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| India record comprehensive win to clinch series DHAKA, Dec 27: India restored their pride with a commanding performance to thrash Bangladesh by 91 runs in the third and final cricket one-day international here today and clinch the series 2-1.............more Lanka
unsure whether WELLINGTON, Dec 27: Sri Lanka cricket officials have put off until tomorrow a decision on whether its tour of New Zealand will continue following devastating tidal waves which killed more than 6,000 people in the island nation. The team held talks with New Zealand cricket officials today and will consult with its own board before making a final decision on the tour’s future.................more Shoaib and
me, two MELBOURNE, Dec 27: Australian opening batsman Justin Langer said he relishes his hair-raising duels with Pakistan............more Showy
Shoaib puts MELBOURNE, Dec 27: The ‘Rawalpindi Express’ steamed through the Australian top-order to give Pakistan an unexpected edge over cricket’s world-beaters in the second Test at the Melbourne cricket ground today.............more |
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J&K creates history, enters national
korfball semifinals Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 27: Jammu and Kashmir today created history of reaching the semi-finals of senior national korfball championship beating the last...............more North
Zone U-22 cricket Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 27: In reply to J&K’s 173 in the first innings, Haryana were in troubled waters losing two wickets for 10 runs when opening day’s play was abondoned due to bad light appeal by the visitors in the North Zone under-22 cricket tournament which was started today at hostel ground of GGM Science College, here..............more DYSS organises trekking expedition at Poonch Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 27: Department of Youth Services and Sports (DYSS) organised trekking expeditions for the school going boys..........more Kathua XI
wins Excelsior Sports Correspondent KATHUA, Dec 27: Kathua XI defeated Pathankot XI to win 16th Christmas open (prize money) cricket tournament played at.......more |
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2004—SC played umpire in high-voltage cricket matches..... Ganguly praises team for bouncing back..... |
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India record comprehensive win to clinch series DHAKA, Dec 27: India restored their pride with a commanding performance to thrash Bangladesh by 91 runs in the third and final cricket one-day international here today and clinch the series 2-1. The Indians produced a strong batting performance to post a mammoth 348 for five, with Yuvraj Singh blasting one of the quickest half centuries after Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag set the platform with a century opening stand. The hosts were never in the contest and the early loss of wickets deflated whatever hopes they might have nursed. Rajin Saleh played a fighting knock of 82, but it hardly enough as Bangladesh eventually finished at 257 for nine. The comprehensive victory helped the Indians avenged their shock defeat to the minnows in the second match yesterday, and round off their 22-day tour with a 2-1 series win in the one-dayers. India had won the two Tests by innings margin earlier, and today’s victory ended an year of ups and down on a positive note. It was a display of power batting by the Indians as more than 100 runs came in the first and last 15 overs balanced by a period of consolidation in the middle overs. Sehwag (70), Sourav Ganguly (55) and Rahul Dravid (60), Sachin Tendulkar (47) were the notable contributors before Yuvraj Singh launched a blistering assault with a 32-ball 69 to take India to a commanding total. The Bangladesh bowling, which had successfully defended a modest total for the team’s first ever home win in their 100th one-dayer yesterday, was torn to shreds as the Indians, smarting under the humiliating 15-run defeat, played with intensity and aggression they had not shown before in the series. Mashrafe Mortaza, who has been the most impressive bowler in the series, went for 60 runs without taking a wicket while medium pacer Mushfiqur Rahman was the worst suffer with figures of 6-0-52-0. Veteran Khaled Mahmud was the only one to return with respectable figures of 3-62. Tendulkar (47) was impressive in the way he took the initiative as the out of form Sehwag took his time to settle down. But once Sehwag got his eye in, it was a deluge of boundaries. The 100 came in the 13th over, the second fifty off just 16 balls as both the batsmen launching into the Bangladesh bowling. Sehwag reached his half century in 36 balls with eight fours and a six. The Delhi batsman was severe on Mushfiqur Rahman whose two overs cost 30 runs and was immediately replaced. Tendulkar, however, fell while attempting to glance Khaled Mahmud down the third man and was caught behind. His 47 needed only 42 balls