Report
Railways sniff outright victory over Punjab
A dramatic Punjab collapse late on the fourth day of their Ranji Trophy semifinal at Mohali's PCA Stadium handed Railways a gilt-edged opportunity of making their first Ranji final in 13 years
Staff Reporter
08-Apr-2001
A dramatic Punjab collapse late on the fourth day of their Ranji Trophy
semifinal at Mohali's PCA Stadium handed Railways a gilt-edged opportunity
of making their first Ranji final in 13 years. Punjab's cause was not
helped by three runouts, as they slumped from 323/3 to 356 all out in the
final session. At stumps, Railways were three without loss from two overs,
pursuing a target of 199 to win outright and emulate the class of 1987/88,
which however lost to Tamil Nadu at Chepauk.
Punjab went into the fourth day trailing by 152 with all ten second innings
wickets in hand, and knowing their only hope of forcing an unlikely victory
lay in setting a frantic pace. They did so through the first two sessions
on Sunday thanks to half centuries by four of their top five. Openers
Ravneet Ricky and Manish Sharma handed Punjab a splendid platform by
raising 97 for the first wicket in just 19.3 overs.
Sharma was in particularly belligerent form, clubbing 61 off just 56 balls,
including eight fours and two sixes in consecutive balls off left arm
spinner TP Singh, the first of which brought up his fifty. But Singh had
the last laugh, luring him outside the safety of the crease with a flighted
delivery outside leg stump, for keeper Abhay Sharma to complete the stumping.
Ricky and skipper Vikram Rathour proceeded to compile 51 for the second
wicket. Unlike his opening partner, Ricky played a tenacious hand, foraging
54 runs off 113 balls, before being caught behind off Kulamani Parida.
Rathour was caught at slip off the same bowler soon after for 31 to leave
Punjab in some discomfort at 159/3. Both Ricky and Rathour were unhappy at
the decisions handed out by umpire S Banerjee.
Pankaj Dharmani and Reetinder Sodhi collaborated in a rescue operation as
the hosts went into tea at 272/3. There was little inkling of the action to
follow as the pair extended their association to 164 when Sodhi was castled
by the medium pace of Harvinder Singh, as he went for an expansive cover
drive, for 89 (104 balls, 7 fours, 1 six).
Full postPatron's Trophy final: Naumanullah and Akhtar lead National Bank to a strong position on first day
Naumanullah and Akhtar Sarfraz capitalized on an excellent hundred-plus opening stand to add another 134 runs for the fourth wicket, helping National Bank to end the first day of the Patron's Trophy Grade I final against Pakistan Customs in a strong
Mahmood Ahmad
07-Apr-2001
Naumanullah and Akhtar Sarfraz capitalized on an excellent hundred-plus opening stand to add another 134 runs for the fourth wicket, helping National Bank to end the first day of the Patron's Trophy Grade I final against Pakistan Customs in a strong position at 324 for seven.
Both Customs and National Bank stuffed their sides with pacers as the wicket at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, having a fair amount of grass on it, promised help for the seamers. However, the docile nature of the pitch was soon laid bare.
After seeing off the hostile bowling spells by Stephen John and Nadeem Iqbal, the opening pair of National Bank, namely Shahid Anwar and the skipper Sajid Ali, settled down. Exploiting the lightening fast outfield under the sunny Lahore sky, both these ex-ODI players executed their shots with perfect ease.
Teasing and defying the Customs attack for as long as 24 overs, they piled up 113 for the first wicket, which contained 46 (85 balls) by Shahid and 59 (67 balls) by Sajid.
Full postWest Indies on the rack as SA put the squeeze on
The nip and tuck nature of the Test series between the West Indies and South Africa continued in the fourth Test at the Antigua Recreation Ground on Saturday, as the tourists tigerishly defended a low first innings score and reduced the West Indies
Marcus Prior
07-Apr-2001
The nip and tuck nature of the Test series between the West Indies and South
Africa continued in the fourth Test at the Antigua Recreation Ground on
Saturday, as the tourists tigerishly defended a low first innings score and
reduced the West Indies to 130-6 at stumps - a deficit of 117 - with captain
Carl Hooper 16 and Ridley Jacobs 1.
