It's like a dream; says Kumble
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Feb 7 — Anil Kumble was all praise for the support he received on the field, specially the close-in fielders, while going on to claim 10 wickets in the Pakistan second innings which helped India to record a 212-run win at the Ferozeshah Kotla here this afternoon.

Kumble said his performance today was "like a dream". He also praised the work of fellow-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who today went wicketless.

"I never ever dream I would be able to do such a thing. It’s a great honour for me. It’s like a thing of dream", said Kumble.

Agreeing that Ferozeshah Kotla has proved a happy hunting ground for him, Kumble said: "It has been good for me. I made my comeback here (against Australia) and would obviously like to take it wherever I go".

Kumble, who bagged the Man of the Match award for the stupendous performance, said the narrow loss in the first Test also spurred the Indian team. "It was disappointing not to be able to score 15 runs after Sachin and Nayan brought us so close. So we were all determined to do well here".

"But credit should also go to the batsmen, especially Ramesh with his 60 and 96. Srinath and Saurav also batted well. It was they who turned the match our side. It was even till then. Harbhajan also bowled well but was unlucky not to get any wicket", the star bowler said.

Indian skipper Azharuddin said his team made a good comeback after the narrow loss in the Chennai Test.

"I could not digest the loss in Chennai. I would not have minded if we had lost by 150 runs but losing after coming so close was disappointing.

"The boys showed keenness and inclination to play hard and Kumble did the job. He bowled well...kept his cool and came out with flying colours. To be the second man to claim all the 10 wickets is really superb," said the captain summing up the memorable performance.

Azhar congratulated the Pakistan team for their fine performance for coming to play in India despite the initial threats and said it has been a good series for both teams.

A dejected Pakistan captain Wasim Akram said the toss played a crucial role in the match but added that the Indian team came up with an overall better performance.

"It has been a great series, on part of cricket and on part of the crowd which has been wonderful."

Asked what he felt in the morning about Pakistan’s chances after India set an imposing 420-run target, the Pakistan captain said his team wanted to hang in there and play well.

He congratulated Anil Kumble for his brilliant show and said ten wickets are not an easy matter, "I would love to have them myself".

Akram said his team had a good series despite the various problems at the start. "We did not have a very good year last year but this series has been very good".

Kumble emulates Jim Laker

NEW DELHI, Feb 7 — Leg spinner Anil Kumble who emulated England’s Jim Laker by becoming only the second bowler ever to take 10 wickets in a Test innings today also erased several other bowling records.

Kumble, who claimed 10 for 74 to bowl India to victory over Pakistan in the second Test at Ferozeshah Kotla, climbed to the second best ever show in an innings by a bowler, next only to Jim Laker’s 10 for 53 against Australia at Old Trafford, Manchester, in 1956.

Kumble also produced the third best haul by an Indian. His match tally of 14 for 149 stood behind Narendra Hirwani’s 16 for 136 against the West Indies at Chennai in 1987 and Jassu Patel’s 14 for 124 against Australia at Kanpur in 1959.

Previous best against Pakistan:

8/52 (match haul 13/131) — Vinoo Mankad — Delhi — 1952-53.

8/85 — Kapil Dev — Lahore — 1982-83.

Previous best against Pakistan at Ferozeshah Kotla:

(innings) 8/52 — Vinoo Mankad — 1952-53.

(match) 13/131 — Vinoo Mankad — 1952-53.

Previous best by an Indian in an innings:

9/60 — Jassu Patel vs Australia — Kanpur — 1959

9/83 — Kapil Dev vs West Indies — Ahmedabad — 1982-83.

9/102 — Subhash Gupte vs West Indies — Kanpur — 1958.

Ten best Test bowling performances in an innings:

10-53 J. Laker, England v Australia — Manchester — 1956

10-74 A. Kumble, India v Pakistan — Delhi — 1999

9-28 G. Lohmann, England v South Africa — Jo’burg —1895

9-37 J. Laker, England v Australia — Manchester — 1956

9-52 R. Hadlee, New Zealand v Australia — Brisbane — 1985

9-56 A. Qadir, Pakistan v England — Lahore — 1987

9-57 D. Malcolm, England v South Africa — The Oval — 1994

9-65 M. Muralitharan, Sri Lanka v England — The Oval —1998

9-69 J. Patel, India v Australia — Kanpur — 1959

9-83 K. Dev, India v West Indies — Ahmedabad — 1983. — PTI

PM hosts dinner for cricketers

NEW DELHI, Feb 7 (UNI) — Leaving behind tense battle on the 22-yard plot of Ferozeshah Kotla ground, players of the Indian and Pakistani cricket teams got some time to unwind themselves at a reception, hosted by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee last evening.

The Prime Minister was introduced to the two teams and posed for photographs with them at the informal function, held on the sprawling lawns of his 7, Race Course residence.

