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

Haryana defeat J&K in C K Naidu Cricket

SRINAGAR, Oct 26: Haryana prevailed over Jammu and Kashmir by virtue of first innings lead of 57 runs in the Under-22 C K Naidu Cricket Trophy league match after the third day’s play was washed away due to rains here today.

Jammu and Kashmir scored 212 runs against the first inning score of 269 by Haryana. Haryana was 58 runs for three wickets in their second innings.

Haryana were 48 for three at stumps of the second day’s match yesterday with skipper Mandeep Singh one and Sant Kumar 24 on crease while Mudaser claimed two wickets against visitors.

The umpires decided to called off the match on the final day today after heavy rains.

However, only two overs could be bowled after the lunch in which haryana scored ten runs.

Brief scores;- Haryana first Innings: 269 for all out (H Bansal 70, D Singh 55, Sameer Ali 6 for 69, Adil Misger 2 for 42) J&K : 1st Innings: 212 for all out ( Asif Rasool 68 and Manzoor Illahi 61, H Bansal 4 for 52, Chanderpal Saini 3 for 24 ) Haryana: 2nd Innings: 58 for 3 (Sant Kumar 30, Mudaser 2 for 19). (UNI)

Pak, South Africa to fight for semi-final berth

MOHALI, Oct 26: Pushed to the corner after their defeat against New Zealand, Pakistan will have to regroup quickly and find their best form when they clash with South Africa in the Champions Trophy here tomorrow, a contest which would decide the second semi-finalist from Group-B.

Both sides need a victory to make it to the semi-finals of the high-profile event having lost one of their two games played so far, staging the set for a cracker of a match under floodlights.

Form and odds, however, favour South Africa as they are not only above Pakistan in the run rate table, but have shrugged off the first match defeat to the Kiwis with a handsome win against Sri Lanka in their last match and put their campaign back on track.

The story has unfolded a little differently for Younis Khan’s men. From captaincy drama, change of regime and worst still the doping scandal, which forced them to pull out the important pace duo of Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, Pakistan were totally in shambles.

But nothing mattered to the talented Pakistanis when they took the field in the first match against Sri Lanka and beat them in a keenly contested game. True to their unpredictable nature, they slumped against New Zealand yesterday and suffered a 51-run defeat.

New Zealand thus secured the first semi-final berth of the competition as they finished their league engagements with two wins and one defeat. Sri Lanka have been chucked out of the tournament with two defeats and one win.

Greame Smith cannot take Pakistan lightly, knowing full well that sub-continent teams thrive under pressure and gives their best when odds are stacked against them.

Pakistan, on the other hand, will have to regroup themselves for the must-win game tomorrow.

If Pakistan find themselves in an uneasy, pressure situation it is of their own doing.

As coach Bob Woolmer said the team did not lack in capability but the players made too many mistakes, something they cannot afford in a contest where teams are very close in terms of quality.

"We are quite capable of playing well. But there are days when it doesn’t happen. It happens with all international teams. We made too many mistakes but come Friday we will play our best," he said after his team’s defeat yesterday.

"We cannot afford to repeat the mistakes against South Africa. They are coming off a terrific victory against Sri Lanka and looked in awesome form. It is going to be very tough."

Indeed, his bowlers were guilty of letting go the Kiwi batsmen after having reduced them to a tottering 60 for 3. In fact, they allowed Stephen Fleming and Co. to milk as many as 99 runs from the last 10 overs.

Even their batting was a big let down. Other than Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Yousuf and Shoaib Malik, the rest of them showed little comprehension of the situation.

The form of Shahid Afridi is turning out to be the other weak link for the side, which is without their batting mainstay Inzamam-ul Haq and dope-tainted pace spearheads Shoaib and Asif.

The explosive batsman has failed to click in the tournament but Woolmer was quick to spring to his defence.

"Unfortunately Afridi has not clicked here. He wants a regular batting position so we said (yesterday) number 5 is your position, go out and perform. But he was out. He is trying to do his best, he does not want to get out," Woolmer said.

Whatever may be the reason for their insipid performance, Pakistan have little time on their hands to get together their act and respond to the challenge ahead.

The South Aficans have showed sparks of brilliance in annihilating the Sri Lankans in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.

Their bowling, led by the gritty Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini, was menacing as they successfully defended a modest total of 219 just by some disciplined bowling in the right areas.

With the track at the PCA stadium here assisting pace and bounce as was evident in the match between Pakistan and New Zealand, the South African bowlers can expect more purchase from the surface.

But it is the batting which is their main worry and coach Mickey Arthur admitted as much.

"Our batting didn’t go according to the plans. If we are to go further in the tournament, the top four batsmen will have to come to the party and get us off to good starts," he said.

His batsmen can also expect some help from the PCA stadium track which saw a good score being put up by the Kiwis. (PTI)

Windies push India to the brink with victory

AHMEDABAD, Oct 26: India were today in real danger of being knocked out of the Champions Trophy after a heart-breaking three-wicket defeat at the hands of title holders West Indies who became the second team to qualify for the semi-finals.

