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| India only team that can beat Aussies By Anshuman Gaekwad CENTURION, Mar 3: The Indians have come of age. Unlike most of the other teams, who have put up inconsistent displays, the Indians are improving their performance as the World Cup progresses. .........more New
Zealand beat BENONI (South Africa), Mar 3: New Zealand overcame a spirited all-round performance by John Davison to beat Canada by five wickets today.....more By Ian Chappell The second consecutive day of grudge matches at the World Cup provided yet another death or glory struggle yesterday........more Good and
bad about By Ian Chappell The Super Six stage of the World Cup is a good concept but it’s also flawed.........more |
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Dr Beg unaware of being president of Netball Asso Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Mar 3: Former Minister, Dr Mehboob Beg is unaware of being the president of the Jammu and Kashmir Netball..........more Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Mar 3: Semi-finals position has been cleared in the Gajinder Memorial State Hockey Championship.......more Kathua
bags third place in Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Mar 3: District Kathua bagged third position in the Ist State Korfball Championship beating Pulwama in the hard-liner played today at Green Field...........more Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Mar 3: City Club and Moon Club emerged winners in women section on the opening day of the two-day District......more |
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knock leaves SA with a difficult task ..... Dutchmen seal historic win against Namibia .... Yuvraj unfazed by reputation of opposition bowlers.... |
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India only team that can beat Aussies By Anshuman Gaekwad CENTURION, Mar 3: The Indians have come of age. Unlike most of the other teams, who have put up inconsistent displays, the Indians are improving their performance as the World Cup progresses. Majority of the cricket fraternity have placed Australia as the favourites to recapture the Cup, but I still maintain my stand that it is only India that can beat the Aussies. And even the Australians are aware of this. They must have started planning against the dangerous Indians, especially with their recent run. The Aussies, I am sure, are not bothered about other teams. They must have studied the other teams’ potential, but they just can’t undermine India any more. India has still not played to its optimum potential and that will cause a ripple or two in the Australian camp, who must be aware of the upsets India has caused in the past. The Indians have begun to strike consistency with proficiency. The confidence level is at its peak. The most important part of all this is that the team is enjoying their game unlike in New Zealand. Coming from nowhere, losing badly to Australia, and then coming out on top to win four matches in a row shows the grit and determination of this young side. With an average World Cup opener against Holland and a miserable loss to Australia that set the cricket-crazy Indian public into a frenzy, accusing the team of lacking the right attitude, the team has pulled itself beautifully out of a lean patch. Surely shaken by the reactions at home, the Indian team swiftly got together to put up great performances against Zimbabwe, England and Pakistan. The last obviously being the most prestigious of them all, which they won convincingly. It only shows what the Indian players are capable of. I have always maintained that Indians is a great team that can go to the top and upset every team in the tournament. They only had to be consistent in their performance. I have said this before and am saying it again, I know the boys and their potential too. India have joined Australia from group A in the super sixes, but the situation in group B is quite fluid, with four teams vying for the remaining two slots after Kenya became the first in that pool to qualify for the next round. Obviously, the decision of the New Zealander’s not to go to Nairobi citing security reasons did give the co-hosts an edge. There have already been several upsets in group B, especially Sri Lanka losing to Kenya and hosts South Africa still unsure about their fate. The West Indies, on the other hand, have been unlucky. They lost to Sri Lanka by just six runs and will rue the fact that they had to share points with Bangladesh in a washed out match. Coming back to group A, Zimbabwe, who are not playing badly, may also cause an upset by beating Pakistan, which is low on morale, to enter the super sixes. They too have the advantage of England forfeiting their points. But leaving aside the various permutations and combinations, the playing standard in this World Cup has left a lot to be desired, barring the ones displayed by India and Australia. |
