Report
Cairns propels Canterbury to title
State Shield Final, 2005-06
Dylan Cleaver
12-Feb-2006
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Canterbury 214 for 5 (Cairns 41*, Astle 39) beat Central Districts 212 for 8 ( Taylor 50, Cairns 4 for 53) by 5 wickets
Scorecard
Scorecard
Chris Cairns showed what a loss he will be to New Zealand, with a brilliant allround performance to lead Canterbury to the national one-day title, against Central Districts at Christchurch. Cairns ended the match with a mammoth six to give Canterbury an anti-climatic five-wicket victory over a Central side that dug itself a ditch it couldn't extract itself from. His 41 not out and 4 for 53 was the dominant performance of the match.
It could have all been so different though. Central allowed its suspicion that Canterbury had prepared a sluggish pitch to assist their slow attack to effect its batting. Ross Taylor (50 from 40) and Mathew Sinclair (37 from 41), the class acts in the Central line-up, slowed how batting should be approached, but once Taylor played on to Nathan Astle, (1 for 34 off 10 overs) and Sinclair was needlessly run out, the wheels fell off the Central effort.
Full postWinning starts for Bengal and Jharkhand
A summary of the latest action in the Ranji Trophy One-Day Tournament
Cricinfo staff
12-Feb-2006
Rajasthan suffered their second four-wicket defeat in successive matches as Railways triumphed in a high-scoring match at Jaipur. Gagan Khoda, the opener, scored a scintillating unbeaten 166 off 151 balls with 18 fours and five sixes to lift Rajasthan to 293 for 3 after they were put in to bat. Railways started badly, losing Amit Pagnis for a duck in the first over, but Tejinder Pal Singh and Jai Prakash Yadav put the run-chase back on track with a 170-run stand in just 27 overs. Tejinder went on to make 107, and though Railways lost a few wickets towards the end, they still achieved victory fairly comfortably, with eight balls to spare.
A patient 63 by Jyoti Yadav was the difference between the teams as Uttar Pradesh sneaked a two-wicket win in a low-scoring scrap against Vidarbha at the KL Saini Ground in Jaipur. After choosing to bat, Vidarbha were bundled out for 145, with five batsmen failing to get off the mark. Uttar Pradesh were coasting at 79 for 1, but suddenly collapsed, losing seven wickets for 59. Samir Khare, a legbreak bowler, and Madhusudan Acharya, the offspinner, shared those scalps, but UP ultimately managed to squeeze through.
Bengal began their Ranji Trophy one-day campaign in style, thrashing Tripura by seven wickets in Dhanbad, and taking a bonus point in the process as well. Tripura chose to bat after winning the toss, but apart from Manoj Singh, who made 58, no other batsman made a significant contribution as the side folded for 157. Bengal romped home in less than 33 overs, with most of the top order making useful scores.
Jharkhand recorded a win in their first match of the tournament, beating Orissa by 39 runs at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Dhanbad. After being put in, Jharkhand overcame a poor start - they lost their openers for only 12 - to post a reasonable 232 for 8, thanks primarily to CM Jha, who made 64. Orissa lost their first wicket off the second ball and were always struggling, despite N Behera's 56. They were finally bowled out for 193, with 7.4 of their 50 overs still remaining.
Full postRevived Australia send series to third final
Two days after an embarrassing slip-up Andrew Symonds and Ricky Ponting led a stunning recovery to set an Australian-record total and an easy victory
Peter English
12-Feb-2006
Australia 5 for 368 (Symonds 151, Ponting 124, Clarke 54*, Vaas 4-56) beat Sri Lanka 201 (Jayawardene 50, Arnold 64*, Bracken 4-30) by 167 runs
Scorecard
How they were out
Scorecard
How they were out
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Two days after an embarrassing slip-up Andrew Symonds and Ricky Ponting led a stunning recovery to set an Australian-record total and push them to a series-deciding final in Brisbane on Tuesday. Australia slumped to 3 for 10 in the third over before Symonds muscled a brutal 151 and Ponting weaved a superb 124 that catapulted them to a barely believable 5 for 368 on the way to a 167-run win
Ponting's team entered the match needing victory to keep alive their record of not losing a VB finals series since 1992-93, and Ponting and Symonds ruled it out - at least in this match - by escaping from the early problems created by Chaminda Vaas with a 237-run stand, which was an Australian best for any wicket, that wooed a full SCG. The bowlers continued the demolition work under lights and the match ended with 14 overs to spare.
