The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	‘It can hit England tour’ Wellington, February 22 New Zealand could begin their tour of England in April without three leading players, who will be competing in the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL), New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has admitted. Vettori, who has signed with the Delhi side in the eight-team Twenty20 competition, said he was in discussions with New Zealand Cricket (NZC) about arriving in England 10 days before the start of the first Test on May 15 to allow him to play six IPL matches. ''We're working through it at the moment,'' Vettori told reporters today of his discussions with NZC. ''I hope I'm available for a number of (IPL) games for obvious reasons but we have to sit back and wait.'' Vettori ($ 625,000) and fellow New Zealand Test players Jacob Oram ($ 675,000) and Brendon McCullum ($ 700,000) were signed in the IPL player auction on Wednesday. While their earnings are guaranteed for the next three years, their salaries from this year's tournament could be curtailed by the England tour as they are paid only for each IPL match they play. Scheduled to play three Tests and five one-dayers, New Zealand open their tour against the MCC at Arundel on April 27, just nine days after the IPL begins, though Vettori said he could possibly play six Twenty20 games and arrive in England by May 5. ''If it is May 5 then we've got 10 days before the first Test starts, so it's still an extended period of time, longer than you'd have for any other tour,'' he said. Vettori added the IPL had the potential to change the nature of international cricket tours. ''Guys are probably going to be on tour for shorter periods of time and there are some important commitments to the IPL. We're talking about people's financial futures as well. ''I can understand the perception of the senior guys not being there but I suppose you can also look at it the other way - it's a chance for a couple of guys to stake a Test claim. ''I suppose the best of both worlds is what we're asking for.'' NZC chief executive Justin Vaughan, however, suggested to the New Zealand Press Association that players would not be allowed to arrive late in England. ''The players realise where their priorities lie,'' he said. ''It might hurt them in the pocket for the first year but the following two years are clear for them.'' — Reuters
	Stop this gambling: Thackeray Mumbai, February 22 Dubbing the auctioning of cricketers by the BCCI-promoted Indian Premier League as "a gambling game of industrialists" Shiv Sena Chief Bal Thackeray today asked the Board President Sharad Pawar to stop it. In an open letter to Pawar, Thackrey said such open display of wealth does not augur well for the Indian cricket. "Oh Pawar, what is happening in the realm of cricket?", said the Sena chief, who is the newspaper's editor. "These industrialists are throwing money in your cricket field as a result of which cricket is getting corrupt. "Cricketers are being purchased as a result this their concentration will not be in the game and the sport will decline in this country," he warned. "If this is how industrialists wield their money then a day will come when there will be no need of government because it will be the industrialists who will call the shots and run the country," Thackeray said. "Stop this gambling of industrialists and save cricket. You (Pawar) have the guts to do it, don't you?", the letter added. — PTI
	Pravin to play for Delhi Daredevils Kanpur, February 22 Rookie Uttar Pradesh all rounder Pravin Kumar will be a part of the Delhi franchise of the Indian Premier League, for which players were recently auctioned in Mumbai. Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, R P Singh and Piyush Chawla are the other players from the state who will be seen in action under various club banners in the eight-team Twenty20 competition from April 18 to June 1. "Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, R P Singh and Piyush Chawla of Uttar Pradesh have already been purchased by various IPL franchises. Now Pravin Kumar will be playing for the Delhi team," said Rajiv Shukla, the BCCI Vice-President and Secretary of the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association. The price-money for which Kumar will offer his services to the GMR-group owned team was not known but Shukla said many more upcoming players, including Tanmay Srivastava and Sudip Tyagi, from the state would also be involved in the tournament. "The IPL would vastly benefit the Indian cricket as it has made it compulsory to play four Under-22 cricketers to provide opportunities to local talent," he said. The Virender Sehwag-led Delhi Daredevils franchise also includes the likes of Glenn McGrath, Daniel Vettori and Shoaib Malik. — PTI
