PNB, GCC notch up emphatic wins

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, May 2: Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Gorkha Cricket Club (GCC) scripted easy wins today on the second day of the ongoing Ashok Sodhi Memorial Cricket Tournament being played at Mini Stadium, Parade Ground here.

In the first match, PNB outclassed Cannon Cricket Club (CCC) by 22 runs.

Batting first, PNB accumulated 160/9 in the allotted 20 overs with Ritesh Chouhan top scorer with 33 runs.

Naeraj (24), Sandeep (16), Rajnish (14) and Vikas (17) were the other notable contributors.

For CCC, Manav Gupta grabbed four wickets while Jatin chipped in a solitary wicket.

Chasing 161 to win, CCC could manage 138/9 in their allotted quota of 20 overs.

Karan played a fighting knock of 38 but that wasn’t enough. For PNB, Vivek Suri was the pick of the bowlers with four scalps.

Gorkha Cricket Club (GCC) got the better of Khalsa Cricket Club (KCC) by 12 runs in the second match.

GCC made 166/7 in the stipulated 20 overs. Tushar played a fine knock of 59 runs followed by Kunal (22) and Rahul (17).

For KCC, Davinder snared three wickets while Jaganpreet took three fine catches.

In reply, KCC got bundled out for 154 runs with Pamma scoring the highest 39.

For GCC, Nikhil was the wrecker-in-chief with a five-wicket haul.

JKCA to organise Coaching Camp

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, May 2: The Jammu Wing of Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) would organise a three-week long coaching camp for U/19, U/16 and U/22 age groups at M A Stadium and GGM Science College Hostel Ground respectively from May 4 at 4 pm.

Interested players in the age group of U/19 shall report to Randhir Singh (Rajan) at M A Stadium while players in the age group of U/16 shall report to Naveen Sharma at GGM Science College Hostel Ground.

Players falling in the age group of U/22 will also report at GGM Science College Hostel Ground to Varinder Sharma.

Above mentioned camps are mandatory for all Jammu Province players/boys as their participation will be considered in future in various age groups Provincial teams.

Tickoo-Drabu Cricket final today

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, May 2: The final of 3rd Tickoo-Drabu Memorial Cricket tournament between NCC and KCCC will be played tomorrow at M A Stadium at 8 am.

Former Deputy Chief Minister, Mangat Ram Sharma will be the chief guest.

MR XI beat ACC

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, May 2: MR XI prevailed over ACC by 8 wickets today in the ongoing Ashok Sodhi Memorial Cricket tournament being played at GGM Science College Ground here.

Batting first, ACC made 142/5 in the allotted 18 overs with Raju (53) and King (20) were the top scorers.

Chasing 143 to win, MR XI did the needful in 14 overs losing just two wickets in the process.

Ajay Sathoo (32) was adjudged man of the match. The umpires in the match were Rajesh and Rakesh.

The scorer was Munna.

Back-to-back ITF titles for Yuki

NEW DELHI, May 2: Yuki Bhambri gave ample display of his class as the Delhi teen sensation today won his second successive ITF Men’s Futures title after edging past top seed Raven Klaasen in a furiously fought final here today.

The reigning Australian Open junior champion defeated his South African rival, who is 1134 places above him at 324 in the ranking list, 7-6 (5) 7-6(5) in the summit clash at the DLTA Complex.

Yuki had beaten compatriot Vishnu Vardhan as the same venue to win his first title on the men’s circuit last week.

Such was his dominance in the last two weeks that he did not drop even a single set during his march towards second title in as many weeks.

"I am really glad. It’s great feeling. I did not think about it (title) when I came to the tournament. I knew it’s going to be tough. But I am really happy with the results," Yuki said after the match.

"Definitely, it’s morale booster and I am preparing myself for bigger tournaments ahead," he added.

Yuki will now play two Future tournaments in Kuwait, starting May 18. (PTI)

Punjab look to make amends against Kolkata today

PORT ELIZABETH, May 2: Stunned by a reviving Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kings XI Punjab will look to get back to their winning ways when they challenge the bottom-placed Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League here tomorrow.

The Kings XI, placed at the fourth spot with three wins and three losses, will want to make amends against Kolkata, whose only win came against the Yuvraj Singh-led side by virtue of Duckworth-Lewis method in a rain-affected tie.

After facing rain god’s ire in their initial two matches, Kings XI bounced back with a hat-trick of wins against Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians but Vijay Mallya’s men stopped the Punjab juggernaut, pipping them by 8 runs last night.