A large number of guests including Minister of State for Human Resource Development Uma Bharti, Pakistani High Commissioner to India Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, former Union Minister NKP Salve and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Raj Singh Dungarpur were present.

Some of the Pakistani cricketers like Saeed Anwar and Mushtaq Ahmed had also brought their families along. Indian skipper Mohammad Azharuddin appeared with his wife Sangeeta Bijlani.

The Prime Minister exchanged pleasantries with the guests and spent some time with Azharuddin and Pakistani captain Wasim Akram.

Tyson not the only loser after sentence

NEW YORK, Feb 7 (Reuters) — Mike Tyson by far is not the only loser after he was sent to jail for a year on Friday.

There’s a long list of people who recently had bet that the former heavyweight champion of the world would come roaring back after regaining his license to box and take them laughing all the way to the bank.

Instead they may be headed for the cleaners.

Showtime cable television network, the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and America Presents (Tyson’s last promoter) could be out millions of dollars with their money-maker going to jail for assaulting two motorists in Maryland in what the Judge called "road rage" after a minor car accident last summer.

Mr Shelly Finkel, Tyson’s de-facto manager who is out a lot of his expensive time, testified on Friday that at the time of Tyson’s last fight in January the fighter owed more than $ 14 million to the Internal Revenue Service and $ 8.1 million to former trainer Kevin Rooney.

Rooney since has collected about $ 2.75 million and is still owed the rest.

Showtime, likely with help from the MGM, is said to have paid off the IRS debt, Showtime, Mr Finkel said, had liens on all of the 32-year-old Tyson’s properties. Showtime also loses by not having Tyson in its battles with HBO for the huge pay-per-view (PPV) revenues boxing brings in.

America Presents, a promotional company getting its first big chance at the big time by promoting a Tyson fight, reportedly gave Tyson a non-refundable ion to promote two of his fights.

"Tyson would need to fight three or four more times to break even," Mr Finkel testified on Thursday. He said he had expected Tyson to fight three or four times this year.

Mr Finkel didn’t mention it, but the huge money maker talked about for the end of the year was Evander Holyfield-Tyson III, which hands down would have been the biggest grossing fight ever, raking in more than Botha fight in addition to having some of his debts paid off.

It was, of course, Tyson-Holyfield II in June 1997 when Tyson bit both of Holyfield’s ears and had his license revoked and did not fight for 19 months before knocking out South African Frans Botha last month.

Ironically, though a case could be made that boxing is the least injured if Tyson, as so many people are predicting, is finished.

"The people who drool in front of TV sets, those are the people who are gonna lose. Now boxing can get back to the business of boxing. Enough of this novelty act that was Mike Tyson," said Mr Bert Sugar, the respected boxing historian and Editor of Fight Game magazine.

Tyson’s appeal appears to have diminished for even those whose main reason for watching his fights was to see him implode again.

The Botha fight was a big disappointment to its backers. PPV sales were relatively poor and the MGM had to practically give away tickets on the day of the fight to make a respectable showing in their arena.

Many boxing observers have said that Tyson has long lost the skills and mental toughness that characterised his earlier career that made him the youngest heavyweight champion ever and the scourge of the heavyweight division and one of the biggest sports money machines ever.

But it has long been evident that Tyson’s best years in the ring are over. Since he got out of prison in 1995 after serving 3½ years for rape, he has not shown the crisp combinations and mental toughness that earmarked his earlier career.

Instead he has become a head-hunter and dirty fighter. And he certainly no longer is the "baddest man on the planet" as he once dubbed himself.

The talent-challenged Botha even taunted Tyson several times in their fight. And Tyson has become a crybaby in the ring, looking for help from the referee as he did in the Botha fight after he instigated nasty exchanges by trying to break Botha’s arm in a clinch.

But there always must be a caveat to anything concerning boxing. It is a sport that always seems to find a way to turn disasters into dollars.

It is not clear whether Tyson will be able to work during the day. But if he can, it should be remember that the only work Tyson has ever done is to fight.

Indian team eager to bounce back

HYDERABAD, Feb 7 (PTI) — India would be raring to bounce back into the four-match home Test series with a victory over Pakistan when they clash in the third Test here tomorrow.

India lost earlier two Tests by a margin of 4-3 at Delhi and 4-1 at Bhopal.

However, the Indian camp is optimistic to etch out a much needed win to boost their morale in the series at the Begumpet astro turf stadium. "We will come back into the game, although we had a very bad match at Bhopal", said Indian coach Baskaran.

The Indian coach was all praise for the Pakistan side. "They have a very good forward line but we will do our best to curtail their tactics. We are not thinking of using any of the seniors at this stage as this team has to be build up on a good forward line for our future matches", he said.

The Indian skipper Anil Aldrin felt his side played worst hockey at Bhopal. "We were unlucky in the first Test, and I think we can go up from here (Hyderabad) to keep the Test ties live, but still I cannot forget the terrible match of Bhopal and I must point out Indian Airlines defender Dilip Tirkey was the pick of Indian squad who put up a splendid show in both the matches."

