Report
Astle extends India's finals misery
Nathan Astle's unbeaten 115 proved to be the crucial difference as New Zealand clinched the Videocon Cup with a six-wicket win at Harare
The Bulletin by S Rajesh
06-Sep-2005
New Zealand 278 for 4 (Astle 115* , Fleming 61, Sehwag 3-44) beat India 276 (Kaif 93, Sehwag 75) by 6 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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In an enthralling contest which ebbed and flowed throughout, Nathan Astle's unbeaten 115 proved to be the crucial difference as New Zealand clinched the Videocon Cup with a six-wicket win at Harare. Set a challenging 277 for victory, New Zealand got off to a stunning start, as Stephen Fleming (61) and Astle put together 121 in 18.1 overs, and then rode on that momentum despite a few wobbles against the spinners.
Astle's matchwinning effort overshadowed a couple of fine Indian batting performances - Mohammad Kaif played the outstanding hand for the second time in three games with a beautifully paced unbeaten 93, while Virender Sehwag finally got some batting form back with his first half-century in 16 ODIs.
Full postJaques takes NSW to crushing win
Needing only 104 for victory when the final day began, New South Wales crushed the New Zealanders on their way to a nine-wicket victory
Wisden Cricinfo staff
05-Sep-2005
New Zealanders 213 and 201 lost to New South Wales 286 and 1 for 129 (Jaques 70*) by 9 wickets
Scorecard
Scorecard
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Needing only 104 for victory when the final day began, New South Wales crushed New Zealand on their way to a nine-wicket victory. It was a tough start for a team that had publicly admitted that the Australian campaign would be tougher than the last time they toured. Phil Jaques remained unbeaten on 70, and Matthew Phelps was not out on 39 when the winning runs were scored.
Jacob Oram had Greg Mail caught in the day's third over for 13, but from then on Jaques and Phelps added runs at an easy pace. New Zealand's bowlers were economical, but could not get breakthroughs, adding to the feeling in Australia that their attack is ineffective.
Full postHussey stars in thriller against Victoria
Michael Hussey won the match award for his 60 in a rain-affected ING Cup game that seemed Victoria's for much of the day, only for them to lose the plot and allow Western Australia to clinch victory by four runs
Cricinfo staff
05-Sep-2005
Western Australia 7 for 128 (Hussey 60) beat Victoria 3 for 103 (Elliott 54) by 4 runs (D/L method)
Scorecard
Scorecard
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Michael Hussey won the match award for his 60 in a rain-affected ING Cup game that seemed Victoria's for much of the day, only for them to lose the plot and allow Western Australia to clinch victory by four runs.
The game was shortened to a 24-over-a-side encounter after rain and a wet ground delayed the start. Cameron White then won the toss and chose to field. Soon Western Australia were 4 for 44, and White's decision to insert the opposition was justified. However, Hussey scored runs rapidly, and he was aided by Kade Harvey, who made 19 in 19 balls. Hussey hit three fours and two sixes, and Jonathon Moss and White came in for severe punishment. Moss conceded 31 in four overs, while White gave away 35 in five.
Full postBahutule shines as Smith and Ontong get batting practice
Sairaj Bahutule bowled valiantly to take 4 for 64 in 31 overs with little support as Smith and Ontong get useful practice
Cricinfo staff
05-Sep-2005
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Scorecard
Sairaj Bahutule bowled valiantly to take 4 for 64 in 31 overs, but none of his fellow bowlers could back him up, as the South Africans strode to 226 for 5 declared on the first day of their tour game, in reply to which the Indians were 4 for no loss. Graeme Smith made a laboured 86 while Justin Ontong struck 70, but none of the other batsmen got the batting practice they needed before the first Test.
The South Africans began at a crawl, with Smith and Jacques Rudolph adding 72 in 174 balls. Rudolph showed little aggressive intent in his 26, compiled painstakingly off 103 balls, and was the first batsman to depart, run out by Amit Bhandari.
Smith and Ontong then added 92, before Smith, in sight of a century, was stumped by MS Dhoni off Bahutule's bowling (164 for 2). Ontong kept an end up, but wickets fell regularly, and Smith eventually declared a few minutes before the close. The timing of the declaration was a bit strange, as newcomer Hashim Amla, who has a first-class average of 50, was unbeaten on 2, and would surely have craved some more time out in the middle. He will, no doubt, bat higher up the order in the second innings.
Full postBacher destroys Warriors with unbeaten 158
A stunning unbeaten 158 by Adam Bacher at Sedgars Park in Potchefstroom was instrumental in the Lions's successful chase of a steep target of 305, set by the Warriors
Keith Lane
05-Sep-2005
Lions 308 for 2 (Bacher 158*, Ackerman 75) beat Warriors 304 for 7 (Jacobs 102, Henderson 69) by 8 wickets
Scorecard
Scorecard
A stunning unbeaten 158 by Adam Bacher at Sedgars Park in Potchefstroom was instrumental in the Lions successfully chasing down a steep target of 305 set by the Warriors. It was Bacher's highest score in the competition, as well as the Standard Bank Cup's second-highest score, and the result was that the Lions cantered home with eight wickets to spare in 43.4 overs. In the last ten overs of their innings, 105 runs were scored.
The Warriors had come out blazing after choosing to bat first on a batsman's dream pitch. When the Lions removed Dumisa Makalima early, Arno Jacobs came out and ravaged the bowlers with 102 runs off 105 balls. Tyron Henderson struck seven boundaries and two sixes in his 69 while Mark Boucher added a quick 42 in what appeared to be a winning total of 304 for 7. Derek Crookes, although expensive in his eight overs, took 3 for 72.
