The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS

50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

Disappointing: Trescothick

Referee system needs overhaul: Dalmiya
New Delhi, December 3
Asserting that the referee system in cricket required “overhauling, if not overturning”, Indian Cricket Board chief Jagmohan Dalmiya last night sought a code of conduct for referees and a platform for appeal against the referee’s decision to redress grievances of those not satisfied with it.

Aussies need 371 runs to beat Kiwis
Perth, December 3
New Zealand required a further eight wickets and Australia 371 runs to win in the third and final Test after the home side reached 69 for two at the close of the fourth day’s play today.

Anand draws with Dreev
Moscow
Indian chess wizard Viswanathan Anand and Alexy Dreev played a quiet 12-move draw at the opening of the fourth round of the FIDE Knockout World Chess Championships here on Monday. At the Kremlin Palace, barely had the spectators settled in when Anand and Dreev quickly played out a dozen moves, looked at each other and agreed to split the point. The defending champion, Anand, was most happy to do that. UNI

HP qualify for knockout stage
Rohtak, December 3
The fourth and final day of the north zone Ranji Trophy league match between Haryana and Himachal Pradesh at Maharaja Aggarsain Stadium turned out to be a day of historical events here today.

Delhi NZ champs
Amritsar, December 3
Delhi today dethroned Punjab and emerged as north zone Ranji Trophy cricket champions by virtue of their first inning lead of 58 runs. Punjab were out for 441 and Delhi managed to score 198 for 9 in the second innings but with an overall lead of 256 runs, they did not give Punjab enough overs and time for an outright victory.

The National Games champion Punjab judo teams (men and women) with the Punjab Judo Association President, Mr T.C. Gupta, and the Co-chairman of the Organising Committee of the National Games, Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa.

Badani, Sharath hit centuries
Bangalore, December 3
Hemang Badani and S. Sharath hit fine centuries and put on 196-runs for the fourth wicket, as Tamil Nadu took a 142-run first innings lead over Karnataka on the second day of their four-day south zone Ranji Trophy cricket league match here today.

Hockey team confident
Chennai, December 3
Buoyed by the triumph of the junior team, which lifted the World Cup two months ago, and strengthened by the return of Dhanraj Pillay and Sabu Varkey, the senior national hockey team is all set to leave for Kuala Lumpur from here tonight, to compete in the Champions Challenge tournament to be held there from December 7 to 15.

Punjab cops in basketball final
Gidderbaha, December 3
National champions Punjab Police entered the final of the 3rd Raja Porus All-India Prize Money Basketball Championship on the fourth day here today defeating Services 82-55.

Haryana winners felicitated
Chandigarh, December 3
Haryana sportspersons improved upon their achievements in the 31st National Games recently held in Punjab emerging sixth overall with 17 gold, 20 silver and 29 bronze. In the last National Games held in Manipur the state had finished 14th, winning 8 gold, 12 silver and 23 bronze medals.

India to play in European Zone
Sangrur, December 3
India has opted to play in the European Zone (venue Netherlands) instead of joining the Asian Zone for the Thomas/Uber Cup badminton preliminaries to be held from February 17 to 24.

Pepsu, Punjab eves win
Jalandhar, December 3
Pepsu and Punjab registered wins in the first Regional Women’s Hockey Tournament at Surjit Hockey Stadium here today. Pepsu defeated Himachal Pradesh by a solitary goal scored by Sandeep Sandhu.

Vaas stars in Lanka’s clean sweep

Colombo, December 3
Chaminda Vaas grabbed seven wickets as Sri Lanka completed their maiden clean sweep in Test cricket with an emphatic 10-wicket victory over the West Indies in the third and final match here today.

The left-arm seamer sparked a sensational West Indian collapse with his second successive seven-wicket haul as the tourists lost their last five wickets for 22 runs.

The West Indies, trailing by 237 runs, were shot out for 262 after having resumed their second innings at 145-2 despite batting superstar Brian Lara’s rare feat on the fifth and final day.

