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  Aug 3, 2001 Cricket | Feedback




Coca-Cola Triangular in Sri Lanka

Virender Sehwag Virender Sehwag's 100 off 70 balls, with 1 six and 19 fours, enabled India beat New Zealand easily by seven wickets and with 26 balls to spare in the final preliminary match of the tri series at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo. With this win the Indians meet Sri Lanka in the final on Sunday. Incidentally Sehwag's hundred came in 69 balls - the seventh quickest in ODI history.

Brief Scores | Detailed Scores

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Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly was fined 75% of his match fee by ICC referee Cammie Smith for his verbal duel with Sri Lankan batsman Russel Arnold on Wednesday. Ganguly lashed out at the batsman after dismissing him leg-before. It seems Arnold had said something nasty to the Indian skipper, which evoked such a reaction from the latter. Ganguly was last week suspended for one match (against New Zealand on July 28) by Smith for showing dissent when dismissed leg-before in the match against New Zealand on July 26.

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Meanwhile, the BCCI president Dr AC Muthiah will speak to skipper Sourav Ganguly and caution him about his on-field behaviour, which has earned the batsman the wrath of ICC match referee Cammie Smith twice in the ongoing triangular limited over series in Sri Lanka.

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The team for the three-match Test series in Sri Lanka was announced yesterday at Mumbai. The new comers were Mohammad Kaif, Dinesh Mongia, Harvinder Singh and while Venkatesh Prasad makes a return. Incidentally both Kaif and Harvinder have already appeared in Tests. VVS Laxman and Ashish Nehra were not considered since they were injured. Baroda's Jacob Martin is the standby in case Sachin Tendulkar is declared unfit on August 10.

The team:
Sourav Ganguly (captain, Bengal), Shiv Sunder Das (Orissa), Sadagopan Ramesh (Tamil Nadu), Rahul Dravid (vice-captain, Karnataka), Sachin Tendulkar (Mumbai), Hemang Badani (Tamil Nadu), Mohammad Kaif (Uttar Pradesh), Dinesh Mongia (Punjab), Sameer Dighe (wicketkeeper, Mumbai), Javagal Srinath (Karnataka), Harvinder Singh (Railways), Zaheer Khan (Baroda), Venkatesh Prasad (Karnataka), Harbhajan Singh (Punjab), Rahul Sanghvi (Delhi), Sairaj Bahutule (Mumbai).

The Ashes Test series

Andrew Caddick England bowlers fought back at the end of the first day of the third Ashes Test match at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. After being restricted to 185, Australia at close was 105-7. Andrew Caddick (three wickets) and Darren Gough and Alex Tudor with two each were the main wicket takers, after the visitors at one stage were 48 for no loss. Earlier England was dismissed for 185 at tea, with Glenn McGrath taking five wickets.

Brief Scores

Match Fixing

England's Alec Stewart, Sri Lankans Aravinda de Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga and former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe have all been cleared of the match-fixing allegations made against them by Indian bookie Mukesh Gupta. Now only Australian batsman Mark Waugh and West Indies left-hander Brain Lara remains to be cleared. The Australian Cricket Board's anti-corruption investigator Greg Melick will submit his report on the case next week, which will decide Mark Waugh's future.

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A Hyderabad civil court has adjourned the hearing of the petition of former Indian cricket captain Mohammad Azharuddin challenging the life ban imposed on him by the BCCI on his involvement in the match fixing. The next hearing is scheduled on August 29.

Miscellaneous

Venkatesh Prasad It has been a happy day for Indian pace bowler Venkatesh Prasad. Soon after receiving a recall to the Indian side for the tour of Sri Lanka, came the news that the Karnataka paceman will receive the Arjuna Award. He is the only cricketer among the 31 other awardees announced by the sports ministry. Last year none of the cricketers found a place in the list since the BCCI had not recommended any names because of the match fixing cloud that hung over the game in the country.

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With players from many participating countries denied the Canadian visas for the ICC Trophy held in Toronto last month, the International Cricket Council (ICC) decided not to hold the Canadian Cricket Association responsible for the fiasco. Teams from UAE, Nepal and West Africa had to participate in the tournament without their main players since they were not given the visas. These countries had filed a complain with the ICC in this matter.

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New Zealand will host Bangladesh for two Tests, and England for five One Day Internationals and three Tests this summer. The first Bangladesh Test match will be played at WestpacTrust Park at Hamilton from 18-22 December and the Boxing Day Test will be played at the Basin Reserve, Wellington. The ODIs against England will be played at Christchurch, Wellington, Napier, Auckland and Dunedin, while the Tests will be held at Jade Stadium, Christchurch, Basin Reserve, Wellington and Eden Park, Auckland.

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Wasim Akram Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram said he would make a comeback to international cricket after being dropped from the list of 27 probables for the coming season. He refused to accept that his international career, which began in 1984, is over. He also expressed surprise at the selectors decision to drop him - "it makes no sense to drop me based on just one series performance" he said.

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Meanwhile Wasim Akram has signed a contract with a multi-national soft-drink company for setting up six cricket clinics in Pakistan. These clinics will train youngsters in two age-groups between the ages of 10-13 and 14-16. Wasim, will be heading a group of Test stars to be engaged as coaches, and will be assisted by Test cricketers Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi, Imran Nazir, Mohammad Sami and Imran Farhat. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), as in the past, will again be co-operating with the sponsor company in making the clinics a success. The PCB coaches will be scouting talent while the clinics will be in progress.

SCORES AT A GLANCE

Coca-Cola Triangular in Sri Lanka
INDIA v NEW ZEALAND (9th match)
at Colombo (SSC)
Toss:New Zealand
New Zealand: 264-7 in 50 overs (N Astle 108, S Fleming 66, L Vincent 45; A Nehra 3-30)
India: 267-3 in 45.4 overs (S Ganguly 64, V Sehwag 100, R Dravid 57 not out, H Badani 35 not out)

Result: India won by 7 wickets and with 26 balls to spare
Man of the match: V Sehwag (Ind)

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Points Table:
Team P W L Nr Points
Sri Lanka 6 4 2 0 8
India 6 3 3 0 6
New Zealand 6 2 4 0 4
India meet Sri Lanka in the final on Sunday

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The 3rd Ashes Test match
ENGLAND v AUSTRALIA (1st day)
At Trent Bridge, Nottingham

Toss: England
England: 185 (M Trescothick 69, A Stewart 46; G McGrath 5-49)
Australia: 107-7 (M Hayden 33, A Caddick 3-39)

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   Compiled by: Mohandas Menon        Design: Imran Shaikh
Compiled by: Mohandas Menon