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Pietersen shines on rain-hit day
Security breach at PCA Stadium Bonanza for BCCI, players
We will fight stay order: Modi
Manhas, Sodhi help North annex |
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Indian eves beat Kiwis Windies stumble after Styris ton Tharanga’s ton lifts Lanka
Tragedy strikes Ambassadors’ Cup
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Pietersen shines on rain-hit day
Mohali, March 9 Match started 45 minutes late on account of light drizzle in the morning. A thick cover of clouds gathered overhead as the play had to be stopped much before the tea break. The play resumed at 3.30 pm only to stop again before the scheduled time. Middle order batsman Kevin Pietersen played an impressive innings scoring 64 runs to save England from a possible difficult situation. England did not make a confident start to the innings. As is his wont, swing bowler Irfan Pathan once against provided India with initial breakthroughs, but absence of an experienced seamer on the other end allowed England off the hook. Debutant Munaf Patel was understandably tentative in the first spell but came out stronger in the second spell to claim the prized scalp of hard-hitting Kevin Pietersen. England made a sedate start. Andrew Strauss looked like getting into his groove, but he was guilty of chasing a rank widish delivery of Pathan.
Mahinder Singh Dhoni showed remarkable agility behind the stumps and caught the ball inches above the ground diving to his left to signal the end of Strauss. Pathan struck again immediately thereafter to trap the last match’s centurion and left-handed opener Alastair Cook leg before plumb in front off a delivery which moved a shade out. With 36 for two, India could have made further inroads into the innings, but were thwarted by the lack of experience at the other end. Pietersen and Bell batted cautiously to add 81 runs for the third wicket stand, before Kumble, four wickets short of reaching the 500-wicket mark, deceived the latter with a delivery that came in and disturbed the stumps. Bell scored 38, hitting six fours. Patel, who made his Test debut in place of indisposed S. Sreesanth, bowled an ordinary first spell. When summoned later, he looked like coming into his own and generated some pace. Paul Collingwood just about survived a searing yorker from Patel which read 144.7 on the speed gun. Lanky speedster struck in the next over, evicting dangerous Pietersen making him play and accepting a return catch. As long as he was on the crease, Pietersen looked assured an composed. He hit 10 fours and a huge six in his 108-ball knock. As the light started to deteriorate the play was topped in the same over and the day’s play ended soon thereafter. Earlier, the axe fell on hapless Mohammad Kaif, who scored 91 in the first Test at Nagpur as the team management decided to strengthen bowling, giving 17-year-old leg-spinner Piyush Chawla his first Test cap. Chawla got to bowl just five over in the day conceding 20 runs. But a bad news for cricket lovers as the Meteorological Department has predicted more rain tomorrow. Scoreboard England
(Ist innings) Strauss c Dhoni b Pathan 18 Cook lbw Pathan 17 Bell b Kumble 38 Pietersen c and b Patel 64 Collingwood not out 19 Flintoff not out 4 Extras
(lb-1, nb-2) 3 Total (4 wkts, 50.3 overs) 163 Fall of wickets:
1-35, 2-36, 3- 117, 4-157. Bowling: Pathan 12-2-42-2, Patel 11.3-1-44-1, Harbhajan 6-0-15-0, Chawla 5-1-20-0, Kumble 12-3-29-1. |
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Security breach at PCA Stadium Mohali, March 9 However, they could not enter the dressing room as they were intercepted by security persons. In the meantime PCA officials reached the spot. After making some enquiries the authorities allowed the two to go but their camera was
confiscated. About the incident, Mr M. P. Pandove, Joint Secretary, BCCI and Honorary Secretary, PCA, said, “The persons claimed to be the mediapersons. After checking their credentials we allowed them to go after seizing their camera. The same will be returned only if we found nothing incriminating in the film.” However, later he admitted that it was serious breach of security. |
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Bonanza for BCCI, players
