Report
Rain interrupts England's smooth progress
England were deprived of valuable batting practice by a violent thunderstorm in Matara shortly before tea today
Charlie Austin
16-Feb-2001
England were deprived of valuable batting practice by a violent thunderstorm in Matara shortly before tea today. Within minutes of bad light stopping play, the outfield was awash and, with no cricket possible for the rest of the day, the crowd were treated to the dubious pleasure of watching three rotund Englishmen playing cricket in the briefest underwear imaginable.
Although the bloated supporters may have begged to differ, the focus of attention today remained the fitness of Ashley Giles and, 24 hours after complaining of increased stiffness of his Achilles tendon, it remains unclear whether England will be deprived of their premier spinner in the First Test Match in Galle.
The left arm spinner practised gingerly this morning and is expected to bat in the second innings. Dean Conway, the England physiotherapist, refused to rule out the possibility of him bowling in the second innings, but does not expect to be able to make a final decision on his fitness for the Test match until Tuesday.
Conway does not believe the injury to be a long-term concern and has thus not recommended that a replacement be called for at the present juncture. This being the case and with just six days remaining until the Galle Test Match, the England management are clearly optimistic that the Warwickshire spinner can bowl through the injury, like he has done on occasion in the past three years.
Full postEvenly-poised game to be finished tomorrow
Rain has interrupted the first in the three-match one-day series between the Under-19 teams of New Zealand and South Africa at Owen Delany Park, Taupo
Peter Hoare
16-Feb-2001
Rain has interrupted the first in the three-match one-day series between the Under-19 teams of New Zealand and South Africa at Owen Delany Park, Taupo. The game will be finished tomorrow.
The day's second, and final, rain interruption came with South Africa 76 for one chasing 255 for victory. Over the full course of 50 overs the game would have been evenly poised.
Under the Duckworth/Lewis method, the situation favoured the South Africans in the event of a reduced-overs resumption. Had it been possible to bowl the fifteen overs necessary to get a positive result, South Africa would have needed only 34 to win, providing that they lost no more wickets. In this situation, the New Zealanders were not eager to resume.
Both camps agreed to come back tomorrow to finish the game in progress, rather than attempt to contrive a finish today. Though the playing conditions do not, strictly speaking, allow a reserve day, this is a rare victory for common sense.
Full postMasakadza becomes first black Zimbabwean to hit first-class century
History was made at Harare Sports Club today when Hamilton Masakadza defied the weather and the CFX Academy bowlers to record the first century ever scored in first-class cricket by a black Zimbabwean player, in only his second match at this level
John Ward
16-Feb-2001
History was made at Harare Sports Club today when Hamilton Masakadza defied
the weather and the CFX Academy bowlers to record the first century ever
scored in first-class cricket by a black Zimbabwean player, in only his
second match at this level.
Mashonaland finished the truncated first day with their score on 253 for three, Andy Flower (69) and Craig Evans (33) as the not out batsmen.
Remarkably, considering the amount of rain Harare has had over the past few
days, the match between Mashonaland and the CFX Academy started on time,
although in very damp and overcast conditions. The Academy won the toss and
put Mashonaland in to bat.
Mashonaland began their innings slowly. According to captain Trevor Penney,
the pitch was slow and the outfield very slow and heavy, making run-scoring
difficult. Three times the players were driven off by rain before lunch,
the third time by such a deluge that further play looked unlikely.
Full postBulls prove pest for Warriors with easy one-day win
BRISBANE - Queensland proved a pest for Western Australia tonight when it sent its arch-rival limping into next weekend's one-day cricket final with a loss at the Gabba
AAP
16-Feb-2001
BRISBANE - Queensland proved a pest for Western Australia tonight when it
sent its arch-rival limping into next weekend's one-day cricket final with a
loss at the Gabba.
