NAIROBI, Oct 9: Asserting their allround superiority New Zealand scored a comfortable 64-run win over Zimbabwe in the ICC Knock-out Cricket Tournament here today to set up a clash with Pakistan in the first semi-final on Wednesday. .......more

Nairobi team
retained for
Sharjah

MUMBAI, Oct 9: The national cricket selectors today turned down a request for an off-spinner and ....more

England face many
questions after
Keegan’s dramatic exit

London, Oct 9 : Beleaguered England, struggling to live up to their prestigious role as the national .....more

Too much sport
leads to illness

MUNICH, Oct 9: A normal level of exercise or fitness training can strengthen the body’s immune ....more

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

UDHAMPUR, Oct 9: North-zone Junior Women Cricket Championship being organised by the...........more

Inter-Army School Girls
Kho-Kho Champ begins

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 9: Chairman Army School, Kaluchak, Brig. N S Chaudhary, VSM today inaugurated ........more

Inter-college Football
Tourney begins

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 9: Post Graduation Departments women got walkover against ASC Medical College to reach the semi-finals........more

Nehru Yuva Kendra
organises Volleyball tourney

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

POONCH, Oct 9: Nehru Yuva Kendra, Poonch organised Volleyball competitions at Higher.......more

New Zealand notch up 64-run victory over Zimbabwe

NAIROBI, Oct 9: Asserting their allround superiority New Zealand scored a comfortable 64-run win over Zimbabwe in the ICC Knock-out Cricket Tournament here today to set up a clash with Pakistan in the first semi-final on Wednesday.

In what could be described as a sweet revenge for the 1-2 series loss to the African country, the Kiwis raised a daunting victory target of 266 and then bundled out the Zimbabweans for 201 in 42.2 overs with Paul Wiseman being the wrecker-in-chief claiming four wickets for 45 runs.

Opener Alistair Campbell (47) and Stuart Carlisle (67) started on healthy note for Zimbabwe after the cheap dismissal of Craig Wishart, who was caught by twose off allot for five.

The duo added 64 runs for the second wicket and looked on course of laying a solid foundation for the middle order to capitalise on. But once Campbell fell leg before to Chris Harris three runs short of his half-century, Zimbabwe innings floundered never to recover.

Wickets fell at regular intervals and none of the batsmen applied themselves to the daunting task of scoring at over five and a half runs an over.

Carlisle, however, stuck to his guns at one end, and waged a lonely battle before being caught behind off wiseman for a well-made 67. His 92-ball knock included seven fours and a six.

Once Carlisle left the scene, Zimbabwe’s cause was as bad as lost and though Guy Whittal (26) and captain Heath Streak (20) provided a semblance of fight, they were never in sight of victory.

Earlier, put in to bat, man-of-the-match Roger Twose (85) and Craig McMillan (52) helped New Zealand set up a respectable 265 for seven in their allotted 50 overs.

New Zealand began disastrously when seasoned campaigner Nathan Astle was dismissed for nought, caught by Grant Flower off Henry Olonga with the total on four.

Captain Stephen Fleming then joined Craig Spearman and the two steadied the innings with a 53-run second wicket partnership. New Zealand had its share of luck when Spearman was dropped twice in heath streak’s second over.

Olonga finally caught on with the opener’s run of luck when Spearman’s mistimed lofted drive landed into the safe hands of steak. Spearman made 20 off 36 balls.

Fleming was run out soon after for a 50-ball 34 which included five hits to the fence.

Twose, who came in at number four, batted fluently and helped the injured Chris Cairns, struggling in pain, to settle down. But the limping Cairns got out for 13.

Craig McMillian then joined twose in the most fruitful partnership of 95 runs for the fifth wicket with both matching each other stroke for stroke.

Mcmillan scored a quick-fire 52 off 51 balls with three fours and three sixes before holing out to Olonga off Viljoen in the slog overs. Twose too fell to the same combine for 85 which included four fours and a six.

At 215 for five in the 44th over, New Zealand looked set for a big score but some accurate bowling by Viljoen and streak restricted them to 246 in the 49th before Parore cut loose and hoisted Olonga for two consecutive sixes to take 19 runs off the last over. (PTI)

SCOREBOARD

New Zealand

C Spearman c Streak b Olonga 20

N Astle c G Flower b Olonga 0

S Fleming run out 34

R Twose c Olonga b Viljoen 85

C Cairns c Viljoen b Strang 13

C McMillan c Olonga b Viljoen 52

C Harris b G Flower b Olonga 16

A Parore not out 20

P Wiseman not out 0

Extras (lb-12, w-12, nb-1) 25

Total (for seven wickets) 265

Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-57, 3-69, 4-120, 5-215, 6-234, 7-259.

Bowling: Heath Streak 10-1-48-0, Henry Olanga 9-0-58-3, M Nkala 10-1-44-0, Paul Strangh 7-0-40-1, D Viljoen 10-0-40-2, Grant Flower 4-0-23-0.

Zimbabwe

A Campbell lbw B Harris 47

C Wishart c Twose b Allot 5

S Carlisle c Parore b Wiseman 67

A Flower c and b Wiseman 1

G Flower b Wiseman 5

G Whittal run out 26

H Streak c and b N Astle 20

D Viljoen run out 9

P Strang lbw b N Astle 3

M Nkala b Wiseman 2

H Olonga not out 2

Extras (b-1, lb-8, w-4, nb-1) 14

Total (all out in 42.2 overs) 201

Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-88, 3-91, 4-108, 5-154, 6-178, 7-190, 8-196, 9-199.

