Report

Teamwork beats big names again

Auckland may have the big cricketing names, but Central Districts had the spirit - and three heroic new chums - to bring them their astounding Shell Cup eight-wicket win over Auckland at Eden Park this afternoon

Don Cameron

16-Jan-2001

In their most inefficient and humbling effort of the season Auckland lost their 10 wickets in 25.5 overs for only 73 runs, only three runs short of their lowest score, against Northern Districts 13 years ago.

After what appears to be a mix-up which extended the lunch break to 82 minutes, CD lost an early wicket, had a fright when misty rain appeared, but then cruised to their win at 75 for two wickets in 14.4 overs.

Veteran Auckland cricket-watchers maintained at lunch they had never seen a weaker Auckland performance, but that did not give credit to the whole-hearted CD performance, headed by the deeds of Ewen Thompson and Andrew Schwass, the bowlers, and Bevan Griggs, the wicket-keeper.

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WI Domestic: Barbados buffeted by Breese and Gayle

The battle lines were drawn in mid-afternoon

Haydn Gill

15-Jan-2001

The battle lines were drawn in mid-afternoon. By late evening, however, Jamaica were winning the war against Barbados.

Chris Gayle, heartbeats away from his third regional hundred, was the general in command, assisted by an able lieutenant in Wayne Cuff.

Their fighting third-wicket stand of 126 that frustrated Barbados for half of the day's play has given the defending champions a comfortable lead of 243 ahead of today's final day.

Even if Jamaica went on the defensive in the final 45 minutes, they will still feel they can press for victory on a Kensington Oval pitch that remains a paradise for batsmen.

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Imran Farhat slams unbeaten 151 for Lahore Blues

Opener Imran Farhat scored his second consecutive century to help Lahore Blues reach 258 for three against Bahawalpur on the first day of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Cricket match at the LCCA Ground on Sunday

15-Jan-2001

Imran, who hit 170 against Sheikhupura in the last match, played with great authority and confidence to remain unbeaten with 151 off 167 deliveries. His 225-minute knock was laced with 30 fours and one six.

Test star Saeed Anwar was batting alongside Imran with four when stumps were drawn for the day.

Another Test batsman Yousuf Youhana fell cheaply for eight to Kamran Hussain.

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Naqvi's century boosts Islamabad

A chanceless knock of 108 by Test reject Ali Naqvi boosted Islamabad to 259 for seven on the first day of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy match against Gujranwala at the KRL Stadium here on Sunday

15-Jan-2001

A chanceless knock of 108 by Test reject Ali Naqvi boosted Islamabad to 259 for seven on the first day of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy match against Gujranwala at the KRL Stadium here on Sunday.

Islamabad also secured the services of another Test discard Ijaz Ahmed Sr as well forcing their coach Irfan Bhatti to lead the side in this crucial match.

Islamabad, who elected to bat after winning the toss, made a poor start when Hakim Butt was trapped leg-before-wicket by left-arm pacer Sarfraz Ahmed with no runs on the board.

However, guest player Ali Naqvi, who had previously played for Karachi, set about repairing the damage in three useful partnerships with Bilal Asad (21), Iftikhar Hussain (29) and Ijaz Ahmed (21).

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Uttar Pradesh win Vijay Merchant Trophy

Uttar Pradesh won the Vijay Merchant Trophy (under-16) knock out tournament at the Eden Gardens on Monday

Staff Reporter

15-Jan-2001

Uttar Pradesh won the Vijay Merchant Trophy (under-16) knock out tournament at the Eden Gardens on Monday. The three day final against Delhi ended in a draw but UP, having taken a first innings lead of 82 runs, were declared winners.

In fact, UP were on course for an outright win early on the final day. Opener Pritipal Singh was run out for one and then Vishal Francis bowled the other opener Shikhar Dhawan for 27 and had Niraj Sharma leg before for six. Delhi were 40 for three at this stage.

But a fourth wicket partnership between Kuldeep Rawat and Himanshu Mehta thwarted UP's victory bid. The two added 150 runs before Mehta was stumped by Md Amir off Praveen Gupta for 76. He faced 149 balls and hit seven fours and two sixes. The stand was broken just before tea and by this time, Delhi had made the match safe.

Rawat and Abhishek Nag (19) then added 42 runs for the fifth wicket and the match was called off the moment Rawat got his century. For his unbeaten 100, Rawat batted 254 minutes, faced 212 balls and hit eleven fours and two sixes. Delhi were 245 for five off 86.3 overs when the match ended.

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England U19s made to pay for missed chances against South Zone U19s

The touring England under-19s were left with little to cheer after the first day's play in the warm-up match against South Zone under-19s, played at Guru Nanak College Ground, Chennai on Monday

Santhosh S

15-Jan-2001

The touring England under-19s were left with little to cheer after the first day's play in the warm-up match against South Zone under-19s, played at Guru Nanak College Ground, Chennai on Monday. The touring party took this opportunity to play some of their squad players, but for most of the day, the bowling was pedestrian and the fielding was a let down. Dropped catches and fielding lapses might be a cause of worry for The Management, given the fact that they have their second 'Test' against India this weekend. South Zone colts also did not give good account of themselves; their batting never really bloomed on a harmless track.

The setting was perfect, clear blue skies, brilliant sunshine and a pretty, tree-lined ground. Electing to bat first after winning the toss South Zone opening batsman Tirumal Setti Suman took 10 runs off the very first over bowled by Chris Tremlett; two boundaries flying over the slip fielders into the third-man fence. Suman did no favour to Nadeem Malik either, smashing him for three boundaries in the fourth over of the day. The fifth over brought some joy for the English colts, when Tremlett had Shashank Nag caught behind by Mark Wallace for just two runs: 31-1.