and was studded with nine fours. The blistering partnership between the openers was only bettered by the blazing 32-ball 69 by Yuvraj who added 93 off 49 balls for the sixth wicket with Mohammad Kaif (24 no). Mahmud gave Bangladesh their second breathrough when Sehwag mistimed a heave and Mohammad Ashraful took a well judged catch at deep midwicket. But the tempo had been set and the next pair, Ganguly and Dravid only had to rotate the strike to maintain it. Dravid played a typically solid knock but Ganguly now and then opened his shoulders as when he hoisted Aftab Ahmed and Mushfiqur Rahman over the on side fence. Saleh however struck in his fourth over when Ganguly skied a simple catch to Mahmud at long off. It ended a productive partnership for the third wicket which was worth 98 runs off 116 balls. Dravid struck two consecutive fours off Saleh to reach his half century. He then stepped out to Rafique but his uppish drive fell straight into the hands of Mortaza at cover. Yuvraj turned the heat on the hosts as he plundered sixes and fours while Kaif was content to leave the strike to him. The Punjab left hander reached his 50 in 22 balls with seven fours and a six. Two more sixes flowed from the meat of his bat before he was caught at long on with three balls remaining. There was a fatality to the Bangladesh’s chase. The stands were packed to capacity as yesterday, and although the spectators knew the target was a tall ask, they cheered every stroke to the hilt. Ajit Agarkar and Zaheer Khan made early inroads into Bangladesh batting to reduce them to 41 for three by the 11th over. Rajin Saleh and Mohammad Ashraful did not let their fans down as they took the Indian attack by the scruff of its neck. The two added 61 runs for the fourth wicket before a mid-pitch confusion ended their association. Joginder Sharma was the bowler to bear the brunt as his three overs cost 20 runs and was immediately taken out of the attack. Ashraful was severe on the Haryana player, driving him contemptuously on both sides of the wicket. The 20-year old right hander then turned his attention to Sourav Ganguly whom he clubbed twice to midwicket. Just when the strain began to tell on the Indians, the two young batsmen committed Hara-Kiri. Ashraful glanced Ganguly to third man and turned for the second run, but realised too late that Saleh was not interested. Both were stranded at the same end, and although Zaheer’s throw was off the mark, it still left little time for Ashraful to get back to his crease. Saleh, who has struggled with the bat throughout the series, found his groove at the right time for his team. After a tentative start, he began to play his shots, whacking Harbhajan for a four and a six in successive overs. But the required run rate was touching 10 and it called for some desperate measures. (PTI) SCOREBOARD India: V Sehwag c Ashraful b Mahmud 70 S Tendulkar c Mashud b Mahmud 47 S Ganguly c Mahmud b Saleh 55 R Dravid c Mortaza b Rafique 60 Yuvraj Singh c Aftab b Mahmud 69 M Kaif not out 29 M S Dhoni not out 7 EXtras (lb-4, w-7) 11 Total (for 5 wkts in 50 overs) 348 Fall of wickets: 1-106, 2-125, 3-223, 4-247, 5-340. Bowling: Mashrafe Mortaza 10-0-60-0, Hasibul Hossain 6-0-53-0, Mushfiqur Rahman 6-0-52-0, Khaled Mahmud 10-0-62-3, Mohammad Rafique 10-1-63-1, Aftab Ahmed 2-0-16-0, Rajin Saleh 6-0-38-1. Bangladesh: N Iqbal c Dhoni b Agarkar 10 R Saleh st Dhoni b Tendulkar 82 M Rafique c Dravid b Khan 0 H Bashar c Dhoni b Agarkar 2 M Ashraful run out 32 A Ahmed c Dhoni b Harbhajan Singh 9 K Mashud lbw Tendulkar 10 K Mahmud c Sharma b Tendulkar 14 M Rahman not out 27 M Mortaza st Dhoni b Tendulkar 39 Hasibul Hossain not out 1 Extras: (lb-8, nb-6, w-17) 31 Total: (for 9 wkts, 50 overs) 257 Fall of wickets: 1-31, 2-32, 3-41, 4-102, 5-138, 6-163, 7-164, 8-198, 9-246. Bowling: Agarkar 7-0-32-2, Zaheer Khan 6-1-15-1, Joginder Sharma 3-0-20-0, Harbhajan Singh 8-0-48-1, Ganguly 5-0-25-0, Yuvraj Singh 6-0-24-0, Tendulkar 9-2-54-4, Sehwag 6-1-31-0. (PTI) |
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Lanka unsure whether tour will continue WELLINGTON, Dec 27: Sri Lanka cricket officials have put off until tomorrow a decision on whether its tour of New Zealand will continue following devastating tidal waves which killed more than 6,000 people in the island nation. The team held talks with New Zealand cricket officials today and will consult with its own board before making a final decision on the tour’s future. Sri Lanka was scheduled to play the second of five limited-overs internationals against New Zealand on Wednesday at Napier, but that match has been postponed to a tentative date of January 11. The third match at Queenstown is scheduled for Sunday, which New Zealand officials hope will be go ahead as planned. "The last thing on our minds right now is cricket," manager Brendon Kuruppu said at a news conference in Napier today. "One player’s relative has lost his life and so many others have no contact with their relatives. It is a very sad situation for us." Kuruppu said several issues needed to be resolved before it could be decided whether the team would play its remaining matches. "It’s too early. It’s not even 24 hours since the disaster. So we are still in the process of gathering information." New Zealand cricket chief executive Martin Snedden said he was liaising closed with the Sri Lankan team. "We’re just trying to work through a process at the moment. We don’t know (if the tour will continue). That’s the answer," Snedden said. (AP) |