Mohali, March 9 The duo announced an ambitious plan concerning well-organised marketing rights of the Indian cricket with the aim of generating whopping Mr Modi claimed that properties of the BCCI will be worth Rs 1500 crore by the end of the next year. “With cricketers getting huge money the stakes will be too high. Hence, the selection process will be made foolproof,” he announced. “Twentysix per cent of the total revenue generated will be given to players, while a big chunk of it will go into developing infrastructure. We will ensure that the selectors also get the similar amount as is the case in a country like Australia," Mr Modi said. The plan as announced earlier regarding the setting up of the TV channel was “not dead”, while the web portal will be operational in the next three or four weeks. Also on the anvil is a novel five-year plan envisaging international matches between India and Pakistan at various venues outside India. The venues will be chosen keeping in view concentration of Indians in places like Toronto, Abu Dhabi, Malaysia and Sharjah. Elaborating on the web portal, Mr Modi revealed that the portal would be operational, maybe, by the end of the one-day series against England. The portal will have comprehensive information regarding state associations, players’ stats, records of all games played in the past and “live scoreboards”. The “live scoreboard” will enable one to see the replay, the shot played or a wicket taken. All aspects of the game, including highlights, will be available on the website. “Mobile companies are circulating information regarding Test matches and ODIs through SMS. If they are charging for the service, we should get our share,” said Mr Modi. Regarding the proposed matches to be played between India and Pakistan, Mr Modi revealed that first edition of matches will be played at Abu Dhabi. “Government approval as been received.” Asked who will be the organising authority, Mr Modi said the matches will be organised jointly by the BCCI and the PCB, while association of the staging country will also be there to provide whatever help needed. Scheduling of India A team will be better organised. An infrastructure development committee headed by Mr Bindra has been constituted. It will strive to provide international-level cricketing facilities right up to the school level. |
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We will fight stay order: Modi
Mohali, March 9 In a scathing attack launched on Mr Dalmiya, Mr Modi said, “The chargesheet served was a very comprehensive document. The charges still stand. We will fight the stay order.” “There are a lot of grey areas (referring to the time when Mr Jagmohan Dalmiya was at the helm),” he asked. “A sum of Rs 52 lakh was paid to someone for just writing a book on the history of Indian cricket. A sum of Rs 26 lakh was spent on entertainment in Holland when the Indian team played just three matches there in 2004 while a staggering sum of Rs 1.5 crore was paid for whitewash of the Eden Gardens," he disclosed. Mr Modi dismissed any wrongdoing in the deal regarding the sale of telecast rights to Nimbus. |
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Manhas, Sodhi help North annex Deodhar Trophy
Jaipur, March 9 North’s triumph was made possible after West Zone, table-topper before today’s match, lost their match to South in another tie in Udaipur. West Zone went into today’s match with 12 points while North had nine but after the match, North has 13, thus just about managing to pip West to the title. Chasing a victory target of 285, East were 146 for six in 30.4 overs when drizzle forced the umpires to halt the play. They did wait for some times to improve the conditions before eventually applying the domestic VJD method and declared North
Zone winners. The highlight of the East Zone innings was an unbeaten 77 off 95 balls by Abhishek Jhunjhunwala while Jaipur proved to be unlucky for former India skipper Sourav Ganguly who failed with the bat again as he was out for a duck by Joginder Sharma and did not bowl in the match. Medium pacer VRV Singh, who has been dropped from the Indian team for the ongoing second Test against England, bowled extremely well as he dismissed three East Zone batsmen for only 36. He first bowled opener Subhomoy Das for 17, then got Manoj Tiwari (6) caught behind before removing Rajiv Kumar (1). While VRV Singh claimed three, Joginder Sharma, R S Sodhi and Amit Mishra claimed one wicket each. Earlier, centuries by Manhas (105) and Sodhi (108 not out off 109 balls) helped North Zone pile up 284 for three in the reduced 49-overs-a-side match. Manhas, who had scored a century against South Zone at Udaipur only two days back, displayed brilliant form today also he put on 155 off 179 balls for the third wicket with Sodhi who played almost a run-a-ball knock that included eight fours and three sixes. The partnership was eventually broken by Ranadeb Bose who bowled Manhas for 105. The batsman faced 128 balls and hit eleven fours during his knock. Despite losing opener Shikhar Dhawan (5) early, North never looked in trouble as Gautam Gambhir (39 off 29 balls) played a breezy knock that included six fours and a six before being castled by Shiv Shankar Paul. Pankaj Dharmani (21) remained not out with Sodhi.