	IPL to compensate ‘unwanted’ Yousuf Lahore, February 22 Despite failing to make it to any franchise team of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Mohammad Yousuf is all set to make a killing. “Though no one came forward to bid for Yousuf, like many other international cricketers, the IPL has fixed $350,000 as the starting bid for him, which he will get from the authorities,” Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) media director Ahsan Hameed Malik was quoted as saying by Dawn. There were no bids for the batsman in the players’ auction, because of a dispute between the Indian Cricket League (ICL) and the IPL. The 33-year-old had initially signed up for the ICL but was persuaded by the PCB to revoke the contract and sign a deal with the IPL instead. The ICL is now fighting a legal battle to prevent Yousuf from playing in the IPL. Seven other Pakistan cricketers who had signed up for the IPL - Shoaib Akhtar, Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul and Kamran Akmal - were picked up by various franchises during the auction on February 20. — UNI
	Lanka lose rain-hit game Melbourne, February 22 Sri Lanka's survival in the cricket tri-series hung by a slender thread after they lost to world champions Australia by 24 runs in a rain-curtailed encounter here today. Chasing Australia's modest score of 184 for seven, the islanders were 77 for four in 29.3 overs when rain forced a premature end to the proceedings with Sri Lanka well behind under the Duckworth-Lewis method. The two on-field umpires, Simon Taufel and Rudi Koertzen, waited for the rain to stop till the cut-off of 10.20 pm local time before calling off play. Since a minimum of 20 overs are required to constitute a game, Australia were declared winners and also got a bonus point. The result of the rain-affected game dealt a huge blow to Sri Lanka's quest for a berth in the best-of-three finals as they now need to win their remaining two matches to have a chance. They would also need India to lose to Australia in Sydney on Sunday. With this victory, Australia confirmed their place in the finals and maintained their position atop the points table with 22 points from six games. India are second with 12 points from the same number of matches while Sri Lanka are at the bottom with six points from as many matches. Sri Lanka did well to restrict the powerful Australian line-up to a moderate total but their batsmen once again let them down. Veteran Sanath Jayasuriya continued his poor run and was out first ball edging Stuart Clark to Ricky Ponting at second slip with the team yet to score a run. It became three for two when Dilruwan Perera, included in place of Chamara Kapugadera, was adjudged in front off Clark for a single. The trusted pair of Kumar Sangakkara and skipper Mahela Jayawardene tried to repair the damage patiently but the captain threw his wicket away when he played a lazy waft outside off-stump against nathan Bracken to be caught behind. — PTI Scoreboard Australia: Gilchrist b Vaas 6 Hayden c Silva b Maharoof 23 Ponting run out 11 M Clarke c and b Muralitharan 50 Symonds c Sangakkara b Maharoof 4 Hussey not out 64 Hopes st Sangakkara b Muralitharan 11 Hogg c Dilshan b Malinga 4 Johnson not out 6 Extras (b-2, w-3): 5 Total (7 wkts in 50 overs): 184 Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-39, 3-44, 4-54, 5-144, 6-166, 7-173 Bowling: Vaas 10-1-34-1, Malinga 10-1-44-1, Maharoof 10-1-20-2, Muralitharan 10-0-37-2, Amerasinghe 10-0-47-0. Sri Lanka: Perera lbw b Clark 1 Jayasuriya c Ponting b Clark 0 Sangakkara c Symonds b Hopes 22 Jayawardene c Gilchrist b Bracken 27 Silva not out 16 Dilshan not out 9 Extras (lb-1,w-1): 2 Total (4 wickets in 29.3 overs): 77 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-3, 3-42, 4-64. Bowling: Nathan Bracken 6-1-13-1, Stuart Clark 5-1-8-2, Mitchell Johnson 7-1-17-0, James Hopes 7-2-23-1, Brad Hogg 4.3-1-15-0. — AP
