Report
Australia closes in on dizzy prospect of another huge win
Paceman Jason Gillespie (3/8) has smashed through a feeble West Indian top order late on the third day of the Fourth Test here at the Melbourne Cricket Ground today to have Australia thundering toward another mammoth victory
John Polack
28-Dec-2000
Paceman Jason Gillespie (3/8) has smashed through a feeble West Indian top order late on the third day of the Fourth Test here at the Melbourne Cricket Ground today to have Australia thundering toward another mammoth victory. With three scalps in the space of sixteen deliveries, the South Australian speedster has, to be precise, left his team a mere seven wickets away from wrapping up this match tomorrow.
It was the fourteenth day of this series; it was the thirteenth on which Australia dominated. By its conclusion (with West Indies at 3/10 and still an irrelevant 452 runs away from what would shape as the most impossible of wins), the prospect of yet another thumping Test triumph was the only thing apparently left on the cards.
The Australian upper order was a model of efficiency today, simply accumulating runs before an inevitable closure of the side's second innings at a mark of 5/262 thirty-eight minutes before the scheduled drawing of stumps. It was the kind of display during which Justin Langer (80) normally revels, and he made sure that he did not let slip a golden opportunity to improve upon a generally unremarkable personal series. Mark Waugh (78*) weighed in heavily too and the result, at the end of it all, was a 461 run lead. It allowed the tourists no way out of a thick and gloomy mire.
And lest it be thought that the visitors might finally have shown the sort of application at the top of an innings that is so often the prerequisite of long exhibitions at the crease, that idea can already be scrapped. Gillespie's efforts in removing Daren Ganga (0), Wavell Hinds (4) and Brian Lara (0) in the space of the eleven overs that the Australians left themselves to bowl prior to stumps have already reduced the West Indians to second innings calamity. Ganga failed to defend a ball on an off stump line and found himself lbw; Hinds edged to fourth slip; Lara was comprehensively bowled by a wonderful delivery. Lara's dismissal, in itself, was probably a metaphor for the West Indians' woes; completely out-thought, he shouldered arms to a delivery that he seemed to believe was slanted away from him. Instead, it hit the seam, moved into him and crashed, delightfully from a jovial home crowd of 19896's point of view, into the off bail.
Full postGanguly's career best figures restricts Orissa
Sourav Ganguly's best bowling figures in first class cricket (6/46)helped hosts Bengal to restrict Orissa to a score of 251 for eight wickets in the crucial East Zone Ranji Trophy encounter at the Eden Gardens on Thursday
Sakyasen Mittra
28-Dec-2000
Sourav Ganguly's best bowling figures in first class cricket (6/46)helped hosts
Bengal to restrict Orissa to a score of 251 for eight wickets in the crucial
East Zone Ranji Trophy encounter at the Eden Gardens on Thursday. His earlier
best was 6 for 88 against Delhi last season.
The match will decide as to which team will top the group from the zone and
Ganguly's bowling has given Bengal the chance of keeping the Orissa score below
300. However, if Ganguly walked away with the bowling honours it was Sanjay Raul
who stole the show with the bat. Coming in to bat with the score at 15 for two
wickets, Raul scored his eighth Ranji Trophy hundred and 11th in first class
cricket. On a pitch, where the ball tended to keep low at times, Raul showed
superb technique in handling the experienced Ganguly and Utpal Chatterjee to
keep Orissa in the match. His innings was all the more significant because he
lost Shiv Sundar Das immediately on his arrival at the wicket.
It looked like Das had failed to judge the pitch as he elected to bat after
winning the toss. Orissa were 17 for three in only in the 10th over, Ganguly
doing the early damage with some controlled swing bowling. He found an able ally
in Shivshankar Paul who bowled with a lot of zest in his first spell. The manner
in which Ganguly dismissed his India compatriot Das was an example as to how
well he used the new ball. It was an outswinger that bounced and flicked Das'
glove on its way to Shrikkant Kalyani at second slip. The veteran took a good
catch diving forward.
At this stage with Orissa tottering, Raul and Parida added 126 runs for the
fourth wicket to rescue their team. While Raul was compact with drives in front
of the wicket, Parida was in an adventurous mood. Their job was simplified
because there was no bowler to back Ganguly. Off spinner Sourashis Lahiri and
leg spinner Wrichik Mazumdar were either wayward or lacked the variation to
trouble the batsmen.
