Report
Kaluwitharana sentences England to 3-0 defeat
England's foot weary cricketers lost the final One-Day International of a three-match series by ten-wickets at the Sinhalese Sports Club today
Charlie Austin
27-Mar-2001
England's foot weary cricketers lost the final One-Day International of a three-match series by ten-wickets at the Sinhalese Sports Club today. Whilst they will be disappointed to have been outplayed by a slick Sri Lankan side during the past week, they will at least rest content in the knowledge that their defeat takes little away from a largely successful winter's work.
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Time to come home Photo CricInfo |
Sri Lanka know that they have merely taken the crumbs from the table. They wanted the Test series most, but will take pride nonetheless in the fact that they now resemble a well-oiled machine in one-day cricket with their free flowing batsmen, crafty bowlers, and cat-like fielders.
Duncan Fletcher admitted on Monday that England need to pay greater attention to their one-day cricket and plan their preparations more carefully in the future. Their performance today highlighted the urgency of that situation. This winter they have lost six out of the eight ODI played and they recorded the three lowest totals against Sri Lanka in their 23-match history. Worse still, today was the first time that England have lost by ten-wickets in their 325 game history.
Full postLaw defies averages to lead Bulls to glory again
What a match
John Polack
27-Mar-2001
What a match. What a season. What a climax.
At the end of what might come to be remembered as one of the all-time great matches in Australian first-class history, Queensland has prevailed here at the 'Gabba
ground in Brisbane to win a thrilling Pura Cup Final against Victoria by a margin of four wickets.
But the Bulls didn't grasp a fourth domestic first-class title - one which gave them back-to-back victories for the first time in their history - without weathering close to
three hours of extraordinary drama on the final day of this memorable 2000-01 summer.
Controversy hit the Final in the fifth over of the last day when Queensland captain Stuart Law (47*) was awarded the benefit of the doubt - courtesy of a series of
inconclusive television replays - after it had appeared that he had been wonderfully caught by a diving Michael Klinger at third slip from the very first ball that he faced.
Full postSouth Africa draw with Board XI
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, March 26 - To the surprise of absolutely nobody, South Africa drew their three-day warm-up match against a West Indies Cricket Board XI at the Kensington Oval on Monday
Marcus Prior - MWP
26-Mar-2001
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, March 26 - To the surprise of absolutely nobody, South Africa drew their three-day warm-up match against a West Indies Cricket Board XI at the Kensington Oval on Monday. By the time hands were shaken, the Board XI had reached 84 for one, chasing an unlikely victory target of 228 to win from just 38 overs.
The only disappointment for the South Africans will be that they did not
reinforce their overall superiority by troubling the Board XI more obviously
in their second innings. Openers Daren Ganga (33 not out) and Leon Garrick
(26) both looked untroubled as they accumulated comfortably.
Garrick fell as the game dwindled to the kind of inconclusive result
only cricket can produce after three hard days of competition, the Jamaican
failing to time a pull off Andre Nel to see the ball loop up towards Gary
Kirsten at square-leg, who took a good catch as he dived forwards.
Despite the flat conclusion to the game, it was a very good workout for
the South Africans and a valuable opportunity for the non-test players to
stretch their limbs on a long tour during which they will get little playing
time.
Full postGibbs shows his class as South Africa opt for practise
South Africa added just 67 to their overnight 29 without loss in the first session as they squeezed the life out of their three-day game against a West Indies Cricket Board XI at the Kensington Oval on Monday
Marcus Prior - MWP
26-Mar-2001
South Africa added just 67 to their overnight 29 without loss in the first session as they squeezed the life out of their three-day game against a West Indies Cricket Board XI at the Kensington Oval on Monday.
Going to lunch on 96 for one, with Herschelle Gibbs 45 and Boeta Dippenaar 21, the South Africans lead by 180 with just two further sessions left in the match.
Gibbs and Gary Kirsten made a solid start to the final morning, Kirsten in particular accumulating in his familiar fashion with well-timed back-foot shots behind square on the off-side. He had reached 26 after an hour when the left-arm wrist-spinner Dave Mohammed got one to pitch and turn away from the left-hander.
As Kirsten drove, the ball was taken by Leon Garrick at first slip and the Board XI went up as one. Umpire Vincent Bullen agreed and Kirsten was on his way, albeit slowly, the impression being it had been bat to ground rather than bat to ball.