Yuvraj displayed an all-round performance by recording the first hat-trick of second IPL and hitting a rollicking fifty but still could not save the match as RCB’s new skipper Anil Kumble stole the thunder merely by maneuvering his men brilliantly in crucial moments.

However, with Yuvraj returning to form, it is good news for the Kings XI, who already have some matchwinners in Kumar Sangakkara and all-rounder Irfan Pathan.

The bowlers have also so far done the job well, with Yusuf Abdulla leading the charge with 13 wickets to don the purple cap.

Spinners Piyush Chawla and Ramesh Powar are also chipping in nicely and Pathan bringing the early breakthrough with his swinging deliveries.

In contrast, nothing seem to have gone right for John Buchanan’s boys as they lost five consecutive matches out of seven with the lone win coming against the Punjab.

The Knight Riders so far have looked like a house in disarray as neither their batting clicked nor their bowling seem to damage the opposition. They would need more than a miracle if they have to salvage any hope of making the semis.

While West Indian Chris Gayle has done bulk of the scoring, opening the innings with skipper Brendon McCullum, the Kiwi has been a total failure with the bat and now with Gayle leaving for national duty, Shah Rukh Khan’s team will have to look for a good replacement.

Even Sourav Ganguly, apart from a fighting 46 against Rajasthan Royals, has struggled with his batting, while Australian Brad hodge has shown only some sparks and Laxmi Ratan Shukla has failed to consolidate on the starts.

Their bowling have been equally lackluster with pacers Ishant Sharma and Ashok Dinda shining only in patches and spinners Ajanta Mendis and Murali Karthik not coming to their aid either despite the South African tracks turning, it being the end of their cricketing season. (PTI)

Jeev misses cut at Quail Hollow Championship

CHARLOTTE (USA), May 2: Jeev Milkha Singh missed the cut at the Quail Hollow Championship after stumbling to a second successive four-over 76 in the USD 6.4 million golf tournament here.

The seasoned Indian pro signed off with a total of eight-over 152, way below the cut that came at even-par 144.

After the opening round disaster, Jeev needed a miracle to be in contention for weekend action but that didn’t happen for the Indian, who continued to struggle at the Quail Hollow Club, opening with back-to-back bogeys yesterday.

Jeev’s woes were further compounded by a double bogey on the seventh hole, leaving him four-over at the turn.

The Indian started his back-nine on a better note, stroking in a birdie on the 11th but was soon pulled back by a double bogey on the 12th.

Birdies on the 13th and 15th proved too little too late as Jeev had all but dropped out of contention by then. He rounded off the day with a bogey on the 16th.

At the top, American Bubba Watson (65) and South African Retief Goosen (68) displaced overnight leader Tiger Woods to take the joint top spot with totals of eight-under 136.

Woods (72), meanwhile, was tied for the third spot along with compatriots Zach Johnson (67), George McNeill (68) and Jim Furyk (66). (PTI)

Clarke, Watson blunt Pakistan in Australia series win

ABU DHABI, May 2: Michael Clarke struck a sparkling hundred as Australia beat Pakistan by eight wickets in the fourth day-night international here on Friday to take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the series.

The 28-year-old Australian captain hit an unbeaten 100 and was well supported by Watson (85 not out) as the pair added 197 for the third wicket to ease Australia past a modest 198-run target with 5.4 overs to spare.

Pakistan were bowled out for 197 in 48.4 overs with Australian left-arm paceman Doug Bollinger taking 5-35 in only his second international one-day match.

Pakistan won the first match by four wickets before Australia came back strongly to win the second by six wickets and the third by 27 runs. The fifth and final match will be played here on Sunday.

This is Australia’s first one-day series win since they beat Bangladesh last September, having lost to South Africa-home and away-and drawn 2-2 with New Zealand before sealing this series win over Pakistan.

Pakistan paceman Shoaib Akhtar removed Brad Haddin (nought) and then debutant Marcus North with only three runs on the board, before Clarke and Watson came to Australia’s rescue and put on a record stand against Pakistan.

Clarke, who hit 66 in the third match on Monday, hit Akhtar for his 14th boundary to complete his fourth one-day hundred with just one needed for victory. He faced 122 balls.

Australia’s previous best third-wicket stand against Pakistan was 140 set by Kepler Wessels and Allan Border at Sydney in 1984.

Watson, 27, reached his eighth fifty with a six off spinner Shoaib Malik, and hit seven boundaries during his 140-ball knock.

Pakistan, who surprisingly rested their in-form paceman Umar Gul for this crucial match, failed to make any inroads as Akhtar also lost his steam in the second spell.