The Bulls - and the Warriors for that matter - had little to gain from
tonight's contest but Queensland ignored the points table and cruised to a
65-run win in their final preliminary match of the Mercantile Mutual Cup.
With Martin Love (124) and Jimmy Maher (87) stoking the fire, the Bulls
surged to 8-306 from their 50 overs before dismissing the Warriors for 241
in the final over.
The visitors were already assured of hosting next weekend's final before
they walked on to the Gabba but they will need a better showing at home to
defend their title.
They were down and virtually out in the second over after the dinner break
when Ryan Campbell (four) and Simon Katich (zero) fell within three balls.
The small crowd then watched the Bulls end their disappointing season on a
sound note, defusing a century stand from Murray Goodwin (59) and Mike
Hussey (57) to record their third consecutive win.
Full postRain dominates first day of Logan Cup clash
Remarkably, considering the amount of rain Harare has had over the past few days, the match between Mashonaland and the CFX Academy started on time, although in very damp and overcast conditions
John Ward
16-Feb-2001
Remarkably, considering the amount of rain Harare has had over the past few
days, the match between Mashonaland and the CFX Academy started on time,
although in very damp and overcast conditions. The Academy won the toss and
put Mashonaland in to bat.
Mashonaland began their innings slowly. According to captain Trevor Penney
the pitch was slow and the outfield very slow and heavy, making run-scoring
difficult.
Three times the players were driven off by rain before lunch, the third time by such a deluge that further play looked unlikely. The score was then 52 without loss after 19.4 overs, Gavin Rennie on 28 and Hamilton Masakadza 23. Neither batsman had been in much trouble as the bowling never looked threatening, but obviously quick scoring was scarcely possible.
Against all expectations, play restarted at 1.30. The Academy finally broke
through at 65 when Rennie, cutting at Matthew Townshend, was caught low down
in the gully by Keith Dabengwa. Inevitably, the next batch of rain arrived
soon afterwards, sending the players off until tea. Twenty-seven overs had been
bowled and Mashonaland were 69 for one (Masakadza 32, Trevor Madondo 2).
Full postOutright aspirations kept alive by Mail's inspiration
With a superbly crafted maiden first-class century, opening batsman Greg Mail has left the door open for an outright victory for New South Wales after three days of the Pura Cup match against Tasmania here at the Sydney Cricket Ground
John Polack
16-Feb-2001
With a superbly crafted maiden first-class century, opening batsman Greg Mail has left the door open for an outright victory for New South Wales after three days of
the Pura Cup match against Tasmania here at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Mail's ascent to a score of 176 was the defining individual performance of the third day and
has left only Tasmania's ten second innings wickets standing between the home team and success.
Albeit that it was compiled on a pitch that still remains well in favour of the batsmen, Mail's stout innings compelled him to ally enormous powers of concentration with
his neat, compact technique. But, over more than eight hours at the crease, he performed the job brilliantly to pilot his team to a first innings score of 530 and a lead of
161 runs. The Tasmanians made their way to a mark of 0/33 by stumps but will need to bat well throughout tomorrow's play to avert defeat.
If maximum points are to be secured, though, then the Blues will need to display considerably more imagination in the field and with the ball than either side has done
to this stage of the match. Again today, the weather was gloomy and the outlook equally so for the bowlers. Because not only was the batting sound but the pitch was
on the docile side again at best.
Resuming with his score at 87, Mail was not necessarily the only batsman who looked in command. In fact, for much of the early part of the day, it was young tyro
Michael Clarke (41) who stole the show with the series of accomplished off side drives that he added to his solidity in defence.
Full postDolphins and Jumbos all square after two semifinal legs
Crushed by nine wickets in Wednesday's first leg, Eastern Province found the bowlers to square their Standard Bank Cup semi-final against KwaZulu-Natal with a 28-run-run victory at Kingsmead on Friday night that takes the two sides into a
Peter Robinson
16-Feb-2001
Crushed by nine wickets in Wednesday's first leg, Eastern Province found the bowlers to square their Standard Bank Cup semi-final against KwaZulu-Natal with a 28-run-run victory at Kingsmead on Friday night that takes the two sides into a sudden-death third leg at the same venue on Sunday.
