MUMBAI, July 25: India’s star batsman Sachin Tendulkar, who skipped the on-going triangular one.....more

India must bridge
gap between performance
and potential

COLOMBO, July 25: Winless in the series so far, a young but talented Indian side will have to get......more

Arnold, Perera shape
sensational Lankan
victory over New Zealand

COLOMBO, July 25: Riding on a 91-run unbeaten knock by all-rounder Russel Arnold and his........more

Cronje lawyer says
prosecution indemnity
still an option

PRETORIA, July 25: South Africa’s chief prosecutor has appointed a senior state lawyer to......more

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

SRINAGAR, July 25: The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) team defeated 6 Bn of the Indian Reserve Police (IRP)......more

Maj A S Jasrotia Cricket Tourney
ACC defeat SCC by 41 runs

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, July 25: Aman Cricket Club defeated Sanjeev Cricket Club by 41 runs in the on-going 3rd Major Ajay Singh......more

Inter-house socials,
prize distribution function
held at APS Udhampur

Excelsior Correspondent

UDHAMPUR, July 25: Inter-house socials and prize distribution ceremony.....more

Sampras back on
court with a win

LOS ANGELES, July 25: Playing in his first competitive match since a shock fourth-round exit at.......more

Maj Gen Purshotam Vig, VSM giving away prizes to the toppers.

Tendulkar feeling better, another bone scan on Aug 10

MUMBAI, July 25: India’s star batsman Sachin Tendulkar, who skipped the on-going triangular one-day series in Sri Lanka due to a hairline fracture in his right toe, is feeling better and is likely to go in for another bone scan on August 10.

Sports medicine expert Dr Anant Joshi, who is treating Tendulkar, told PTI here today that the batting maestro sounded cheerful when he spoke to him and said "he is feeling better".

"I am hopeful that the injury would heal soon. Because it is a hairline fracture it can’t be seen on the X-ray and that is why we are doing another bone scan," he added.

When asked how soon will Tendulkar be able to join the struggling Indian team in Sri Lanka, Joshi said "it all depends on how soon the fracture heals. The second bone scan will give us some indication".

"Sachin has also been advised to wear a doughnut-like protection on the injured area to release the pressure on it," he said.

Tendulkar, who injured his toe while batting against the West Indies in the final league match of the tringular series in Zimbabwe on July 4, went on to score a hundred and helped India win the match.

Though the star batsman pulled out of the on-going tri-series, he is expected to be fit before the three-test series against the Lankans starting on August 14 at Galle. (PTI)

India must bridge gap between performance and potential

COLOMBO, July 25: Winless in the series so far, a young but talented Indian side will have to get their act together when they take on Sri Lanka in their third league match of the one-day cricket tri-series here tomorrow to stay in reckoning for the final.

With Sri Lanka winning their match against New Zealand by five wickets today, India’s cause has been helped and they must now win at least two of the remaining four league matches for a place in the final. The hosts, with three consecutive victories under their belt and six points are almost assured of a final slot ahead of New Zealand who have 2 points.

"It is a do or die situation," Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly summed it up aptly on the eve of the crucial match.

Coach John Wright confirmed that Ajit Agarkar and Debashis Mohanty have been ruled out and named the same 13 that lost to Sri Lanka by six runs in the previous outing for tomorrow’s match.

Losing their opening encounter against New Zealand by a huge margin of 84-runs and then fumbling at the winning post by six runs against Sri Lanka in the next, India have been quite unpredictable which makes weighing their chances a dicey proposition.

The bowlers have done a commendable job, sticking to a tidy line and length but the batsmen have been a huge disappointment, gifting away their wickets to unnecessary shots or being unable to rotate the strike in crunch situations.

It defied reason to see a batsman of the calibre of Rahul Dravid struggling to get a boundary off even a full toss when India needed 12 runs in the last over for a win.

India’s case has been one of a huge gap between potential and performance so far and the coach and the skipper must do a bit of soul-searching to find match-winning solutions before it is too late.

