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Pakistan Tour of Lanka Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara with the trophy, following his team’s victory in the three-match Test series against Pakistan, in Colombo on Friday. — AFP
Vaas walks out of Test arena
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Doctors skeptical about Baljit’s early recovery
Bhullar moves up, tied at 11th spot
Jaipur to host first Ind-Aus ODI
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Sangakkara bats out Pakistan
Colombo, July 24 The rock solid Sangakarra’s 19th Test century featured a fourth-wicket stand of 122 with Thilan Samaraweera and 114 for the unbroken fifth with Angelo Mathews. Sri Lanka clinched the series 2-0, their first at home against Pakistan after five unsuccessful attempts, and provided Sangakkara with a winning start as captain after he took over from Mahela Jayawardene in April. Sangakkara hung on for nearly seven hours on a placid pitch to frustrate Pakistan’s bid to record a face-saving win ahead of the five-match one-day series starting at Dambulla on July 30. No team has achieved this high a target in the fourth innings to win a Test match. The highest successful chase so far is 418-7 by the West Indies against Australia in Antigua in 2003. The two teams went into the last session of the match with Sri Lanka needing 154 runs from a possible 38 overs to record a record-breaking win and Pakistan requiring six wickets. The hosts gave an indication they would prefer to settle for a draw when they made just 76 runs from 26 overs in the two hours after lunch. The final session, watched by some 3,000 home fans, provided dull cricket from both sides as the batsmen plodded along and the bowlers set defensive fields to ensure the run-rate did not pick up. Play was finally called off when 15 overs remained with Sri Lanka needing a further 101 runs. It was the first time in the series that play went into the fifth day after the tourists lost the first Test in four days and the second in three. Sangakkara and Samaraweera, who resumed the day at 183-3, batted through the morning session to take Sri Lanka to 262 without further loss by lunch. The pair made a cautious start in the morning, scoring 50 runs in 21 overs before Pakistan captain Younus Khan took the second new ball as soon as it was due in the 81st over. Samaraweera welcomed the change by driving the first delivery from Umar Gul to the cover fence and executing another perfect off-drive from the last ball of the over. Sri Lanka suffered a setback soon after lunch when Samaraweera strained a hamstring while taking a single and called for a runner. The injury did not seem to bother him as he hit the first ball from pace bowler Mohammad Aamer for a boundary, but then was smashed on the helmet by a rising ball later in the same over. Samaraweera was dismissed in the following over when he failed to read a straight ball from off-spinner Saeed Ajmal and nicked an easy catch to wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal. — AFP Scoreboard Pakistan (1st innings) 299 Sri Lanka (1st innings) 233 Pakistan (2nd innings) 425-9 Sri Lanka (2nd innings) (overnight 183-3) Paranavitana c Alam b Malik 73 Warnapura c Malik b Kaneria 31 Sangakkara not out 130 Jayawardene c Akmal b Kaneria 2 Samaraweera c Akmal b Ajmal 73 Mathews not out 64 Extras (b-1, lb-7, nb-9, w-1) 18 Total (for 4 wkts in 134 overs) 391 Fall of wickets: 1-83, 2-139, 3-155, 4-277. Bowling: Gul 12-0-65-0, Aamer 21-5-46-0, Younus 8-0-25-0, Ajmal 43-9-95-1, Malik 14-1-38-1, Kaneria 36-3-114-2.
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Vaas walks out of Test arena
Colombo: Lanka’s most successful pacer Chaminda Vaas today left the Sinhalese Sports Ground never to return to Test cricket again. It was a befitting end to an illustrious career as Sri Lanka, their back against the wall, eked out a draw against the exasperating Pakistanis to win the three-match Test series 2-0.
