Report
Wellington go top as valiant Canterbury chase falls short
Canterbury made the tenth highest fourth innings total in New Zealand first-class history today, but it was not enough to defeat Wellington in their seventh round Shell Trophy match at Christchurch Village Green
Matthew Appleby
09-Feb-2001
Canterbury made the tenth highest fourth innings total in New Zealand first-class history today, but it was not enough to defeat Wellington in their seventh round Shell Trophy match at Christchurch Village Green.
Their 372 all out fell 39 short, and gave Wellington a win that took them to the top of the Trophy table.
Firebirds' coach Vaughn Johnson, and their captain Matthew Bell, were predictably "very, very happy" by the result, which came with 12.4 overs of the fourth innings remaining. The timing of their declaration at tea yesterday proved key, as did the meticulously thought out field placings and bowling changes that produced a win that the whole team had contributed to.
Richard Jones took the catch that finished it all off, from the bowling of Iain O'Brien. It was the young seamer's 30th wicket of his debut season.
Full postSpearman raises tempo to blast Central to unlikely win
For a team to win by scoring 66 more in the fourth innings than the next highest total in the match is a rare event, but that is what Central Districts achieved against Northern Districts at McLean Park, Napier today
Peter Hoare
09-Feb-2001
For a team to win by scoring 66 more in the fourth innings than the next highest total in the match is a rare event, but that is what Central Districts achieved against Northern Districts at McLean Park, Napier today.
They did it with something to spare in the end, winning by six wickets with more than 20 overs to spare thanks to a thrilling and violent innings from their captain, Craig Spearman.
The tempo of the match changed from dead slow to lightening quick and back again several times. It was a game that either side could have taken hold of at various stages, but that remained in the balance until Spearman took over.
His 90 took 81 balls and included 11 fours and five sixes, the biggest of which sent the ball over the McKenzie Stand and out of the ground, off Yovich. Spearman took on each of the Northern bowlers in turn, with the same degree of contemptuous aggression. Joseph Yovich suffered more than most. The match was won when his recall was greeted with an upward gear change by Spearman.
Full postReturn to Saravanamuttu bears fruit for England
England's return to the historic P
Charlie Austin
09-Feb-2001
England's return to the historic P. Saravanamuttu Stadium, 19 years after Sri
Lanka's inaugural Test Match, is proving to be a gainful one. Yesterday
there was Nasser Hussain shaking off the shackles of poor form, the tempered
class of Vaughan and further confirmation of Craig White's growing stature
as a batsman. Then, today, we witnessed a disciplined bowling performance in
sapping heat and an encouraging signs that Robert Croft can play an
influential role in the Test series.
That is not say that England have had it all their own way in this four-day
game against a Sri Lankan board President's XI. Indeed, the match is
intriguingly poised after a gleaming century by Tillakaratne Dilshan.
England eventually dismissed the Sri Lankans for 265 and will start their
second innings tomorrow with a lead of 64
Robert Croft's bowling figures of three for 77 from 19 overs may not have
been his most economical performance ever and he admits that he "still needs
to elimate the one bad ball an over", but his action is looking more
comfortable with each over he bowls. For a man who, in the words of Hussain,
"has spent the last four months sitting on his backside back home", he is
adapting well to Sri Lankan conditions.
Having been dropped from the Test side last summer and after a public show
of petulance, in which he openly considered making himself unavailable for
England, he buckled down to work on his action with Tom Cartwright in an
attempt to rediscover the form that brought him success when he first played
for England in 1996/7.
Full postSidebottom puts England A on top
Rain clouds over Castries threatened to sink England A's hopes of landing of a place in the Busta Cup semi-finals but Ryan Sidebottom made good use of the conditions to keep his team alive in the first day of the match against Windward Islands
Kate Laven
09-Feb-2001
Rain clouds over Castries threatened to sink England A's hopes of landing of
a place in the Busta Cup semi-finals but Ryan Sidebottom made good use of
the conditions to keep his team alive in the first day of the match against
Windward Islands.
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Ryan Sidebottom Photo CricInfo |
By the close, another top-class bowling spell from the Yorkshireman had put
England A into a strong position against the bottom-of-the-table side and
the fears that no play would be possible, because of the unseasonal rains,
proved unfounded.
No play today would have posed England A with a serious problem. With 39 Cup
points, England A are in a close battle with Guyana, Jamaica and Leeward
Islands and needed a result from this match in St Lucia to take the pressure
off during the final clash against top of the table Leeward Islands next
week.
Full postEast Zone U16s make confident start
East Zone Under-16s were 219/3 at close of play on the second day against North Zone Under-16s in the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy at the Rajinder Singh Institute Ground, Bangalore, on Friday
Staff Reporter
09-Feb-2001
East Zone Under-16s were 219/3 at close of play on the second day against North Zone Under-16s in the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy at the Rajinder Singh Institute Ground, Bangalore, on Friday.
North Zone resumed at 398/7 and played on for another 23 overs, before being bowled out for 491. Gaurav Gupta remained unbeaten on 177 made off 250 balls including a six and 24 boundaries.
Captain A Iqbal claimed the wickets of Abhishek Sharma (25) and Ankur Jund (0). Gupta and Sharma shared an eighth wicket partnership of 98 runs in 21.1 overs.
Last man Puneet Sharma (0) held on for 15 balls before being trapped lbw by SK Ray. Iqbal was easily the best of the bowlers with the figures of 33-10-110-5.
