Scoreboard

India (1st Innings) 642

Sri Lanka (1st Innings)

(overnight 66 for one)

Dilshan c Ojha b Khan 0

Paranavitana c Dhoni b Sreesanth 38

Sangakkara b Sreesanth 44

Jayawardene c Tendulkar b Ojha 47

Samaraweera b Sreesanth 2

Mathews b Harbhajan 13

Jayawardene c Dhoni b Sreesanth 39

Herath b Sreesanth 11

Muralitharan lbw b Ojha 6

Welegedara lbw b Harbhajan 7

Mendis not out 6

Extras: (b-9, lb-2, nb-5) 16

Total: (all out in 84 overs) 229

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-82, 3-101, 4-111, 5-134, 6-194, 7-204, 8-216, 9-219, 10-229.

Bowling: Zaheer 17-5-51-1, Sreesanth 22-4-75-5, Harbhajan 21-5-54-2, Ojha 22-12-37-2, Yuvraj 1-0-1-0.

Sri Lanka (2nd innings)

Paranavitana lbw b Sehwag 20

Dilshan c Dhoni b Sreesanth 11

Sangakkara b Harbhajan 11

Jayawardene run out 10

Samaraweera not out 1

Mathews not out 2

Extras: (lb-1 nb-1) 2

Total: (four wickets; 23 overs) 57

Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-37, 3-54, 4-54.

Bowling: Zaheer 5-0-23-0, Sreesanth

3-1-10-1, Harbhajan 8-2-14-1, Sehwag 3-0-4-1, Ojha 4-2-5-0.

Mohali, November 26
Punjab must be thinking that they should have played this match a few weeks earlier, as there is hardly an area where they have put their foot wrong in their ongoing Ranji Trophy Elite “A” fixture against Gujarat here at the PCA stadium.

On the third day today, the hosts did exactly what the doctor had ordered for them. Their batsmen scored quickly and took the lead to an imposing 284 runs, and gave their bowlers enough time to have a go at the opposition in the second innings. At stumps, Gujarat were staring at an innings defeat with their seven batsmen back in the hut and another 57 runs needed to make Punjab bat again.

Yesterday’s century maker Kohli and Sohal took Punjab past 400 run mark before a superb diving effort behind the sticks saw Kohli marching back to the pavillion.

Punjab lost wickets in a flash before a late charge by Gony and Ablish saw hosts inching towards 450 run mark. Punjab’s first innings folded on 444 in response to Gujarat’s 160.

Gujarat had good half an hour to negotiate before the lunch break. Last innings wrecker-in-chief Love Ablish drew first blood early forcing an edge off Desai and custodian Madan making no mistake.

The pace trio of Gony, Harmeet Bansal and Love kept on the good work after the interval and jolted Gujarat at regular intervals. Skipper Parthiv Patel and Bhavik Thaker showed signs of resistance for more almost two hours. With Parthiv’s dismissal, Punjab started sensing victory.

Brief Scores

Gujarat (Ist innings) 160

Punjab (Ist innings) 444

Gujarat (2nd innings) 227for 7

Tamil Nadu 199 for 5

Himachal scored 366 in their first innings in reply to Tamil Nadu’s 293 for 8 decl. Sharma 78 to take Himachal past 350. Tamil Nadu in their second essay were 199 for 5 at the call of stumps today.

Brief Scores

Tamil Nadu (1st innings) 199 for 5

Himachal (1st innings) 366

Taml Nadu (2nd innings) 199 for 5 ( Anirudha 72, Malik 3 for 37).

Bathinda, November 26
The Delhi government, in an attempt to make the Commonwealth Games a showcase event, is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that the more than 1 lakh visitors who will be coming for the event do not get a glimpse of the Capital’s ugly underbelly - the shanties and the slums.

Plans are afoot to put up massive bamboo screens on those routes which visitors are expected to take to reach the Games venues. This is being done to ensure that visitors go back with fond memories of the Games and not with images of slums and shanties.

Disclosed an Indian Olympic Association official, “What cannot be removed must be hidden, the Delhi government believes. If you cannot eradicate poverty, eradicate the images of the poor. The same can be seen in the plans of the government which is preparing enthusiastically for Games. The government is spending crores of rupees and it does no want foreigners, to get to see the pitiable conditions of the slum dwellers who live near the Games venues.”

The Delhi government is in touch with the National Bamboo Mission and Mizoram government officials from where the Bamboo will come. Remarked an officer, “We have already spoken to senior officials of the Mizoram government and have asked them to identify a special kind of bamboo which will withstand Delhi’s dry climate. We want to present a healthy looking picture of Delhi and since we do not have the budget and resources to remove the slums we have decided to put up huge bamboo screens on those routes through which the Commonwealth convoy will be passing.”

