McGrath escapes scot-free
ADELAIDE, Dec 15 — While stand-in Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly was reported by Australian umpires for watching replays on the giant screen during a tour match, Australian speedster Glenn McGrath has gone scot free despite a rude exchange with the umpire during the first Test here.

Walsh eyeing world record
HAMILTON, Dec 15 — West Indies veteran fast-bowler Courtney Walsh steps out tomorrow on the homeward stretch of his bid to become cricket’s most successful Test bowler — a prize just 12 wickets away.

Nirupama eases into last eight
NEW DELHI, Dec 15 — Top Indian Nirupama Vaidyanathan continued her forward march with a 6-1 6-3 drubbing French Marina Caiazzo while top seed Tathiana Garbin of Italy made easy work of Tong Ka-Po to storm into the quarterfinals of the Women’s Circuit Tennis Tournament here today.

E Bengal humble ITI 3-1
CALCUTTA, Dec 15 — Formidable East Bengal shook off their opening match jitters to humble ITI, Bangalore, 3-1 in a National Football League encounter here today.

BSF keen to garner full points
LUDHIANA, Dec 15 — Debutants Border Security Force, Jalandhar will seek to put up an improved performance against Dempo Sports Club, Goa in their second home tie of the National Football League at Guru Nanak Stadium here tomorrow.

Sri Lanka take 2-0 lead
HARARE, Dec 15 — Sri Lanka took a 2-0 lead in the five-match series of one-day internationals against Zimbabwe by winning their third encounter here today by 98 runs.The first match was declared a no-result when rain intervened and so the home side now need to defeat Sri Lanka twice next weekend to draw the series.

Joydeep Mukerjea resigns
CALCUTTA, Dec 15 — Non-playing captain of the Indian Davis Cup team Joydeep Mukerjea yesterday resigned from captaincy.

• Women sport fest results
• Andhra skaters dominate
• Women’s sport fest

Indians hope to improve show

HOBART (Australia), Dec 15 (PTI) — The Indian cricket team arrived here today for their four-day tour match against Tasmania, hoping to recover their morale and poise after their 285-run debacle against Australia in the Adelaide Test.

The Indians will look for a victory against Tasmania in the tour game starting Friday as a big morale-booster before they resume hostilities with the Aussies on the fast and bouncy track of the Melbourne Cricket Ground on December 26. They have already put behind them disappointment of the defeat and the frustration of the dubious decisions against skipper Sachin Tendulkar in both the innings by local umpire Daryll Harper.

“There is no excuse,” coach Kapil Dev said on arrival here for the match against Tasmania at the Bellerive Oval. “You can give so many reasons for losing, but the main point is that the batting did not click,” he said.

The Indian batting collapsed against the superior bowling of Glenn McGrath, Damien Fleming and Shane Warne to be all out for 285 and 110 in the two innings, respectively, and the visitors will try to sort out the problems during the four-day match.

The chosen openers for the tour, S. Ramesh and Devang Gandhi were a total failure — Gandhi could not manage to reach double figures, getting out for four and zero to the pace of McGrath while Ramesh scored only two and 28 runs.

The failure of V.V.S. Laxman, who scored a fine century in the tour opener against Queensland, and Rahul Dravid will also be a matter of concern for Kapil Dev and Tendulkar.

Though left-hander Sourav Ganguly and the skipper himself are in good form and the tail has also shown enterprise, the opening and number six slots will have to be sorted out.

The Indians will also have to sort out the matter regarding Nayan Mongia, flown here as a stand in for keeper M.S.K. Prasad who has now recovered from the knees injury sustained while on the way to Australia and played in the first Test.

The team management is awaiting word from the cricket board whether the seasoned wicket-keeper should be sent back or retained as the 17th member of the squad.

A clearance from the board to retain him might also sort out the problem regarding the opener as Mongia has opened for India. He scored a fine 152 against the Aussies in the one-off Test at Delhi in 1997.

Meanwhile, Tasmania coach Greg Shipperd has promised the Indians a tough match. “We have young players who will relish the experience of playing an international side,” said Shipperd, who has guided Tasmania to two domestic cricket finals in eight years as coach.

“This game will be important for people like Michael Di Venuto and Dan Marsh, who should be pressing claims for higher honours,” he added.

Versatile Tasmanian bowler Colin Miller will play only his second first class game in almost two months after being named in the state side to play the Indians.

Miller, 12th man in first Test, is keen for a bag of wickets to push his claims for inclusion in the squad for the next two Tests in Melbourne and Sydney.

Lee’s selection may spark row

ADELAIDE, Dec 15 (AFP) — The “chucking” controversy bedevilling international cricket is set to continue, with Australia’s fastest bowler Brett Lee considered almost certain to line up against India in the second Test.

