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Wednesday,
December 19, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Bangalore pitch to help spinners India to persist with four bowlers |
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England deny deal
with BCCI
Hairline fracture rules Lara out for six weeks Windies can win final: Hooper HP take on Delhi Simer ousted in first round Goalkeeper Menezes hails Dhanraj’s role Haryana XI rout Starch Mill, PSB win JCT held; Salgaocar lose
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Stakes high for both teams
Bangalore, December 18 The stakes are very high for both teams in this test. While India, one-up in the series, would be keen to keep their winning record at home intact, England, after a vastly improved performance in the drawn Ahmedabad Test, suddenly realise that the Indians are not invincible after all. The Chinnaswamy Stadium here has produced a result in each of the last six Tests and even though India have lost their last two tests here — to Australia by eight wickets in 1997-98 and then to South Africa by an innings and 71 runs last year — a win for England would be a very tall order. The pitch here is known to favour batsmen and the spinners and in both these departments, the odds are heavily tilted towards India. With wicketkeeper Deep Dasgupta doing fairly well as an opener, the Indians effectively have a specialist batsman coming till number seven and Kumble, Harbhajan Singh and Javagal Srinath, who follow, are quite capable of contributing some useful runs. Again, Kumble and Harbhajan Singh remain a puzzle to the English batsmen despite the 407 they were able to score in the first innings at Ahmedabad. The two spinners have shared 31 of the 40 wickets in the last two matches and would once again be the major factors in this match what with the Indians preferring to go in with two spinners and two seamers. Kumble, who has bagged 18 of those 31 wickets, has an added incentive to motivate him. He is just one wicket away from becoming only the second Indian after the legendary Kapil Dev to claim 300 Test wickets and what better place to reach the milestone than his home ground! The Karnataka leg-spinner has had back-to-back five wicket hauls in Mohali and Ahmedabad and he would definitely be eager to give a similar performance, if not improve on it, before his home crowd. England skipper Nasser Hussain, after his team’s creditable performance in Ahmedabad, claimed that his players were slowly learning to play Kumble and Harbhajan but was quick to add that they might find the duo a bit more intimidating in Bangalore because the track was supposed to be a little more spinner-friendly. The fact is the English batsmen have shown a lot of resilence after the 10-wicket drubbing in Mohali. Craig White got a century in Ahmedabad and Marcus Trescothick and Mark Butcher had a near-century knock each. Hussain himself has been quite consistent. Having won a psychological victory in Ahmedabad, England are now entertaining hopes of actually beating India in this Test to square the series. But if history is anything to go by, England have a very weak case. Never has a foreign team come back from a deficit to equalise a series in India. England’s own record at this ground does not give them any comfort as of the two Tests they have played here, they lost by 140 runs in 1978-79 and managed a draw in 1981-82. However, the reason why England are so upbeat about their prospects is the under-performance of the Indian batsmen in Ahmedabad. The hosts were bowled out for 291 in their first innings to concede a huge 116-run lead to England. Then in the second innings, despite being in a healthy position at 119 without loss at one stage, the Indians did not make an attempt to chase the target of 374 for victory and played it safe to settle for a draw. In fact, that performance would be something the Indians would be surely looking to improve upon. With such a formidable batting line-up and the tremendous advantage of playing at home, there is no reason why they should opt for such a defensive approach. The responsibility starts from the captain himself and Sourav Ganguly, who is still struggling to get a big score behind his name for some time now, would be most keen to perform well here. Same is true for his deputy Rahul Dravid who, despite the 86 that he made in the first innings in Mohali, hasn’t looked all that comfortable against the English attack. Like Kumble — and Srinath — Dravid too would be playing before his home crowd and that might just be the extra motivation that he is in the need of. As expected, India’s batting fortunes have revolved around Sachin Tendulkar, the batting maestro having already accumulated 217 runs from the two matches including a century. He is averaging 72 in this series, the highest for the Indian team with Dasgupta coming a distant second at 59. PTI