Full postIshan Ganda scores brilliant hundred
Rest of India Under-19s took a 63-run first innings lead over Haryana Under-19s on the third day of the MA Chidambaram Trophy match at the Maharaja Aggarsain stadium in Rohtak on Friday
Staff Reporter
09-Feb-2001
Rest of India Under-19s took a 63-run first innings lead over Haryana
Under-19s on the third day of the MA Chidambaram Trophy match at the
Maharaja Aggarsain stadium in Rohtak on Friday. In their second
innings, Haryana colts had moved to 247/7 at close of play.
The highlight of the day's play was the brilliant hundred by Haryana's
Ishan Ganda (101). Before being dismissed hit wicket, off the bowling
of Kashinath Khadkikar, Ganda struck 13 fours and a six, facing 152
balls.
Rest of India colts kept the pressure on the Haryana team by taking
wickets at regular intervals. Kiran Adhav was the pick of the bowlers
with 3/62. At one stage, Haryana U19s were 59/3 having lost Manvinder
Bisla (13), Bhuvnesh Sharma (26) and Sumeet Sharma (0).
Captain Ajay Ratra fell cheaply for just eight runs, lbw to Mohd Faiq.
Deepak Joon (17) and Joginder Sharma (28) helped Ganda build the
Haryana innings. Amit Mishra is unbeaten on 34 with Gaurav Vasisht on
three.
Full postAll power to Australia as international season concludes
Mark Waugh blasted a record-breaking century
John Polack
09-Feb-2001
Mark Waugh blasted a record-breaking century. Australia crashed its way to a record-breaking total. Shane Warne snared two wickets in his first over to scuttle the chase. Brian Lara was a shock recipient of the Player of the Series award. The home team capped the first unbeaten progression through the twenty-two year history of this
tournament with a powerful thirty-nine run win over West Indies in the second final of the 2000-01 Carlton Series. The Australians also created history by defeating
this particular opponent for the first time in six attempts in the finals of this competition. And a crowd of 31915 turned up to see it all. So not much happened today at
the Melbourne Cricket Ground really.
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Gilchrist and Steve Waugh Photo AFP |
The tale of this match, as it has been in so many of Australia's eleven straight wins over the bamboozled West Indian outfit, was written from early in the piece. By about as early, in fact, as the time that Mark Waugh (173) and Ricky Ponting (63) came together to assemble a partnership of 125 runs for the second wicket that made a
mockery of West Indian captain Jimmy Adams' invitation to the Australians to bat first.
To think that the tourists would have been able to contain the Australians to a manageable score would have depended upon several factors. A helpful pitch, a tight
line and length, and sharp ground fielding would all have helped immeasurably. Anything other than meek body language would have been handy. And quite possibly -
given the completely overwhelming pattern established this summer - it might have required the sight of a few pigs flying across the ground too.
Full postGood old-fashioned application puts Northern into winning position
A day that was twice interrupted by rain belonged entirely to Northern Districts, who should maintain their title challenge with six points for an outright win tomorrow
Peter Hoare
08-Feb-2001
A day that was twice interrupted by rain belonged entirely to Northern Districts, who should maintain their title challenge with six points for an outright win tomorrow. Northern's dominance was down to some attritional batting by Matthew Hart and Joseph Yovich and some spectacular hitting from Simon Doull.
For much of the day the scoring rate struggled to get above one and a half an over. When Doull came to the crease it increased fourfold.
After the dismissal of James Marshall for a season's best 29, Hart and Yovich settled into a partnership of 98 for the sixth wicket, one short of the Northern record against Central. Their priority was survival. The first boundary of the day did not come until 15 minutes before lunch. The Central seam attack continued to be testing and accurate, with Hefford giving away half run an over for much of the first session.
Before and after the first break for rain Hart increased the runflow, hitting eight fours and a six before being dismissed for 69 from 191 deliveries. Yovich followed soon after. He owed his survival to the judgement of the umpires on several occasions, but battled through, facing 133 deliveries without finding the boundary.
Full postOtago looking to complete Trophy double against Auckland
Otago will be looking to quickly take the wickets of two potential troublemakers for them in the Auckland batting lineup to set themselves up for another outright victory in their Shell Trophy match at Carisbrook today
Warwick Larkins
08-Feb-2001
Otago will be looking to quickly take the wickets of two potential troublemakers for them in the Auckland batting lineup to set themselves up for another outright victory in their Shell Trophy match at Carisbrook today.
Auckland finished the third day yesterday with only a 95-run lead with four wickets in hand.
Two of those wickets, Tama Canning and Kyle Mills are potentially troublesome wickets given their recent batting performances. Mills especially has shown an outstanding attitude when batting while Canning stole a vital Shell Cup match from Otago at Alexandra earlier this year.
Should Otago pick them up early then the chance for a win must be high.
Full postCanterbury make impressive start towards imposing target
Canterbury had two good sessions today
Matthew Appleby
08-Feb-2001
Canterbury had two good sessions today. It's not too often, ever since they threw away the Shell Cup on January 27th, in the second final at Jade Stadium, that you could say that.
They were set 378 to beat Otago in their last match. The red and blacks lost by 55 runs. What looks, on the face of it, a pretty impressive effort, was in fact a confused mixture of blocking, hitting and, ultimately, disappointment, in a game the home team could have won.
Coach, Garry MacDonald first wants his team to learn "how not to lose."
But if Canterbury try to not lose against Wellington tomorrow, with nine of MacDonald's men still to be dismissed and 278 needed off 100 overs, they will surely be defeated.
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