Where EP both batted and bowled poorly on Wednesday, they rediscovered their game on Friday, defending a total of 225 for eight by bowling Natal out for 197 in 40.5 overs.
Meyrick Pringle broke through the top of the Natal batting with a beautiful opening spell of controlled swing bowling that reduced the home side to 27 for three and then when he came off, Nantie Hayward took over.
Left out of the EP team on Wednesday, Hayward returned to bowl a characteristic mixture of wides and unplayable balls to take three wickets as the middle order crumbled and at 52 for six Natal seemed dead and buried.
Full postRichardson makes a statement as Otago cement draw
Mark Richardson had a point to make when, without a backward glance, he agreed to stumps being drawn early on the final day of Otago's Shell Trophy match against Wellington at the Basin Reserve, though he was six runs from a tidy century
Steve McMorran
15-Feb-2001
Mark Richardson had a point to make when, without a backward glance, he agreed to stumps being drawn early on the final day of Otago's Shell Trophy match against Wellington at the Basin Reserve, though he was six runs from a tidy century.
It was tea and the match was meandering ... had been for some time in muggy conditions as a siesta-like stupor had overtaken the day and the game. By its end, only mad dogs and Englishmen would have persisted in the forlorn pursuit of a result.
Otago were 241/1 and had no chance of knocking off the massive target of 487 which Wellington had placed before them 20 overs before stumps on the third day ... had long since given up trying.
And Wellington had already achieved their objective from a match between teams placed first and second on the Trophy table. They had two first innings points and had lost all hope of taking the nine wickets which would have given them outright victory.
Full postUp-and-down Auckland seize astonishing victory
Auckland maintained their topsy-turvy course through the Shell Trophy competition when they raced away to a bizarre four-wicket victory over Central Districts on the Eden Park Outer Oval today - succeeding with the unlikely task of scoring 366 to win
Don Cameron
15-Feb-2001
Auckland maintained their topsy-turvy course through the Shell Trophy competition when they raced away to a bizarre four-wicket victory over Central Districts on the Eden Park Outer Oval today - succeeding with the unlikely task of scoring 366 to win on the last day.
After losing the first day to rain, Central Districts so dominated the second and third days, scoring 589 runs for the loss of seven wickets, declaring both innings closed, and apparently shutting Auckland out of any chance of victory.
In between the two mountains of CD runs, Auckland managed a humble 224 for eight wickets, declared.
It was this declaration, obviously made with the agreement of Craig Spearman, the Central captain, that eventually left Auckland so much time today to score so many runs.
Full postNorthern take maximum points as Parlane stars
The combination of what proved to be a generous Canterbury declaration and a Michael Parlane century brought Northern Districts a timely outright win in their eighth round Shell Trophy match at Whangarei today
Chris Rosie
15-Feb-2001
The combination of what proved to be a generous Canterbury declaration and a Michael Parlane century brought Northern Districts a timely outright win in their eighth round Shell Trophy match at Whangarei today.
The five-wicket victory with two overs to spare left them equal with Wellington on 26 points at the top of the table with two rounds to play, setting up the possibility of a classic finish to the season when the two teams meet in the last round.
Parlane's century, his sixth in first-class cricket, was the highlight of the day. Scored off 182 balls, it came in stanzas: quick early, a steady middle and a pugnacious finish.
His 105 was the dominant contribution to Northern's 275 for five. However, classic left-handers' drives from Joseph Yovich (28 not out) and Matthew Hart (24) marked the latter part of the innings as they assisted a solid Grant Bradburn (59 not out) in ensuring the chase remained on course after Parlane's departure at 176 for four with 98 still required for victory.
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