Reiseberichte » south Carolina made only two of 15 field goals in the open

I remember it: Sunday at the Sinhala Sports Club, Colombo - August 1, 1993. The day India beat Sri Lanka to win an away Test match for the first time in my career. Young Indian cricket fans have no idea how rare that was. When we stepped onto the SSC that morning, it had been seven years since Indias last away Test win. Headingley,1986; even though I wasnt to take a fifer or be a star in that game, being a part of the Indian eleven on that day made the day precious, made me feel blessed.We knew the Test could go only go two ways: either Sri Lanka, two down with 386 to win, would bat us out to a deathly draw or we would win. Back in the 90s, no one scored more than 250 in a day and for us, everything hinged on getting rid of Aravinda, who was on 10 overnight and after him, Arjuna. They were the only two who could bother us, take the game down to the very end till we ran out of energy and purpose.I know why I remember this day with such a good, strong memory. We had travelled to Sri Lanka after being defeated in back to back series in Australia and South Africa; evidence enough that again, we were not that good in terms of getting results when we went outside India. We had always grown up hearing stories about how India doesnt do well abroad. Almost like an inevitability.The Colombo wicket wasnt like the spin-friendly turners we got in India but Anil was still our main man. He was coming off a series against England in which he led the rout against Graham Goochs side. Basically, we were like bowling fillers to Anil, who would come on as a very rapid first-change. He was the wicket taker and we used to surround him and bowl those few overs. I remember my exact role in that team and on that day. I was young and quicker than Kapil Dev and Manoj Prabhakar. As the second change, my job was simple. At my pace, bowl bouncers at a few targeted batsmen. I remember bowling a lot of short-pitched balls in that Test match. I hit Arjuna Ranatunga on his helmet, maybe Hashan Tillakaratne too, that was my job. In the 90s, I was the guy who played a fill-in part but was eager to make it count, because before the Sri Lanka tour, I had gone through a tough eight months.After a Man of the Match award in my last Test in South Africa, I had spent months sitting in the dressing room. It was disorienting; after a good performance in the first two Tests in South Africa, Id been compared to Allan Donald in an article written by Hansie Cronjes father but then maybe it didnt go down well and I was dropped for the third Test in Port Elizabeth. India lost and there was more drama for the final Test, but I was to make it to the eleven and ended up man of the match. Then, from January to August 1993, zero Tests for Javagal Srinath.India would pick three spinners, I wasnt the first choice seamer; called in only for the ODI stuff. By the time we got to Sri Lanka, I didnt know if Id be picked at all. In the Kandy Test, I bowled an over and it had rained for the rest for the match. So Colombo became my first Test match after a very long time. I was desperate to get back into rhythm and it felt good to bowl short and watch the ball whistle past the batsmen. When you have energy and even desperation, when you bowl short on a slowish kind of pitch it doesnt fly high. It comes exactly to a height where the batsman cant even escape, hes jammed; so leaving the ball also becomes difficult and it makes the bowler feel even better.On that Sunday at the SSC, we were to push on towards victory in very taxing weather, the crowd was thin, but I remember Percy there, waving his flag. Hes still around, but its like I tell him when we meet now, he was even old then and he is old even now. It was a terribly sticky and draining day and all through the morning there was a lot of complaining about the umpiring and how we would need to take 16 wickets and not eight to win. There were two local umpires then, and looking back, maybe cricketers do get into a competitive, irascible mindset in tight match situations. Every 50-50 decision you dont get becomes part of a grand, deliberate conspiracy against the entire team, with even the gods turning their eyes away from you. The same thing happened to us in Australia, even South Africa, we felt that the umpiring was not with us, maybe at some point through an entire decade. It was always them, not us. Half of what cricketers look at comes from an emotional standpoint, rather than an objective one and I think that is what happened there as well.There were some outstanding individual performances in that match and the scoreboard is proof: Vinod Kambli got a fighting century in the first innings, Anil took 5-75, and I remember catching Ranatunga off his bowling in the deep, just as he was threatening to break away and trim our lead in the first innings. Then, centuries from Sachin Tendulkar and Navjot Singh Sidhu in the second. But to me, what stays in my mind was the happiness at winning together, walking off that field, having done the job just after lunch. It was Indias first Test win in Sri Lanka and the dressing room felt and looked so different than it had in the miserable months on our last tours.I saw happiness on the faces of senior guys like Kapil, and Mohammad Azharuddin. We had a good celebration, not over the top but certainly nothing like Id seen before in an Indian dressing room when on tour. You could see how buoyed the team was by that result. The sweetest thing about victory is how it binds a team, whatever your differences. Your mind is suddenly cleaned of all negativity, you dont take offence to what is said, no one minds what you say. There was none of the agenda stuff you suspected was at work on days when the going was not great. Things change drastically with victory for the good. It becomes like a drug, you keep wanting to win more. We went to dinner at the high commission that night and there was much bonhomie.This great bogey of not being able to win overseas