Report

Assam set to drive final nail in Bihar coffin

Hosts Assam were on the brink of handing Bihar an innings defeat in their Ranji Trophy East Zone clash at the Tinsukia District Sports Association ground on Saturday

Sankhya Krishnan

23-Dec-2000

Hosts Assam were on the brink of handing Bihar an innings defeat in their Ranji Trophy East Zone clash at the Tinsukia District Sports Association ground on Saturday. At stumps on the second day, Bihar were in poor shape at 126/8 in their second innings when stumps were drawn, requiring 30 more runs to make their opponents bat again. Earlier Assam were dismissed for 241 which gave them a healthy first innings lead of 156.

In the morning, Tripura lost all rounder Ganesh Kumar with just nine runs having accrued to the overnight score of 122/5. Kumar became wicketkeeper MS Dhoni's second victim, the bowler being the persevering Mihir Diwakar. A recovery was launched by Sunil Subramaniam and Sukhvinder Singh, who added 78 for the seventh wicket.

Former Tamil Nadu left arm spinner Subramaniam, who took his 250th wicket in the Ranji Trophy earlier this season as Assam's professional, was not called on to bowl in either innings. He contributed 26 in the role of a specialist batsman but it was the lefthanded Sukhvinder, batting at No.8, who top scored with a useful 47. Opening bowler Diwakar was the most successful, scalping three wickets although it came at the considerable expense of 73 runs from 16 overs.

Assam seamer Gautam Dutta proceeded to destroy the upper echelons of the Bihar batting, taking out the first four men with the score having reached 44. Perhaps the most crucial of those scalps was the last victim, skipper Rajiv Kumar, who fell at 44. Just when Sunil Kumar and skipper Tariquer Rehman were attempting a recovery, left arm spinner Sukhbinder nipped the prospects with a three wicket haul in the space of four successive overs he bowled to leave Bihar at 81/7. Off the last ball of the day, Diwakar was caught in R Borah's first over leaving the battling Rehman, who was still unbeaten on 49, to salvage Assam's dim prospects on Sunday in the company of the tail.

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Skipper Jakati stars in Goa's innings win over Andhra

Leading from the front, Goa's captain SH Jakati ensured an innings and 13-run win for the hosts over Andhra on the final day of their South Zone Under-22 tournament match at the Panjim Gymkhana Ground in Goa on Friday

Natarajan Sriram

23-Dec-2000

Put into bat on the opening day, Goa were given a solid start by openers Sagun Kamat (86) and N Mulgoankar (14) who added 65 runs in 31.1 overs. Therefater A Jadhav (75) and G Phadte (69), who came together for the third wicket, took the score to 247 in the 89th over. The Goan skipper entered at the fall of the fourth wicket, that of Jadhav. In the company of RDR D'Souza (32), Jakati (73) put on 82 runs for the fifth wicket. Jakati finally departed with the score on 375.

The score was then boosted by some sensible batting by the lower order especially KA Angle (56) which made sure of the Goan scorecard reaching 438 for 8 when they declared. In response Andhra started off on the wrong foot losing its openers M Tahir Hussain (4) and N Anil Kumar (13) with only 25 on the board. B Samant (4 for 66) and Jakati (4 for 39) ran through the middle order to leave the visitors at 105 for 7 in 38 overs. But TK Ayappa Swamy (79) and MN Vikram Verma (52) came to the rescue by adding 128 runs for the eighth wicket. Andhra were all out for 234.

Following on, Andhra fared worse and were bundled out for 191 runs. Only three batsmen, opener Anil Kumar (56), VM Sai (66) and Mohd Faiq (30) managed to reach double figures. Jakati returned figures of 5 for 72. The spoils were shared by Jakati and D'Souza (4 for 40).

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Mumbai, Saurashtra score innings wins

In the two Vijay Merchant Trophy (Under-16) West Zone league matches on Saturday, Saurashtra and Mumbai scored impressive innings wins over Gujarat and Baroda respectively

Natarajan Sriram

23-Dec-2000

In the two Vijay Merchant Trophy (Under-16) West Zone league matches on Saturday, Saurashtra and Mumbai scored impressive innings wins over Gujarat and Baroda respectively.

At the Sardar Patel stadium in Ahmedabad, Saurashtra won by an innings and 22 runs. Opting to bat, Saurashtra scored 296 with CA Pujara (72) being the top scorer. The score was helped along by handsome contributions by opener BM Chauhan (65) and skipper NR Rathod (48). AP Darji (5 for 118) and KK Fadia (3 for 38) were the pick of the Gujarat bowlers.

In response, Gujarat were bundled out for just 113 with S Padhiyar (5 for 43) running through the side. Opener PA Patil (23) was the top scorer for Baroda. Following on 183 run behind, Gujarat fell short by 22 runs. PA Patil was again the chief contributor with 49 runs.

In the other Under-16 match of the day at the Wankhede stadium, Mumbai were helped to an innings and five-run win over Baroda by a fine eight wicket haul by AY Sunsura in the visitors' second innings.

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Patel's five wicket haul restricts Saurashtra

Half centuries from skipper Sitanshu Kotak and Hitesh Parsana lifted Saurashtra to a modest 218/8 on the opening day of their West Zone Ranji Trophy tie against Gujarat at the Lalbhai Contractor Stadium in Surat on Saturday

Sankhya Krishnan

23-Dec-2000

Saurashtra suffered an early blow when opener Prashant Joshi retired hurt in the first over of the match, bowled by Hitesh Majumdar. He did not resume his innings during the day. The first three wickets fell cheaply but with the score on 70, Kotak and Parsana joined hands in a fourth wicket association yielding 106. Both batsmen were scalped by Patel with Kotak the first to depart, bowled for an obdurate 68 (217 balls, 3 fours).

