Report
Canterbury rout Otago in fine style
In the battle of the big fish, Canterbury surged into the top spot in the State Shield points table with a convincing demolition of second-placed Otago
Cricinfo staff
14-Jan-2006
In the battle of the big fish, Canterbury surged into the top spot in the State Shield points table with a convincing demolition of second-placed Otago. Michael Papps pushed his claims for a national recall with an accomplished 73 while Peter Fulton, fresh from a good one-day series against Sri Lanka, smashed 85 from 70 balls complete with seven fours and a couple of sixes as Canterbury made 257 for 6. Aaron Redmond, bowling his legbreaks, was the most successful Otago bowler with 3 for 40 from his 10 overs. Following a dismal series with the ball against Sri Lanka, Chris Cairns produced a display that will give him confidence ahead of a busy New Zealand touring season. Sharing the new ball responsibilities with the impressive Stephen Cunis, Cairns ran through Otago to finish with figures of 4 for 23 from seven overs. Cunis played his role well with 2 for 26 as Canterbury's opening duo made a mockery of Otago. Jonathan Trott, enjoying a good season, stood head and shoulders above his team-mates in scoring an unbeaten 83.
Full postBarbados in control after Jamaican collapse for 129
Rocked by a fierce opening burst from Fidel Edwards, Jamaica slumped to 129 on the first day against Barbados at the Three W's Oval
Cricinfo staff
14-Jan-2006
Rocked by a fierce opening burst from Fidel Edwards, Jamaica crashed to 129 on the first day against Barbados at the Three W's Oval. By stumps, Dale Richards (54 not out) had taken Barbados to 102 for 2, just 28 runs shy of claiming first-innings points.
Barbados made the best use of winning the toss and Edwards took the first two Jamaican wickets with no runs on the board. He soon followed with a third that made it three ducks for the top three batsmen and reduced Jamaica to 7 for 3.
Wavell Hinds and Marlon Samuels offered brief resistance before Dwayne Smith bowled Samuels for 36 and thereafter a steady fall of wickets ensued as Jamaica never recovered from the early rout and were dismissed for 129.
In reply, Barbados lost Wayne Blackman for 2 (9 for 1) but any Jamaican hopes of returning the favour evaporated as Richards dug in and scored a fine half-century. He put on an unbroken 51 runs with Ryan Hinds (24 not out) for the third wicket as Barbados ended the day in a commanding position.
Full postHussey leads Victoria to victory
A 78-ball 74 by David Hussey helped Victoria sneak a low-scoring thriller as they beat New South Wales by two wickets
Cricinfo staff
14-Jan-2006
Victoria 8 for 188 (Hussey 74, MacGill 5-54) beat New South Wales 187 by 2 wickets
Scorecard
Scorecard
A 78-ball 74 by David Hussey helped Victoria sneak a low-scoring thriller as they beat New South Wales by two wickets at the International Sports Stadium in Coffs Harbour. Requiring 188 for victory, Victoria stumbled home despite the heroics of Stuart MacGill, who took 5 for 54.
Coming in to bat after Victoria had lost two wickets with only 26 on the board, Hussey quickly stabilised the innings, adding 86 for the third wicket with Brad Hodge (42) and 48 for the fourth with Cameron White (18). At 3 for 160, Victoria were coasting towards victory, but Hussey's dismissal - after an innings which included seven fours and three sixes - triggered a collapse in which five wickets went down for 27. MacGill took all of them, but Andrew McDonald, coming in at No.8, scored a valuable unbeaten 14 to seal the issue.
New South Wales had only themselves to blame after choosing to bat and not putting up enough runs on the board. Phil Jaques (37) and Matthew Phelps (44) got starts, but neither converted them into substantial scores. Gerard Denton, the right-arm seamer, and White took three wickets apiece as NSW were bowled out with 7.3 overs unused.
Full postRuns, runs, runs...
It's not often that a fantastic 199 is overshadowed but three other stupendous hundreds made it a day of revelry for the Pakistan batsmen, amassing a mammoth 679 for 7 declared
India 65 for 0 trail Pakistan 679 for 7 (Younis 199*, Yousuf 173, Afridi 103, Akmal 102) by 614 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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It's not often that a fantastic 199 is overshadowed but three other stupendous hundreds made it a day of revelry for the Pakistan batsmen, amassing a mammoth 679 for 7 declared on the second day of the first Test at Lahore. Younis Khan was unlucky to miss out on what would have been a cracking double-hundred, but superbly-timed centuries from Mohammad Yousuf and Kamran Akmal, interspersed by a manic classic from Shahid Afridi, put even that innings in the shade.
