Report
Coventry and Mahwire seal Zimbabwe's victory
Charles Coventry produced an extraordinary unbeaten 102 from 108 balls as Zimbabwe A beat their Pakistani counterparts by 51 runs
Cricinfo staff
21-May-2005
Zimbabwe A 232 for 7 (Coventry 102*) beat Pakistan A 181 (Mahwire 3-44) by 51 runs
Scorecard
Scorecard
Charles Coventry produced an extraordinary unbeaten 102 from 108 balls to rescue Zimbabwe A from a shaky start, as they recovered to beat their Pakistani counterparts by 51 runs at Harare. Coventry came to the crease at 54 for 4, after a middle-order collapse of 4 for 24 had left Zimbabwe reeling.
But, with Stuart Matsikenyeri hanging in for a gritty 55 from 89 balls, Coventry began to turn the innings around. The pair added 68 for the fifth wicket, and then - after another flurry of wickets - Blessing Mahwire dug in for an impressive 41, before falling to the final ball of innings, having added 102 for the seventh wicket.
Pakistan's reply never got off the ground. They were 50 for 5 and then 88 for 6, and though the lower order attempted to regroup, Mahwire was on target with the ball as well, ripping out three wickets for 44. Mohammad Khalil gave Zimbabwe a late alarm by clubbing four sixes in his 39, but that was the highest score of the Pakistani innings.
Full postAfridi melts West Indies' resistance
West Indies lost their 11th match out of 12 as Pakistan sealed the series
The Bulletin by Andrew Miller
21-May-2005
Pakistan 258 for 8 (Shoaib 51, Inzamam 51) beat West Indies 218 (Afridi 4-40) by 40 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
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Pakistan condemned West Indies to their seventh straight one-day defeat of the season, and their 11th in 12 completed matches since their victory in the final of the Champions Trophy, as Shahid Afridi ripped his legspinners through a bamboozled tail for figures of 4 for 40. His efforts came on the back of a solid if unspectacular Pakistani batting performance, and ensured that West Indies will have nothing but pride to play for in tomorrow's third and final match.
After winning the toss and batting first, Pakistan struggled to dominate a spirited West Indian bowling attack, but once each of their top eight had reached double figures, they were able to muster a competitive total of 258 for 8. The main men of the innings were Shoaib Malik and Inzamam-ul-Haq, who made a brace of 51s, and Younis Khan, who seemed set to complete a half-century of his own until he was brilliantly caught for 48 in the final over of the innings, by a one-handed Chris Gayle, diving to his left at backward point.
Full postSussex ease past Nottinghamshire
Murray Goodwin and Carl Hopkinson set Sussex on course for victory in the C&G Trophy
Cricinfo staff
18-May-2005
Sussex 197 for 6 (Goodwin 59, Hopkinson 51) beat Nottinghamshire 195 for 9 (Patel 61*) by four wickets
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A fifth-wicket partnership of 103 between Murray Goodwin and Carl Hopkinson set Sussex on course for a leisurely four-wicket victory against Nottinghamshire, as they progressed to the third round of the C&G Trophy.
Set 196 to win, Sussex endured an early alarm as Ryan Sidebottom made the new ball talk, removing both Ian Ward and Mike Yardy - the conqueror of Bangladesh - for ducks in his first over. Mark Ealham then added the scalps of Chris Adams for 21 and Matt Prior, flashing to backward point, for 28, as Sussex slipped to 71 for 4.
Full postWest Indies tumble to 59-run defeat
Today's encounter in St Lucia is a must-win match for West Indies
Andrew McGlashan
18-May-2005
Pakistan 192 (Salman Butt 43) beat West Indies 133 (Abdul Razzaq 4-29) by 59 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
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A disciplined Pakistan performance in the field allowed them to ease to a 59-run win in St Vincent and take a 1-0 lead in the series. Faced with a target of 193 West Indies' batting slumped in familiar fashion against a varied attack and, once the top-order was blown away, they folded meekly as Abdul Razzaq finished with 4 for 29.