The Caribbeans first restricted India to a modest 223 for nine and then managed to overhaul the target with just two balls to spare in a thrilling floodlit group-A contest which went down to the wire.

The West Indies were cruising along comfortably at 212 for three before the home team staged a valiant fightback by scalping four wickets in the last five overs to raise hopes of a miraculous escape.

But, with four runs required off the last three balls, middle order batsman Marlon Samuels smashed a wide delivery from Ajit Agarkar to the point fence to see the Caribbeans through much to the dismay of the viciferous home crowd at the Sardar Patel Gujarat stadium.

The Indians will now take on the mighty Australians against whom they face a must-win situation to keep themselves alive in the high-profile tournament, a task which appears extremely daunting considering their form.

The West Indians have garnered four points from two matches so far while India and Australia have two points each from as many matches. The last league match between the hosts and Australia will determine the second semi-finalists from the group-A.

The West Indian victory also means that England, the fourth team in the pool, are out of recknoning having played two matches without a single point. If West Indies beat England in their last match on Saturday, they would emerge as the champion team from the group but in case they lose, the net run rate will come into play to decide the order.

In Group-B, New Zealand have already romped into the semi-finals while tomorrow’s crucial match between Pakistan and South Africa would determine the second semi-finalists from the pool.

The Caribbeans owed their victory to a disciplined bowling show and responsible batting performances by Shivnarine Chanderpaul (51), Ramnaresh Sarwan (53), Runako Morton (45) and Chris Gayle (37).

The title holders, however, made things a little too tight for themselves in the end by playing too cautiously till the dying stages and losing quick wickets in the last few overs.

Put into bat, the Indian batting failed to click yet again as the established batsmen could never really come to terms with the slow track. Mahendra Singh Dhoni (51), Rahul Dravid (49), Sachin Tendulkar (29) and Yuvraj Singh (27) got the starts but could not really make them count.

The hosts relied on some late innings fireworks by Dhoni, who notched up his ninth ODI fifty, to take the total to 223 which looked doubtful at one stage after a very slow start.

The West Indies run chase began with a flourish as none of the Indian pacemen could really manage to make much of an impression against the two openers Chris Gayle and Chanderpaul.

Gayle seemed in a belligerent mood, going on the offensive early in the innings, but was also lucky to have been dropped on 9 by Suresh Raina off Irfan Pathan.

Undaunted, Gayle continued to attack and picked up Pathan for special treatment, disdainfuly despatching the medium pacer for three boundaries in the fifth over of the innings.

But Munaf Patel, who began the bowling operations along with Pathan and maintained a tight line and length, saw the back of Gayle in the tenth over.

The left hander got out to a suicidal shot, as he tried to work the bowler over mid off and spooned a catch to R P Singh who made no mistake. Gayle hit seven boundaries and faced 37 balls to score 34.

Chanderpaul and Dwayne Bravo then added 57 runs for the second wicket, the half-century of the partnership coming off 69 balls.

The two ran well between the wickets, picking up the singles and two, while Chanderpaul launched an attack on a wayward R P Singh, picking up two boundaries in the 14th over of the innings.

Spin was introduced in the form of Harbhajan Singh in the 16th over, and the ace offie was right on target, extracting some turn from the track.

Harbhajan not only proved a miser in conceding runs, but he also plotted Bravos (16) dismissal in his fourth over, beating the young all-rounder with both the flight and the turn to trap him leg before.

Virender Sehwag, introduced into the operation from the other end, then snared Chandepaul who played half-heartedly at a ball turning away and Dravid was ready at slip to accept the offering.

Earlier, the Indian batting put up another dismal display which could now prove to be very costly since they have to play the last match against world champions Australia.

The Indian openers held out the promise of a flying start, with Sehwag making his aggressive intent clear as he cut and square drove Jerome Taylor to pick up a four in each of the bowler’s first three overs

Sehwag got a ‘life’ early on but the lapse did not prove costly for the visitors, with the Delhi batsman making his long walk back to the pavilion in the very next over.

The Indian vice-captain, who had cut Taylor to the backward point of the previous delivery, failed to negotiate an incoming ball which found him plumb before the wicket.

India continued to persist with Irfan Pathan at one down, but the move backfired yet again.

The Baroda player left without bothering the scorer as he inside edged a Bradshaw delivery on to his off stump as India was in a spot of bother at 27 for 2.

Skipper Dravid then joined Tendulkar, who seemed unusually sedate in the first few overs, and the two battle-hardened veterans set about to steady the Indian ship.

Tendulkar, who had earlier got his first boundary in the sixth over with a straight drive of Bradshaw, executed some fluent shots, a carpet-kissing cover drive off Smith and another majestic off drive of the same bowler deserve special mention.