Vaas did not have much success with the ball in his Test swansong, managing just the wicket of Khurram Manzoor in Pakistan’s first innings and going wicketless in their second essay. “It has been a long haul and I always had the backing of my friends and family,” an emotional Vaas said after the match. “It’s an emotional moment for me,” he added. His kids, wife and parents were present on the occasion as Vaas drew curtains on his Test career. After making his Test debut against Pakistan at Kandy in 1994, the Mattumagala-born pacer has played 111 Tests, claiming 355 wickets at 29.58 with 12 five-wicket hauls in it. He has also made 3089 Test runs at 24.32, including a century against Bangladesh. In the 322 ODIs he has played, Vaas has taken 400 wickets at 27.53, besides scoring 2025 runs. He has also played six Twenty20 Internationals. Murali back in ODI squad
Spinner Muttiah Muralitharan has been named in Sri Lanka’s one-day international squad for their five-match series against Pakistan starting next week after recovering from a knee injury. Muralitharan, 37, the highest wicket-taker in ODI history, missed the three-match test series with a tendon injury and will team up with Ajantha Mendis and leg spinner Malinga Bandara in a 15-man squad that includes three spinners. Veteran seamer Chaminda Vaas, who retired from test cricket on Friday, was overlooked but the selectors recalled Lasith Malinga to the ODI squad for the first time since
February, 2008. The squad: Kumar Sangakkara (Capt), Muttiah Muralitharan, Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene, Upul Tharanga, Thilan Samaraweera, Chamara Kapugedera, Thilina Kandamby, Angelo Mathews, Isuru Udana, Ajantha Mendis, Lasith Malinga, Thilan Thushara, Nuwan Kulasekera, Malinga Bandara.
— Agencies |
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Doctors skeptical about Baljit’s early recovery
Patiala, July 24 The comparatively small golf ball barged through the ‘protective gear’ worn by Baljit at the time of practice in Pune. Since, the gear was just meant to prevent any damage from big hockey ball, the golf ball had further hit the eye-ball of the promising player, causing severe damage to his right eye. Contrary to the common perception, Baljit who, was undergoing treatment at New Delhi based All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), was not playing golf at the time of the accident, family members and the Punjab government sources revealed. Baljit was to take part in a four country tour following the practice but, all hopes of his jubiliant family nose-dived when they were shocked by a message that he had badly injured his eye in the practice session. Doctors at the institute, highly placed sources pointed out, were skeptical about full recovery of Baljit’s injured right eye amid lots of hopes even as, he has been prescribed medication for ten days. Delay in recovery of Baljit could mar his future prospects. The Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has already assured his full support to this bright player and had sent the Punjab’s Additional Resident Commissioner K. Siva Prasad to enquire about his health at the AIIMS on Thursday with a message that the state government would be striving to extend all possible aid and best of treatment to the ailing player. It is a fact that Baljit was practicing goal-keeping with a golf ball and he was advised to do so by his coach. Such an unheard kind of practice was going on for last two-three months. The golf ball had hit Baljit at a speed of about 200 kms per hour, revealed Sarabjit Singh, the father of Baljit Singh while talking to The Tribune over phone from New Delhi. “We, alongwith friends and family members, are praying for his early recovery,” said a Sarbjit Singh. Former Indian hockey captain and renowned hockey star Pargat Singh said he had never heard of use of golf ball for practice. “It is a big folly. The golf ball is so hard that sometimes hitting by it could lead to severe damage to muscles. I don’t know why it was used for practice. Normally, we use hockey or tennis balls only,” said Pargat Singh. |
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And now, a Ranji Trophy in Ireland
Dublin, July 24 Yes, the Ranji Trophy has found a home in distant Ireland. Sunday’s match between an Irish and Indian XI will be played on the verdant and historic grounds of Trinity College Dublin, a 417-year-old university situated in the heart of the Irish capital. The rolling trophy was originally instituted by Anne Chambers, an Irish author who has written a book on Ranji’s 1924 visit to Ireland. It was developed into a full-fledged trophy by India’s Ambassador to Dublin PS Raghavan, who wants to see it as “a big event within the context of the growing ties between India and Ireland”. “This match will now be part of the Irish cricketing calendar,” said Raghavan, who has persuaded Trinity College Dublin to incorporate the event annually as part of a recently established South Asia Initiative developing academic links with the Indian subcontinent. “It is in commemoration of Ranji’s ability to cross over racial boundaries. On the