All the Pakistan seamers bowled tightly and intelligently, with Naved-ul-Hasan particularly impressive, and they were backed up by Shahid Afridi's mixture of brisk legbreaks and googlies. An alert fielding performance, which showed the hallmarks of the hard work put in by Bob Woolmer since he took over as coach, strangled the West Indies' batting and led a series of poor strokes.
Full postClarke capitalises on Gloucestershire errors
Surrey have ended Gloucestershire's domination of the C&G Trophy
Edward Craig at Bristol
17-May-2005
Surrey 232 for 7 (Ramprakash 84, Clarke 62*) beat Gloucestershire 230 for 8 (Taylor 74) by three wickets
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Surrey, and Rikki Clarke in particular, ended Gloucestershire's domination of the C&G Trophy by defeating the defending champions for the first time in the competition since July 2002. And it is not since 1998, when the same teams met on the same ground in the then NatWest Trophy, that Gloucestershire have suffered such an early exit.
Clarke and the Surrey lower-order kept cool heads as they edged towards their target, but Gloucestershire threw away the game with three crucial errors towards the death. First, Mark Ramprakash - who batted with outstanding authority in a stand of 82 with Clarke - was missed on 74 in the 39th over. The aptly-named offspinner Martyn Ball, whose figure and action both get rounder as the seasons tick by, dived to field his own bowling when Clarke drove towards mid-on. He failed to hit the stumps from five yards out, with Ramprakash, Surrey's captain, stranded.
Full postRahim resists but Yardy stars for Sussex
Michael Yardy starred again, as Sussex overwhelmed Bangladesh by an innings and 226 runs
Cricinfo staff
17-May-2005
Sussex 549 for 7 dec (Yardy 257, Ambrose 78) beat Bangladeshis 127 and 196 (Rahim 63, Yardy 5-83) by an innings and 226 runs
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Scorecard
Michael Yardy demonstrated his allround credentials to complete a memorable personal double, as Sussex overwhelmed a demoralised Bangladeshi side by an innings and 226 runs. Following hot on the heels of his career-best 257, Yardy took 5 for 83 with his left-arm spin to hasten Bangladesh to a thumping defeat.
Deprived of the services of their captain, Habibul Bashar, who was forced to retire hurt on the second day after being felled by a bouncer from Jason Lewry, the Bangladeshi middle-order was rudderless. After a composed start from Nafees Iqbal and Aftab Ahmed, they slumped from 88 for 1 to 132 for 7, and it was left to the rookie wicketkeeper, Mushfiqur Rahim, to salvage some pride with his first fifty of the tour.
After their second-day debacle, in which they had folded for 127 in reply to Sussex's substantial 549 for 7 declared, Bangladesh were only ever fighting for respectability when play resumed this morning. For a time they appeared to have learned their lessons, and while Nafees and Aftab were negotiating the moving ball with some comfort during a 58-run stand for the second wicket, a morale-boosting draw was not entirely out of the question.
Full postAmjad stars in Pakistan A's victory
Mansoor Amjad turned in an outstanding allround performance as Pakistan A thrashed their Zimbabwean counterparts by 272 runs in a four-day match at Harare
Cricinfo staff
16-May-2005
Pakistan A 311 and 273 for 9 dec (Amjad 99) beat Zimbabwe A 200 and 112 (Amjad 6-19) by 272 runs
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Scorecard
Mansoor Amjad turned in an outstanding allround performance as Pakistan A thrashed their Zimbabwean counterparts by 272 runs in a four-day match at Harare. Resuming at 203 for 6 in their second innings, the Pakistanis added 70 more before declaring at 273 for 9, and then skittled the Zimbabweans out for just 112.
The hero of the day was Amjad, who resumed on 54 and went on to make 99 before being bowled by Graeme Cremer. The disappointment of missing his hundred by a run was soon mitigated when he came on to bowl, as he ran through Zimbabwe's batting line-up for the second time in two games. He finished with a match haul of 9 for 42, as only Neil Ferreira, the opener, managed a score of more than 20.
Pakistan A had earlier won the first four-day game by three wickets. The two teams will now clash in three one-day matches, to be played on May 18, 21, and 23.