Full postAH Bochare bowls Baroda to a 115 run victory over Gujarat
Gujarat played host to Baroda at Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad in the Under-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy West Zone League
Santhosh S
28-Dec-2000
Gujarat played host to Baroda at Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad in the Under-16
Vijay Merchant Trophy West Zone League. Baroda completed a 115 run victory on
Thursday thanks to the brilliance of Aditya Bochare who went home with the match
figures of 13/107.
Bochare destroyed Gujarat's second innings on Thursday picking up 15-4-28-7
bowling them out for 102 in 33 overs. On Tuesday winning the toss Baroda elected
to bat and made 306 in their first innings. YK Pathan (64) and captain JD
Naikwade (54) did well with the bat for Baroda as R Bhatt returned the best of
the bowling taking 5/72. Gujarat got off to a great start thanks to Partiv Patel
who has been in prolific form this season. Patel added 133 for the first wicket
with AS Rupani who made 50 including 8 boundaries. Patel went on to complete his
century and was dismissed by Bochare for 101 which was studded with 13 hits past
the ropes. Bochare went on to scalp five more victims as he finished with 6/79.
Gujarat were bowled out for 283 conceding a 23 run lead to Baroda.
Baroda did not do well in their second innings as they were bowled out for 194
in 50.5 overs. AP Darji did well to pick 6/72 and Baroda was helped by a half
century by Miten Shah who made 53 which included ten strikes to the boundary.
218 was the target that Gujarat had to chase for an outright win. Patel once
again top-scored for Gujarat with 27 as Bochare turned destructive. Baroda took
home eight points as Gujarat were left with none.
Full postArindam Das (177) stars for Bengal in drawn game
The East Zone Under-22 match between Bengal and Tripura at the Polytechnic Ground in Agartala meandered to a draw on the third and final day on Thursday
Natarajan Sriram
28-Dec-2000
The East Zone Under-22 match between Bengal and Tripura at the Polytechnic
Ground in Agartala meandered to a draw on the third and final day on Thursday.
Bengal took home five points by virtue of the 113-run first innings lead while
Tripura had to be content with three.
Opting to bat on the first day, Bengal declared at 387 for 9. Opener Arindam Das
(177) held the visitors' innings together. After the early loss of his partner
Prasanta Sinharoy (1), Arindam shared a 126-run second wicket partnership with
stumper AA Sikdar (40). The fall of Sikdar triggered a minor collapse, and
Bengal found themselves losing four more wickets.
Subrahdip Ganguly (90) joined Arindam at this juncture and 126 runs for the
seventh wicket. Arindam was the eighth batsman to be dismissed caught by Saha
off R Ghosh. Arindam, who stay at the crease for close to eight hours faced 305
balls hit 28 boundaries.
In reply, Tripura scored 254 thanks chiefly to some useful contributions by the
middle order. M Gupta (63) was the top scorer. The only significant partnership
in the innings was shared by M Gupta and C Sachdeva (56) for the third wicket
which was worth 75 runs. Thereafter none of the Tripura batsmen made any
significant scores. Bengal in their second innings lost three wickets while
putting up 157 on the board. Arindam Das was again the top scorer with a fine
60. Bengal managed to receive 48 overs on the final day before stumps were drawn
after the 8th mandatory over with the score 157 for three.
Full postGirilal helps Kerala to play out a draw
The P Ramachandra Rao Trophy match at the Nehru Stadium in Cochin involving Kerala and Goa which witnessed tall scores by both the teams ended in a draw on the third and final day on Thursday
Natarajan Sriram
28-Dec-2000
The P Ramachandra Rao Trophy match at the Nehru Stadium in Cochin involving
Kerala and Goa which witnessed tall scores by both the teams ended in a draw on
the third and final day on Thursday. Kerala who took the first innings lead got
five points while Goa took home three.
Opting to bat, Goa scored 259 in their first innings thanks to a sedate 110 by
opener Sagun Kamat. The most significant partnership of the innings was the 135
run opening stand between Kamat and N Mulgaonkar (26). S Mathen was the most
successful bowler for Kerala with figures of 6 for 45. During a 259 minute stay
at the crease Kamat faced 185 balls while hitting 11 boundaries.
