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21st February 1999 |
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India's agony in empty EdenPakistan win Test after crowd calamity in CalcuttaCALCUTTA, Saturday (Reuters) - After fresh trouble and in a near-empty ground, Wasim Akram and fellow paceman Shoaib Akhtar bowled Pakistan to a 46-run victory over India in the inaugural match of the Asian Test championship on Saturday. The victory was overshadowed by more disruption from angry spectators which halted play for over three hours. Most were evicted by police after fans threw missiles, oranges and empty water bottles into the Eden Gardens ground for the second successive day. The triumph was sweet for Pakistan and came hours ahead of a historic handshake between prime ministers of the two countries after a scheduled trip by Indian leader Atal Behari Vajpayee across the Wagah Border to Lahore. Trouble broke out as India were on the verge of defeat, recalling memories of 1996 when the Calcutta crowd created trouble in the World Cup semifinal which India conceded later to Sri Lanka. Resuming at an overnight 214-6, India lost the remaining four wickets on the last day for just 18 runs, falling well short of the victory target of 279. Saurav Ganguly, who was on 23 overnight, was out after adding just one run, caught at slip off the bowling of Akram in the second over of the morning. Akram soon got the wicket of Javagal Srinath, caught brilliantly by wicketkeeper Moin Khan for three. Shahid Afridi took a spectacular catch in the next over when Anil Kumble (16) tried to drive Akhtar on the off-side. The crowd, disappointed by the fall of three quick wickets, then began throwing objects, forcing a halt just as they had done on Friday when they were incensed by the controversial run-out of Sachin Tendulkar. An hour after Saturday's interruption, umpires and the players tried to resume play but a fresh barrage of bottles and stones aborted their efforts. Eventually, after three hours 20 minutes, play resumed after police emptied almost all the stands. The end was swift with Akhtar uprooting Venkatesh Prasad's stumps within seven minutes to give Pakistan their triumph. Pakistan and India won one match in the recent two-Test series that preceded the start of the Asian championship in which Sri Lanka are the third team. Meanwhile Pakistan captain Wasim Akram said newspaper reports had provoked the Indian crowd into disrupting play in the first match of the Asian Test championship, which India lost. "It was the press that contributed to this," Akram told reporters after Pakistan beat India in a match in which angry spectators at the Eden Gardens ground interrupted play for nearly three hours on Saturday and 46 minutes on Friday. "People had read reports in the newspapers saying Sachin Tendulkar's dismissal was not justified." Pakistan first innings 185 (Moin Khan 70; J. Srinath 5-46) India first innings 223 (S. Ramesh 79; Shoaib Akhtar 4-71) Pakistan second innings 316 (Saeed Anwar 188 not out; J. Srinath 8-86) India second innings (overnight 214-6) 232 all out in 79.1 overs ( S.Ramesh 40, V.V.S.Laxman 67, R.Dravid 13, S.Tendulkar 9, M.Azharuddinb 20, S.Ganguly 24, A.Kumble 16; Shoaib Akhtar 4 for 47, Wasim Akram 2 for 64, Saqlain Mushtaq 3 for 69) Hashan in form with unbeaten 119By Marlon FernandopulleHashan Tilekarane tuned up for this week's Test against India with a fluent century as NCC looked poised for an outright win over Police SC in their Premier League Championship game at Maitland Place yesterday. Tilekaratne struck 10 boundaries as he anchored the innings to help his team to 401/6 declared in reply to the visitors 93 all out. Batting a second time, the cops were 54/3 at close, still needing 256 to avoid an innings defeat. Tamil Union's pace-spin combination of H Rusdie (3/19) and Upul Chandana (4/51) proved too much for table leaders Panadura as they were bowled out for 182 in their second innings. At Maitland Place: NCC vs Police SC Police SC-93 & 54/3 (Pradeep Udawatte 21) NCC-401/6 decl.