Full postHenriques' class sinks Sri Lanka U-19s
Moises Henriques produced an allround display of sheer class as Australia crushed Sri Lanka at the SSC to progress to the semi-finals
The Bulletin by Andrew McGlashan at Colombo
11-Feb-2006
Australia 178 for 1 (Cooper 84*, Henriques 79*) beat Sri
Lanka 177 (Cooray 43, Henriques 4-22) by nine wickets
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Scorecard
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Moises Henriques produced an allround display of sheer class as Australia
crushed Sri Lanka at the SSC to progress to the semi-finals. Not content
with knocking the stuffing out of the Sri Lankan batting, he then smashed
an uncompromising 79 off 60 balls against a deflated attack. Tom Cooper
was no slouch either with 84 off 93 as the pair flayed a stand of 146 in
21 overs.
While the clean striking from Henriques was breathtaking, his massive hits were effortless, sailing miles into the stands. He cleared the ropes on six occasions, one of which landed on the roof of the press box - a monstrous blow - and never came down again. Cooper had begun the chase in emphatic style, piercing the field off front and back foot and displaying another example of the form he produced against South Africa in
the opening match, where he made 104.
Full postPakistan U-19s too efficient for Zimbabwe
Pakistan's U-19s chose efficiency over style on Saturday as they booked their place in the semi-finals with a straightforward win over Zimbabwe
Cricinfo staff
11-Feb-2006
Pakistan 185 for 5 (Mohammad Ibrahim 39) beat Zimbabwe 181 (Samunderu 46, Khan 3-25) by five wickets
Scorecard
Scorecard
Pakistan chose efficiency over style on Saturday as they booked their place in the semi-finals with a straightforward win over Zimbabwe.
Pakistan's bowlers, so impressive in Friday's defeat of New Zealand, impressed again to dismiss Zimbabwe for just 181, before knocking off the total in 48 overs. Anwer Ali Khan, whose 5 for 34 wrecked New Zealand, took 3 for 25 while his opening partner Jamshaid Ahmed captured 2 for 42 and Riaz Khail picked up 4 for 29.
Zimbabwe's innings fell into several distinct phases. First there was an early struggle as they limped to 31 for 3 in the face of an onslaught from Anwer Ali Khan and Jamshaid Ahmed. Then Donald 'Kuda' Samunderu (46) and Keegan Meth (33) pulled things around with a fourth wicket stand of 65 before another cluster of wickets fell and Zimbabwe slipped to 136 for 8.
Full postIndia sweep into semi-finals
India's opening batsmen blitzed the West Indies before their bowlers and fielders ripped the heart out of the West Indies' attempt to reach India's colossal 284
Cricinfo staff
11-Feb-2006
India 284 for 9 (Pujara 97, Dhiman 74, Searles 6-68) beat West Indies 158 (Fletcher 44, Yomahesh 4-25) by 126 runs
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Scorecard
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Gaurav Dhiman (74) and Cheteshwar Pujara (97) added 110 from just 14 overs as India set off at a breakneck pace.And although Leon Johnson's men restored order in the second half of the innings - opening bowler Javon Searles captured 6 for 68 - the final total of 284 for 9 was always likely to be too many for the West Indies.
Dhiman and Pujara came out with all guns blazing after Ravikant Shukla won the toss and, against bowlers and fielders that looked off the pace, they raced along. The tone was set by the first ball of the match, by Searles. It went for five wides down the leg-side - one of 15 he bowled and 28 the West Indies conceded out of 33 extras - and after just one over India had 12 runs on the board.
Full postEngland U-19s shock Bangladesh by five wickets
England's Steven Mullaney and Graeme White ran through Bangladesh's batting lineup to propel their side into the Super League semi-finals
Cricinfo staff
11-Feb-2006
England 156 for 5 (Chopra 40) beat Bangladesh 155 (Mushfiqur Rahim 27, Mullaney 3 for 26) by five wickets
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Scorecard
England's Steven Mullaney and Graeme White ran through Bangladesh's batting lineup to propel their side into the Super League semi-finals.
England, who went through an entire tour of Bangladesh in November and December without winning a single one of their 11 matches, came into this quarter-final clash off the back of a defeat to Zimbabwe. However, presented with a knock-out situation, Moeen Ali and his attack responded superbly by dismissing the previously unbeaten Bangladesh side for just 155 in 48.2 overs. They knocked off the required total in a little over 43 overs, with Mullaney adding an unbeaten 15.