Bowling: Geoff Allott 8-0-45-1, O Connor 7-0-20-0, Nathan Astle 7-0-39-2, Chris Cairns 1-0-6-0, Harris 10-0-37-1, Paul Wiseman 9.2-0-45-4. (PTI)

Nairobi team retained for Sharjah

MUMBAI, Oct 9: The national cricket selectors today turned down a request for an off-spinner and retained the same 14-member Indian team, which is now in Nairobi, for the October 20-29 Triangular Series in Sharjah.

The five-member selection committee, including newcomer Sanjay Jagdale, also named Hyderabad’s V V S Laxman as skipper of the Rest of India team in the Irani Cup match against Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai to be played here from October 13 to 17.

Cricket Board secretary Jaywant Lele, after announcing the two teams, said there was a request for including an off-spinner in the Sharjah squad from the team management which is taking part in the ICC Knockout Cup Tournament.

"The selectors held discussions over the request before deciding to retain the same 14 for Sharjah", Lele told reporters.

The teams:

For Sharjah: Saurav Ganguly (Capt), Sachin Tendulkar, S Sriram, Rahul Dravid (vice-capt), Vinod Kambli, Yuvraj Singh, Robin Singh, Vijay Dahiya (WK), Ajit Agarkar, Anil Kumble, Venkatesh Prasad, Zaheer Khan, Sunil Joshi and Hemang Badani.

For Irani Cup: V V S Laxman (Capt, Hyderabad), S Ramesh (TN), Shib Sunder Das (Orissa), Mohd Kaif (UP), Jacob Martin (Baroda), Abhijit Kale (Maharashtra), Virender Sehwag (Delhi), Ajay Ratra (wk, Haryana), Murali Karthik (Railways), Javagal Srinath (Karnataka), Ashish Nehra (Delhi), Laxmi Ratan Shukla (Bengal), Sharandip Singh and Reetinder Singh Sodhi (both Punjab). (PTI)

England face many questions after Keegan’s
dramatic exit

London, Oct 9 : Beleaguered England, struggling to live up to their prestigious role as the national team of soccer’s birthplace, faced many questions about their future today after the sudden departure of coach Kevin Keegan.

Keegan threw in the towel after England’s last game under Wembley’s twin towers ended in a 1-0 defeat by Germany in the opening match of their 2002 World Cup qualifying campaign.

Wembley, which is to be demolished and rebuilt by 2004, witnessed England’s finest hour 34 years ago when the Germans were beaten 4-2 in the 1966 World Cup final.

But England have not won a major trophy since and, despite boasting one of the most competitive domestic leagues, are now struggling to make an impact on the world game.

On saturday the 77-year-old stadium was the scene of drama when Keegan resigned in the dressing room moments after the final whistle. England face another qualifier against Finland in Helsinki on Wednesday.

Caretaker coach Howard Wilkinson, called in to help England in a crisis for the second time in 20 months, will guide the team through their preparations for the Helsinki game.

But the former Leeds United manager, who also took the reins in February 1999 after Glenn Hoddle was sacked, admits he was shocked by the former liverpool player’s decision to quit so early in the campaign.

"I was very, very shocked and saddened when I heard and saw what was happening," Wilkinson said.

"Kevin’s resignation has brought to an end, probably prematurely, a coaching career with the international side that no one at the game envisaged.

"It was the first game in a qualifying campaign, having qualified the last time round from a position that was worse than the position we are in at the moment with less games to go."

Keegan had steered England to the European Championship finals earlier this year after a poor start to their qualifying campaign under hoddle. But, despite a rare victory over the Germans at the finals, they failed to make the final stages.

Keegan, who admitted he was "not good enough" to do the job, was ridiculed by the British media yesterday for the timing of his decision and dubbed a "coward" and a "deserter".

Keegan had great motivational skills. But, despite a playing career which included a successful time in German football, he appeared to lack the tactical knowledge for coaching at the highest level.

England, once one of the world’s best teams, are learning to live with the fact that they are now ranked behind the likes of Norway, Portugal and Mexico who have never won the World Cup. (REUTERS)

Too much sport leads to illness

MUNICH, Oct 9: A normal level of exercise or fitness training can strengthen the body’s immune system but an excessive amount of physical activity can have exactly the opposite effect, medical experts warn.

In such cases, sport becomes a source of stress and weakens the body’s defences, according to a report in the specialist medical magazine "medical practice" (Aerztliche Praxis) published in Munich.

One of the reasons for this is that every sporting activity leads to micro tears in muscle tissue and the immune system has to use up energy to repair them. This leaves the rest of the immune system on "half power." the report also warned that excessive training involves the release of large quantities of stress hormones.

This can lead to serious health problems for sportsmen. The magazine report says fitness fanatics tend to show an above average incidence of infections of the respiratory system and urinary tract and diarrhoea. Moderate fitness training, however, releases a stimulating level of stress hormones which leads to improvements in the body’s immune system. (DPA)

NZ Junior Women Cricket Champ begins today

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

UDHAMPUR, Oct 9: North-zone Junior Women Cricket Championship being organised by the J&K Women Cricket Association begins here tomorrow.

The championship will be declared open by the Minister for Sports and Tourism, Mr S S Slathia at Sports Stadium, here at 11.30 in the morning, said Mr Ashok Kumar, who is organising secretary of the championship.

He said that all the arrangements including play fields, boarding and lodging, besides security have been made by the ogranising committee. The teams from Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and host Jammu and Kashmir have reached the venue this evening.