India
move into tri-series final
HOBART,
Feb 26:
An inspired India stormed into the cricket
tri-series final as they relied on a clinical
display by their young pacemen to thrash Sri
Lanka by seven wickets in a low-scoring game here
today.
Desperately
needing to win the last match to secure a place
in the final, the Indians completely dominated
the encounter with pace sensation Ishant Sharma
(4/41) and rookie pacer Praveen Kumar (4/31)
bundling out the islanders for a paltry 179 in
47.1 overs to set up the victory.
The Indian batsmen
then overhauled the target without much fuss with
17.4 overs to spare in what turned out to be a
one-sided encounter at the Bellerive Oval.
Sachin Tendulkar,
who has not been in the best of touch in the
series, marked his return to form with a sizzling
54-ball 63 on a good batting track.
Gautam Gambhir,
who remained not out on 64 from 90 balls, held
the innings together after Robin Uthappa,
promoted to open the innings, was out cheaply for
11 in the second over.
The Delhi batsman
also hit the winning runs off Muttiah
Muralitharan, who was hammered for 54 runs from
his 8.2 overs, to trigger off wild celebrations
in the Indian dressing room.
The emphatic
victory also gave India a bonus point, taking
their tally to 17 points from eight matches.
Australia, who
have already qualified for the finals, have 26
points while Sri Lanka were languishing at the
bottom of the table with 6 points. The last match
between Australia and Sri Lanka on Friday has now
been rendered inconsequential.
The first of the
best of three finals will be played on March 2 at
Sydney.
Everything went
right for Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men; from
winning the toss and putting the opposition to
bat, dismissing them cheaply and then watch
Sachin Tendulkar return to form. In winning with
nearly 18 overs to spare, Indians all in all
played a perfect game.
Lanka started
brightly at 72 for 1 in the 15th over before the
skids were put under their feet to the extent
they lost six wickets for 21 further runs, before
finally being bowled out for 179 in the 48th
over.
India lost opener
Robin Uthappa in the second over but then a
102-run second wicket stand between Tendulkar and
Gautam Gambhir took the game away from the
Lankans.
Tendulkar was
majestic with his square cuts and the way he
negotiated Muthiah Mural-itharan, pedal-sweeping
and hitting him over the top was a treat to
watch. One such sweep raised his half century
from 44 balls with nine fours and one such
chipped hit over mid-off ended in his dismissal.
The match by then was nearly over.
Gambhir, top
scorer in the tournament with 369 before
today’s game, added 63 further runs to his
tally, having batted for 90 balls and hit five
fours.
Yuvraj Singh was
promoted up the order for some valuable practice
and he did so in style, smashing 36 off 35 balls
with four boundaries and a six.
The batsmen
matched the response of the Indian bowlers who
were magnificent in exploiting the damp
conditions at the Bellerive Oval first up.
Young Uttar
Pradesh allrounder Praveen Kumar hogged the
spotlight as he claimed four wickets for 31 runs
while Ishant Sharma was no less behind in picking
up 4 for 41. Irfan Pathan wasn’t much
noticed in the wicket-column but he bowled his 10
overs for only 23 runs.
A damp wicket
proved too difficult to negotiate for the Lankan
batsmen who kept perishing in trying to force the
pace, three of their batsmen mistiming pull shots
to be caught inside the ring.
Chamara Kapugedera
(57) alone held the innings together by batting
for 86 balls and hitting four fours.
Kapugedera eked
out two important stands of 46 and 40 runs with
Lasith Malinga (12) and Muthiah Muralitharan (13)
for the seventh and eighth wicket before his own
dismissal in the 47th over.
Mahela
Jayawardene’s team appeared one of all
intent and purpose as they played early attacking
cricket to put the Indians on the backfoot.
The first ball of
the innings was flicked to the midwicket fence
and as Sanath Jayasuriya took roots, cutting
fours and lifting sixes, Indians had a fight on
hand.
Jayasuriya (34)
looked determined to make his first useful
contribution of the series and along with Kumar
Sangakkkara (33) put on 57 runs for the second
wicket.