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New Zealand beat Canada by five wkts BENONI (South Africa), Mar 3: New Zealand overcame a spirited all-round performance by John Davison to beat Canada by five wickets today in an important World Cup pool B match at the Willowmoore Park. New Zealand had to await the outcome of the Sri Lanka vs South Africa match later today to learn they did enough against Canada to secure a Super Six place. New Zealand won with 27 overs to spare as Scott Styris, 54 not out off 38 balls, and Chris Harris, an unbeaten 38 off 29 balls, guided the Kiwis out of trouble. This was after John Davison had followed up his 62-ball 75 runs with 3 for 62. He opened the bowling and his breakthroughs had New Zealand struggling at 114 for five. Then Styris and Harris figured in a match-winning stand of 82 runs in less than 10 overs to clinch four important points for the team. If Sri Lanka beat South Africa, then Sri Lanka and New Zealand would qualify together with Kenya into the next round. But if South Africa win, four teams will end up with 16 points and qualification could be determined by run rates. New Zealand finished with a net run-rate of +0.99 but their progression in the tournament depended on the outcome of the game in Durban. Having hit the fastest ever World Cup century, his 67-ball hundred against the West Indies, Davison smashed the Kiwis for four sixes and nine boundaries after the Canadians had started by losing opener Ishwar Maraj in the fifth over. Davison, 32, hit Andre Adams out of the attack, taking 31 runs off the medium paceman’s opening three overs. He clubbed 23 runs off Jacob Oram’s first two overs. Davison started by hitting Adams for two fours and a six in the first over that cost 16 runs, and followed it up with 11 in the next. Oram, who dismissed Nicholas in his first over, watched helplessly as the South Australia-based Davison hit three sixes in the second over - the last one clearing the venue. Davison reached the half century off just 25 balls - the third fastest in the World Cup - before he skied a catch to Chris Cairns at long on as Canada slid to 98 for four in the 23rd over. Joe Harris then held the middle-order together with a typical captain’s innings - 26 runs off 39 balls - before a vicious Shane Bond bouncer had him caught behind. Harris played the ball above his head as he tried to avoid the ball and gloved it to wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum, who completed an outstanding catch. No.10 Ashish Patel then chipped in with 25 runs off 29 balls as he lifted the innings from 173 for nine, in the company of no. 11 Barry Seebaran, four not out. Oram returned the best figures of 4 for 52 while fast bowler Shane Bond had the respectable figures of 3 for 29 from 10 overs. (AP) |
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By Ian Chappell The second consecutive day of grudge matches at the World Cup provided yet another death or glory struggle yesterday. First it was India out-performing Pakistan in a batting duel and then Australia outlasted archrival England in a dour bowler dominated arm-wrestle. Once again Michael Bevan enhanced his reputation as "the terminator" with the help of man of the match hero Andrew Bichel. Bichel is the ideal man to be a reserve player in a good side; he is always positive, works hard on his fitness and you know he’ll be ready if an opportunity arises. He was ready for England even though their batsmen were on the attack. Bowling a fuller length than both Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee, Bichel got the ball to swing away from the right-handers and delivered two beauties to get rid of the dangerous Michael Vaughan and captain Nasser Hussain. It takes a bit of courage to keep the ball up when the batsmen are clattering it all round the field but Bichel, a quiet man with nerves of steel, was not put off by the threatening attitude of both Nick Knight and Marcus Trescothick. Seeing Bichel destroy England in taking the second best figures ever in a World Cup match it was hard to believe he was only playing because Jason Gillespie has an injured heel. Bichel utilised his outswing to home in on England’s Achilles heel. Once the England batting line-up was in disarray courtesy of Bichel’s outswing, Ricky Ponting cleverly introduced his spinners into the