Report
England warm-ups off to a flyer
England Under-19s crushed a Malaysia President's XI - the perfect start to their World Cup warm-ups
Jenny Thompson
26-Jan-2006
England 350 for 4 (Chopra 142, Ali 101) beat MCA President's XI 178 (Waters 3-15, Mullaney 3-22) by 172 runs
Scorecard
Scorecard
After their 11-0 thrashing in Bangladesh, England Under-19s were in desperate need of a victory to right their ship and get them back to winning ways in time for the impending World Cup. They duly secured one in authoritative, destructive style, with a crushing 172-run win in their first warm-up match against a Malaysia President's XI.
England's captain and vice-captain showed their team the way to success with a partnership of 251 runs; both Moeen Ali and Varun Chopra striking rapid-fire centuries to help England heap on a more-than-imposing 350 after being sent in. Malaysia scored steadily on a decent pitch, but they were always behind the clock and they folded for 178.
Chopra was in particularly fine nick, blasting 142 from 140 balls in a knock which included ten fours and three sixes. He got England off to a flyer with Mark Stoneman (27) and Robert Woodman (9), but it was his third-wicket stand with the masterful Ali - whose 101 took just 87 balls - that put the match beyond Malaysia's reach. Together they flayed the home side's attack, punishing the bad balls and often also the good.
Full postWarriors self-destruct to huge loss
The Warriors dismal Standard Bank Pro20 campaign continued to slide with their worst performance of the season
Keith Lane
26-Jan-2006
Eagles 175 beat Warriors 65 (13.4 overs) by 110 runs
Scorecard
Scorecard
The Warriors dismal Standard Bank Pro20 campaign continued to slide with their worst performance of the season, bowled out for 65 in 13.4 overs, and receiving a 110-run whipping at the hands of the Eagles. With wickets falling all over the place even the St. George's Park faithful could not stand the humiliation and started leaving as early as the 11th over.
The problems started for the Warriors with them surprisingly sending the Eagles in to bat first. The top five Eagles batsmen all got into the twenties but did go on to dominate. Despite a short break for rain they maintained a healthy run rate to post 175 for 7 with Roger Telemachus
top scoring with 34 off 16 balls. Under the circumstance two good bowling performances came from Tyron Henderson (0 for 16) and Justin Kreusch (2 for 28).
The Warriors innings self destructed from the first over. With the ball once again swinging more under the floodlights they were 2 for 2 at the end of the first over and 36 for 5 after six. Two silly run outs had contributed to the collapse as the innings came to an end in 61 minutes.
Cliff Deacon picked up two wickets with some good swing bowling. Victor Mpitsang and Dillon du Preez were rewarded with two wickets each for some accurate bowling but once again the player to catch the eye was Thandi Tshabalala bowling his offspin for 2 for 5 in 2.4 overs. With
some careful nurturing this youngster promises a bright future.
Full postAustralia ease to five-wicket victory
Australia showed they could survive without their resting captain as a Simon Katich half-century and crucial middle-order contributions steered them to a five-wicket victory
The Bulletin by Peter English
26-Jan-2006
Australia 5 for 219 (Katich 52, Martyn 46) beat Sri Lanka 8 for 218 (Mubarak 34, Symonds 3 for 48) by five wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
How they were out
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
How they were out
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Australia showed they could survive without their resting captain as a Simon Katich half-century and crucial middle-order contributions steered them to a victory that gave them a five-point lead at the top of the VB Series table. The team had a strange look with Ricky Ponting relaxing on the Australia-Day holiday, and Adam Gilchrist assumed the captaincy, keeping and opening roles in a batting order containing a handful of batsmen under pressure. However, Australia overcame the regular dangers to conquer a tricky and slow pitch and achieve a familiar result.
Restricting Sri Lanka to 8 for 218, Australia were made to work hard over the first 30 overs of their chase before they gradually eased away during a 60-run partnership between Andrew Symonds and Damien Martyn. But just as safety appeared, Muttiah Muralitharan conjured a crucial double blow to remove Symonds and Martyn and drop Australia to 5 for 177.
