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Murali sends England packing
Nadal goes past gritty Hewitt
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Sania-Janette win, Bhupathi’s dream shattered Singapore
Open
PSEB win cricket title
Ruby Club win cricket title
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Jaffer leads Indian revival
St John’s (Antigua), June 5 Jaffer was bowled by Ian Bradshaw in the dying moments of the post-lunch session. He put on 203 runs for the third wicket with captain Rahul Dravid, who was dismissed for 62. This was Dravid’s 43rd Test half century. The last time a Test was decided at the Antigua Recreation Ground — three years ago — the West Indies amassed a record fourth-innings score of 418 to beat Australia by three wicket. While this time the pitch may not be such a belter — a few deliveries have kept low already — India’s destination had to be a surplus of at least 350, perhaps 400, to nullify any danger of losing the match. Technically, Jaffer and Dravid were each dropped in the morning off Dwayne Bravo. Both times, Chris Gayle, the lone slip, was the unsuccessful catcher. But it would be harsh to harp on this, because in either instance the ball only touched the fieldsman’s finger tips, low down to his right in the case of the Mumbaikar, over his head when it came to the Indian skipper. Having escaped, the Indians rubbed salt into the wounds by rattling up 65 runs in the first hour, which included three imperious straight drives by Jaffer off Corey Collymore and a well-timed six to long-on off Dave Mohammed. Collymore and Ian Bradshaw, however, beat a tiring Jaffer several times outside the off-stump with the second new ball. India went into lunch on 308 for two. The West Indies missed the speedy round-arm services of Fidel Edwards, diagnosed as having suffered a hamstring injury. Nevertheless, it was fine consolidation from 147 for two — when VVS Laxman fell — on a wicket still generating a bit of bounce. The star of the third day was no doubt Jaffer. Not only did he produce his second hundred in four Tests at a timely juncture, but the quality of his effort left the best crowd of the engagement so far (3,000 odd) gushing with admiration. It was an impeccable yet scintillating display, all the more heart-warming because he not merely exhibited the technique and temperament of an opener, but a wristy flair, whipping the ball away to the fence whenever a bowler erred the slightest in line or length. If he can continue in this vein in forthcoming matches, he would solve India’s perennial problem of stability at the top of the order. As a solitary Indian flag draped the railing of the Andy Roberts Stand, Jaffer emerged to meet mediapersons minutes after taking off his pads after close of play. Riding on the adrenalin of a personal triumph, he was happy to satisfy an incessant volley of questions. Intriguingly, he said he had hardly batted between the England series and this tour because of a shin surgery. All he had done was to prepare himself “mentally” for this trip. In contrast, Laxman was a disappointment. He doesn’t seem to be his relaxed, strokeful self — and who would blame him after the insecurity injected into him by selectorial whims. He announced himself resoundingly with a cover drive at the expense of Mohammed, repeated this later, but attempted to slog-sweep the very next ball out of the ground only to top-edge to mid-on. It was a feather in the Trinidadian wrist spinner’s cap, for he had deceived the Hyderabad artiste with a googly. PTI adds: Jaffer became only the fourth Indian to score a double century in the Caribbean. The other three Indians who have scored double tons in the West Indies are Sunil Gavaskar (220), Dilip Sardesai (212) and Navjot Singh Sidhu (201). Jaffer batted for eight and a half hours and faced 399 balls during his magnificent knock that contained 24 fours and a six. Jaffer and Dravid came together yesterday afternoon and stayed put for almost one full day. Scoreboard India (1st innings) 241 West Indies (1st innings) 371 India (2nd innings) Jaffer b Bradshaw 212 Sehwag c Gayle b Collymore 41 Laxman c Bradshaw
Dravid c Bradshaw
Yuvraj not out 14 Kaif not out 0 Extras
(lb-5, nb-9, w-4) 18 Total (4 wickets, 119 overs) 378 Fall of wickets:
1-72, 2-147, 3-350, 4-375. Bowling: Edwards 5.4-2-16-0, Collymore 23-8-50-1, Bradshaw 33-8-93-1, Bravo 22.2-4-78-0, Mohammed 22-2-98-2, Gayle 9-2-23-0, Sarwan 4-0-15-0.