India's riposte, in the 13 overs that were possible before the light faded, was fiery with Virender Sehwag, rattling seven fours in his 35-ball 36, leading them to 65 for no loss. Rahul Dravid, opening the innings for the second time in three Tests, gave him company as India began climbing one mighty mountain. Both staved off a peppering of short stuff from the erratic Shoaib Akhtar and Sehwag soon counterattacked with characteristic panache. Yet, with 414 still needed to avoid the follow-on, having endured a thorough battering for two days, it may turn out to be India's biggest challenge in a while and considering the forecast of rain for the next two days, they might just be tempted to keep one eye on the met department.
Controlled hundreds like Younis's, or aggressive ones like Yousuf's, or even rapid ones like Akmal's, the fastest by a wicketkeeper, can take a game away, but by virtue of its sheer rage and destructive impact, Afridi's 78-ball century probably had the most demoralising effect. It was like watching the skies on a festival night, with rockets flying off in all directions, lighting up the Gaddafi Stadium. Seven howitzered sixes, four successive ones off Harbhajan Singh in one over, the second most expensive in Tests, and seven other whiplashed fours tell a tale of its own and the fact that he scored his last 82 runs in 47 balls explains the ferocity of the scoring. But it became doubly stunning because of the manner in which it was executed. To clear the infield is one thing, to summon a primal force and lambast the bowling, despite fielders patrolling the boundary line, is quite another astonishing thing altogether.
Full postEagles retain title in low-scoring thriller
The Eagles have retained the Standard Bank Cup after beating the Titans by two wickets in an exciting low-scoring final
Keith Lane
13-Jan-2006
Eagles 143 for 8 (Morkel 3-19) beat Titans 142 (de Bruyn 55, van der Wath 3-25) by two wickets
Scorecard
Scorecard
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Having won the toss and put the Titans in to bat it was the seam attack
of Johan van der Wath, Cliff Deacon and Roger Telemachus who laid the
foundation for what turned out to be a close win. Having
got the best of the conditions the bowlers put the Titans under pressure
from the first over. After two rain delays, and at 37 for 4, the writing
was almost on the wall for the Titans and it was left to the spin duo of
Nicky Boje and Thami Tshabalala to wrap up the tail. A disappointing
batting display from the Titans saw them bowled out for 142 in 42.3
overs with 54 from Pierre de Bruyn and 44 from Johan Myburgh helping
to make a slight contest out of the final.
With a target of 143 to defend the discipline of the Titans bowlers let
them down as 19 wides and six no-balls were bowled with extras top
scoring for the Eagles with 36. Albie Morkel and Ethy Mbhalati kept the
Titans in the game with three wickets each but, with a 38-run partnership
between van der Wath, who had a fine match, and Ryan McLaren for the seventh wicket, the Eagles were almost home. However, two further wickets left then at 123 for 8 and the outcome was far from certain. With the excitement mounting a few lusty blows from Telemachus, and the composure of McLaren, guided the Eagles through with five overs to spare.
Full postLanger guides WA to comfortable victory
A controlled half-century from Justin Langer carried Western Australia to a convincing six-wicket win against Queensland at Perth
Cricinfo staff
13-Jan-2006
Western Australia 4 for 199 (Langer 59*) beat Queensland 7 for 197 (Bichel 67*, Casson 3-30) by six wickets
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Scorecard
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Once WA sped away at more than a run-a-ball the result was never in doubt. While Langer played himself in the other batsmen attacked with freedom. Luke Ronchi blasted 31 off 25 balls, leaving the stage set for Ryan Campbell in his final one-day game before retirement. His 41-ball 40 was a fitting way to finish his limited overs career, during which time he has never been afraid to express himself.
Once Campbell had fallen to Michael Kasprowicz, Shaun Marsh and Langer added 86 in 18 overs. Langer eased to his fifty off 87 balls and WA managed to secure the bonus point by winning within 40 overs.