In reply, the Lions started briskly, but could not keep up with the required run-rate. Bacher stood firm, while Hylton Ackerman attempted to raise the scoring-rate. His 75 in 62 helped but they still needed nearly 10 an over in the final 10 overs. Bacher had taken 115 balls to reach his hundred and then decided to go into overdrive. In another 27 balls, he had 158 and the Lions had won a game in which 612 runs had been scored.
Full postMacGill puts Blues on course for victory
New Zealand's preparations for the first Test against Australia were dealt a severe blow when a tremendous spell of legspin bowling from Stuart MacGill sent them hurtling towards defeat in the tour opener against New South Wales
Wisden Cricinfo staff
05-Sep-2005
New South Wales 0 for 25 and 286 need another 104 runs to beat New Zealanders 213 and 201 (Sinclair 79, Richardson 50, MacGill 4-52)
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Scorecard
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New Zealand's preparations for the first Test against Australia were dealt a severe blow when a tremendous spell of legspin bowling from Stuart MacGill sent them hurtling towards defeat in the tour opener against New South Wales. Having started their second innings 73 in arrears, the New Zealanders had made fairly comfortable progress to 3 for 183 when MacGill triggered off a collapse that saw them lose their last seven wickets for just 18 runs. At stumps on the penultimate day, New South Wales were 0 for 25, needing ony 104 more for victory.
Until that almighty wobble, the New Zealanders had enjoyed the better of the day's exchanges. Jacob Oram had clean bowled both Brett Lee and MacGill first thing in the morning to keep the lead to well below a hundred, and then Mathew Sinclair and Mark Richardson had added 110 for the first wicket. MacGill broke that partnership, when Richardson tried to whack one over midwicket, and though Hamish Marshall went for 0, Scott Styris and Craig McMillan joined hands with Sinclair to build on the slender lead.
Full postSalman Butt's ton steers Pakistan to victory
Salman Butt's beautifully paced unbeaten 107 guided Pakistan to a convincing six-wicket win
The Bulletin by S Rajesh
05-Sep-2005
Pakistan 294 for 4 (Butt 107*, Inzamam 75, Malik 61) beat India 292 for 6 (Yuvraj 78, Sehwag 53) by six wickets
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India-Pakistan matches have a habit of throwing up unlikely heroes. Pakistan found one today in Salman Butt, whose beautifully paced unbeaten 107 guided them to a convincing six-wicket win in the Platinum Jubilee one-off match at the Eden Gardens. Set a daunting 293, Pakistan romped home with one over to spare, winning their fourth consecutive one-day international against India.
Just 20 years old and playing only his sixth one-day international, Butt showed none of the inexperience or immaturity that might have been expected from someone so raw. Playing in front of 90,000 spectators, most of them rooting for the opposition, Butt put in a completely nerveless display, totally overshadowing Yuvraj Singh's performance earlier in the day, when he made 78 off just 62 balls to power India to an imposing total.
Full postBichel takes Queensland to victory
South Australia's middle and lower-order batsmen waged a terrific rearguard action, but ultimately they couldn't thwart Queensland who took home all six points with a hard-fought 53-run victory at the Adelaide Oval
Cricinfo staff
05-Sep-2005
Queensland 316 & 279 beat South Australia 150 & 392 (Ferguson 93, Manou 81, Tait 58, Bichel 5-73) by 53 runs
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Scorecard
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South Australia's middle and lower-order batsmen waged a terrific rearguard action, but ultimately they couldn't thwart Queensland who took home all six points with a hard-fought 53-run victory at the Adelaide Oval.
Needing 446 for an improbable triumph, South Australia had started the day in dire straits at 5 for 138, but a superb 93 from the 19-year-old Callum Ferguson and significant contributions from Graeme Manou and Shaun Tait raised visions of an upset before Andy Bichel - who took 5 for 73 and finished with nine in the match - returned to mop up the resistance.
Full postHayden flays Essex with timely 150
Matthew Hayden made a timely return to form, smashing an unbeaten 150 in the last practice match before The Oval
Cricinfo staff
04-Sep-2005
Essex 502 for 4 dec (Cook 214, Bopara 135, Tait 2-71) drew with Australia 561 for 6 (Hayden 150 ret, Hodge 166, Katich 78, Haddin 59)
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Matthew Hayden has made a habit of plundering county attacks this summer and the story was no different at Chelmsford as he posted 150 against Essex before retiring to let others have a go ahead of the final Test on Thursday. After a humbling first day in which the home side racked up 502 before declaring, Australia's batsmen replied with their own mountainous total as the game ended in an inevitable draw.
Whether Hayden will play at The Oval or not, though, is still open to debate, regardless of his superlative record in practice tour matches this year. An average of 103.5, centuries in three of the six innings and fifties in all of them contrast starkly with a woeful Test summer, where he averages 22.5 and his top score is 36.
Full postYuvraj and Dhoni take India home
Tatenda Taibu led from the front with a classy half-century as Zimbabwe fought back bravely in the otherwise inconsequential final league game of the Videocon Cup
The Bulletin by Dileep Premachandran
04-Sep-2005
48.1 overs India 255 for 6 (Yuvraj 120, Dhoni 67*) beat Zimbabwe 250 for 9 (Taibu 71, Coventry 74, Agarkar 3-34)by 4 wickets
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Yuvraj Singh stroked a fabulous hundred and Mahendra Singh Dhoni bludgeoned a 63-ball 67 as India overcame another rotten display from the top order to ease to a four-wicket win over Zimbabwe in the final league match of the Videocon Cup. Yuvraj and Dhoni plundered 158 from just 140 balls to utterly transform a game that had been Zimbabwe's for the taking. It didn't help that Tatenda Taibu, who had sparked Zimbabwe's batting revival with a spirited 71, made a hash of a stumping off Sean Williams when Dhoni had made just 22, with India still 111 short of victory.
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