Report
Auckland attack plundered as Outer Oval hoodoo continues
Central Districts who last month rubbed Auckland's noses in the Eden Park Outer Oval dirt by dismissing them for 73 in a Shell Cup game, put the home side through another form of torture by scoring 397 for six wickets on the first playing day of
Don Cameron
13-Feb-2001
Central Districts who last month rubbed Auckland's noses in the Eden Park Outer Oval dirt by dismissing them for 73 in a Shell Cup game, put the home side through another form of torture by scoring 397 for six wickets on the first playing day of their Shell Trophy match today.
Auckland made Central Districts bat first on a pitch that might have played tricks after the rain which stopped any play on the first day.
It was a gamble that went hugely wrong as Craig Spearman led a blistering CD batting charge with 96, Mathew Sinclair maintained the free-scoring pressure with 145, and Ben Smith (57) and Glen Sulzberger (34) played brisk cameos as the weary Auckland bowlers tried to stem the flood of runs.
Only in the last hour, when Auckland dismissed Sulzberger, Mark Douglas and Sinclair at a cost of 16 runs, did the home bowlers appear to have any bite or accuracy in their attack.
Full postSourav Ganguly sets chepauk afire with electrifying 142
Indian captain Sourav Ganguly set Chepauk afire on Tuesday
Santhosh S
13-Feb-2001
Indian captain Sourav Ganguly set Chepauk afire on Tuesday. He did
pretty much what he wanted with the India B attack to score an
electrifying 142 off 106 balls as India Seniors finished with the
record total of 392 for six in 50 overs in the Challenger Series match
at the floodlit MA Chidambaram stadium.
The total compiled by India Seniors was the highest in domestic one
day cricket. The previous highest was 379 for eight by Wills XI
against Hyderabad at Rajkot in the Wills Trophy tournament in 1995-96.
In reply, India B with Sachin Tendulkar getting a sparkling 77 and
Dinesh Mongia a superb 102 stayed in the fight for some time but in
the face of an unlikely target, they faltered and were all out for 362
in 46.4 overs go give India Seniors a 30 run victory, their first in
the competition. Yesterday, India Seniors had lost to India A by four
wickets. Tomorrow, India A take on India B in the final round robin
match before the two top teams meet in the final on February 15.
Electing to bat on winning the toss, India Seniors were of to flying
start straightaway with Ganguly and Shiv Sundar Das getting to an
early rhythm against Dodda Ganesh and Surendra Singh. The left arm
pacer Surendra Singh from Jammu & Kashmir, failed to make an
impression. In the fifth over of the day, Ganguly was caught while
hooking at a short pitched bouncer. The ball was judged to be a no
ball by the square leg umpire and Ganguly got a reprieve.
Das (25, 35 balls, 3 fours) was the first batsman to be dismissed,
bowled by JP Yadav in the 11th over. That was the only success India A
had in the first 15 overs.
Full postGujarat crush Baroda by ten wickets
Gujarat crushed Baroda by ten wickets in the Under-22 West Zone league match at the Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara on Tuesday
Staff Reporter
13-Feb-2001
Gujarat crushed Baroda by ten wickets in the Under-22 West Zone league
match at the Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara on Tuesday. Opting to bat
first on the opening day, Baroda were all out for 217 before the end
of the day's play. But for opener D Salvi's 130, Baroda could not have
even neared the 200 run mark. Salvi was the eighth batsman to be
dismissed. During a 266-minute stay at the crease, Salvi faced 165
balls and hit 19 fours and one six.
In reply, Gujarat were helped to a 80-run first innings lead thanks to
a fine 122 by NK Patel. He shared a 142-run third wicket stand with
skipper K Damani (57). Gujarat were finally all out for 297. Baroda in
their second innings were bundled out for just 164. Skipper R
Chandorkar was the top scorer with a fine 72. The wickets were shared
all round. With the target being just 85, it was only a matter of time
before Gujarat closed the match in their favour. Openers A Sharma (12)
and PP Vora (66) helped their team romp home in 18.1 overs.
Full postTalk of 'match-fixing' dismissed as Pukekura Park rained out again
For the second day in succession, play in the under-19 Test between New Zealand and South Africa at New Plymouth was abandoned without a ball being bowled
Peter Hoare
12-Feb-2001
For the second day in succession, play in the under-19 Test between New Zealand and South Africa at New Plymouth was abandoned without a ball being bowled. Heavy overnight rain was followed by persistent falls from a heavy cloud cover that has no wind to move it on.