From a healthy 176/3, five wickets tumbled for 42 and play was called off at the fall of the eighth wicket, four balls ahead of stumps. The new ball which was taken after 84 overs saw off three batsmen including Parsana. His 176 ball knock, which included nine fours and a six, produced 65. Patel mopped up figures of 5/72 with Majumdar and Bhavin Mehta sharing the other three wickets.

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Sri Lankan batting gives cause for concern

Another abbreviated day for Sanath Jayasuriya's Sri Lankans and another day of frustration for the tourists' senior batsmen as time starts to run out ahead of the first Test match against South Africa at Kingsmead on Boxing Day

Peter Robinson

22-Dec-2000

With the whole of the first day's play against KwaZulu-Natal at the Oval in Pietermaritzburg washed out on Thursday, the best Jayasuriya could have hoped for on Friday was a full day's play and time out in the middle for his top order. He was granted neither wish. The game started an hour late after the outfield had been allowed to dry and ended 17 minutes after tea because of bad light.

In between Sri Lanka made 238 for eight, but, significantly, neither Jayasuriya nor vice captain Marvan Atapattu stayed barely long enough to introduce themselves to the home team. Atapattu made 4 and Jayasuriya 14 as Sri Lanka collapsed to 46 for four against Natal's left-arm new ball pairing of Gary Gilder and Shaun Adam.

Gilder, who has been struggling to keep his Natal place this season, was particularly penetrating in an opening spell which accounted for the Sri Lankan captain and vice captain as well as Russel Arnold for 5. Briefly there was speculation that two days might be enough to produce a result, but a spirited 87 from Mahela Jayawardene and 54 from Tillekeratne Dilshan in a fifth-wicket stand that produced 134 spared the tourists further embarrassment.

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Canterbury hold advantage in tour match destined for draw

Gary Stead had a dream day as Canterbury took control of the second match against shell-shocked tourists Zimbabwe

Matthew Appleby

22-Dec-2000

Gary Stead had a dream day as Canterbury took control of the second match against shell-shocked tourists Zimbabwe.

Stead said it was "one of our better days' performances over the whole season," as Canterbury declared at 330/5, and reduced Zimbabwe to 112/4 at the close.

In sharp contrast to Stead's pleasure at his first century against an international team were the fates of teammate Nathan Astle and Zimbabwe's Grant Flower.

Astle, playing under orders from the selectors to find his batting form, edged a ball to the keeper after just three overs of the morning session. He again failed to move his feet and showed the weaknesses he displayed so often in the recent Test series in South Africa.

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Tamil Nadu takes honours in the drawn match against Hyderabad

Hyderabad and Tamil Nadu played out a draw at the Electric Corporation of India Limited, Hyderabad in the P Ramachandra Rao Trophy for the Under 22's on Friday

Santhosh S

22-Dec-2000

Hyderabad and Tamil Nadu played out a draw at the Electric Corporation of India Limited, Hyderabad in the P Ramachandra Rao Trophy for the Under 22's on Friday. Whenever the bat dominates as it did in this match, finding a positive result becomes impossible.

Visitors Tamil Nadu won the toss and elected to bat first. Tamil Nadu lost R Bhatia in the first ball of the match. Then followed a partnership of 151 for the second wicket by S Badrinath and S Hemanth Kumar. Kumar made 78 including 11 fours before being dismissed. Badrinath went on to complete a brilliant hundred and added 174 with captain SV Saravanan who made 92 (11 fours, 1 six). the next to go was Kumar for a well made 160 that was decorated with a six and twenty boundaries. R Sathish notched up a 50 before he was run out as Tamil Nadu declared at 449/8 in 122.5 overs. Mohd Ghouse did the bulk of the bowling and for a medium pacer he bowled 50.5-12-154-4 clearly exposing the lack of depth in the Hyderabad bowling department.

With the match going to the first innings lead scenario Hyderabad started cautiously and applied themselves. Anirudh Singh left his mark on the game with an exuberant 167 made in 306 balls that included 24 boundaries and 2 sixes. He added 104 for the fifth wicket with N Vishal who made 46. The rest of the Hyderabad innings folded cheaply to the guiles of R Ramkumar (4/61) and were all out for 371 in 129.1 overs falling behind the Tamil Nadu score by 78 runs. Tamil Nadu made 28/3 at the end of play on Friday. Mohd Ghouse picked up two wickets of the three to fall. Tamil Nadu took home five points to Hyderabad's three.

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Nalini Reddy wrecks Tamil Nadu with 8/48

Nuclear Fuel Complex Ground, Hyderabad, was the venue for the Vijay Merchant Trophy South Zone League, Under-16s

Santhosh S

22-Dec-2000

Nuclear Fuel Complex Ground, Hyderabad, was the venue for the Vijay Merchant Trophy South Zone League, Under-16s. Nalini Reddy who bowled amazingly to pick 8/48 gave Hyderabad a winning position but they settled for a draw due to some strange reasons on Friday.

Hyderabad won the toss and elected to bat and were all out for 390 in 132.3 overs. Thanks to a patient knock of 135 in 321 balls which included 18 fours by captain Abhinav Kumar. SA Pai gave admirable support by making 84 including 13 boundaries. Tamil Nadu got off to a good start but were bowled out for 140 in 63.4 overs, with Reddy running through their batting line up. Even with a massive lead of 250 and better part of the last day to go for outright victory, Hyderabad chose to get some batting practice and scored 274/4 at the end of play. AT Rayadu scored a hard hitting 143 in 158 balls smashing 19 fours and 2 sixes. Tamil Nadu must have been more than thankful to go home with the three points as Hyderabad were happy with five points.