Unsourced reports from India — carried widely in Australian newspapers — suggest the 23-year-old firebrand from New South Wales has a suspect action.

But indications are the Australian authorities will ignore the reports and choose the right-arm express for the Melbourne Test starting on December 26.

As far as is known, there have been no official complaints about Lee’s action.

According to reports in Australia, Lee may not straighten his arm fully because of a previously broken elbow.

Australian captain Steve Waugh has made it clear he would like to see Lee in the team to provide even more firepower to an attack which crippled the Indian batting twice in the first Test here, won by the home team by a resounding 285 runs yesterday.

Lee’s action had never been questioned until the unsourced Indian reports raised the issue immediately after he had destroyed the Indian line-up with a withering 4-25 from 10 overs when playing for the Prime Minister’s XI just before the opening Test.

The tourists were all out for 170, losing by a massive 164 runs.

Lee has yet to make his senior international debut. He was 12th man for Australia in the third Test against Pakistan in Perth last month, missing out at the last minute to the more experienced Queenslander Michael Kasprowicz, who also played in Adelaide.

But Kasprowicz had an ordinary game here, failing to take a wicket.

Lee’s chances of selection are boosted by the probability of the Melbourne pitch providing considerable bounce — conditions alien to Indian batsmen reared on featherbed strips which play low and predictably.

“I’m pretty sure he’ll come into calculations for Melbourne, where it is a bit bouncier and suits the pacemen,” Waugh said today.

“In recent years it has been pretty good for quicks to bowl on, so he would be a very good chance of getting picked.”

Waugh, who is becoming increasingly forthright as he grows in confidence as the leader of an all-conquering side, has expressed his disquiet over cricket administrators’ inaction on the “chucking” allegations.

The day before the Adelaide Test he took the International Cricket Council (ICC) to task for not getting to grips quickly with the problem.

“Blokes who have got question marks over their actions — no-one really knows whether they throw or not, and no-one seems to be willing to make a judgement, either,” he said.

“So the process just goes round in circles and no one is clear on anything.”

The Lee allegations came only a week after fresh questions surfaced about the legitimacy of Pakistan express bowler Shoaib Akhtar’s action.

Footage of Akhtar’s action is reportedly being studied by the ICC.

In support of Lee, Waugh has said he views him as a quality young bowler — “quick, exciting and good for cricket”.

He said: “you don’t want to take these guys out of the game — Lee or Shoaib Akhtar.

“Hopefully, people can see Lee in that light, rather than think he may throw the odd one.”

Waqar likely to face action

ISLAMABAD, Dec 15 (PTI) — Pakistan’s Army-led cricket board is contemplating disciplinary action against seasoned fast bowler Waqar Younis for his outbursts against skipper Wasim Akram after the speedster was excluded from the squad for next month’s triangular series in Australia.

“Waqar (Younis) is likely to face action for breach of contract. The matter is going to be put up before the newly appointed chairman of the board Lt Gen Tauqir Zia for necessary action,” a PCB spokesman was quoted as saying by official APP news agency.

“Of course, Waqar is in breach of contract which he signed with Pakistan Cricket Board for a six month period before his selection for the three-Test tour of Australia,” he said.

PCB has made it mandatory for every player to sign a contract which also includes a code of conduct restricting the players from speaking to press on any matter during and after the tour. Any player violating this contract is liable to face disciplinary action which could lead to suspension or a fine.

“Only captain and the manager are allowed to speak to press,” the PCB spokesman said.

Meanwhile, Akram dismissed allegations by Younis that he was kept out of the team because of a personal grudge.

“I have no personal grudge against him,” Akram said.

“The question of whether injustice has been done to him or if he is being mistreated by me in the team can only be judged by looking at his performance in Tests and one-dayers in last one year,” Akram told the daily News yesterday.

Younis had lashed out at Akram at a press conference in Lahore two days ago alleging he was under-bowled in the just concluded Test series in Australia.

Younis, who once formed a deadly bowling pair, has been dropped from the team for the next month’s triangular series also involving India and Australia.

“It is a clear violation of discipline and we will not tolerate it and will ensure discipline in the game at all cost,” the PCB spokesman said adding: “We will soon put up the matter to the newly-appointed chairman of the board to take action against Waqar”.

The spokesman also emphasised that the situation had now changed and the players can speak to the press only after getting prior permission from the board.

Pressure mounts on cricket umpires
By Abhijit Chatterjee
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh: The intense competition on the playing fields has made the job of cricket umpires all the more taxing and demanding. And thanks to the numerous television cameras that record every action on the field their work has been put under the microscope in Test and one-day matches, putting additional pressure on them. While the umpire has a split second to come to a decision the repeated slow-motion replays of any dismissal given enough time to those sitting outside the ground to come to a more balanced and probably correct decision.