It could - and perhaps should - have looked so much better for the West
Indies at the close, as two wickets fell in the last 15 minutes of the
day to tip the balance back in South Africa's favour. First the recalled
Shivnarine Chanderpaul was very well caught by Daryll Cullinan at first slip
off Justin Kemp for 40 and then nightwatchman Mervyn Dillon played down the
wrong line and was bowled by Lance Klusener for a duck.
Chanderpaul fell just as he was starting to express himself, pulling
Klusener through midwicket for four and driving Kemp majestically to the
extra-cover fence. But if the Guyanan was undone by a good delivery, the
manner in which all of the first four West Indian wickets fell can surely
only have infuriated coach Roger Harper as one by one the batsmen presented
their scalps to the South Africans on a silver salver.
Chris Gayle (11) has looked a real talent throughout this series, but he
has also failed to convert several good starts into big scores. He came up
short again on Saturday as he drove loosely at Jacques Kallis, his feet
rooted to the crease as the ball flew off a thick edge to Shaun Pollock in
the gully.
Full postComfortable victory for Zimbabwe over Bangladesh in first One-Day International
On a beautiful sunny morning at Harare Sports Club, Bangladesh unwittingly signed their own death warrant by deciding to bat against Zimbabwe
John Ward
07-Apr-2001
On a beautiful sunny morning at Harare Sports Club, Bangladesh unwittingly
signed their own death warrant by deciding to bat against Zimbabwe. Those
who have known the pitches at Harare Sports Club over the last couple of
years would probably have fielded first, as the pitch tends to be liveliest
at the start of a match and settle down later. The amount of rain during
the past two months made it deceptively favourable to seamers, and Zimbabwe
would certainly have fielded given the choice.
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Blignaut bowls Akram Photo AFP |
The result was that Bangladesh could score only 151 for eight in their 50
overs, a total that never challenged Zimbabwe who enjoyed the better
batting conditions but took more than 43 overs to complete their task.
This was actually a considerable recovery for the tourists after their first
four wickets had fallen for 14 runs, virtually ending the match as a
contest.
The most likely hope of salvaging anything from batting in these
conditions would be to play safe but Bangladesh were too eager to get the score moving and paid the penalty. Heath Streak picked up one wicket and Bryan Strang two, both moving the ball sharply off the pitch, while Habibul Bashar was run out without facing a ball as the batsmen unwisely took on Guy Whittall's arm attempting a second run.
Full postManicaland Cricket Report
A disappointing weekend's first-class cricket for Manicaland saw them lose their final game of the season to the Mashonaland second team by 74 runs at Mutare Sports Club last Sunday
Nigel Fleming
06-Apr-2001
A disappointing weekend's first-class cricket for Manicaland saw them lose their final game of the season to the Mashonaland second team by 74 runs at Mutare Sports Club last Sunday. It was disappointing from the Manicaland skills point of view, the lack of spectator support and the
behaviour of the visitors.
The grassy pitch coupled with the amount of rain we've had in the last month fooled our young captain Neil Ferreira into thinking its nature had changed sufficiently to warrant fielding first. Born and bred Manica opening bowler Alec Taylor was dumbfounded on being tossed the ball after seeing his migrant skipper win the toss. Mutare Sports Club has been a bowler's graveyard for as long as cricket has been played there. Mashonaland promptly settled in and rattled up 325 by late afternoon.
Test players Stuart Carlisle with 76 and Dirk Viljoen (79) in a stand of 121 were prominent amongst the grateful run-getters, being particularly severe on a wayward four-over spell of leg-spin from Stuart Matsikenyeri. Ebrahim (33) and Gripper (31) also weighed in whilst Richie Sims toiled away with his off-spinners to finish with three for 68. Seamers Gary Brent and Jason Young picked up three apiece but failed to apply enough pressure to vindicate the decision to field first.
In falling 81 runs short of the visitors' first-innings total Manicaland threatened but never quite managed to live with their more fancied opponents. The reliable Sims hit a typically solid and reassuring 72
but it was the loss of Whittall for 29 to the mercurial talents of Andy Blignaut that ultimately put paid to their chances in the game. The 22-year-old son of Chivhu (formerly Enkeldoorn) farming stock, Blignaut has a beautiful whippy bowling action coupled with precocious batting talents, but his solitary test to date bears testimony to a failure to maximize bountiful talents. Those in the know rate him pound for pound higher than anyone in the local game, but the desire has been wanting so far.
