Report
Bowlers seal semi-final slot for Tigers
A good opening burst from Nantie Hayward and Sujay Tarafdar was enough for the Tigers to seal a 53-run win
Cricinfo staff
12-Dec-2007
Kolkata Tigers 168 for 5 (McMillan 50, Jhunjhunwala 33, Maddy 32) beat Hyderabad Heroes 115 (Razzaq 37, Tarafdar 3-20, Klusener 3-26) by 53 runs
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An inspired over from fast-medium bowler Sujay Tarafdar, in which he took three wickets, was a jolt that the Hyderabad Heroes couldn't recover from as they tried chasing 169 in what was a must-win game for both teams to qualify for the semi-finals.
The Tigers had been put in by Inzamam-ul-Haq, the Heroes captain, and got off to a steady but slow start, with 22 runs off the first five overs. Kaushik Reddy was then carted for 16 in the sixth, as the Tigers began gaining momentum.
Full postMP into semi-finals after nail-biting draw
A round-up of the fourth day's play of the fifth round matches of the Ranji Trophy Plate League, 2007-08
Cricinfo staff
12-Dec-2007
Haryana 302 (Lavasa 76, Pandey 3-58) and 114 (Pandey 5-38, Dholpure 3-49) drew with Madhya Pradesh 215 (Ojha 45, Mishra 4-61) and 169 for 9 (Jadhav 26*, Billa 4-52)
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Madhya Pradesh's last-wicket pair clung on to a nail-biting draw against Haryana to ensure they qualified ahead of their opponents to the semi-finals.
Haryana had taken the first-innings but were tottering at 75 for 7 at the end of the third day. They managed to reach 114, with lower-order batsmen Jitender Billa and Prem Prateek scoring 20 and 19. Medium-pacer Sanjay Pandey finished with figures of 5 for 38, as Haryana set MP a target of 202.
The Haryana bowlers, led by Billa, then took wickets at regular intervals to reduce MP to 154 for 9, before Ashutosh Jadhav and No. 11 Pandey played out 7.5 overs before play was called off due to bad light with 21 balls left to be bowled. Jadhav was unbeaten on 26 off 77 balls as MP completed an escape.
Full postAtapattu stars as Jets triumph
The Delhi Jets captain Marvan Atapattu's unbeaten innings guided his side to a six-wicket win over Chennai Superstars
Cricinfo staff
12-Dec-2007
Delhi Jets 178 for 4 (Atapattu 64*) beat Chennai Superstars 174 for 6 (Read 37) by 6 wickets
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The Delhi Jets captain Marvan Atapattu's unbeaten innings guided his side to a six-wicket win over Chennai Superstars. Tamil Kumaran's single-run penultimate over made the 14th match of the tournament tighter than it appeared, but a driven four by Paul Nixon sealed victory with four balls to spare.
Chasing 175, the Jets reached 95 after just ten overs thanks mainly to a 62-run opening stand in a mere five overs. Taufeeq Umar (20 from 16) and Monish Mishra (37 from 20) carved the Superstars' attack with glee but someeffective bowling from the part-timers helped swing the momentum back their way. But after the openers fell in one over from Tamil Kumaran, Atapattu shepherded his side along at a good rate. Two further strikes threatened another twist, but Atapattu and Nixon, unbeaten on 18 from 15 balls, got the Jets through. Atapattu scored 64 from 43 balls, with six fours and a pair of sixes.
Full postBlues end drought in wet victory
New South Wales broke an 11-match streak without a one-day win as they scraped to a rain-interrupted victory over Queensland
Cricinfo staff
12-Dec-2007
New South Wales 1 for 58 beat Queensland 9 for 157 (Philipson 45) by 17 runs on D/L method
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New South Wales broke an 11-match streak without a one-day win as they scraped to a rain-interrupted victory over Queensland on a stormy night at the Gabba. Fifteen overs were needed in the second innings to force a result and the umpire Dave Orchard called for the covers as soon as Shane Watson delivered ball 14.6.
