Report
Shaiza-inspired Pakistan surpass Dutch women by two wickets
Shaiza Khan, the Pakistan captain, gave a magnificent all-round performance to lead Pakistan women to yet another close victory against the visiting Netherlands
Mahmood Ahmad
12-Apr-2001
Shaiza Khan, the Pakistan captain, gave a magnificent all-round performance to lead Pakistan women to yet another close victory against the visiting Netherlands. After claiming four wickets with her leg breaks, she scored a valuable 30 with the bat to help her side reach the 167-run target for the loss of eight wickets.
Coming to the crease after Pakistan had lost six wickets for 97, Shaiza applied herself to the task as she added 49 for the eighth wicket with Batool Fatima to see her side through. She was the eighth woman out for Pakistan at the score of 165. However, she had done the damage by then.
The heroics by Shaiza apart, Pakistan owed their success to an excellent 55-run opening partnership between Zehmurad Afzal (20 off 43 balls) and Rabia Khan (21 off 59 balls). These two played with command and authority, defying the variable Dutch attack for as many as 15 overs.
Another factor which led to Pakistan's success was the number of extras given away by the Dutch bowlers. After a wayward performance in the first two matches, they bowled another 59 wides in a total of 63 extras, thus doing great damage to their cause.
Full postSouth Africa dismiss Vice-Chancellor' XI cheaply at Montserrat
South Africa dismissed the University of the West Indies Vice-Chancellor's XI for 218 from 47.5 overs in their one-day game at the picturesque but tiny Salem Oval in Montserrat on Thursday
Marcus Prior MWP
12-Apr-2001
South Africa dismissed the University of the West Indies Vice-Chancellor's XI for 218 from 47.5 overs in their one-day game at the picturesque but tiny Salem Oval in Montserrat on Thursday.
The game is being played as part of an effort to help regenerate the island after the catastrophic volcano of 1995, which forced over half the population to flee.
It was a good effort from the South African bowlers, who gave the batsmen little opportunity to free their arms in search of the boundary ropes. Only left-arm spinner Paul Adams was hit for six, once by test batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul and then again by retired West Indian fast bowler Curtly Ambrose, who is the match honouree.
Adams got his own back Chanderpaul top scored for the Vice-Chancellor' XI, striking 70 classy runs off 72 balls with a six and eight fours, but the rest of the batting order failed to fire after a useful start from captain Daren Ganga (45) and Leon Garrick (29).
Full postSouth Africans keep heads in Montserrat
South Africa kept their heads and ultimately ran out comfortable five wicket victors over the Vice Chancellor's XI at the beautiful Salem Oval in Montserrat on Thursday, the tourists winning with 12 balls to spare
Marcus Prior MWP
12-Apr-2001
South Africa kept their heads and ultimately ran out comfortable five wicket
victors over the Vice Chancellor's XI at the beautiful Salem Oval in
Montserrat on Thursday, the tourists winning with 12 balls to spare. It was
not a polished performance, but as a public relations exercise it was a
triumph as half the island's population made the most of a national holiday
to enjoy some international cricket.
Boeta Dippenaar (52) and Lance Klusener (41) were the backbone of a
stuttering South African run-chase, but once again captain Shaun Pollock
underlined his magnificent form with the bat. Pollock smashed the winning
runs with a four over midwicket to finish 37 not out. He was kept good
company towards the end by fast bowler Roger Telemachus, who struck a
belligerent unbeaten 20.
Earlier, South Africa dismissed the University of the West Indies
Vice-Chancellor's XI for 218 from 47.5 overs. It was a good effort from the
South African bowlers, who gave the batsmen little opportunity to free their
arms in search of the boundary ropes. Only left-arm spinner Paul Adams was hit for six, once by test batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul and then again byretired West Indian fast bowler Curtly Ambrose, who is the match honouree. Adams got his own back.
Chanderpaul top scored for the Vice-Chancellor' XI, striking 70 classy
runs off 72 balls with a six and eight fours, but the rest of the batting
order failed to fire after a useful start from captain Daren Ganga (45) and
Leon Garrick (29).
Full postMasterly batting by Afridi, Saeed and Inzamam puts New Zealand to the sword
Pakistan displayed its indomitable batting prowess by achieving a fabulous victory over the Black Caps in a thrilling encounter at Sharjah
Rafi Nasim
12-Apr-2001
Pakistan displayed its indomitable batting prowess by achieving a fabulous victory over the Black Caps in a thrilling encounter at Sharjah. New Zealand offered Pakistan a challenging target of 267 runs and almost no one thought that Pakistan could achieve it with such immaculate ease.
While Shahid Afridi laid the foundations of the triumph with a storming innings of 70, Saeed Anwar (81) in 75 balls and Inzamam (71) in 90 balls built up the tempo for this great victory. As a result Pakistan defeated New Zealand by 8 wickets. The manner in which the three batsmen punished the bowlers and enthralled the crowd was a display of batting par excellence.