Sangakkara’s
departure put the skids under the Sri Lankan feet
to the extent that six further wickets were lost
with only 21 added to the total.
Sangakkara walked
down the wicket to Praveen Kumar and tried to
steer him past the slips but the edge was
brilliantly grabbed by Dhoni diving to his left.
Skipper Mahela
Jayawardene (3) disappointed when he cut Praveen
uppishly for Rohit Sharma to come up with a good
catch at point.
Praveen had soon
picked up his third wicket when Chamara Silva
tried to hoist Kumar on the onside and mistimed
for Dhoni to complete one of the easiest catches.
Sri Lanka’s
worries did not ease when Jayasuriya made a
similar terrible contact with a ball from Ishant
Sharma and the ball ballooned for Dhoni to grab
one more into his haul.
Ishant Sharma was
now brought back into the attack and he justified
it with two quick wickets, Tillakratne Dilshan
(8) and Chaminda Vaas (0) falling to his quick
pace and movement.
The innings was
stabilised to an extent when Chamera Kapugedera
and Lasith Malinga (12) put on 46 runs for the
eighth wicket before Sharma was brought back to
break the stand.
Malinga made a
similar mistake of attempting a pull and the
mistimed stroke was an easy offering for Robin
Uthappa.
SCOREBOARD
Sri Lanka:
Dilruwan Perera b
Sharma 8
Jayasuriya c Dhoni
b Pathan 34
Sangakkara c Dhoni
b Kumar 33
Jayawardene c
Rohit b Kumar 3
Chamara Silva c
Dhoni b Kumar 0
Dilshan lbw b
Sharma 8
Kapugedera c &
b Harbhajan 57
Vaas c Gambhir b
Sharma 0
Malinga c Uthappa
b Sharma 12
Muralitharan b
Kumar 13
Ishara Amerasinghe
not out 0
Extras (lb 5, w 6)
11
Total (all out in
47.1 overs) 179
Fall of Wickets:
1-15, 2-72, 3-77, 4-81, 5-81, 6-93, 7-93, 8-139,
9-179
Bowling: Munaf
Patel 9-0-51-0; Ishant Sharma 10-0-41-4; Irfan
Pathan 10-2-23-1; Praveen Kumar 10-2-31-4;
Harbhajan Singh 4.1-0-17-1; Yuvraj Singh
4-0-11-0.
India:
Uthappa c
Amerasinghe
b Malinga 11
Tendulkar c Silva
b Muralitharan 63
Gambhir not out 63
Yuvraj c Dilshan b
Perera 36
Rohit Sharma not
out 3
Extras: (w-4) 4
Total (for three
wkts, 32.2 overs) 180
Fall of Wickets:
1-18, 2-120, 3-171
Bowling: Chaminda
Vaas 6-0-29-0, Lasith Malinga 6-0-36-1, Ishara
Amerasinghe 7-0-40-0, Muttiah Muralitharan
8.2-0-54-1, Sanath Jayasuriya 1-0-4-0, Dilruwan
Perera 4-0-17-1. (PTI)
Kirsten,
Kumble meet BCCI officials
MUMBAI,
Feb 26:
The first meeting between newly appointed
national team coach Gary Kirsten, Test skipper
Anil Kumble and a few cricket board officials was
held today at the BCCI headquarters here.
Kirsten and Kumble
had a two-hour meeting with BCCI Secretary
Niranjan Shah, Treasurer N Srinivasan and Prof
Ratnakar Shetty (board’s chief
administrative officer) before adjourning for
lunch.
Neither Kirsten
nor Kumble spoke to the waiting mediapersons when
they broke for lunch.
According to BCCI
sources the focus of the meeting was to discuss
with Kirsten his plans on how to take the Indian
team forward.
Kirsten is taking
over formally as the coach from March 1.
The high-profile
post has been lying vacant for more than 10
months after the previous incumbent, former
Australian captain Greg Chappell, chose not to
seek a renewal of his contract with the BCCI in
the aftermath of the Indian team’s
disastrous outing in the World Cup in the West
Indies in March, 2007.