The forecast for tomorrow is for showers. However, the parched conditions that have prevailed in the Taranaki region of New Zealand this summer (except when cricket is scheduled here) mean that the deluge of the past 36 hours has drained straight through to the subsoil. If the rain does stop overnight, play should start on time tomorrow.
CricInfo asked New Zealand manager Dayle Hadlee if there was any prospect of a contrived finish to the game by means of forfeitures and declarations, with South Africa being set a fourth innings run chase.
Hadlee's first response was that he had not given the matter any thought, but it took him only a couple of seconds to do so and to produce a forthright answer.
Full postSoft spots keep players off Cobham Oval
Whangarei produced one of its beautiful days today, a light breeze easing the heat under cloud-speckled blue skies
Chris Rosie
12-Feb-2001
Whangarei produced one of its beautiful days today, a light breeze easing the heat under cloud-speckled blue skies. Unfortunately, it did not produce any cricket.
Persistent rain over the previous day and a half coupled with high humidity meant that the covers could not protect the pitch and surrounds for this eighth-round Shell Trophy Northern Districts-Canterbury match from producing a tropical microclimate. It left the pitch soft and strategic points on the bowlers' run ups like sponges.
Early inspections immediately ruled out the morning session. A further umpires' inspection at lunch moved the next decision-time back to 2.30pm when another session of pressing into the bare patches on the pitch and scuffing the run-ups, particularly at the Okara Park end, put the decision off until 3.30pm.
At that point, the captains reached mutual agreement that it was in their best interests to allow the drying process to continue for the rest of the day and return to make a fresh start tomorrow. The toss was clearly the key. Neither would have been interested in either subjecting their top order to a searching couple of hours on an interesting pitch or, alternatively, their pacemen to unsafe bowling conditions.
Full postNevin and Gillespie band together to produce grand recovery
Chris Nevin and Mark Gillespie are men of such like personality, players whose approach to cricket is so similarly uncomplicated, twins in temperament and disposition, that they became ideal collaborators today when Wellington needed an answer to a
Steve McMorran
12-Feb-2001
Chris Nevin and Mark Gillespie are men of such like personality, players whose approach to cricket is so similarly uncomplicated, twins in temperament and disposition, that they became ideal collaborators today when Wellington needed an answer to a dire situation on the first day of their Shell Trophy match against Otago at the Basin Reserve.
Neither made a hundred, though both deserved to as, in concert, they helped Wellington recover from 51/5 before lunch to 272 in their first innings after they had lost the toss and been forced to bat first on a green and gently seaming pitch.
And they collaborated as wicket-keeper and bowler on the cunningly-conceived dismissal of a key player, Matt Horne, as Otago were left 42/3 in timid response when bad light stopped play 30 minutes before scheduled stumps.
Nevin was out for 99 a few minutes before tea, ending a partnership with Gillespie which added 127 in 102 minutes and helped Wellington put on 150 at a cost of two wickets in a second session in which the tide of the match turned. The Wellington wicket-keeper later chided himself, not for missing his second Trophy century when he sweetly hooked a delivery from Craig Cumming directly to Chris Gaffaney at square leg, but for being out so close to an interval.
Full postIndia A defeat India Seniors by four wickets
Sparkling performances by Nayan Mongia who hit 28 not out (32 balls, five fours) and Ajit Agarkar who scored 19 not out (19 balls, 3 fours) enabled India A to complete a rather convincing four wicket victory over the fancied India Seniors with 13
Santhosh S
12-Feb-2001
Sparkling performances by Nayan Mongia who hit 28 not out (32 balls,
five fours) and Ajit Agarkar who scored 19 not out (19 balls, 3 fours)
enabled India A to complete a rather convincing four wicket victory
over the fancied India Seniors with 13 balls to spare in the opening
match of the Hero-Honda NKP Salve Challenger Series at the floodlit MA
Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Monday.
Replying to India Seniors' total of 240 for nine in 50 overs, India
were 197 for six in the 44th over. At this stage, the match looked
sure to go to the wire. Mongia and Agarkar however made short work of
their task, as they took heavy toll of the 45th over bowled by Ashish
Nehra, getting 14 runs. Mongia who started off slowly, was into rhythm
soon and played some crisp strokes. Agarkar also played a dominating
innings striking the ball cleanly under tremendous pressure.
Ultimately Mongia got the winning boundary off Zaheer Khan.
