Report
North hit back after Mohanty's heroics
North and East Zones were jockeying in a tense battle for supremacy in their Duleep Trophy clash at the North-East Frontier Railway Stadium in Guwahati on Thursday
Staff Reporter
18-Jan-2001
North and East Zones were jockeying in a tense battle for supremacy in
their Duleep Trophy clash at the North-East Frontier Railway Stadium
in Guwahati on Thursday. Debashish Mohanty ripped through the muchvaunted North batting line-up with a six wicket burst to restrict them
to just 206. But two late strikes by Ashish Nehra threatened to
nullify East's advantage.
After North won the toss and elected to bat, Mohanty packed off
skipper Vikram Rathour for one in the third over, caught by wicket
keeper Deep Dasgupta who was to have a busy day. The 24 year old
Orissa medium pacer went on to inflict yet another failure on the
struggling Yuvraj Singh, taking a return catch when the batsman had
made just six.
Akash Chopra and Dinesh Mongia strove to restore parity but the former
was not in his elements. Having laboured for 44 balls to make nine,
Chopra, who was coming off two hundreds and a fifty in his last three
innings, fell to Javed Zaman. The third seamer Mihir Diwakar shared in
the spoils, removing the dangerous Virender Shewag, another batsman in
the midst of a purple patch, to leave North at 61/4.
The procession continued as Reetinder Sodhi, having put on 38 with
Mongia, was fired out by Zaman. Wicket keeper Vijay Dahiya barely
troubled the scorers, keeping his opposite number Dasgupta in business
by offering a catch off Mohanty. Off spinner Sharandeep Singh proved
to be a willing ally for Mongia as the two fashioned a 40 run stand in
just 5.2 overs. Sharandeep struck five boundaries and a six in a rapid
29 off 17 balls.
Full postAuckland woeful one day, world-beaters the next
Auckland, who just missed setting an abysmally low record for a Shell Cup one-day game when they were humiliated by Central Districts on Tuesday, looked like world champions when they set a record score of 318 to five to take them to a 131-run
Don Cameron
18-Jan-2001
Auckland, who just missed setting an abysmally low record for a Shell Cup one-day game when they were humiliated by Central Districts on Tuesday, looked like world champions when they set a record score of 318 to five to take them to a 131-run victory over Northern Districts on the same pitch today.
Auckland could not bat for toffee on Tuesday. Today Llorne Howell opened the way with a blistering 67 and Adam Parore chimed in with a sparkling 61.
From start to finish Lou Vincent, one of Auckland's under-achievers this summer, put together a superb 133 not out, a mixture of slashing strokes and sound defence.
There may be some truth in the rumour that when Auckland re-assemble for a Shell Cup campaign next year their captain and coach and selectors will also bring a psychiatrist into the team organisation.
Full postCanterbury conjure remarkable turnaround to claim top spot
The glory boys from the capital could not halt Canterbury's heroic Shell Cup run today at Jade Stadium
Matthew Appleby
18-Jan-2001
The glory boys from the capital could not halt Canterbury's heroic Shell Cup run today at Jade Stadium. The north-south encounter turned out to be a must-win affair for both teams, but Canterbury were too good in the end. Wellington made 193 all out, losing their last nine wickets for 89 runs, in reply to Canterbury's 207/7.
"It's probably one of the most satisfying wins I've ever been involved in," commented ecstatic Canterbury skipper, Gary Stead.
"It was do or die for us and the same for Wellington." Indeed it was, as Canterbury now play midweek in the first final and return to Jade Stadium for the second, in front of what will be a large red and black crowd next Saturday.
It was the spectators that delighted Stead particularly. He called the cheering Cantabrians "fantastic," adding "it was great to see a Canterbury crowd back again. They certainly gave us a lift when we needed it."
Full postBundela and Jai P Yadav help MP take upper hand
Madhya Pradesh took the upper hand early as they ended their first day at 121 for 3 after restricting Uttar Pradesh to just 143 in their Central Zone Ranji Trophy match at the Green Park in Kanpur on Thursday
Staff Reporter
18-Jan-2001
Madhya Pradesh took the upper hand early as they ended their first day at 121 for 3 after restricting Uttar Pradesh to just 143 in their Central Zone Ranji Trophy match at the Green Park in Kanpur on Thursday.
The day unfolded with Uttar Pradesh losing the toss and being asked to bat. They were pushed further on the backfoot as Jai P Yadav (4 for 41) and Devendra Bundela (6 for 37) combined to bundle out UP in just 41.4 overs. None of the UP batsmen had the tactics to counter the medium pace of both Yadav and Bundela. Only four them managed to reach the double figures with opener Jyoti P Yadav top scoring with 33 as wickets kept falling like nine pins.
