PORT ELIZABETH, Oct 18: With their captain Maurice Odumbe suspended, team manager Mehmood Kurashy hospitalised with a heart attack and reputation in tatters after humiliating defeats, the Kenyans pulled off a sensational 70-run win over the Indians in the Summer Spice Triangular one-day series at the St Georges Park here. ..............more

A kick on our
behinds, says
Ganguly

PORT ELIZABETH, Oct 18: "A kick on our behinds," is how Indian captain Saurav Ganguly ....................more

India back to full strength
against South Africa

EAST LONDON (South Africa), Oct 18: Jolted back into action after the kick they received from...........more

Junior Hockey World Cup
Indian team optimistic
about their chances
against germany

HOBART, Oct 18: "This is hockey at its toughest" exclaimed a jubilant Indian coach Rajinder Singh.......more

Excelsior Sport Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 18: Semi-finals line-up has been drawn with the playing of two matches on the opening day of the Jammu District.......more

CM’s presence brings
no change in JKCA

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 18: Who-so-ever associated with game of cricket in this part of the world was happy with .....more

Cricket Players’ Association
welcomes new JKCA body

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 18: The Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Players’ Association has hailed the newly......more

Nippu Jamwal wins
bronze in Sub-jr
National Judo

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 18: Nippu Jamwal, daughter of Mr Daljeet Singh, has won bronze medal for......more

A match between Pinto Club-A and Volleyball Club, Jakh in progress at M A Stadium, Jammu on Thursday. -Excelsior/Ashok

India crash to a stunning defeat

PORT ELIZABETH, Oct 18: With their captain Maurice Odumbe suspended, team manager Mehmood Kurashy hospitalised with a heart attack and reputation in tatters after humiliating defeats, the Kenyans pulled off a sensational 70-run win over the Indians in the Summer Spice Triangular one-day series at the St Georges Park here.

The Indians were first done in by complacency as they rested their top bowlers Javagal Srinath and Ajit Agarkar, and then by ineptitude as they were dismissed for 176 in 46.4 overs in reply to 246 for six by the Kenyans in their 50 overs last night. For India, the only face saving innings was a desperate cameo of 37 by spinner Harbhajan Singh who had earlier taken two for 38 in his 10 overs when Kenya batted. For Kenya, the star bowlers were Joseph Anagara who took three for 30 in 10 overs and Thomas Odoyo, who grabbed three for 41 in 9.4 overs. Tony Suji took two for 35 in seven overs. Angara, who grabbed the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar and gave away no runs in his first four overs was adjudged the man of the match. Odoyo with his three wickets and 51 runs ran him close for the award. The Kenyans after their first two defeats were also advised by Bob Woolmer, International Cricket Council to help out the four non-test playing nations, who have qualified for the 2003 World Cup to be held in South Africa.

Angara who started it all by dismissing Tendulkar (3) was in his element in throughout the ten-over spell. After sachin, wickets fell at regular intervals and with the other two pillars of Indian batting, Saurav Ganguly (24) and Rahul Dravid (11) also failing, India were always fighting a losing battle against the charged-up Kenyans.

In his second spell, Angara added another wicket as he clean bowled Jacob Martin who till then had shown great patience for his 36. Later, a short and wide delivery was cut hard by reetinder Sodhi but Collins Otieno took an acrobatic one-handed catch flying to his right to dismiss Sodhi for 21. With 100 on the scoreboard, the visitors lost their six wickets.

Faced with a target of 247 to win after their bowlers failed to do their job, India were never really in the hunt as Sachin Tendulkar departed early.

Earlier electing to bat after winning the toss, the Kenyans put up an impressive showing to score 246 for six in their allotted 50 overs. This was the second time in a row, the East Africans had gone past the 225 mark. It was also the second time three Kenyans got fifties in the innings. Kennedy Otieno (64), Ravindu Shah (50) and Thomas Odoyo (51) got the half centuries.