No one is saying or even hinting that umpires are biased in favour of one team or the other. What is causing concern to cricket players the world over is the fact that too many umpiring mistakes on the field is bound to have a bearing on the course of a match. No one is saying that the decisions of Australian umpire Daryl Harper in the case of Sachin Tendulkar in both innings of the India versus Australia Test at the Adelaide Oval came out of partisan considerations, but his decisions definitely had a say in the course of the match given the fact that the tourists depend a lot on the bat of their skipper.

Although Sachin is too mature a captain to get into any controversy on the issue of umpiring mistakes and shrugged off his dismissal by saying “the whole world has seen it (the dismissal on TV)” he has got unexpected support from Pakistan captain Wasim Akram who has reportedly said that as a bowler he was sure that the ball which hit Sachin on his shoulder in India’s second innings would have sailed over the wickets. It is quite possible that Akram whose team is scheduled to play in a three-nation tournament involving India, Australia and Pakistan from next month is trying to wage a phychological battle against the Australian umpires prior to the commencement to the series but the fact remains that the umpiring in the Adelaide Test left much to be desired.

India are not the only team complaining about incompetent umpiring. The English Press has severely criticised South African umpire Rudi Koertzen following his controversial decisions in the drawn second Test at Port Elizabeth. Four of the six England wickets which fell in the second innings went to dubious decisions with Koertzen responsible for three of them.

At the moment the International Cricket Council draws up an international panel of umpires for doing duty in other countries in Test series. According to the ICC rules, the council posts one neutral umpire while the host country provides the second umpire for doing duty on the ground in Test matches. The third umpire too is from the home country. In one-day matches it is the host country which provides both umpires who do duty on the ground. It is only in the case of matches held at “neutral” venues like Sharjah or Toronto that the council provided all the umpires since in these cases there is no host country.

So what is the way out of this impasse? Wasim Akram’s suggestion to have neutral umpires at both ends both in a Test match as well as in one-day internationals deserves some thinking. A similar demand was made by former Pakistani super star Imran Khan when the Pakistan team was touring Australia. Pakistan were humbled 3-0 by the hosts in a series where a lot of bad blood was seen specially from players from both teams. Nobody is suggesting that neutral umpires will not make human mistakes but then if they do the complaining would be much less. In the Port Elizabeth Test between England and South Africa the neutral umpire, Stev Bucknor from the West Indies, gave a very bad decision against Alec Stewart of England but the complaining was much more in the case of the mistakes committed by the South African umpire.

Together with neutral umpires the International Cricket Council can consider giving a bigger role to the third umpire. At the moment the third umpire’s role is rather limited with the umpires on the ground referring decisions regarding run outs, stumpings etc to him. But now the International Cricket Council can permit the umpires on the field to refer to the third umpires in bat-pad decisions or where they are unable to come to a final conclusion. The third umpire can go through the replay of the bat-pad decision a number of times before telling the umpires on the ground about his conclusion by the two-way walkie talkie. But the umpires must remember that in doubt the benefit must be given to the batsman.

Cricket generates a lot of money not only for the players but also for the respective boards as also the television companies who telecast matches. But if too many controversies dog the game the advertisers and the sponsors might well shift to some other game leaving the game of cricket high and dry.

McGrath escapes scot-free

ADELAIDE, Dec 15 (PTI) — While stand-in Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly was reported by Australian umpires for watching replays on the giant screen during a tour match, Australian speedster Glenn McGrath has gone scot free despite a rude exchange with the umpire during the first Test here.

Match referee Ranjan Madugalle is under fire for ignoring some extremely petulant and churlish behaviour on part of McGrath on the third day of the Test which Australia won by 285 runs yesterday.

Having bowled impressively in the morning, McGrath was riled by a wide call by umpire Steve Dunne of New Zealand and turning around, with legs wide apart and hands on hips said what could be lip read as something obscene.

He then gave a hard long stare to the umpire after bowling a slow delivery next ball, a teasing look inviting Dunne to have a go again.

At the end of the over, McGrath snatched his cap and pullover from the umpire before walking off.

Then, from his position at fine leg, he made a gesture with a finger.

Madagulle, who investigated the incident, was told the one finger that the big fast bowler held up was his way of trying to persuade Waugh if he could have one more over to try to get his third wicket of the innings.

Madugalle, when asked sought cover under the fact that the umpires had not lodged any official complaint.

But under the ICC’s code of conduct, a match referee does not need to wait for the umpires to lodge a complaint if he feels the players in the middle are transgressing the limits. He can decide on his own.

