Report
Katich ton gives Blues command
Simon Katich's fourth Pura Cup century of the season gave second-placed New South Wales a handy lead and then four cheap Western Australian wickets put them in a strong position
Cricinfo staff
27-Jan-2008
Western Australia 389 and 4 for 45 trail New South Wales 485 (Katich 189) by 51 runs
Scorecard
Scorecard
Simon Katich's fourth Pura Cup century of the season gave second-placed New South Wales a handy lead and then four cheap Western Australian wickets put them in a strong position heading into the final day. Katich moved to 189 before chopping on to leg stump in sight of what would have been his fourth double-century in the past year. The ball clipped the bail and he became one of four victims for Ben Edmondson.
Beau Casson added a useful 72 not out and was part of a stand with Katich that took New South Wales one run behind, then Nathan Bracken pitched in with 30. But Brad Haddin, perhaps overawed by being tipped to be Australia's new wicketkeeper-batsman following Adam Gilchrist's retirement, was an early casualty, adding five to his overnight 8 before being caught by Chris Rogers off Marcus North.
Then came a procession as Doug Bollinger delivered two sharp blows, and Casson's slow left-armers also bagged a couple to send Western Australia's top order back. Three of the dismissals were lbws and they were in severe trouble at 4 for 36. Luke Pomersbach and Aaron Heal will resume with a huge task to push third-placed Western Australia into any kind of lead and then hang on for the draw. New South Wales, however, will be confident of capturing the final six wickets to keep their final bid secure.
Full postHopes and Maher steal the show
Scorching centuries by openers Jimmy Maher and James Hopes boosted Queensland to a stylish win against leaders Tasmania
Cricinfo staff
27-Jan-2008
Queensland 8 for 284 (Maher 114, Hopes 115) beat Tasmania 280 (Birt 71*, Divin 63) by two wickets
Scorecard
Scorecard
Scorching centuries by the openers Jimmy Maher and James Hopes boosted Queensland to a stylish win against the leaders Tasmania in Launceston, with them chasing down 281 and leaving the hosts to wait another day to secure a home final.
Tasmania now have a slim chance of not even making it, while New South Wales are the only side definitely out. Sunday's results have left the table wide open, with second-placed South Australia also losing to Victoria.
Maher and Hopes put on 221 to give Queensland a tight two-wicket win but after the openers had done so well Hopes' dismissal triggered a dramatic collapse from 1 for 221 to 8 for 267. Mark Divin, who was accountable for four wickets, also had a major part to play with the bat, too, his fifty steering Tasmania from a wobbly stretch to calmer waters. Travis Birt also added an unbeaten half-century to propel them to 280.
Full postHussey overhauls sorry Redbacks
Victoria completed a set of four victories against South Australia in both state competitions with a four-wicket win in the FR Cup
Cricinfo staff
27-Jan-2008
Victoria 6 for 160 (Hussey 47) beat South Australia 159 by four wickets
Scorecard
Scorecard
Victoria completed a set of four victories against South Australia in both state competitions with a four-wicket win in the FR Cup to help their finals campaign. In the process they leapt from bottom to fourth, picking up a bonus point as well, and still have two games in hand on the Redbacks, who they left only a small chance to reach the decider.
This could be the game that swung the momentum for Victoria. The leaders Tasmania, who were beaten by Queensland, come to Adelaide for the last group match and should South Australia win that, Victoria only have to succeed in two of their remaining three games to qualify.
The visitors had been beaten at home solidly in a disastrous start to their season, but they had begun to turn their fortunes around and were in second place heading into this match. They stay there for now but their bogey team, Victoria, led by David Hussey's 47, gained precious ground.
Full postAfridi blitz wins Pakistan the series
Pakistan wrapped up the Mobilink Cup with a comfortable 37-run victory over Zimbabwe in what was, ultimately a dour, lifeless encounter in Multan
The Bulletin by Osman Samiuddin
27-Jan-2008
Pakistan 272 for 9 ( Afridi 85, Mupariwa 4-46) beat Zimbabwe 235 for 7 (Williams 71, Taylor 55) by 37 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
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Pakistan wrapped up the Mobilink Cup with a comfortable 37-run victory over Zimbabwe in what was, ultimately a dour, lifeless encounter in Multan. The only spark was provided, inevitably, by Shahid Afridi, who lit up the affair with a 52-ball 85, in the process rescuing Pakistan from a perilous 78 for 5. Zimbabwe battled away in their chase of 273, in particular Sean Williams and Brendan Taylor, but as has been the case at various points on this tour, they let healthy advantages slip.