Full postJhunjhunwala takes Bengal into semi-finals
A summary of the fourth day in the last round of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group
Cricinfo staff
13-Jan-2006
Bengal 278 and 306 (Jhunjhunwala 139, SG Das 83) beat Railways 259 and 321 (Pagnis 103) by 5 wickets
Scorecard
Scorecard
Bengal grabbed the chance provided by a sporting declaration by Railways and stormed into the semi-finals with a thrilling last over win. After Railways, charged by Pagnis's ton to reach 321 for 7, declared after batting 35 overs on the final day, Bengal rode on Abhishek Jhunjhunwala's magnificient 139 to achieve their target with a ball to spare. Bengal, set to chase 303, were propelled by a superb 217-run second-wicket partnership between Jhunjhunwala and Subhomoy Das. Railways attempted to come back through Murali Kartik who removed both the batsmen but Manoj Tiwari brought up the winning run off the penultimate ball to charge Bengal into the semi-final face-off with Baroda.
Maharashtra213 and 187 beat Mumbai175 and 160 by 65 runs
Scorecard
Full postScorecard
Peter McGlashan stuns Wellington
Twenty20 roundup
Cricinfo staff
13-Jan-2006
Peter McGlashan of Northern Districts fell just six runs short of what would've been the first century in New Zealand's Twenty20 competition as his side defeated Wellington in a high scoring match at the Basin Reserve in Wellington. Chasing Wellington's 185, McGlashan faced just 49 balls for his 94, with nine boundaries and three sixes. He shared a second wicket partnership of 124 with Nick Horsely, the opener, who scored 51. For Wellington, Chris Nevin, the opener, got his team off to a good start, scoring 45 off just 17 balls with three sixes. Grant Elliot and James Franklin put on fifty runs in just 12 minutes towards the end to take their team to 185. Graham Aldridge took 4 wickets for Northern Districts, including that of Stephen Fleming early in the innings.
A Canterbury line-up studded with national stars defeated Otago comfortably by 6 wickets in the inaugural Twenty20 league match at the Hagley Oval
in Christchurch. Chasing Otago's total of 153, Craig McMillan led the charge scoring 47 off 32 balls with six boundaries and shared a fifty partnership with Chris Cairns. Peter Fulton and Chris Harris guided Canterbury to the target with over three overs to spare. Earlier, the Otago innings was rocked by Carl Anderson, the Canterbury left-arm spinner, who took three wickets for just 15 runs off his four overs. Jonathan Trott top-scored for Otago with 35 and Greg Todd struck two boundaries and sixes for his 28 off 13 balls.
Full postAuckland suffer overwhelming defeat
Normal service resumed for Auckland as it slumped to an embarrassing loss to Central Districts at Trafalgar Park
Cricinfo staff
13-Jan-2006
Normal service resumed for Auckland as they slumped to an embarrassing loss against Central Districts at Trafalgar Park. Buoyed by its surprise victory, albeit assisted by Duckworth-Lewis, in midweek against Northern it appeared Auckland had finally found its way in the one-day game. In a rain-shortened game Central dominated. Jamie How and Ross Taylor tore the attack apart with 87 and 84 not out respectively as Central posted 225 for 4 in 42 overs. Michael Mason (3 for 14 from seven overs) then took the top off the Auckland order as they crashed to 106 for 9 in 28.2 overs. The injured Kerry Walmsley did not bat. Mayu Pasupati (31) and Rob Nicol (28) provided more than half Auckland's runs.
Full postYounis and Yousuf lead Lahore leather-hunt
An inspired 90 from Younis Khan, India's tormentor in the previous series back home, and two contrasting knocks from Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Yousuf put Pakistan in a dominant position on the first day of the series at Lahore
Pakistan 326 for 2 (Younis 147*, Yousuf 95*) v India
Scorecard and ball-by-ball-details
Scorecard and ball-by-ball-details
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As openings go, this one was out and out one-sided. One team rejoiced after an inspirational century and two vital fifties, under sunny skies on a featherbed of a pitch, and took control. Another side started the day with a selection conundrum and ended it with several other riddles to ponder over.
Pakistan made the most of their fortune at the toss. They saw off the new ball, consolidated in the second session, and finished with a mighty flourish, shredding the bowling to bits. India, not for the first time in the last year, ran into a red-hot Younis Khan and wilted in ideal batting conditions in a half-full, yet joyous, Gadaffi Stadium. No greentop, no wintry conditions; simply one jolly run-fest. Welcome to Pakistan.
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