Sri Lanka raced to their third consecutive win in just 5.3 overs, with openers Marvan Atapattu and skipper Sanath Jayasuriya comfortably scoring 26 required for victory.

Vaas finished with a career-best 7-71 to take his match-tally to 14, his second haul of 10 or more wickets in 55 Tests.

The 27-year-old Sri Lankan fast bowler shared the honours with Lara, who followed his 221 in the first innings with 130 in the second to become the fifth batsman to score a double-century and a century in a Test.

Australians Doug Walters and Greg Chappell, India’s Sunil Gavaskar and West Indian Lawrence Rowe are the others to have achieved this distinction.

England’s Graham Gooch is the only batsman to score a triple-century and a hundred in a Test, making 333 and 123 against India at Lord’s in 1990.

Lara also became the second-highest run-getter in a three-Test series with 688 after Gooch’s 752 against India.

The left-hander alone sustained his team’s hopes of avoiding the third defeat in a row with his 18th Test century, which contained one six and 14 fours.

The West Indies, however, yet again proved to be a one-batsman team as none could stay at the crease for long after Lara’s dismissal just before lunch.

The tourists’ hopes of saving the match receded when left-arm seamer Nuwan Zoysa bowled Lara with an inswinging yorker for his only success of the innings.

Lara, 76 overnight, was involved in a 141-run stand for the third wicket with Ramnaresh Sarwan.

Vaas broke the partnership when he had Sarwan caught by wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara for 66 in the day’s seventh over.

Off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan and Vaas then saw to it the West Indian batsmen did not post a big stand with their disciplined spells.

Lara continued to defy the Sri Lankan attack, but wickets fell from the other end as Muralitharan dismissed skipper Carl Hooper and Marlon Samuels in the space of three balls.

Hooper was deceived by straighter one and stumped for nine, while Samuels was caught off his gloves by Mahela Jayawardene at silly point for no score.

Vaas completed the job with three wickets off his last seven deliveries, trapping Dinanath Ramnarine, Pedro Collins and Marlon Black leg-before.

Scoreboard

West Indies (1st innings): 390

Sri Lanka (1st innings): 627-9 decl

West Indies (2nd innings):

Ganga lbw b Vaas 10

Gayle c Jayawardene b Vaas 0

Sarwan c Sangakkara b Vaas 66

Lara b Zoysa 130

Hooper st Sangakkara 9 b Muralitharan

Samuels c Jayawardene 0 b Muralitharan

Jacobs not out 31

Dillon c sub (Chandana) b Vaas 8

Ramnarine lbw b Vaas 0

Collins lbw b Vaas 0

Black lbw b Vaas 0

Extras (b4, lb1, nb3) 8

Total (82 overs) 262

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-20, 3-161, 4-203, 5-203, 6-240, 7-258, 8-258, 9-262.

Bowling: Vaas 25-3-71-7, Zoysa 11-1-45-1, Muralitharan 36-5-116-2, Samaraweera 8-2-23-0, Bandaratilleke 2-0-2-0.

Sri Lanka (2nd innings):

Atapattu not out 19

Jayasuriya not out 8

Extras 0

Total (for no loss) 27

Bowling: Dillon 3-0-12-0, Collins 2.3-0-15-0. AFP

‘New faces due to poor showing in South Africa’
Arvind Katyal

Chandigarh, December 3
“It was basically the dismal show of the Indian cricket team at the recently concluded series in South Africa, which freed us to think about new faces in the squad”. These remarks came from Mr Chandu Borde, chairman, selection committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

In an exclusive talk, Borde further justified the selection of the three bowlers Tinu Yohannan, Iqbal Siddiqui and Sanjay Bangar, all newcomers for this Test. Borde also said injuries to three bowelrs, Venkatesh Prasad, Javagal Srinath and Ashish Nehra, led to the discover, of the new bowlers.