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Bangalore pitch to help spinners A new wicket and outfield greets India and England at Bangalore. The whole ground at the Chinnaswamy Stadium has been relaid in the last six months and is ready for this crucial final Test. It is a dry wicket that is devoid of grass and will certainly spin a lot more than the track in Ahmedabad. There will also be plenty of bounce too, and playing a third spinner will make a great deal of sense on this track. An attack comprising Sharandeep, Harbhajan and local boy Anil Kumble would be quite a handful for the opposition under these conditions. After a day off yesterday, we had two sessions of practice today. Unfortunately, I could hardly take part in either session thanks to a sore middle finger on the left hand after I had been hit in Ahmedabad. Hopefully a new wicket might turn luck in our favour at this venue. We have lost our last two Tests here. In 1998, we lost to Mark Taylor’s Australian team, but we had already won the series before reaching Bangalore. Last year we lost to South Africa, to concede our first home defeat in more than a decade. However, we feel no pressure as we go into this Test. After all, we are one Test up in the series and if we play to our potential there is no reason why we won’t win. It’s important for us to forget the missed catches and disappointing batting in Ahmedabad. I know that things would have looked different if we had held on to our chances, but such things are part of the game. Right now, it’s important to ensure that the same mistakes are not repeated and that the level of our game is raised by a few notches. This will certainly be a big game for Kumble as he is poised to become the first Indian spinner to claim 300 wickets. That he has a chance to achieve this feat on home turf makes it all the more exciting for him. He looks pretty upbeat and is practicing hard to make this a Test to remember. The final Test of any series is crucial. Both teams will be going all out to win, and spectators will see many more risks being taken. When Hussain employed a defensive field and asked his strike spinner Ashley Giles to bowl outside the leg stump, it might have struck some spectators as negative cricket. This time round I’m sure things will be very different. He along with the rest of the team will be coming hard at us, and we are more than ready for them. Monday night was a special one for Indian cricketers from the past the present and the future. It was the Castrol Awards night, and it was great to see Sachin Tendulkar bag the cricketer of the year award. There was a constellation of cricket stars from the past present, from Polly Umrigar to Gundappa Vishwanath. Umrigar was given the lifetime achievement award while Ajay Ratra bagged the young cricketer of the year award. I would like to use this opportunity to thank Castrol for honouring cricketers from different eras and saluting their contribution to the game. Gameplan
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India to persist with four bowlers
Bangalore, December 18 “Every game is a new game. You have lost in the past that does not mean that you are going to lose again... It is not as if we have not won here before,” a confident Ganguly said at a pre-match press conference here. “Tomorrow is a new day and it depends on how we play during the next five days... That is going to decide the fate of the game,” the skipper said. Ganguly said he would like to continue with the four-bowler attack as a “fifth bowler is a bit of big luxury”. “You have two of the best spinners in the world in Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble. Sachin (Tendulkar) also picks up wickets as a utility bowler on a turning pitch and he is as good as anybody. “Sometimes I feel five bowlers is a bit of big luxury because I feel the fifth bowler is getting under-bowled a bit, he said. However, he said the “selectors’ opinion matters in this case” and a decision will be taken in consultation with them. “The pitch has got a bit of green patch and it will be a difficult decision to make right now”. Though both teams are expected to go all out for a win, Ganguly found it difficult to predict whether the match would be a result-oriented one. “It depends on how both sides play. Mohali was a flat wicket but the match was finished in four days. It is very difficult for me to say whether this one will be result-oriented,” he said. While India started the three-Test series on a positive note, winning the first one at Mohali by 10 wickets, the second at Ahmedabad ended in a tame draw and they were blamed for indulging in ultra-defensive tactics. But Ganguly appeared unfazed by the criticism and instead blamed the Englishmen for adopting negative bowling tactics. “Everybody has their own opinion which is fair enough. But at the same time you have got to see how you are going to get that target. “If you have an attacking field then it is easy to get more than four runs per over. But you might lose a few wickets in the bargain. Again if they start bowling defensively, a negative line at that, it is not always easy.” On whether he was looking to improve his own performance Ganguly said, “I have not set any personal goals. I look to play every Test match at a time and try to score runs in that. I find it difficult to say I will score 200, 300 or 400 runs in a three-Test series as that puts additional pressure on me. It is an easier job to play ball to ball and match to match”. PTI
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England deny deal with BCCI