The Blues were 1 for 58 and it was enough to take the match by 17 runs on Duckworth/Lewis. Phil Jaques was unbeaten on 26 while Daniel Smith was 24 after Phillip Hughes had fallen to the outswing of Scott Brant on 5.
Full postMumbai beat Rajasthan in last-ball thriller
A round-up of the fourth day's play of the fifth-round matches of the Ranji Trophy Super League, 2007-08
Cricinfo staff
12-Dec-2007
Mumbai 295 and 267 for 4 dec beat Rajasthan 179 and 381 (Saxena 122, Doru 82, Bist 64) by two runs
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Mumbai pulled off an unlikely win over Rajasthan after they bowled out the hosts three runs short of the target in a nail-biting finish in Jhalawar. Rajasthan had made up for their poor show in the first innings with a hundred from Vineet Saxena and half-centuries from Nikhil Doru and Robin Bist as they chased a target of 384. They needed 46 in seven overs when the fifth wicket fell - Rohit Jhalani was run out for 14. Rajasthan still had enough wickets left to play out a draw but panic in the ranks caused three more run-outs - five in all for the innings. The last three batsmen were dismissed off the final three balls of the match.
Saurashtra 245 and 245 (Jobanputra 54, Aiyappa 4-87) beat Karnataka 226 and 2561 (Raghu 77, Maniar 4-54, Jobanputra 3-74) by three runs
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Awana hat-trick seals easy win for Delhi
Parvinder Awana, the right-arm seamer, took a hat-trick as Maharashtra, resuming on their overnight 129 for 4, were bowled out for 240, giving Delhi a target of 51, which they chased with seven wickets to spare
The Bulletin by Sidharth Monga in Nagothane
12-Dec-2007
Delhi 409 and 51 for 3 (Agharkar 2-14) beat Maharashtra 219 and 240 (Kanitkar 50, Awana 4-62, Nanda 4-70) by seven wickets
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In three successive devastating deliveries, Parvinder Awana, playing his second first-class match, ended the resistance Maharashtra had put up for 35 overs and set Delhi on their way to an outright win. Needing just 51 to win on a difficult track, Delhi proceeded to lose three wickets but in the end managed to gain a two-point lead over their opponents, second on the list.
Awana's hat-trick, the 44th in the Ranji Trophy, came after Yogesh Takawale and Vishal Bhilare had put on 100 for the fifth wicket and were in the middle of a scrap for a draw, which would get them one point. But Awana, fast and accurate, removed Bhilare, Kedar Jadhav and Sairaj Bahutule in three deliveries to end the contest right there. 202 for 4, a lead of 12, became 202 for 7, and the last three wickets fell for 38 runs.
For 25 overs today, resuming at 129 for 4, Takawale and Bhilare looked at ease. The wicket misbehaved, but they had negotiated it well. Then, in the 26th over, Awana's seventh of the day, he got the first ball from around the stumps to Bhilare to stay low, at a good pace, and beat his defence. The umpire had no hesitation in upholding the appeal. Jadhav, the right-hand batsman, got a mirror image of that from over the stumps, this one only looked even more adjacent. For Bahutule, Awana went around again, and produced the best ball one could on a hat-trick. He hit the same length from where the ball acted funnily throughout the game, and got it to straighten just enough to hit the top of off stump.
Full postSiddle slides Victoria to three-day success
Peter Siddle earned five wickets as Victoria secured an easy victory over Tasmania that extended their Pura Cup lead to six points
Cricinfo staff
12-Dec-2007
Victoria 399 and 2 for 47 beat Tasmania 168 & 277 (Paine 62, Birt 60, Siddle 5-61) by 8 wickets
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Peter Siddle earned five wickets as Victoria secured an easy victory over Tasmania that extended their Pura Cup lead to six points. Siddle sparked the collapse that ended Tasmania's chances of saving the match and he returned to finish them off as they were dismissed for 277, leaving the visitors needing 47.
Ben Hilfenhaus gave Victoria a scare, capturing Nick Jewell and Rob Quiney to drop them to 2 for 2, but David Hussey's 31 got them home before dark and saved them from coming back on the fourth day. Tim Paine and Jason Krejza had forced the Bushrangers to stay a little longer after rebuilding from 6 for 123.