The two teams confronted each other in the ARY Gold Cup, after an exciting series that ended in New Zealand just a month ago.
Today, the Black Caps won the toss and decided to bat on a pitch expected to help the batsmen on a hot and humid day.
Full postPakistan stroke their way to scintillating win
Chasing targets is not really a forte of the Pakistanis
Agha Akbar
12-Apr-2001
Chasing targets is not really a forte of the Pakistanis. More often than not they are known to stumble even when the target is not all that daunting. The Black Caps batting in fine fettle on Thursday set up a significant 267 to make, at an asking rate of 5.34. But this new-look Pakistan team under a new skipper seemed quite determined to do it right this time round, with Shahid Afridi leading their charge with a blitz of 70 off only 43 deliveries, bludgeoning seven fours and six really huge sixes.
This really was explosive stuff even by Afridi's standards! His innings enthralled the very sizable crowd in this Sharjah Cricket Stadium, but more importantly for his side, his knock was followed by big unconquered displays by Saeed Anwar (81, 95 balls, 10 fours, two sixes) and Inzamam (71, 90 balls, 10 fours) helping maintain their unbeaten run in this three-nation ARY Gold Cup.
Right when it seemed that he could coast past the hundred mark and put the issue beyond the Kiwis, all on his own, Afridi perished like he often does - essaying one big shot too many. In the course of this quite eventful innings, he did stroke his way to the fastest 50 of the tournament, off a mere 24 deliveries to be in line for the Shell Helix Fastest 50 Award.
The Pakistanis went for the jugular right from the word go, as Saeed was held back and the two young openers sent in with instructions to go for the kill from the word go. The rest was done by Afridi, and such a clean striker of the ball that he is, the way he went about polishing off the target, a normally quicksilver Imran Nazir seemed to look like a 'strokeless wonder'. And when these two were not striking boundaries, they were gathering singles and twos at such a quick pace that the normally very quick athletic Kiwi fielders too seemed to be slow in comparison.
Full postTo the victors, the kudos
It was wonderful while it lasted, but it probably was too much too late, or too little too late, whichever way one wants to take it
Colin Croft
11-Apr-2001
It was wonderful while it lasted, but it probably was too much too late, or too little too late,
whichever way one wants to take it. To be very honest, no team that makes 140 in any innings of a
Test match deserves to even have a chance to win a Test match, yet the West Indies did have that
chance, albeit a slim chance, while Brian Lara was at the crease.
At least Lara showed that he still has the goods to produce, especially under duress and severe
external stimuli. While he played well, he still needs, as he suggested, "to be as consistent as
players like Steve Waugh and Sachin Tendeulkar." For the sake of West Indies cricket, I hope that
consistency starts now. The youth of the West Indies team need some positive batting example.
Lara batted like a man possessed for his 91, and while, in the end, it was futile, it was wonderful
to watch, enjoy and even think "If only ..." His innings included eight fours and four sixes, and even
a chance too, badly dropped by Makhaya Ntini at square leg, a catch which would have given Nicky Boje
his fifth wicket. Ntini would have been overjoyed when Lara was eventually out.
However, Lara would find little solace in the fact that South Africa won by "only" 82 runs. While
Lara did all in his power, and was ninth out, the rest of the West Indies batting, especially the
middle order, should look at themselves in the mirror, and hopefully, they would not like what they
see there. In a few words, as Carl Hooper suggested, "We batted badly." At least Hooper is starting
to learn a bit too. He is now using tremendous understatements.
Full postShaiza Khan spins Pakistan women to narrow victory against Netherlands
Pakistan women whipped Netherlands by four wickets in the second match, played at National Stadium, Karachi, to take two-nil lead in the seven match series
Mahmood Ahmad
11-Apr-2001
Pakistan women whipped Netherlands by four wickets in the second match, played at National Stadium, Karachi, to take two-nil lead in the seven match series. In yet another poor display of ball-control, the Dutch bowlers threw 67 wides out of a total of 73 extras, while defending a meager 161.
This is the Dutch visitors¡¯ second defeat within three days, after their one-wicket humiliation in the first match of the series. In that particular match, they gave away 66 extras, including 45 wides to manufacture their own demise.
Apart from the number of extras conceded, the Dutch players were strangled by the Pakistan skipper Shiaza Khan. The right-handed leg break bowler removed the four top order batswomen to force the visitors against the wall from the start of their innings. She grabbed one more wicket after that to complete a magnificent five-wicket haul for just 35 runs.
Put into bat Pakistan skipper Shaiza Khan, the Dutch women were boosted by a well-made 58 by B Viguurs. Coming at the crease after the fall of five wickets, the right-handed Viguurs grafted her innings with caution after Shaiza had the done initial damage, reducing the visitors to 68 for five by the 19th over.