"Our defence and mid-fielders failed to capitalise and could not play to their full potential. Moreover, I have been with the team for only ten days and I am not yet aware of their individual potential", he said.

"But at this juncture, our seniors would have certainly made some difference. As far as quality of game is concerned it would be played on a different proposition than our earlier two Tests", the Indian skipper said.

Meanwhile, coach Bhaskaran said he was unaware of the replacements by Indian Hockey Federation regarding the two injured players — Ramandeep Singh and L. Prabhakaran — who would be replaced by local lad and ace forward M. Mukesh and penalty corner specialist Baljit Singh Dhillon.

However, there is still some doubt about Mukesh’s participation in tomorrow’s match as the other two players are also yet to arrive in the city.

Pakistan skipper Atif Bashir hoped his side will make a clean sweep of the series. "I am happy my boys have put up a great show till now as this squad is basically a team for the forthcoming Olympics", he said.

"I must admit that we have a better forward line than Indians despite five new faces in the side. We are here to fight it out till the last minute", Bashir said.

Foolproof security has been provided to the venue.

Dempo rally to hold JCT
From Amardeep Bhattal
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, Feb 7 — Reduced to 10 men midway through the second half, Dempo Sports Club, Goa, rallied to hold a spirited JCT Phagwara to a 1-1 draw in a group 'A' match of the National Football League at the Guru Nanak Stadium here today. With today's draw, JCT's tally has gone up to 13 points from three victories and four draws while Dempo, trailing at the fifth position, have accumulated nine points. JCT will now meet Air-India in their last home match here on February 10 while Dempo travel back for a home tie against Tollygunge a day later.

With the contest for a berth in the last six getting narrower, much was expected to the clash of the titans today. And expectedly, the two teams did not disappoint, having realised that a defeat today would have considerable dimmed their chances of making it to the super league. Dempo coach TK Chathunni pressed into service every ammunition at his disposal. Nigerian Martin Ozur, who joined the team only yesterday, was brought into the attack as left striker to assist Francis Silviera.

However, despite a good start, Dempo suffered a setback as early as in the 10th minute. Following a faulty pass by midfielder Anthony Afonso, the ball came to JCT's right winger Surjit who gave a quick pass to right striker Hardeep Gill. Hardeep's angular shot caught the Dempo custodian Vikrant Sharma unawares and the ball landed safely in the net (1-0).

Thereafter, Dempo pressed hard for the equaliser. Francis Silviera's piledriver in the 28th minute followed by a combined move with new recruit Martin Ozur proved to be of no avail.

The early blow notwithstanding, Dempo continued to mount pressure but almost conceded a second goal when dependable stopper back Christopher Ihegborou made a faulty clearance inside the box. Hardeep Gill got his foot to the ball but only managed to shoot wide.

After several unsuccessful attempts, Dempo found the equaliser in the 61st minute following a move by midfielder Tajinder Kumar on the right flank. Having gained possession of the ball, Tajinder gave a gentle pass to Mathew Rodrigues who had replaced Anthony Afonso. Mathew's curling right footer towards the JCT goal saw right striker Francis Silviera leaping high for a header and the ball sailed into the net over JCT custodian Virender Kumar (1-1).

Following the equaliser, Dempo received another shock when defender Stanley Colaco was given marching orders for his second yellow card after having tripped JCT's striker Surjit twice in quick succession. But despite being reduced to 10 men, Dempo fought back gallantly. Stopper back Christopher warded off danger time and again with superior aerial duels. Right half Tajinder, Brazilian Joao Soares and Mauricio Afonso also lent support to the defence while feeding the forward-line.

JCT were unlucky in not getting another goal in the second half. Hardeep Sangha, playing as a withdrawn forward, first saw his powerful piledriver going over the goal-line after kissing the upright and then his shot from close range following a faulty header by Dempo's Melwin Rodrigues struck the goalkeeper.

Later Harinder, who replaced skipper Harjinder, attempted a long ranger which brought out the best in Dempo custodian Wikrant Sharma, formerly of Sessa, Goa, who just about managed to punch the ball over the bar.

Commenting on today's draw, JCT coach Sukhwinder Singh said his team allowed the rivals to organise through unnecessary fouls.

Dempo coach T.K. Chathunni also gave full credit to the spirited performance by JCT saying the youngsters were really playing "aggressive football".

"We were facing a problem in the attack initially but with new recruit Martin Ozur signing up, we hope to do well in the remaining ties", said the veteran coach exuding confidence.

Gilchrist fashions Aussies' win

MELBOURNE, Feb 7 (AP) — Adam Gilchrist scored a brilliant 154 to power Australia to a record-breaking victory in the limited overs match against Sri Lanka at the MCG today.

Gilchrist scored the most runs by any Australian in a limited overs international while leading Australia to 310 for eight, the team’s highest ever score at the MCG.

