be the key in twenty20,” he said. Raju felt twenty20 cricket was more suited to countries like England where domestic leagues in this form of the game existed. “It is more of an entertainment type and not a place where you can test your skills,” he said. He felt that this format of the game should be given more time in India. “We need at least two or three seasons before people really understand Twenty20 cricket,” Raju remarked.
— PTI
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India, Pakistan accept Charles’ ODI invitation
London, May 18 The match, named the Friendship Cup, aims to raise more than $5 million for charities in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Britain. Charles, the heir to the throne, came up with the idea of the match. The match to be held at the Citylets Titwood in Glasgow, will organised by the British Asian Trust, a new subsidiary of the Prince’s Charities Foundation.
— UNI
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Pak outplay Lanka
Abu Dhabi, May 18 Afridi and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal (51 not out off 51 balls) put on 102 runs in 10.3 overs for the sixth wicket as Pakistan overhauled Lanka’s total of 235 for 9 with eight overs to spare. Afridi’s blazing knock included eight fours and four sixes. Earlier, Farveez Maharoof’s career-best 69 not out led Sri Lanka to a respectable total. Maharoof’s 54-ball knock contained nine hits to the fence and one six. Chamara Silva chipped in with 47. Scoreboard
Sri Lanka Tharanga run out 17 Jayasuriya lbw Asif 1 Kapugedera b Gul 28 Jayawardene c Akmal b Gul 18 Silva run out 47 Dilshan c Gul b Razzaq 14 Jayawardene run out 20 Maharoof not out 69 Bandara b Gul 6 Malinga b Sami 3 Amerasinghe not out 1 Extras (b-1, lb-3, w-3, nb-4) 11 Total (9 wkts, 50 overs) 235 Fall of
wickets: 1-4, 2-34, 3-61, 4-72, 5-103, 6-141, 7-177, 8-203, 9-215. Bowling: Asif 10-1-26-1, Sami 10-0-49-1, Gul 10-0-61-3, Razzaq 10-0-52-1, Afridi 10-0-43-0. Pakistan Butt run out 34 Nazir run out 38 Hameed lbw Bandara 10 Yousuf b Maharoof 12 Malik run out 11 Akmal not out 51 Afridi not out 73 Extras (lb-1, w-4, nb-5) 10 Total (5 wkts, 42 overs) 239 Fall of
wickets: 1-53, 2-84, 3-88, 4-105, 5-137. Bowling: Maharoof 8-1-47-1, Malinga 9-0-53-0, Amerasinghe 7-2-31-0, Dilshan 3-0-9-0, Bandara 10-1-69-1, Jayasuriya 5-0-29-0.
— Agencies
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London, May 18 Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood, too, cracked tons as England reached 553 for 5 in 142 overs at close of play. Prior, 25, square-cut Chris Gayle for four to reach 103 from 105 balls with 16 boundaries. It was the first time that four England batsman scored a century in an innings since 1938 after Alastair Cook was dismissed for 105 early in the day Earlier, Paul Collingwood profited from two dropped catches to make 111 from 208 balls before he was bowled by Dwayne Bravo. He added 144 for the fifth wicket with Ian Bell. Cook was the only other wicket to fall in the entire day. Although the West Indies’ pace quartet bowled with more discipline and control today, they were badly let down by their fielders before lunch. Collingwood was dropped on 31 and 36 and in the meantime survived an lbw appeal which television replays suggested would have hit the off-stump. Scoreboard England (1st innings) Strauss c Smith b Powell 33 Cook c Bravo b Taylor 105 Shah c Smith b Powell 6 Pietersen c Smith b Collymore 26 Collingwood b Bravo 111 Bell not out 109 Prior not out 126 Extras
(b-8, lb-17, w-8, nb-4) 37 Total (5 wickets, 142 overs) 553 Fall of wickets:
1-88, 2-103, 3-162, 4-219, 5-363. Bowling: Powell 37-9-113-2, Taylor 24-4-110-1, Collymore 32-5-110-1, Bravo 32-8-106-1, Gayle 10-0-48-0, Morton 1-0-4-0, Sarwan 6-0-33-0.
— Agencies
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Dempo crowned NFL champs Margao, May 18 Dempo scored the all-important goal in the 63rd minute through Renty Martin. Renty, after collecting a pass from Jerry Zirsga, dodged past a couple of rival defenders, deceived goalkeeper Shilton, and slotted in to make it 1-0. Dempo finished with 11 wins, three draws and four defeats to top the table with 36 points. Dempo enjoyed an edge in the first half and could have won by a much bigger margin had they utilised a couple of gilt-edged opportunities. In the 38th minute, a Renty Martin header missed the mark narrowly off a flag kick from Clifford Miranda. Three minutes later, Roberto Silva’s free kick was well saved by Bagan goalkeeper. Bagan key forwards Bhaichung Bhutia and Jose Baretto were tightly marked by Dempo’s defenders Sameer Naik and John Dias and were not allowed to settle down during the major part of the play.
— UNI
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C’wealth Games
Chandigarh, May 18 The petitioner, H.C. Arora, submitted before the Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Vijender Jain and Justice Mahesh Grover, that kabaddi was a popular game of Punjab and was played all over
the country. He averred that kabaddi was played as a demonstration game in the Beijing Asian Games in 1982. It became popular and was included as a regular sport in Asian Games since 1990. India has consistently won gold medal in every edition of the games since then. Countries like India, China, Japan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh had been participating in this sport, the petitioner emphasised. Referring to the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the petitioner submitted that there were two lists, one related to core sports and other to approved sports. India’s sports minister had stated in the Lok Sabha on March 14 that kabaddi and kho kho could not be included in the approved list of sports for 2010 games . The petitioner alleged that the Centre did not make any serious efforts to include kabaddi and kho kho in the approved list for the Commonwealth Games. It was further stated that host country had the discretion to include one or two sports of its own as demonstration games so as to popularise and promote these games. The petitioner stressed that a distinct advantage of including kabaddi as a demonstration game would be that it would help weaning away rural youth from drugs.
