Daily Excelsior.........sports

India look to arrest slide,
SA aim for top in ICC
ODI rankings

DUBAI, Nov 18: India will be out to halt its slide down the LG ICC ODI championship table, while South Africa will be looking to topple Australia at the top, when the two sides take on each other in the five-match ODI series in Johannesburg starting tomorrow......more

Umpires’ body attacks
ICC in open Advt

MELBOURNE, Nov 18: An Australian umpires’ association today ran a full page advertisement in a leading daily, attacking the International Cricket Council for sacking Darrell Hair.........more

Lara wants to
celebrate Chanderpaul’s
100th Test with win

MULTAN, Nov 18: West Indies captain Brian Lara wants to celebrate Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s 100th Test appearance with a series-leveling victory against Pakistan in the second Test starting tomorrow....more

State Mastogi-Do
Championship begins

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 18:The J&K Mastogi-Do Association conducted 6th Mastogi-Do State Championship which commenced at ......more

H/S Barta Athletes shine
on final day

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

UDHAMPUR, Nov 18:H/S Barta dominated the District Level Inter School Athletic Meet for U/17 girls by winning eight medals including six gold, one silver and one bronze medal. The Athletic Meet organised by the Department of Youth Services and Sports, District ........more

MAM College enters Inter
Collegiate Cricket final

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 18: MAM College stormed into the final of the ongoing Inter Collegiate Cricket (Men) Tournament defeating Government Degree College ......more

J&K BSNL Kabaddi
team to leave today

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 18: The 12-member J&K BSNL Kabaddi team would leave for Jaipur (Rajasthan) tomorrow to participate in the 6th All India BSNL Kabaddi ........more

U/15 Poly Umrigar Trophy
J&K escapes a narrow
defeat Lost 7 wickets
for just 24 runs

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 18:Hosts J&K escaped a narrow defeat against ....more

India look to arrest slide, SA aim for
top in ICC ODI rankings

Rahul Dravid’s line-up was one of the in-form sides in ODIs in the first half of 2006 and at the end of April lay third in the table, three rating points behind the proteas.

But since then it has won just three of its last 13 outings (with eight losses and two no results), which has seen it slip to the fifth spot, 21 rating points Adrift of leaders Australia and 12 points behind South Africa.

The fact India is coming up against a South Africa side that lies second in the championship table and is on home territory only appears to heighten the size of the challenge in front of Dravid’s players.

But India still has plenty of positives to draw upon, not least the apparent strength of its bowling stocks. It has three players, spinner Harbhajan Singh and pacemen Irfan Pathan and Ajit Agarkar, in the top 20 of the rankings for ODI bowlers.

And while Yuvraj may be missing from the squad, India still has two players in the batting top 20, power-hitter Mahendra Singh Dhoni (sixth) and Captain Dravid (15th) and a fully-fit Sachin Tendulkar in the 21st position.

A 3-2 series defeat will see India remain on 110 rating points but even that will be enough to lift it back above Pakistan and into fourth spot when the ratings are recalculated to three decimal places.

Whereas a 3-2 win will lift India to 112 points (South Africa 119), a 4-1 success will see it rise to third place with 114 points (South Africa will drop to 116) and a 5-0 clean sweep will see Dravid’s team move into second place with 117 rating points (South Africa will drop to 113 points, although it will remain ahead of New Zealand).

For proteas as well, a lot is on the stake as a convincing series win will see them close the gap on Australia at the top of the table, with a 4-1 success taking it to 124 points (India 108) while a clean sweep of all five matches will lift it to 127 rating points (India 106, dropping it below the West Indies, currently in seventh place), just four behind Ricky Ponting’s World Champions.

The batting list is headed by the ICC ODI player of the year Michael Hussey of Australia, clear of Gayle, England’s Kevin Pietersen and Adam Gilchrist of Australia. Dhoni is India’s highest ranked batsman, in joint sixth place alongside Australia Captain Ricky Ponting.

Shaun Pollock tops the bowling table ahead of Glenn Mcgrath of Australia and the West Indies’ left-armer Ian Bradshaw. India’s top-placed player is Harbhajan, in 11th spot. Rank: team: 1. Australia (131), 2 S Africa (122), 3. New Zealand (113), 4. Pakistan (110), 5. India (110), 6. Sri Lanka (108), 7. West Indies (106), 8. England (99), 9 B’desh (34), 10. Zimbabwe (30) batsmen: 1. Mike Hussey (Aus, 821), 2. Chris Gayle (WI, 804), 3. Kevin Pietersen (Eng, 776), 4. Adam Gilchrist (Aus, 769), 5. Andrew Symonds (Aus, 753), 6 Ricky Ponting (Aus, 740) and Mahendra Dhoni (Ind, 740) 8. Ramnaresh Sarwan (WI, 739), 9. Graeme Smith (SA, 724) 10. Kumar Sangakkara (SL, 723) bowlers: 1. Shaun Pollock (SA, 862), 2 Glenn Mcgrath (Aus, 799), 3. Ian Bhadshaw (WI, 774), 4. Nathan Bracken (Aus, 752), 5. Brett Lee (Aus, 741), 6. Shane Bond (NZ, 730), 7. Daniel Vettori (NZ, 725), 8. Murali Muralitharan (SL, 712), 9. Makhaya Ntini (SA, 711), 10. Chaminda Vaas (SL, 706) All-Rounders: 1. Chris Gayle (WI, 478), 2. Shaun Pollock (SA, 451), 3. Sanath Jayasuriya (SL, 370), 4. Andrew Flintoff (Eng, 365), 5. Andrew Symonds (Aus, 337) (UNI)