Clarke said the performance of Australia’s bowling line up was crucial in the series-sealing win.

Pakistan captain Younus Khan was disappointed with his side’s inability to set a commanding total after choosing to bat first.

Earlier, it was left-arm paceman Bollinger with his maiden five-wicket haul in 7.4 overs who helped Australia prevent Pakistan from putting up the big total needed for a series-levelling win.

Only all-rounder Shahid Afridi with a run-a-ball 40, including four boundaries, and opener Ahmed Shahzad with a useful 43 struck with authority after Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat.

Bollinger, who went without a wicket in his debut at the second match in Dubai last week, provided an early breakthrough for his team when he dismissed opener Salman Butt (two) in the first over.

From the other end, Nathan Bracken (2-31) bowled out Pakistani skipper Khan (seven).

It could have been 12-3 had Pakistani umpire Aleem Dar not turned down a caught behind appeal against Misbah-ul-Haq off Bracken’s next delivery. Haq survived to score 34 and added 68 for the third wicket with Shahzad.

Shahzad also added 36 for the fourth wicket with Shoaib Malik who made 27 before Bollinger returned for his second spell to remove Malik and Afridi.

Bollinger took two more wickets, Shoaib Akhtar (two) and Saeed Ajmal (nought) to end the innings with Yasir Arafat unbeaten on 23.

The two teams will also play a Twenty20 in Dubai on May 7. (AGENCIES)

Anupama holds Ukraine GM Saidali

MUMBAI, May 2: Three Grand Masters were held to draws by lesser fancied Indian opponents in the second round of the Rs 12-lakh Prize Money 2nd Mayor’s Cup International Open Chess Tournament here today.

Seasoned Woman International Master Anupama Gokhale held GM Saidali Iuldachev of Uzbekistan, ranked over 350 points above her, to a draw in a Ruy Lopez game in 46 moves on the 11th board at the suburban Goregaon Sports Club.

On board 13 Atul Dahale drew with Russian GM Alexander Fominyh in 77 moves while on the next board Woman Candidate Master Shalmali Gagre of Pune, with an ELO of 2117, forced compatriot GM Dibyendu Barua (ELO 2483) to agree to a draw.

The top three seeded players, GM Miroshnichenko Evengenij, GM Aveshchenko Alexander (both from Ukraine) and Russian G M Belov Vladimir, notched their second straight victories to be in joint lead with main Indian hope Koneru Humpy.

Number one seed GM Miroshnichenko Evengenij of Ukraine (ELO 2680) defeated Woman International Master Saheli Dhar-Barua (ELO 2154) in 61 moves to score his second straight win.

Second seed Aveshchenko (ELO 2657) opened the game with king-pawn against Indias R Preethi’s (ELO 2154) Sicilian Defence before clinching the tie quickly.

Third seed Belov (ELO 2623), playing with black pieces, outsmarted Arun Pandit (ELO 2150) by adopting the Caro-Kann defence advanced variation and won easily in 37 moves while Humpy (ELO 2612) outoplayed compatriot Ajay Shrikant (ELO 2149) in 36 moves. (PTI)

Paes-Dlouhy, Bhupathi-Knowles ousted

ROME, May 2: Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi crashed out of the euro 2,750,000 Internazionali BNL D’Italia ATP event along with their respective partners, though, at different stages.

The fourth seeded Bhupathi and his Bahamian partner Mark Knowles suffered a 4-6 7-6 (6) 8-10 semifinal defeat against second seeds Daniel Nestor and Ninad Zimonjic in one hour and 51 minutes.

Paes and Czech Lukas Dlouhy, seeded third, lost their quarterfinal match 5-7 3-6 to fifth seeds Bruno Soares of Brazil and Zimbabwean Kevin Ullyett in one hour 15 minutes. (PTI)

Royals scamper home by three wickets

PORT ELIZABETH, May 2: Rajasthan Royals made a remarkable recovery from a top order slump to beat Deccan Chargers’ by three-wickets in a thrilling Indian Premier League match here today.

The Royals registered their third victory in the event from seven matches to put their title defence campaign on track, while the Deccan Chargers slumped to their second consecutive defeat to slide from the top of the points table.

Chasing a modest 142 run target, the Royals rode on useful contributions from their lower middle order, especially young Abhishek Raut (36 off 23) to scamper home in 19.4 overs after they were tottering at 3/3 at one stage of the match.

Earlier opting to bat, Adam Gilchrist (39) started the Chargers’ innings on a blistering note, picking up 27 runs of the first three overs and then Rohit Sharma (38) and T Suman (41) stitched a crucial 59-run stand for the fourth wicket to guide Deccan Chargers to 141 for five.