Saurav Ganguly is finally among runs and there is no reason why he should demote himself down the order. He should not repeat the mistake he made in the previous match against Sri Lanka, promoting Harbhajan Singh ahead of himself only to see the plan backfire.

With all-rounders like Yuvraj Singh, Hemang Badani, Virender Sehwag and Reetinder Singh Sodhi in their ranks, they must open with Ganguly and Amay Khurasia for a solid start to the innings.

The task for the Indian batsmen has been made tough by the absence of their mainstay Sachin Tendulkar but India must get over their over-dependence on the maestro and play as a well-knit team.

Sri Lankan have sounded the alarm bell for India by excelling under pressure and pulling off a victory right form under the nose of the Kiwis. On their way to victory, Sri Lankans became the first team in the series to win a match after batting second.

The participating teams have shrugged off threats from ltte guerillas and looked largely unaffected by the political volatile situation as they have continued with their regular practice and rubbished rumours of scrapping off the series mid-way.

Teams (from):

Sri Lanka: Sanath Jayasuriya (capt), Marvan Atapattu, Mahela Jayawardene, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Kumar Sangakkara, Russel Arnold, Muttiah Muralitharan, Kumar Dharmasena, Chaminda Vaas, Dulip Liyanage, Avishka Gunawardena, Chamara Silva, Suresh Perera, Dilhara Fernando and Dinusha Fernando.

India: Saurav Ganguly (capt), Rahul Dravid, Amay Khurasia, V V S Laxman, R S Sodhi, Sammer Dighe, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Hemang Badani, Virendra Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Rahul Sanghvi. (PTI)

Arnold, Perera shape sensational Lankan
victory over New Zealand

COLOMBO, July 25: Riding on a 91-run unbeaten knock by all-rounder Russel Arnold and his unbeaten 103-run stand with Suresh Perera for the fifth wicket, Sri Lanka pulled off a sensational five-wicket victory over New Zealand in a one-day league match of the tri-series here today.

Set to score 237 off 50 overs, Sri Lanka, who were tottering at 27 for 4 in the 9th over, made a superb comeback through brilliant efforts of Maravan Atapattu (66), Arnold and Perera (56 not out) and romped home to 240 for 5 with nine balls to spare.

With this third consecutive victory, Sri Lanka have strengthened their chances of a final berth with six points to leave New Zealand and India to battle it out for the other place. New Zealand have two points from three matches while India have yet to win a match in the series.

In keeping with the tradition so far in the series, New Zealand captain Craig McMillan, leading the side in the absence of Stephen Fleming who was ruled out due to stomach upset, promptly elected to bat on winning the toss. But the hosts upset their calculations and registered the first victory for a side batting second in this tournament.

Kyle Mills gave New Zealand a dream start when he dismissed Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya and wicketkeepe Romesh Kaluwitharna in the second over of the innings.

Jayasuriya was a trifle unlucky in being given lbw when the ball seemed to pitch outside the off-stump when he was on 5. Kaluwitharna was caught behind by Adam Parore off a beauty from the paceman. The ball pitched on perfect length and left the batsman after kissing his bat. Sri Lanka lost the first two wickets with just five runs on the board.

Atapattu opened his account with a cover driven boundary Off Darryl Tuffy in the third over and looked solid as he set out for the damage control exercise. But his partner opener Avishka Gunawardene, who too started his scoring with a four off mills, was increasingly uncomfortable having been tied down by the New Zealand bowlers.

Gunawardene was getting frustrated and in an effort to break the shackles slashed Tuffy off a widish delivery in the ninth over only to see Chris Harris come up with a brilliant diving catch at point. Gunawardene could manage only five off the 26 balls he faced.

New man Mahela Jayawardene went for an non-existent run and paid the price when a direct hit from Mathew Sinclair found him way out of the crease and he was back to pavilion without opening his account.

Atapattu remained unperturbed though and played some delightful drives on the off-side. He square cut tuffy for a boundary in the fourth over and drove a over-pitched delivery from mills for the same result in the sixth over.