Ganguly was reported by Australian umpire Darrel Hair for alleged dissent during the four-day match against New South Wales earlier in the month.

One understands it was the fear of suspension which stopped Sachin Tendulkar from gesticulating more than he did on his dismissals in the two innings.

In the first innings, he gave a hard look at Harper and in the second he just gave a wry smile before walking off.

But Tendulkar need not have feared giving vent to more-than-a-subtle expression. He could have gone by Madugalle’s reputation.

It was Madugalle who had forced the Indians to continue at Karachi in Pakistan in 1997 when stones were being hurled from the stands. He still made Indians continue despite Tendulkar protesting twice.

In the recent series against New Zealand in India, Madugalle kept on ignoring Dion Nash’s antics when the fast bowler continued to give lip to Tendulkar and then even once stood in the way when the batsman was attempting a run.

At the end of the Adelaide Test, Steve Waugh said there were no verbal exchanges between the two teams.

Sure there were none. But having watched the tenor of the series against Pakistan and the muck it is raising, Madugalle really needs to tighten up his act before it is too late.

Walsh eyeing world record

HAMILTON, Dec 15 (AFP) — West Indies veteran fast-bowler Courtney Walsh steps out tomorrow on the homeward stretch of his bid to become cricket’s most successful Test bowler — a prize just 12 wickets away.

The once feared Windies are something of a shadow of themselves — in the “re-building” phase that cricket fans here are so used to with their own side.

But the 37-year-old Walsh is still their most effective bowler and the West Indies will be banking on his herculean powers when the two Test series against New Zealand starts here tomorrow.

Walsh has taken his Test preparation quietly since knocking the top off the New Zealand order in a warm-up match earlier in the month, missing the later game against Auckland and not training yesterday.

But coach Viv Richards has no doubt Walsh will be firing when the first Test starts. “He’s the senior statesman. For the nature of what he is about to achieve, it is wonderful to have such an individual. Certainly he will be looking to lead the charge,” Richards said.

The veteran paceman needs just 12 wickets to better the 434 haul of India’s now retired Kapil Dev and become the world’s greatest Test wicket-taker. The also retired Richard Hadlee, currently the second most successful wicket-taker with 431 said Walsh might find it difficult to get the record here, but there was “a sniff of a chance” given his previous performances here.

Hamilton can aid fast bowlers while Wellington’s Basin Reserve, venue for the second Test, has even more pace and bounce than it did in 1995 when Walsh took 13 wickets over two innings for 55 runs.

“Some grounds have the right feel,” New Zealander Hadlee said. “You can’t wait to get back on them.”

“Having spearheaded the Windies attack in their last two Test campaigns earlier this year against South Africa and Australia, he knows the record can be a reality.” Walsh did not play county cricket for Gloucestershire this last season and he says that gave him the impetus to stay in the international arena.

“I would have been satisfied with 400 but I have the chance of getting past two great bowlers, Sir Richard Hadlee and Kapil Dev.”

The West Indies today were undecided as to whether to take a three or four-pronged pace attack into the game.

Teams:

New Zealand (from): Stephen Fleming (captain), Matthew Horne, Gary Stead, Craig Spearman, Nathan Astle, Craig McMillan, Adam Parore, Chris Cairns, Dion Nash, Daniel Vettori, Andrew Penn, Paul Wiseman, Shayne O’Connor.

West Indies (possible 12): Brian Lara (captain), Sherwin Campbell, Adrian Griffith, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Jimmy Adams, Ricardo Powell, Ridley Jacobs, Nehemiah Perry, Franklyn Rose, Courtney Walsh, Mervyn Dillon, Pedro Collins.

Nirupama eases into last eight

NEW DELHI, Dec 15 (PTI) — Top Indian Nirupama Vaidyanathan continued her forward march with a 6-1 6-3 drubbing French Marina Caiazzo while top seed Tathiana Garbin of Italy made easy work of Tong Ka-Po to storm into the quarterfinals of the Women’s Circuit Tennis Tournament here today.

Sixth seed Nirupama bested Caiazzo in just over an hour to stamp her authority on the error-prone Frenchwoman while Garbin proved to be a smiling assassin for Hong Kong’s Tong winning 6-1 6-2 in 55 minutes.

Nirupama now has a tough task of getting past fourth seed Wynne Prakusya of Indonesia in the quarters clash tomorrow.

Prakusya was stretched a bit by grunting qualifier Urska Vesenjak of Slovakia who yesterday beat national champion Sai Jayalakshmi. The Indonesian won 6-4 6-2.

England’s Abigail Tordoff caused a flutter when she upset seventh seeded compatriot Lorna Woodroffe 6-2 6-3 for a place in the last eight. Tordoff faces Garbin in the quarters clash in the top half of the draw.