He said: “See how today Yohannan and others have bowled. This testifies that these bowlers hold promise”. He said these players had performed in an outstanding manner. Moreover, with intense competition to fill berths, there were many boys in the waiting with remarkable performances in the national circuit. When asked whether anyone of the newcomers would be axed for the second Test, Borde replied, ‘No, No. We have four more days to go, so it all depends on the outcome of the final analysis, but definitely the output of a player cannot be judged on one appearance only.

On the non-inclusion of Dinesh Mongia, the star batsman of this region, Borde replied, ‘They did give him a chance, but he preferred to play in the ongoing Delhi-Punjab Ranji tie at Amritsar, so in his place Jacob Martin was included. Borde praised the ground and the Mohali stadium and called it world class. He also felt more than satisfied with the lodging at Hotel Mountview and the food. When asked whether prior to the series, English people had objected to hotel facilities, Borde said the hospitality was excellent.

Niranjan Shah, secretary-general of the BCCI, also hoped that the new boys would do well.

Another selector and former Chandigarh cricketer Ashok Malhotra who now resides in Kolkata, said it was a unanimous decision to call these three players and unless youngsters were given a chance, how would top performers at Ranji level come up and get noticed. Malhotra was all praise for Sanjay Bangar and said he was an excellent allrounder. On the recent ICC- Dalmiya dispute, he said it had in no way harmed cricket, but for the first time India had struck to a hold stand, which augurs well for cricket. He felt sad that local star Dinesh Mongia was not present to prove his batting potential, but said he still rated Mongia as a hard hitter.

Former Test star Maninder Singh when asked to comment on the inclusion of new bowlers, said it had put more pressure on them and also on the team. Maninder, who is with the Steel Authority of India Limited, said cricketers were more in focus as every action was being recorded. In these circumstances, only mature decisions help, he added.