Umpires’ body attacks ICC in open Advt

MELBOURNE, Nov 18: An Australian umpires’ association today ran a full page advertisement in a leading daily, attacking the International Cricket Council for sacking Darrell Hair.

The advertisement, carried out today in Sydney’s ‘Daily Telegraph’ by the New South Wales Cricket Umpires and Scorers Association, is expected to appear throughout the week as a gesture of support to the Australian umpire.

"The decision to remove Darrell from the Elite Panel of umpires has clearly not been taken - and cannot be justified - on grounds related to his ability as an umpire," NSWCUSA chairman Tim Donahoo wrote in an open letter addressed to ICC Chief Malcolm Speed in the advertisement.(PTI)

Lara wants to celebrate Chanderpaul’s 100th Test with win

Despite Lara’s fluent century and a fighting 81 from Chanderpaul in the second innings, the West Indies lost the first Test at Lahore by nine wickets to go down 1-0 in the three-match series.

Chanderpaul is still struggling to fully recover from a bout of food-poisoning contracted since arriving in Pakistan earlier this month.

"He’s still getting over it and we expect him to join us in the middle tomorrow," Lara said. "He’s not 100 per cent (fit), I know he’s a little bit out of the woods but he is a fighter and he wants to play his 100th Test match.

"He’s been able to play and still perform well in the second innings at Lahore and he is feeling a lot better now."

The 32-year-old Chanderpaul will be the eighth West Indian to play 100 Test matches, and has scored 6,617 runs including 14 centuries and 39 half centuries with a healthy average of 44.7.

"It’s a significant achievement and a milestone for Chanderpaul, we are looking forward to celebrate it with a win," Lara said.

Lara-Test cricket’s leading scorer 11,688 runs-made 61 and 122 at Lahore, but his fellow West Indian batsmen struggled to match the brilliance of their captain.

"We played some poor shots and we didn’t give the bowlers a situation they needed to ensure that we compete and that was unfortunate, but that’s now behind us," Lara said.

Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq cautioned his team not to get carried away with a big victory at Lahore and felt that the West Indies has other good batters in the side to bounce back.(PTI)

State Mastogi-Do Championship begins

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 18:The J&K Mastogi-Do Association conducted 6th Mastogi-Do State Championship which commenced at Indoor Sports Complex, M.A. stadium yesterday.

Total 456 students are participating in the three day long championship, said Mohit Sharma, Organising Secretary of the Championship.

The Results:

Below 9 yrs, (22kg): Ritvik, Aditya, Astik (gold), Aditya Sharma, Vansh, Arnav (silver) and Harshil, Raghav, Satyan, Ganga Singh, Ankit and Krishna (bronze).

Below 9 yrs (above 22 kg): Samar Singh (gold), Shivam Singh (silver) and Rohit Choudhary and Satyam Mengi (bronze).

Boys 9-14 yrs (below 24kg): Akhil Gupta (gold), Rahil Mehra (silver) and Parveen and Kapil Singh (bronze).

Girls 9-14 yrs (below 24kg): Prableen Kour (gold), Taran Deep (silver) and Manu Dingra and Karamdeep (bronze).

Boys 9-14 yrs (24-30 kg): Pankaj Kumar (gold), Gagandeep (silver) and Shubam Gupta and Amit Dogra (bronze).

Boys below 6 yrs, (above 18 kg): Rishab, Gurudhyan and Varun (gold), Shivansh, Vansh and Khitij (silver) and Ankush Tall, Akhilesh, Bharat, Aditya Mahajan, Kunal and Bhavin (bronze).

Girls below 6 yrs above 18kg: Nadiya Choudhary, Rashita and Radhika (gold), Kamia, Harvanshi and Avantika (silver) and Shruti and Nandini (bronze).

Girls below 9 yrs (above 20kg): R4 Group (gold) and Gurleen Group (silver).

H/S Barta Athletes shine on final day

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

UDHAMPUR, Nov 18:H/S Barta dominated the District Level Inter School Athletic Meet for U/17 girls by winning eight medals including six gold, one silver and one bronze medal.