The Kenyans, who were humiliated in their first two games, having once been dismissed inside 100 by the Indians, clearly seemed to have benefited from the advise given by South African coach Bob Woolmer who has been appointed as the high-performance manager by the International Cricket council.

Kenyan openers Ravindu Shah and Kennedy Otieno batted very cautiously and patiently through the first 15 overs and went past the three-figure mark without being separated.

Shah and Otieno picked the odd boundary as opening bowlers Venkatesh Prasad and Harvinder Singh failed to get a breakthrough. Ganguly switched his new ball pair around, but it still did not produce any results. On the contrary shah played some excellent back-foot drives off the back foot.

The openers treated the Indians with disdain and Ganguly suffered conceding 21 runs in three overs. Otieno in particular was very severe on skipper Ganguly. Otieno later reached his 50 by slashing Reetinder Sodhi for a four and in the same over he smashed Sodhi for a six to take Kenya past the 100-mark.

But when he tried the same against left-arm spinner Yuvraj Singh, Otieno skied a ball to Sachin Tendulkar at long off with the total reading 121.

Two runs later at 123, Shah was dismissed for 50 as he hit Harbhajan Singh straight to Yuvraj at backward square leg.

Otieno’s 64 come off 95 balls with six fours and three sixes while Shah took 50 balls for his 50 with five fours. Shah had reprieve when he was on 38. He hit Anil Kumble over the head of Ganguly at wide mid on.

After the dismissal of the openers, Steve Tikolo and Thomas Odoyo took over and added 80 for the third wicket with Odoyo donning the role of an attacking partner. Tikolo was the next to go, when he had scored 27. He was bowled by Harbhajan Singh at 203 for three.

Odoyo reached his own 50 and raised the Kenyan total past 200 smashing two fours off Yuvraj Singh in the 42nd over of the innings. Later, he was dismissed while trying to force the pace further. He was caught on the midwicket boundary by Jacob Martin off Anil Kumble at 213 for four and Odoyo had made 51.

Collins Otieno made only 3 before skying Venkatesh Prasad and was caught by Sodhi. David Otieno made a quick 26 in 27 balls before he was bowled by Prasad, hitting across the line in the last over of the innings.

For India, Harbhajan was again the pick of the bowlers, taking two for 38 in his 10-over quota while Prasad also claimed two for 45.

India will meet South Africa in their next match tomorrow. (UNI)

SCOREBOARD

Kenya innings

K Otieno c Tendulkar b Yuvraj 64

R Shah c Yuvraj b Harbhajan 50

S Tikolo b Harbhajan 27

T Odoyo c Martin b Kumble 51

D Otieno b Prasad 26

C Otieno c Sodhi b Prasad 3

M Suji not out 8

S Gupta not out 1

Extras: (b-1 lb-5 w-4 nb-6) 16

Total: 246 for 6 in 50 overs

Fall of wickets: 1/121, 2/123, 3/203, 4/213, 5/220, 6/243

Bowling: Prasad : 8-2-45-2 Harvinder: 9-1-42-0 Sodhi : 3-0-14-0 Kumble : 10-1-36-1 Ganguly : 3-0-21-0 Harbhajan: 10-1-38-2 Yuvraj : 7-0-44-1

India innings

S Ganguly b Odoyo 24

S Tendulkar b Angara 3

J Martin b Angara 36

R Dravid c D Otieno b T Suji 11

Y Singh b T Suji 0

R Sodhi c C Otieno b Angara 21

D Dasgupta c D Otieno b M Suji 19

A Kumble b c Otieno 1

Harbhajan Singh c Shah b Odoyo 37

V Prasad not out 10

Harvinder Singh b Odoyo 1

Extras: (lb-1 nb-4 w-8) 13

Total: 176 for all out in 46.4 overs

Fall of wickets: 1/7, 2/40, 3/60, 4/60, 5/97, 6/100, 7/103, 8/135, 9/172, 10/176

Bowling : M Suji : 10-1-37-1 Angara : 10-4-30-3 Odoyo : 9.4-0-41-3 T Suji : 7-0-35-2 C Otieno: 10-2-32-1 —(UNI)

A kick on our behinds, says Ganguly

PORT ELIZABETH, Oct 18: "A kick on our behinds," is how Indian captain Saurav Ganguly described his team’s last night’s loss to Kenya ironically plotted by a former Indian test cricketer.

