 |
Monday,
December 17, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
|
Warne gives Aussies 65-run lead Saurav Ganguly writes Windies, Lanka in final India on the road to supremacy
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Punjab Police crash to Churchill Vijay, Rushmi emerge champs
Punjab cops score 3-1
victory Barreto fashions
Bagan win Mukesh wins Servo Masters title MDU badminton in
Jan
|
|
Warne gives Aussies 65-run lead Adelaide, December 16 The champion leg spinner claimed five for 113 — his 20th five-wicket haul in Tests — to dismiss South Africa for 374 in reply to Australia’s 439. With two days’ play remaining and fine weather forecast, Australia increased their lead to 68 runs when Justin Langer (0) and Matthew Hayden (3) negotiated the three remaining overs to third day stumps. Warne, who has now taken 69 wickets in his 13th Test against South Africa and 418 wickets overall, had the final word after Neil McKenzie and Mark Boucher had rescued the Proteas from dire trouble with a cracking 141-run seventh wicket stand. Coming together with the South Africans tottering at 214 for six and
trailing Australia’s first innings by 225 runs, McKenzie and Boucher took the game to the world champion Australians. McKenzie, whose father Kevin played for Transvaal in the apartheid isolation era of the 1980s, was denied a richly-deserved century in his first Test against Australia when he was lbw to part-timer Damien Martyn late in the day. The 26-year-old right-hander’s brilliant knock of 87 in 218 minutes was studded with 16 thumping boundaries in his 19th Test. But Warne, who earlier got the wickets of Herschelle Gibbs and Lance Klusener, struck tellingly, enticing skipper Shaun Pollock to nudge a leg break to Adam Gilchrist for a first-ball duck. He then removed Boucher, who skied to Justin Langer beyond point for 64 and left No 10 Makhaya Ntini and No 11 Nantie Hayward facing a hostile over from Brett Lee. Ntini was struck on the helmet by successive Lee short-pitched balls. But Warne drew Ntini into a big hit to Ricky Ponting in the deep to be out for nine and end the South African resistance. Until the final 45 minutes, the tourists had looked to have stabilised their shaky position through the clean hitting of McKenzie and Boucher. Playing in their first Test against Australia, they blunted the home team’s vaunted attack on a flat Adelaide track to recover South Africa from a parlous position at lunch. Shaun Pollock’s team had sailed through much of the morning session, yet were rocked by the dismissals of influential batsmen, Gibbs and Jacques Kallis just before lunch. The loss of Klusener for 22, bowled by Warne, 20 minutes after lunch left the tourists at 214 for six, as Boucher joined McKenzie. AFP Scoreboard Australia (1st innings): 439 South Africa (1st innings): Kirsten lbw b McGrath 47 Gibbs st Gilchrist b Warne 78 Dippenaar c Ponting
b McGrath 4 Henderson run out (McGrath) 30 Kallis lbw b McGrath 5 Mckenzie lbw b Martyn 87 Klusener b Warne 22 Boucher c Langer b Warne 64 Pollock c Gilchrist b Warne 0 Ntini c Ponting b Warne 9 Hayward not out 0 Extras:
(b8, lb9, nb11) 28 Total: (all out, 121.4 overs)374 Fall of wickets: 1-87, 2-93, 3-155, 4-178, 5-178, 6-214, 7-355, 8-356, 9-365. Bowling: McGrath 33-10-94-3, Gillespie 23-7-57-0, Warne 39.4-9-113-5, Lee 19-2-81-0, M. Waugh 3-0-9-0, Martyn 4-2-3-1. Australia (2nd innings): Langer not out 0 Hayden not out 3 Total:
(0 wkt, 3 overs) 3 Bowling: Pollock 2-2-0-0, Hayward 1-0-3-0. |
|
Saurav Ganguly writes Many people are of the opinion that we should have chased the target of 374 on the final day on the Ahmedabad wicket. However, I really don’t think it was possible because an asking rate of 4.2 per over is pretty steep in Test cricket. Moreover, we might just have had an outside chance if Nasser Hussain had attacked right through the final day, but he alternated between attack and defence right through the day. This is perfectly understandable because a series was at stake for him. One can’t fault him on the timing of his declaration since many things must have weighed on his mind. Primarily, that Indians are good players of spin and an asking rate of even 3.5 might have been risky. Nobody realises that our bowlers did a great job in restricting the English bowlers on the fourth day when they were