Sri Lanka were already out of contention in the tournament, with England to meet the hosts in a best of three series starting in Sydney on Wednesday.

But the World Cup champions made a spirited chase of the runs, as openers Avishka Gunewardena (75) and Romesh Kaluwitharana (68) belted an opening stand of 145 in 20 overs.

While the pair put Sri Lanka on pace for a record chase, allrounder Shane Lee rattled its middle order with three wickets and finished with a career-best 5-33.

Sri Lanka was bowled out for 267, giving Australia 43-run win.

It ended a difficult tour for the Sri Lankans, marked by the no-balling of off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan for throwing, and the six-match suspended sentence for captain Arjuna Ranatunga after his clash with umpire Ross Emerson.

Sri Lanka’s fieldsmen contributed to their own downfall in the final match as Gilchrist survived a run out chance on nought and a dropped catch early in his innings to smash his second century of the tri-series competition.

While the match has no bearing on the competition the innings might prove vital in Gilchrist’s career.

Australian selectors were to meet later today to choose a 15-man team to tour the West Indies from February 22 and the heir apparent to Ian Healy as Australia’s Test wicketkeeper made a strong claim for one of the vacant middle order batting slots.

Gilchrist’s was a memorable innings from the start. The left-hander played with tremendous power, hitting four sixes and 14 fours in his 130-ball stay.

He got good support from Ricky Ponting, who scored 61 off 64 balls but was also dropped early, and Darren Lehmann who made 27.

Sri Lanka’s leading bowler, Muralitharan, was forced off the field with an injury after claiming 2-15 in 3.4 overs.

Sri Lanka was missing star opener Sanath Jayasuriya, who has a broken arm, but made a start the hard-hitting batsman would have been proud of.

Gunewardena was in stunning form early in the innings, with a lofted six over mid-off from Glenn McGrath’s bowling. Kaluwitharana joined in the fun when he took 19 runs off a Shane Warne over with the field forced up in the opening 15.

Warne got his revenge against Kaluwitharana and Sri Lanka never got moving again when Gunewardena chopped one on from Lee.

AUSTRALIA:
Gilchrist c Tillekeratne b Vaas 154

M. Waugh b Muralitharan 19

Julian c Jayawardene b Muralitharan 0

Ponting c Jayawardene b De Silva 61

Lehmann c Ranatunga b Samarawera 27

Martyn c Kaluwitharana b Wickremasinghe 18

Bevan not out 11

Lee run out 5

Warne c Tillekeratne b Vaas 3

Kasprowicz not out 2

Extras (B-4, W-4, NB-2) 10

Total (for 8 wkts, 50 overs) 310

Fall of wickets: 1-92, 2-92, 3-213, 4-253, 5-286, 6-291, 7-301, 8-307.

Bowling: Vaas 10-1-68-2, Wickremasinghe 9-0-52-1, Muralitharan 3.4-1-15-2, A. De Silva 10-0-55-1, Tillekeratne 1.2-0-11-0, Samarawera 9-0-60-1, Jayawardene 7-0-45-0.

SRI LANKA:
Gunawardene b Lee 75

Kaluwitharana c Martyn b Warne 68

De Silva c Waugh b Lee 11

Jayawardene run out 27

Ranatunga c Gilchrist b Lee 1

Tillekeratne c Ponting b Lee 42

Atapattu b Lehmann 12

Vaas b McGrath 14

Samaraweera b Lee 3

Wickremasinghe c Gilchrist b McGrath 4

Muralitharan not out 1

Extras (B-2 LB-2, W-1 NB-4) 9

Total (from 47.1 overs) 267

Fall of wickets: 1-145, 2-147, 3-164, 4-166, 5-200, 6-225, 7-248, 8-255, 9-265.

Bowling: McGrath 8-0-46-2, Kasprowicz 8-0-45-0, Warne 8-1-51-1, Julian 5-0-45-0, Lee 8.1-0-33-5, Bevan 3-0-15-0, Lehmann 7-0-28-1.

Gopichand, Aparna in pre-quarters

NEW DELHI, Feb 7 (PTI) — National champions P. Gopichand and Aparna Popat notched up easy victories to enter the pre-quarterfinals of the men’s and women’s section, respectively, at the 63rd Senior National Badminton Championship here today.

Top seed Gopichand of Andhra Pradesh outsmarted opener Pal Singh (Rly) 15-1, 15-5 in the third round before scoring an equally impressive 15-3, 15-4 win in the second round.

Karnataka’s Aparna Popat faced no challenge from Priya Verma of Rajasthan 11-0, 11-1 crushing into the third round of the women’s singles which witnessed two upsets during the day. In men’s fourth seed Sushant Saxena (UP) and Davinder Dhillon (Del), the 10th seed, faced reverses.

