Report
New Zealand on verge of drought-breaking win
Nicola Browne's unbeaten 59 guided New Zealand to a five-wicket win over Australia in game three of the Rose Bowl
Cricinfo staff
12-Mar-2008
New Zealand 171 for 5 (Browne 59*, McGlashan 41) beat Australia 170 (Perry 51, Coleman 44) by five wickets
Scorecard
Scorecard
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In trouble at 36 for 3 chasing the visitors' 170, New Zealand relied on the rescue act from Sara McGlashan and Browne, whose partnership of 100 eliminated any doubts of defeat. McGlashan left on 41 when she became Shelley Nitschke's second victim, but Browne stayed till the end, hitting five boundaries during her 93-ball innings.
Australia won the toss, batted and soon wished they had bowled after dropping to 24 for 5, including two run-outs in the first five balls. Ellyse Perry, the 17-year-old allrounder, picked the perfect time to score her maiden international half-century and combined in important stands of 40 with Jodie Purves (21) and 80 with the wicketkeeper Leonie Coleman. They were the only Australians to reach double figures, with Coleman's career-high 44 off 42 balls and Perry's 51 allowing them to reach a useful but below-par total.
Full postNel and de Villiers star in series win
South Africa came one step closer to usurping Australia as the No. 1 one-day side in the world with a comfortable seven-wicket victory in Mirpur
The Bulletin by Jamie Alter
12-Mar-2008
South Africa 179 for 3 (de Villiers 69*, Duminy 49*) beat Bangladesh 173 (Raqibul 63, Shakib 52, Nel 4-27, Langeveldt 3-31) by seven wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
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South Africa came one step closer to usurping Australia as the No. 1 one-day side in the world with a comfortable seven-wicket victory in Mirpur. Andre Nel scythed through Bangladesh's top order after they chose to bat and though the tourists suffered a wobble of their own, AB de Villiers and JP Duminy sealed the series with a battling 119-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Bar a record fifth-wicket stand of 119 between Shakib Al Hasan and Raqibul Hasan, which proved the bulk of a poor 173 in 48.2 overs, there was little the hosts could take out of their 13th defeat on the trot.
Bangladesh had little answer to Nel, who took out his anger at not being included on the upcoming tour to India with a fiery opening burst. Tamim Iqbal was bowled third ball, Mohammad Ashraful fell hooking for 0, and Shahriar Nafees went fishing outside off stump. But unlike their trigger-happy top-order team-mates, Shakib and Raqibul, in his second game, complimented each other excellently with smart shots and sensible running.
Full postInzamam and Latif power Badshahs' win
Inzamam-ul-Haq's cool temperament saw the Lahore Badshahs home in a close encounter against the Chennai Superstars in Panchkula
Cricinfo staff
11-Mar-2008
Lahore Badshahs 158 for 5 (Inzamam 50*, Latif 41, T Kumaran 3-22) beat Chennai Superstars 157 for 6 (Bevan 56, Badani 30, Naved-ul-Hasan 2-19)
Scorecard
Scorecard
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Inzamam-ul-Haq's cool temperament saw the Lahore Badshahs home in a close encounter against the Chennai Superstars in Panchkula.
Inzamam, the captain of the new outfit that consists only of Pakistan players, starred with an unbeaten 43-ball 50 to anchor the chase of 158, which at one stage looked improbable after T Kumaran had struck thrice to leave the Badshahs reeling at 47 for 4.
Full postSohail's four gives Sind the edge
A round-up of the first day of the fifth-round matches of the Pentangular Cup
Cricinfo staff
11-Mar-2008
Punjab 173 for 9 (Raza 45, Sohail 4-57) v Sind
Scorecard
Scorecard
Sohail Khan, the right-arm fast bowler, continued a dream run in his debut first-class season; in the 61 overs of play possible in Karachi, he took 4 for 57 as Sind restricted Punjab to 173 for 4.
Three of the Indian Premier League's latest signings - Salman Butt, Mohammad Hafeez and Misbah-ul-Haq - came a cropper after Sind choose to field. Sohail did the damage early on, and Anwar Ali and Abdul Ameer took one apiece as Punjab lost wickets at regular intervals.
Adnan Raza top-scored with 45, but he fell to the legspin of Rizwan Ahmed, who picked up two wickets in his two overs. Shahid Afridi, the Sind captain, also bagged one wicket in an economical spell of 8-3-15-1.
Full postSangakkara's 285 hands Nondescripts victory
A round-up of the seventh-round matches of the Premier League Tournament
Sa'adi Thawfeeq
11-Mar-2008
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Sri Lanka's top-order batsmen, blamed for the team's dismal showing in the recently-concluded Commonwealth Bank Series, showed outstanding form ahead of their tour of the Caribbean in the Premier League competition matches played over the weekend.
Leading the run parade was top-ranked Test batsman Kumar Sangakkara who carved out the season's highest score of 285 for Nondescripts against Moors at Maitland Place. Sangakkara tore into the Moors bowling which comprised two bowlers in the national squad for the series against West Indies - Chanaka Welegedara and Rangana Herath - hitting 31 fours and three sixes in his 292-ball innings. His knock improved on team-mate Chanaka Wijesinghe's 250 made against Tamil Union which had stood as the season's highest since January. Thanks to Sangakkara's exploits Nondescripts recorded their second win of the season beating Moors by ten wickets. Despite their second defeat of the season, Moors held onto second place.