attack. He knew the burly Andrew Flintoff would be tempted by Brad Hogg’s flighted chinamen deliveries but he was also aware the batsmen couldn’t afford to make any more mistakes. Once England’s progress had been even further slowed he then introduced the part-time spin of Darren Lehmann as the ball began to grip and turn a little. Ponting is a good judge of a pitch and he anticipates the flow of the game well but it does help when a class pace bowler like Gillespie drops out and he’s replaced by a man who produces career best figures. Not content with ruining England’s batting line-up Bichel came in with Australia in desperate straits requiring seventy to win and along with Bevan he conjured up a way to spoil the old enemy’s celebrations. The pair collected runs like a squirrel gathers nuts for the winter, slowly but surely and then in the final moments they clouted a couple of boundaries. However, they were greatly aided in their search for runs by Hussain’s inexplicable refusal to go for the kill and finish off the Australian innings. Craig White was making the ball talk on a difficult pitch and yet with lower order batsmen at the crease he didn’t put fieldsmen in catching positions. Hussain sat back and waited for Australia to make mistakes and yet Bevan has regularly proved he doesn’t make errors of judgement in tight situations. Now Hussain will have to rely on other teams to make mistakes for England to progress to the Super Six stage. On this showing Hussain doesn’t deserve a second chance.(TCM) |
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Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Mar 3: City Club and Moon Club emerged winners in women section on the opening day of the two-day District Netball Championship begun today at Government Girls High School, Gandhi Nagar, here. City Club defeated Star Club 6-2, while Moon Club outplayed Vijay Club 8-5. In Men section, Moon Club beat Vijay Club 6-3; Hero Club beat Kranti Club 8-2; Star Club beat Moon Club 4-3 and City Club beat Hero Club 2-1. |
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Dr Beg unaware of being president of Netball Asso Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Mar 3: Former Minister, Dr Mehboob Beg is unaware of being the president of the Jammu and Kashmir Netball Association. Expressing his unawareness, Dr Beg said that he has no knowledge about his association with any such sports body. "I am getting this news from you that I have been made president of J&K Netball Association. If you have been in contact with the people from this association, you must pull them up on my behalf", said Dr Beg when contacted by this Correspondent on telephone regarding results of the ongoing Jammu District Championship of the Netball. He disclosed that someone from Kashmir had come to me three year’s back for my consent but no body turned-up thereafter. "I just re-collect that a youngman from Kashmir had approached me in this regard, but I have no information that I have been made president of this association". |
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Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Mar 3: Semi-finals position has been cleared in the Gajinder Memorial State Hockey Championship being organised by the J&K Hockey Association at Hakhu Stadium, here today. Fourth team to reach the semi-finals stage was Doda District, who blanked Baramulla 6-0 today. Jatinderpal Singh converted the penalty corner to score first goal for Doda in the very third minute of the match. It was followed by another goal in the 9th minute coming through Dupinder Singh again on a penalty corner. In the 23rd minute a penalty stroke was awarded in favour of Doda which was easily converted into a goal by Parvinder Singh. Other three goals were scored by Surinder Pal Singh (27th), Omkar Singh (40th) and Manjeet Singh (47th). In another scheduled league match of the day, Udhampur defeated Jammu West by two goals to one. Jatinder singh (16th) and Inderjit Singh (35th) scored for Udhampur, while Bhopinder Singh sounded the board for Jammu West in the 42nd minute. Now, in the semi-finals, to be played tomorrow, Doda will take on Jammu Blue at 8.30 in the morning, followed by the second semi-finals between J&K Police and Kathua district at 10 am. |