on the lookout for quick runs. In the morning Srinath bowled extremely well to dismiss Trescothick, and was troubling Hussain too. This why we persisted with him and Tinu Youhannan for extended spells. When we decided to bowl spin, Kumble, who had grabbed seven wickets in the first innings, obviously got the first go. This is the reason why Harbhajan bowled four overs before lunch and had an extended spell only after the break. Earlier, when we batted, Sachin and Laxman batted tremendously under pressure to take India from 90 for four to 215 for four. From that situation I thought we should have reached 360, but Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and I did not bat well, and this was compounded by the fact that our lower order did not fire. There is no doubt that England outplayed us on the first three days, but I think we bounced back pretty well on the fourth and fifth days. They won a crucial toss to have first bat on the traditionally placid Ahmedabad wicket. I’m obviously a little disappointed that we did not hold on to our chances because they cost us the match. However, we have been pretty consistent on the field right through South Africa and in Mohali as well, so I guess it was just a bad day for us. Also, I feel our lower order could have scored a few more so that we could have minimised England’s first innings lead. Ashley Giles bowled pretty well to grab five wickets. He should attack a little more since the wickets here have more purchase than anywhere else. I don’t know whether this is team strategy or just the way he bowls, but he’d be far more effective if he were slightly more positive. There’s lots of speculation about Deep Dasgupta since he had had a bad day at Motera. I still maintain that he is a far better wicketkeeper than the evidence in the second Test suggests. He also proved that he is a tough customer since he put his disappointments with the gloves behind to play another sterling knock for his country. The way he batted showed he has the determination to become a great asset for the team. There are some suggestions that he should be persisted with as an opener and another wicketkeeper should be inducted into the eleven, but I’m convinced that Deep, who is only playing his fourth or fifth Test, cannot be judged fully as yet. When asked after the Mohali victory whether we would like a 3-0 result, I had said yes. However, I am not surprised that this England team has done so well in Ahmedabad. Everyone has been writing them off, but we never underestimated them. Their improved performance in the second Test certainly sets up a fine battle at Bangalore.
Gameplan |
|
Hussain happy with show London, December 16 Describing the team’s efforts in the second Test at Ahmedabad as exceptional, he said, “We have got a lot of belief in this squad.” “To bowl out this Indian side on that wicket for 290 in the first innings was exceptional, but we have still got to work out a way of getting 20 wickets out here to win a Test and, with their batting line-up, it is going to be very difficult.”
PTI Bangalore, December 16 As police kept a strict vigil, the players were frisked away in buses from the VIP gate at the Bangalore Airport on their arrival from Mumbai. Earlier, the general practice has been that the cricket teams checked out through the departure terminal. The police said they were taking extra caution and security measures in view last week’s terrorist attack on Parliament. “We are not taking any chances”, Karnataka Director General of Police V.V. Bhaskar said. “The threat perception regarding the match is not that much, as we are not playing against a country hostile to us, but there will be a large congregation.”
PTI
New Delhi, December 16 Highly placed cricket board sources had said on Thursday that Wright and team physio Andrew Leipus would not continue after the current Test series against England. The one-year contracts of Wright, a former New Zealand captain, and Leipus, a South African specialist in physiotherapy, expired on September 14 and they were asked to continue till a decision was taken about their future.
Board President Jagmohan Dalmiya had, however, refused to confirm the report and said the decision on the continuance of Wright and Leipus would be taken after discussions with Ganguly and the “two gentlemen concerned.”