In reply Kerala took a 117 run first innings lead. The innings witnessed a fine
157 run sixth wicket partnership between opener V Girilal (177) and stumper CM
Deepak (102 not out) which enabled the host team to get the lead. During a 8 and
half hour stay at the crease Girilal faced 377 balls with 17 boundaries and two
sixes. On the other hand Deepak who remained unbeaten at the close of play on
the final day faced 174 balls during his 218 minute stay at the middle. He hit
nine fours and three sixes.
Full postKarnataka win Ramachandra Rao Trophy
Karnataka emerged winners of the P Ramachandra Rao Trophy for the South Zone under-22 title on Thursday
Natarajan Sriram
28-Dec-2000
Karnataka emerged winners of the P Ramachandra Rao Trophy for the
South Zone under-22 title on Thursday. The three points they got from
their rain affected match against Tamil Nadu at Pondicherry was enough
for them to edge out Hyderabad on run quotient. Both Karnataka and
Hyderabad finished on 24 points. But Karnataka on a better run
quotient took the trophy.
The Pondicherry game ended in a tame draw as play was called off at
1.30 pm on the third and final day.
Put in to bat, Karnataka in their first innings scored 271 thanks to a
fine 105 by opener KS Ponnappa. He shared a 98-run second wicket stand
with Barrington Rowland (45). Thereafter a 61-run fourth wicket
partnership ensued between Ponnappa and AR Mahesh (37). Vasanth
Saravanan was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 5 for 59.
The second day witnessed only 25 overs. After Karnataka were all out
in the morning, Tamil Nadu mustered 49 for no loss at the end of play.
On the final day, only 16 overs were bowled. Tamil Nadu had scored 116
with the openers S Badrinath (67) and Rajat Bhatia (39) remained
unbeaten till the end.
Full postYadav, Kaif give UP solid foundation
A century by opening batsman Jyoti Yadav and an unbeaten 81 by Test discard Mohd
Sankhya Krishnan
28-Dec-2000
A century by opening batsman Jyoti Yadav and an unbeaten 81 by Test discard
Mohd. Kaif powered Uttar Pradesh to an imposing 298/2 on the opening day of
their Central Zone Ranji Trophy clash against Vidarbha at the VCA ground in
Nagpur on Thursday. Both teams are currently languishing at the bottom of the
zonal table, with UP having collected a mere three points from their two opening
matches while Vidarbha remain scoreless, again after two games.
Batting first after winning the toss, UP openers N Ali and Yadav raised 111 for
the first wicket in just over 26 overs. Ali's dismissal by Vidarbha skipper
Pradeep Gandhe for a brisk 58 (88 balls, 11 fours) set the stage for another
fruitful partnership, between Yadav and Kaif. The two combined in a 123 run
second wicket stand which ended in the final session when Yadav fell to opening
bowler AM Piprode. His 109 came off 210 balls and included 17 hits to the
pickets. Kaif was joined by skipper Gyanendra Pandey and the duo played out the
next 22 overs to take UP safely through to stumps, with their unbroken
association worth 64. Kaif was steadily progressing towards three figures,
having compiled 81 (207 balls, 11 fours).
Full postMumbai held to a draw by Maharashtra
Mumbai were held to a draw by Maharashtra on Thursday at Nehru Stadium, Pune, in the Vijay Merchant Trophy West Zone League for the Under 16s
Santhosh S
28-Dec-2000
Mumbai were held to a draw by Maharashtra on Thursday at Nehru Stadium, Pune, in
the Vijay Merchant Trophy West Zone League for the Under 16s.
Electing to bat after winning the toss Mumbai made 300 all out in their first
innings. Opening batsman SO Kukreja scored a stroke filled 113 that included 13
boundaries to hold the Mumbai innings together. Mumbai innings was propped up by
HN Shah who made 45 coming low in the order. PP More and A Sondkar picked up
three wickets each. Arif Sansara with 6/48 helped Mumbai shoot out Maharashtra
for 170 in 86.2 overs. Yogesh Takwale was the best of the batsmen with 62 (8
fours). At close of play Mumbai were 133/4 in their second innings. Swapnoj
Thankur made 46 with the help of 9 boundaries. Mumbai took home five points to
Maharashtra's three, thanks to their first innings lead.
