S P O R T S

Oz face New Zealand
Centurion, October 4
Chasing a second successive title, Australia face a tricky task against a resurgent trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand in the Champions Trophy final here tomorrow.

New Zealand Captain Daniel Vettori (L) and Australian Captain Ricky Ponting pose with the Champions Trophy on the eve of the ICC Champions Trophy final at Supersport in Centurion. — AFP

Mukund ton troubles Mumbai
Nagpur, October 4
Rest of India continued to be in the driver’s seat, reaching 352 for four in their second innings against Mumbai thanks to Abhinav Mukund’s (126) fine century before rain and bad light played spoilsport on the fourth day of their Irani Trophy match here today.

Biggest win for JCT in 3 years
Beat Lajong 5-1 in season opener
Ludhiana, October 4
When it rains, it pours. But at the Guru Nanak Stadium here today, goals weren’t pouring, they were leaking. JCT FC, who took on new boys Shillong Lajong FC, ran out 5-1 winners to begin their season in the ONGC I-League with a bang. It was a goal riot that saw Baljit Sahni score a hat-trick and Balwant Singh added the knock-out punches with a brace.

‘Wrestling is in my blood’
Zirakpur, October 4
For a man who has just returned with a medal-winning performance at the Wrestling World Championship, Ramesh Kumar is yet to see different hues of a sportsmen’s life. He still feels, like so many other champion sportsmen in our country that, “No other sport, except cricket, holds a bright future in India”.

Ramesh Kumar (R) with his coach Rohtas Dahiya in Zirakpur on Sunday. Tribune photo: Vinay Malik

Vettel wins Japanese GP
Sutil finishes 13th
Suzuka, October 4
The 14th lap brush with Heikki Kovalainen’s McLaren compromised Adrian Sutil’s race and the double finish was hardly a solace as Force India completed its Japanese Grand Prix campaign without a single point.

Oz face New Zealand

Centurion, October 4
Chasing a second successive title, Australia face a tricky task against a resurgent trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand in the Champions Trophy final here tomorrow. Ricky Ponting’s men have been in red-hot form going into the tournament after their 6-1 one-day series victory over England and they have not lost a single match in the eight-nation ICC event.

A rejuvenated New Zealand, however, will not let a rare chance of an ICC event triumph go by so easily as they finally broke the semifinal jinx having made it to the final of the Champions Trophy for the second time. Though without a major ICC event triumph except for the 2000-01 edition of the Champions Trophy, known as ICC knock-out tournament then, New Zealand have always been tough opponents.

Stats and trivia New Zealand have entered 13 tournament finals before this, and have won four of those Since their 1999 World Cup triumph, Australia have reached 19 tournament finals, and have lost only three: in 1999 to Sri Lanka in Colombo, and two CB Series finals to England and India in 2006-07 and 2007-08, respectively The whole New Zealand team has scored six ODI centuries between them (Ross Taylor 3 and Brendon McCullum, Martin Guptill and Grant Elliott one each); Ponting has 28 Australia have beaten New Zealand in six tournament finals. This will be their first meeting at a neutral venue

The Australians do not look as formidable as they were two years back. But with the fine form of their batters, especially that of skipper Ricky Ponting, they start as favourites to lift the title. Ponting has been leading by example and has become the most prolific batsman in Champions Trophy with 287 runs at an average of nearly 96.

And Shane Watson’s return to form at the top order with a blistering unbeaten 136 against England in the first semifinal will only add to the concerns of Kiwis. The timely return to form of Michael Hussey has also filled the void left by vice-captain Michael Clarke’s absence in the middle-order. And if Ponting decides to bring in David Hussey, Clarke’s replacement, tomorrow in place of unimpressive James Hopes, it will add more meat to the already formidable batting order.

Australia’s quick bowling department comprising Peter Siddle, comeback-man Brett Lee, Watson and Mitchell Johnson looks ominous and can rattle any batting line-up on any day. The good form of the pacers has also compensated the few concerns Ponting had in the slow-bowling department with only off-spinner Nathan Hauritz in his armour.

New Zealand, on the other hand, have often been the underdogs in major tournaments, having faltered eight times in the semifinals of 50-over ICC events. But having broken the semifinal jinx this time around that too in a tournament they have won once earlier, the Kiwis would be hoping to carry forward their roller-coaster ride in the tournament and register their second title.

New Zealand mainly consists of bits-and-pieces players, mainly all-rounders, who have the capability to turn a match on any day, as was witnessed in Grant Elliott’s 75-run knock against Pakistan yesterday. — PTI

Match begins 5.45 PM Live on ESPN

Mukund ton troubles Mumbai

Nagpur, October 4
Rest of India continued to be in the driver’s seat, reaching 352 for four in their second innings against Mumbai thanks to Abhinav Mukund’s (126) fine century before rain and bad light played spoilsport on the fourth day of their Irani Trophy match here today. The fury of the elements led to the loss of the crucial final session but Rest of India are still in a position to force a win as they have taken an overall lead of 382 runs.

Manoj Tiwary was going strong on 80 with Wriddhiman Saha (5) giving him company when bad light forced early tea. The post-tea session could not be resumed as heavens opened up and the umpires finally called off the day’s play at 1700 hrs. Mukund, who resumed the day on 86, got enough time to complete his seventh first-class hundred before falling to Ramesh Powar for 126 (250 balls; 10X4) in the morning session.

