Report
Rain washes out final day's play
The Central Zone under-22 match between Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan at Indore ended in a tame draw on Sunday
Partab Ramchand
31-Dec-2000
The Central Zone under-22 match between Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan
at Indore ended in a tame draw on Sunday. There was some engrossing
cricket over the first two days but rain washed out play on the final
day.
Opting to bat on Friday, MP were all out for 189 early on the second
day. They failed to build upon a good start given by openers S Tomar
(35) and N Ojha (40) who put on 70 runs. At one stage, the home team
were 151 for three but then ensued a sharp collapse which saw seven
wickets falling for 38 runs. The visitors replied with 217 for five at
stumps on the penultimate day. Skipper AS Jain who opened the batting
scored a patient 44 off 102 balls. V Saxena who came in at No 3 got a
valuable 57 which was compiled off 133 balls with seven hits to the
ropes. S Bhatia batted more aggressively in scoring an unbeaten 67 off
116 balls. He hit five fours and a six. Rajasthan got five points and
MP three.
Full postParab hits century as Baroda gain lead
Opener Satyajit Sudhir Parab hit exactly 100 as good work by most of the top order batsmen helped Baroda to score 343 for six at stumps on the third day of their West Zone Ranji Trophy league match against Gujarat at the Sardar Patel stadium in
Partab Ramchand
31-Dec-2000
Opener Satyajit Sudhir Parab hit exactly 100 as good work by most of
the top order batsmen helped Baroda to score 343 for six at stumps on
the third day of their West Zone Ranji Trophy league match against
Gujarat at the Sardar Patel stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday. This gave
them a first innings lead of 45 runs.
Parab and Connor Williams (57) put on 162 runs off 48.5 overs to give
Baroda a sound foundation. Connors batted patiently and compiled his
runs off 148 balls with four hits to the ropes. Parab, who had
dominated the partnership was second out at 182. The 26-year-old right
hander faced exactly 100 balls and hit 12 fours. M Jadhav (31) and
Jacob Martin (78) consolidated by adding 58 runs for the third wicket
off 28.2 overs. Then after a slight slump (Baroda were 253 for five),
Martin and Nayan Mongia (39 not out) performed the rescue act by
adding 83 runs off 20 overs for the sixth wicket. Martin was out
shortly before close. He faced 197 balls and hit seven fours and a
six.
Full postVidarbha manage to avert innings defeat
Vidarbha just about managed to stave off an innings defeat on the final day of their Central Zone under-22 match against Uttar Pradesh at Kamla Club, Kanpur on Sunday
Partab Ramchand
31-Dec-2000
Vidarbha just about managed to stave off an innings defeat on the final day of
their Central Zone under-22 match against Uttar Pradesh at Kamla Club, Kanpur on
Sunday. In arrears by 143 runs on the first innings, Vidarbha were 120 for nine
when stumps were drawn.
Put in to bat on Friday, Vidarbha were dismissed for 127 runs in 63.3 overs. At
one stage, they were 75 for one, thanks to a second wicket partnership of 61 off
27.2 overs between Faiz Fazal (31) and A Janbandhan (45). But then S Pandey (4
for 24) and V Pandey (4 for 25) brought about a sharp collapse and the last nine
wickets fell for 52 runs. UP replied with 270 for eight declared. Openers Ashraf
Ali (38) and Anshul Kapoor (61) put on 58 runs. Then Kapoor and Javed Anwar (80)
consolidated by adding 71 runs for the fourth wicket off 89 balls. A sixth
wicket partnership of 83 runs between Anwar and Arvind Solanki (59) helped UP
take a commanding lead. Anwar faced 102 balls and hit nine fours. On the final
day, Vidarbha were helped by the bad weather (about 300 minutes were totally
lost because of this factor) but were still in danger of defeat when the eighth
wicket fell at 67. The No 10 batsman Rupesh Shaikh hit a breezy 25 off 29 balls
and took the score to 105 with the No 8 batsman Anirudh Pathradkar. Then
Pathradkar (15) and Atul Waghmare (3) held on for 13.4 overs to ensure that
Vidarbha got three points. UP finished with five.
Full postDighe, Bahutule revive Mumbai's hopes
Skipper Samir Dighe's unbeaten 93 and his 124-run sixth wicket partnership with Sairaj Bahutule kept Mumbai's hopes of taking the first innings alive at stumps on the third day of their West Zone Ranji Trophy league match against Maharashtra at
Partab Ramchand
31-Dec-2000
Skipper Samir Dighe's unbeaten 93 and his 124-run sixth wicket
partnership with Sairaj Bahutule kept Mumbai's hopes of taking the
first innings alive at stumps on the third day of their West Zone
Ranji Trophy league match against Maharashtra at Kolhapur on Sunday.