Madhya Pradesh in response made a disasterous start losing Ankit Srivastava (0) in the third over of the innings. Ankit was caught by Manoj Mudgal off Shalab Srivastawa. Shalab struck again to remove the other opener Jai P Yadav in the fifth over. Pegged on the back foot, MP made ample recovery due to a 87 run third wicket stand between Amay Khurasiya (65) and Devendra Bundela (39 not out). Khurasiya was the next to be dismissed caught by Mritunjay Tripathi off Ashu Sharma. MP at close of play were placed comfortably with Bundela and Harvinder Singh Sodhi (4) manning the fort.
Full postCentral demolish Otago to seal semi spot
The State Insurance Central Stags certainly roared at Queen's Park, Invercargill today when they comprehensively defeated the State Otago Volts by seven wickets in their Shell Cup contest
Warwick Larkins
18-Jan-2001
The State Insurance Central Stags certainly roared at Queen's Park, Invercargill today when they comprehensively defeated the State Otago Volts by seven wickets in their Shell Cup contest.
Winning the toss and putting Otago into bat on a wicket which although covered had seen three days of wild and wet weather, Central Districts never looked back from ball one and the Otago batsmen began a procession back to the pavilion that looked like a parade of lemmings.
At the end of 31.3 overs the Volts had been dismissed for a paltry 67 and truly realised what the value of winning the toss was. But, it is fair to state the the pitch while not at all satisfactory was never venomous and the Otago batsmen never really got into the mode of pushing the ball around and waiting for the bad ones to hit to the boundary.
Only Warren McSkimming batting at number eight looked in any way assured, and even then only to a limited effect. Three Otago batsmen in Martyn Croy, Matthew Horne and Lee Germon were dismissed as a result of vagaries in the pitch but that could not be blamed for a total of 67 - the fourth lowest one-day total in New Zealand cricket history.
Full postVineet Saxena holds the fort for Rajasthan
Holding the fort at one end, Rajasthan opener Vineet Saxena with an unbeaten century helped his team to end the first day at 287 for 7 against Vidarbha in their Central Zone Ranji Trophy match at the Vidarbha Cricket Association ground in Nagpur on
Staff Reporter
18-Jan-2001
Holding the fort at one end, Rajasthan opener Vineet Saxena with an
unbeaten century helped his team to end the first day at 287 for 7
against Vidarbha in their Central Zone Ranji Trophy match at the
Vidarbha Cricket Association ground in Nagpur on Thursday.
Opting to bat, Rajasthan started on the wrong foot losing Nikhil Doru
(1) off the first ball of the 8th over of the day. Doru was caught by
Khare off Atram. Then AS Jain (37) joined Saxena and took the score to
63. Jain could not hang around for long and fell for a catch to RS
Jadhav off Atram. RJ Kanwat (32) also did not last long and with the
total reading 75, he fell to Piprode.
The Rajasthan skipper Gagan Khoda (32) then forged a 61 run fourth
wicket stand with Saxena. In the meantime, Saxena reached his half
century in a sedate manner off 153 balls. Khoda then departed after
offering a return catch to Khare. PK Krishnakumar (36) then joined
Saxena and helped the score along to 201 before he was runout in the
63rd over. Saxena with the help of Sanjeev Sharma put on 47 runs for
the seventh wicket. Saxena then reached a well deserved century after
a 371 minute stay at the crease.
Rajasthan went into stumps with Saxena unbeaten on 103 along with RB
Jhalani (14) giving him ample company late in the day.
Full postLara fires, Sydney swims, Australia wins
It says something about the state of West Indies' ill fortune on this tour that, after a series of crushing defeats at Australian hands, now the country's weather is conspiring against it too
John Polack
17-Jan-2001
|
Brian Lara Photo AllsportAust |
It says something about the state of West Indies' ill fortune on this tour that, after a series of crushing defeats at Australian hands, now the country's weather is conspiring against it too. Even when Brian Lara (116*) produced a magnificent century to partly threaten Australia's hold on a game over which it had previously exercised command, so Sydney's skies released a furious downpour of rain that proved even more menacing. The result of it all - at the end of match four of the Carlton Series here at the Sydney Cricket Ground - was a twenty-eight run win for Australia under the Duckworth/Lewis method.
To suggest that the West Indians were finally headed toward instigating a break in their cycle of defeats is possibly as fanciful as it might have been to believe that the combination of a gloomy forecast, cool weather and grey skies at the start of the afternoon carried with it hopes that a full one hundred over contest would be played out. At a score of 8/211 after 42.4 overs as they pursued Australia's imposing tally of 4/277, it would have required something of a miracle for them to breast the finishing tape in a winning position.