Full postRailways seal semifinal date with Punjab in Ranji Trophy
Railways entered the semifinals of the Ranji Trophy on the strength of their 214 run first innings lead against six time champions Karnataka at New Delhi's Karnail Singh Stadim on Monday
Staff Reporter
26-Mar-2001
Railways entered the semifinals of the Ranji Trophy on the strength of
their 214 run first innings lead against six time champions Karnataka at
New Delhi's Karnail Singh Stadim on Monday. Promoted to open the innings,
Karnataka's Barrington Rowland made an unbeaten century as the visitors who
were set an academic fourth innings target of 633, closed the game on
279/4. Railways, which finished runners-up to Tamil Nadu in the Ranji
Trophy way back in 1987/88, have not had a particularly successful time
since. They face the daunting prospect of a clash against Punjab, now
installed as title favourites, at Mohali in the semifinals from April 5-9.
Railways resumed their second innings on the fifth morning at 385/6, secure
in the knowledge that they led overall by a staggering 599, with four
wickets still in hand. The off breaks of Vijay Bharadwaj snared all three
wickets to fall as the hosts declared on 418/9.
First innings centurion S Sahu fell in the fourth over of the day for just
23 but the early interest centred on whether Yere Goud, unbeaten on 78
overnight, would get to his century. Goud did not quite succeed, falling
for 92 (268 balls, 9 fours and 1 six) and skipper Abhay Sharma closed the
innings at the fall of Zakir Hussian five runs later. Speedster Dodda
Ganesh collected the best figures of 3/63 while Bharadwaj finished with 3/77.
In the 64 overs that remained, Rowland, who made a century on his Ranji
Trophy debut for Karnataka last season, moved serenely to his second ton in
the competition, closing on an exact 100 (189 balls, 9 fours). Rowland
added 52 for the first wicket with Mithun Beerala, who made a breezy 35 off
just 27 balls with eight sparkling boundaries, and another 59 for the
second wicket with Vijay Bharadwaj (43). No. 4 GK Arun Kumar, who opened in
the first dig, made a brisk 27 including two fours and two sixes.
Full postVisions of back-to-back titles brighten for Bulls
Queensland seems poised for victory but, after four twisting and turning days of a fascinating Pura Cup Final, only a brave or a foolhardy pundit would conclusively rule out Victoria's chances
John Polack
26-Mar-2001
Queensland seems poised for victory but, after four twisting and turning days of a fascinating Pura Cup Final, only a brave or a foolhardy pundit would conclusively
rule out Victoria's chances. With one day of the 2000-01 summer left to complete, the Bulls are at a scoreline of 2/137 in their second innings. They need only to
draw the match or to collect eighty-seven further runs in order to successfully defend their status as Australia's premier domestic first-class team.
Remorseless, relentless, exacting. Under a Brisbane sky that was again generally decorated by only light clouds, it was another day of furiously hard, competitive
cricket. And, at the end of it all, it was the Bulls who emerged with the advantage. In large measure, this was because they made a succession of timely
breakthroughs during the early part of the day and then staved off the possibility of the regular clatter of wickets when it came their own turn to bat.
As regularly as the complexion of this match has fluctuated, the Bushrangers have never quite been able to put their noses in front. Today, the comparatively quick
departures - forty minutes apart and on either side of the day's first drinks break - of overnight batsmen Jonathan Moss (19) and Matthew Elliott (98) maintained an
advantage for Queensland which it once more refused to relinquish.
After extending his resilient fifth wicket partnership with Elliott to a mark of forty-nine runs, Moss perished when he was drawn into defending a delivery from
speedster Ashley Noffke (2/79) which pitched just short of a driveable length and nipped away from him fractionally off the seam to attract a feathered outside edge.
Full postOrissa trounce MP by seven wickets, gatecrash into Ranji semis
An Orissa team sans Shiv Sunder Das and Debashis Mohanty reached their first ever Ranji Trophy semifinal with a seven wicket triumph over hosts Madhya Pradesh at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium in Gwalior on Monday
Staff Reporter
26-Mar-2001
An Orissa team sans Shiv Sunder Das and Debashis Mohanty reached their
first ever Ranji Trophy semifinal with a seven wicket triumph over hosts
Madhya Pradesh at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium in Gwalior on Monday.
Chasing a target of 192 in a minimum of 75 overs, Orissa lost three quick
wickets but an unbroken century stand between Rashmi Ranjan Parida and
Pravanjan Mullick helped them cruise to victory with more than ten overs to
spare. In a semifinal encounter from April 5-9, Orissa will challenge four
time Ranji Trophy champions Baroda for a place in the Ranji Trophy final.
Madhya Pradesh began their second innings on the fifth morning at 153/6,
leading by 111 with four wickets in hand. The unbroken seventh wicket
partnership between wicket keeper Ankit Sriwastava and skipper Chandrakant
Pandit swelled to 64 before the former gave seam bowler Mullick his third
wicket. Pandit stuck around for a little longer, top scoring with precisely
50 (58 balls, 6 fours), before being stumped by G Gopal off leg spinner
Jagannath Das.