Malik's third over also saw Suman striking three boundaries, an explosive start indeed. Kyle Hogg was brought in from the pavilion end to replace the expensive Malik and immediately found his rhythm. Monty Panesar dropped Suman off the bowling of Hogg, but the batsman could not make the most of it. Hogg soon had Suman caught and bowled, the ball bouncing more than the batsman expected and all he could do was to pop the ball back for an easy catch. Suman's entertaining innings of 42 came off just 34 balls, which included 9 strokes past the ropes.

The fall of Suman brought Deepak Chougule to the crease. Chougule was the toast of the day for South Zone scoring 97 runs off 179 balls. Chougule, who does not have the height of many of the English players, stood tall on a day when South Zone batsman failed to apply themselves. The batting was ineffective on a docile pitch, which had nothing to offer to the bowlers.

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Rohan Gavaskar earns East precious points

A masterly knock of 146 by Rohan Gavaskar helped East Zone take home five points in their first outing in the Duleep Trophy this season

Staff Reporter

14-Jan-2001

A masterly knock of 146 by Rohan Gavaskar helped East Zone take home five points in their first outing in the Duleep Trophy this season. On the last day of the match between East and Central Zone at Green Park, Kanpur on Sunday, East got past the Central Zone score and took the vital first innings lead.

Resuming at 230/4 with another 192 runs required for the first innings lead, East got off to a bad start and were quickly reduced to 249/5, losing Rajiv Kumar bowled by Sriwastava for 25. What followed was a dominating sixth wicket partnership between Gavaskar and wicket keeper Deep Dasgupta. They put on 174 runs in 48.4 overs and took the East Zone score beyond Central's 421 before Murali Kartik had Dasgupta caught by Abhay Sharma for 72 at 423. Dasgupta's crucial innings lasted for 216 minutes as he faced 140 balls of which he struck nine to the fence.

Meanwhile, left handed Gavaskar was happy accumulating runs and making sure that East took the honours. Gavaskar struck the ball all around for 15 boundaries and 2 sixes off 295 balls in his innings that lasted a little over six and a half hours. Gavaskar was caught by substitute fielder Devendra Bundela off the bowling of Kulamani Parida with the East score reading 433 in the 122nd over.

East Zone batted on with Sukhbinder Singh making 29 off 66 balls (1 six, 4 fours) and were all out for 484 in the 145th over as the match was called off as a draw. Kulamani Parida took the bowling honours for Central with 44-13-126-3. Central took three points from the match and took their points tally to eight from two matches.

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Virender Shewag enthralls with unbeaten 162

North Zone leads the Duleep Trophy table with ten points from two matches, thanks largely to the batting heroics of Virender Shewag on Sunday in their match against West Zone at the Punjab CA Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh

Staff Reporter

14-Jan-2001

As the best part of the match was ruined by heavy fog, North were chasing the West score of 284 for the all important first innings lead. Resuming at 217/5 with Shewag and Pankaj Dharmani at the crease, the North innings got off a troubled start when Iqbal Siddiqui had Dharmani trapped in front on his overnight score of 28. North were reduced to 233/6 leaving the match even stevens. Shewag along with Sharandeep Singh put on 48 runs for the seventh wicket as Singh was dismissed for 17. At 281/7 came in Gagandeep Singh and before he was dismissed for three at 285, North had gained the first innings lead. Both the batsmen were claimed by SR Saxena.

Ashish Nehra was the next to go LBW to Bahatule for a duck at 292. The last batsman Surendra Singh hit three boundaries in his innings of 15 before being dismissed by Siddiqui. The North innings came to an end at 331, leaving Shewag with an unbeaten 162 off 190 balls. One six and twenty-four boundaries flowed from his bat in his four hours and fifty minutes stay at the wicket. Siddiqui was the best of the bowlers with 31-4-116-5.

West were 50/1 at the close of the match in their second innings. Wasim Jaffer remained unbeaten on 29 with NK Patel on 11. West Zone collected three points from the match and have an aggregate of six points from two games.

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England A draw but T&T take the points

An attacking innings from Trinidad and Tobago wicketkeeper Keno Mason scuppered England A's ambitious plans to secure a second Busta Cup victory in Port of Spain today and the match finished in a draw

Kate Laven

14-Jan-2001

In this competition, bonus points are awarded for first innings totals so when England A missed out by eight runs yesterday, the emphasis for the final day's play was to seek an outright win.

The plan started well when Alex Tudor broke through in his second over, taking the wicket of Dennis Rampersad and with spinners Jason Brown and Usman Afzaal collecting another three before lunch, reducing Trinidad to 65 for five, a victory started to look like a distinct possibility.

Brown struck again nine overs into the afternoon session giving Vikram Solanki his second catch in the slips but from that point on, as Mason became more sure-footed and belligerent, England A's hopes began to slide. They spiralled into despair when Mason was dropped in a caught and bowled chance off Afzaal when on 42. A wicket at that time with Trinidad on 122 for six could have proved decisive but he was let off the hook and predictably, he made the most of his good fortune, adding 74 runs with Darrell Brown then a further 24 with Rajindra Dhanraj.

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Rain thwarts Natal's bid for first victory of season

Rain left Natal 63 runs shy of what would have been their first win in a first-class match this season

Telford Vice - MWP

14-Jan-2001

Rain left Natal 63 runs shy of what would have been their first win in a first-class match this season.

Instead, the match was drawn as Natal's progress was halted at 198 for four in search of a target of 261 with 36 overs still to be bowled.