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Sania-Vania in semis
New Delhi, May 18 Sania and Vania beat their rivals 3-6, 6-2, 10-5 in the thrilling encounter and will next take on the French-Venezuelan pair of Camille Pin and Milagros Sequera for a place in the finals of the $145,000 Tier IV event. The top seeds, who were expected to pull off an easy win against their unseeded rivals, were in for a shock as Nuria and Arantxa outplayed them in the opening set to take the initial advantage. However, the Indo-US pair came back strongly to clinch the second set and take the match into a decider, which turned out to be an engrossing affair. Both pairs matched each other shot for shot as the third set went into a tie-breaker, where Sania and Vania held their nerves to come out on top. In the first round, Sania and Vania had come back from being 4-7 in the super tie-breaker to win 6-3, 5-7, 10-8 against Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia and Olga Savchuk of Ukraine.
— PTI, UNI
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Gurbaaz jumps to tied 5th
Macau, May 18 A 10th-tee starter, Mann fired in four birdies on either side of the turn to aggregate six-under 136 and jump whopping 98 places up the leaderboard. In fact, the 25-year-old Indian missed a putt from six feet on his last hole to tie the course record of 62 held by compatriot Amandeep Johl. Overnight tied second Gaurav Ghei played a one-under 70 round, mixing three birdies and two bogies, to slip to the sole fourth spot. Rahil Gangjee, tied 13th, would be among 33 golfers to complete the round tomorrow after storm halted the day’s play. Meanwhile, Arjun Singh (73) and Digvijay Singh (74) had a bad day as they slipped to tied 33rd and tied 48th spot from yesterday’s tied 13th position. Gaganjeet Bhullar, also tied 48th, carded and even-par round to stay afloat. Other Indians in the fray, Harmeet Kahlon, Sujjan Singh, Uttam Mundy, Firoz Ali, Amritinder Singh and SSP Chowrasia were all set to miss the cut after another disappointing day. Jeev makes patchy start
Adare Manor: Jeev Milkha Singh had an eagle but he also missed a lot of putts and could manage only a two-over 74, which was the best among the Indian trio at the Irish Open. Jeev, ranked 54th in the world, shot a two-over 74 and was tied 42nd, while Jyoti Randhawa carded a 76 and was tied 85th. Shiv Kapur, with a five-over 77, was 99th. England’s Simon Dyson shot a four-under 68 to be the joint leader.
— UNI, PTI
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Champion boxer gets two-year ban
Aizawl, May 18 The other dope offenders, who will be punished by the Indian Olympic Association under WADA rules, include male boxer Tarundeep Rai, two weightlifters, two athletes, a woman wrestler, one kabaddi player and a cyclist. “WADA has clear rules of two-year ban for first-time offenders and life ban for those caught for the second time,’’ IOA general secretary Randhir Singh said. Jenny had reportedly used larsic drugs before participating at the games and she has returned the gold medal she won at the games.
— UNI
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Sasikiran takes sole lead
Sofia, May 18 As a result of this stupendous triumph Sasikiran, who is the lowest ranked player in the six-players double round robin tournament, emerged as sole leader on 4.5 points out of a possible seven and with only three rounds to come, is favoured to win his first super tournament. Mamedyarov, defending champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria and English Michael Adams are joint second with 3.5 points each.
— PTI
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Santosh Trophy
Srinagar, May 18 The trophy, being held here for the first time since 1978, will be played at three grounds in Srinagar and Jammu, Babu Singh told reporters here today after receiving green signal from two observers of All-India Football Federation (AIFF) Sabrata Dutta and Nasir Ali. The two observers, who were also present at the press conference, inspected a number of playgrounds in Srinagar and Jammu during their three-day stay. However, the observers have directed the Jammu and Kashmir Football Association to upgrade the facilities at various venues. The observers have now selected the Bakshi Stadium and the polo ground in Srinagar and Government Science College in Jammu for the matches. However, they have also selected TRC ground, Amar Singh College, SP College and hockey ground in Srinagar and the parade ground in Jammu for practice. Srinagar had hosted the 35th Santosh Trophy in 1978 when Goa lifted the trophy beating Bengal 2-0. The Bakshi Stadium had also hosted the Federation Cup in 1984.
— UNI
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Joshna crashes out
New Delhi, May 18 The Indian was hardly a match for her top-rated rival and was outplayed in 25 minutes. Joshna had been in sensational touch during her second-round win over Canadian Sarah Parsons.
— PTI
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Students get karate tips Ambala, May 18 Players were imparted training by India technical director Shihan M. Kanah Raj. Around 70 karatekas from 10 schools participated in the camp. Haryana chief instructor Hemant Sharma said Kanah Raj focussed on the technical aspect of the sport. He also taught them about “katha” and “kumite”. After the camp, a group of select players left for Mussoorie where Shito-Ryu national tournament begins tomorrow. The players are: Utkarsh Das, Ashwin Tiwari, Adurika Tiwari, Shalini Singh, Divya Tyagi, Shifali Maheshwari, Karan Sharma, Abhinav Pundir, Ketan Malhotra, Pooja Saxena, Sulekha, Jatinder Singh, Harshpreet, Sahil Salaria, Jagdeep Singh, Aman Rathala, Shakti Singh, Bharat Kumar Yadav, Gursimran Singh, Varun Sharma and Gurmail Singh.
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