The Indian team,
in the interim period, has been helped by former
test players Ravi Shastri, Chandu Borde, Lalchand
Rajput and Chetan Chauhan as cricket managers.
Former South
African batsman Kirsten has already met members
of the Indian team at Perth during the Test
series Down Under as a consultant.
He had a
preliminary meeting with Shah and Shetty
yesterday after arriving here
The presence of
Kumble at today’s deliberations was a clear
indication that he is expected to continue at the
helm of the Test team during the three-Test home
series against South Africa starting March 26.
The ace leg
spinner took over as Test captain from his
statemate and India teammate Rahul Dravid stepped
down from the hot seat despite leading the Indian
team to a rare overseas victory over England,
after a gap of 20 years.
Kumble led the
team to victory in the home rubber against
arch-rivals Pak-istan and impressed one and all
with his leadership role in the
controversy-ridden four-match series Down Under.
He also became the
first Indian captain to score a win at the WACA
ground in Perth, considered to be a very
difficult proposition, though the series was lost
1-2.
The champion
Bangalore bowler’s appointment as captain
for the home rubber against the Proteas seems to
be a mere formality ahead of the selectors’
meeting to pick the first Test squad, tentatively
scheduled to be held on March 10.
South Africa are
to play three Tests against India, at Chennai
(March 26-30), Ahmedabad (April 3-7) and Kanpur
(April 11-15). (PTI)
India
will guard against complacency
KUALA
LUMPUR, Feb 26: High on confidence, a rampaging
Indian team would guard against complacency to
settle for nothing less than a win against New
Zealand in the semifinals of the Under-19 Cricket
World Cup here tomorrow.
Indians, who came
here after a successful tour of South Africa,
would be motivated to cross the semifinal hurdle
to clinch the cup which they had lost to Pakistan
in the previous edition at Colombo in 2006.
But tomorrow would
be a big day for Indians as New Zealand, who beat
Sri Lanka by 80 runs in their quarterfinal match
yesterday, would be eager to avenge their narrow
six-run loss in the league stage as they meet in
the day-night affair at the Kinrara Oval.
New Zealand coach
Kane Williamson warned the Indians that his team
was constantly improving its game.
"We have been
improving with every game," he said.
The teenagers, led
by Delhi’s Virat Kohli, have so far done
almost everything right in their quest to the
ultimate glory with a consistent performance from
batsmen as well as the bowlers.
Although their
top-order batsmen have been a bit of concern, the
Indians would rely on the presence of the
tournament’s highest-scoring batsmen —
Taruwar Kohli with 207 runs and Tanmay Sriavstava
with 203 runs.
Opener Taruwar
Kohli has three half centuries in four games
while Srivastava has two fifties to his credit.
Skipper Virat
Kohli’s 74-ball 100 has been the fastest in
the tournament and aggregated 173 runs at an
impressive strike rate of 107.45.
Looking ahead to
the semi-final, Taruwar Kohli said he was
confident that the team would play up to its
potential in the day-night affair.
"We just have
to play to our potential, that’s all. And
whatever the situation demands, we will play up
to that," he said.
The bowling
department also appeared to be rising up to the
occasion as they impressed in the quarterfinal
match by restricting England to a paltry total.
(PTI)
Lack of
quality spinners a biggest concern: Dilip
NEW
DELHI, Feb 26: The lack of quality spinners at the
domestic level is the "biggest concern"
for chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar who fears
that the advent of Twenty20 cricket will have an
adverse impact on slow bowlers. Vengsarkar said
spinners will get little chance to showcase their
talent in the shortest format of the game which
was heavily loaded in favour of batsmen.
"It (lack of
good spinners) is our biggest concern. And, now
with Twenty20 in vogue, the spinners will have
very little chance to parade their talent",
the former Indian captain said.