Tenth seed Archana Deodhar of Maharashtra was shocked by Ketki Thakkar (AI) 9-11, 11-9, 4-11 while on the side court Kirti Kadam (Rly), the 12th seed, was beaten by unheralded Krishna Hazarika of Assam 11-7, 2-11, 5-11.

Despite winning the first game comfortably at 11-7, Kirti lost her composure and totally faded in remaining games as Krishna, after winning the second 11-2, clinched the decider 11-5 using drop volleys to her advantage.

Second seed Manjusha Kanwar of Maharashtra, Neelima Chaudhary (AP), the fourth seed, Shalaka Damle (AI), B.R. Meenakshi (Rly), Sampada Shetty (AI) and Manju T. Abraham were other seeds who sailed through to the round of sixteen.

In men’s singles action, second seed Nikhil Kanetkar of Maharashtra vanquished local Praveen Gehlawat 15-0, 15-2 to make the pre-quarterfinals.

Railways’ Mangrish Palekar, Sachin Ratti, Ajit Wijetilak (Ktk), last year’s runners-up Abhin Shyam Gupta (AI), Shrikant Bakshi (Rly) and Anuj Gupta (Guj) were other seeds who cruised into the next round.

Nikhil Kanetkar was simply the best against Delhi’s Praveen Gehlawat. With his powerful overhead smashes, Nikhil did not allow his opponent to take advantage at any moment in match.

The Maharashtra shuttler now takes on 12th seed Anuj Gupta for a place in the quarter-finals. Gopichand meets Parag Modi (AI) and should easily move into the round of eight.

Uttar Pradesh’s Utsav Mishra, who upset junior national champion Thomas Kurien (Ker) yesterday, today again repeated his giant killing act by defeating Davinder Dhillon 15-8, 15-2. Madhur Kalia (Del) was Shushant Saxena’s nemesis as he beat him 15-11, 2-15, 15-11.

National Games champion Vijay Lancy, who spectacularly rallied to post win over Sachin Ratti in the team championship to give Maharashtra the men’s title two days ago, continued with his winning form with well-crafted 1-15, 15-12, 15-6 win over B. Chetan Anand (AI).

Vijay Lancy seems to have taken fancy to script comeback wins. After losing first game 1-15, the Maharashtra shuttler dribbled well at the net forcing his opponent to commit mistakes.

Earlier in the day, Gopichand beat Ritesh Ranjan (Bih) 15-3, 15-4, Nikhil beat Abhishek Bakshi (Ktk) 7-15, 15-3, 15-4, Sachin Ratti beat J. Santosh (TN) 15-4, 15-6, Abhinshyam Gupta trounced Avinash Sharma (J&K) 15-0, 15-3 and Ajit Wije Tilak defeated Jaideep Kohli (Pun) 15-4, 15-3 in the second round action.

6-wicket haul by Pankaj Thakur

RAJKOT, Feb 7 (PTI) — Saurashtra took a 25-run lead as they scored 363 all out in their first innings against Haryana on the third day of the four-day Ranji Super League tie today.

Haryana in their second knock were 124 for two wickets. Skipper Ajay Jadeja (43 batting) and Amarjeet Kaypee (46 batting) were at crease when stumps were drawn.

SCOREBOARD
Haryana (Ist innings): 338 all out
Saurashtra (Ist innings): (overnight score 215 for 3).
Sudhir Tanna c Kaypee b Thakur 101, Altaf Merchant lbw b Thakur 61, Sitanshu Kotak c Singh b Thakur 31, Garsondiya c Kaypee b Thakur 22, Bimal Jadeja c J. Singh b Thakur 32, Prakash Bhatt c Ratra b Dhanrajsingh 11, Hitesh Parsana c Ratra b Jain 05, Manoj Parmar c Goel b Jain 00, Yusuf Bambhaniya not out 43, Narendra Rana c Kaypee b Thakur 06, Kamal Chawda c Kaypee b Jain 12.

Extras: (B-5, LB-8, NB-3, W-23) 39.

Total: (all out in 128.5 overs) 363.

Fall of wickets: 1-169, 2-208, 3-215, 4-246, 5-266, 6-285 7-286, 8-328, 9-334, 10-363.

Bowling: Ajay Jadeja 21.3-6-58-0, Vineet Jain 22.5-2-82-3 Dhanraj Singh 18-4-35-1, Sonu Sharma 30-8-67-0, Pankaj Thakur 36.3-6-108-6.

Haryana (IInd innings):

Jitender c Parmar b Chawda 09, Nitin c&b Parsana 20, Ajay Jadeja batting 43, Kaypee batting 46.

Extras: (B-1, LB-2, W-2, NB-1) 06.

Total: (for two wickets in 37 overs) 124

Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-30.

Bowling: Garsondiya 10-3-26-0, Narendra Rana 1-0-7-0, Kamal Chawda 4-1-4-1, Hitesh Parsana 9-1-52-1, Sitanshu Kotak 9-1-27-0, Sudhir Tanna 4-2-5-0.