— UNI |
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Indian eves beat Kiwis
New Delhi, March 9 After Chopra scored 60 off 97 balls, aided with six boundaries, Reema Malhotra and Jhulan Goswami kept the scoreboard ticking with their crucial 65-run stand to help the Indian eves chase a modest victory target of 185 for loss of seven wickets in 48.2 overs. The Indians stuttered in the beginning losing both their openers for ducks. Chopra held on while wickets fell at regular intervals as the board read 115 for 6 at one stage. When India were looking at their third defeat in a row, Malhotra (36 not out) and Goswami (25) took on the home side with their sixth wicket stand and sealed the game with 10 balls to spare. Earlier, the New Zealanders also had a disastrous start to their innings after they won the toss and elected to bat but Emily Drumm stayed on to pile up an unbeaten 94 of 147 balls guiding the hosts to 184 for six in 50 overs. After the home side was reduced to 13 for five, thanks to new-ball bowlers Goswami and Rumeli Dhar, Drumm partnered Nicola Browne (51). The duo put together 107 for 6 to pile a respectable total for the hosts.
— PTI |
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Windies stumble after Styris ton
Auckland, March 9 The West Indies were 51 for three in reply at stumps, losing two wickets to
Styris’ gentle medium pace in the second-to-last over of the day at Eden Park. New Zealand’s last 22 matches have been
one-dayers and its batsmen, apart from Styris who batted three hours, 12 minutes for an unbeaten 103, struggled to shrug off one-day habits as they were sent in after the West Indies won the toss. Even Nathan
Astle, who made 51 to rally New Zealand which had been 70 for 4 at lunch, did so from 53 balls, with 10 fours and at a rollicking, one-day pace. A middle-order anchor role such as
Styris’, supported by a half century such as Astle's would usually have produced a larger total, but the West Indies were able to take wickets regularly in warm, overcast conditions. Scoreboard New Zealand
(1st innings) Marshall c Edwards
b Taylor 11 How run out 11 Fulton c Ganga b Bradshaw 17 Fleming c Ramdin
b Bradshaw
14 Astle c Ramdin b Smith 51 Styris not out 103 McCullum b Smith 19 Vettori c Gayle b Smith 6 Franklin c sub b Gayle 14 Bond b Gayle 3 Martin c Ramdin
b Bradshaw 0 Extras (b-4, lb-2, nb-12, w-8) 26 Total (all out, 69.1
overs) 275 Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-31, 3-54, 4-69, 5-140, 6-170, 7-199, 8-240, 9-261, 10-275. Bowling:
Edwards 15-1-76-0, Bradshaw 23.1- 3 - 73-3, Taylor 8-2-39-1, Smith 18-2-71-3, Gayle 5-0-10-2. West Indies
(1st innings) Gayle c McCullum b Styris
25 Ganga c How b Martin 20 Bradshaw c How b Styris 0 Sarwan not out 3 Lara not out 0 Extras
(lb-1 nb-2) 3 Total (3
wkts, 17 overs) 51 Fall of wickets: 1-47, 2-48, 3-49. Bowling:
Bond 6-1-17-0, Franklin 6-2-21-0, Martin 3-0-10-1, Styris 2-1-2-2.
— AP |
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Tharanga’s ton lifts Lanka Bogra (Bangladesh), March 9 Tharanga was unbeaten on 160 with Lasith Malinga 12 not out as Sri Lanka took a lead of 68 runs after the hosts had notched 234 in their first innings. Tharanga hit two sixes and 19 fours from 297 deliveries. The opener helped spark a recovery after Sri Lanka, who resumed on 25 for 2, were reduced to 43 for four after two quick wickets in the opening session from Shahadat Hossein. Tharanga, who needed 178 balls to reach three figures, then added 124 for the fifth wicket with skipper Mahela Jayawardene, who fell to Mohammad Ashraful one run short of his half-century. The opener compiled 65 with Tillakaratne Dilshan (33), who was bowled by Rafique before Enamul Haque claimed two quick wickets late in the day to give Bangladesh a lift before stumps. Scoreboard Bangladesh
(1st Innings) 234 Sri Lanka (1st Innings) Vandort lbw Rasel 0 Tharanga not out 160 Bandara c Iqbal b Hossain 2 Samaraweera c Mashud
b Hossain 20 Sangakkara lbw Hossain 0 Jayawardene c Rahim b Ashraful 49 Dilshan b Rafique 33 Maharoof c Mashud b Haque 7 Fernando lbw Haque 5 Malinga not out 12 Extras
(b-5, lb-3, nb-4, w-2) 14 Total (8 wkts, 101 overs) 302 Fall of wickets:
1-4, 2-13, 3-43, 4-43, 5-167, 6-232, 7-251, 8-263. Bowling: Rasel 19-8-42-1, Hossain 20-2-81-3, Rafique 32-9-84-1, Haque 26-3-71-2, Ashraful 4-1-16-1.