PTI |
|
|
Windies, Lanka in final Kandy, December 16 Chasing 155 for victory, the West Indies lost opener Darren Ganga with the team’s total at 15. But Gayle and one-down batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan took the score to 121 when Gayle was out. Gayle hit Zimbabwean bowlers all around and raced to 85 off 79 balls. He hit 17 boundaries and a six. Gayle was adjudged the man-of-the-match and got a reward of $ 500. Earlier, an eighth-wicket partnership of 60 runs between Heath Streak and Travis Friend helped Zimbabwe post 154, after being seven for 53 runs at one stage. Batting first, Zimbabwe started
disastrously, losing four wickets in the first 15 overs for 24 runs and then slipping to 53 for seven. Then Streak and Friend steadied the innings and added 60 runs, when Friend was out for 22. Streak went into scoring his fourth one-day half century and posted 57. He faced 88 balls, hit four boundaries and one six. The match gave West Indies medium pacer Darryl Brown (27) a three-wicket haul on his international debut. Brown dismissed Trevor Gripper, trapped Andy Flower leg before wicket and claimed Douglas Marillier. AP Scoreboard Zimbabwe: Ebrahim lbw b Collymore 3 G. Flower b Collins 3 Carlisle c Jacobs b Collins 1 A. Flower lbw b Brown 21 Wishart run out 6 Gripper c Jacobs b Brown 4 Marillier c Hooper b Brown 5 Streak c Collins b Collymore 57 Friend st Jacobs b Gayle 22 Brent b Hooper 19 Olonga not out 0 Extras (lb-3, nb-3, w-7) 13 Total (all out, 49.2 overs) 154 FOW: 1-7, 2-7, 3-9, 4-24, 5-37, 6-45, 7-53, 8-113, 9-145, 10-154 Bowling: Collins 10-0-24-2, Collymore 10-1-26-2, Brown 10-3-21-3, Hooper 9.2-1-30-1, Hinds 5-0-27-0, Gayle 5-0-23-1. West Indies: Ganga c A.Flower b Streak 12 Gayle c Olonga b Marillier 85 Sarwan not out 30 Hinds not out 16 Extras (b-2, nb-3, w-7) 12 Total (2 wickets, 34 overs) 155 FOW: 1-15, 2-121. Bowling: Streak 6-2-16-1, Friend 5-0-26-0, Olonga 6-0-49-0, Brent 2-0-24-0, Marillier 8-2-32-1, Gripper 7-4-6-0. |
|
India on the road to supremacy Chandigarh, December 16 Earlier this year, India won the Prime Minister’s Cup Invitation Tournament at Dhaka in (March) and the junior World Cup at Hobart (Australia). Never before in the past two decades, India have won three major hockey titles in a single calendar year. It is a major achievement, especially after India had to struggle to make it to the 10th World Cup in Kuala Lumpur, finishing fifth in the qualifying tournament at Edinburgh in July this year. And champions of the Edinburgh event, Argentina, powered by their ace penalty corner striker Jorge, were among the contestants at Kuala Lumpur. Baljit Dhillon and his boys did not allow their earlier reverse at the hands of the hosts Malaysia and a draw against South Africa in the round-robin league matches to come their way in carrying home the coveted trophy. In fact, India had initially proposed to organise this tournament in New Delhi but developments in our immediate neighbourhod saw the event being shifted to Kuala Lumpur, the host city for the 2002 World Cup. The win at Kuala Lumpur becomes all the more refreshing and pleasant as some of our national heroes of our maiden junior World Cup triumph in October — Jugraj Singh, Kanwalpreet Singh, Deepak Thakur, Prabhjot Singh, Bipin Fernandes and Gagan Ajit Singh — were again at the forefront to give the country a lot to rejoice about. The Kuala Lumpur victory should augur well for the country as in the coming year, India will have several prestigious tournaments to compete in, including the World Cup at the same venue in February-March, the Asian Games at Pusan (September 29 to October 14) and their hard-earned place in the elite Champions Trophy (Cologne, Germany, August 30 to September 8). Unfortunately, India are out of the Commonwealth Games Hockey Tournament to be held at Manchester from July 25 to August 4. These triumphs will certainly boost the sagging morale of Indian hockey. It had been a trail of defeats which may have been responsible for inconsistency in our international performances. Malaysia, Argentina, South Africa and Poland have, if one analyses results of recent past, been major stumbling blocks for India in their struggle for regaining lost glory. In the Edinburgh tournament, Argentina handed us a severe blow with a 5-3 triumph, Poland, too, shocked us. And in the Champions Challenge, hosts Malaysia inflicted on us a 2-1 defeat. At one stage, India looked to be out of contention but it was goalkeeper Jude Menzes, who made sure that India got into the gold medal round with some superb display in the match against Pan-American dark horses, Argentina. After a 2-2 draw in the round-robin league, India were certainly a superior and dominant side in the final against the South Africans. Baljit Dhillon richly deserved the man of the match award, as he also scored the second goal after Una boy, Deepak Thakur, the top scorer of the Hobart tournament, had given the former Olympic and World Cup champions, an early lead. Cedric and his boys deserve compliments but they have to rededicate themselves to the tougher challenges of 2002 ahead. |
|
|