Full postPollock leads SA recovery on first day in Antigua
The West Indies missed a golden opportunity to roll over the South Africans for under 200 in their first innings as South Africa - and captain Shaun Pollock and Nicky Boje in particular - fought their way back into the fourth Test to close day one on
Marcus Prior
06-Apr-2001
The West Indies missed a golden opportunity to roll over the South Africans
for under 200 in their first innings as South Africa - and captain Shaun
Pollock and Nicky Boje in particular - fought their way back into the fourth
Test to close day one on 210-7 at the Antigua Recreation Ground on Friday.
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Pollock - undefeated 36 Photo CricInfo |
Pollock (36) and Boje (28) underlined the the strength in depth of the
South African batting line-up with an partnership now worth 62 for the
eighth wicket. They came together as South Africa stumbled to 148-7, the
visitors reeling at the hands off debutant left-arm spinner Neil McGarrell.
The 28 year-old McGarrell finished with accomplished debut figures of
4-57 and bowled with patient control throughout. His performance looked for
much of the day to have vindicated the West Indies' decision to go into a
test match with two frontline spinners for the first time in 25 years. Once
again, though, the home side let themselves down in the field.
Full postBevan excels as Australia take Pepsi Trophy
Michael Gwyl Bevan is an ODI legend
Santhosh S
06-Apr-2001
Michael Gwyl Bevan is an ODI legend. After today's match-winning heroics with the bat he has an astonishing batting average of 57.41. Time and again he has carried Australia through to some remarkable victories. Friday was yet another crunch day for the touring Australians and he showed his class by making an unbeaten 87 to carry his team to victory in the fifth ODI match against India, played at the Nehru Stadium in Fatorda, Margao.
Required to make 266 to win, Australia made 269/6 in 48 overs to score an exciting victory. Going into the match at 2-2, both teams had everything to play for. The Australian run chase got off to a flying start with Matthew Hayden carrying on with his resounding form. He got into the act straightaway smashing boundaries off Srinath. He cracked a straight six off Srinath as the partnership between him and Gilchrist bulged to 70 runs off 10 overs.
Ajit Agarkar's first over cost him 17 runs, Gilchrist smashing a six and two boundaries. In the 11th over Srinath struck two heavy blows. First he removed Hayden who had made 36 runs (42 balls, 5 fours, 1 six) and then in the same over he had Ricky Ponting (4) caught behind by Vijay Dahiya.
Gilchrist saw to it that the Aussies did not go on the defensive by unleashing an attack on Harbhajan Singh and Srinath as runs flowed unabated. Gilchrist raced to his fifty off just 28 balls. With the introduction of spinners from either ends, runs started to come in trickles. The boundaries dried up as Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh kept a tight leash on the Aussie batsmen. Bevan and Gilchrist had to rely on quick running between the wickets.
Full postRailways consolidate on day two
Railways who performed beyond expectations on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy semifinal against Punjab at the PCA stadium in Mohali on Thursday, continued their good showing on the second day
Staff Reporter
06-Apr-2001
Railways who performed beyond expectations on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy semifinal against Punjab at the PCA stadium in Mohali on Thursday, continued their good showing on the second day. At stumps on Friday, they were in a position of considerable strength for, after having bowled out the hosts for 249, they replied with 203 for three off 86 overs.
First, the bowlers, continuing from where they left off on Thursday, allowed the last two Punjab wickets to get only two more runs, the innings progressing no more than nine balls. Former India medium pacer Harvinder Singh finished with five wickets for 66 runs.
For the rest of the day, the batsmen did their bit in helping Railways to consolidate. Openers Amit Pagnis and Sanjay Bangar put on 46 runs off 12 overs before the former was caught by substitute A Kakaria off Vineet Sharma for 27. Then Tejinder Pal Singh (26) and Bangar added 52 runs for the second wicket off 24.2 overs. And finally, the in form Yere Gowda (25) and Bangar were associated
in a third wicket partnership of 56 runs off 30 overs. The batsmen plainly grafted for runs in an attempt to occupy the crease for as long as possible. And Bangar was the leading exponent of this strategy. By stumps, the experienced 28-year-old right hander had played 250 balls for his 77, hitting 12 fours in the process.