Full postEngland fight but face battle to survive
It wasn't the most attractive day of Test cricket, but Sri Lanka's batsmen put them in a dominating position on the fourth day at Colombo with a 197-run lead over a weary England
The Bulletin by Will Luke
12-Dec-2007
England 351 and 48 for 0 (Vaughan 28*, Cook 13*) trail Sri Lanka 548 for 9 dec (M Jayawardene 195, Vandort 138, P Jayawardene 79, Sidebottom 3-100, Harmison 3-111) by 149 runs
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How they were out
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It wasn't the most attractive day of Test cricket, but Sri Lanka's batsmen put them in a dominating position on the fourth day at Colombo with a 197-run lead over a weary England, grinding their noses into the ground. As ever, Muttiah Muralitharan looms large but England's openers took them to a position of relative comfort, racing to 48 before bad light curtailed the day's play.
It was another torrid, wearying day for England's bowlers who battled in intense heat to pick up 5 for 169 before Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lanka captain, finally ended their misery with a declaration 30 minutes after tea. The ease with which Prasanna Jayawardene, the wicketkeeper, batted with his No.10, Dilhara Fernando, belied the consistent allround effort England's bowlers showed - in particular Steve Harmison, who improved upon his encouraging display yesterday with a determined and disciplined performance on a lifeless pitch.
Full postIndia's charge halted by bad light
Dramatic interventions from Anil Kumble and Yuvraj Singh pushed Pakistan to the precipice before bad light intervened
India 626 (Ganguly 239, Yuvraj 169, Pathan 102, Arafat 5-161) and 284 for 6 dec (Ganguly 91, Karthik 52) drew with Pakistan 537 (Misbah 133*, Younis 80, Butt 68, Akmal 65, Ishant 5-118) and 162 for 7 (Iqbal 51, Kumble 5-60)
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How they were out
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How they were out
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When India left Pakistan just 47 overs to score an improbable 374 for
victory, the Bangalore Test appeared to be meandering to a draw. As the
opening pair added 44, thoughts turned to how soon the match could be
called off but dramatic interventions from Anil Kumble and Yuvraj Singh
pushed Pakistan to the precipice before bad light saved them from acute
embarrassment with 11 overs still to be bowled. The playing conditions
didn't allow the use of floodlights, leaving India to rue a declaration that probably came half an hour too late. However, they would have been satisfied to clinch their first home Test series victory against Pakistan since 1979-80.
Even when Yasir Hameed and Younis Khan fell in the space of four balls,
one bowled by a Kumble express and the other popping up a return catch, it
appeared to be a wobble rather than a quake. Salman Butt and Faisal Iqbal
steadied the innings with a 29-run stand and, when Butt got a thin edge
behind to give Kumble his third wicket of the innings, Pakistan decided to
blast their way out of trouble.
Full postKerala boost chances of semi-final berth
A round-up of the third day's play of the fifth round matches of the Ranji Trophy Plate League, 2007-08
Cricinfo staff
11-Dec-2007
Kerala 340 and 27 for no loss (Gomez 17*, Sebastian 9*) need another 47 runs to beat Gujarat 154 and 259 (Parthiv 74, Popat 59*, Cheruvathur 5-95)
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In Surat, a defeat is imminent for hosts Gujarat, with Kerala needing a further 47 to complete a convincing win. Gujarat, behind by 186 on the first-innings scores, were bundled out for 259 in the second.
Sony Cheruvathur, the Kerala captain, bagged five wickets to finish the match with a total of 12 - the best match-haul in the Plate League so far this year. Gujarat captain Parthiv Patel top scored for his side with 74, as the rest of the Gujarat batsmen - barring Digant Popat and No. 11 Hitesh Majmudar - failed to make more than 15.
Tinu Yohannan and Prasanth Chandran took two wickets apiece for the visitors, while Popat fought for Gujarat with his 59 not out. The last-wicket pair added 40 runs, with Majmudar adding a quick 24-ball 26, which included three boundaries and a six.
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