Full postCosgrove crushes Western Australia
Mark Cosgrove smashed a brilliant hundred to give South Australia a crushing 108-run win over Western Australia at Perth
Cricinfo staff
25-Jan-2006
South Australia 9 for 271 (Cosgrove 121, Lehmann 76) beat Western Australia 163 (Rogers 47, Bailey 3-33) by 108 runs
Scorecard
ING Cup points table
Scorecard
ING Cup points table
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Cosgrove had done the damage though, and Western Australia were never in the hunt for 272. Shaun Tait, who is bidding to make a Test comeback, conceded 23 from four overs and picked up the wicket of Luke Ronchi. Only Chris Rogers (47) offered anything of substance, but by then it was too little too late as Western Australia crumbled to 163 allout in the 40th over. The convincing win placed South Australia third in the table, four points adrift of Victoria and ten behind the leaders New South Wales.
Full postWhite's all-round class seals Victorian victory
A superb all-round performance from Cameron White took Victoria to a 12-run win over Queensland in their ING cup clash at the Gabba
Cricinfo staff
25-Jan-2006
Victoria 6 for 294 (Hussey 130, White 85) beat Queensland 8 for 282 (Maher 62, Hayden 53) by 12 runs
Scorecard
ING Cup points table
Scorecard
ING Cup points table
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After reeling at 2 for 11, White and David Hussey put on a record 205-run partnership off 192 balls, eclipsing the previous fourth-wicket record of 180 set by Shane Lee and Graeme Rummans in 1999-2000. Hussey, who was dropped on 57 and again on 78, hit 130 from 140 balls with White clobbering 85 off 87 to guide Victoria to their highest one-day score of 6 for 294.
In Queensland's reply, it was White to the fore again, snaffling 4 for 23 from six economical overs after Jimmy Maher (62) and Matthew Hayden (53) got off to a confident start in their 99-run opening partnership. Despite a blistering 46 from Brendan Nash and plucky hitting from the lower order, Queensland ran out of time to fall 12 runs short.
Full postKotak guides Saurashtra to safety after early strikes
A summary of the latest action from the first day of the Ranji Trophy Plate Group semi-finals
Cricinfo staff
25-Jan-2006
Shitanshu Kotak led the way with a dogged 95 not-out as Saurashtra finished on 226 for 6 on day one of their Ranji Trophy Plate Group semi-final against Madhya Pradesh at Rajkot. Electing to field, MP managed to reduce Saurashtra to 120 for 6, with Anand Rajan proving a handful with his right-arm medium pace.
Impressive in his control, Rajan bagged four of the six wickets to fall as Saurashtra's middle order stuttered during the first session. It was then that Kotak came to the fore, putting on 100 for the seventh wicket with Rakesh Dhurv (34*) in 189 deliveries. Bringing up his fifty from 215 minutes and 151 balls, Kotak was rock-solid in his defiance of Rajan and the other MP bowlers. Just five short of his ninth first-class hundred, Kotak will need to carry on for the better part of day two if Saurashtra intend on building their dominance.
Besides winning two games, MP, who have played all the games at home, conceded and gained the first innings' lead twice each. Saurashtra, however, have been the more aggressive team, as their three victories suggest. Prior to the match, Jaydev Shah, Saurashtra's captain, hinted that his team will go for the kill on a grassy Rajkot wicket. "Our team was the first to qualify for the semis," he said to the Hindustan Times. "And now that the pressure is off, we will play without any pressure and try to earn a place in the Elite division (for the first time)."
Full postGill and Pankaj Singh rout Orissa for 94
A summary of the latest action from the first day of the Ranji Trophy Plate Group semi-finals
Cricinfo staff
25-Jan-2006
Rajasthan 108 for 5 lead Orissa 94 (Gill 6-20) by 14 runs
Scorecard
Scorecard
Sanjay Gill and Pankaj Singh shared ten wickets between them as Rajasthan knocked Orissa over for a paltry 94 and then took a first-innings lead - albeit with the loss of five wickets - on the opening of the Ranji Trophy Plate Group semi-finals at Jaipur. Winning the toss and electing to field, Ajay Jadeja's decision reaped immediate rewards as Orissa's batting order capitulated to Gill and Singh's outstanding display.
Gill proved too hot for any Orissa batsmen to handle, picking up career-best figures of 6 for 20 - from 17 nagging overs of right-arm medium pace - while Singh, in just his sixth match, bagged 4 for 26 to complete the rout. Pravanjan Mullick, Orissa's highest scorer this season, was one of three batsmen to fall for a duck.
