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We were outplayed: Dravid |
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HCA rebels blame Shivlal
Cambodia rally to hold Bangladesh
Youth World V’ball
Sania storms into 2nd round
India A win series
6 Indian in last 8
Virbhadra to honour Kapil
Dist b’minton tourney concludes
GND varsity meet from Sept 10
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Meek surrender by India
Rose Bowl, August 22 One wonders, though, what possessed the Indians to forsake the successful formula of playing five specialist bowlers against South Africa only a month and a half ago. It was a nervous move to play an extra batsman, while the exclusion of Ramesh Powar was, arguably, a tactical error. On a flat pitch and against a flatter attack, the Englishmen compiled an imposing 288 for two. India - shot out for 184 - were never in the reckoning. In a partnership of 178 in 31 overs, Alastair Cook and Ian Bell - with maiden ODI hundreds - made hay even without any sunshine, following which, Kevin Pietersen, the real danger man, rattled up 33 off 25 balls. The tourists, then, collapsed to 34 for four. Rahul Dravid and Mahendra Dhoni realised 68 runs for the fifth wicket. But as night fell and the dew descended, the ball began to skid and restrict strokeplay. Dhoni uncharacteristically consumed 60 balls for his 19, before gloving a hook to wicket-keeper Matt Prior. And when Dravid departed, caught behind attempting to paddle Dimitri Mascarenhas, a gentle medium pacer, only Dinesh Karthick, with an unbeaten 44, could resist. Prior, pilloried for his performance in the Tests, had removed the Indian skipper with a brilliant catch down the leg side - his third in the match. Dravid produced a cultured 46 off 72 balls, which included a thundering six to the sightscreen below the white canopied pavilion at the expense of Monty Panesar, who had earlier, with an accurate throw from midoff, run out an absent-minded Sourav Ganguly, which triggered the slide. “Tea” between innings, which translates to “dinner” among the English, was a jovial affair for the 20,000 odd who had saturated the stands at this futuristic yet picturesque venue amidst wooded hills and dales on the outskirts of the port city of Southampton on the English Channel. Indeed, the mood turned merrier as Indian wickets tumbled and a bevy of topless women cavorted around the western galleries in celebration. As someone joked, it was a clever English ploy, for Sachin Tendulkar, embarrassed by this sight, soon made his exit - drilling the ball straight into the hands of midwicket. Gautam Gambhir drove at a ball without using his feet, while Yuvraj Singh, uncomfortable during his brief stay, was brilliantly caught with his wrong hand by Cook in the slips. James Anderson, seaming the ball skilfully, grabbed three wickets off 14 balls. It was overcast from the outset, with floodlights in operation from the very first ball. The cloud cover, though, failed to instigate much aerial movement, which Dravid doubtless anticipated when choosing to field. It was perhaps too cold for the ball to swing. The left-hander/right-hander combination of Cook and Bell unsettled the Indian bowlers’ line. The latter cut and drove with a technical correctness, which is his hallmark. His 118-ball essay was highlighted by 10 fours and a belter of a six to the bottom of the media centre at the expense of 18-year-old wrist spinner Piyush Chawla, who failed to grab a golden opportunity. Ajit Agarkar 65 runs off 10 overs, though, was the most disappointing. Ominously for India, but upliftingly for England, Andrew Flintoff conceded only 12 runs in seven overs for the wicket of Dhoni in his first spell in international cricket after ankle surgery. Scoreboard England (for 2 wickets in 50 overs): 288 India: Ganguly run out 2 Tendulkar c Bopara b Anderson 17 Gambhir c Prior b Anderson 3 Dravid c Prior b Mascarenhas 46 Yuvraj Singh c Cook b Anderson 0 Dhoni c Prior b Flintoff 19 Kaarthick not out 44 Agarkar run out 11 Chawla run out 2 Zaheer b Anderson 20 RP Singh b Panesar 0 Extras
(lb10, w5, nb5) 20 Total (all out, 50 overs) 184 Fall of
wickets: 1-15, 2-19, 3-34, 4-34, 5-102, 6-105, 7-129, 8-145, 9-183. Bowling: Stuar Broad 8-1-27-0, James Anderson 10-2-23-4, Andrew Flintoff 7-0-12-1, Dmitri Mascarenhas 10-1-28-1, Monty Panesar 10-0-47-1, Paul Collingwood 5-0-37-0. Result: England won by 104 runs.