Showing impeccable timing and excellent footwork, Atapattu executed some brilliant strokes to keep the scoreboard moving. Arnold, who came at the fall of Jayawardene, took his time to settle down and gave able support to Atapattu who was looking in a very fine touch.

Sri Lanka, who have a reputation for putting up a big score in the first 15 overs, were in an extremely difficult situation at 48 for four when the fielding restrictions were lifted. However, Atapattu and Arnold restrained their flashy stroke-making and concentrated on building a big partnership.

Atapattu reached his 33rd half-century with a single off Chris Harris in the 27th over which also brought up the hundred of the team.

Atapattu however could not take his efforts to the logical conclusion and was run out for 66. Atapattu hit seven boundaries in his 91-ball knock. Sri Lanka lost their fifth wicket at 137 runs.

With the asking rate nearing six runs an over, the Sri Lankans needed to step up their scoring and all-rounder Suresh Perera and Arnold did exactly what was required as they went on the attack with some intelligent stroke-play.

Perera and Arnold frustrated the Kiwi bowlers by etching out smart singles and punishing the loose deliveries by scoring boundaries off them.

In the 42nd over, needing 55 runs off 48 balls, Perera edged down to the third man boundary which was followed by a gusty shot by Arnold which would have not hit the ropes but for a misfield from Mathew Sinclair.

These two quick boundaries considerably eased the pressure off the Sri Lankan batsmen as they scored 50 runs between them off just 57 deliveries. Their efforts saw Sri Lankans needing just six runs from the last two overs.

That was not a problem at all for the hosts with both Perera, who reached his first 50 in one-day internationals off 51 balls including six boundaries, and Arnold hitting a boundary each to cross the target.

Earlier, New Zealand capitalised on sloppy bowling by Sri Lanka to post the highest total in the series so far with important contributions from Nathan Astle (54), Craig McMillan (38), Lou Vincent (30) and Adam Parore (37 not out).

The Kiwis got off to a good start with a 70-run first wicket partnership from 83 balls between openers Sinclair (21) and Nathan Astle.

Astle, who scored 117 against India - the only century of the series so far - came good again to score his 27th one-day international half century. He reached his 50 off just 59 balls which included six fours and a huge six off kumara Dharmasena before he was clean bowled by Russel Arnold.

Sri Lankan bowlers especially seamers Vaas and Perera were uncharacteristically wayward conceding 49 runs in the first 10 overs and 21 extras by the 21st over which did not help the hosts’ cause at all.

The Kiwis capitalised on the field restrictions of the first 15 overs to seize initiative and raced to 82 for 1. They looked to be cruising to a total in excess of 240 runs but regular fall of wickets in the middle overs restricted their onslaught.

Sinclair was the first batsman to go when he failed to middle a ball from fast-medium Dilhara Fernando and gifted a catch to Sanath Jayasuriya after making 21. He struck three fours, including a boundary off the first ball of Fernando’s first over.

Jacob Oram, who came at the fall of Sinclair, failed to find form on the sluggish wicket and was out for 11 offering a simple catch to Mahela Jayawardene off Dharmasena.

Craig McMillan impressed in his came knock of 38 off 54 deliveries with three fours before he was clean bowled by Muttiah Muralitharan, his only victim of the day.

Mcmillan put up 44 runs for the third wicket with Lou Vincent who was caught brilliantly by a diving Gunawardene at cover on 30.

With the Kiwis reduced to 184 for 5, the Lankans were back into attack and did well to restrict the run rate and scalp wickets at regular intervals.

Veteran all-rounder Chris Harris (13), Daniel Vettori (3) and Kyle Mills (0) obliged the bowlers by getting out to unnecessary shots. (PTI)

SCORECARD

New Zealand: M Sinclair c Jayasuriya b Fernando 21 N Astle b Arnold 54 J Oram c Jayawardene b Dharmasena 11 C McMillan b Muralitharan 38 L Vincent c Gunawardene b Arnold 30 C Harris c Gunawardene b Dharmasena 13 A Parore not out 37 D Vettori c Atapattu b Jayasuriya 3 K Mills c and b Dharmasena 0 G Bradburn not out 2 Extras (lb-15, w-8, nb-4) 27 Total (8 wkts, 50 overs) 236

Fall of wickets: 1-70, 2-98, 3-120, 4-164, 5-184, 6-210,7-217, 8-217.