Dravid also seemed his customary cool and confident self not hesitating to punish anything loose, but the curtains came down on the 42-run stand when Tendulkar dragged a wayward Bradshaw delivery onto his offstump. (PTI)

All India Open FIDE Rating Chess
International Master Sriram wins match;
State Champion loses

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 26: Member Parliament and chief patron of All J&K Chess Association Ch Lal Singh today declared open first All India Open International Rating Chess Tournament at Prem Bhawan.

Speaking on the occasion, Ch Lal Singh said that politicians should not lead sports associations which is imperative for the promotion of all games not only in the State but in entire country. He stressed that sports persons of the concerned fields should be allowed to run the associations.

During the first two rounds played today, several International Masters registered victories over their respective opponents including the State Champion Sumit Grover.

Details of second round:

IM Sriram Jha defeated Narender Singh; State Champion Sumit Grover lost to Himanshu Sharma; IM Girinath PDS beat Khalid Amin; Sangma Rahul beat Pradip Tiwari; Singh S Vikramjit defeated Sathyanarayanan S; Bartakke Amardeep S beat Rajesh Kumar Nath; Dibas Kumar Biswas lost to Dave Kantilal; P K Singh beat Gusain Himal; Nandan Kumar lost to Bhagwat Vinod and Md Irshad beat Sangeen Mandre.

Ritwan Sauntra equalised with Moti Ram; Amar Sen lost to Sanjiv Kumar; Abid Ali beat Jitender Rawat; Jain Shreyansh lost to Sumith Mahajan; Dubey Ankesh lost to Intkhab Alam, Biswajit Chatterjee equalised with Manish Vatsa; Aditya Vikram Ahuja lost to Srivastava KB; Naveen S Hegde lost to Ajit Singh and Anand Yashwants lost to Avinash Sethi; Vivek Bharti beat Akshat Aggarwal; Srivastava Mithilesh beat Anil Kumar Raizada; Anoop Karnik lost to Abhay G N; Hemant Sharma defeated Anil Naithani; Hemant Sharma defeated Bharath Singh, Ravi EV beat Shivam Srivastava; Sanjeev K Duggal defeated Rajesh Kumar; Seema Agarwal lost to Vishwanath Sandliya; Manjunath Jain defeated Sri Hari Sankar Barman and Sunil Kumar lost to Pawan Bathm.

Jammu Distt Open Billiards, Snooker
Vishal Raina wins inaugural match of Senior Snooker

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 26: Vishal Raina won the inaugural match of the Senior Snooker in the 16th Jammu District Open Billiards and Snooker Championship at Billiards Hall of MA Stadium, here.

Vishal Raina defeated Rajesh Slathia by 3-2 in a well contested match. Rajesh made good start by winning first frame by 51-38. But he could not repeat his performance in the second frame and lost the same by 36-63.

Again in the third frame he staged a come back and won the same by 57-22. Similarly, Vishal made come back and won the fourth frame by 54-31. With two frames each in their credit, both the cueists left no chance to win the fifth frame but Vishal restricted Rajesh at 8 points as against his 24.

The other two matches of the Senior Snooker could not be played because two cueists didn’t turn up. With the failure of their respective opponents to report at the venue of the match, Arun Chowdhary and Anil got walkover Sahil Bagotra and Shoaib.

The Championship is being organised by J&K Billiards and Snooker Association.

Rural Sports Competition of Kalakote Block concludes

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 26: One day Rural Sports Competition of Kalakote Block was held at Higher Secondary School Sail Sui for boys and girls.

Principal of the School Mohd Iqbal was the chief guest on the occasion and he gave away the prizes among winners and runners-up. District Youth Services and Sports Officer Rajouri was the guest of honour.

In boys Kabaddi, HS Dhayla defeated MS Sail Sui by 10 points while in girls Kabaddi, HSS Sail Sui beat HS Dhayla by two points. In girls Kho-Kho, HS Dhayla defeated HSS Sail Sui by one points.

In boys Volleyball, Singh Club Sail Sui defeated HSS Sail Sui while in 100 metres girls race, Priya Sharma of HS Dhayla, Poonam of HSS Sail Sui and Jahida bagged first three positions.

In 200 metres girls race, Ruby of MS Sail Sui, Priya Sharma of HS Dhyla and Rekha of HSS Sail Sui secured first three positions while in 100 metres race for boys, Rajesh, Khalid and Pankaj Sharma bagged first three positions.

In 200 metres boys race, Vakil, Maqbool and Mohd Azam bagged first three positions. In boys Shot-Put, Neeraj, Hemant Singh and Ranjeet Singh of HSS Sail Sui bagged first three positions.

Rekha of HSS Sail Sui, Poonam Kumari and Shakshi of HSS Sail Sui bagged first three positions in girls Shot Put.

State Baseball squad announced

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 26: Jammu and Kashmir Baseball Association today announced State team for 18th Junior National Baseball Championship to be held at Goa from October 30 to November 3, 2006.

Making announcement, general secretary of the Association Fida Hussain hoped that State team will bring laurels to the State.