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We were outplayed: Dravid
Southampton, August 22 "No excuses. We were outplayed today," Dravid said after the match. "We didn't come to the party at all - we were outbatted, outbowled and outfielded and we've got to play a lot better if we want to stay in the series," he said. It was clearly not the best way to kick off the seven-match ODI series and while shoddy batting, flat bowling and sloppy fielding did hurt, three reckless run-outs might have been the last straw for the side. "We need to go on improving. Fielding isn't our strong area and we're not going to develop strong arms and athletic legs overnight. But we need to constantly work on it and make small improvements. "What we must do is not make stupid mistakes while running between the wickets. That's something we can definitely avoid," said an upset Dravid. He also defended his decision to bowl first, only to see England batsmen rack up 288 for 2. "In hindsight, I might do something different, but it was overcast, there had been a lot of rain in the air and the wicket looked a bit tacky," said Dravid. "But it didn't do as much as we expected, we couldn't get wickets early on and Cook and Bell batted beautifully. The way they played was really special and took the game away from us. And losing four wickets early always puts you under pressure."
— PTI
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Kallis says no
Rundel's revelations came hot on the heels of news of two former South African Test and one-day players, all-rounder Lance Klusener, and left-arm spinner Nicky Boje, association with the multi-million dollar league. However, Cricket South Africa (CSA) has already issued a warning to its players that whosoever joins the ICL, might have to do away with the risk of being banned forever as the unofficial league had neither received 'go ahead' from the BCCI nor the games international governing body, ICC. The South African media quoted Rundle as saying that the ICL organisers had approached Kallis with a view to recruit him, but the 31-year-old all-rounder, who was neglected by the national selectors for next month's Twenty20 World Cup to be held in home turf, had rejected their offer. However, he did not completely rule out the possibility of Kallis joining the breakaway league. ''If we cannot get any satisfaction in the meeting, then we will start considering other avenues,'' Rundle said. PCB's attitude biased: Farhat
Lahore: Pakistan Test discard Imran Farhat has said the biased attitude of PCB and the national selectors has compelled him to join the rebel Indian league. ''Despite being the top scorer at the Patron's Trophy One-day Cup and in the Pentangular Cup, the selectors have been considering me as a Test player.— UNI
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Harris joins ICL; Cairns, Astle to follow
Christchurch, August 22 According to NZTV, Harris, the Kiwi one day specialist, has turned down a new provincial contract from Canterbury, the side he led last season, to become the first New Zealander to jump to the ICL bandwagon. A veteran of 23 Tests and 250 ODIs, Harris has been an important member of the New Zealand ODI team because of his consistency with the bat, useful medium pace and brilliant fielding. He has also shone in the State Twenty20 competition, scoring the lone century. His former teammates Astle and Cairns have already quit first class cricket but could be back in action soon at the ICL. Astle played 81 Tests and 223 ODIs and earned his stripes as a reliable opener before stunning his fans by quitting international cricket barely six weeks before the Word Cup. Cairns played 62 Tests and 215 ODIs and before he hung up his cricket boots last year, he had established his credentials as a premier all-rounder of his era.
— PTI |
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HCA rebels blame Shivlal
Hyderabad, August 22 "We thought we were giving our heart and soul for the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA). But, we were, in fact, playing in the interest of one person and everybody knows who he is," Kaushik Reddy, said on behalf of the eight players, who joined the rebel league on Monday. Reddy cited several instances of them being sidelined to promote Arjun. "One of our highest run getters was not selected for Duleep Trophy, while a person who has not even scored 100 runs in the whole season got selected," he said, referring to Arjun. "In another instance, a batsman with a highest score of 35 got selected for the Challenger series, while a person averaging 44 in the Ranji team was dropped," he recalled. "Similarly, one of the Hyderabad players who was the second highest wicket-taker in the South Zone was not picked for the team while a person with just one wicket to his credit was picked up for the zonal team," Reddy alleged. Reddy narrated another unpleasant experience involving Rajesh Yadav, Shivlal's brother and a coach, who in a drunken state misbehaved him in Delhi and how another player Shiva Shankar was sidelined. "We were abused and harassed in spite of good performances," he claimed. Reddy said they were approached individually in Bangalore by the ICL and they decided to join the rebel league in Chennai. Former India under-19 captain Ambati Rayudu said the ICL would give him a chance to play with world class players. Reddy said they would attend a camp at Chennai from September 20 followed by a Twenty20 match.