	First player from Kerala to play Test cricket Gopal Sharma SAS Nagar, December 3 A call to play for the national squad must have been a pleasant surprise for him. After seeing his name figure in the final Indian eleven for the first Test against England here. Tinu Yohannan, a wiry fast medium bowler from Kochi, the first cricketer from Kerala to play for the country, must have felt even more comforted. But, as it turned out, it must be a dream come true for the 22-year-old Yohannan when the fourth delivery of his very first over of his international career made opener Mark Butcher square up after it rose disconcertingly moving out kissing the outside egde of his blade to land safely into the hands of V.V.S. Laxman at the second slip. Besides the almighty, he ought to be thankful to skipper Ganguly for it was he who put England in after winning the toss to enable Yohannan to make first use of the Mohali track known to help the seamers early on. “A wicket on debut, his grand children will remember that,” said legendry England allrounder and commentator Ian Botham. In his 11th over Yohannan struck again sending the off-stump of opener Mark Trescothick for a walk. Trescothick was a prolific scorer in the recent series against the strong bowling attack of Pakistan. Yohannan definitely was not overawed by the big occasion. Consistently bowling at a brisk pace the in-swinger being his stock delivery and getting the odd ball to move out he commanded respect from the batsmen. David Gower, perhaps the most elegant left-hander the game has seen, said during the match then Yohannan bowled well. “He pitched the ball at the right spot”. Former India left-arm spinner Maninder Singh stated: “Yohannan bowled very well. He lacked support at the other end. Had there been Javagal Srinath or Ashish Nehra bowling at the other end he would have been more effective.” “They are showing occasional bit of nerves with the half vollies creeping in,” observed the former tearaway England fast bowler Bob Willis as Yohannan showing obvious lack of experience conceded a couple of boundaries. “I was a bit nervous early on and wondered what was going to happen. But it turned out to be good day”, said a relieved Yohannan after the match. About opening the bowling for the country he retorted: “It’s a dream for any fast bowler to play for India, especially Test cricket. Yohannan, who earlier was a long jumper in his school days, stated that he was told by his skipper to bowl line and length outside the off-stump. Sports seems to the family tradition as his father, T.C. Yohannan is an Asian gold medallist in long jump in the Asian Games at Teheran. Tinu said that he had spoken to his father about his selection, who wished him well. Asked whether he knew of his selection yesterday he replied in the affirmative. For somebody who made his first class debut barely two years back this certainly is a good start. It was a tint at the MRF Pace Academy — Yohannan trained there under Dennis Lillee and T.A. Shekhar —that made Yohannan what he is today. Selected to play for the Board President’s XI against the England team at Hyderabad in the three-day match the lanky pacer bowled well in the second innings. With Javagal Srinath, who is not playing this match because of injury, Ajit Agarkar and left-arm seamers Nehra and Zaheer Khan waiting in the wings the Keralite really has a cut-out job at hand. But Yohannan is known to be a hard task master and age is on his side. A job well begun, they say, is half done. Yohannan should take heart from the adage and continue to toil hard seeking advice for the senior pros to improve his craft.
	Disappointing: Trescothick Tribune News Service SAS Nagar, December 3 “Yes, it was a bit disappointing,” conceded left-handed opener Marcus Trescothick after the day’s play as England who were sitting pretty even after the lunch break and were 129 for the loss of one wicket to be eventually dismissed for paltry 238 as off-spinner Harbhajan Singh hastened their collapse with a five-wicket haul. Asked whether the fact that Harbhajan, who took 32 wickets in the three-Test series against Australia early this year, was playing on the back of their minds he replied in negative. He added that they had batted with a fair degree of success against the likes of Mutthaiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka and Saqlain Mushtaq of Pakistan in the recent series and they would sort out Harbhajan also in a similar fashion. He said that ball was doing a bit in the morning and the early dismissal of Mark Butcher, who was claimed by debutant Yohannan in the first over of the day, was a result of this.
	Referee system needs overhaul: Dalmiya New Delhi, December 3 Asserting that the referee system in cricket required “overhauling, if not overturning”, Indian Cricket Board chief Jagmohan Dalmiya last night sought a code of conduct for referees and a platform for appeal against the referee’s decision to redress grievances of those not satisfied with it. “The role of the referee is to see that umpires properly conduct the match... But in this case (in South Africa), the role of the umpire has been reduced to an absolute minimum and the referee has taken the centre stage,” Dalmiya told ‘Star News’. “At this juncture, there should be a court of appeal where there is a kind of accountability on the part of the referee..... There should be a platform for appeal so that anybody can redress the grievances if they are not happy with the decision,” Dalmiya said. Stating that protests by India were “not heeded to” by the referee, he said even if punitive action was decided, “it was necessary to look into it” and added that he, as the erstwhile chief of the ICC, had kept similar decisions involving Pakistani cricketers in abeyance. Replying to questions, he referred to Mike Denness’ action against Sachin Tendulkar on charges of ball tampering and said now the referee had “climbed down” and asserted that the “stigma (against Tendulkar) has to be removed”. PTI
	Aussies need 371 runs to beat Kiwis Perth, December 3 New Zealand required a further eight wickets and Australia 371 runs to win in the third and final Test after the home side reached 69 for two at the close of the fourth day’s play today. New Zealand declared 77 minutes into the final session at 256 for nine from 71 overs after fast-scoring contributions of 54 by debutant opener Lou Vincent, 42 from all-rounder Chris Cairns and 40 from Nathan Astle, who made 156 not out in the Kiwis first innings total of 534 for nine declared. Left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori (6-87) deflated hopes of an Australia fightback as the home team were dismissed for 351 all out at the close of play on Sunday after a gallant 99 from tailender Shane Warne. Australia lost opener Justin Langer, who has made centuries in his past three Tests and 75 in the first innings of this match, for a duck with the total on one in the second over and Ricky Ponting followed for 26 off 26 balls at 52 for two. The unbeaten batsmen were opener Matthew Hayden on 31 in 76 minutes and Mark Waugh on eight. Australia began their second innings needing a world record 440 runs to beat New Zealand. The record in Test cricket for a fourth-innings run chase is 406 for four by India in the third Test against West Indies at Port of Spain in 1975-76. Australia, the world’s number one team, are also facing the possibility of their first Test series loss at home since 1992-93 against West Indies and their first series loss to New Zealand for 16 years. The first two matches in the three-Test series were drawn. Reuters SCOREBOARD New Zealand (first innings): 534-9 declared (L.Vincent 104, S. Fleming 105, N. Astle 156 n.o, A. Parore 110; B. Lee 4-124). Australia (first innings): 351 (S. Warne 99; D. Vettori 6-87). New Zealand (second innings): M. Richardson run out 30 L. Vincent c m.Waugh b Lee 54 M. Sinclair c Gilchrist b McGrath 29 C. Cairns c Warne b Lee 42 S. Fleming b Warne 4 N. Astle c Langer b Gillespie 40 A. Parore not out 16 C. Mcmillan c Warne b Gillespie 19 D. Vettori c S. Waugh b Lee 3 S. Bond b Lee 8 Extras (b-1 lb-6 nb-4) 11 Total (for 9 wkts, decl) 256 FOW: 1-77 2-90 3-128 4-151 5-199 6-208 7-241 8-246 9-256. Bowling: McGrath 17-4-63-1, Gillespie 17-0-55-2 (2nb), Lee 16-3-56-4 (2nb), Warne 21-3-75-1. Australia (second innings): M. Hayden not out 31 J. Langer c Vettori b Bond 0 R. Ponting b Cairns 26 M. Waugh not out 8 Extras (nb-2 w-2) 4 Total (for two wickets) 69 FOW: 1-1 2-52. Bowling (to date): Bond 7-1-27-1 (1nb), Martin 4-0-14-0 (2w), Vettori 4-0-17-0 (1nb), Cairns 2-0-11-1.