Full postAllrounder Afridi turns it on
An outstanding allround performance by Shahid Afridi ensured that Pakistan got off to a rollicking start on their tour of the West Indies
Cricinfo staff
16-May-2005
Pakistanis 366 for 7 (Afridi 104, Youhana 87, Akmal 56*, Younis 53) beat Antigua and Barbuda President's XI 118 (Cornwall 46, Afridi 4-6) by 248 runs
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An outstanding allround performance by Shahid Afridi ensured that Pakistan got off to a rollicking start on their tour of the West Indies. Afridi carried on his excellent form from the series against India, blasting 104 off a mere 46 balls to power the Pakistanis to 366 for 7 against Antigua and Barbuda President's XI. He then turned it on with the ball as well, taking 4 for 6 from 6.4 overs as the home side were bundled out for 118, giving the Pakistanis victory by 248 runs.
Afridi turned it on from the start, allowing Salman Butt to contribute just 8 in a first-wicket stand of 50. Afridi's knock included 11 fours and eight sixes, including one off fast bowler Ricky Christopher which landed into a nearby church. By the time he was done, Afridi had scored 104 out of a team total of 141.
The Pakistanis continued to pile the runs, though, with Yousuf Youhana making a fluent 87 off 79 balls with seven fours and three sixes, and Younis Khan and Kamran Akmal chipping in with half-centuries down the order. Apart from Butt, the only other failure was Inzamam-ul-Haq, who was run out for a duck.
Full postBangladeshis in deep trouble at Hove
Bangladesh crumbled to 127 all out and, following on, were 12 for 0 in reply to Sussex's 549 for 7 declared
Cricinfo staff
15-May-2005
Bangladeshis 127 and 12 for 0 (Nafees 7*, Iqbal 1*) trail Sussex 549 for 7 dec (Yardy 257, Ambrose 78) by 410 runs
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Before this tour, it was blithely assumed that Bangladesh's batsmen would be unable to cope with the moving ball in England in May. It looks like the sceptics were right. On the second day at Hove, the Bangladeshis crumbled to 127 all out in reply to Sussex's mountainous 549 for 7 declared. By the close, they had edged to 12 for 0 in their second innings after being asked to follow on. Earlier it was Michael Yardy who had the chance to follow on from where he left off yesterday, on 180, by spanking a career-best 257. Then came the bowling onslaught.
Amid the carnage that was the Bangladeshi's first innings, their captain Habibul Bashar looked settled. But he was forced to retire when he was bashed on the head by a Jason Lewry bouncer; his visor snapped and he had to have stitches. The rest of the line-up unravelled on a decent batting track, and Bashar's 22 remained the top score. Five players made scores between 12 and 19, but couldn't move on past a paralyzing teen angst.
The 16-year-old Mushfiqur Rahim was one such batsman, clipping his first ball over gully for four; it narrowly evaded the fielder. He recovered, and looked cool and collected before departing for 18, one of the fast bowler Johannes van der Wath's three victims. Jason Lewry also took three, and Luke Wright 2 for 18 from 9; before today, Wright's first-class bowling average was 231. Nevertheless, two of the top order - Shahriar Nafees and Mohammad Ashraful - succumbed to his medium-pacers.
Full postDippenaar seals series whitewash
West Indies v South Africa, 5th ODI, Trinidad
The Bulletin by Andrew McGlashan
15-May-2005
South Africa 141 for 3 (Dippenaar 61*) beat West Indies 138 for 7 (Bravo 41*) by seven wickets
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South Africa showed their experience of 20-over cricket, as they completed a seven-wicket triumph, in the final one-day international to seal a 5-0 series whitewash. Boeta Dippenear finished his run-filled series with an unbeaten 61, as South Africa reached their target of 139 with five balls to spare, after heavy morning rain reduced the match to the minimum number of overs.
Dippenaar earned the man-of-the-series award after scoring 317 runs at 104, not bad for a player who was not originally in the one-day squad, and played in the first game of this series to allow AB de Villiers to rest. He is a far more confident player - with a greater range of strokes - than the character who did more harm than good to the South African middle-order in the Test series against England.
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