Ganguly minced no words admitting his team was found wanting in batting as well as bowling but asked his colleagues to put the 70-run defeat in the one-day international behind them.

Joyous coach Sandip Patil, who played for India in 29 tests, described how his team planned to bowl against the Indians.

They practiced under lights at the ground on Tuesday and were able to judge the conditions and see the wind blowing from the west. For the task of holding up the ball up on a track on which it came nicely on to the bat, they chose Joseph Angara.

Angara, not conceding a run in his first four overs and cramping redoubtable batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar and Ganguly was the base on which the Kenyans built their improbable win. (PTI)

India back to full strength against South Africa

EAST LONDON (South Africa), Oct 18: Jolted back into action after the kick they received from lowly Kenya last night, India will be back to their full strength against South Africa in a day-night game of the Triangular one-day series here tomorrow.

Sufffering a humiliating 70 runs defeat with their reserves in action against Kenya at Port Elizabeth yesterday India would be keen to get themselves back into top gear before the the final at Kingsmead, Durban, on October 26.

Despite the Kenyan pyrotechnics last night, this is the last game of any consequence in the league and that too only to check out the respective strengths of the two teams who look far closely matched than had been anticipated before the start of the competition.

Venkatesh Prasad, Reetinder Sodhi and Harvinder Singh will again sit out on the bench as Javagal Srinath, Ajit Agarkar and Virender Sehwag take their original spots in the team.

India seem to have offloaded the reputation of being poor players on bouncy tracks and their batting has largely been impressive.

They began with a record total of 279 for five posted at wanderers and then whacked Kenya by 10 wickets in only 11.3 overs and in between posted a competitive 233 against the South Africans before getting bundled out by the Kenyans for 176 last night.

Skipper Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar remain pillars of strength and there always is Rahul Dravid to fall back upon in crisis though on this tour youngsters like Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag are providing cameo contributions.

Agarkar is a bowler rediscovered and threatening to make a meaty contribution with the bat sooner than later. Srinath, after his initial waywardness for which he received a scathing criticism from his skipper, is now getting back into the groove.

With spinners Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh striking the right notes in tandem and youngsters pulling their weight, the team seems to have acquired the right balance in every department of the game.

The visitors’ fielding has been an eye-opener on this tour and after that early let off to Herschelle Gibbs by Ganguly himself at centurion in the lung opener, the Indians have hardly made a mistake in the field.

The reverse is true of the hosts who dropped no less than seven catches by the time their first three games were through and their reputation as an outstanding fielding side has taken a knock.

Their batting is too heavy on allrounders with Shaun Pollock, Nicky Boje, Lance Klusener and Justin Kemp asked to do what their batters should have been providing in the first place.

To add to their worries is the question mark over the fitness of opener Gary Kirsten who missed the game against Kenya at Kimberley because of a thigh strain but is expected to be fit tomorrow.

Kirsten has been crucial to South Africa’s plans as his unbeaten 133 at the wanderers illustrated and more often than not, South Africa are the winners when he and his partner Herschelle Gibbs are firing on all cylinders.

South Africa’s bowling too is struggling to settle down and in a desperate bid, fast bowler Mornantau Hayward has been drafted in the one-day squad, leaving out Andre Nel who has been asked to go back and play the first class matches to iron out his rhythm and pace worries.