Full postAustralians box on with tradition
Traditions, by their very nature, live on
John Polack
27-Dec-2000
Traditions, by their very nature, live on. As sure as there is a turkey on many Australian tables on 25 December, it's a fact of modern Test life that national captain
Steve Waugh is often the man for a crisis, always the big-occasion player. Even in this rapidly changing world, and no matter how radically cricket's boundaries have
changed through this long and turbulent year, Australia's ability to ward off trouble is a constant too. In front of 73,233 people, its ascent to a score of 7/295 by
stumps on the opening day of the Fourth Test against West Indies at the Melbourne Cricket Ground emphatically underlined the point.
On Boxing Day, the day laden with more history and tradition than any other in Australian cricket, Waugh (98*) was naturally the figure to whom the exercise of
extricating his team from difficulty fell. Following West Indian captain Jimmy Adams' important victory at the toss, the task of building long individual innings had
initially proven futile. On the MCG's new drop-in pitch - one that helped the bowlers to trouble the batsmen with both pace and bounce - opener Michael Slater
(30) narrowly escaped dragging the fourth delivery of the match into his stumps and, for as long as they were there, he and the remainder of the upper order
struggled to attain anything like their best touch. Slater and fellow opener Matthew Hayden (13) were each provided with a particularly stern examination of their
talents outside the line of off stump, albeit that the West Indians failed to maintain the pressure as consistently as they might have done. One particularly bad moment
for the tourists arrived when Slater (with his score at 9) edged a Mervyn Dillon (2/68) delivery but was dropped by Sherwin Campbell at chest height, and slightly to
his left, at second slip.
Once Hayden was dismissed - ten minutes after drinks as he pushed forward hesitantly at a Courtney Walsh (1/38) delivery - a more appropriate reflection of the
events of the opening half of the day did begin to appear on the scoreboard. Fourteen minutes after his partner's demise, further evidence of the difficulty of
overcoming the attack came when Slater played an injudicious pull shot at Nixon McLean (2/60) and top edged a catch onto which wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs
was able to run twenty metres behind the wicket on the leg side.
Adam Gilchrist (37), Justin Langer (31), Mark Waugh (25) and Ricky Ponting (23) all promised brighter things. But, after weathering early scares, none could truly
consolidate. Gilchrist chased an innocuous-looking, wide delivery from Test debutant Colin Stuart (2/50) and was brilliantly caught in the gully; Langer swiped wildly
at Stuart and bottom-edged a catch to Jacobs; Waugh failed to successfully fend a rearing delivery and continued to prolong Dillon's pronounced run of personal
success against him; and Ponting, after playing the shot in commanding fashion several times, failed to middle a hook at McLean and watched as the stroke was
brilliantly intercepted only inches above the turf at deep backward square leg. It combined to reduce Australia to 5/149 and 7/225 at different stages and had them in
danger of being dismissed for a total of less than 250 for the first time in more than nine months.
Full postLong haul ahead for Sri Lanka at Kingsmead
Just two days into the Castle Lager/MTN Test series and Sri Lanka's strengths and weaknesses in South African conditions have been sharply illuminated
Peter Robinson
27-Dec-2000
Just two days into the Castle Lager/MTN Test series and Sri Lanka's strengths and weaknesses in South African conditions have been sharply illuminated.
The tourists ended the second day of the first Test on 62 for two in reply to South Africa's 420 all out and while Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara batted bravely into the evening to put on 60 in an unbroken stand for the third wicket, the Sri Lankans still have some way to go to reach the follow-on target of 221.
It will not be easy on a Kingsmead pitch that has offered uneven bounce and which is likely to become even more two-paced as the match wears on. The South African seamers are well-equipped to exploit the conditions while Sri Lanka have struggled all through their tour to come to terms with the bounce.
They were in terrible trouble just four overs into their innings after Makahaya Ntini had run out Marvan Atapattu for nought and Sanath Jayasuriya had also gone without scoring, brilliantly caught by Neil McKenzie at point off Mfuneko Ngam.
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