— PTI
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Cambodia rally to hold Bangladesh
New Delhi, August 22 Till the fag-end Cambodian goal, Bangladesh, coached by former Indian national coach Syed Nayeemuddin, was riding high on a goal scored by central mid-fielder Md. Abul Hussain, who headed in off a flag kick floated from the right corner by Md. Alfaz Ahmed in the 31st minute of the first half. The corner kick materialised after Md. Zahid Hossain's long shot was tipped over, at the nick of time, by Cambodian custodian Oum Veasna. But despite the draw, Abdul Hussain still earned the man of the match award for this nice goal. In the rather insipid encounter, the ball mostly rolled around the midfield though Bangladesh definitely held territorial advantage with their hard-working forward Alfaz Ahmed sprinting through the right flank to take shots and threaten the Cambodian goal. Bangladesh came close to scoring their second goal 25 minutes into the second session when stopper back Md. Ariful Islam's drive from almost 35 yards out was palmed away by goalie Oum Veasna with nice anticipation. Cambodia, who hardly got a look-in at the Bangladesh goal, got one good chance and made full use of it to share honours. This was the first point for both the teams, having suffered two losses each. And the only interest in their fate is who would finish as the bottom team. Bangladesh lost to Syria 0-2 and India 0-1 while Cambodia, who had caved into India 0-6, put up a game fight against Kyrgyzstan before losing 3-4. In the most interesting encounter of the 13th edition of the Nehru Cup, hosts India will pit their wits against Syria tomorrow evening. India, whose FIFA ranking has now improved by ten points to be at the 151st position, will have a lot to prove when they take on Syria, who too have improved their ranking from the pre-tournament 113 to 112 now. The good news for India was that medio N.P.Pradeep has recovered from his shin injury he suffered against Cambodia in the opening match. But coach Bob Houghton was not reading much into tomorrow's match. He was naturally expecting the Indian team, led by Baichung Bhutia, to put up a stiff fight and get the better of Syria. But he also noted that it would not be the end of the road for the hosts, even if they lose to Syria tomorrow. Presently, India and Syria are the table leaders having two
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India stun Iran
New Delhi, August 22 India rallied to an impressive 18-25, 25-17, 25-21, 25-19 win against Iran and will be up against Brazil in the third and final group encounter that will decide the top-four. After losing the opening set, India raced to a 16-10 lead in the second set through Sukhdeep Singh and Balwinder Singh to make it 1-1. India maintained their form in the third set and improved their spiking and blocking, but Iran bounced back to lead 11-9. However, India recovered 14-13 and reached the second technical time out with an advantage of 16-14. Iran kept attacking, but the effort was not enough as India pocketed the third set as well before captain Mandeep Singh led from the front, top-scoring with 31 points, to guide his team to victory after a 97-minute contest. — PTI
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Sania storms into 2nd round
New Haven (Connecticut), August 22 Sania continued her superb run and outclassed the 33rd ranked Medina 6-3, 6-3 to set up a clash against eight seed Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine, who defeated Olga Govortsova of Belarus 6-3, 7-6 in the opening round. By virtue of her recent performances in the WTA circuit, Sania became the first Indian woman to enrol herself in the seeds list of any tennis major. The 28th ranked Indian is seeded 26th in the upcoming US Open.. The only other Indian to feature in the seeds list was legend Ramanathan Krishnan, who was seeded fifth at the 1959 US Open, and fourth at Wimbledon in 1962. Meanwhile, seeded third, Sania and her new partner Mara Santangelo of Italy will open their doubles campaign against the American duo of Corina Morariu and Meghann Shaughnessy.