Hayward had struck a nasty blow on Ganguly’s right index finger for Nicky Oppenheimer’s XI in the tour opener at Randjesfontein and had also got Tendulkar out in his very first over. But then he pulled out of the South Africa a team against the visitors at Benoni because of a viral fever. (PTI)

Junior Hockey World Cup
Indian team optimistic about their chances
against germany

HOBART, Oct 18: "This is hockey at its toughest" exclaimed a jubilant Indian coach Rajinder Singh here after having qualified for the semi-final of the 7th Junior Men’s World Cup hockey.

"Today is a much needed rest day for US as we have to regroup all our physical and mental energies to focus on our semi-final clash against Germany tomorrow,’’ said Singh. Judging from the results of the second round matches, Dutch coach Offerman was perhaps right in his assessment that, "Germany looks to me the most likely team to win the cup with Argentina the only team capable of causing an upset". Germany has had a dream run through out the tournament winning all its matches in the tough second round. Germany beat Spain 2-1, Korea 7-3 and England 3-2 to be the only team to score the maximum 9 points in the second round Pool fixtures.

Indian coach Singh, however, was optimistic about India’s chances in their semi-finals against Germany. "Our game plan against Netherlands was to attack and when we did that we played wonderfully," the Indian coach. "If we could repeat the same thing tomorrow I see no reason why we could not even beat Germany," said the optimistic Indian coach.

"Of course its going to be our toughest test as I feel Germany is definitely one of the best teams," said Singh on the eve of the semi-final clash tomorrow in Hobart.

German coach Uli Furstner, meanwhile, was not willing to comment on tomorrow’s match. Furstner only repeated what he has been saying throughout the tournament, "a good horse only springs as high as it needs to" referring to the fact that the German side has done all that is required to win. The obvious reference was that the Germans could play even better if required to. The Indian coach retorted by saying, "they will definitely have to be their best to beat us". Meanwhile, argentine coach Alex Verga said,"I am a very happy man" as his team had qualified for the semi-finals and this is the first time that an Argentine men’s team has made it to the semi-finals in a World Hockey Tournament.

"I am not going to make any prediction about our semi-final against England as I have already won two excellent matches in the last two days against the Netherlands and Australia and cannot ask for more," said Verga on his team’s chances to reach the final.

Meanwhile, the english team which was the first to arrive in Hobart were very happy that everything had worked out well for them till this stage.

"Our first aim was to make it to the semi-finals and we have done that," said Richard Mantell, the penalty corner expert in their team.

In tomorrow’s semi-finals India play Germany and Argentina play England to decide who will qualify for the final to be played on Sunday, October 21 at the Tasmanian Hockey Center in Hobart. (UNI)

Distt Jammu Volleyball Champ
Semi-finals line-up drawn on the inaugural day

Excelsior Sport Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 18: Semi-finals line-up has been drawn with the playing of two matches on the opening day of the Jammu District Volleyball Championship for boys under-19 year at M A Stadium, here today.

Pinto Club-A, Jammu and Volleyball Club, Pallanwala won their respective ties, while, other two semi-finalist sides of Volleyball Club, Allah and Shastri Club, Dhiansar got walkovers.

Earlier, in the opening match, Pinto Club-A, Jammu defeated Jakh Club in straight sets 25-5, 25-15. Naresh Kumar and Jyoti Sharma displayed excellent spiking for the winners Pinto Club.

In the second match of the day, Volleyball Club, Pallanwala outplayed Pinto Club-B 25-14, 23-25, 15-10 to reach the last four stage. Jagdish Raj and Sham Lal played a fine game for the winners, while from Pinto Club-B, Suresh Kumar and Amit fought well.

Other two scheduled quarter-finals ended in walkovers. Volleyball Club, Allah got walkover Ramgarh and Shastri Club, Dhiansar awarded walkover Kartholi.

Now, in the semi-finals, Pinto Club-A will take on Shastri Club, Dhiansar at 11 am, followed by the second semi-final between Volleyball Club, Allah and Volleyball club, Pallanwala.

The said championship is being organised by the Jammu District Volleyball Association under the auspices of Volleyball Association of J&K. The championship is being sponsored by the J&K State Sports Council.