Tillakaratne Dilshan was the other in-form Sri Lanka batsman, stroking a run-a-ball 121 featuring nine fours and six sixes for Bloomfield in their drawn encounter against Tamil Union.
Full postGayle fumes as Jamaica crash to defeat
A round-up of the final day's play of the fifth round of matches in the Carib Beer Series
Cricinfo staff
10-Mar-2008
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Tamar Lambert (46) and Brendan Nash's (37) fifth-wicket stand of 72 was ended in the third over when Nash was caught behind off a loose drive, the fourth of Pedro Collins' five wickets, and he completed his five-for three overs later when Carlton Baugh Jr was given leg-before swinging across the line. In the next over, Dave Bernard Jr was also lbw playing back to left-arm slow bowler Sulieman Benn to leave Jamaica 147 for 7.
While Lambert remained there was hope, but he was removed by Fidel Edwards, caught at slip chasing a wide one, and although Jerome Taylor helped inch towards the target, he too perished to Edwards. Man-of-the-Match Collins finished with match figures of 9 for 108.
Full postAbbas Ali stars in Giants' six-wicket win
Abbas Ali smashed an unbeaten 64 as the Delhi Giants easily chased down the Mumbai Champs' 115 at the Tau Devi Lal stadium in Panchkula
Cricinfo staff
10-Mar-2008
Delhi Giants 116 for 4 (Abbas Ali 64*) beat Mumbai Champs 115 for 4 (Astle 32*, Murtaza 2-16)
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Scorecard
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Abbas Ali smashed an unbeaten 64 as the Delhi Giants easily chased down the Mumbai Champs' 115 at the Tau Devi Lal stadium in Panchkula. There was more bad news for the Champs as Brian Lara, who captained them in the first edition, was ruled out of the tournament after failing to recover from a left-arm fracture.
After they had posted a modest total, the Champs' hopes were raised as they took two early wickets, including the big one of captain Marvan Atapattu. Ali, though, was unconcerned by the loss of wickets as he plundered 16 runs off a Tino Best over, the highlight of which was a huge six over long-off. Ali, who was the third-highest scorer in the inaugural edition of the ICL last year, put on a 41-run stand with Avishka Gunawardene for the third wicket.
Full postCobras claim final semi place
The race for the three available semi-final places in the MTN Domestic Championship went down to the wire with Cape Cobras nabbing the final spot despite defeat against the Dolphins
Cricinfo staff
10-Mar-2008
The race for the three available semi-final places in the MTN Domestic Championship went down to the wire with the Cape Cobras nabbing the final spot despite defeat against the Dolphins.
The Cobras went down by 56 runs in Durban to hand the Dolphins a bonus point, but it wasn't enough because of their inferior win record and the Cobras went through on the back of their six victories. The Cobras now play the Titans at Centurion Park while the other semi-final is between the Warriors and the Eagles.
The crucial match of the final week came in Cape Town when the Cobras handed out the Titans' only defeat of the round-robin stage. They recovered from 73 for 5 with an unbeaten stand of 124 between Andrew Puttick (87 not out) and Ryan Canning (64 not out).
The Cobras had become the latest victim of an improving Zimbabwe team when they fell to a three-wicket defeat in Paarl where Regis Chakabva hit a match-winning 71. Zimbabwe finished the tournament on a strong note when they beat the Eagles by two wickets off the final ball in a thrilling encounter. Tatenda Taibu hit an unbeaten 98 and he managed to score 14 off the final over. The defeat meant the Eagles missed out on a home semi-final.
Full postInness bowls Warriors to 222-run win
Mathew Inness retired in style by bowling Western Australia to a 222-run victory over Tasmania at the WACA
Cricinfo staff
10-Mar-2008
Western Australia 372 and 8 for 318 dec beat Tasmania 207 and 261 (Butterworth 79, Inness 4-44) by 222 runs
Scorecard
Points table
Scorecard
Points table
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Mathew Inness retired in style by bowling Western Australia to a 222-run victory over Tasmania at the WACA. The Tigers began the day still 336 short of their target with seven wickets in hand, but any thoughts of a dashing chase ended when they lost 3 for 5 in five overs before lunch.
Inness picked up two of those wickets, George Bailey caught behind for 33 and Tim Paine bowled for 5, and he finished the job by trapping Tim Macdonald lbw to secure the win. It capped off a remarkable year for Inness, who collected 4 for 44 to take his season tally to 40 wickets at 20.12. Only Doug Bollinger and Ashley Noffke had more prolific campaigns than Inness, who was overlooked for every match last summer.
Full postRockets' opening blast wins them ICL opener
Fifties from openers Wavell Hinds and Sachin Dholpure and a disciplined bowling performance helped the Ahmedabad Rockets prevail over Chandigarh Lions
Cricinfo staff
09-Mar-2008
Ahmedabad Rockets 158 for 5 (Hinds 59, Dholpure 54, Mongia 2-18) beat Chandigarh Lions 139 for 6 (Elliott 39, Streak 2-25) by 19 runs
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Fifties from openers Wavell Hinds and Sachin Dholpure and a disciplined bowling performance, led by fresh foreign signings Jason Gillespie and Heath Streak, helped the Ahmedabad Rockets, one of two new teams, prevail over Chandigarh Lions in the opening match of the ICL's third and latest edition.
The form book favoured the Lions going into the encounter - they were finalists in the ICL's Twenty20 tournament last year and were playing at home.
Full post