had been so much on our minds when we left the country and to prove it wrong was liberating in itself.As a young player, I was at a very crucial stage of my career, I had experienced a bit of success and it had begun to dawn on me that I could take cricket as a career for the rest of my life. When I was called into the team, I found myself in a very fragile place. I had not finished my engineering and it formed a part of my back-up plan in case the cricket didnt go well. I wanted to play for India, I enjoyed it but in the first few months, I wasnt sure in my heart whether I belonged at that level. After South Africa, the ODI series against England at home where I was the highest wicket taker for the team, made me feel stronger and more confident about my place in the team; no matter who I was competing against. I knew I was younger, stronger, quicker. That day in Colombo, winning overseas, gave an extra layer to that awareness, just watching the dressing room celebrations and experiencing how sweet the fruit of an away victory really was, I thought that this could be the beginning, this could be the moment that would mark the change in the Indian cricket team, in the way we played and the way we played when we travelled. I was to be proved wrong, of course. Our next away Test victory was to come eight years later in Bulawayo, when I was the oldest guy in that team, watching wild celebrations in the dressing room. But Colombo will remain precious because it was to unshackle many things about my cricket. About what I could be and what kind of a team I wanted to belong to.As told to Sharda Ugra Paul George Shoes For Sale . The Cleveland Indians, Tampa Bay Rays, and Texas Rangers all won on Sunday meaning the Rangers will host the Rays in a play-in game on Monday. Paul George Shoes From China . -- Tony Stewart is 20 pounds lighter and has a titanium rod in his surgically repaired right leg. https://www.cheappaulgeorgeshoes.com/ . -- Anaheim Ducks defenceman Luca Sbisa will be out at least six weeks with a torn tendon in his right hand. Paul George Shoes Free Shipping . Sgt. Eric ONeal says most of the arrests at Monday nights game were for public drunkenness, though one person was taken into custody on suspicion of trying to steal a seat from the stadium. Cheap Paul George Shoes . - The Oakland Raiders re-signed offensive lineman Khalif Barnes on Friday. COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Dawn Staley wasnt disappointed or angry that No. 6 South Carolina was tied with ninth-ranked UCLA at half. She believed she had the Bruins right where her team wanted.The Gamecocks backed her up in a big way Sunday, running past UCLA with a third-quarter surge for a 66-57 victory and their third win over a Top 10 opponent this season.Alaina Coates had 20 points -- 11 in a 17-3 run to start the second half -- and 14 rebounds for South Carolina (9-1). Still, things looked dicey at the break with both Coates and 6-foot-5 Aja Wilson limited by fouls the first two quarters.Not to Staley.I thought we were in a great place, Staley said. I thought we were picking up steam as the game went on. I was looking at UCLA, I thought they were exhausted playing at that pace. And with our bigs in foul trouble, I thought wed have a burst in the second half where we needed to have a burst.Coates powered the decisive run with 11 points that the Bruins forwards could not match.But South Carolina used a 17-3 run -- fueled by the 6-foot-4 Coates -- to start the third period.Coates scored 11 points in the critical stretch as the Gamecocks built a 43-29 lead that the Bruins (8-2) couldnt overcome.The closest UCLA came after that was nine points on Jordin Canadas basket with 9:16 to play. But Allisha Gray followed with a three-point play for South Carolina to restore the double-digit margin.They imposed their will with their inside game, UCLA coach Cori Close said.Along with Coates, Wilson had 13 points and 13 rebounds -- the second straight contest both had double-doubles.Canada, UCLAs leading scorer who had 30 points in her last game, had 15 points on 6-of-20 shooting before fouling out with 2:15 to go.Monique Billings had a career-high 22 rebounds to go along with 12 points for the Bruins. She surpassed her high of 16 boards collected in a win over Micchigan a week ago.ddddddddddddUCLAs shooting touch was ice cold. The Bruins shot 28.2 percent for the game and made just four of 27 attempts from 3-point range.THE BIG PICTUREUCLA: The Bruins showed the speed, size and strength to match up with the best teams in the country. Billings, at 6-4, went toe-to-toe with South Carolina twin post stars in Wilson and Coates.Canada regularly sped past the Gamecocks quick guards. The Bruins seemed to wear down before halftime as the Gamecocks wiped out an eight-point lead with an 18-10 run over the final seven minutes of the second quarter.South Carolina: The Gamecocks need to start faster if they hope to succeed in the rugged Southeastern Conference. South Carolina made only two of 15 field goals in the opening quarter and finished with six points. Its been a recurring problem this season for the Gamecocks, whove scored fewer than 20 points in the first quarter in six of their 10 games this season.POLL IMPLICATIONSUCLA could slip out of the Top 10, but should not fall too far after coming cross-country to face the Gamecocks.South Carolina should hold its spot at No. 6 after winning three games in eight days.CANADA COLDSouth Carolina was wary of Canadas skill and game-planned to make it difficult for her. Canada started 2 of 9 shooting as the Gamecocks forced her to give up the ball, then worked to deny her getting it back. Shes their engine, Gray said. The whole thing was to shut down Canada.UP NEXTUCLA: Stays in the South, playing at North Carolina A&T at noon on Tuesday.South Carolina: Plays its final nonconference game when it travels to Savannah State on Wednesday night.---Story has been corrected to show that UCLA plays North Carolina A&T at noon on Tuesday instead of 9 a.m. ' ' '