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Kathua bags third place in State Korfball Championship Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Mar 3: District Kathua bagged third position in the Ist State Korfball Championship beating Pulwama in the hard-liner played today at Green Field ground, here. Tall and promising Saudhagar Singh played an important role in Kathua’s emphatic 12-3 win. He scored highest four goals. Sanjay and Bhushan were other main scorers with three goals each. Vijay and Pooja further improved the score with one goal each. For Pulwama, Tariq contributed two goals, while Basharat made one. Started from February 28, this championship was scheduled to end on March 1, but due to bad weather the final has been postponed by the J&K Korfball Association. It may be recalled that 11 districts participated in this championship which was held for the first time at the state level on knock out basis. |
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Veteran Athletic meet postponed Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Mar 2: Jammu and Kashmir Veteran Athletic Association has postponed the State Championship which was scheduled to start from March 4 at M A Stadium, here. Due to blockade of national highway and continued rain in Jammu, the organising committee decided to postpone the event, said general secretary of the association. The new date for the competition will be announced soon, he added. Atapattu’s knock leaves SA with a difficult task DURBAN, Mar 3: Marvan Atapattu struck a brilliant century to power Sri Lanka to a challenging 268 for nine in a World Cup group B league match here today, leaving South Africa with a difficult task under lights to qualify for the Super Six. Atapattu struck a solid 124 and put on 152 runs for the fourth wicket with veteran Aravinda De Silva before Sri Lanka slipped a bit in the final overs losing a number of wickets that halted their progress. Except these two batsmen, none of the other Sri Lankans contributed anything substantial to the score after captain Sanath Jayasuriya had won the toss and elected to bat first. Both the teams are in a must-win situation to qualify for the next round though Sri Lanka can sneak in even in the event of a loss provided they have a better net run rate than New Zealand who defeated Canada by five wickets with 27 overs to spare in another group B match at Benoni. Sri Lanka did not have an impressive start as Jayasuriya struggled to score. The flamboyant left-hander made only 16 runs from 30 balls before being run out in the ninth over at the total of 37. Hashan Tillakaratne and Mahela Jayawardene were also dismissed cheaply. However, Atapattu played an unusually attacking knock today and dominated right from the start. He got good support from De Silva, playing his last World Cup, and the two milked the South African bowlers during the middle overs. Atapattu, who smashed 18 boundaries in his 129-ball knock, was particularly impressive as he took upon himself the responsibility of ensuring a handsome score for his team. De Silva also batted magnificently, hitting six fours and two sixes in his 78-ball 73. The two brought the score to 242 in the 45th over before both got out in quick succession and Sri Lankan innings lost its way. Atapattu was caught at the long-on by substitute Robin Peterson off Andrew Hall and De Silva fell in the next over, caught by Graeme Smith off Makhaya Ntini. Russel Arnold (8), Kumara Sangakkara (6), Chaminda Vaas (3) and Muthiah Muralitharan (4) also got out without much contribution as Sri Lanka could add just 26 runs to their total in the last five overs. (PTI) SCOREBOARD Sri Lanka M Atapattu c sub b Hall 124 S Jayasuriya run out 16 Tillakaratne c Boucher b Kallis 14 Jayawardene c Boucher b Hall 1 A De Silva c Smith b Ntini 73 R Arnold b Pollock 8 Sangakkara c Pollock b Kallis 6 C Vaas run out 3 M Muralitharan b Kallis 4 D Fernando not out 1 Extras (lb-2, w-11, nb-2) 18 Total (for nine wickets, 50 overs) 268 Fall of wicket: 1-37 2-77 3-90 4-242 5-243 6-258 7-261 8-266 9-268 Bowling: Pollock 10-1-48-1 (w-2, nb-1), Ntini 10-0-49-1 (w-3, nb-2), Zondeki 6-0-35-0 (w-3), Kallis 10-0-41-3 (w-1), Hall 10-0-62-2 (w-1, nb-2), Klusener 4-0-31-0-(w-1, nb-1). (AGENCIES) |
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Dutchmen seal historic win against Namibia BLOEMFONTEIN (South Africa), Mar 3: Klaas Jan Van Noortwijk and Feiko Kloppenburg hammered centuries as the Netherlands recorded their first one-day international victory by beating Namibia in the World Cup today. The delighted Dutchmen completed a 64-run victory after hammering 314 for four in the battle of the group A minnows. Van Noortwijk’s run-a-ball 134 equalled the sixth highest individual score of the tournament — he was close to tears at the end of his innings — while Kloppenburg made 121 as the pair put 228 for the second wicket. No Dutchman had scored a World Cup century before. Kloppenburg then took four wickets for 42 from 10 overs with his right-arm medium pace. Namibia made an enterprising reply but gradually fell behind the asking rate after their openers put on 76 by the 14th over. They were dismissed for 250 in 46.5 overs. Dutch skipper and former Somerset and Glamorgan player Roland Lefebvre joined in the celebrations despite his personal disappointment. Due to play in his last one-day international, the 40-year-old Dutch stalwart was ruled out of the game with a hamstring injury. Namibia, in their first World Cup, ended the tournament with six defeats in a row.