— UNI
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New Delhi, August 22 After the bowlers had decimated the Lankan batting order for a meagre total of 165 in just 36.2 overs, the Indians lost the lone wicket of Praveen Kumar (26) before Pujara (68 not out) and skipper Kaif (59 not out) helped them romp home in the final. Kaif’s decision to insert the Lankans paid early dividends with Irfan Pathan (2/33) drawing first blood in the fifth over. Mahela Udawatte (35) and Gayan Wijekoon (38) did their best to stem the rot but Pathan and V Yo Mahesh (3/26) cut a swathe through the Lankan top order and then left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha (2/33) joined the party to drop early curtains on the Lankan innings. In reply, India A cruised to 52 in seven overs before Praveen fell. That brought in Kaif and the former Team India batsman along with Pujara showed scant respect for the Lankan attack, reaching 167 in just 25.5 overs. Pujara, who was adjudged player of the match, was unbeaten on 68 off 77 balls. — PTI
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6 Indian in last 8
Karachi, August 22 Completing the quarterfinal lineup were Thailand’s Nuttorn Tanchainant and Pakistan’s Nasir
Mustaq. The top two seed boys from India, Shiva Sangwan and Chandril
Sood, continued their winning run and moved into the quarterfinal without much
fuss. Sangwan got the better of compatriot Dody Barani 6-2, 6-2 while Chandril had to battle it out before ousting Pakistan’s Heera Ashiq 6-4, 6-3. In other matches, India’s Mandeep Yadav upset sixth seed Yasir Khan of Pakistan 6-4, 6-4 while eighth seed Sameer Paranjape went down 6-7, 3-6 to fellow countryman Sumeet
Shinde. Nasir Mushtaq powered his way into the last eight routing Ahmed Aslam 6-1, 6-2, while Nuttorn Tanchainant whipped lucky loser Abid Ali 6-4, 6-2. In the girl’s section, India’s unseeded Ratnika Batra outplayed third seed local challenger Sarah Mahboob 6-4, 6-2 on her way to the quarterfinals.
— UNI
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Virbhadra to honour Kapil
Shimla, August 22 President of the association Hardyal Bhardwaj said that the Kapil had accepted the invitation of the association to visit Shimla. The award would be presented to the legendary player by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh at function here. A Twenty20 match would also be organised between the Governor’s XI and the Chief Minister’s XI on the occasion. Subhash Ahluwalia, managing director of the state tourism development corporation, has been made patron of the association and Narvir Thakur vice-president. Bhardawaj urged the Chief Minister to set up a three member committee to monitor the progress of the international cricket stadium being constructed near Shimla.
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Dist b’minton tourney concludes
Dharamsala, August 22 In the final match of the under-13 category (singles), Satyam Sharma defeated Anmol Rana in straight sets by 21-12, 21-9 bagging the first position for the second conse In the under-13 (doubles) category, Shashank and Pankaj defeated Satyam Sharma and Abhishek in a close fight in the straight sets by 21-19, 22-20. In the under-16 (singles) category, Vivek Hans defeated Ashish in a thrilling match by 22-20, 21-18, while in the under-16 (doubles) category the pair of Vivek Hans and Ashish defeated Satyam Sharma and Abhishek by 21-10, 21-11 points. In the under-19 (singles) category Balwant trounced Jeet Thakur in straight sets by 21-15, 21-13, while in the under-19 (doubles) category Jeet Thakur and Balwant had to face a tough fight from the pair of Vilas and Suresh, but ultimately won the match with a comeback after losing the first set 19-21. In the second and third sets, they gained by 21-16, 21-11 points. In the Men’s (single) category, Dev Prakash beat Baljit by 21-11, 21-18 points, while in the Men’s doubles category the right and left hand combination of Sandip and Sammi crushed Balwant and Deepak by 21-15, 23-21, 21-14. In the master veterans 35-45 years (singles) category, Naresh Mankotia beat Sunil Kumar by 21-15, 21-18, while in the same category doubles Rajnish Gautam and S. P. Jaiswal’s pair defeated Sunil Kumar and Gulab Singh in a thrilling match by 21-19, 21-17 points. In the veterans above-45 years (singles) category R. S. Rana defeated K. C. Rathore by 17-24, 21-14, 19-21, while in the doubles category Rakesh and R. S. Rana’s pair defeated K. C. Rathore and Prabhat Chaudhary by 21-15, 20-22, 21-19.
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GND varsity meet from Sept 10
Amritsar, August 22 Stating this, Dr Kanwaljit Singh, director sports GNDU, said the teams from Doaba College, Jalandhar, Khalsa College, Amritsar, DAV College, Amritsar and Lyallpur Khalsa College, Jalandhar would participate in the water polo competition. He said the inter-college fencing (men and women) would be organised on September 13 and 14. And more than 7 teams from different colleges of the university would take part in this competition.
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Johannesburg, August 22