Full postAustralia victorious in U17 'Test'
The spinners dominated as Australia Under-17's secured a comfortable 90 run victory over their England counterparts in the Youth Test at Adelaide
Sean Beynon
11-Apr-2001
The spinners dominated as Australia Under-17's secured a comfortable 90 run victory over their England counterparts in the Youth Test at Adelaide. Chasing an unlikely 265 to win, England never came to terms with the guile of leg-spinner Luke Davis, who picked up five cheap wickets.
After skipper Joe Sayers had edged paceman Grant Sullivan through to Tim Paine, the spinners took sway. Indeed, spin accounted for almost 50 of the 74.4 overs bowled. Although Andrew Gale (36) and Bilal Shafayat (30) threatened to put England in with a chance of saving the game, wickets fell at regular intervals. Gale was stumped from the off-spin of Davis' spinner partner Matthew Burr, and Shafayat was trapped in front by Davis, the first of five leg-before decisions which cut through the middle order. Of the top seven, it was only Gary Scott - leg-before first ball - who failed to make a start. The others looked as though they might have just come to terms with the spinners before falling.
Davis picked up the final wicket, Chris Gilbert edging to slip, to give him his fifth wicket and Australia a deserved victory. Davis finished with 5-25; Burr 3-81. Earlier in the day, Matthew Berriman fell 18 short of his century as the Aussies tried to set up a declaration. Berriman hit a further two boundaries on the final day, his 82 coming from 97 balls. Mark Faraday made 43, allowing Australia to time their declaration perfectly on 179-5 to give them over five hours to bowl England out.
Full postFlowers power Zimbabwe to 3-0 win over brave Bangladesh
Zimbabwe duly wrapped up their one-day series against Bangladesh with a third consecutive victory, this time at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo and by 36 runs
John Ward
11-Apr-2001
Zimbabwe duly wrapped up their one-day series against Bangladesh with a third consecutive victory, this time at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo and by 36 runs. This was by far the most entertaining match of the three, not surprisingly since the pitch and outfield were in so much better condition than at Harare, and Bangladesh managed to lose with honour.
Bangladesh, hoping for a face-saving victory, had their hopes raised when they reduced their hosts to 39 for three. Then the Flower brothers took over with a fourth-wicket partnership of 148, and the match was prised from their grasp as Zimbabwe totalled a probably unassailable 308 for four. Grant Flower's unbeaten 142 equalled Zimbabwe's previous best one-day score by Dave Houghton against New Zealand in the World Cup of 1987/88.
The match began under unseasonably cloudy skies, but on a good-looking, if slightly green, pitch at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. Zimbabwe kept the same team again and have thus played the same eleven players throughout the series. Bangladesh made one change, dropping opener Al-Shahriar for 17-year-old all-rounder Mohammad Ashraful.
Zimbabwe batted on winning the toss, but lost three wickets for 39 as the ball moved around early on. Alistair Campbell (0) was given out controversially, caught at the wicket swishing vaguely at a ball well down the leg side, by umpire Russell Tiffin off Manjural Islam, and Dion Ebrahim (5), after one scintillating hit to the point boundary, was caught in the slips off the same bowler. Finally Guy Whittall (26), who had played a positive innings, was bowled by a ball from Mushfiqur Rahman that kept low as he attempted a pull, and dragged it on to his stumps. The Flower brothers came together in an attempt to rescue Zimbabwe from an unexpected crisis.
Full postCustoms beat National Bank by four wickets to clinch Patron's Trophy
Pakistan Customs lifted the Patron's Trophy after knocking off the required 155 runs for the loss of six wickets on the fourth day of the final against National Bank, played at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
Mahmood Ahmad
10-Apr-2001
Pakistan Customs lifted the Patron's Trophy after knocking off the required 155 runs for the loss of six wickets on the fourth day of the final against National Bank, played at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.
National Bank did go down in the match, but not until putting up a valiant fight in which they took four Customs wickets on the morning of the penultimate day of the five-day final.
Starting the day at 51 for two, still requiring 104 more runs to claim the ultimate honours, Customs lost their third wicket at 68. Nasim Khan, the top scorer in the Customs first innings could make 14 in the second before being adjudged lbw off the bowling of Zahid Saeed.
Aamer Bashir who made 70 in the first innings, stabilized the Customs innings, getting a fine 37 (52 balls, 6 fours) while adding 27 for the fourth wicket with Naved Latif. However, with the departure of Naved at the personal score of 12, the balance of the match tilted slightly in National Bank's way as their bowlers claimed three wickets, including that of Aamer Bashir, with the addition of 16 runs, reducing Customs to 111 for 6.
Full post