He moved towards the three figure mark when he clipped Dhawal Kulkarni off his pads to deep square leg boundary. Murali Vijay, however, missed out on a century as he was the first to depart an over before Mukund for 91 (211 balls) ff Iqbal Abdulla. He was dropped by Vinayak Samant off Dhawal Kulkarni while on 79.

S Badrinath and Manoj Tiwary did not give Mumbai bowlers any respite as they shared a 78-run partnership for the third wicket from 31 overs before the former was out in the post-lunch session. Ravindra Jadeja (3) could not contribute much but Tiwary was in good nick to swell the Rest of India lead.

A persistent drizzle brought a slightly early end to the first session and it returned later to force the umpires to call for an early tea break. — PTI

Scoreboard

Biggest win for JCT in 3 years
Beat Lajong 5-1 in season opener
Vaibhav Sharma
Tribune News Service

JCT’s player Balwant vies for the ball on Sunday. Tribune photo: Himanshu Mahajan

Ludhiana, October 4
When it rains, it pours. But at the Guru Nanak Stadium here today, goals weren’t pouring, they were leaking. JCT FC, who took on new boys Shillong Lajong FC, ran out 5-1 winners to begin their season in the ONGC I-League with a bang. It was a goal riot that saw Baljit Sahni score a hat-trick and Balwant Singh added the knock-out punches with a brace.

The match started under heavy cloud cover, and on an already slippery surface, Lajong never really found their feet. JCT opened the scoring in the 11th minute when Baljit finished clinically to open his and his team’s tally for the season.

He was on target once again as he doubled the home team’s advantage in the 24th minute. Baljit, who was not the tallest man on the field, was still towering over the Lajong defence line. Relentless attacks from the home side meant the crowd stayed on their feet all through the first half. But despite missing a chance of their own, Lajong looked relieved to go into the break just two goals down.

As soon as the second half began, JCT’s Jagpreet received, an injury and was substituted. But Balwant who had come close in the first half too, made the most of a cross from Baldeep and finished with aplomb for his first and JCT’s third in the 51st minute.

There was still room for more as Baljit completed his hat-trick in the 70th minute, when he tapped in a failed clearance by the Lajong keeper. Balwant also got his second when he met Jaswinder’s cross with a diving header inside the box in the 86th minute. Lajong hit back with a consolation goal from Michael Bassey in the 87th minute, but the clock had already run against them, and the home side had run them down.

Reflecting on the match, JCT’s coach Sukhwinder Singh said, “It was a great performance, especially for an opening day match. We were focused and the boys looked hungry for goals.”

But looking at the next two matches, which are away to Mohan Bagan and East Bengal, the coach added a word of caution too. “We need to be on top of our game. It will be tough, and we will have to be really in the groove to get any kind of result. But this team is a very young one and I have a lot of faith in them. They will mature, they already have compared to last season. The only thing they need now is to win some matches to add confidence.”

‘Wrestling is in my blood’
Archit Watts

Zirakpur, October 4
For a man who has just returned with a medal-winning performance at the Wrestling World Championship, Ramesh Kumar is yet to see different hues of a sportsmen’s life. He still feels, like so many other champion sportsmen in our country that, “No other sport, except cricket, holds a bright future in India”.

Ramesh who is a junior ticket checker with the Indian Railways says although he met ministers and other senior officials after his return, no one offered him a better job prospect anywhere. Ramesh, the lone Indian grappler to have won a bronze medal in the 74 kg category of the World Wrestling Championship in Denmark said, “After winning the medal, when I arrived in Delhi, the Sports Minister met me and congratulated me on my performance. But there was no assurance of a better job or any type of monetary aid. Are we expected to toil, and watch other people reap the benefits? I don’t want to say much on the issue as of now, but when the time comes, I will disclose everything,” he added.

Ramesh’s coach and Arjuna awardee, Rohtas Dahiya added, “It is not fair that a cricketer is showered with everything for not so important achievements, and in a gruelling sport like wrestling, you let a World Championship medallist hang in uncertainity.”

But Ramesh, who has fought through many such ills before, is still practicing hard at the Indian Railways Akhara in New Delhi, one of the best Akharas in India. The Commonwealth Games in 2010 are on his radar now.

“I belong to a wrestling village, Purkhas, in Sonepat district (Haryana). Everyone there loves wrestling and there is a lot of emotion associated with the game there, unlike anyplace else in India. My grandfather and maternal grandfather also, were wrestlers. So you can say that the game is in my blood,” quipped Ramesh.

On replying to whether he was going to join the movie industry, Ramesh said, “One Bollywood director has approached me to work in his movie, but I am not thinking about that right now. My focus, my passion and my life is always about the game.” At the moment though Ramesh has more important things to think of as his wife is expecting. Another wrestler? You bet!

Vettel wins Japanese GP
Sutil finishes 13th

Suzuka, October 4
The 14th lap brush with Heikki Kovalainen’s McLaren compromised Adrian Sutil’s race and the double finish was hardly a solace as Force India completed its Japanese Grand Prix campaign without a single point.

Considering Sutil’s familiarity with the layout and its low-to-medium downforce suiting the car, it was a blown opportunity for Sutil who finished 13th, just ahead of teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi, who managed to improve on his unflattering 19th position on the starting grid.

Sebastian Vettel drove a copybook race at Suzuka to win the Japanese Grand Prix and stay afloat in the 2009 championship chase. Jarno Trulli was second for Toyota, with McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton following him at third.

Starting eight on the grid after copping a five-place penalty for yesterday’s chaotic qualifying, Sutil took on a speeding Kovalainen coming into the chicane on lap 14. — PTI