Rika Hiraki, famous for her 1997 French Open mixed doubles win with Mahesh Bhupathi, was involved in the match of the day against her namesake and fellow Japanese Fujiwara.

The only surviving Indian in this season-ending event Nirupama, fired three aces at crucial points and took advantage of Caiazzo’s several unforced errors to open up a 4-1 lead in the first set with two breaks of serves.

Nirupama, coming here after a semifinal appearance in last week’s Manila ITF Circuit event, was flawless in the service games and after moving to 5-1 holding her serve, she broke the Frenchwoman again to win the set 6-1.

Though Caiazzo blasted six aces throughout the match, her games were littered with nine double faults that proved too much for her to recover.

With two breaks Nirupama raced to 4-0 lead and though she dropped her game in the fifth, the Indian just needed to hold her service games later on. Serving for the match, Nirupama sent down a blistering forehand cross court winner to close out the affair 6-1 6-3.

Garbin was in a relaxed mood despite the hectic schedule following her late arrival here after flights out of Mania delayed due to earthquake in the Philippines.

Listening to “disco” music during time-outs, as she confessed after the match, Garbin overpowered Tong in all departments of the game with her sheer variety of shots and ability to dig out low returns and convert them into winners.

Results (pre-quarters):

Tathiana Garbin (1) b Ka-Po Tong 6-1, 6-2, Abigail Tordoff b Lorna Woodroffe (7) 6-2, 6-3, Lucie Ahl (3) b Eun-Young Ha 7-5, 6-4, Rika Hiraki (5) b Rika Fujiwara 7-6 (8-6), 7-5, Nirupama Vaidyanathan (6) b Marina Caiazzo 6-1, 6-3, Wynne Prakusya (4) b Urska Vesenjak 6-4, 6-2 Ju-Yeon Choi b Anna Nefedova 6-3, 6-1 Katalin Marosi (2) b Archana Venkatraman 6-2, 6-2.

E Bengal humble ITI 3-1

CALCUTTA, Dec 15 (PTI) — Formidable East Bengal shook off their opening match jitters to humble ITI, Bangalore, 3-1 in a National Football League encounter here today.

After a goalless first half, the city outfit, who lost 0-1 to Tollygunge Agragami on Saturday, struck through Willie Brown, Renedy Singh and Bijen Singh. R.C. Prakash pulled one back for the visitors.

East Bengal shot into the lead in the 58th minute of the match at the Salt Lake stadium as a Renedy Singh flag kick deflected off an ITI defender and came to Jackson Agyopyong, who promptly unleashed a volley and Brown put the final touches from close range.

Refusing to be cowed down, the visitors attacked with gusto and restored parity within six minutes. Following a move from the left, the ball came to medio Prakash, who lobbed into the goal over an advancing Bengal custodian Prashanta Dora.

The pace of the match quickened as both teams carried out fast attacks and three minutes later East Bengal again forged ahead. Ghanaian Emmanuel Opoku, the livewire of the East Bengal midfield, essayed a short pass from top of the box and Renedy pushed in.

The winners consolidated their position three minutes from close as Bijen Singh rushed in to place home after ITI goalkeeper N. Balaji partially blocked a Raman Vijayan shot.

East Bengal now have three points from two matches, while ITI, who finished goalless with Mahindra and Mahindra in their lung opener, have gleaned one point from two outings.

The match, which started at a sluggish pace, picked up momentum as time wore on, giving the spectators their money’s worth.

The first half saw East Bengal piling on the pressure, but ITI fought back relying on fast counter attacks.

The losers also had their chances in the opening half, and in the 35th minute Naushad Pari sent a centre for Onyaka Okafor who failed to head properly.

East Bengal utilised the opening 10 minutes of the second half to drum up a rhythm, with coach Subhas Bhowmick effecting a double change — Tushar Rakshit replacing Carlton Chapman and Dipankar Roy substituting Ranjan Dey to strengthen the midfield.

The winners got a couple of gilt-edged opportunities in the later stages of the second half, but failed to utilise them.

In the 77th minute, ITI defender Sunil Kumar’s defensive cross was intercepted by Raman Vijayan who sent a through to Bijen Singh whose lob sailed over.

Six minutes hence, following a Jackson long-clearance, the ball came to Bijen Singh, but Blaji cleared the ball with a sliding tackle.

BSF keen to garner full points
From Amardeep Bhattal
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, Dec 15 — Debutants Border Security Force, Jalandhar will seek to put up an improved performance against Dempo Sports Club, Goa in their second home tie of the National Football League at Guru Nanak Stadium here tomorrow.