In Hyderabad, they frittered away a promising position going in to the final ten overs and then dropped catches to make matters worse. Here, they had Pakistan reeling halfway through their innings, but somehow managed to concede nearly 200 runs in the second half to, essentially, the lower-order.
Until then, they had been disciplined, which was the doing mostly of Tawanda Mupariwa and fine opening spells from Elton Chigumbura and Gary Brent. The tone was set from the very first over of the innings, Chigumbura probing outside Salman Butt's off stump. It was a maiden and many more followed as Brent, at Mark Ealham's pace, found some lovely away-going curve against a left-handed opening pair.
Full postCayman Islands sent crashing by St. Lucia
St. Lucia restricted Cayman Islands to 88 for 8 to claim a 46-run win in the opening match of the Stanford 20/20 at the Stanford Cricket Ground in Coolidge, Antigua
Cricinfo staff
27-Jan-2008
St. Lucia 134 for 8 (Mathurin 39, Wells 20, Mohamed 3-35) beat Cayman Islands 88 for 8 (Best 24, Shervin Charles 2-8, Cyrille Charles 2-20) by 46 runs
Scorecard
Scorecard
St. Lucia notched up an easy win over Cayman Islands in the opening match of the Stanford 20/20 at the Stanford Cricket Ground in Coolidge, Antigua. Set 135 to win, Cayman Islands stumbled to 88 for 8 to lose by 46 runs and be knocked out of the 20-team tournament.
Replying to St. Lucia's 134 for 8, Cayman Islands found it difficult to maintain a high scoring rate, reaching 46 for 2 at the ten-over mark. This was due to some tight bowling by new ball bowler Xavier Gabriel, along with first and second change bowlers Gary Mathurin and Alleyne Prospere, who bowled three overs each for nine and 10 runs respectively. Captain Pearson Best was the only batsman to get a start, but he was trapped by medium-pacer Cyrille Charles for 24. Cayman Islands lost three more wickets - Keneil Irving (1), Michael Wright (2) and Ryan Bovell (1) - within the space of ten runs to sink to 55 for 6, and the St.Lucia bowlers just had to complete their alloted overs.
Earlier, St. Lucia, got off to a poor start after choosing to bat, stumbling to 27 for 3 by the fourth over. But Cletus Mathurin, who scored a patient 47-ball 39, partnered with Sergio Fedee (17) to add 60 runs for the fourth wicket. Fedee was brilliantly run out by Conroy Wright,
who received the US$10,000 prize for the Play of the Day, for throwing down the stumps for short third man. Mervin Wells contributed 20 towards the end to stretch St. Lucia's score while offspinner Saheed Mohamed claimed three wickets. Mathurin earned the Man-of-the-Match award for his knock, which was the highest score in the match.
Full postRain washes out second game
Inclement weather forced the abandonment of the second one-dayer at the Khulna Divisional Stadium before a ball was bowled
Cricinfo staff
27-Jan-2008
Match abandoned without a ball bowled.
Inclement weather forced the abandonment of the second one-dayer at the Khulna Divisional Stadium before a ball was bowled.
Bangladesh Under-19 beat their counterparts from Nepal by 111 runs in the first match and lead the best-of-three series going into the final game on January 28.
Full postPonting, Clarke put Australia ahead
Centuries from Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke pushed the game towards a stalemate, but the story of the fourth day was Adam Gilchrist, and most likely the final innings of an exceptional career
India 1 for 45 (Sehwag 31*, Dravid 11*, Johnson 1-6) and 526 lead Australia 563 (Ponting 140, Clarke 118, Hayden 103, Pathan 3-112, Ishant 3-115) by eight runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
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Centuries from Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke pushed the game towards a
stalemate, but the story of the fourth day was Adam Gilchrist, and most
likely the final innings of an exceptional career. He didn't make much of
a dent on the scoreboard, but those that witnessed a little cameo will
never forget the glimpses of greatness. Amid the outpouring of emotion,
Australia gathered a valuable 37-run lead and then picked up the wicket of
Irfan Pathan, leg before to Mitchell Johnson, before India had wiped off
the arrears.