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Shoaib and me, two warriors going at each other: Langer MELBOURNE, Dec 27: Australian opening batsman Justin Langer said he relishes his hair-raising duels with Pakistan express bowler Shoaib Akhtar after the pair’s verbal dust-up at the boxing day cricket Test here today. Shoaib launched into the little left-hander in one explosive over before tea with Langer taking apparent exception when Shoaib appeared to spit in his direction. The Pakistani spearhead then thundered down two bouncers and the pair exchanged words and fierce looks as Shoaib advanced down the pitch to within a few metres of Langer who was man-of-the-match with scores of 191 and 97 in the Perth Test. But Langer, who scored 50 in Australia’s 203 for five in reply to Pakistan’s 341, later revealed there was no enmity between the pair, saying it was "just two warriors going at each other." "It’s great, isn’t it? for me, that’s why you play the game," the 34-year-old batsman said. "As I said to (umpire) Rudi Koertzen, there was nothing malicious about it; it’s just like two warriors going at each other. "A bloke’s bowling 150 kmph, trying to rip the fingers off your arms, or probably even worse. "It gets your blood going, the Adrenaline is pumping, you’re in a fight - to me that’s what Test cricket is all about." Langer revels in his new-ball battles with the ‘Rawalpindi Express." "For me, it’s one of the great battles in Test cricket playing against Shoaib Akhtar. "Today I reckon he bowled as fast as I’ve seen him bowl in all our confrontations." "I’ve always said he’s the fastest bowler I’ve ever faced and I reckon today, besides an over or two he bowled at the WACA four years ago, it was as quick as I’ve faced for a long time," Langer said. Langer, who is Test cricket’s leading scorer this year with 1,476 runs, was upset with himself getting out for 50 when he top-edged a sweep at leg-spinner Danish Kaneria and skied a catch to Imran Farhat at backward square leg. "I was just grumpy with myself for making a mental error; you should never mess with form, I was disappointed with that," he said. "I was very keen to improve my consistency this year —over the last few years, I felt I’d played some exceptional innings but in between times there’s probably been some lean trots. "I’ve also aimed to improve my second-innings performances from probably the last couple of years." "I think I’ve definitely improved my consistency. I’m a lot more balanced." (AFP) |
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Showy
Shoaib puts Aussies under pressure MELBOURNE, Dec 27: The ‘Rawalpindi Express’ steamed through the Australian top-order to give Pakistan an unexpected edge over cricket’s world-beaters in the second Test at the Melbourne cricket ground today. A week after they surrendered for 72 and handed Australia a monumental 491-run victory in the first Perth Test, the Pakistanis bounced back emphatically to have Ricky Ponting’s team under pressure after two days’ play. Shoaib Akhtar claimed the wickets of Matthew Hayden (9), Ponting (7) and Darren Lehmann (11) along with an outfield catch to send Michael Clarke on his way for 20 to have the Australians in bother at 171 for five. But Pakistan’s efforts to gain a sizeable innings lead were being thwarted by Damien Martyn and Adam Gilchrist, who put on an unbroken sixth-wicket stand of 32 runs before bad light ended play. At stumps, Australia were 203 for five, trailing Pakistan’s 341 by 138 runs with Martyn on 67 and Gilchrist 26. Cricket’s fastest bowler, with a point to prove after just six wickets at an average 67.66 runs in the last tour here in 1999, earlier worked up a head of steam off his long run to have the Australian batsmen on the back foot. Only Martyn and Justin Langer prospered against the pace assault, Martyn backing up his unbeaten Perth 100 with a determined 126-ball innings, while Langer continued his prolific scoring Australian summer with a half-century. Shoaib, forever the showman, spiced up the rain-plagued day with a confrontation with Langer before tea. Shoaib launched a fiery eighth over at the little Australian left-hander just before one of several rain interruptions, with Langer taking exception when Shoaib appeared to spit in his direction. The Pakistani spearhead then hurled down two bouncers and the pair exchanged words and fierce looks as Shoaib advanced down the pitch to within a few metres of Langer, who was man-of-the-match with scores of 191 and 97 in Perth Test. Langer was out two balls after reaching 50 when he top-edged a