London, December 18 Earlier today the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said an agreement had been reached, with only the details to thrash out. “They have agreed in principle. We are looking at logistics, whether to play immediately after they arrive, or after the Mumbai (final) game,” BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah told Reuters by phone from Mumbai. “I think within 3 to 4 days, we should know.” But a spokesman for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) responded by saying: “Nothing has been agreed. We are still in ongoing discussions.” The Indian board had earlier warned that if England refused to play a sixth one-dayer during the January 22 to February 3 series they would in turn pull out of a commitment to play four Tests rather than three in England later this year. The BCCI also wants the ECB to agree to play five Tests when their team next tours India in 2006. Reuters
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246-run win for Australia
Adelaide, December 18 Faced with an overwhelming 375 runs to win but realistically needing to bat out the entire day to save the Test, the South Africans were condemned to defeat after a clatter of five wickets in a calamitous morning session. Only Jacques Kallis defied the relentless Australian onslaught and finished with his reputation intact, scoring an unbeaten 65 in 234 minutes. Australia claimed victory with the wicket of Nantie Hayward for 12. The South Africans will have to regroup for the second match of the world championship series, starting at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on December 26. Once again it was Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne who spearheaded Australia to a psychological victory over their chief rivals. McGrath had a sensational opening spell of 6-4-5-2 and finished with the figures of 3-13 off 14 overs for match analysis of 6-107. Warne finished with 3-57 off 29 overs and took his Test tally to 421 wickets, placing him fourth on Test cricket’s all-time list, and only 10 behind third-placed Richard Hadlee of New Zealand. McGrath is ninth with 369 wickets. Resuming at 17 for two after the shattering loss of both openers, Herschelle Gibbs (9) and Gary Kirsten (7) yesterday, the South Africans cracked under sustained Australian pressure. Boeta Dippenaar completed a sorry match following his first innings three with a duck when he edged to Shane Warne at first slip off McGrath after only 14 minutes of play. Neil McKenzie appeared most unfortunate to be given out lbw to McGrath two balls later for a duck. McKenzie stood his ground asking Indian umpire Srinivas Venkataraghavan to confirm his dismissal before he left the crease. Television replays appeared to show that McKenzie, on his tip-toes, was rapped high on the pad with the ball likely to have cleared the stumps. AFP Scoreboard
Australia (1st innings): 439 South Africa (1st innings): 374 Australia (2nd innings): 309 for 7 decl South Africa (2nd innings): Kirsten c Ponting b Warne 7 Gibbs c Langer b McGrath 9 Dippenaar c Warne b McGrath 0 Kallis not out 65 McKenzie lbw Mcgrath 0 Klusener c Warne b Gillespie 18 Boucher c Gilchrist b Gillespie 0 Pollock c Ponting b Warne 1 Henderson c Ponting b Warne 3 Ntini b Lee 4 Hayward c Gilchrist b Lee 12 Extras (b-4, lb-1, w-1, nb-3) 9 Total (all out, 67 overs) 128 Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-17, 3-21, 4-21, 5-54, 6-58, 7-67, 8-74, 9-113 Bowling: McGrath 14-8-13-3, Gillespie 11-4-23-2, Warne 29-7-57-3, Lee 12-3-29-2, Martyn 1-0-1-0. |
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Hairline fracture rules Lara out for six weeks
Colombo, December 18 “Last night, we had Brian Lara looked at by another orthopedic surgeon here in Colombo at a private clinic, since Lara’s fingers had been tingling and seemed somewhat swollen,” Skerritt said. “This was a second opinion that we had planned to have all along anyway. After more x-rays, and subsequent examination, it has now been diagnosed that there is definitely a hairline fracture at the elbow joint, which had been dislocated out of position when the collision occurred.” Skerritt was referring to Lara’s collision with fielder Marvan Atapattu in the West Indies’s eight-wicket defeat by Sri Lanka in Kandy on Saturday. Lara, who was initially diagnosed as having a dislocated left elbow, set off for a quick single and Atapattu, fielding at cover, ran in to throw the wicket down. The players collided and the West Indian was left clutching his left arm in agony. “After resetting the cast around the repaired joint, it is now suggested that Lara would be out of cricket for much longer than was at first thought.” Reuters
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Windies can win final: Hooper Colombo, December 18 “I have a very strong belief that we will upset the Sri Lankans in the final, even though they are the favourites,” Hooper told reporters today, as his injury affected team went for a final practice session. The West Indies were beaten 3-0 in the three-Test series against Sri Lanka. The only silver lining was that the Caribbeans managed to reach the final of the one-day series. “It has been a very hard tour for us and we have not yet got anything to show for it and our hard work,” Hooper said.
