Report

Dhawan's 199 ensures Delhi's entry into final

Opener Shikar Dhawan (199) made sure of Delhi's entrance to the final of the Vijay Merchant Trophy (Under-16) tournament after ensuring a 294-run first innings lead over Hyderabad on the third and final day of their semi-final match at the Calcutta

Staff Reporter

11-Jan-2001

Resuming at 277 for 5, Sumit Kapoor (19) was just a bystander to Dhawan in the partnership that was worth 68 runs for the sixth wicket. He was the first to be dismissed on the final day, trapped leg before by Amol Shinde. Dhawan however carried on with the scoring before being dismissed one short of his double hundred, caught by Amol Shinde off Nalin Reddy. During his 10 hour and six minute stay in the middle, Dhawan faced 484 balls and punished the bowlers for 35 boundaries.

Thereafter, the ninth wicket pair of Abhishek Sharma (30) and Himanshu Khullar (34) frustrated the attack to take the Delhi total past the 400-run mark. The Delhi innings finally folded up at 433. Hyderabad in their second innings finished at 106 for 1 in 30.1 overs when stumps were finally drawn. Openers Prasanth Peter (52) and Imran Khan (40) put on 85 runs in 24.5 overs before Imran was caught by Abhishek Naag off A Sharma. Ambati Tirupati Rayudu (12) and Peter were unbeaten at the end.

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Younis hammers career-best 221

A sparkling double century by Younis Khan (221) put Peshawar in the driving seat against Lahore Whites on the second day of the Quaid-i-Azam Cricket Trophy match at the LCCA Ground on Tuesday

10-Jan-2001

A sparkling double century by Younis Khan (221) put Peshawar in the driving seat against Lahore Whites on the second day of the Quaid-i-Azam Cricket Trophy match at the LCCA Ground on Tuesday.

Younis Khan's magnificent display enabled Peshawar pile a massive 598 in their first innings after resuming on 352 for four. By close of play, Lahore Whites were 95 for two in 27 overs with skipper Test discarded Aamir Sohail batting at 52.

Younis began his innings with overnight total of 146 with Taimur Khan who resumed at 50. But Taimur fell without any addition. However, Younis continued his career-best innings and reached his 200 with 29 boundaries and one six. He was finally caught at long-on by Zahoor Ellahi off leg-spinner Kashif Siddique for a fine 221 with 32 fours and three sixes. He negotiated 290 balls and batted for 377 minutes.

Skipper Arshad Khan contributed a quickfire 57, adorned with five boundaries and two mighty sixes. He faced 84 balls. Zulifqar Jan (37) and Sajid Shah (36 not out) were the other contributors in Peshawar's big total.

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Shadab Kabir slams 105 against Islamabad

Test discard Shadab Kabir slammed 105 and fellow opener Shahid Afridi smashed 88 off 63 balls to guide Karachi Whites to a commanding 299 for three on the second day of Quaid-i-Azam Trophy match at the KRL Stadium on Tuesday

10-Jan-2001

At stumps, Hasan Raza was batting on 73 with Saeed bin Nasir (2).

Islamabad lost their last wicket after adding 11 runs to their overnight score of 196 for nine.

Shadab and Afridi put together an opening stand of 114 as they punished Islamabad's mediocre bowling at will. Afridi produced his trademark strokes that included 13 fours and a six each against Bilal Rana Rauf Akbar. He reached 50 off just 40 balls in 70 minutes (7x4s). The Test opener fell 12 short of his century when he snared by Bilal Rana while attempting an aggressive shot and was well caught at short mid-wicket by Rao Iftikhar.

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Bell's ton gives England Under-19 the lead

England Under-19 were 281 for nine off 107 overs at stumps on the second day of the first 'Test' at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday

Waleed Hussain in Mumbai

10-Jan-2001

England Under-19 were 281 for nine off 107 overs at stumps on the second day of the first 'Test' at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday. The tourists have a slender 24-run lead with one wicket still in hand. Justin Bishop is on 13 and Monty Panesar on one.

The highlight of the day was England Under-19 skipper Ian Bell's century. It was the Warwickshire player's second century in his tenth Under-19 'Test' and the first for England on the tour. Bell's domination was a sign of a future Test player in the making.

The tourists resumed on the second day at 24 for no loss. The first session saw the end of a 43-run opening stand when Nikki Peng was run out by a straight drive from Gary Pratt which deflected on to the stumps off the hands of the bowler Siddarth Trivedi. Peng had looked good during his brief stay. He scored 30 off 41 balls with six boundaries.

Bell joined Pratt and added 64 runs off 16 overs for the second wicket. Pratt was deceived in the flight by Vidyuth Sivaramakrishnan as he stepped out to negotiate a tossed up delivery. Pratt failed to check his stroke and gave a return catch to the bowler. He made 28 off 94 balls with two boundaries.

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Canterbury facing gloomy battle to avoid defeat

Canterbury's Shell Trophy fixture with Central Districts moved gloomily towards a conclusion at Village Green today

Matthew Appleby

10-Jan-2001

Canterbury's Shell Trophy fixture with Central Districts moved gloomily towards a conclusion at Village Green today.

Play was delayed until 4.45pm by heavy overnight rain. The groundsmen had to work hard to get the pitch ready when the rain stopped at 2.00pm.

