Thursday November 08, 2012
Kaieteur News
Page 25
West Indies tour game reduced to two-day affair ESPNcricinfo - West Indies’ three-day warm-up match, prior to the Test series, has been reduced to a twoday affair because of the condition of the ground in Savar. The BKSP ground, which was slated to host the match between the West Indians and a BCB XI from November 8, has not dried sufficiently to be fit for play following a week of wet weather, and will now start on Friday. “The first day of the threeday practice match between West Indies and BCB XI has
been called off,” BCB cricket operations manager Sabbir Khan said. “The BKSP cricket ground hasn’t adequately dried, and the decision was made based on the curator’s opinion.” West Indies coach Ottis Gibson attempted to travel to BKSP on Wednesday morning for an inspection but returned after realising he would miss the team’s first training session in Mirpur due to the traffic. He said later that he still hoped to get some match practice. “We’ve been told the ground where we are
supposed to play the practice match is wet. We are still monitoring the situation, we are hoping to get some practice before the Test match,” he said. The BKSP ground in Savar, a town about 40kms north of Dhaka, had hosted tour matches in the past but has poor draining facilities. No other match on West Indies’ tour of Bangladesh is slated for the venue. The two-day game will be played on November 9 and 10, ahead of the first Te s t i n M i r p u r o n November 13.
Jamaica beat Antigua 1:0 in U20 W-Cup Qualifier Celtic earn stunning win over Barcelona Darren Sammy listens to Coach Ottis Gibson at a Media conference in Bangladesh. (WICB photo)
Jamaica Observer KINGSTON, Jamaica Jamaica and Cuba made winning st a r t s i n t h e Caribbean Football U n i o n ’s ( C F U ) M e n ’s Under-20 World Cup Group B qualifiers with 1-0 and 21 wins over Antigua and Suriname respectively at the Stadium East field on Tuesday. Both Jamaica and Cuba are on three points with Cuba on top on goal difference having scored more goals. Suriname and Antigua are pointless in the four-team group. Jamaica had to sweat hard for their narrow victory as Oshane Boothe nodded home a high Andre Lewis cross in the 42nd minute. A double strike from Arichel Hernandez in the 25th and 45th minutes pushed the slick moving Cubans to their
victory. Miquel Darson pulled one back for Suriname in the 46th minute. In the feature encounter, head coach Luciano Gama started with only four players that played in the Under-17 World Cup last year in Alvas Powell, Omar Holness, Romario Jones and Andre Lewis. St Jago’s Rashaun Patterson was given the nod in goal ahead of the Cavalier pair of Nico Campbell and David Mitchell. Powell was joined in the backline by Kareem Manning, Hugh Evans and Sean McFarlene. The midfield had a familiar look to it with Holness, Lewis, Jones and the skilful Paul Wilson. Upfront was Javanie Mitchell and Oshane Boothe who sometimes comes off the St George’s College bench,
showing what a powerful schoolboy team there are. Antigua came out full of running but Jamaica was the first to create a goalscoring chance when Holness found the sidenetting in the 10th minute. A minute later, Mitchell whistled a shot just wide as the young Reggae Boyz got into their stride. The Jamaicans took the lead when Lewis’ cross deceived goalkeeper Prince Walter for Boothe to head home in the 42nd minute. It was an awesome display from the young Reggae Boyz but they got the three points nevertheless. But they will have to step up a notch when the play a dangerous looking Cuban outfit that rang rings around Suriname for great parts of the game.
Simon captures GDA title
The top three finishers in the GDA competition display their hardware. Carlton Simon amassed 16 points to win the final of the Guyana Draughts Association Annual National competition which concluded recently at the National Gymnasium.
Khemraj Pooranmall placed second with 13 points followed by Mark Braithwaite on 10. Simon received a cell phone for his efforts from the president of the GDA, Jairam,
while the second and third place finishers were given trophies compliments of the Ministry of Sport. The competition was played using the 100 square boards.
Celtic took a massive step towards the last 16 of the Champions League with an astonishing victory over Barcelona. They took the lead when Victor Wanyama rose majestically to head past Victor Valdes. Barcelona pressed for an equaliser, but Tony Watt came off the bench to give Celtic a cushion in the closing minutes. Lionel Messi tapped home in
injury time, but Celtic held on to inflict Barca’s first defeat of the season. It was a momentous victory for Neil Lennon and his men, banishing memories of the injury-time defeat in Barcelona a fortnight ago. Celtic Park was rocking at a decibel level previously reserved for the most meaningful of Old Firm derbies, but predictably the unflappable maestros of Barcelona, twice
champions of Europe in the last four years, paid the partisan crowd no heed as they quickly settled into their fluid passing game. In other results: Bayern Munich 6 - 1 Lille, Benfica 2 - 0 Spartak Moscow, Braga 1 - 3 Man Utd, CFR Cluj-Napoca 1 - 3 Galatasaray, Chelsea 3 - 2 Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus 4 0 Nordsjaelland and Valencia 4 2 BATE Borisov.