Short Corner — Chandigarh

MP batsmen flay Karnataka attack
Santosh Sahu of Madhya Pradesh taught the Karnataka batsmen a lesson or two when he smashed a superlative ton. His effort was complimented by Devendra Bundella who scored his fifth half-century of the season. The duo’s 163-run third wicket partnership left the hosts thinking as they were pushed to the wall on the second day of the five-day Ranji Trophy final in Bangalore on Tuesday. The unexpected hospitality’ of the hosts brought joy to Madhya Pradesh as they finished the day at 339 for six.

Brijesh appointed
Board of Control for Cricket in India has appointed former Test player Brijesh Patel as the manager of the Indian World Cup team, led by Mohd Azharuddin. Board president Raj Singh Dungarpur stated that he had been authorised at the apex cricket body’s last annual general meeting held at Calcutta to appoint man for the coveted job and had chosen Patel, currently secretary of the Karnataka State Cricket Association, for the post.

Shruti upset
Harsimran Kaur Bedi dealt the second blow to the $ 5000 ITF Women’s Circuit tennis tournament’s first leg by eliminating fifth seed Shruti Dhawan at the G A Ranade Tennis Centre today. After Radhika Tulpule had dumped the second seed yesterday, Bedi’s 6-4, 6-3 victory over Dhawan has left the weakened lower half of the draw completely open.

Onus on batsmen
Vice-captain Ajay Jadeja said the onus will be on batsmen to produce their best for India to mount a serious challenge in the World Cup to be held in England from May 14. “The conditions will be totally different from here. It’s going to be a 220-225 runs game. Lot depends on batting because our bowlers are sure to do a fantastic job,” Jadeja said in New Delhi.

Dispute settled
Stracon India Private Limited today withdrew its petition before Delhi High Court following an out-of-court settlement reached by it with Doordarshan (DD) regarding marketing of World Cup cricket rights.