Trailing by 42 on the first innings, Madhya Pradesh's only hope lay in
forcing an outright victory. Pandit closed shutters on 233/9 at the fall of
Rajesh Chauhan to give his four man spin attack an opportunity to bowl out
Orissa on a fifth day wicket. MP made their intentions clear, opening the
bowling with off spinner Chauhan and leg spinner Narendra Hirwani.
Orissa openers PK Das and Suresh Kumar adopted an ultra-cautious approach
which failed to yield dividends as both fell in successive overs to Chauhan
and Hirwani respectively, leaving the score at 26/2 in the 20th over. Soon
Orissa slumped to 52/3 as skipper Sanjay Raul fell to Hirwani and at that
moment their thoughts must have focused on saving the match rather than
taking up the gauntlet and winning outright.
Full postLancashire make a good start on Day 1 at Belville
The Lancashire batters made a fine start to their 3 day match versus Boland Academy at Belville, Cape Town
John Dawson
26-Mar-2001
The Lancashire batters made a fine start to their 3 day match versus Boland Academy at Belville, Cape Town.
After being put into bat on a slightly damp wicket,the visitors amassed 337 runs before finally declaring with 6 wickets down and 45 min. play left in the first day. Ryan Driver continued his super form,batting for nearly two sessions for his 93.
Tim Roberts made a quick fire 70 and Joe Scuderi was left unbeaten on 77. Their was disapointment for John Crawley for the first time on the tour when he was out out on the second ball after the drinks break when he was going well towards a big score.
The Academy had 10 overs to negotiate at the end of the day and did so without losing a wicket but they failed to get their total into double figures.
Full postControversy hampers South African progress in Barbados
South Africa turned in a thoroughly disciplined and determined display on day two of their three-day match against a West Indies Cricket Board XI on Sunday put their noses in front in what has been a well-contested match
Marcus Prior - MWP
25-Mar-2001
South Africa turned in a thoroughly disciplined and determined display on day two of their three-day match against a West Indies Cricket Board XI on Sunday put their noses in front in what has been a well-contested match. By stumps, South Africa had reached 29 without loss, with Gary Kirsten 18 and Herschelle Gibbs 11, a lead of 113 after limiting the Board XI to just 186.
After an encouraging start in which both Daren Ganga and Ricardo Powell excelled, the Board XI suffered a chronic middle order collapse around the tea break, four wickets falling for just three runs, three of them to the left-arm spin of Nicky Boje. Captain Shaun Pollock had delayed bringing Boje into the attack (he was the seventh South African to bowl) after giving back-up spinner Paul Adams a chance to make a case for the inclusion of two spinners in the South African Test XI.
Adams bowled well enough, but his rhythm was upset when two balls were called wide to his clear astonishment. Matters were made worse when he appeared to have snapped up a sharp return chance offered by Travis Dowlin, but as the South Africans celebrated, the batsman stood his ground and the umpires ruled in his favour.
Denied and incensed, Adams hurled the last ball of the over back at the stumps, destroying the wicket and only narrowly missing Dowlin. When the batsman fell to Boje shortly after tea for 16, Pollock made no secret of where he thought the batsman should be heading.
Full postBaroda enter semis as Tamil Nadu succumb meekly
Tamil Nadu's resistance, but for a sixth wicket partnership of 72 runs between Hemanth Kumar and JR Madanagopal, was totally passive
Staff Reporter
25-Mar-2001
Tamil Nadu's resistance, but for a sixth wicket partnership of 72
runs between Hemanth Kumar and JR Madanagopal, was totally passive.
Baroda holding a clear advantage when play resumed, wrapped up their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal by 160 runs at the Gujarat State Fertilizer Corporation ground in Baroda on Sunday. The victory, achieved before lunch on the fourth day, put the hosts in the penultimate round where they await the winners of the match between Orissa and Madhya Pradesh.
Resuming at 50 for three in quest of a tough victory target of 323, Tamil Nadu were never really in the picture. In the first over itself, they lost Thiru Kumaran without any addition to the total. And in the next over Ajit Bhoite bowled Reuben Paul and Tamil Nadu were reeling at 55 for five.
The other overnight batsman Hemanth Kumar and Madanagopal then came together to push the score into the realms of respectibility. They added 72 runs off 16.2 overs before Hemanth Kumar was caught by Williams off Valmik Buch for 56. In a three hour stay at the crease, Hemanth faced 149 balls and hit five fours. Madanagopal fell a little later, caught by Bhoite off Buch for 45. Madanagopal faced 67 balls and hit three fours and three sixes. The tail offered little
resistance and Tamil Nadu were all out for 162. Medium pacer Rakesh Patel was the most successful bowler with four for 47 while off spinner Bhoite (3 for 35) and left arm spinner Valmik Buch (3 for 38) too had their share of the spoils.
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