Vengsarkar said he
would like to see India move to the number one
position in the Test rankings when his term comes
to an end but it would depend how the team
performed in the upcoming series against South
Africa and Sri Lanka. "Before my term gets
over, I would like to see India as No. 1 in the
world. However, it all depends on how we perform
in the coming series versus South Africa and
later in Sri Lanka," he told Cricinfo
website. (PTI)
Pooja
finishes first in 100mts sprint
Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU,
Feb 26: Pooja
Devi secured first position in 100mts sprint
while Kavita Ghai and Sumitra Sukhwal had to
content with second and third place respectively
in the ongoing 14th Annual Sports Meet of Dogra
College of Education today.
In boys section,
Ram bagged top honour whereas Mali Ram and
Mahavir Prasad stood second and third
respectively.
In high jump
(boys), Prakash Kumar Dasaniya finished first
while Mukesh Kumar stood second.
Mukesh Kumar
prevailed over Rakesh Kumar to claim long jump
title followed by Dhaka who finished third.
In girls section,
Pooja Devi secured first position whereas Asha
Mangotra stood second in high jump.
Kavita Ghai
finished first in long jump while Pooja Devi and
Asha Mangotra stood second and third
respectively.
In shot put,
Karmjit Kour bagged top honour while Anjali
Thakur and Anu stood second and third
respectively.
In boys section,
Neeraj finished first followed by Suresh Dhaka
and Vishavjeet who secured second and third
positions respectively.
Ashoka
College of Education organise Sports Meet
Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU,
Feb 26: A
three-day Sports Meet organised by Ashoka College
of Education commenced in the college premises
today.
Inderjeet Kour,
district sports officer was the chief guest on
the occasion who declared open the meet.
Kamal Gupta,
Chairman, Meena Gupta, Shyma Pyari Tickoo and
Veena Sehgal were also present.
Only two events in
the disciplines of volleyball and badminton were
held today.
In volleyball,
Nehru House got the better of Gandhi House by 3-1
to emerge winner.
Harmesh Sharma,
Gandrav Singh, Kapil, Dev Sharma, Satpaul Sharma
alongwith district sports officer witnessed the
match.
In Badminton,
Rahul, Jasvinder, Paramjeet, Amit, Basu and
Manish won their respective matches.
Members of sports
club namely Madan Mohan Sharma, Amarjeet Kour,
Pankaj Sharma, Sunil Sharma and Vijay were also
present.
Anandrathi
Corporate Cricket Tournament
SSC seals thumping win over JP
World
Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU,
Feb 26:
Simula Sports Club (SSC) scripted a resounding 58
runs win over JP World today in the ongoing 2nd
Anandrathi Corporate Cup Twenty20 Cricket
Tournament being played at Jammu University
Ground.
Batting first
after winning the toss, SSC posted 168/6 in the
allotted overs with Anoop top scored with
unbeaten 35-ball 55.
He struck eight
superbly executed hits to the fence. Rohit Mattu
also played a useful knock of 31 (4x5) followed
by Vikramadatiya and Vivek who chipped in with 19
and 14 runs respectively.
For JP World,
Pranav, Deepak, Parveen and A P Singh shared a
wicket each.
In reply, JP World
bowled out for 110 runs. Pranav played a gutsy
knock of 36 runs studded with three boundaries
and a six.
Munish Dogra
contributed 24 off 25 balls including a single
hit to the fence.
For SSC,
Vikramaditya was the most successful bowler with
three scalps followed by Sumesh and Rohit Mattu
who grabbed two wickets each.
Azhar, Anoop and
Hilal Rather snared a wicket apiece. Anoop was
declared man of the match.
Rajesh Dogra and
Santa Singh officiated the match. The scorer was
Rajeev Pakhetra.
Dhoni
warns Aussies not to provoke his side in finals
HOBART,
Feb 26:
Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni today made it
clear his team will not back down when it comes
to matching the Australian aggression in the
tri-series finals and blamed the world champions
for the on-field hostilities between the two
sides.
He criticised the
Aussies for their "provocative
behaviour" during Sunday’s Sydney ODI,
which prompted the Indians to lodge a formal
complaint with the match referee.
"We believe
it was the Australians who have been provoking
us. It’s been going on for a while. In due
course I am sure (my team’s) youngsters will
learn from it," he said.