	North Zone retain Duleep Trophy Mumbai, February 22 Holders North Zone needed just one session on the fourth day of the five-day Duleep Trophy final to beat West Zone by six wickets and retain the inter-zonal championship. North, set a target of 166 for victory by West, started the day at 74 for three. They lost only one more wicket before coasting home on the strength of an unbeaten knock of 94 by opener Shikhar Dhawan. Dhawan, overnight 44 not out, did all the scoring in the first hour as his partner Yashpal Singh spent an unproductive hour at the crease at the Wankhede Stadium without adding any run before getting out to the 42nd ball he faced today. Dhawan, who struck 13 fours and a six in his 274-minute stay in which he faced 160 balls, and Rajat Bhatia (33 not out in 68 balls with five fours) put on 53 runs for the unbroken fifth wicket to see North home to a record 17th title triumph just on the stroke of lunch. Ashraf Makda was the only successful bowler today when he had the strokeless and runless Yashpal caught by Ajinkya Rahane after which North, who last won back-to-back titles in 1999-2000 and 2000-01, surged ahead to a comfortable victory. North’s first-innings lead of 66 runs had put them in the driver’s seat and they maintained the momentum till the end. The champions received Rs 30 lakh, while the runners-up got Rs 15 lakh. Brief scores: West Zone: 274 and 231 North Zone: 340 and 166 for four (Shikhar Dhawan 94 not out, Rajat Bhatia 33 not out; Sidharth Trivedi 2-42, Ashraf Makda 2-59). — UNI
	U-19 World Cup Kohli slams ton as India rout WI Kuala Lumpur, February 22 Riding on skipper Virat Kohli's superb century India overpowered West Indies by 50 runs to set up a quarter-final clash with England in the U/19 Cricket World Cup here today. Apart from Kohli's 74-ball 100, Tanmay Srivastava chipped in with 51, Taruwar Kohli contributed 50 and Saurabh Tiwary hit useful 38 to enable India post a challenging total of 265 for 5 in 50 overs. In reply, the West Indies put in a spirited run chase, the Indian bowlers, Siddharth Kaul ( 3-37) and Ravinder Jadeja (2-28) strangled the middle-order and ultimately Larry Gomes' team fell short by 50 runs. Brief scores: India beat West Indies by 50 runs: India 265-5 in 50 overs (Virat Kohli 100, Tanmay Srivastava 51, Taruwar Kohli 50, Saurabh Tiwary 38; Dawnley Grant 2-56) West Indies 215 all out in 47.5 overs (Darren Bravo 43, Devon Thomas 32; Siddharth Kaul 3-37, Ravindra Jadeja 2-28) Pakistan beat Zimbabwe by 87 runs: Pakistan 174-7, 50 overs (Ali Asad 57; Kyle Jarvis 3-40, Prince Masvaure 2-53) Zimbabwe 86 all out, 29 overs (Muhammad Rameez 3-26, Ahmad Shahzad 2-9) Sri Lanka beat Australia by five wickets: Australia 173 all out, 49.4 overs (Steven Smith 36, Michael Hill 34; Navin Kavikara 3-20) Sri Lanka 175-5, 37.3 overs (Dilshan Munaweera 43, Kusal Perera 43, Ashan Subasinghe 43; Clive Rose 2-23) Bangladesh beat England by 13 runs: Bangladesh 149 all out, 42 overs (Sohrawardi Shuvo 56, Dollar Mahmud 36; James Harris 5-29) England 136 all out, 47.4 overs (Nasir Hossain 2-16, Mahmudul Hasan 2-20). — UNI
	Morkel shines for SA Dhaka, February 22 South Africa pacemam Morne Morkel claimed his maiden five-wicket haul in Test cricket to help the visitors dismiss Bangladesh for 192 on the opening day of the first Test here today. Fellow paceman Dale Steyn (3-27) and spinner Johan Botha (2-57) combined to take the other five wickets as Bangladesh were bundled out shortly after tea in less than 55 overs. In reply, South Africa were struggling at 76 for 4, with Ashwell Prince and Johan Botha at the crease when stumps were drawn. Shahadat Hossain and Mohammad Rafique took two wickets each. Earlier, Bangladesh were reduced to 85-5 by the lunch interval, but Aftab Ahmed and Saqibul Hasan steadied the innings with a 70-run partnership that advanced the score to 152 before a late collapse put the tourists in command of the first Test in the two-match series. Aftab was caught at mid-off by Makhaya Ntini off Botha after top-scoring for the hosts with 44 and Saqibul was the next to go for 30, caught by AB de Villiers at slip off Morkel. Morkel then trapped Mohammad Rafique lbw for a duck on the very next delivery and ensured he bagged a five-wicket haul in just his second Test when he bowled Mushfiqur Rahim for seven. Steyn bowled Mashrafe Mortaza for 29 to complete the innings. After winning the toss and opting to bat, Bangladesh’s hopes of making a good start were dashed almost immediately when Steyn caught and bowled promising opener Tamim Iqbal for a duck. — Reuters