The Royals started their innings on a disastrous note as they lost three quick wickets by the end of the second over.

Graeme Smith’s misery with the bat continued as he fell without troubling the scorers in the second ball off Fidel Edwards’ opening over, caught at third man by Shoaib Ahmed.

Swanpil Asnodkar did not do any justice either as he was run out by Gibbs in the very next ball and then Naman Ojha added more worries for the Royals when he gave a straight forward catch to Gibbs at point off RP Singh in the second over to see the defending champions slump to a precarious 3/3.

But then came in Lee Carseldine, and in young Ravindra Jadeja’s (12) company, the Queenslander added 51 runs in 7.1 overs for the fourth wicket to set the tone for the run chase.

The Queenslander showed why offence is always regarded as the best defence as he brought back the Royals’ chase on track, hitting six fours enroute his 31-ball 39.

But much to the dislike of Royals’ supporters, the bowling change in the 10th over did the trick for Chargers as Venugopal Rao (2/23) broke the partnership, scalping both Jadeja and Carseldine’s wickets in a span of four balls to see the defending champions struggle at 60/5 at the halfway mark.

However, skipper Shane Warne (21) had other plans. Needing 74 off 54, he hoiked Rao over long on for a six and then added another after the bowler dropped an easy caught and ball chance in his previous delivery. Raut finished off the over with a cheeky four to take 17 runs of the eventful 12th over.

Pragyan Ojha (1/27) stopped Warne’s cameo with Gilchrist easily pouncing on to a skier.

Dangerous Yusuf Pathan (24 off 14) made his intentions clear from the word go. He struck two back-to-back sixes of Shaoib Mohammad in the 15th over to bring the Royals back in the hunt.

With 11 runs needing off 13 balls, the game witnessed another anti-climax when Pathan got out, trying another big hit, caught by Gibbs off RP Singh (2/18).

But Raut and Shane Harwood (3) ensured no further worries for the Royals bringing them home with two balls to spare.

Earlier, Gilchrist struck Munaf for a boundary and a six over fine leg in the second over and then followed it up with two more fours of Yusuf Pathan’s next over to signal his intentions.

Herschelle Gibbs (8) was the first to depart when in-form Pathan (1/19) caught him plumb in front of the wicket. However, the South African seemed unhappy with the decision.

Debutant Shane Harwood (2/25) ensured double blow for the Chargers, picking up Azhar Bilakhia with his very first ball of the tournament, caught by Siddharth Trivedi to send the Hyderabad outfit in a spot of bother at 35/2.

From there on, Gilchrist and new man in Rohit found boundaries hard to come by, but kept the scoreboard ticking with ones and twos.

The former Australian wicket-keeper, however, cut lose in Shane Warne opening over, dispatching the leggie over long on. (PTI)

Yousuf eyes Pakistan return

LAHORE, May 2: Former Pakistan batsman Mohammad Yousuf today said he had snapped his ties with a rebel Indian league and was available to play for the country.

The 34-year-old joined the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) last year, on the same day as he was named in the squad for Pakistan’s three-match series against the West Indies in Abu Dhabi.

As the ICL was not recognised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the International Cricket Council (ICC), Yousuf and his fellow players were barred from playing for Pakistan.

The Sindh province high court suspended the bans on the ICL players in February this year, paving the way for them to play in domestic matches. However, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said ICL players can only play for the country if they quit the league.

"I am available to play for Pakistan which has always been my priority," said Yousuf. "I have resigned from the ICL and have spoken to captain Younus Khan about my playing for Pakistan," Yousuf said.

Yousuf, who played the last of his 269 one-day matches in Karachi in July last year, first joined the unrecognised league in protest after he was omitted from Pakistan’s team for the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa in 2007.

The then PCB management persuaded him to abandon the ICL contract and instead got him a contract with the Indian Premier League, sanctioned by both the BCCI and the ICC.

However, Yousuf rejoined the ICL in November last year and played for them in their second tournament.

Yousuf said he returned to the ICL after developing differences with the then captain Shoaib Malik.

"I had a problem with the captain at that time so I left. I had issues with the previous board administration as well," said Yousuf, who set a world record of most runs in a calendar year with 1,788 in 2006.

"Now I have no problems at all with (present captain) Younus (Khan), or this board. The country comes first and this board has offered me to play for Pakistan once I leave the ICL."

Yousuf has so far scored 6,770 runs in 79 Tests besides a tally of 9,242 in 269 one-day internationals. He was declared best batsman of the year by the ICC in 2007. (PTI)