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HP take on Delhi Chandigarh, December 18 Delhi have strong team with Ashish Nehra, Amit Bhandari, Vijay Dahiya, Akash Chopra, among others, while Himachal have good players like Rahul Panta, Rajeev Nayyar and spirited Richie Kapoor in their team. Sanjeev Dua (Indore) and Ganesh Iyer (Mumbai) are the umpires while Uday Naik from Goa is the match referee. The teams: Delhi: Vijay Dahiya, Akash Chopra, Gautam Gambhir, Radhey Shyam Gupta, Mithun Minhas, Pardeep Chawla, Sohail Rauf, Amit Bhandari, Ashish Nehra, Arun Singh, Harender Chaudhary, Surender Daima, Rajeev Rathore, N.S. Negi and T. Anand. Coach: Surender Khanna, manager: Suresh Luthra. HP: Virender Sharma, Nischal Gaur, Sandeep Sharma, Amit Sharma (Sr), Amit Sharma (Jr), Shakti Singh, Vishal Bhatia, Rajeev Nayyar, Sangram Singh, Rahul Panta, Puneet Lath, Richie Kapoor, Pankaj Chadha and Pankaj Kapoor. Coach: Devinder Arora, manager: Prem
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Simer ousted in first round New Delhi, December 18 But Simer had a lot to cheer about in the doubles as she partnered Neha Singh to outplay Swathy Kandaswamy and Tejaswani Dalta 6-1,6-4. In the only other doubles match, Nidhi Shah and Sagarika Phadke beat Sanjukta Barooah and Sharmishta Chawdhuri 6-2,6-1. The results went on expected lines with the seeded players calling the shots. Top-seeded Sandri Gangotri of Andhra Pradesh rushed past Anahita Jagtiani 6-2,6-3, while second-seeded Kartiki Bhat of Maharashtra had a still easier time against Sanchi Ganeriwal, when she scored a 6-1,6-2 victory. Third-seeded S Preeti of Tamil Nadu trounced Devenshi Rajgaria of Bengal 6-0,6-1; fourth-seeded Sana Bhambri of Delhi toyed with Dhanashree Giri 6-0,6-2; fifth-seeded Mathura Ranganathan of Tamil Nadu beat Anukriti Prasad of Delhi 6-1,6-0; sixth-seeded Dalta Tejaswini of Andhra Pradesh beat Karina Ahuja of Bengal 6-2,6-3; seventh-seeded Pooja K, also of Andhra, beat Sanjana Kapur of Delhi 6-3,6-1, and eighth-seeded Vandana Murali beat Amrita Sethi 6-1, 6-1. |
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Goalkeeper Menezes hails Dhanraj’s role
Mumbai, December 18 The win also facilitated India’s entry into the Champions Trophy to be played in Cologne, Germany, next year after a gap of six years. Menezes, who himself starred with some superb saves, said the return of Pillai made a huge difference to the team’s fortunes. Though Pillai did not figure in the top scorers list, his influence was equally great, he said and added that Pillai revitalised the forward line. Menezes felt South Africa have now come of age in hockey world like cricket and rugby. But for Menezes’ stopping a penalty push in the regulation time India may have lost to them in the league encounter. However, in the finals Menezes said India were far more superior and should have won by a six-goal margin. Pillai has had running battles with Indian Hockey Federation’s boss K.P.S. Gill and missed quite a few representation for India as a consequence. UNI
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Haryana XI rout Starch Mill, PSB win Jalandhar, December 18 It was a clear win for the Haryana XI girls who were too good for Starch Mill, Phagwara, to rout them 10-0. Compared to 22 penalty corners for Haryana XI, Starch Mill did not secure even one, of Haryana eves dominated the field from the first whistle. They gained lead in the 28th minute through Jasjeet Kaur. Balwinder Kaur netted the ball in the 31st minute for the second goal. The next came in the 34th minute, scored by Rekha. In the 40th minute, Kiran Bala scored, Balwinder Kaur struck in the 51st, 56th, 57th, and 59th minutes to leave Starch Mill girls shell-shocked. In the 61st minute, Nutan