sweep at leg-spinner Danish Kaneria and skied a catch to Imran Farhat at backward square leg. Shoaib continued to have the better of Matthew Hayden, claiming him for the third time in the series when the opener sliced a cut straight to Shoaib Malik at backward point. Ponting followed four overs later when he pulled Shoaib to the waiting Malik at deep backward square leg. Lehmann made another unconvincing effort with 11 before he spooned a catch to Yasir Hameed off a Shoaib lifter. Michael Clarke had a few flutters before he holed out to Shoaib at long on off Kaneria for 20, making way for the entry of Gilchrist. Pakistan dawdled to their first innings total of 341 shortly before lunch after resuming at 318 for six. The tourists added just 23 runs off 17.3 overs in the morning session. Test cricket’s leading wicket-taker Shane Warne took two of the four wickets to fall to increase his Test tally to 558. He finished on 3-103 off 28.3 overs. Abdul Razzaq highlighted Pakistan’s snail-paced scoring rate, finishing four not out off 76 balls after he was marooned on one for 40 minutes and 32 balls. (AFP) |
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J&K creates history, enters national korfball semifinals Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 27: Jammu and Kashmir today created history of reaching the semi-finals of senior national korfball championship beating the last year’s bronze medalist Uttar Pradesh 12-10 in the quarterfinals at Hyderabad today. Now, J&K will take on the defending champion, Delhi in the semi-finals tomorrow. In the second semi-final, Andhra Pradesh outplayed Haryana. After the semi-final competitions are over, the final shall take place in the evening. Reports reaching here said that it was a close contest in the quarterfinal between J&K and Uttar Pradesh which J&K won by a margin of two points (12-10). Skipper Manjit Singh was top scorer with five goals, followed by Amit Sharma and Jatinder Pal who made three and two goals respectively. Tarandeep and Nishu added one goal each. In other quarterfinals, Delhi defeated Punjab, Andhra Pradesh beat Himachal Pradesh and Haryana trounced Madhya Pradesh. Meanwhile, president of the J&K Korfball Association, T S Wazir talked to the manager and coach of the team on telephone and complimented them for team’s achievement. He asked them to guide the team in right perspective so that they could make it into the first three positions. |
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North Zone U-22 cricket Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 27: In reply to J&K’s 173 in the first innings, Haryana were in troubled waters losing two wickets for 10 runs when opening day’s play was abondoned due to bad light appeal by the visitors in the North Zone under-22 cricket tournament which was started today at hostel ground of GGM Science College, here. Both the Haryana wickets were clinched by pacer Imtiaz. Haryana made 10 runs in 2.3 overs. Earlier, the delayed match started after lunch because of the wet pitch and poor visibility due to fog. J&K lost all their wickets at 173 in 56.3 overs. Parvez Ahmed contributing highest 67 runs. Imtiyaz, Ghulam Ghaus and Vimarsh Kaw added valuable 24, 21 and 20 runs respectively. Skipper Mayank Goswami was duck out. Hilal Ahmed (14), Anoop (14) and Umar Alam (12) were other batsmen who scored in double figure. Meanwhile, to avoid the cricket lovers to the playing field, the organisers, Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) did not bother to inform the media and publicised the hosting of prestigious competition like under-22 tournament. Commenting on JKCA’s attitude, some of the cricket lovers were of the opinion that the organisers don’t want the media to visit the venue of the game so as to cover-up their ‘misdeeds’. |
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DYSS organises trekking expedition at Poonch Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 27: Department of Youth Services and Sports (DYSS) organised trekking expeditions for the school going boys and girls in district Poonch. Expedition started from boys High School Mangnar and concluded at Mayatpura covering 10 kilometers of district. Later another expedition was organised by the DYSS for girls from Mangnar High School. |