Full postBaroda post an imposing total against Orissa
Baroda, inspired by a career best first class score of 181 by Nayan Mongia, finished with an imposing first innings total of 568 on the second day of their Ranji Trophy semifinal against Orissa at the Gujarat State Fertilizer Corporation ground in
Staff Reporter
06-Apr-2001
Baroda, inspired by a career best first class score of 181 by Nayan Mongia, finished with an imposing first innings total of 568 on the second day of their Ranji Trophy semifinal against Orissa at the Gujarat State Fertilizer Corporation ground in Baroda on Friday. By close, the visitors had just commenced their long haul by scoring four without loss in one over.
Resuming at 319 for two, Baroda did well to get to their final total. Mongia and skipper Jacob Martin resumed their third wicket association but at 342, Martin was leg before to Jayachandra for 86. The former India player batted almost four hours, faced 172 balls and hit 13 fours. Tushar Arothe joined Mongia and the two proceeded to figure in a fourth wicket partnership of 75 runs off 16 overs before the India wicketkeeper was finally dismissed. Mongia, whose previous best first class score was 165, was caught by Parida off Mohanty.
He batted 7-1/2 hours, faced 317 balls and hit 25 fours and a six.
There was no respite for the Orissa bowlers for Arothe and HR Jadhav (21) then added 47 runs for the fifth wicket off 16.4 overs. Then Sanjay Raul got among the wickets and Baroda slid from 464 for four to 499 for eight. Among those dismissed was Arothe who made 86. In a stay of 3-1/2 hours, he faced 156 balls
and hit 15 fours and a six.
However the tired Orissa bowlers encountered one last, unexpected hurdle with Valmik Buch (29) and Irfan Pathan (40 not out) adding 56 runs off 24 overs for the ninth wicket. The Orissa bowlers had a trying time in adverse conditions against a strong batting line-up. Mohanty sent down 41 overs to take three for 110. Two other bowlers conceded more than 100 runs - medium pacer Ajay Barik who captured one for 126 off 26 overs and off spinner Sanjay Satpathy who finished with two for 120 off 38 overs. The toil of the Orissa bowlers ie best exemplified by the fact that the Baroda innings lasted 760 minutes and 177 overs.
Full postHarvinder pushes Punjab onto the backfoot
A fine bowling spell by former India bowler Harvinder Singh (4 for 64) enabled Railways to push Punjab on to the backfoot in their Ranji Trophy semi-final match at PCA stadium, Mohali on Thursday
Staff Reporter
05-Apr-2001
A fine bowling spell by former India bowler Harvinder Singh (4 for 64)
enabled Railways to push Punjab on to the backfoot in their Ranji
Trophy semi-final match at PCA stadium, Mohali on Thursday. Ankur Kakkar's
laboured knock of 53 assisted Punjab to 247/8 at close on the opening
day.
Railways skipper Abhay Sharma had no hesitation in asking Punjab to
take first strike after winning the toss. Munish Sharma who opened
with Ravneet Ricky lasted just three deliveries. Trying to fend a
short rising delivery, he was caught at third slip by Yere Goud off
Harvinder Singh. Skipper Vikram Rathour joined Ricky but both found
the going tough as the bounce was inconsistent. The early morning
moisture in the wicket also helped the Railways pacemen. Both batsmen
opened their account with streaky shots to the vacant third man area.
The partnership between Ricky and Rathour mounted to 76 and just as
the picture was looking rosier for the Punjab team, Harvinder struck
once again as Ricky played an uppish drive straight into the bowler's
hands. Ricky's knock of 33 runs came from 86 balls with the help of
five boundaries. Rathour also departed soon after, driving an outgoing
delivery from Sanjay Bangar, the resulting snick being collected by
keeper Abhay Sharma at his individual score of 44.
Punjab's main hopes rested on Pankaj Dharmani who has scored a
plethora of runs this season. He started with a well timed cover drive
and proceeded to take boundaries each off Kulamani Parida, Harvinder
Singh and Sanjay Bangar. A sudden rush of blood terminated Dharmani's
innings as he tried to heave off spinner Parida over midwicket only to
find his middle stump uprooted. The Punjab team at this stage was
tottering at 114 for 4.
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