"Ishant only
reacted to what symonds said to him," he
added when asked about the young pacer showing
the "send-off finger" to Andrew Symonds
in that game, for which Ishant was docked 15 per
cent of his match fee.
"It’s
never friendly in international cricket and
aggression is okay if you don’t cross the
line," Dhoni said.
"Ishant will
learn this art in due course. I call it an art
because it happens in international cricket all
the time," he added.
In the Sydney
match, Dhoni had to part with his gloves after
the match referee was concerned about their
legality.
However, Dhoni
chose to sidestep the issue.
"I thought
the gloves were quite okay but I don’t want
to start a controversy. Out of my 100 catches,
only a few have been held with those
gloves," he said.
India went into
today’s game against Sri Lanka with five
bowlers and Dhoni said it was a strategy he
preferred to adopt against the islanders.
"Whenever we
play against Sri Lanka, we try to play five
bowlers. Its because our batsmen have done quite
well against them," he said.
"We prefer to
bowl swing to Australia and seam to Sri Lanka; so
in next game, we could rotate Munaf Patel with
Sreesanth.
"Today, it
was Praveen Kumar. He is quite deceptive. He has
very good wrist position and can bowl up to
135kmph."
Dhoni also took
potshots at Sachin Tendulkar’s critics who
have been suggesting that the master batsman
takes a break to recharge his batteries.
"It’s up
to Sachin if he wants to take rest. People should
be careful about what they are writing about
him," he said defending Tendulkar who
returned to form with a quickfire 63 today.
Dhoni said the
Hobart wicket did not offer the help it appeared
at the time of the toss.
"It never
quite offered help as can be seen that it was
difficult to even get rid of the
tailenders," he pointed out.
Dhoni takes 100
catches
Mahendra Singh
Dhoni became the second Indian wicketkeeper and
17th in the world to take 100 one-day
international catches during India’s last
tri-series league game against Sri Lanka here
today.
Dhoni, who had 98
catches and 31 stumpings to his credit before the
match, reached the milestone when he pouched an
edge of Chamara Silva off Praveen Kumar for the
fourth wicket to fall in the Sri Lankan innings.
(PTI)
Indians
have never helped Pak cricket, fumes Miandad
KARACHI,
Feb 26: Former
Pakistani players Javed Miandad and Moin Khan
have lashed out at the BCCI for refusing to play
a three-ODI series which would have filled the
gap created by Australia’s decision to
reduce the duration of their scheduled
March-April tour here.
The duo felt the
Indian response was the result of the blatant
manner in which the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)
had been towing their line on various issues
including the controversial Indian Cricket League
(ICL) and Indian Premier League (IPL) standoff.
(PTI)
Dhoni
happy with batsmen after thumping Sri Lanka
HOBART,
Feb 26: After
complaining about lack of runs from the
top-order, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni
today lavished praise on his batsmen and said
their thumping display in the seven wicket win
over Sri Lanka was one of the "most
comprehensive ever".
"It was one
of the most comprehensive performances by our
batsmen ever," a beaming Dhoni said after
the win which ensured the team a berth in the
best of three tri-series finals against
Australia.
It was a do or die
match for the Indians and they came out with all
cylinders firing to first restrict the islanders
to 179 before overhauling the target in a mere
32.2 overs.
Dhoni was also all
praise for his bowlers who once again came up
with a clinical display. Ishant Sharma and rookie
pacer Praveen Kumar picked four wickets apiece.
"It was quite
a flat track but our bowlers bowled well once
again. Praveen and Ishant did well. Overall it
was a good performance," Dhoni said.
The skipper hoped
that his attack would continue to be in fine form
during the finals against Australia.
"Hopefully we
would continue to do well in the finals and
wickets would assist the bowlers even more,"
he said.
Dhoni then doubled
up as a translater for man of the match Praveen
Kumar during the presentation. The shy meerut
bowler could hardly go beyond the customary
"I am happy with my performance".
Praveen’s
family wanted him to take up wrestling but the
rookie pacer chose cricket and learnt his craft
through television and playing gully cricket.
"My parents
wanted me to take up wrestling but I only wanted
to play cricket. I learnt though TV and played on
streets. My local coaches also helped me,"
he said.