Replying to Maharashtra's total of 445, Mumbai were 371 for six
wickets at close of play.
Mumbai's hopes at first centered around the second wicket stand of 85
runs off 24.5 overs between opener Vinayak Mane (63) and Sachin Sawant
(56). While Mane faced 101 balls and hit eight fours, Sawant faced 141
balls and also hit eight boundaries.
Amol Muzumdar (9) and Robin Morris (11) both fell to Iqbal Siddiqui
and Mumbai were in deep trouble sliding from 129 for one to 192 for
five. Then Bahutule joined Dighe and Mumbai's hopes revived. The two
matched each other in strokeplay and run production and their stand
lasted 30.1 overs before Bahutule was out for 63. In a stay of 2-1/2
hours, he faced 135 balls and hit eleven of them to the ropes.
Dighe then found an able partner in Paras Mhambrey and the two added
55 runs for the unbroken seventh wicket off 21.5 overs. By close,
Dighe had batted 278 minutes, faced 194 balls and hit 14 fours.
Mhambrey was on 18 after having batted 98 minutes and facing 70 balls.
All seems set for an exciting duel for the vital first innings lead on
New Year's day.
Full postOram leads from the front in remarkable win over Wellington
Jacob Oram has established as his largest wish of many this season that of becoming more accepted by his Central Districts teammates as their leader - for all his youth and the frailty of his experience, as their captain
Steve McMorran
31-Dec-2000
Jacob Oram has established as his largest wish of many this season that of becoming more accepted by his Central Districts teammates as their leader - for all his youth and the frailty of his experience, as their captain.
He hoped to be able to show by trial the proper instincts to guide them to victories and by performance the ability to lead them by example. He wanted, by effort, sacrifice and achievement, to win their confidence, their approbation and their respect.
Today, in fading light on the sunburnt oval at Waikanae Park, he took a huge stride towards that desired acceptance when he completed a classic captain's innings, reached an unbeaten half century on the last ball of the match and helped Central to a one wicket Shell Cup win over Wellington.
With No 11 Michael Mason as his stalwart lieutenant, Oram put on 47 for Central's last wicket after they had been pitched to the brink of defeat - to 112-8 after being 106-3 - and with a four from the first ball of the 49th over, reached his 50 and surpassed their victory total.
Full postMohanty bowls Orissa to maiden victory over Bengal
The Orissa team gave their state a very happy New Year's gift by scoring a 129- run victory over Bengal in the East Zone Ranji Trophy tie at the Eden Gardens on Sunday
Sakyasen Mittra
31-Dec-2000
The Orissa team gave their state a very happy New Year's gift by scoring a 129-
run victory over Bengal in the East Zone Ranji Trophy tie at the Eden Gardens on
Sunday. The emphatic manner in which the cricketers from Utkal dominated the
game was hard to believe. Undoubtedly, the man of the match was the former
Indian seam bowler Debashis Mohanty. He took five wickets in the second innings
to take his match tally to 11, the first time that he had taken 10 or more
wickets in a first class game. Incidentally this is the first time that Orissa
have managed to defeat Bengal in 43 years of first class cricket.
The issue was wide open on Saturday as Sourav Ganguly was still at the crease.
But Mohanty had reserved one of the best deliveries for him. The ball that had
the Indian captain could have done the same to any other batsmen. It pitched
just outside the off-stump, bounced and moved off the seam late. Ganguly
desperately tried to remove himself from the line of the delivery but could only
glove it to wicket-keeper Gautam Gopal. Earlier, Mohanty had removed night
watchman Sourashis Lahiri and then had dismissed the Bengal skipper Devang
Gandhi with successive deliveries. However, Gandhi could have left the ball
alone. He tried to play it down and managed only to glove it for the second
catch of the day to Gautam Gopal.
An early lunch for Bengal was on the cards as Rohan Gavaskar was caught and
bowled by Ajay Barik who had replaced Mohanty after the latter had bowled
unchanged for two hours from the club house end. Gavaskar hit him for two lovely
drives through the covers. However, the moment Barik went round the wicket and
altered the line, Gavaskar was found wanting. He played well across to a ball
trying to flick it through mid wicket. The ball caught the leading edge and
lobbed back for a simple catch to the bowler. Srikkant Kalyani then was trapped
plumb in front by P.Jayachandran as he shuffled too far across the stumps.
Bengal finally managed to give some respectability to the score because of a
ninth wicket stand between Deep Dasgupta and Utpal Chatterjee. The two added 99
runs for the ninth wicket taking the score over the 250 mark. However, the job
for the two became comparatively easy as the Orissa spinners were operating.