	I-League Dempo look to bag title Kozhikode, February 22 Defending National Football League champions Dempo Sports Club will look for nothing less than a win to ensure themselves of the title when they take on home team Viva Kerala in the final round of the ONGC I-League here tomorrow. Locked with another Goan team, Churchill Brothers, at the top of the table with 33 points from 17 rounds, Dempo will have to await the result of the Churchill-Air India tie to be held at Margao at the same time in case they settle for a draw. Dempo, however, have a better goal difference at present of +19 compared to Churchill’s +15. Given Dempo’s consistent form and Viva’s poor show throughout the tournament, the former will look to thrash their opponents to emerge champions. Viva, already relegated to the second division, will try to give their best and upset Dempo to salvage some pride. Dempo, led by Ranty Martins, will be too keen to beat Viva by an big margin to continue to maintain a better goal difference, which will decide the title if Churchill also win. With Brazilian Roberto “Beto” Mendis Silva, Climax Lawrence, Mahesh Gawli, Chidi Edeh, Anthony Pereira, Nicolau Borges in their fold, Dempo are likely to make the fight a memorable one. — PTI
	ANOC award for Kalmadi Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 22 The Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) has conferred the ANOC Merit Award on Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Suresh Kalmadi, who is also the chairman of the Organising Committee for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, in recognition of his “valuable contribution to the Olympic Movement”. IOA director ASV Prasad said here today that the award would be presented to Kalmadi at the ANOC general assembly meeting to be held in Beijing from April 7 to 9. “This is indeed an honour and inspiration for the country’s sports fraternity,” he added.
	Jyoti slips to tied 4th Noida, February 22 Jyoti Randhawa tumbled off the pole position following a jittery start but still returned a level-par card to be tied fourth after the penultimate round of the SAIL Open here today. With the blustery conditions at the Jaypee Greens reminding Mark Brown of his hometown Wellington, the New Zealander looked at home as he fired a scintillating five-under 67 to grab the sole lead at 11-under 205. Brown’s impressive round was studded with six birdies, with the 17th hole bogey being the lone blot in an otherwise impeccable card. Breathing down his neck from just one shot behind was Australian Scott Hend (69) and Asian Tour rookie Rhys Davies (67). Further one shot behind was Randhawa, joined by compatriot Gaganjeet Bhullar, Malaysia’s Danny Chia and Australian Adam Groom, who all carded identical 69s in the $400,000 Asian Tour event. Randhawa had a shaky start as he double-bogeyed the third hole and was in fact three-over when he approached the eighth hole. The former Asia number one picked up a shot there and took the turn at two-over before embarking on a damage-control exercise on his back nine. Two more bogeys meant it was not a blemish-free affair but to his credit, Randhawa fired an eagle on the 12th and picked up two more shots to round off at level-par. — PTI
	Army XI win New Delhi, February 22 Playing an all-out attacking game, Army XI stunned star-studded Indian Oil 5-4, while Bharat Petroleum overpower Air India (North) 4-2 in the 4th Maharaja Ranjit Singh Hockey Tournament here today. In the biggest upset of the tournament so far, the armymen went on the offensive from the word go as they took the lead in the sixth minute through a fine goal by Anil Ekka. However, Indian Oil drew level through a penalty stroke as Deedar Singh (17th) fired home from the spot. The oilmen soon surged ahead as star striker Deepak Thakur (24th) slammed in a penalty corner. But, Sunil Ekka scored in the 33rd minute as the teams went into the half-time break with the scoreboard reading 2-2. In the second half, Indian Oil struck through Tyron Pereira (38th) and Deedar Singh (50th) to grab a 4-2 lead. But Army XI staged a brilliant comeback, scoring thrice in the last 18 minutes to emerge victorious. In the other match, Bharat Petroleum scored through Amar Aiyamma (8th) and Sabu Varkey (12th) to go 2-0 up before half-time. However, former India forward Dhanraj Pillay (41st) and Birender Lakra (42nd) struck in quick succession to help Air India (North) draw level. Bharat Petroleum regained the lead through Pundulik Bellary (59th), while Gurpreet Singh (70th) struck right at the death to secure a 4-2 victory. — UNI