HP qualify for knockout stage
Our Sports Reporter

Rohtak, December 3
The fourth and final day of the north zone Ranji Trophy league match between Haryana and Himachal Pradesh at Maharaja Aggarsain Stadium turned out to be a day of historical events here today. Himachal Pradesh qualified for the knockout stage while Haryana too had their moments of joy when young right arm leg spinner Amit Mishra performed a hat-trick which unfortunately was of no use for his team today as Haryana failed to enter the knockout round.

Himachal, who had gained a first innings lead over Haryana yesterday, were 108 for 2 at close on Sunday. Today they added another 162 runs to carry their score to 270. They had an overall lead of 346 runs to be scored by Haryana in the fourth innings to block Himachal’s entry into the knockout stage. But Haryana ended with 93 for one in 20 overs when stumps were drawn today.

The highlights of Himachal’s innings was an unbeaten century by Rajiv Nayyar who has been the major contributor to Himachal cricket for over a decade now. Rajiv today went on to score 102 after facing 314 deliveries and staying at the crease for 422 runs. It was during his stay at the crease at the other end that Haryana’s young right arm leg spinner Amit Mishra sent three of his team-mates back on three successive deliveries to claim a hat-trick.

Himachal garnered 5 points from this match to make their maiden entry in to the knockout stage after playing 17 seasons. Haryana gathered only 3 points and finished behind Himachal in the north zone league.

Scoreboard

Himachal Pradesh (first innings) 340 all out.

Haryana (first innings) 264 all out.

Himachal Pradesh (second innings)

Nishal Gaur c Shafiq b Gaurav Vashisht 24, Sandeep Sharma c Ajay Ratra b Sumeet Narwal 13, Rajeev Nayyar not out 102, Sangram Singh c Ishan b S. Narwal 54, Virender Sharma b Amit Mishra 34, Amit Sharma b Amit Mishra 0, Chetan Sharma b Amit Mishra 0, Ravikant c Shafiq b S. Vidyut 3, Shakti Singh lbw G. Vashishth 12, Vishal Bhatia b S. Narwal 0, Rajinder Thakur C.A. Mishra b S. Vidyut 14.