— AP |
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Aishwarya to perform ballet at Melbourne
“The Delhi 2010 cultural segment will be a celebration of India receiving the Commonwealth Games Federation flag in Melbourne,” said Indian Olympic Association president and chairman of the 2010 Games Organising Committee Suresh Kalmadi here today. He said over 1,000 artistes, drawn from all over India, will perform at Melbourne.
Aishwarya Rai will lead the star cast, which will include Priyanka Chopra, Lara Dutta, Rani Mukherjee and Saif Ali Khan, and former Indian cricket captain Kapil Dev. Kalmadi said the cultural fiesta would begin with the “India showcase”, a short audio visual, which capsules the essence of “Incredible India”. Director Ken Ghosh and Ranjit Barot will make India sing a different tune at Melbourne. The cultural show’s piece de resistance will be the ballet performance by Aishwarya. The cultural programme will be a fine blend of the traditional and the modern to showcase the interesting paradox of the “young and vibrant India”. Isha Sharwani will display the nuances and science of yoga, Sukhwinder Singh and Gayatri wll sing to evoke “Delhi Dhamaal”, a bhangra performance set to tune by Vishal Shekhar to the lyrics of Javed Akhtar, and performed among others by Rani Mukherjee and Saif Ali Khan. “The Bhangra will represent the vibrancy, warmth and colour of Delhi,” added Kalmadi. A short film titled “Welcome to Delhi 2010”, which captures the spirit of the people of Delhi, will also be shown. And then “Shera”, the friendly tiger, which is the mascot of the 2010 Games, will be ushered into the stadium on a float resembling a traditional Indian chariot, to give a glimpse of the things to unfold in Delhi. The tiger depicts the “qualities of courage, strength, peace and friendship”, and Shera’s grand entry in a procession will be heightened by the percussion performance of maestros Taufiq Qureshi
and Sivamani. Kalmadi said the celebrations will reach a crescendo with a performance by
Shaimak Davar’s team, and the singing of the “theme-song of Delhi”, a fast-paced peppy track, written by Gulzar, composed by Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy and sung by Sonu Nigam, Sunidhi Chauhan, Davar, Shreya Ghoshal and Blaaze. The cultural fiesta will unfold the colour, character and diversity of India, and what to expect when sportspersons and tourists from 71 countries of the Commonwealth assemble in Delhi for the 2010 Games. The parting message of the eye-catching spectacle would be: ‘See you in Delhi and see the difference’. |
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Tragedy strikes Ambassadors’ Cup
Patiala, March 9 The match between South Delhi and President’s Bodyguards was being played on a cloudy day and towards the end of the fourth chukker of the evenly contested match a horse of the Bodyguard’s staggered to a halt with the horseman — an Australian ambassador — suddenly jumping off the animal. Despite repeated requests from the announcer, the horse ambulance of the Army failed to reach the spot. A team of doctors finally made their way towards the beast which lay writhing in pain. However, they failed to resuscitate the horse. The match restarted with the South Delhi team being awarded a ‘undefended penalty’. Intriguingly, the ambulance arrived to ‘resuscitate’ the horse after the announcer had officially proclaimed it dead over the public address system. However, the Deputy Commissioner, who is also the ex-officio Secretary of the PPRC, said the horse had died instantly and even if the ambulance had arrived it would not have survived. Meanwhile, rain played spoilsport with the day’s proceedings forcing the locals to stay away from the venue. Capt Amarinder Singh watched all the matches played during the day. For the record, 61st Cavalry swamped Indian Navy 10 - 1.1/5, Cavalry (Royal gems and arts) downed Royal Kashmir 7- 4.5 while the South Delhi versus the President's Bodyguards (RVC) match ended in a 5-5 tie and the contest will be decided through a penalty shootout tomorrow. |
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Nayeemuddin, Banerjee sacked
New Delhi, March 9 The federation will approach FIFA and Asian Football Confederation for a suitable foreign coach as replacement.
— PTI |
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Ambala girl for Asian championship
Ambala, March 9 |
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Mohali, March 9
New Delhi, March 9