Both played freely and demonstrated to their predecessors that there was nothing
in the pitch. Chatterjee scored 53 with seven boundaries. He was particularly
severe on off spinner S.Satpathy, repeatedly cutting him to the point fence.
Dasgupta also looked quite solid in his 39. He was out to a dubious caught
behind decision. Two balls later the match was over as Jayachandra had uprooted
the stumps of the last batsman Shiv Shankar Paul.
Full postInnings win for UP over Vidarbha
Outplaying their opponents in all departments of the game, Uttar Pradesh defeated Vidarbha by an innings and 175 runs, 24 minutes before lunch on the fourth and final day of the Central Zone Ranji Trophy league match at the VCA stadium in Nagpur on
Partab Ramchand
31-Dec-2000
Outplaying their opponents in all departments of the game, Uttar Pradesh
defeated Vidarbha by an innings and 175 runs, 24 minutes before lunch on the
fourth and final day of the Central Zone Ranji Trophy league match at the VCA
stadium in Nagpur on Sunday.
Vidarbha, who resumed at 109 for three, were all out for for 222 in 58 overs,
enabling UP to gain eight points from the match.
Debutant Harshal Shitoot top scored with 44. D Sharma (30) and P Gandhe (31)
gave him able support, but in vain. UP skipper Gynendra Pande with five for 49
was the wrecker-in-chief. He was well supported by Salabh Srivastava (4 for 90).
Full postAbandoned match means no practice for ODI five
Auckland and Canterbury between them prepared to send five members of the New Zealand one-day squad out on to Eden Park in a sixth round Shell Cup match today to give them the opportunity to make the transition from test mode
Chris Rosie
31-Dec-2000
Auckland and Canterbury between them prepared to send five members of the New Zealand one-day squad out on to Eden Park in a sixth round Shell Cup match today to give them the opportunity to make the transition from test mode.
However, Auckland weather had other ideas. Nathan Astle, Craig McMillan and Chris Martin (Canterbury) and Adam Parore and Brooke Walker (Auckland) along with the rest of their respective teams managed no more than some early warm-up exercises before pesky showers swept regularly across the ground.
For the players and the 20-or-so hardy spectators, waiting was made even more frustrating by intermittent periods of sunshine. Even as the 2.10 pm announcement that the match had been abandoned was broadcast to the "crowd," the ground looked a picture with the sun reflecting off the water-splattered shiny blue covers.
It all means that the international players missed out on some necessary practice and Auckland and Canterbury moved on to the next Shell Cup round on January 12 with seven and four points respectively.
Full postNorthern top the table with four wicket win over Otago
After the drama and pantomime of the Northern Districts v Wellington game on Friday, Blake Park in Mount Maunganui witnessed an altogether more sedate affair today
Peter Hoare
31-Dec-2000
After the drama and pantomime of the Northern Districts v Wellington game on Friday, Blake Park in Mount Maunganui witnessed an altogether more sedate affair today.
Northern Districts defeated Otago by four wickets with more than three overs to spare. Northern go above their opponents to the top of the Shell Cup table after six rounds. Barring disasters, they should finish in the top three to qualify for the knockout stage. The team that wins the league goes straight through to the best of three final.
A number of squalls passed close to the ground, but it was a tornado named Doull that swept through at the start of the Northern innings that was the decisive difference. He scored 45 of the 51 runs made while he was in. His innings included six fours, a five and a six.
Doull has entered into the spirit of pinch hitting with abandon and can target an edge with the precision of a guided missile.
Full postMuralitharan takes 11 but South Africa have better of drawn first Test
In nine Test matches against South Africa Muttiah Muralitharan has taken five wickets in an innings or more eight time, including a double against South Africa in the drawn first Castle Lager/MTN Test match that ended at Kingsmead on Saturday
Peter Robinson
30-Dec-2000
In nine Test matches against South Africa Muttiah Muralitharan has taken five wickets in an innings or more eight time, including a double against South Africa in the drawn first Castle Lager/MTN Test match that ended at Kingsmead on Saturday.
South African opening bat and man of the match at Kingsmead Gary Kirsten, however, poses one question: "How many of those Tests have Sri Lanka won?" The answer is one. Kirsten makes a very good point.
For all Muralitharan's success against South Africa, it was always the home team who dominated this match and, but for the loss of the fourth day to the weather, probably would have won.
Muralitharan had a remarkable game, taking 11 for 161 and reaching 300 Test wickets in the process. For this achievement he was presented with an award by the Sri Lankan minister of tourism and sport, Lakshman Kiriella, at tea time on the last day.
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