But there are few batsmen who can alter the course of a match as easily as Lara. And there have been few times on this visit - maybe none at all, in fact - when he has played as well as he did here. Only inches and inconclusive television replays separated him from the fate of trudging back to the pavilion when his score sat at just thirteen. At backward point, Mark Waugh might well have taken the catch that a loose cut at an Andrew Symonds (1/55 off nine overs) off break had seemed to invite; it was impossible to tell for certain, though. For the next two hours, the enigmatic left hander made the most of his brush with premature death and produced a breathtaking performance.
Full postKoortzen stars in Griquas victory
Griqualand West opening batsman Pieter Koortzen walked away with the man-of-the-match prize after scoring an undefeated 107 in his team's 66-run win over the Highveld Strikers
Telford Vice
17-Jan-2001
Griqualand West opening batsman Pieter Koortzen walked away with the
man-of-the-match prize after scoring an undefeated 107 in his team's 66-run
win over the Highveld Strikers.
It was Koortzen's second century in as many innings in this competition,
following on his 123 against North West seven days previously, and it came
off 113 balls and included 12 fours.
Koortzen and Loots Bosman set the tone with an opening stand of 169 that
tormented the Strikers until the 24th over, when Bosman was bowled by Clive
Eksteen, the only visiting bowler to leave in one piece with figures of two
for 33 off his nine overs.
Bosman crashed his imperious 89 off 78 balls with 10 fours and two sixes -
one driven straight off Ottis Gibson, the other cut square off David
Terbrugge.
Full postDisappointing last day's cricket ensures a draw
If anyone has a doubt about what is going wrong with cricket in India, all you have to do is to take a look at the last day's play between South Zone and England Under-19s played at Guru Nanak College Ground, Chennai, on Wednesday
Santhosh S
17-Jan-2001
If anyone has a doubt about what is going wrong with cricket in India, all you have to do is to take a look at the last day's play between South Zone and England Under-19s played at Guru Nanak College Ground, Chennai, on Wednesday. Let alone positive thinking, one wonders whether there was any thinking at all in the South Zone camp.
Having bowled out English colts for 183 on Tuesday and going into the last day with a lead of 135 runs, one hoped that South would really go after the English bowling and set a target. TS Suman and Arjun Yadav started the day for South Zone on 43/1.
Suman as always was in an attacking mood, playing shots with gay abandon. Make no mistake; he is not a slogger by any means. He just hits the ball so hard and is blessed with a good timing too. He raced to reach his fifty without much ado. He was on 53 when the tall English bowler Tremlett got one ball to move a little away from the batsman and take a faint edge. Wicket keeper Mark Wallace was too happy to dive to his right and take a good catch. Monty Panesar who had removed Shashank Nag the previous evening was brought into the attack and produced a good spell.
Panesar with his orthodox left arm bowling, tied up the batsmen. He later bowled ASK Varma who had scratched around for just nine runs. 90/3 in the 31st over brought in the first innings batting hero, Deepak Chougule. He too got bogged down a little and was eventually dismissed lbw to Panesar for just four runs.
Full postTitans defeat Boland to enter Standard Bank Cup final
PAARL, Jan 17 - The Northerns Titans eased their way into the semi-finals of the Standard Bank Cup, dishing out a first home-defeat in a year to Boland on Wednesday night
MWP
17-Jan-2001
PAARL, Jan 17 - The Northerns Titans eased their way into the
semi-finals of the Standard Bank Cup, dishing out a first home-defeat in a
year to Boland on Wednesday night. The Titans made light work of the
defending champions, cruising home by six wickets with four overs and one
ball to spare.
Boland's total of 185 for six from their 45 overs was never enough,
especially with Martin van Jaarsveld in such fine form for the visitors. Van
Jaarsveld was in commanding form, anchoring the Northerns' reply with an
authoritative 76 off 89 balls, with six fours.
He was well supported by young Kruger van Wyk, the 20 year-old widely
tipped for future success standing firm while the more experienced van
Jaarsveld did the business. There were useful contributions from both
Jacques Rudolph and captain Gerald Dros, but the man-of-the-match award
deservedly went to van Jaarsveld for his all-round excellence.
He had already picked up a the wicket of Gerhard Strydom in the Boland
innings, Strydom offering a chance back to bowler on 29. His innings was
typical of the Boland batting effort, as several top-order batsmen made
starts, but failed to capitalise. After winning the toss and deciding to
bat, 185 always looked below par, even on Boland Park's notoriously slow and
low wicket.
Full postMost Read
Writers