Actually India A got off to a shaky start losing three wickets with
just 57 on the board. Sadagopan Ramesh (11), Sridharan Sriram (20) and
Rahul Dravid (14) were all back in the pavilion in quick succession.
H Kanitkar (55) and Jacob Martin (32) steadied the boat, adding 77
runs for the fourth wicket. RS Sodhi too chipped in with a useful 29.
He hit a huge six off Virender Shewag over long on to set the tempo.
Then came the climactic partnership between Agarkar and Mongia. Zaheer
Khan was easily the best of the bowling with the figures of
9.2-2-28-3. Rathour blotted his copy book with two dropped catches.
Full postEngland secure early tour victory
In front of a sprinkling of English spectators being cooled by circular fans in the pavilion and five contented ponies chewing on a grass bank, England completed their first victory of the tour at P
Charile Austin
11-Feb-2001
In front of a sprinkling of English spectators being cooled by circular fans
in the pavilion and five contented ponies chewing on a grass bank, England
completed their first victory of the tour at P. Saravanamuttu Oval today.
They defeated a Sri Lanka board President's XI, which contained four players
with Test experience, by 165 runs and will travel south to the coastal town
of Matara tomorrow satisfied with their first 10 days in Sri Lanka.
They will be given extra cheer by the news from New Zealand that Sri Lanka's
master off spinner, Muttiah Muralitharan, has aggravated the groin injury
that he sustained during Sri Lanka's ill-fated tour of South Africa. The
true extent of the injury is as yet unclear. The fact that it is a
recurrence of an earlier injury though is bound to be of great concern to
the Sri Lankan management.
Hussain was delighted with his team's performance: "I was very pleased with
the team. We bowled well and created a lot of chances." Nevertheless, he
warned that the team would have improve if they are to succeed in the Test
series: "We beat a decent side today, but in ten days' time the side we play
is going to be a lot better. We saw how well that Dilshan and Tillakaratne
played here and they can't even get in the national team. Everybody has got
some work to do."
The Sri Lankan board President's XI resisted the English bowlers for 63
overs today, but were always unlikely to bat out the day having lost three
wickets last night. They started the morning well though as the impressive
Tillakaratne Dilshan followed his sparkling knock in the first innings with a
cameo 45 from 78 balls in the second.
Full postSwann spins England A to victory
England A completed a comprehensive win over Windward Islands today earning maximum points in the Busta Cup and a free day on the beach before they travel to Anguilla for their seventh round match against Leeward Islands
Kate Laven
11-Feb-2001
England A completed a comprehensive win over Windward Islands today earning
maximum points in the Busta Cup and a free day on the beach before they
travel to Anguilla for their seventh round match against Leeward Islands.
The game was wrapped up quickly in St Lucia after England A set Windwards a
target of 159 to avoid an innings defeat. Having been dismissed for 288 in
the morning session, England A needed less than 50 overs to snap up all ten
wickets, seven of them going to the spin attack of Graeme Swann, who
finished with match figures of 9-62 to earn him man of the match award, and
Chris Schofield who took 3-45.
Few of the Windward batsmen put up any resistance though Devon Smith made a
watchful 42 and John Eugene held up the tourists progress with a powerfully
struck 23 before being bowled around his legs by Schofield.
By 5.00pm, the presentations had been made and the Vodafone shirts were back
on the field playing football as part of their warm down exercises. But
despite having three victories in the tournament, they still cannot be
assured of their place in the semi-finals until the results of the other
matches in Berbice and Nevis are known later tomorrow.
Full postWI Domestic: Ryan Hinds rewrites record
Barbadian teenager Ryan Hinds rewrote the regional cricket record books yesterday with a haul of nine for 68 against the Leewards at Grove Park, Nevis
11-Feb-2001
Barbadian teenager Ryan Hinds rewrote the regional cricket record books yesterday with a haul of nine for 68 against the Leewards at Grove Park, Nevis.
Hinds, who celebrates his 20th birthday on Saturday, bettered the nine for 76 taken by former Leeward Islands and West Indies slow bowler Derek Parry, for the Combined Islands against Jamaica at Sabina Park in 1980.
"I know this year people saw me as a part-time bowler, but I just decided that I had to play a role as an allrounder in the team," Hinds said yesterday.
Two other bowlers have taken nine wickets in an innings in regional first-class cricket. Trinidadians Bernard Julien in 1982, and Rajendra Dhanraj in 1997, both took nine for 97.
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