"I am happy
to give such a fine performance in a crucial
match," he added.
Losing captain
Mahela Jayawardane could not hide his
disappointment at the dismal batting performance
of his team.
"It was not a
good day. We started pretty well but lost wickets
in the middle overs. 250 would have been a good
score here," he said.
"Our middle
order has not been all that consistent and it is
disappointing. We need to show a lot of character
now and make sure that we rally around and play
well in our last game (against Australia),"
he added. (PTI)
Sachin
not worried of his form
HOBART,
Feb 26:
Sachin Tendulkar has not been in the best of
touch in the ongoing tri-series, but the master
batsman said he was not concerned about
"overreaction from too many brains"
about his form.
Tendulkar, who has
scored 191 runs from eight innings so far, said
he was hitting the ball well and his confidence
level has not gone down.
"I scored in
the 30s twice against Sri Lanka and 40-odd
against Australia. I failed only in the last
three innings. It is a case of too may brains
working (over my form)," he said after
hitting a sizzling 54-ball 63 in India’s
seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka today.
"I am all
right and hitting the ball well. I am confident
and the team is confident. The normal tendency is
people get carried away because of more
expectations. People should not react more than
what is necessary," he added.
Today’s win
ensures that India face Australia in the best of
three finals starting in Sydney on March 2 and
Tendulkar emphasised the need for the top order
to fire if they have to turn the tables against
the world champions.
The top order has
been the achilles’ heel for India, largely
annulling the fine show by the young bowlers so
far in the series.
"We have to
ensure that we do not lose early wickets against
Australia. Only then we have a chance to beat
them.
"We have to
plan our strategies for the finals. Brett Lee has
been bowling well, I think we have to work out
how to tackle him."
Tendulkar said the
team is confident of doing well against the
Australians.
"We were down
51 for four (in the last match) and the boys came
back fantastically to come closer to the target
and score nearly 300."
He was all praise
of the young bowlers who have been spot on in the
series so far.
"They have
doing a good job. Today also, we thought the
pitch would do something early in the Lankan
innings but it turned out to be an easy wicket.
The young pacers bowled at the right areas and
bundled them out for a paltry score."
On his
"uncharacteristic" dismissal today
while trying to hit Muttiah Muralitharan inside
out, Tendulkar said he played the shot on earlier
occasions against the same bowler but was done in
this time by the lack of spin in the delivery.
"I picked his
(Murali’s) doosra. I thought of hitting it
inside out over the extra cover. Because of the
hardness of the pitch, the ball did not turn much
and I was holed out," he said. (PTI)
‘Symonds
was only complimenting Ishant’
MELBOURNE,
Feb 26:
Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds has claimed
that he was only complimenting Indian speedster
Ishant Sharma on his fine bowling when the Delhi
bowler misinterpreted his words and showed him a
"send-off finger" during the tri-series
one-dayer in Sydney.
The incident,
which sparked an unsavoury chain of events,
resulted in Ishant being docked 15 per cent of
his match fees and the Indian team management
complaining to the match referee about the
Aussies’ "provocative behaviour."
Symonds has told
teammates he uttered, "well bowled,
champ" to Ishant before the 19-year-old
mouthed off and pointed towards the pavilion,
apparently misinterpreting the
"compliment". It was then that symonds
fired back with his own unpleasantries, a report
in ‘The Age’ claimed.
Australian
wicketkeeping great Ian Healy said too much
should not be made of the incident.
He claimed
lip-readers in channel Nine’s broadcast van
discerned Symonds to say: "good ball,
champ."
"Whether it
had a bit of cynicism in it or not, I’m not
sure," Healy said. "Sharma was holding
his standards pretty well, and then when he
thought Symonds said something worse, he carried
on in a way that is a little too personal for
mine."
Both players could
have behaved better, Healy felt.
He thought Sharma
needed to be reminded that the send-off was
unacceptable, no matter what the circumstances.
But he said he did not believe the incident
demonstrated residual bad blood between the
sides, only that the match was fiercely
contested. (PTI)
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