Report
Flowers 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 postSouth Africa wrap up series despite Lara's brilliance
After a couple of hiccups and stumbles on a nervous final day, South Africa duly completed an historic 82-run victory over the West Indies at the Antigua Recreation Ground to become just the second side in 27 years to win a Test series in the
Marcus Prior
10-Apr-2001
After a couple of hiccups and stumbles on a nervous final day, South Africa
duly completed an historic 82-run victory over the West Indies at the
Antigua Recreation Ground to become just the second side in 27 years to win
a Test series in the Caribbean. Resuming on 101-4, still requiring 222 to
win, the West Indies were dismissed for 240.
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Pollock - Man of the Match Photo CricInfo |
Captain Shaun Pollock and his men will celebrate the win long and hard,
and well they might. This may not be the greatest West Indies side, but no
series in this part of the world is surrendered easily, and the wins here
and in Trinidad were born of a cussed determination not to relinquish winning
positions. Fittingly, Pollock was also named man of the match for his
efforts in Antigua.
It was not a West Indies performance without some honour though,
personified in a daredevil 91 on the final day from Brian Lara which briefly
threatened to spoil South Africa's party. Lara set out on a calculated
assault on left-arm spinner Nicky Boje after lunch, and when he and Dinanath
Ramnarine moved past fifty for the ninth wicket, the West Indies required
less than a hundred for victory. With Lara in one of those moods, there were
one or two nervous glances between the South Africans.
Full postDon't hold your breath expecting the West Indies to survive
Nicky Boje, South Africa's left-arm orthodox spinner, who has been getting considerable turn from this four-day old pitch, probably holds the key to the final day
Colin Croft
10-Apr-2001
Nicky Boje, South Africa's left-arm orthodox spinner, who has been getting considerable turn from
this four-day old pitch, probably holds the key to the final day. He has already caused
considerable problems with figures of 3-40 from 19 overs, dismissing Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds and
Shivnarine Chanderpaul, all left-handers.
Hinds may have gotten two poor decisions, but the two decisions cancelled each other out.
Replays suggest that he had been given not out for a bat-pad catch when in fact he had hit the ball
on to his pad. Subsequently, when he was indeed given out, in similar fashion, it did seem that he
had not actually hit the ball that time.
In a simple equation, the West Indies need a further 222 to win the game while South Africa need six
more wickets. Each team has six hours or a minimum of 90 overs, and an unpredictable, wearing
pitch to achieve its respective objective.
If I were a betting man, I would probably put my money on the safe side, barring a torrential
downpour, that South Africa would win some time between lunch and tea on Day 5.
Full postSri Lankan spinners rout New Zealand after Jayasuriya and Jayawardene hit centuries
Sri Lanka scored a sensational victory over New Zealand by wrapping up victory by 106 runs in Sharjah in the second encounter in the ARY Gold Cup
Rafi Nasim
10-Apr-2001
Sri Lanka scored a sensational victory over New Zealand by wrapping up victory by 106 runs in Sharjah in the second encounter in the ARY Gold Cup.
Set a target of 270 the CLEAR Black Caps could only manage 163 as the Sri Lankan spinners proved beyond the comprehension of an otherwise well balanced New Zealand side.
This was a match of fluctuating fortunes in which Sri Lanka picked up from a disastrous start, having won the toss and elected to bat on a flat pitch. Daryl Tuffey struck twice in the first over of the day: Atapattu lbw with no score on the board as, for the second time in the tournament, Sri Lanka lost their first wicket to the second ball of the day. Moments later Kumara Sangakkara offered an outside edge to wicket keeper Chris Nevin, again off Tuffey.
Skipper Sanath Jayasuriya and his partner Mahela Jayawardene then succeeded in stemming the rot, adding 58 runs in the first 15 overs, gradually at first before Jayawardene completed a splendid 50 in 65 balls with seven fours. Jayasuriya, however, remained steady with 22 runs in 60 balls.
Full postSri Lanka continue their domination of Black Caps
The Sri Lankan Lions gave a tremendous display of their all-round skills to continue dominating the Black Caps, winning their fifth game in six outings this season by an emphatic 106 run margin
Agha Akbar
10-Apr-2001
The Sri Lankan Lions gave a tremendous display of their all-round skills to continue dominating the Black Caps, winning their fifth game in six outings this season by an emphatic 106 run margin. Sanath Jayasuriya, the Sri Lankan skipper, gave a tremendous display of his enormous all-round skills to lead his side to its first win in the three-nation ARY Gold Cup tournament with a magnificent yet uncharacteristic hundred, hitting 30 runs in one over, and taking two wickets bowling his left arm slow stuff. And as if that was not enough for a day's work, he also had a big hand in a run out at the fag end.
Despite all those heroics he was not the one to land the coveted Man of the Match Award. It went to the elegant and classy Mahela Jayawardene, who led the Lankan recovery after they had been reduced to one for two in the very first over. That, the Lankans managed to recover and put up a highly competitive 269 for the loss of nine wickets, which was mostly because Jayawardene led the fight back in association with his skipper, and in a highly dashing manner, outscoring the normally hard-hitting Jayasuriya by a surprising one runs to two.
The Kiwis on their turn, sparkled in the beginning, with a brand new pair of openers in Chris Nevin and Matthew Sinclair, putting 82 on the board for the first wicket by the 15th over. The pair had thrived against pacers Chaminda Vaas and Nuwan Zoysa, but then the spinners came on to tighten up, first to leash the scoring rate and then striking the telling blows. Muttiah Muralitharan accounted for a free-scoring Nevin and then for Andre Adams, promoted in the order to have a go at the celebrated off-spinner.