Extras (b-9,lb-4, nb-1) 14.

Total (all out) 270.

Fall of wickets: 1/31, 2/56, 3/132, 4/196, 5/196, 6/196, 7/203, 8/217, 9/238, 10/270.

Bowling: Sumeet Narwal 21-4-64,3, Saurabh Virmani 15-2-65-0, Gaurav Vashisht 17-7-24-2, Amit Mishra 32-15-51-3, Vidyut S. Krishna 16-2-53-2.

Haryana (second innings) Chetan Sharma not out 30, Ajay Ratra c Rajinder b N Gaur 50, Ishan Ganda not out 6.

Extras (b-4, lb-1, nb-2) 7.

Total for one wicket at close) 93.

Fall of wicket: 1/73.

Bowling: Shakti Singh 5-1-21-0, Sandeep Sharma 5-0-30-0, Rajinder Thakur 4-1-8-0, Vishal Bhatia 1-0-13-0, Nischal Gaur 4-1-15-1, Amit Sharma 1-0-1-0.

Delhi NZ champs
Our Sports Reporter

Amritsar, December 3
Delhi today dethroned Punjab and emerged as north zone Ranji Trophy cricket champions by virtue of their first inning lead of 58 runs. Punjab were out for 441 and Delhi managed to score 198 for 9 in the second innings but with an overall lead of 256 runs, they did not give Punjab enough overs and time for an outright victory. At close on the final day Punjab were 58 for 1 in their final league match played at Gandhi Ground here today.

Delhi earned five points from this match and took their tally to 34 points, while Punjab manage to get three points with a total tally of 27 points qualifying for the super league matches which start after a fortnight.

Punjab who were 385 for 7 overnight added 56 runs and lost three remaining wickets after one hour of play this morning with their total reaching 441 all out. For Delhi Amit Bhandari took seven wickets for 92 runs.

In the second innings Delhi were in dire straits losing half their side for just 48 runs with Vanit Sharma and Gagandeep doing the main damage. Delhi’s middle order batsman Pardeep Chawla who had hit a hundred in the first innings added 83 runs for the sixth wicket with Vijay Dahiya. Delhi declared their second innings at 198 for 9.

Punjab scored 58 for one for the loss of Yuvraj’s wicket.

Scores:

Delhi (Ist innings): 499 for 9

Punjab (Ist innings): Munish c Dahiya b Amit Bhandari 0, Ravnit Ricky lbw Bhandari 100, Yuvraj c Dahiya b Bhandari 102, Mongia c Minhas b Arun 102, Dharmani c Dahiya b Arun 47, Kakkar lbw Bhandari 0, Mahajan not out 28, Uniyal c Dahiya b Bhandari 0, Gagandeep c Vijay Dahiya b Arun 10, Sandip c Gambhir b Bhandari 10, Vaneet c and b Bhandari 10, Extras: 33. Total: 441 all out

FOW: 1/5, 2/186, 3/350, 4/371, 5/373, 6/379, 7/380, 8/407, 9/423. Bowling: Amit Bhandari 39.5-11-92-7 Arun 42-10-136-3 T.Anand 12-2-57-0 S.Rauf 3-0-19-0 Vivek 12-1-82-0 Minhas 5-0-34-0 Gambhir 1-0-14-0

Delhi (2nd innings): 198/9: A. Chopra b Gagandeep 1, G. Gambhir lbw Vanit 2, R. Shyam b Vanit 20, M. Minhas lbw Gagandeep 9, S. Rauf c Pankaj b Gagandeep 2, Pardeep Chawla run out 75, V. Dahiya c Kakkar b Sawal 38, T. Anand c Pankaj b Gagandeep 23, A. Singh c Yuvraj b Vanit 0, A. Bhandari not out 13, Extras 15. Total: 198 for 9.