Any hopes of a brighter Cantabrian dawn were dashed by suicidal batting as the home team's spirits fell as quickly as the afternoon clouds had risen. They eventually closed on 63/3.

Martyn Sigley had previously breezily smashed Chris Martin all round the ground to add 29 of the 30 CD runs scored in just 20 minutes after the resumption.

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Nash hints at better days ahead for himself and Auckland

Dion Nash and Kyle Mills scored centuries and forged a partnership, hardened by the flames of adversity, which reshaped Auckland's Shell Trophy match against Wellington and gave it balance at the end of its third day today

Steve McMorran

10-Jan-2001

Nash has worked hard to reinvent himself as a batsman recently, as injury continues to curtail his effectiveness as a bowler, and his 281-minute innings of 100 - part of a 185-run eighth wicket stand with Mills - made a clamorous announcement of his success in that endeavour.

Nor is that success confined any longer to the batting crease. Nash's broad smile tonight was provoked by equal elements of delight at his batting performance, Auckland's strengthened position and the discovery that the prognosis for his bowling is not as bleak as it recently seemed.

Nash was able to turn his arm over in the nets on Tuesday night for the first time in a long while and he tentatively forecast last night that he would be bowling some cautious medium pace before the Trophy season ends.

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Otago takes first innings points though more could yet be on offer

Rain may have threatened to limit the Otago-Northern Districts to a first innings contest but that didn't prevent an exciting end to the third day's play today at Carisbrook

Warwick Larkins

10-Jan-2001

Rain may have threatened to limit the Otago-Northern Districts to a first innings contest but that didn't prevent an exciting end to the third day's play today at Carisbrook.

Northern Districts did not add to their overnight total of 232/9 and it was this target that Otago set out to attempt to pass and gain the two points available for a first innings lead.

Otago started at a quick clip with Andrew Hore forcing the pace initially while Mark Richardson was content to gather runs but wisely keep his wicket intact. Hore played some smart cover drives and was eventually out when Otago was 84 after giving two hard hit chances in his 54 scored from 73 balls.

Richardson was joined by Craig Cumming and together they proved a real thorn in Northern Districts side as they both added to their respective scores with a few "dried up" periods. Richardson, after two disappointments for him in the game against Canterbury, obviously wanted a score and concentrated hard but was just not timing or placing the ball as well as he can and many great shots went straight to fieldsmen.

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Pothas takes Strikers to victory

Nic Pothas provided the sort of innings that was once a regular feature of his repertoire, but has been missing for the last couple of seasons, to take the Highveld Strikers to a thrilling five-wicket victory with two balls of their 45 overs to spare

Grant Shimmin

10-Jan-2001

Pothas belted 79 off just 77 balls, the last 26 coming off just 18 deliveries, to see his side through to their victory target of 226 in 44.4 overs, after they had faced an asking rate of eight to the over in the latter stages. Forty-eight were needed off the last six, then 31 off the last four and 18 off the last two. That was when Pothas really came into his own as Kenny Benjamin's last over went for 14, taking the match away from the visitors.

It was a bitter pill to swallow for the team from Benoni, just 35km away, as they suffered their third defeat in six days to see their chances of reaching the semi-finals diminish even further. Prior to their match against Boland on January 5, Easterns had been sitting pretty with four wins from five matches. Now, despite gaining a bonus point in each of those three matches, they find themselves outside the top four with two difficult matches, away to Eastern Province and at home to Free State, to come.

In truth, the visitor's defeat was partly of their own making. Having won the toss and chosen to bat, Easterns got off to a great start as Mike Rindel and new recruit Andre Seymore put on 120 for the first wicket, before being separated at the halfway mark of the innings, in the 23rd over, when Seymore was bowled by Clive Eksteen for 46.

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Uttar Pradesh in a commanding position

Uttar Pradesh were in the driver's seat speeding into the final, in the three day Vijay Merchant Trophy (under-16) semifinal against Punjab at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday

Staff Reporter

10-Jan-2001

Uttar Pradesh were in the driver's seat speeding into the final, in the three day Vijay Merchant Trophy (under-16) semifinal against Punjab at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday. After having bowled out Punjab cheaply for 160 on the first day, UP got to the all important first innings lead with ease. At close of play UP were sitting pretty with 248/4 in 92 overs.

Earlier in the day resuming at 4/0 UP got off to a commanding start thanks to their opening pair of the Shuklas. Shiva Kant Shukla was the first to be dismissed for 34, caught and bowled by Vipul Sharma at 86. Shiva hit five boundaries in his 110 minute vigil at the crease. Vipul made another quick breakthrough, removing Tahir Abbas for six to leave UP at 94/2.

Ravi Kant Shukla carried on his good form and was distinctly unlucky to miss out on the three figure mark as he was dismissed for 92 at 142. Before being bowled by Ankur Jand, Ravi was at the crease for 205 minutes, facing 177 balls and smashing 14 boundaries. Aris Alam and Rahat Ilahi got together and saw that UP got past the first innings score of Punjab and carried on to make their individual half centuries. Rahat Ilahi was bowled by Gursharan Singh for 51. Ilahi had faced 106 balls, striking eight boundaries in his 132 minute long innings. At close of play Aris Alam remained unbeaten on 52 with Alok Singh on eight.

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Bodi hundred takes KwaZulu-Natal to easy win

Goolam Bodi delivered his career best performances with bat and ball to guide Natal to an impressive nine-wicket win with al of six overs to spare