Full postJaques hundred sets up NSW win
Phil Jaques reinforced his claim to a place in the national side with a superb century that led New South Wales to a 12-run win against Tasmania
Cricinfo staff
25-Jan-2006
Phil Jaques reinforced his claim to a place in the national side with a superb century - a record fourth in the ING Cup this summer - that led New South Wales to a 12-run win against Tasmania. Jaques smashed 138 out of 311, but Tim Paine threatened to win it for the Tigers with a hundred of his own before a middle-order collapse.
Paine and Travis Birt set up the ideal platform to chase the huge total with an opening stand of 179. Birt played the more aggressive innings, hitting two sixes and ten fours in his 89 before falling in the 31st over. Adam Polkinghorne and Michael Di Venuto added quick runs and when Di Venuto became Stuart MacGill's second wicket, Tasmania needed only 85 off 77 balls. However, NSW managed to slow things down.
MacGill dismissed Paine in the 46th over when the equation had risen to 40 off 25, and the pressure proved too much for Tasmania. They lost six wickets for 18 and finished on 9 for 299. MacGill took 3 for 44 but it was Aaron O'Brien's three-wicket burst at the death that sealed the match for NSW.
After choosing to bat, Jaques powered NSW in a 65-run opening stand with Craig Simmons. Matthew Phelps joined Jaques after Ben Hilfenhaus dismissed Simmons and Matthew Nicholson off successive overs and they added 130 in 134 balls. Phelps made 67 while Jaques motored along to a century that included 15 fours and a six. He fell for 138, taking his season tally to 658 in eight matches, and he overtook the three hundreds in a season of Stuart Law, Darren Lehmann, Matthew Hayden, Matthew Elliott and Brad Hodge.
Full postIndia bat out a draw after Younis special
Runs continued to flow at Faisalabad as Pakistan stretched their lead to 391
Pakistan 588 and 490/8d (Younis 194, Yousuf 126, Akmal 78) drew
with India 603 and 21/0
Scorecard and ball by ball details
How they were out
How they were out
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In an ironical twist to a high-scoring Faisalabad Test, a packed house watched Pakistan amass a pile of runs in a pretty meaningless day of cricket. There was strokeplay to admire - Pakistan made 338 in close to 74 overs; there were two hundreds to cheer, taking the series aggregate to
12; and there were sixes to shout about, with a record 25 scored in the game. But none of this meant too much in the context of the game, one destined to end in a draw from the moment someone decided to prepare another chapatti-flat pitch.
Runs continued to flow throughout the day but the game reached a stage when part-timers like Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Younis Khan took the new ball, and when individual landmarks became the sole priority. Younis rode to his fourth hundred against India with an air of
invincibility, Mohammad Yousuf completed his third hundred in as many Tests and, in no surprise, bowlers were roasted like several delicacies in these parts. India had something to cheer through Zaheer Khan, knocking over four wickets towards the end of the day, and batted out seven overs without losing any wickets, but the fact that 34 wickets have fallen so far in this series, when 40 often fall in a game, tells you something about the way events have panned out.
Full postJohnson leads from the front
Leon Johnson led the West Indies Under-19s to a last-over thriller over Pakistan Under-19s in the second one-dayer at Karachi
Cricinfo staff
24-Jan-2006
West Indies Under-19s 260 (Johnson 117, Ali 3-42) beat Pakistan Under-19s 253 (Ibrahim 56, Bachan 4-46) by seven runs
Scorecard
Scorecard
Leon Johnson led West Indies to a victory in a last-over thriller over Pakistan in the second one-dayer at Karachi. Johnson anchored West Indies' innings with an excellent hundred, before taking two crucial catches to deny the hosts by seven runs.
Johnson came to the crease with his side struggling on 37 for 1, and quickly assumed the anchor role; only Kieron Pollard hung around with him for any length of time and the pair put on a vital partnership of 110 for the fifth wicket. Pollard's departure, for 52, spelled the end of the innings: West Indies crumbled from 242 for 5 to 260 all out.
With Mohammad Ibrahim making a steady fifty, and useful contributions from Ali Khan (39) and the captain Sarfraz Ahmed (34), Pakistan chipped away at the target and were still in the hunt for 261 until the final over. Jamshed Ahmed (20) and Imad Wasim (19*) put on 38 for the final wicket, before Ahmed was run out to give the visitors a seven-run win, squaring the series 1-1.
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