From none for 82 to two for 85, the Black Caps' charge was effectively stopped. So confident of having turned the tables was Jayasuriya that he took both Muralitharan and Kumara Dharmasena out of the attack, bringing himself and Russell Arnold in. Arnold caught and bowled captain Craig McMillan. That sort of broke their spirits, and the Lankan quartet of spinners maintained their stranglehold and also kept on taking wickets. Such was their domination that the third pacer, Akalanka Ganegama didn't even get to bowl. New Zealand eventually crumbled to 163 - so totally played out of the game despite giving a highly pleasing and athletic display on the field.
Full postAustralia take control of U17 'Test'
Australia took a firm grip of their Youth Test with England Under-17's at Adelaide on Tuesday
Sean Beynon
10-Apr-2001
Australia took a firm grip of their Youth Test with England Under-17's at Adelaide on Tuesday. They go into the third and final day of the game with a lead of 206 with eight wickets still remaining in their fist innings.
After skitilling England for 191 to give the Aussies a lead of 86, the home side took the game to England in the final session with some attacking batting. With Greg Hunt chipping in (28), it was Matthew Berriman who put the Australians in a position to win the game on day three. Still at the crease, he has made 63 from just 79 balls, striking 11 boundaries. The right-handed Victorian hit three crisp boundaries apiece from Gareth Andrew, Gary Scott and David Barrick as Australia raced to 100 at nearly five an over. Berriman saw the day out more sedately with Mark Faraday as Australia closed on 120-2.
Earlier in the day, England's innings coughed and spluttered, never more than threatening to get going. Barrick, alongside Joe Sayers and Bilal Shafayat made 30 without being able to go on. A 37 run stand between Barrick and David Stiff gave the innings some much needed impetus, though the Australian bowlers plugged away efficiently. Seamer Grant Sullivan was the pick of the bowlers, with 4-57, including the prize wickets of Shafayat and Scott. He did however, bowl a further seven no-balls in the day, taking his match tally to 15.
Australia will look to push on tomorrow to allow a good two sessions at the England batsmen.
Full postMatch swings dramatically Customs' way as Nadeem gets a fiver
If the second-day honours in the final of the Patron's Trophy were won by National Bank, the third day certainly belonged to Pakistan Customs
Mahmood Ahmad
09-Apr-2001
If the second-day honours in the final of the Patron's Trophy were won by National Bank, the third day certainly belonged to Pakistan Customs. The tables turned dramatically as the events at Gaddafi Stadium took a dramatic twist. Nadeem Iqbal, the right-handed pace man, bowled with fire and venom to claim a five-wicket haul, thus, bringing Customs on the brink of victory at the end of third day in this absorbing encounter.
Having started the third day with little hopes of survival, the Customs side sprung amazingly back to not only snatch the upper hand but also giving them a fair chance of picking the coveted trophy.
Starting the day with 245 for seven, the Customs players applied themselves perfectly to the task. The last three wickets added 96 runs to the total, including a ninth wicket stand of 65 between Wasim Yousufi and Stephen John, taking the score to 321.
Yousufi seems to be in excellent form in this final, as after taking four catches in the National Bank, he contributed with a handy 54 to boost his team's total.
Full postFourth Test becomes war of attrition
The third day of this fourth Test match has turned the game into something of a war of attrition
Colin Croft
09-Apr-2001
The third day of this fourth Test match has turned the game into something of a war of attrition. While
the going was tremendously slow, with only 132 runs being scored for the entire day, South
Africa are already leading by 229.
That is already ahead of the highest total ever made in the fourth innings at the Antigua Recreation
Ground to win a Test match - the 216-9 made by the West Indies to beat Pakistan last year. It will
now take some miraculous batting from the West Indies to save this game, much less win it.
With the sort of professionalism we have already seen from the visitors and the less than
convincing effort in the first innings of this game by the West Indies, perhaps the South Africans
already have enough runs to win this game.
According to Shaun Pollock, their captain, though, they are going to be safe before being sorry.
Full postWest Indies face uphill battle to save Fourth Test
A captain is judged by many things, not least his ability to lead by example
Marcus Prior
09-Apr-2001
A captain is judged by many things, not least his ability to lead by
example. That is exactly what South Africa's Shaun Pollock has done the
entire series against the West Indies, but on Monday in the fourth Test at
the Antigua Recreation Ground he offered another yardstick - a penchant for
the risky and adventurous, in the belief that fortune more often than not
favours the brave. Fortune, plus skill and professionalism, of course.
Setting the West Indies 323 to win off 131 overs looked generous. But by
the close on day four the home side had slumped to 101-4, and short of a
Brian Lara (5 not out) batting miracle (and something close to the
miraculous from his supporting cast, of whom Ramnaresh Sarwan is 4 not out)
the match - and the series - will be South Africa's before we go to the
fifth test in Jamaica.
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Boje - trump card Photo CricInfo |
After a positive start to the run-chase from Chris Gayle (12) and Wavell
Hinds (29) which helped the West Indies take tea at 32 without loss, four
wickets in the final session swung the momentum South Africa's way, perhaps
the last swing of the pendulum in a match in which the visitors have always
had their noses slightly in front.
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