sounded the board converting a penalty stroke and the last goal was scored in the 65th minute by Ramnik Kaur. In the men’s section, Punjab and Sind Bank had an impressive win against Guru Nanak Dev University, beating them 6-0. Opening their account in the first minute of the game, Punjab and Sind Bank forged ahead through Parminder Singh. They consolidated their lead quickly in the fourth minute through Sandeep Singh Seep and in the seventh minute Sharnjit Singh took the score to 3-0. The next goal came in the 13th minute through Parminder Singh. Sharnjit Singh scored his second goal in the 18th minute to bring the score line to 5-0. Sandeep Singh Ghuman completed the tally to 6-0 in the 33rd minute. After changing ends the game turned defensive as no goal was scored. In the second match in the men’s section, Punjab Police had a tough fight against Bharat Petroleum, winning 3-2. Playing at a fast pace, Punjab Police took the lead in the fifth minute when Daljit Singh converted the rebound during a penalty corner. Bharat Petroleum equalised in the 14th minute through Amar Aiyamma, but the cops again gained the lead in the 25th minute and then Jugraj Singh converted a penalty corner, taking the score to 3-1. Bharat Petroleum tried hard to equalise but only managed to narrow the gap in the 65th minute through Amar Aiyamma (2-3). Namdhari Academy routed Sports School, Jalandhar 3-1. Dominating the field in every way the Namdhari boys attacked the rivals in the first minute and captain Sher Singh scored through a reverse flick. Namdhari Academy boys displayed good coordination and team work compared to Sports School, who lacked in implementation and coordination. In the second half captain Sher Singh another goal in the 45th minute from the right flank. Sports School boys gained in confidence in the second half and started at a fast pace and managed to score in the seventh minute through Kulwant Singh. In the 56th minute Sher Singh gave his third goal to take the score to 3-1 for his team. |
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JCT held; Salgaocar lose
Kochi, December 18 At half time JCT led 1-0. Striker Hardip Sangha put the millmen in the lead in the 17th minute when his powerful free-kick from the top of the box on the left-flank found the target, beating a bewildered goalkeeper Ali Abubakar, a recruit from Ghana, hands down. Stung by the reverse, the local outfit went all out in the second half and got the equaliser through V.P. Shaji in the 53rd minute. The goal-bound move was made by medio Mikola Shevchenko of Uzbekistan, who dodged past a defender and crossed into the area where Noushad headed the ball into JCT ‘keeper Arvind Kumar who could not gather properly. An opportunistic Shaji quickly latched on to the rebound and tapped the ball into the net much to the delight of the crowd. F.C. Kochin, who were struggling in the first half, controlled the second session and could have won had their strikers been on target. Shaji had a golden chance in the 59th minute to put his team ahead but fumbled as Arvind Kumar averted the danger. Kochin messed up another chance in the 63rd minute when striker Shafeeq drove straight into the hands of Arvind from close range. BANGALORE: Debutants Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Sports Club (HASC) upset former NFL champions Salgaocar Football Club of Goa 2-1, thanks to a brace by its foreign recruit Raja Baliev Nurlan. After a barren first half, Nurlan put the local side ahead in the 60th minute. But five minutes later, Salgaocar equalised through medio Dennis Cabral. Nurlan again put HAL ahead in the 77th minute and the freshly promoted team did well to hold on to gain full points.
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