Virender Sehwag was dropped by Clarke off Brett Lee, and survived two vociferous
leg-before appeals as well before ending the day with a six and four off
Andrew Symonds. India's lead was a mere eight, and they faced the same
stick-or-twist conundrum that was England's undoing in the last Adelaide
Test.
Full postWhirlwind Pathan ton puts West on top
Yusuf Pathan's century put West Zone on top against Central Zone while Vikramjeet Malik's five wickets gave North Zone the edge against South Zone
Cricinfo staff
26-Jan-2008
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A whirlwind century from Yusuf Pathan took West Zone to a strong 349 for 7 at stumps on the first day against Central Zone in Rajkot. Opting to bat first, West were off to a confident start as the Mumbai pair of Ajinkya Rahane (50) and Sahil Kukreja (72) forged a 124-run partnership. Central then fought their way back into the match as Sanjib Sanyal removed both of them before Sanjay Bangar dismissed captain Parthiv Patel. Pathan walked in at the fall of the fourth wicket on 174 and blitzed a 66-ball 107 to give West the upper hand. He carted 13 boundaries and five sixes during his 88-minute stay and made all his runs in a 136-run stand with Chetheswar Pujara, who made a sedate 44. For Central, Bangar and Sanyal finished with three wickets each, but Sanyal was expensive conceding five runs an over.
North Zone 104 for 5 (Chopra 37) trail South Zone 157 (Vinay Kumar 41*, Ravi Teja 41, Malik 5-44, Bhatia 4-13) by 53 runs
Scorecard
Full postScorecard
Burger's five bowls Namibia to victory
Namibia claimed a hard-fought 40-run win in their Intercontinental Cup clash against UAE in Sharjah with Jan-Berrie Burger taking a career-best 5 for 81
Cricinfo staff
26-Jan-2008
Namibia 164 and 396 beat UAE 224 and 296 (Khan 97, Ali 52, J Burger 5-84) by 40 runs
Scorecard
Scorecard
Namibia claimed a hard-fought 40-run win in their Intercontinental Cup clash against UAE in Sharjah with Jan-Berrie Burger taking a career-best 5 for 81 after a brave innings from Khurram Khan had kept UAE's hopes alive.
Already two down overnight as they chased 337, UAE needed a solid start to the final day but instead lost wickets steadily. When Amjad Javed was removed by Burger they were 103 for 6 and Namibia were sensing a swift conclusion to the match. However, the home side wouldn't lie down and a sixth-wicket stand of 127 between Khan and Amjad Ali (52) threatened a turnaround.
Khan faced 176 balls and struck nine boundaries as he and Ali chipped away at the target to increase the tension in the Namibia camp. Eventually Burger broke through as Ali fell for a well played 52 and the match finally slipped away from UAE when Khan was removed three runs short of deserved hundred, lbw to Kola Burger for a career-best 97.
Full postKatich keeps the runs coming
Simon Katich continued to pile up the runs, nearing what could become his fourth Pura Cup century this season as New South Wales chipped away at Western Australia's 389
Cricinfo staff
26-Jan-2008
New South Wales 4 for 213 (Katich 82*) trail Western Australia 389 (Davis 116, Voges 84, Langer 54, Bollinger 5-78, Nicholson 3-69) by 176 runs
Scorecard
Scorecard
Simon Katich continued to pile up the runs, nearing what could become his fourth Pura Cup century this season as New South Wales chipped away at Western Australia's 389. At the close Katich was unbeaten on 82 - he needs another 40 to reach 1000 runs for the summer - with Brad Haddin on 8 as the Blues reached 4 for 213.
Katich had strong support from Peter Forrest (46) and Phillip Hughes, who made 44. Ben Edmondson picked up a pair of wickets at the top of the order but Katich made sure the runs kept coming for the home side.
They could have been chasing a bigger total after Western Australia resumed on 6 for 312 with two specialist batsmen at the crease, but it was Matthew Nicholson who stopped the runs. He grabbed Luke Ronchi for 34 and then two more wickets to wrap the innings up following Doug Bollinger's five on the first day.
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