publication of my book, Ranji: Maharajah of Connemara, I made available a trophy of Irish silver to be played between an Irish XI and a team comprising Indian nationals living in Ireland,” Chambers said. “I am delighted that this event is now incorporated into the more recently established South Asia Initiative at Trinity College Dublin with its aim of renewing and developing ties between India and Ireland.” When Ranji came to Ireland on July 17, 1924, he was already a cricketing legend and, as Maharaja of Nawanagar (an erstwhile princely state in what is now Gujarat), he became first head of state to make an official visit to the newly founded Irish Free State. Ranji’s subsequent purchase of a castle and estate in Connemara in western Ireland did much to boost the fledgling Irish state, as did his promotion of Ireland as a tourist haven, according to Chambers. “Ranji and his Indian entourage settled with surprising ease into life in this remote part of Ireland. The annual arrival of ‘the Ranji’, as he came to be known, was welcomed with great celebration by the local community to which he became both a friend and a benefactor,” Chambers said. The Irish Ranji Trophy is not only aimed at boosting India-Ireland ties, encouraged by a recent visit to Dublin by former President APJ Abdul Kalam, but will also involve Indians settled in the country. At least 100 to 150 of the estimated 25,000 persons of Indian origin living in Ireland play cricket at the club level, contributing to the increasing popularity of the game here. “There is actually a fairly good selection of Indian cricketers here - a place in the Indian XI is by no means guaranteed,” said Raghavan. Ireland tops the list of 34 associate members of the International Cricket Conference (ICC). It even made it to the Super Eight stage of the ICC World Twenty20 held in England last month. — IANS
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Bhullar moves up, tied at 11th spot
The 21-year-old Kapurthala lad overcame a one-hour weather suspension at the Damai Indah Golf-Bumi Serpong Damai course to be five strokes behind Thai veteran Thaworn Wiratchant who completed a second straight six under par 66 to lead at 12 under par 132. Australian Adam Blyth was one stroke behind at 133. Korrea’s Lee Sung, who was born deaf, moved to third place in the $4 lakh event following a 67 while compatriot Ted Oh was a further shot back on 135 after a 67 as well. Anirban Lahiri of Bangalore was one stroke behind Bhullar as he fired a five under 67 to be six under 138 at tied 15th slot, with seasoned Chandigarh golfer Amandeep Johl firing a second straight two under 70 to be tied 25th at four under par 140. Bhullar bore the brunt of the bad weather conditions. Barely one hour after he had teed off play had to be suspended for more than 70 minutes. This weather interruption resulted in the game being carried on in failing light. But Bhullar played a steady game. He sank a birdie on the sixth to be one under par at the turn. He fired three birdies on the back nine (13th, 16th and 18th) to finish the day with a four under 68 card. So bad were the weather conditions that 15 players could not complete the round. They will resume their second rounds on Saturday with the projected cut looking at one under par 143. While Rahil Gangjee made the cut at 143, Himmat Rai was stranded on the 15th hole at one under with three holes to go. Four Indian golfers failed to make the cut. They were Manav Jaini and Gaurav Ghei (146), Digvijay Singh (150) and C.Muniyappa (154).
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Jaipur to host first Ind-Aus ODI
New Delhi, July 24 The cricket board said in a statement here today that the Australians would arrive here on October 21 and leave for Jaipur the next day. Apart from the Guwahati match, all other games would be day-night affair. The itinerary: October 25:
1st ODI at Jaipur. October 28: 2nd ODI at Nagpur October 31: 3rd ODI at Delhi November 2: 4th ODI at Mohali November 5: 5th ODI at Hyderabad November 8: 6th ODI at Guwahati. November 11: 7th ODI at
Mumbai. — PTI |
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Kumar Sangakkara hit an unbeaten century to steer Sri Lanka to a draw in the final Test against Pakistan here today and win his first series as captain. The left-hander made 130 not out as Sri Lanka, faced with a world record target of 492, defied the Pakistani bowlers to finish with 391-4 on the fifth day at the Sinhalese sports club.
The career of ace Indian hockey goal-keeper Baljit Singh has virtually crash-landed in the freak accident as he was undergoing a goal-keeping practice session with a small golf ball instead of hockey ball allegedly on the basis of the advice of his coach to ‘sharpen’ his reflexes, a practice relatively unheard of in the hockey world.
Gaganjeet Bhullar made the most of the bad weather conditions to fire a flawless four under par 68 studded with four birdies to move up to the tied 11th slot at seven under 137 at the midway stage of the Indonesia President Invitational Asian Tour event in Jakarta today.
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