Bowling: Vaas 6-0-24-0, Perera 5-0-23-0, Fernando3-1-18-1, Dharmasena 10-0-52-3, Muralitharan 10-0-31-1, Jayasuriya 10-0-51-1, Arnold 6-1-22-2.

Sri Lanka: S Jayasuriya lbw b Mills 5 D Gunawardene c Harris b Tuffey 5 R Kaluwitharana c Parore b Mills 0 M Atapattu run out 66 D Jayawardene run out 0 R Arnold not out 91 A Perera not out 56 Extras (b-1, lb-4, w-10, nb-2) 17 Total (5 wkts, 48.3 overs) 240

Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-5, 3-27, 4-27, 5-137.

Bowling: Tuffey 6-1-19-1, Mills 8-0-32-2, Oram 7-0-38-0,Vettori 10-1-38-0, Harris 10-0-49-0, Bradburn 2-0-12-0,McMillan 3.3-0-35-0, Astle 2-0-12-0. (PTI)

Cronje lawyer says prosecution indemnity still an option

PRETORIA, July 25: South Africa’s chief prosecutor has appointed a senior state lawyer to investigate whether Hansie Cronje had satisfied the conditions for indemnity from prosecution, Cronje’s lawyer said today.

Cronje’s lawyer, Leslie Sackstein, told reporters after an hour-long meeting with National Director of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka he was optimistic indemnity would be granted.

Cronje was sacked as national cricket captain and banned for life from all involvement in South African cricket last year after he acknowledged he had accepted money from bookmakers in return for promising to fix matches.

He testified before an official commission in return for a promise of indemnity from prosecution if he revealed everything about his activities.

Sackstein met Ngcuka in Pretoria to discuss the indemnity deal and told reporters that newspaper reports Cronje would be refused immunity were incorrect.

"We’ve had a most satisfactory meeting with Mr Ngcuka and his staff and there is no question as to Hansie’s indemnity being off the table.

"Mr Ngcuka merely needs to consider whether the conditions attached to it have been satisfied.

"For that purpose, he has appointed (Western Cape Attorney General) Frank Khan to investigate and report to him, after which he will finalise his decision," Sackstein said.

"Hansie is quite satisfied with this process as he is certain that he has told the truth fully and completely to the commission," he added.

Cronje, who on Tuesday denied new allegations that he had hidden financial details from investigators, did not attend the meeting with Ngcuka. (REUTERS)

CRPF beat IRP 6 Bn in Volleyball Tourney

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

SRINAGAR, July 25: The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) team defeated 6 Bn of the Indian Reserve Police (IRP) in straight sets in the final of a Volleyball tournament which was organised to promote Police public relations at Handwara.

Ten teams, including local clubs, namely Chogal, Dedipura, Handwara, Brarpura, Talwari and J&K Police, IRP and CRPF took part in this tournament.

At last CRPF and IRP 6 Bn reached the final which played at Company Headquarters. Commandant IRP 6 Bn, R A Dar, who was chief guest in the final, gave away winners and runners-up prizes.

The prize distribution function was also attended by Mr Abdul Jabbar Chaket, Assistant Commandant, Handwara and Mr Garib Dass, SP Handwara, SDPO Handwara and Company Commanders of IRP 6 Bn.

A large number of locals from within and outside Handwara turned up to witness the final and prize distribution function.

Later, Commandant IRP 6 Bn, Assistant Commandant, Handwara and SP Handwara appreciated the role of Company Commander, Shabir Malik, Deputy SP for organising the tournament and bringing public closer to the police, thus promoting police public relations.