Short Corner — Chandigarh

Rain forces abandonment of third ODI
Rain stole what would have been a good chance for India to go 2-1 up in the five match one-day series with New Zealand at Basin Reserve today. The match started late initially, reduced to a 44-overs-a-side affair due to wet conditions. Then even as only seven overs had been bowled in the Indian innings, rain Gods intervened again to force further reduction and the game was curtailed to 32 overs a side. The rain played spoilsport yet again during the New Zealand innings when only 12 overs had been thrown down with the Kiwis at 89 for two.

Sohail axed
Pakistan selectors today expectedly dropped former captain Aamir Sohail and included three new faces, opening batsmen Wajahtullah Wasti, Muhammad Naveed and off-spinner Nadeem Khan, in a strong 16-member squad under the captainship of Wasim Akram for the fothcoming tour of India. Aamir Sohail has been constantly at loggerheads with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials and did not attend the conditioning camp in Karachi.

JCT win
Three goals and three points for Jagatjit Cotton Textiles (JCT) Mills (Phagwara) but no three cheers from coach Sukhwinder Singh after a 3-2 (half-time 2-1) win over Air-India (Mumbai) in the Coca Cola National Football League (NFL) today.

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Bengal-MP final
A superb knock of 136 by opener Laxmi Ratan Shukla and his 212-run opening wicket stand with Nikhil Haldipur (84) followed by superb bowling by Wrichik Mazumdar (4-46) helped Bengal defeat Delhi by 127 runs and move into the final of the Wills Trophy. They will clash with Madhya Pradesh, who pipped Mumbai by two runs in the second semifinal.

Bagan played draw
Churchill Brothers held reigning National Football League champions Mohun Bagan to a 1-1 draw in a Group A match at the Salt lake Stadium here today. Churchill, who were aiming to split points in the away match, managed to achieve their target in spite of conceding a goal as early as the fourth minute.