The Athletic Meet organised by the Department of Youth Services and Sports, District Udhampur was concluded at Sports Stadium Udhampur today. In Discus Throw, Shoba Devi of H/S Barta bagged gold medal followed by Anuradha of GHS Udhampur and Pooja of GHS Jib, who won silver and bronze medals respectively.

In Shot Put, Anju of H/S Barta claimed gold medal while Anuradha of GHS Udhampur clinched her second silver medal. Bronze medal was fetched by Babli of H/S Kawa.

In Javelin Throw, Shakti Devi of H/S Barta won gold medal followed by Pooja of GHS Jib and Nazma of GHS Udhampur, who clinched silver and bronze medals respectively.

Nazma of GHS Udhampur won gold medal in Long Jump whereas Sonia of H/S Barta and Reetu of GHS Garhi claimed silver and bronze medals respectively.

In Tripple Jump, Lalita of H/S Barta clinched gold medal followed by Sukesha of GHS Udhampur and Rita of H/S Chiryai winning silver and bronze medals respectively.

Dr. Jagdish Mehra, Information Officer, Udhampur was the chief guest on the final day of the Sports Meet. He distributed medals to the position holder athletes.

MAM College enters Inter Collegiate Cricket final

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 18: MAM College stormed into the final of the ongoing Inter Collegiate Cricket (Men) Tournament defeating Government Degree College Bhaderwah by 34 runs in the first semi-final (two day match) played at Jammu University .

Batting first after winning the toss, MAM College accumulated 170 runs in 54 overs. Harmeet and Jarnail Singh were the top scorers with 50 and 36 runs respectively. Harmeet struck eight boundaries while Jarnail hit five fours.

For DC Bhaderwah, Mohsin and Arshad scalped three and four wickets respectively.

In reply, DC Bhaderwah fell short of 42 runs as the whole team was bundled out for 136 runs in 42 overs.

Mohsin was the top scorer, who played a fighting knock of 70 runs. He faced 89 balls with the help of six fours and one six.

For MAM College, Amandeep bowled a splendid spell to grab four wickets.

Mohsin for his excellent knock of 70 runs was adjudged the Man of the Match. In the second semifinal, GGM Science College will take on Government Degree College, Kishtwar to be played at the same venue.

J&K BSNL Kabaddi team to leave today

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 18: The 12-member J&K BSNL Kabaddi team would leave for Jaipur (Rajasthan) tomorrow to participate in the 6th All India BSNL Kabaddi Championship scheduled to be held from November 21-25.

Before leaving for the championship, the team had undergone a Coaching Camp from Nov 12-18 under the supervision of Bodh Raj Sharma, Manager/Coach of the team. He (Bodh Raj) is Sports Inspector in BSNL, J&K Circle, Jammu.

The Team:

Varinder Kumar, Harbans Singh, Amrik Singh, Tarandeep Singh, Ravi Kumar, Majid Khan, Mohan Lal, Kishore Kumar, Rakesh Kumar, Hoshiyar Singh, Ravi Kumar and Krishan Lal.

Bhagwat Prasad, GMTD, Jammu and J.P. Gupta, GGMT, J&K Circle, Jammu are accompanying the team as Coach and Manager.

U/15 Poly Umrigar Trophy
J&K escapes a narrow defeat Lost 7
wickets for just 24 runs

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 18:Hosts J&K escaped a narrow defeat against Delhi as the three day cricket match in U/15 Poly Umrigar Trophy was played at GGM Science College Hostel ground ended in a draw. Needing 260 runs to win on the final day, J&K resumed their second innings at 16/0 suffered a batting collapse as they slumped to 40/7 in 31 overs losing seven wickets for just 24 runs.

They (J&K) got off to a disastrous start by losing first three wickets for 19 runs. Umar Nisar, Aditya Jamwal and Saravdaman Singh were caught behind the wicket by playing needless strokes outside the off stump.

None of the J&K batsmen was able to reach the double figures. Skipper Sandeep Singh was the top scorer with six runs.

Earlier, the match had a delayed start due to incessant rain last night thereby leaving the field wet. The match commenced at 3.30 pm. Out of total 31 overs bowled in the J&K second innings, 23 overs were bowled by the visitors as they almost defeated J&K in just one hours play.

Vikas Mishra was the most successful bowler for Delhi, who bowled a magnificient spell to scalp four wickets at regular intervals. He took the full advantage of the damp conditions making it difficult for the host batsmen to play shots at their will.

Tarun Chouhan and Kuldeep also chipped in with two and one wicket respectively.

As far as Delhi is concerned, they must consider themselves unlucky as Rain God rescued hosts what could be a humiliating defeat.

The umpires in the match were Sanjeev Dua (Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association) and H.S. Sekhon (Punjab Cricket Association) while Arun Sharma of Punjab Cricket Association was officiated as the third umpire. The scorer was Ashwani.