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Murali sends England packing
Nottingham, June 5 Off-spinner Muralitharan finished with eight for 70 off 30 overs, a spell which was only interrupted by tea. He looked on course to join fellow spinners Jim Laker of England and Anil Kumble of India as the only men to take 10 wickets in a Test innings. But after dismissing the first seven batsmen, his chance evaporated when Matthew Hoggard was brilliantly run out by a direct throw from Charmara Kapugedera. Muralitharan struck again to remove Jon Lewis but the last wicket then fell to Sanath Jayasuriya’s left-arm spin. Muralitharan has now taken 635 wickets in 106 Tests, capturing 10 wickets or more in 16 of them. Shane Warne of Australia, the world record holder, has taken 685 wickets in 140 matches. Muralitharan has taken nine wickets twice in his Test career — against Zimbabwe in Kandy in 2002 and England in 1998. It was a magical performance by the Sri Lankan, particularly since none of the other bowlers looked likely to break through despite the difficult pitch. At one stage the 34-year-old took four for seven in 31 balls, including the scalps of England captain Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen in the same over. In 69 balls before tea his figures were six for 13. Sri Lanka had always looked well placed after an excellent performance by their batsmen in the second innings when they scored 322. Resuming on 286 for seven today, Sri Lanka lost their last three wickets in the first hour while adding 36 runs. Vaas ended on 34 not out, giving the number nine an extraordinary batting average of 92, Sri Lanka’s best of the series. Scoreboard Sri Lanka (1st innings) 231 England (1st innings) 229 Sri Lanka (2nd innings) Vandort b Hoggard 5 Tharanga c Cook b Panesar 46 Sangakkara c Trescothick
Jayawardene c Jones
Jayasuriya lbw Panesar 4 Dilshan c Jones b Hoggard 32 Kapugedera c Cook
Maharoof b Panesar 6 Vaas not out 34 Malinga b Panesar 22 Muralitharan c Strauss
Extras (b-1, lb-3, w-1, nb-5) 10 Total (all out, 113.1 overs) 322 Fall of wickets:
1-6, 2-100, 3-143, 4-148, 5-191, 6-223, 7-238, 8-287, 9-320. Bowling:
Hoggard 22-4-71-2, Lewis 20-6-54-0, Flintoff 13-1-38-1, Panesar 37.1-13-78-5, Plunkett 19-2-65-2; Pietersen 2-0-12-0. England (2nd innings) Trescothick b Muralitharan 31 Strauss c Jayawardene
Cook lbw Muralitharan 5
Pietersen c Dilshan
b Muralitharan 6 Collingwood c Dilshan
Flintoff c Dilshan
Jones b Muralitharan 6 Plunkett not out 22 Hoggard run out 4 Lewis lbw Muralitharan 7 Panesar lbw Jayasuriya 26 Extras
(b-13, lb-1, nb-4, w-1) 19 Total (all out, 68.5 overs) 190 Fall of wickets:
1-84, 2-104, 3-111, 4-120, 5-120, 6-125, 7-132, 8-136, 9-153. Bowling:
Vaas 9-1-28-0, Malinga 7-0-24-0, Muralitharan 30-10-70-8, Jayasuriya 22.5-3-54-1.
— Reuters
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Nadal goes past gritty Hewitt
Paris, June 5 The second seed grabbed the first set when a sliding Hewitt slapped a backhand into the net. Hewitt was not about to be outdone and drew level after breaking his opponent to love to take the second set 7-5 when Nadal misfired a forehand. The Australian continued to trouble Nadal over the next two sets by retrieving the ball from seemingly impossible angles but despite his best efforts Nadal sealed victory in three hours 17 minutes when Hewitt sailed a backhand over the baseline. Croatian men’s fourth seed Ivan Ljubicic marched into the last eight for the first time at the claycourt Grand Slam event where he will face unseeded Frenchman Julien Benneteau. Ljubicic equalled his best Grand Slam showing when he saw off Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo of Spain 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. The fourth seed, who also made the Australian Open quarterfinals in January, had too much big-match experience for the Spaniard on Court Suzanne Lenglen. Ramirez Hidalgo, 28, had never won a Grand Slam match before the tournament and although he took the second set, Ljubicic quickly re-asserted his authority with his heavy serve and clubbed forehand. Frenchman Julien Benneteau reached the quarterfinals after Spain’s Alberto Martin withdrew from their fourth-round match today. Benneteau was leading 5-1 in the opening set when Martin withdrew with a back injury. Hingis to clash with Clijsters
Former world number one Martina Hingis stuttered to a 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 win over Israel’s Shahar Peer and a place in the quarterfinals of the French Open today. The Swiss, back to Roland Garros after a three-year self-imposed exile from the game, dropped her first set on the Paris clay, where in her last five appearances she has always made it to the semifinals. Hingis, seeded 12th, will meet Belgian world number two Kim Clijsters in the next round on Tuesday and faces a potential semi-final against defending champion Justine Henin-Hardenne. Despite making 19 unforced errors in the first set against No. 7 Patty Schnyder, Venus Williams came back to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, with a lot of success at the net. Had Venus lost, there would have been no Americans in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros for the first time in the 38-year Open era. Her quarterfinal opponent will be 17-year-old Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic, a big hitter who eliminated No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-2, much to the chagrin of the French fans.