Overall best trophy for MWSC
From Our Correspondent

MANALI, Feb 7 — Chunni Lal and Ludher Chand (alpine race) — men, Tara Morrison (alpine race)-women and Vijender Singh (cross country) — men, were declared the best skiers in the five-day first Himachal Ski Cup Championship-99 organised by the Directorate of Mountaineering and Allied Sports, Department of Tourism, and assisted by Winter Sports Club, Manali, at Solang Ski slopes, 13 km from here.

The following are the results: Slalom Race (men)-Chunni Lal (YMWSC) Palchan, 1, Luder Chand (Manali Winter Sports Club) 2 and Santosh Kumar (Manali Winter Sports Club) 3. Slalom race (women)-Pushpa Thakur (YMWSC) Palchan 1, Tara Morrrison (Manali Winter Sports Club) 2, cross country-10 km (men): Vijender Singh (ITBP)-1, Dinesh Kumar (MWSC)-2 and Devi Chand (YMWSC) 3. Giant slalom (men): Luder Chand (MWSC) 1, Chunni Lal (YMWSC)-2 and Santosh Kumar (MWSC) 3. Giant slalom (women): Tara Morrison 1, Begma Devi (MWSC) 2 and Uma Thakur (YMWSC) 3.

Cross country-15 km: Vijender Singh (ITBP) 1, Dinesh Kumar (MWSC) 2 and Devi (YMWSC) 3. Slalom junior: Chander Pal Rashpa (MWSC) 1, Surinder Thakur (DMAS) 2 and Sunil Thakur (HAI) 3.

Giant slalom: Kapil Thakur (DMAS) 1, Deepak Thakur (YMWSC) 2 and Deepa Thakur (YMWSC) 3. Snow boarding (men): Ramesh Thakur 1, Dev Gupta 2 and Vikram Sharma 3.

As many as 14 teams from all over India participated in the championship. Overall best trophy was won by Manali Winter Sports Club (MWSC).

Devendra, Akash slam centuries

PUNE, Feb 7 (PTI) — Fine centuries by opener Devendra Sharma (108) and Akash Malhotra (101 not out) helped Delhi pile up 447 for 4 wickets declared in their second innings against hosts Maharashtra on the penultimate day of the Ranji Trophy super league tie here today.

Resuming at their overnight score of 86 for no loss, the visitors added 361 runs for the loss of four wickets and declared their innings 15 minutes before close.

The home team made 5 for no loss in 2.3 overs in their second innings, with openers Hemant Kinikar (1) and Surendra Bhave (4) at the crease when the match was called off five minutes before close due to bad light.

Delhi openers, debutant Devendra Sharma 108 (333 mins, 223 balls, 13 x 4) and Ashu Dani (92 in 271m, 208b, 9 x 4, 2 x 6) were involved in 193-runs partnership. Sharma was caught and bold by spinner Satyen Lande while Dani was trapped leg before wicket by seamer Siddarath Godbole. Sharma slammed his first Ranji century.

Akash Malhotra who scored unbeaten 101 (172 mins, 124 balls, 10 x 4, 1 x 6) and Virendra Sehwag (85 in 66 balls, 96 mins, 11 x 4, 1 x 6) were the run getters for the visitors. Sehwag, who was going great guns was snapped by Lande at long on off spinner Umesh Gotkhindikar. Malhotra and Sehwag were involved in a 123-run stand for the fourth wicket.

Scoreboard:
Delhi (1st innings): 156 all out in 57.5 overs.
Maharashtra (1st innings): 221 all out in 87.2 overs.
Delhi (2nd innings): (overnight 86 for no loss in 33 overs) Devendra Sharma c and b Lande 108, Ashu Dani lbw Godbole 92, Pankaj Joshi c Lande b Godbole 23, Akash Malhotra not out 101, Virendra Sehwag c Lande b Gotkhindikar 85, Mithun Minhas not out 18.

Extras (b-5, lb-8, nb-5, w-2): 20

Total (for 4 wkts in 117.2 decld): 447

Fall of wickets: 1-193, 2-237, 3-255, 4-378.

Bowling: Sachin Nair 20-4-75-0; Milind Kulkarni 19-5-71-0; Umesh Gotkhindikar 25.2-2-105-1; Siddarath Godbole 13-2-44-2; Satyen Lande 27-3-99-1; Ashutosh Agashe 10-2-32-0; Shantanu Sugvekar 3-0-8-0.

Kapoor has Punjab struggling

JAIPUR, Feb 7 (PTI) — Ashish Kapoor with a fine bowling spell of four for 95, reduced Punjab to 239 for five, replying to Rajasthan’s first innings total of 536, at close of the third day’s play in the Ranji Trophy super league tie here today.

Despite Vikram Rathore’s 76 and Dinesh Mongia’s unbeaten 51, Kapoor had Punjab, who boast of a strong batting line-up, struggling on a perfect batting track.