Having dropped crucial points in the lung opener against Mohun Bagan here on December 10, the securitymen, making their maiden appearance in the league after finishing runners-up to the State Bank of Travancore in the second division last season, will go all out to log full points knowing full well that their opponents are yet to strike an effective combination. In fact Dempo’s 0-5 defeat at the hands of Goa league champions Churchill Brothers at Margao on December 12 has been the worst drubbing for any team in the current league so far.

Although BSF, too, were beaten by a solitary goal by Mohun Bagan here, yet the securitymen were not disgraced. The defence manned by stopper backs Raghbir Singh and Pradip Gorai along with K. Mobi Singh and Souvik Ganguly gave a good account of itself. The veteran Bibhas Saha also displayed alertness under the bar while medios Prasanto Das, Sane Lamma and Joseph constantly fed the forwardline with defence-splitting passes. Young striker Gurjit Atwal also showed promise upfront.

A striking feature of coach Shyam Kumar’s gameplan in the opener was to try out the youngest, and veterans like Gauranga Paul, Abhay Mahato and Avtar Singh who were confined to the bench. The strategy was, by and large, successful as BSF matched Mohun Bagan move for move. Not once did they betray signs of uneasiness despite taking the field after a disappointing showing in the Durand Cup where they lost to the PSEB and East Bengal.

Dempo Sports Club, on the other hand, have been through a turbulent period recently. The team just about managed to survive last season after several players were told to quit. Earlier this month coach TK Chathunni also resigned when his request to recruit a couple of talented players was turned down. Nevertheless, new coach Ahmed Sanzari, who earlier played for Mohammedan Sporting, will be relying on the foreign recruits, including Iranian striker Kamal Sayeed Ahmadi, medio Assad Sultan and Nepalese custodian Upendra Mansingh, formerly of Salgaocar FC. Dempo have also recruited promising youngsters like Remus Gomes, Soccorrino Silviera and Mario Pereira.

The other notable faces in the Dempo squad are John D’Souza, Stanley Colaco, Anthony Alfonso, Kanan Priolkar, Achay Acharya and Mathew D’Costa.

Although Dempo have played at this venue previously, yet many of the old names will be missing. Among them is star Nigerian defender Christopher, who will be assisting Mahindras this season.

The contest, on the whole, is expected to be lively with the two teams desperate to garner valuable points. Dempo, despite the humiliating defeat in the opening tie, certainly cannot be written off. If coach Sanzari introduces Kamal Sayeed Ahmadi in the attack, BSF may well be in for a tough time on the morrow.

The kick-off is at 2.30 p.m.

Sri Lanka take 2-0 lead

HARARE, Dec 15 (AFP) — Sri Lanka took a 2-0 lead in the five-match series of one-day internationals against Zimbabwe by winning their third encounter here today by 98 runs.The first match was declared a no-result when rain intervened and so the home side now need to defeat Sri Lanka twice next weekend to draw the series.

Following their latest batting collapse, this seems unlikely.

Sri Lanka scored 248 for seven in their 50 overs and in reply Zimbabwe were all out for 150. Yet at one stage the Zimbabweans were cruising at 81 for no loss, Alistair Campbell and Grent Flower scoring at almost a run a ball.

Sri Lanka:

Jayasuriya c Campbell b Olonga 1

Kaluwitharana c Rennie b Rennie 12

Atapattu c A. Flower b Olonga 69

Jayawardena c A. Flower b Brent 18

Arnold c Olonga b Brent 37

Dilshan b Olonga 27

Chandana c Brent b Olonga 26

Vaas not out 19

Wickramasinghe not out 11

Extras (w-17, lb-7, b-4) 28

Total (for 7 wkts, in 50 overs) 248

Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-25, 3-59, 4-153, 5-160, 6-208, 7-222.

Bowling: Rennie 10-0-32-1, Olonga 10-0-51-4, Brent 10-0-63-2, Whittall 10-1-41-0, Whittal 7-0-34-0, Goodwin 3-0-16-0.

Zimbabwe:

Campbell run out 38

G Flower c Jayasuriya b Muralitharan 47

Goodwin c Wickramasinghe b Muralitharan 25

A. Flower c Wickramasinghe b Jayawardena 0

Carlisle c Kaluwitharana b Muralitharan 0

G. Whittall not out 23

G. Rennie run out 2

Brent b Muralitharan 2

J. Rennie c Atapattu b Chandana 5

A. Whittall b Chandana 2

Olonga lbw b Chandana 0

Extras (lb-5, w-1) 6

Total 150

Fall of wickets: 1-81, 2-100, 3-101, 4-102, 5-123, 6-129, 7-132, 8-139, 9-150.