Officials of the Mizoram Bamboo Development Authority have already made several visits to New Delhi to do the ground work pertaining to the setting up of these screens.

Sources reveal that a similar process was initiated by the Chinese municipal authorities during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Disclosed a IOA official, who went to Beijing, “The local authorities at Beijing put up 5 feet tall bamboo screens in the not so pretty sections of the Chinese capital. I have also seen such screens being put up permanently in several Latin American countries on routes frequented by foreigners.”

An official engaged in the hosting of the event disclosed that nearly all jhuggis (slums) on important routes with be given bamboo protection.

“All flyovers are being given an aesthetic look and now bamboo screens will ensure that foreigners will get a rosy picture of the national capital,” he added.

Manchester, November 26
Manchester United’s 23-match unbeaten home record in the Champions League stretching back to 2005 was ended by Besiktas who won 1-0 at Old Trafford on Wednesday. Rodrigo Tello netted the only goal for the Turkish side after 20 minutes with a shot from distance.

United, who had already qualified for the last 16, piled forward in search of an equaliser but could not find a finishing touch and were also denied late in the game by some fine saves from keeper Rustu Recber. AC Milan were the last side to win at Old Trafford in the competition when they won 1-0 in the first knockout round in February 2005.

Besiktas, already out of contention for the knockout phase, came within a whisker of making it 2-0 in the 41st minute when a low shot by Michael Fink scraped past keeper Ben Foster’s left upright but just on the wrong side of the post.

United require one more point from their remaining fixture to finish top of Group B. They fielded a number of less familiar faces in their lineup with Gary Neville, Anderson, Ji-Sung Park, Wes Brown and Nemanja Vidic bolstering an otherwise inexperienced side.

Midfielder Gabriel Obertan and striker Daniel Welbeck played well in the first half but were given little support from the rest of the team and not even the late introduction of veteran striker Michael Owen could save United from their fate. — Reuters

Jaipur, November 26
With Justice NM Kasliwal (retd) ruling that the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) elections will be held under the Sports Act, all hurdles have been cleared for IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi to contest the elections scheduled to take place on December 7.

Justice Kasliwal was appointed as the observer by the Supreme Court which announced fresh RCA elections on November 3. After listening to the debate on “method and procedure” to be adopted for the election, Justice Kasliwal ruled that if the bye-laws are going against the Act then the provisions of the Sports Act would prevail.

The ad-hoc committee of the RCA had added new bylaws to the provisions of the RCA constitution which specified that anyone willing to contest the elections will have to fulfill certain conditions apart from the provisions of the Sports Act.

These conditions included that the person has to be the domicile of the state, should not hold a post in any other state associations and also should have completed a full four-year term in district association.

In view of these conditions Modi was ineligible to contest the RCA polls as he is not a resident of Rajasthan and he also holds the post of vice-president in the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA). Justice Kasliwal’s fresh ruling means that the bylaws which were added apparently to prevent Modi from contesting the elections have not been granted sanctity by him.

However, it is still not clear whether Modi will contest the RCA elections, particularly when he shares strained relations with the ruling Congress government in the state. Though doubts have been cleared on the candidature of Modi, uncertainty still looms large over Union Minister for Rural Development CP Joshi’s fate as the issue of cut off has not been addressed as of now.

Joshi was elected as treasurer of Rajsamand District Cricket Association recently. However, taking a cut-off date of November 3, which is also the day of Supreme Court order, the ad-hoc committee had ensured through few other bylaws of constitution that the likes of Modi and Joshi were not eligible to contest the RCA elections. Though Joshi has been evasive on the issue, speculations are rife that he too may contest the RCA elections, if declared eligible.

Earlier, the notification and the list of office bearers issued by the ad-hoc committee had sparked a sharp reaction from different quarters with Modi aides alleging that new conditions have been added in an attempt to prevent Modi from contesting the RCA. 

BRIEFLY

CWG: Govt spending Rs 678 crore on athletes
NEW DELHI: A total of 1140 athletes including 485 women are getting help in their training for next year’s Commonwealth Games through a scheme, worth Rs 678 crore, the sports ministry said on Thursday. Responding to a query in Rajya Sabha, the Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs Prateek Prakashbapu Patil said they are implementing a scheme, aimed at improving the performance of the Indian contingent in the 2010 Games. — PTI

Soderling top seed at Chennai open
CHENNAI: French Open finalist Robin Soderling of Sweden has been given the top billing at the ATP Chennai Open to be held here from January 4-10 next year. Last year’s winner and world number 14 Marin Cilic of Croatia has been seeded second at the 15th edition of the event, which will witness a very the strongest field this year with the cut being 111 for the direct entry. — PTI