— Reuters
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Sania-Janette win, Bhupathi’s dream shattered Paris, June 5 “Hingis was not feeling well,” Bhupathi told PTI after conceding the second-round match to Martina Navratilova and Bob Bryan. Bhupathi won the Australian Open earlier this year partnering Hingis for his 10th career Grand Slam title. He won the Wimbledon and the US Open last year. In men’s doubles, Bhupathi and Belgian Xavier Malisse went down to Andrei Pavel of Romania and Germany’s Alexander Waske 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the quarterfinals. In boys singles, Sanam Singh and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan both lost their matches. Jeevan lost 6-2, 6-2 in the second round to top seed Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands, while Sanam was downed by Martin Klizan of Slovakia 6-2, 7-5. Sanaa Bhambri, partnering Maya Gaverova of Russia, gave a walkover to Gracia Radovanovic of France and Natasa Zoric of Serbia after Gaverova suffered an injury during her singles match.
— Agencies
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Saina to take on Chien in opener
New Delhi, June 5 Saina, who got a phenomenal jump of 34 places in world ranking after her triumph in Philippines Open, need not have to go through the qualification round of the $ 170,000 five-star tournament. Saina would be eager to prove her mettle in front of the star-studded line-up which includes the likes of Mia Audina Tjiptawan and Jie Yao of the Netherlands. Among other Indian girls, Jwala Gutta today won her first round qualifier against Canada’s Fiona Mckee 21-10, 21-5 to set up a first round battle against Jiayuan Chen of Singapore. Aditi Mutatkar lost 28-30, 21-18, 21-11 to Yoshimi Hataya of Japan. In the men’s draw, world No. 20 Chetan Anand will start his opening round against Sheng Shiun Liao of Chinese Taipei on Wednesday. National champion Anup Sridhar, who reached the pre-quarters of the Indoensia Open, will take on Dick Palyama of the Netherlands. Arvind Bhat, P Kashyap and Anand Pawar are the other players who have got direct entries. In the men’s qualifiers, J. Vidyadhar edged ahead at the cost of another Indian Rohan Castelino 21-9, 21-10. Vidyadhar will play Mohd Hafiz of Malaysia in the first round. India’s top doubles combination, Rupesh Kumar and Thomas Sanave, would look to put their disappointment of losing in the second round of Indonesia Open when they play against Jonas Rasmussen and Peter Steffensen of Denmark. — PTI
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Sangrur has 4 indoor pools
SANGRUR: With the construction of a 25-meter indoor swimming pool in the Golden Earth Global School at Sangrur, the district can boast of having four indoor swimming pools.
The other indoor pools are in Malerkotla, Sangrur and Dhuri. Sangrur also has an international standard pool with filtration plant and all other facilities. There is another 25-meter pool in the police lines. Mr Tajinder Singh, Director of the school, said the pool had been constructed in just eight months at a cost of Rs 90 lakh. The pool has all the facilities, including filtration plant, separate changing rooms, toilets and showers for boys and girls. Besides, about 500 spectators can sit in the gallery. Very soon the school will have a multi-gym near the pool. Mr Tajinder Singh said special type of sheets had been used in the ceiling of the hall, which will keep the inside of the pool cool and warm during summer and winter, respectively. A virtual revolution in providing swimming infrastructure respectively began when Mr Sarvjit Singh, himself a swimmer of national repute, was Deputy Commissioner of Sangrur, from 2002 to 2004. He was responsible for constructing three indoor pools in Sangrur district besides renovating the existing pool in War Heros Stadium. The new Deputy Commissioner, Mr S.R. Ladhar, who has recently taken over is taking keen interest in the development of infrastructure in the district. He has already prepared a blueprint for this and he is expecting money any time. Sangrur is doing extremely well in the state and national-level swimming competitions. Sangrur has been the overall champion in junior and sub-junior section in the state competitions for the last four years. With the addition of this new pool, swimming will touch new heights.
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PSEB win cricket title
Patiala, June 5 The Punjab powermen rode on some fine knocks by Harikrishan Mandora (54), Sandeep Kohli (31) and skipper Lakhbir Singh (31) to pile up 229 for 8 in the stipulated 40 overs. In reply, the Calcutta team managed to score 185 enabling the hosts to romp home by a 45 run margin. Harikrishan Mandora of PSEB was declared the man of the match. Brief scores: PSEB: 229 for 8 (Mandora 54, Kohli 31, Jhunjhunwala 2 for 29); CESC: 185 all out (Ganguly 40, Jhunjhunwala 30, Vipul 3 for 27).
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Ruby Club win cricket title Patiala, June 5 Brief scores: Panchkula DCA: 166 all out ( Karan Goyal 60, Manan Vohra 57, Viney Chowdhury 3 for 29, Guntaj Singh 1 for 26) Ruby Cricket Club, Amritsar:167 for 7 (Ankush Anand 67 n.o, Vishwas Mahajan 25, Shivam Bhambri 3 for 35, Karan Goyal 1 for 27, Shubham Rana 1 for 28, Pulkrit Sharma 1 for 41) The prizes were distributed by Station Commandant Brig D.S Bhalla at a colour closing ceremony held at the MES ground.
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