Bowling: Vaas 7-0-25-0, S. de Silva 2-0-20-0, Wickraemasinghe 4-0-26-0, Arnold 3-0-15-0, Jayawardena 5-0-14-1, Muralitharan 7-0-16-4, Chandana 7-1-21-3, Jayasuriya 2-0-8-0.

Joydeep Mukerjea resigns

CALCUTTA, Dec 15 (UNI) — Non-playing captain of the Indian Davis Cup team Joydeep Mukerjea yesterday resigned from captaincy.

Joydeep Mukerjea sent his resignation to the president of the Tennis Federation, Mr R.K.Khanna. He cited the reason of his resignation as personal.

“I was involved as non-playing captain for quite a long time and I did my best to serve the country. But for the last six months there was so much controversy,” Joydeep told UNI last night.

“Now I want to concentrate more on coaching the youngsters and devote time to my tennis academy at Salt Lake to groom new talent,” he said, adding, “I have no regrets”.

Asked whom did he want to see as the next non-playing captain of the Indian Davis Cup team, Mukerjea named Ramesh Krishnan.

Joydeep had taken over captaincy from another Calcutta great Naresh Kumar.

The resignation of Joydeep Mukerjea followed the displeasure of India’s tennis sensation Leander Paes over his style of captaincy.

Women sport fest results
From Our Sports Reporter

PATIALA, Dec 15 — Asian Games bronze medalist Neelam J. Singh was the cynosure of the eyes as she bagged gold in the discus throw, heaving the discus to a distance of 55.15 metres in the Punjab Women Sports Festival, which concluded at the local Polo Grounds here today. Neelam, who has a knack of breaking her own national records, was followed by Surinderjit Kaur, who clinched silver with a throw of 37.76 metres. Way behind Neelam, the bronze was bagged by Hardip Kaur who hurled the discus to a distance of 32.64 metres.

The other results (all finals):

Javelin throw: Gurmeet Kaur (Ldh)-1, Reeta Rani (Ropar)-2, Manjit Kaur-3.

Shot put: Surinder Jit Kaur (Ldh)-1, Hardeep Kaur (Ldh)-2, Monika (Ropar)-3.

High jump: Sukhdeep Kaur (Pta)-1, Sandeep Kaur (Ldh)-2, Pawandeep Kaur (Muktsar)-3.

Long jump: Deepinder Kaur (Ldh)-1, Prabhjot Kaur (Jal)-2, Reeta Rani (Ropar)-3.

Relay race 4x100m: Ludhiana-1, Jalandhar-2, Patiala-3.

Relay race 4x400m: Jalandhar-1, Ludhiana-2, Patiala-3.

100m: Manainder Kaur (Ldh)-1, Deepinder Kaur (Ldh)-2, Manjeet Kaur (Hoshiarpur)-3.

200m: Maninder Kaur (Ldh)-1, Rajwinder Kaur (Jal)-2, Sagardeep Kaur (Ldh)-3.

400m: Inderjit Kaur (Bathinda)-1, Rajwinder Kaur (Jal-2), Ramla Devi (Pta)-3.

800m: Inderjit Kaur (Bathinda)-1, Kamaljit Kaur (Jal)-2, Simerjit Kaur (Pta)-3.

1500m: Simerjit Kaur (Pta)-1, Parmjit Kaur (Ldh)-2, Jaswinder Kaur (Jal)-3.

Basketball: Ludhiana-1, Jalandhar-2, Hoshiarpur-3.

Gymnastics: Gurdaspur-1, Patiala-2, Amritsar-3.

Handball: Jalandhar-1, Patiala-2, Amritsar-3.Kabaddi: Jalandhar-1, Patiala-2, Faridkot-3.

Volleyball: Ferozepur-1, Patiala-2, Amritsar-3.

Andhra skaters dominate
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Dec 15—The local lad Harkiran Singh clinched gold medal in 3000 metres road race (speed event) on the second day of the 37th National Skating Championship being played here. Neha Narwal of Haryana in (6 to 8 years) and Arjun Gandotra of the J&K (8 to 10 years) were the other proud winners of gold medal in speed events (road races).

In figure skating held at the section 10 Skating rink, Puja Rathod (Gujarat) bagged gold medal in 10 to 12 years section while Mitali Gala, also of Gujarat, secured gold medal in 8 to 10 years section.

In speed events (road races), Andhra Pradesh skaters dominated winning three gold medals followed by Karnataka who got two gold. In artistic (figure event) Gujarat hogged the limelight with three out of four gold medals decided till evening.

Results:

Artistic (figure skating): Girls (8-10 yrs): Mitali Gala (Guj) 1, Harshita Kothari (Mah) 2, Daphne D’ Souza (Guj) 3.10-12 yrs: Puja Rathod (Guj) 1, Shanya Patel (Guj) 2, Maithilee Parekh (Guj) 3.