(Aravinda de Silva 52, Hashan Tilekaratne 119 n. o, Ruwan Kalpage 26, Chintaka Jayasinghe 86; Deepal Gunawardene 2 for 85, Saman Wijeratne 2/120, Nihal Soyza 2/85) At the P.Sara Stadium: Tamil Union vs Panadura SC Panadura SC-139 & 182 (B. Perera 51, M. Silva 22, R. Wimalasena 32 n. o; H.Rushdie 3/19, Upul Chandana 4/51, Niroshan Bandaratileke 2/32) Tamil Union-248 (Niroshan Bandaratileke 34, Mario Villawarayen 23, Brigesh Jeganathan 22; N. Perera 3/56, K .Silva 2/18, D Arnolda 2/74, M .Silva 2/27) At Maitland Crescent:CCC vs Sebestianites Sebestianites SC-265 (Nimesh Perera 26, Marlon Peiris 29, Dinesh Seneviratne 26; Indika Galagoda 3/53, Hemantha Boteju 2/45, T Sanjayana 2/65; Bradman Ediriweera 2/34) and 24 for no loss (T. M. Dilshan 17 n o) CCC: 199 (Damitha Hunukumbura 22, Duncan Arnolda 91, Dinusha Fernando 5/61 Marlon Peiris 2/39) At Reid Avenue: Bloomfield vs Kurunegala YCC Kurunegala YCC:167 & 19/2 Bloomfield-247 (Batheesha de .Silva 56, Ramesh de Silva 33, Priyankara Wickremasinghe 31, Pubudu Dassanayake 23, Hemantha Alles 24 n. o; Ranjith Amunugama 5/69 Ajith Ekanayake 3/48) At Braybrooke Place: Moors SC vs Matara SC Moors SC-240/9 decl. Matara SC-197(P. Rangana 30, N. Tharanga 26, S M Ramson 37, L S Suwadharatne 29; Chaminda Hathurusinghe 2/36, Chandika Hathurusinghe 2/25 Primal Salgado 3/27) At Havelock Park: Colts SC vs Antonians SC Antonians SC-216 Colts SC-314 (Sajith Fernando 101, Malinda Warnapura 35, Eric Upashantha 37, Bathiya Perera 63, Monto Perera 21; Thushara Kodikara 3/72, Krishan Dhrmasena 3/80, Udaya Hettiarachchi 2/66) Srinath out of Colombo TestCALCUTTA, India, Friday - Injured India paceman Javagal Srinath, who has taken 13 wickets in the current Test against Pakistan, will miss the second match of the Asian Test Championship against Sri Lanka beginning next Wednesday. Jaywant Lele, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary, said Srinath would miss the match in Colombo because of a leg injury. "He requires some treatment and rest because there is some shin pain in one of his legs," Lele said. Srinath has been replaced by left-arm medium pacer Ashish Nehra, who plays for Delhi in domestic cricket. Lele said that off-spinner Anil Kumble, who equalled the world record by taking all 10 wickets in an innings against Pakistan earlier this month, would be vice-captain for the Colombo Test. India squad: Mohammad Azharuddin (captain), Anil Kumble (vice-captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Sadagopan Ramesh, Vengipurappu Laxman, Nayan Mongia, Venkatesh Prasad, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Harbhajan Singh, Sunil Joshi, Ashish Nehra, Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Rahul Dravid.- Nalanda-Wesley clash in first gameThe Old Wesleyites Sports Club six-a-side cricket tournament for over 40's conducted to celebrate the 125th Anniversary of Wesley College sponsored by Singer Sri Lanka will be held today (Sunday February 21). Nalanda will meet Wesley in the first match fixed for 8.15 a.m. followed by the games between S.Thomas' and Ananda, St. Sebastian's vs St Anthonys, Katugastota, Royal vs Kingswood, St Benedicts vs Richmond. St. Peters have drawn a bye. The losers in the first round will play for the consolation trophy with the semi finals fixed for 3 p.m. followed by the final at 4.45 p.m. The consolation will be played of two overs. Other than the champions and runners-up trophy, awards will be made for the best batsman, best bowler and man of the tournament. The other sports events to be conducted by the Old Wesleyites Sports Club are: February 27 Double Blue Ball at Colombo Hilton; March 1- Triangular tournament - between old Wesleyites from Australia, UK and Sri Lanka; March 2- Distribution of crutches and artificial Limbs to disabled soldiers; March 5/6 - Art exhibition at the BMICH. March 5- Combined team from UK/Australia vs Old Wesleyites; March (6) - Past captains vs Wesley First XI; March 7- Awards ceremony at BMICH, March 13- Mini basketball at the Sugathadasa Stadium.
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