Mullaney led the way with the ball, initially, with 3 for 26 but White, one of England's players of the tournament so far, performed outstandingly. The left-arm spinner conceded an astonishingly economical 11 runs from his 10 overs, and snaffled the key wicket of Md. Shamsur Rahman for 22.
Full postHundreds aplenty as one-day championship kicks off
A summary of the latest action in the Ranji Trophy One-Day Tournament
Cricinfo staff
11-Feb-2006
Amay Khurasiya hammered 157 to take Madhya Pradesh to a four-wicket win against Rajasthan at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Chasing 299, Khurasiya hit 19 fours and three sixes in his 134-ball innings that enabled MP to coast to victory with eight balls to spare. He was supported well by Abbas Ali (50) and Devendra Bundela (44). After losing the toss, Gagan Khoda struck a fine 116 to steer Rajasthan to 298 for 7. No other batsman crossed 30 for Rajasthan and in the end the total proved inadequate.
Railways, powered by Amit Pagnis's 143, coasted to a comfortable 59-run victory against Vidarbha at KL Saini Ground in Jaipur. After being sent in to bat, Pagnis and Tejinder Pal Singh (42) added 201 runs for the second wicket and set up the platform for Railways to finish on 310 for 6. Pagnis's innings included 17 fours and came in quick time. In their reply, Vidarbha were restricted to 251 for 9. The only fight came at the top of the order where Alind Naidu (72) and Faiz Fazal (52) added 110 runs to take the score to 136 for 1 but Shreyas Khanolkar (3 for 41) ran through the middle-order to reduce Vidarbha to 163 for 5 from which they didn't recover.
Punjab completed a resounding eight-wicket win after a fine bowling performance restricted Haryana to 196 for 9 at Harbax Singh Stadium in Delhi. Dinesh Mongia starred with the ball with 3 for 27 off nine overs while Shafiq Khan top-scored for Haryana with 45 in a match that was reduced to 43 overs a side. Ravneet Ricky led a strong Punjab reply, thumping 80 off 76 balls, and was ably supported by Sunny Sohel (40) and Mongia (43) as Punjab eased to 199 for 2 in the 41st over.
Sangram Singh's 93 and Vishal Bhatia's 4 for 29 sealed a 45-run win for Himachal Pradesh against Services at the Palam A Stadium in New Delhi. HP lost Nischal Gaur in the first over after they were asked to bat in a match reduced to 40 overs a team but Sangram and Sandeep Sharma (59) led the recovery with a 109-run stand for the second wicket. HP lost seven wickets for 104 runs to finish on 213. Services didn't get a partnership going and were in trouble at 4 for 77 and Bhatia rattled the lower-middle order to reduce them to 168 for 9.
Full postYuvraj and Sehwag ease India to victory
Virender Sehwag and Yurvaj Singh guided India to a seven-wicket victory over Pakistan in the second one-day international in Rawalpindi.
India 266 for 3 (Yuvraj 82*, Sehwag 67, Dravid 56) beat Pakistan 265 (Malik 95, Younis 81, Pathan 3-43) by 7 wickets
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A scorching 105-run opening stand between Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar, and a glorious unbeaten 82 from Yuvraj Singh were instrumental in India's emphatic seven-wicket victory over Pakistan in the second one-day international at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. Having bowled Pakistan out for 265 in the final over, thanks to some disciplined bowling, sharp fielding and less-than-perfect shot selection, India chased down the target with 41 deliveries to spare.
Full postDelighted Williams sinks England
Zimbabwe's captain Sean Williams fulfilled his pre-tournament wish to beat England in the final match in Group D
Cricinfo staff
10-Feb-2006
Pakistan 78 for 2 beat New Zealand 77 (Anwar Ali 5-34) by eight wickets
Scorecard
Scorecard
Zimbabwe captain Sean Williams said before the tournament he was targeting England as a must-win game and he led from the front as his side secured a two-wicket win that ensured they topped Group D.
They now face holders Pakistan in the quarter-finals while England have an equally daunting task against Bangladesh. Williams' 3 for 35 was crucial as spin again dominated, and Zimbabwe knocked over England for 172 and then chased down the score for the loss of eight wickets with 2.5 overs in hand.
"I feel relieved after what I said beforehand," Williams said. "I am also very proud of my players because we stuck to our plans, worked hard and got our rewards." That plan involved spin, spin and more spin as Williams used four slow bowlers, including himself, to get through 34.5 overs between them. And in the face of that trial by spin England were found wanting.
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