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Kathua XI wins prize money tourney Excelsior Sports Correspondent KATHUA, Dec 27: Kathua XI defeated Pathankot XI to win 16th Christmas open (prize money) cricket tournament played at Pathankot. Winners Stadium XI were presented with a cash prize of Rs 10,000 while runners-up Pathankot XI got Rs 51,00. Vinod Talwara was declared man of the series while Kathua XI skipper, Parshant was adjudged man of the match. Ravinder Amla, Punjab Youth Congress leader was chief guest in the final. 2004—SC played umpire in high-voltage cricket matches NEW DELHI, Dec 27: Did you know Sachin Tendulkar played for BCCI and not India ? did you know that Jagmohan Dalmiya still continues to be the president of BCCI? did you know Ranbir Singh Mahindra is only elected as president but not to take charge? should Dalmiya be patron-in-chief of BCCI? All these "tell me why" series-type questions raised during high-voltage court room matches will be decided by the Supreme Court which played the umpire and the verdict would be given by it and not by the third umpire! But the verdict in the issues raised - be it by Prasar Bharati on its row with Ten Sports over telecast of the India-Pakistan friendship series, or by Zee TV accusing BCCI of acting whimsically in deciding the telecast contract or by BCCI itself relating to controversies on election of its president - could well go a long way in the running of the cricket board, the richest Indian sports body. Ten Sports was first to approach the Supreme Court. It challenged an Andhra Pradesh High Court order asking it in public interest to share with Doordarshan its live telecast feed of India-Pakistan matches, notwithstanding the Dubai-based channel’s exclusive rights over it. The friendship matches are long over with India managing to keep an upper hand over its arch rivals but the simmering dicontent over the share of the booty from the advertisement revenue between DD and Ten Sports continues. Thanks to the Supreme Court, we watched the matches on national channel which was directed to deposit Rs 50 crore in the court. The stories behind the functioning of BCCI came to the fore when Zee TV questioned the manner in which its bid, the highest among the bidders, for the right to telecast all matches played in India was cancelled. The private tv channel raised a vital question - should BCCI not be regarded as an instrument of the state as it selected the Indian team? No, was the firm answer from BCCI. It said the board has nothing to do with the government and that it selected the BCCI team and not the Indian team. The answer raised a quite a few eyebrows, including those of the Supreme Court. Unfazed, the board went ahead and said it does not even fly the tricolour when there is a match between India and a foreign country. Moreover, allowing government interference in the functioning of the board would herald the entry of politics into cricket. "Is there more room for it in cricket?" was the response of the court. The mother of all on-court cricket battles was fought in the supreme court when the board challenged a Madras High Court order appointing a retired Supreme Court judge S Mohan to supervise the controversy-ridden board elections. Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar was pipped at the post when outgoing president Dalmiya exercised his casting vote in favour of his nominee Ranbir Singh Mahindra. Not to forget, Dalmiya had already cast his vote in favour of Mahindra resulting in a tie leading to the casting vote. BCCI showed the rule books and said Dalmiya has acted as per rules. The Supreme Court lifted the stay on the functioning of the newly-elected board headed by Mahindra but in a sudden move restrained Dalmiya from becoming the patron-in-chief of BCCI. The board accepted it then. But when it came to the final round of arguments on the contentious issue, the board said that Dalmiya still continued to discharge the functions of the president of the board as the AGM at Kolkata, where elections were held, had not been concluded. Reason - a Chennai court had restrained the board AGM from deliberating on two issues on the agenda - one relating to confirming the election of Dalmiya as patron-in-chief and the other nominating Dalmiya as the board representative to the International Cricket Council. A confused court went on to ask the BCCI counsel as to for whom he appeared - the old board or the new board? the counsel in his reply said he appeared for the board continuing to function under president Dalmiya. And why should he not be the patron-in-chief? Dalmiya’s counsel showered praise on the man with a "midas touch" and reeled off statistics to show how he has turned the BCCI and and ICC from the brink of penury to "highly profitable" organisations. He even gave a veiled warning. Dalmiya was the lone person equipped with the ability to counter the Rs 200 crore damage suit filed by GCC for alleged violation of players’ contract by Indian cricketers during the last World Cup. The present petitions against Dalmiya could have been engineered by the "foreign powers" to see that Indian cricket suffered! (PTI) Ganguly praises team for bouncing back DHAKA, Dec 27: Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly credited his team for shrugging off last night’s defeat to Bangladesh and playing very well to clinch the series 2-1 here today. "After what happened last night, the team came out and played very well," said Ganguly after India beat Bangladesh by 91 runs in the third and final one-day cricket international. The skipper said the team had a chat with coach John Wright last night after the shock 15-run defeat to the hosts. "We did have a chat, John (Wright) was pretty worked up — had to be with the kind of performance