FOW: 1/2, 2/4, 3/37, 4/40, 5/48, 6/131, 7/177, 8/177, 9/198.

Bowling: Vanit 23-5-76-3 Gagandeep 19-7-32-4 Amit 6-1-39-0 Sawal 7-0-45-1

Punjab (2nd innings) 58/1: Yuvraj b Amit 18, Ravneet not out 31, V. Mahajan not out 6, Extras: 3. Total: 58/1

FOW: 1/24. Bowling: A. Bhandari 4-0-19-1 A.Singh 8-5-18-0 V. Khurana 4-2-21-0.

Badani, Sharath hit centuries

Bangalore, December 3
Hemang Badani and S. Sharath hit fine centuries and put on 196-runs for the fourth wicket, as Tamil Nadu took a 142-run first innings lead over Karnataka on the second day of their four-day south zone Ranji Trophy cricket league match here today.

Badani (124, 2x6, 13x4, 234 b) and Sharath (113, 22x4, 173b) frustrated the hosts’ attack and entertained the crowd with their big hitting.

Karnataka had scored 215 in their first innings.

At stumps, Tamil Nadu, 39 for one overnight, were 357 for five with skipper Robin Singh batting on 11 and T R Arasu yet to open his account.

Tie drawn

NEW DELHI: Chasing a 306-run victory target set by Jammu and Kashmir, Services scored 202 for the loss of four wickets at close on the final day as the north zone Ranji Trophy league tie ended in a tame draw today.

Resuming their second innings at 133 for four, Arshad Bhatt scored a patient 98 holding together a collapsing J and K innings and helping the team reach 242 before being all out, setting a victory target of 306 for Services.

Bhatt who missed a well-deserved century by two runs and Arun Sharma who scalped five J and K wickets giving away just 39 runs off 22.1 overs, hogged the limelight on an otherwise dull day.

J and K bagged five consolation points by virtue of their 63-run first innings lead, while Services got three points from this encounter.

Bengal win

KOLKATA: Bengal garnered full eight points coasting to a eight-wicket victory over Assam on the fourth and last day of their east zone Ranji Trophy match here today.

The hosts reached a winning 159 for two in their second innings after Assam’s second essay folded at 206, only 99 minutes into the day’s play at the Eden Gardens.

Nikhil Haldipur (51 no; 105 m, 91 b, 6x4 1x6) and skipper Rohan Gavaskar (40 no; 83 m, 55 b, 5x4) stitched together an unbroken 89-run partnership to propel Bengal to victory in the team’s tournament lung-opener.

Earlier, veteran Bengal spinner Utpal Chatterjee (6/65) continued his good work in the morning as he ran through the Assam later half scalping Nishanta Bardoloi (26), D J Gokul Krishnan (44, 6x4) and Ganesh Kumar (6), while Sourashish Lahiri (4/65) showed the door to Sukhbinder Singh (0).

Hockey team confident

Chennai, December 3
Buoyed by the triumph of the junior team, which lifted the World Cup two months ago, and strengthened by the return of Dhanraj Pillay and Sabu Varkey, the senior national hockey team is all set to leave for Kuala Lumpur from here tonight, to compete in the Champions Challenge tournament to be held there from December 7 to 15.

“The morale and the team spirit in the 18-member squad is high,” Cedric D Souza, coach of the senior Indian hockey team said on Monday. “We will do well but this outing will be utilised to assess how much the rectification training over the last 10 months has paid off,” he said, talking to UNI after the team was felicitated just a few hours before the departure at the Astro-Turf staduim.

The 18-member team, which will be missing the injured Olympians Baljit Singh Saini and Dilip Tirkey, completed the final preparatory camp under national coach and now FIH coach Cedric D’Souza at the Astro-Turf stadium here this morning. Apart from India, hosts Malaysia, Argentina, Belgium, Japan and South Africa will be vying for honours.