Punjab Police crash to Churchill Jalandhar, December 16 Defeat for Punjab Police was hardly surprising but the manner in which the goals were conceded perhaps reflects the panic that seems to have set in after the earlier humiliation. It is indeed a pity that the team, despite having qualified for the high-profile NFL, today lacks players of Kuljit Singh’s calibre. Churchill Brothers, on the other hand,were confidence personified. Coach T.K. Chathunny, in fact is facing a problem of plenty with experienced players like Francis Silveira, Somatai Shaiza and Tejinder Kumar among the reserves. The three did come in as substitutes in the second half only to compound the cops’ misery. Punjab Police commenced the proceedings on a promising note, with striker Sher Singh testing Edward Ansah with a long ranger from the right corner in the opening minutes. The Goans took some time to settle down before taking the lead in the 24th minute. A cross from the right corner by Yusif Yakubu was intelligently utilised by Saley Abdul
Ganiyu, who found the net with relative ease as the rival defenders watched helplessly (1-0). Off a counter attack, Punjab Police made a brave attempt as striker Parveen Kumar’s reverse volley inside the Churchill box was followed by Kuldeep’s unsuccessful bid to connect but Edward Ansah made a neat collection. After the lemon break, Churchill Brothers consolidated the lead when referee Rizwan-ul-Haq awarded a penalty in the 57th minute as Gurinderpal Singh handled the ball inside the box. The resultant spot kick was converted by Noel Wilson, who shot to the right of Satish Kumar making it 2-0. Punjab Police managed to breach the defence in the 60th minute but Gurpreet Singh’s booming volley was followed by an equally good save by the diving Edward under the Churchill bar. A subsequent attempt by Kuldeep also sailed over. The third goal for the Goan outfit followed in the 70th minute when Gurinderpal once again handled the ball inside the box and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the dreaded spot. Somatai Shaiza, who had replaced Ratan Singh, bulged the net with a stinging right-footer (3-0). In the dying minutes, Punjab Police made some fine attempts mainly through Gurpreet, Gurinderpal and Parveen, but a goal eluded them. Punjab Police will now travel to Goa, where they will meet Vasco SC on December 21 while Churchill Brothers will take on ITI on home ground the following day. |
|
Vijay, Rushmi emerge champs New Delhi, December 16 It was a glorious week of tennis for the unassuming Vijay Kannan, who won a double crown as he had partnered National Games champion Ajay Ramaswamy to beat Nitin and Sandeep Kirtane 6-2,6-3 in the men’s doubles final yesterday. Rushmi Chakarvarthy of Tamil Nadu renewed her lease on the women’s national crown when she shut out the challenge of Sheetal Goutham of Karnataka in straight sets at 6-4, 6-3 in less than an hour. In a one-sided contest, the experienced Rushmi did not have to labour much to overwhelm Sheetal, who was making her maiden entry into the final of the Senior National Championship. The fourth-seeded Sheetal’s lack of experience stood out as Rushmi went about the job of a clinical annihilation of her rookie rival, who had never progressed beyond the quarter-final stage in the senior event, in a methodical manner. The women’s singles match was played after the prize distribution ceremony to suit the convenience of television coverage, and the chief guest. Indian Davis Cup star Leander Paes gave away the prizes. Leander was mighty impressed with the performance of Vijay Kannan and Rohan Bopanna. “Vijay and Bopanna played with a lot of confidence”, Leander observed. “Bopanna is a bright prospect to be in the Davis Cup team”, he remarked. But Leander also noted some flaws in the games of the two players as they seemed to lack the big match temperament. Leander said Vijay, serving for the match in the third set, showed signs of nervousness and missed a volley and forehand.” The match eventually ended in four sets. Bopanna looked like coasting to a cakewalk victory when he took a 4-1 lead in the first set. But form book took a sudden tumble when Bopanna’s booming serves started missing the mark, and his wonted backhands got going awry. As Bopanna struggled with his form, Vijay Kannan slowly,but surely, consolidated his position from the baseline, to break the serves of the top seed in the seventh and ninth games to wrest the set in a remarkable turnaround. Bopanna, who blasted aces and committed double faults in equal measure — 12 each — took 11 minutes to hold serve in the first game of the second set, which went to deuce 9 times. Vijay Kannan could not seize four break points as Bopanna put away the game point in his fifth attempt. Though he survived a scare in the first game, Bopanna could not hold his nerves for long, as he was broken in the third and ninth games. |
|
Ruiz retains title
Mashantucket, (US), December 16 When it was over, many were wondering, what’s the point? Ruiz retained his World Boxing Association heavyweight title with a questionable and lackluster 12-round draw against Holyfield yesterday night in the hall normally used for bingo at foxwoods Hotel Resort Casino. “I’m disappointed because I wanted a ko,” Ruiz said. “I definitely won.” Needless to say, Holyfield thought it should have gone his way. “I felt good, I did all I could to control the fight,” Holyfield said. “I was fighting a guy really tricky. Of course I felt I won. But when winning goes to judges, anything can happen. I don’t quit and will not quit.” The pair have fought 36 rounds in some 16 months. On August 12, 2000, Ruiz lost a questionable 12-round decision to Holyfield, who took the vacant WBA title. Seven months later, he took the belt from Holyfield to become the first hispanic heavyweight world champion, while holyfield’s camp voiced complaints. Their third meeting was originally to take place in China in August. It was put off when Ruiz suffered a training injury, but plans of holding it in China in November were scuppered by the September 11 terrorist attacks in the USA.