that we put up. But it was a one-off thing and I hope it doesn’t happen again," he said. On the match, Ganguly said it had been a good toss to win and the good start that the openers gave laid the foundation for a big score. "It was a good track, we batted very well. We had a good start which laid the foundation for a big score." Ganguly also praised Bangladesh for having put up a "very good show" in the one-dayers. "They put up a very good show in the one-day format of the game. They have some good players and if they can get their combination right, they will improve greatly as a team." Bangladesh skipper Habibul Bashar rued giving away too many runs but also crediteds the Indians for the way they batted. However, he said his side had gained in confidence after its show in the one-dayers and it would hold them in good stead in the upcoming series against Zimbabwe. "We can take a few positives from the one-dayers, the biggest revelation has been Mushrafe Mortaza who bowled and fielded very well in the one-dayers," he said. Man-of-the-match Virender Sehwag said he enjoyed batting on the "excellent" track. "I had told myself that I would play my natural game. The first five overs I put my head down and then opened up," said the Delhi opener who made a 52-ball 70 to set up the game for India. "I have not performed well in the one-dayers and now that I have scored some runs, I hope I will carry forward the good show in the coming year," he said. Man-of-the-series Mohammad Kaif said although he would like to "face more overs", he was happy batting at number seven, a position given to him by his captain and coach. "It is not easy to bat at number seven but I think I have done quite well. The captain and the coach have made the decision for me although I would be happy if I get to play more overs." (PTI) Deepan, Arun share lead after impressive wins BIKANER, Dec 27: International Master Deepan Chakravarthy handed Nguyen Van Huy of Vietnam his third defeat on the trot to remain in joint lead with S Arun Prasad, who beat Abhijeet Gupta, after the seventh round of the 27th Asian junior chess championship here. With the wins, Chakravarthy and Prasad took their tally to an impressive 5.5 points. IM S Poobesh Anand held the third spot on five points after he was held to a draw by Arghyadip Das. Next in line was national junior champion G N Gopal, who also caused a flutter, defeating top seed IM Anton Filippov of Uzbekistan. Sharing the fourth spot with gopal were G Rohit, Das and Gupta who all have 4.5 points each in their kitty as four rounds remain to be played in this prestigious annual event. In the girls’ section, the race for the title resumed between woman Grandmaster Dronavalli Harika and Vietnam’s Hoang Thi Bao Tram. As was expected, both came out with flying colours. Harika was Fiercer of the two in her victory over Pratibha while Tram matched Mary Ann Gomes’ technical skills in style. Harika and Tram have moved to 6 points out of a possible seven and are now followed by Soumya Swaminathan who stands a full point behind. It turned out to be a good day for deepan as he almost outplayed huy from a level endgame arising out of a Scotch opening. Playing black, Deepan had little trouble in equalising and thereafter both players strove for counterplay along the centre. However, as the pieces got exchanged as if in a heap, Deepan found his Knight much better placed than his opponent’s Bishop and perfect calculation thereon decided the game quickly in his favour. Arun Prasad played a controlled game to get the better of Gupta who was out of sorts in the Italian opening as black. Winning an exchange in middle game complexities, Prasad never looked back and romped home with perfect play in the endgame. The women’s section saw Harika beat Pratibha while Tram went on to win a theoretical drawn endgame against Gomes. Playing black, the country’s youngest ever WGM caught a white Knight napping in her territory and trapped it in quick time in the early middle game. Pratibha fought in vain in the piece down position hoping for a miracle that did not happen. Harika won in 58 moves. (PTI) CHENNAI, Dec 27: Mithali Raj will stand in as captain in place of an injured Mamatha Maben against Australia in the inconsequential seventh and last women’s one-day cricket international here tomorrow. The Aussies have already clinched the series 4-2, but the Indian eves would be looking to salvage some pride and win the final match, especially in view of the team’s preparation for the World Cup in March 2005. Maben said she was more than happy with the performance of her team in the six matches which resulted in close finishes. "We never frittered away any chance. Winning two matches against the mighty Aussies in itself is creditable. We are not inferior to either Australia or New Zealand, the World Cup winners, but we need to improve our fielding," Maben said. Australian captain Belinda Clark expressed confidence of posting another win tomorrow. (PTI) |
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