Punjab started off well with Navjot Sidhu (42, 139 minutes, 91 balls, 5x4) and Rathore taking them to 61 for no loss at lunch.

But after lunch Rajasthan spinners Kapoor and Mohd Aslam took four wickets to have Punjab reeling.

First Kapoor saw the back of the former India opener when he deceived Sidhu with a short pitch delivery and trapped him lbw. Fellow spinner Mohd Aslam got rid of Reetinder Singh Sodhi (16).

Kapoor then claimed the wickets of Pankaj Dharmani (4) and the well-set Rathore to have Punjab struggling at 151 for four.

Wicketkeeper Dinesh Mongia and Harmindar Singh Jugnu (29) played sensibly and tried to stem the rot. But just as the stand began to flourish, Kapoor flighted one to Jugnu and the latter trying to loft the offspinner was caught at short mid-wicket. The two realised 88 runs for the fifth wicket.

Earlier, Rajasthan, resuming their first innings at the overnight score of 521 for eight folded up for the addition of just 15 runs.

For Punjab Sandeep Sharma (129/3) and Saranjeet Singh (3/99) were the most successful bowlers.

Railways restrict Orissa
From Our Sports Reporter

PATIALA, Feb 7 — It was a rejuvenated Railways as it clawed its way back into the match firstly as it managed to restrict a rampaging Orissa to 348 all out and then scoring sedately to be 62 for 1 at draw of stumps on day two of the Ranji Trophy super league match played at the DCW Stadium here today.

Overnight 245 for 1 the match seemed to drifting the Orissa way but a gallant effort by the Railway bowlers, particularly Murli Karthik and Zakir Hussain, meant that the match has come alive as an intense contest.

Resuming at its overnight 245 for 1 Railways seamer Zakir Hussain and left arm spinner Murli Karthik rocked the rivals boat with some inspired bowling on a placid track.

In the first session of play itself both the bowlers bowled a superb line to effectively put the skids on the Orissa batsmen having them groping at 309 for 7 after they had reached a position of strength being placed at 269 for 1 at one stage.

Unlike yesterday Zakir Hussain refrained from hitting the deck repeatedly and instead concentrated on pitching the ball up which had the batsmen in two minds. With the pitch being labelled as a slow turner, Railway skipper P. Rawat thought it prudent to persist with Murli Karthik from one end with both medium pacers Sanjay Banger and Zakir Hussain being rotated from the other one. Karthik today flighted the ball well enough to scalp four victims returning with impressive figures of 45.3-15-73-4.

Overnight unbeaten centurion S.S. Dass failed to find his fluent touch today and after nudging and edging his way to 10 more runs this morning accumulated in 74 minutes of stay in the middle was finally out when a Zakir Hussain delivery cut off the seam to disturb his off-stump. On the other end Karthik struck to knock the heart out of the Orissa innings which folded up at 348.

With both medium pacers Debashish Mohanty and Robin Morris getting no purchase whatsoever from the track Orissa skipper Sanjay Raul brought on spinners from both ends and this move paid rich dividends when opener Asif Murtaza uppishly drove off spinner S. Satpathy into the hands of cover fieldsman Robin Morris who accepted the waist high catch. Both Sanjay Banger and A. Sharma saved the railmen blushes with Banger even clouting a short ball from Stapathy over mid wicket with a touch of assurance.

Scoreboard:
Orissa (Ist innings): 348 all out.
S.S. Dass b Hussain 110, P. Jayachandra b Karthik 33, P. Mullick c Banger b Hussain 92, Sanjay Raul c Abhey b Hussain 12. R.R. Parida b Banger 2, Pardeep lbw Karthik 2, Robin lbw Karthik 2, Gautam c Banger b Karthik 34. Sanjay c Parida b Balaji Rao 9, Mohanty c V. Sharma b Balaji Rao 0, Shahid Khan n.o. 0.

Extras: 52 (b-16, lb-15, w-2, nb-19). Total 348 all out.

FOW: 1/77, 2/269, 3/290, 4/293, 5/296, 6/296, 7/309, 8/346, 9/346, 10/348.
Bowling: Z. Hussain 17-7-43-3, Sanjay Banger 23-5-55-1, W.D. Balaji Rao 27-3-72-2, M. Karthik 45.3-15-73-4, Kulmani Parida 18-3-54-0, P. Rawat 9-2-13-0, Yera Gaud 1-0-7-0.

Railways: Sanjay Banger batting 28, Asif Murtaza c Morris b Satpathy 11, Abhey Sharma 21 n.o. Extras 0.

Total: 62 for 1.

Bowling: R. Morris 6-3-19-0, D. Mohanty 4-1-10-0, Sanjay Satpathy 5-1-24-1, Shahid Khan 3.2-1-6-0, P. Jayachandra 1-0-1-0.