AFP |
|
Punjab cops score 3-1
victory Jalandhar, December 16 BSF and Punjab and Sind Bank had a neck-and-neck fight with both teams settling for a draw. The bankmen opened their account in the second minute of the game as Parminder Singh converted a penalty corner. They consolidated their lead in the 6th minute when Sandeep Singh Ghuman made no mistake in converting a penalty stroke. Both the teams displayed good coordination. BSF equalised when Merihs Lakra put in two goals one after another in the 34th and 35th minute to make it 2-2 at half time. After changing ends, Barinder Guria of BSF took the lead for his team when he scored a beautiful goal in the 37th minute. Bankmen neutralised in the 49th minute. The match ended at 3-3 with both teams picking up
equalpoints. The second match on the men’s section between Punjab Police and Central Industrial Security Force
(CISF) was a fast-paced game with wonderful display of coordination and team work from both the teams. Taking advantage of the penalty stroke awarded to them, CISF gained the lead when Cyril Ekka sounded the board in the 21st minute. CISF men showed good team work. Till the breather CISF were leading by 1-0. After the break, Tejbir Singh of Punjab Police equalled the score converting a penalty corner in the 38th minute. In the second half Punjab Police mounted pressure on their rivals and the CISF lost their momentum as their defence fell weak. Policemen consolidated their lead in the 66th minute when captain Sarabjit Singh scored from the left flank. Punjab Police won by 3-1. |
|
|
Barreto fashions
Bagan win Kolkata, December 16 The Brazilian striker produced the match winner for Mohun Bagan midway through the opening session to seal the contest against traditional foes in a fast-paced encounter. Mohun Bagan, who had carved out a comfortable 2-0 victory over Tollygunge Aggragami in their opening match, launched into the offensive straightaway with a series of raids from both the flanks. Barreto chested a Dulal Biswas centre and then unleashed a powerful volley from inside the box, giving no chance at all to the East Bengal custodian Sangram Mukherjee. The East Bengal stoppers were also completely taken off guard as they were busy trying to mark the other striker Abdulateef Seriki.
PTI |
|
|
Mukesh wins Servo Masters title Digboi, December 16 Mukesh who played to one-over 73 today, tallied nine-under 279 for the tournament. Delhi’s Zai Kipgen and Chandigarh’s Harmeet Kahlon finished second, five-strokes behind the leader at four-under 284 apiece. Mukesh’s elder brother Punes D.S. Raghuvanshi was tied for the fourth position, with Delhi’s Rohtas Singh at three-under 285 while the trio of Uttam Singh Mundy, Yusuf Ali (both Kolkata) and Rahul Ganapathy (Mysore) finished tied-sixth at one-under 287. This morning Mukesh’s opening hole saw him card a morale-breaking triple bogey.
UNI |
|
MDU badminton in
Jan Rohtak, December 16 According to information received from the university, the zone ‘A’ and Zone B matches of badminton tournament for women will be held from January 5 to 7 at Government College for Women, Rohtak, and Government College, Gurgaon, respectively. The inter-zonal league matches will be held on January 9 and 10 and the venue will be Government College for Women, Rohtak. Men’s zone ‘A’ and zone ‘B’ matches. Badminton matches will be from January 6 to 8 at K.L.P. College, Rewari, and Hindu College, Sonepat, respectively. The inter-zonal league matches will be played at K.L.P. College, Rewari, on January 10 and 11. The selection trials for university men’s badminton team will take place on January 11 at K.L.P. College, Rewari at 1 p.m. The women’s team will be selected on January 10 at 12 noon at Government College for Women, Rohtak. The selection trials of university’s men and women yoga team will be held on January 1 and 2, respectively, at 9 a.m. at the university sports complex. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 121 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