The competition, which was originally scheduled to be held in New Delhi, was shifted to Malaysia in the wake of the Afghan war, by the International Hockey Federation (FIH).

India will be taking on Belgium in their first outing on December 7.

The team: Goalkeepers: Jude Menezes, Davesh Chauhan.

Full-backs: Kanwalpreet Singh, Jugraj Singh, Lazarus Barla.

Half-backs: S.S. Gill, Ignace Tirkey, Thhurumal Valavan, Vikram Pillay, Bipin Fernandez, Arjun Halappa.

Forwards: Baljit Singh Dhillon, Sabu Verkey, Dhanraj Pillay, Gagan Ajit Singh, Deepak Thakur, Prabhjot Singh and Daljit Singh Dhillon.

Coach: Cedric D’Souza.

The following is the schedule: December 7: S. Africa vs Argentina, India vs Belgium, Malaysia vs Japan. December 8: India vs S. Africa, Malaysia vs Belgium. December 9: Japan vs Argentina.

December 10: Japan vs S. Africa, Argentina vs Belgium, India vs Malaysia.

December 11: Belgium vs S. Africa. December 12: India vs Japan, Malaysia vs Argentina.

December 13: Japan vs Belgium, India vs Argentina, S. Africa vs Malaysia. December 14: Rest Day.

December 15: 5th ranked vs 6th ranked, 3rd vs 4th, 1st vs 2nd. UNI

Punjab cops in basketball final
Tribune News Service

Gidderbaha, December 3
National champions Punjab Police entered the final of the 3rd Raja Porus All-India Prize Money Basketball Championship on the fourth day here today defeating Services 82-55.

Punjab Police outplayed Services in all departments of the game and won the match by 82-55. Though both the teams were evenly matched in the first quarter, Punjab Police dominated in the second and third quarter. Parminder Singh (Senior), tall and sturdy player of Punjab Police, could not be blocked by Services men, Perminder (Happy) turned out to be the highest scorer of the match collecting 36 points. Services played the half court man-to-man defence throughout the match. Punjab Police played match-up zone defence and enjoyed a slener lead of two points, at the end of the first quarter. At the end of the second quarter, the score stood at 32-25 in favour of Punjab Police. In the third quarter Services slackened their defence allowing Parminder junior of Punjab Police to score at will, who scored 11 points in the third quarter itself. At the end of the third quarter, Punjab Police piled the lead of 14 points (58-44). The last quarter was fully dominated by Punjab Police and won the match by 82-55.

For Punjab Police, Parminder (36), Parminder Jr (26), Gagnesh Kumar (10) and for Services Phool Singh (12), Sai Venkatesh (14), Vijay Kumar (10) and Dilip (12) were the main scorers.

In the second semifinal, contrary to the expectations. South Central Railway went down tamely to Tisco. Isllauddin was effectively guarded by Tisco men, whereas the Railway team was not well organised in defence. Tisco took lead of five points the first quarter and increased the lead in each quarter and won the match by 78-61 points. For Tisco, Riazuddin (23), Desraj (21), N.S. Rawat (16), Jaldeep Dhaliwal (10) and for South Central Railway, Vishal Kumar (17), Md. Isllaudin (11) and Pankaj (10) were the main scorers.

In the first semifinal in the women section, Railway defeated Kerala State Electricity Board 60-40. For Western Railway, Sheeba (18), Iny Cherian (11), Arnika (10) and for KSEB, Sandhya (11) were the main scorers.

In the second all Railway semifinal between Southern Railway and South Central Railway women, both adopted half court man-to-man defence. In the last quarter experienced international Meena Latha of Southern Railway converted successive baskets from the pivot position. Collecting offensive rebounds and gave her team a lead of six points and her team won 49-43.

For Southern Railway, Rentini Jose (22), Meena Latha (10), B.S. Shyla (9) and for South Railway, Sofi Sam (17), Jetty Jose (11) and Yamuna (10) were the main scorers.