(AGENCIES) SCOREBOARD Netherlands Kloppenburg c Schoor b Snyman 121 E Schiferli b Van Vuuren 10 K Van Noortwijk not out 134 B Zuiderent b L Burger 5 T De Leede b L Burger 0 L Van Troost not out 16 Extras (b-4 lb-2 w-18 nb-4) 28 Total (for four wickets, 50 overs) 314 Fall of wickets: 1-25 2-253 3-270 4-270 Bowling: Snyman 10-0-55-1 (w-7, nb-4), Van Vuuren 10-1-63-1 (w-2), Van Rooi 8-0-59-0 (w-5), L Burger 10-1-49-2 (w-2), J Burger 3-0-18-0, D Kotze 4-0-29-0, S Burger 5-0-35-0 (w-2). Namibia J Burger c sub b Kloppenburg 41 M Karg c sub b De Leede 41 D Keulder b Kloppenburg 52 G Murgatroyd c Zuiderant b Mol 52 D Kotze lbw b Raja 25 L Burger b Koppenburg 1 Snyman c De Leede b Kloppenburg 0 S Burger st Smits b Raja 6 M Van Schoor b Raja 15 B Van Rooi not out 9 R Van Vuuren c Mol b Raja 0 Extras (w-2, nb-1, lb-5) 8 Total (all out, 46.5 overs) 250 Fall of wickets: 1-76 2-87 3-179 4-209 5-213 6-213 7-224 8-237 9-250, Bowling: Schiferli 7-0-46-0 (w-1), Esmeijer 7-0-43-0 (w-1, nb-1), De Leede 8-0-33-1, Kloppenburg 10-0-42-4, Raja 8.5-0-42-4, Mol 6-0-39-1. Yuvraj unfazed by reputation of opposition bowlers PRETORIA (South Africa), Mar 3: His daring batting in crunch situations has made Yuvraj Singh a key batsman in India’s campaign for the World Cup, and the left-hander says that he is not too worried by the reputation of bowlers he attacks. He hit a cracking unbeaten 50 in India’s win over Pakistan on Saturday in a tense match, but Yuvraj maintained today that he was not "overawed" and had backed himself to score runs. Yuvraj describes himself as a fan of Pakistan’s opening bowler Wasim Akram and said that when he walked to the wicket it was a dream come true to face the legendary bowler. He is thrilled to have scored a fifty. "I have been a great fan of Wasim Akram. It was a dream come true to face him and also manage to score runs against him. He’s been a legend in his lifetime," said Yuvraj as he prepared to take leave for Cape Town where India will meet the second-placed team in group B on Friday in a Super Six clash. "But I was not overawed by Akram’s presence and backed myself to score runs. I am not too worried about reputations and try to do my job to the best of my ability," he said, thrilled with the fact that he was able to score important runs in such a big game. (PTI) Parliament wishes good luck for Indian team NEW DELHI, Mar 3: Parliament today applauded the "good work" done by the Indian cricket team in the World Cup, but refused to discuss the poor performance of Pakistan which was a "foreign problem". Rajiv Shukla wanted the Rajya Sabha to give bouquets when the Indian team had done "good work". Chairperson Najma Heptullah said: We are happy that the team has done well and we wish they will win the Cup for India. When BJP member S S Ahluwalia raised doubts about Pakistani team members not wanting to go back to their homeland after the Saturday’s defeat against India, Dr Heptullah drew the curtains to the discussions with a quip, it is a foreign problem, we have no jurisdiction to discuss the issue. (UNI) Sena demands ban on Pak’s participation NEW DELHI, Mar 3: Miffed over Shahid Afridi’s verbal spat with the umpire in Saturday’s India-Pakistan cricket match, the Shiv Sena has dashed off a letter to the International Cricket Council (ICC), seeking a ban on Pakistan’s participation in future international ties. In his missive to the ICC, Delhi Shiv Sena vice-president Abhimanyu Gulati said Afridi, the Pakistani allrounder, made uncharitable remarks bordering on abuse, when his appeal for an LBW against Sachin Tendulkar was turned down by umpire Rudy Koertzen. Mr Gulati said Afridi’s "reprehensible behaviour" had not only sullied the gentleman’s game but was also against the "etiquettes and rules" of the cricket. "If the ICC wants, it can have access to the match replay and then give its decision," pointed out the letter. The Shiv Sena leader also made an appeal to the Central Government not to resume cricketing ties with Pakistan unless the latter made sincere attempts to improve its political relations.(UNI) |
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