Boys (8-10 yrs): Abhishek Munsha (Guj) 1, K. Mahesh Varma (AP) 2, K. Bhaskar Varun Prasad (AP) 3.

10-12 yrs: Jeet Shroff (Mah) 1, Karan Dave (Guj) 2, Jeet Desai (Mah) 3.

Speed (Road Race); Girls (six to eight yrs) 1500 mtrs Neha Narwal (Har) 1, Samrudhi Chamle (Mah) 2, Margi Bhaigatiya (Guj) 3. 8-10 yrs-2000 m : K. Mridula (AP) 1, Sowhardhini Raj (Ktk) 2, Trinette Kaunds (Mah) 3. 10-12 yrs - 2000m: D.Sharisha (AP) 1, Reema Bhandari (Har) 2, D. Pragatika (AP) 3. 12-14 yrs - 2000m: Roshani Godale (Mah) 1, Urmila Nanakare (Mah) 2, Indu Poovaiah (Ktk) 3. Above 14 yrs- 2000m: Pallavi (Delhi) 1, Sreeranjani (Ktk) 2, S. Sushma (AP ) 3.

Boys: six to eight yrs-1500m: Subbaiah MP (Ktk) 1, Pratik Nanda (Guj) 2, V. Jitin (AP) 3. Eight to 10 yrs- 2000m: Arjun Gandotra (J&K) 1, KS Upendra S. Varma (AP) 2, S. Brahma Teja (AP) 3. 10-12 yrs- 2000m: Rahul K Suvarna (Ktk) 1, Kartik Raja (AP) 2, Sahil Shah (Mah) 3.

12- 14 yrs- 3000m: Harkiran Singh (Chd) 1, K. Ravi Kiran (AP) 2, Gautam Narang (Har) 3.

Above 14 yrs- 3000m: Abbas Lasania (AP) 1, Dhiraj Ubhe (Mah) 2, Sachin Wadkar (Mah) 3.

Women’s sport fest
By Our Sports reporter

CHANDIGARH, Dec15 — The XXVth National Women’s Sports Festival in three disciplines — badminton, table tennis and lawn tennis will be held from December 18 to 21 , according to Mr P.C. Kashyap, the Regional Director, Sports Authority of India, Chandigarh.

The badminton events will be conducted at Panjab University gymnasium hall, table tennis at the Sector 23 TT hall and lawn tennis at the Lake Club courts, Sector 6.

The four day festival will be organised by SAI in coordination with the PU Sports Department and UT Sports Department. Nearly 250 women participants from various states and union territories will take part.

Hamirpur college win judo title

BILASPUR, Dec 15 (FOSR) — Government College, Hamirpur, won inter-college HP University eighth annual Judo Championship in men and women’s sections here today.

Hamirpur college men defeated P.G.Centre, Shimla while women posted win over Government College, Nalagarh.

Earlier Principal Miss Kanchanmala inaugurated the two-day meet in which girls and boys from 15 colleges of the state participated.

Chess crown for Modi College

PATIALA, Dec 15 (FOSR) — Local M.M. Modi College won title in the Punjabi University Inter-College Chess Championships which concluded here today. M.M. Modi College garnered 16 points. They were followed by DAV College, Bathinda, who claimed 12.5 points. Government Mohindera College, Patiala, who managed 11.5 points, were placed third.

During the championships, a five-member Punjabi varsity team was selected for the forthcoming All India Inter University chess championships. Vikas Sharma, Arvinderpreet Singh, Amit Kumar, Intikhab Alam and Sunil Gupta will constitute the team.

Big victory for Faridabad lads

ROHTAK, Dec 15 (FOSR) — Government College Faridabad trounced Ahir College Rewari by 126 runs to finish as runners-up in the M.D. University Inter Zonal Cricket Championship at Maharaja Aggarsain Stadium here today.

Invited to bat first Faridabad boys scored 261 for 9 in the allotted 45 overs. Ajay Ratra, Haryana Ranji player scored scintillating 139 off 122 balls with the help of 17 boundaries.

This was the first three-figure knock in the championship this season Gyanendra (39) and Narain (26) were the other contributors. Naveen and Himler scalped two victims each.

Chasing the huge victory target of 262, Ahir College Rewari team was bundled out for 135. Only Pramod (36) and Dharmender (20) could reach the double-figure mark. Satish took three wickets for 14 runs whereas Vikram accounted for four batsmen. Left-arm spinner Virender bowled economically to capture one wicket in nine overs after consuming only 11 runs.

Vaish College, Rohtak, registered a seven- wicket victory over Vaish College, Bhiwani, to emerge champions for the second time in succession yestereday.