Churchill down Tollygunge 3-1

MARGAO, Feb 7 (PTI) — Churchill Bros defeated Tollygunge 3-1 to move to the top spot in group "A" in the 3rd edition of the National Football League at Nehru Stadium, Fatorda here today.

Tollygunge who looked dangerous in their counter attack went into the lead through a freak goal scored by striker Roshan Pereira in the 22nd minute.

Churchill Bros dominated the entire match. After missing three chances in the first and two in the second half they restored parity in 54th minute through striker Philip Mensah. Philip struck again in 70th minute to give Churchill Bros the lead and take his individual tally to six goals, highest in the tournament.

Substitute Cyril Baretto who came in place of Mahesh Singh dealt the killer blow in 86th minute to end Tollygunge threat.

With this win, Churchill Bros took their tally to 13 points from three wins, four draws and a loss and are tied with Mohun Bagan with 13 points each from eight matches but head the table on better-goal difference. Tollygunge who suffered their second defeat remained on 10 points from eight matches at the fourth position.

Churchill Bros will play their next match against Mohun Bagan on February 10 and last match against Air-India on February 14 to complete their league engagements. Tollygunge will play against Dempo on February 11 here and the last match against JCT on February 14.

Referee M.S. Balu showed yellow cards to Danzie Ferrao and Usumani Hussien of Churchill Bros and Sri Krishana Ghosh of Tollygunge.

Sheetal, Kedar get top billings
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Feb 7 — Sheetal Gautam and Kedar Tembe of India get the top billings in singles in the girls and boys section, respectively, of the ITF Junior Circuit Tennis Championship for under 18 years, the main draw of which begins tomorrow at the CLTA Courts, Sector 10. The tournament has been sponsored by the Centurion Bank. The Chandigarh boy Akshay Vishal Rao is the number two seed while in girls Shruti Dhawan who is also product of the city is at number two in singles.

The four boys who have qualified today for the main draw are Jay Arora, Ritesh Chitlangia, Arpan Lakhani and Sidharth Sudakar. In the draw of 32, 24 have been given a direct entry while four players have come through wild card entries, such as Nipun Gupta, Anoop Anand, Akash Sharma and Rahul Rajkhewa, rest four from qualifying rounds.

The seedings:

Boys-Kedar Tembe (Ind) 1, Akshay Vishal Rao (Ind) 2, Karan Doctor (Ind) 3, Mark Weaver (G. Britain) 4, Ahmed Wahla (Pak) 5, Punna Vishal (Ind) 6, Shaif Ali (Ind) 7, Sunil Kumar (Ind) 8.

Girls-Sheethal Gautam (Ind) 1, Shruti Dhawan (Ind) 2, Radhika Tulpule (Ind) 3, Radhika Mandke (Ind) 4, Marta Malinowska (Pol) 5, Sonal Phadka (Ind) 6, Nida Wasim (Pak) 7, Nona Wagh (Ind) 8.

The matches for the boys category will be played on Plexi cushion synthetic courts while for girls on clay courts at the CLTA complex.

The 15-year-old and eighth seed Sunil Kumar of Chandigarh though unseeded in the Delhi ITF tournament, astonished all with singles title by upsetting many top ranking players.

Results:

Qualifying round (final) R. Chitlangia b T. Abhishek, 7-6 (4) 6-0, S. Sudakar b J. Punjabi 6-3, 6-3, Jay Arora b R. Dhalvi 6-3, 6-3; A. Lakhani b Chetri 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.

Basketball teams

LUDHIANA, Feb 7 (FOSR) — The following basketball players have been selected to represent the Punjab in the 5th National Games to be held at Imphal from February 14 to 25, according to Mr R.S. Gill, president, Punjab Basketball Association:

Men" Gaganesh Kumar, Parminder Singh (Sr),. Gursharanjit Singh, Gurkirpal Singh, Paramjit Singh (Jr), Pritpal Singh, Vipin Kumar, Satya Narain, Virinder Kumar, Arun Ashish Gill, Gurpreet Singh and Desraj, Coach Mr P.S. Teja, Manager Mr Yashveer Walia.

Women Kiranjit Dhillon, Pavneet Kaur, Rajan Thakur, Lovraj Kaur, Poonam, Ahinsa, Reena, Mandeep Khaira, Sarbjit Kaur, Kulwinder Kaur and Renu, Coach Mr Manjit Singh, Manager Mr P.S. Noorpuri.

Anshul sparkles

PATIALA, Feb 7 (FOSR) — Superb knocks by Anshul Kapoor and Parshant Malviya enabled the Rest of India pile up 263 for 5 on the first day of the Madhav Rao Scindia Trophy match against Punjab played at the Dhruv Pandove Stadium here today.

Score: Rest of India: 263 for 5 (A. Kapoor 97. P. Malviya 55. Anirbhan Chaterjee 42 n.o. Deepak Joon 32 n.o. H. Kali 2 for 78, Rajiv Jolly 2 for 54).