Report
Rain prevents Ramprakash from reaching landmark
Unexpected rain at Edgbaston held up Mark Ramprakash's bid to reach 1,000 first-class runs for the season
Mike Beddow
18-Aug-2000
Unexpected rain at Edgbaston held up Mark Ramprakash's bid to reach 1,000 first-class runs for the season. The Middlesex batsman was only seven short of his target when reaching an unbeaten 77 in the overnight total of 292 for six against Warwickshire. But steady rain blanketed Birmingham from breakfast-time and prevented any play before lunch.
Full postMcCague and Masters hit back for Kent
David Masters and Martin McCague hit back for Kent after Peter Martin grabbed a five-wicket haul for Lancashire as wickets continued to tumble at Old Trafford today
Andy Wilson
18-Aug-2000
David Masters and Martin McCague hit back for Kent after Peter Martin grabbed a five-wicket haul for Lancashire as wickets continued to tumble at Old Trafford today.
Martin took five for 42 in his first Championship appearance after more than two months out with a broken thumb as Kent were all out for 155 in reply to Lancashire's 236.
But Masters then grabbed three for 19 and McCague two for 16 as Lancashire
collapsed to 43 for six before Neil Fairbrother and Chris Schofield put on
an unbroken 27, extending their lead to 151 at tea.
Full postRain washes out second day at Edgbaston
Warwickshire's hopes of bouncing into the promotion frame in the County Championship were dealt a blow by rain at Edgbaston
Mike Beddow
18-Aug-2000
Warwickshire's hopes of bouncing into the promotion frame in the County Championship were dealt a blow by rain at Edgbaston. The second day of the match with Middlesex was abandoned early in the afternoon following an unexpected six-hour downpour.
Warwickshire started the game six points behind third-placed Worcestershire and cut the gap with two bonus points as Middlesex reached 292 for 6 on the opening day. But bad weather on Friday held up their bid to force home a breakthrough by Alan Richardson, who was on course for best figures of the season after taking four for 54.
The delay was also disappointing for Middlesex batsman Mark Ramprakash, unbeaten on 77 overnight and only seven runs short of 1,000 for the season.
Full postWickets continue to tumble at Old Trafford
Wickets continued to tumble on the second day at Old Trafford with some precious late runs from Neil Fairbrother and Chris Schofield just about keeping Lancashire in the box seat
Andy Wilson
18-Aug-2000
Wickets continued to tumble on the second day at Old Trafford with some
precious late runs from Neil Fairbrother and Chris Schofield just about
keeping Lancashire in the box seat.
They were in danger of squandering a strong position provided by five wickets from Peter Martin when they slumped to 43 for six in their second innings.
But Fairbrother and Schofield responded with a seventh wicket stand of 53 in 22 overs. And after Fairbrother went for a grafting 43, lbw to Matthew Walker's first ball of the match, Schofield was joined by a third left-hander, Gary Keedy, to take Lancashire to 110 for seven, with a lead of 191, when bad light and rain forced a slightly early close.
Full postMarshall makes batting breakthrough
Hamish Marshall's unbeaten 155 in the New Zealand Academy's game with Tamil Nadu Districts in Chennai is a significant step in his burgeoning career
Lynn McConnell
18-Aug-2000
Hamish Marshall's unbeaten 155 in the New Zealand Academy's game with Tamil Nadu Districts in Chennai is a significant step in his burgeoning career.
His effort ensured the side complete control in its first game in the MRF Buchi Babu Invitation Tournament as it reached 382-8, a lead of 223 runs.
The twin brother of James Marshall, Hamish has been the later developer of the two. However, he was always seen as a potential international. Three years ago, he was called into New Zealand's Youth World Cup team when Michael Papps returned home injured.
He won a place in the final of that tournament and a season later was playing for Northern Districts. While he took time to adapt, he was persevered with by the ND selectors and in 13 first-class games before the Academy tour to India, he had scored 418 runs at 20.9.
Full postNational Cricket Academy surge into quarters
The National Cricket Academy today marched into the quarterfinal of the MRF-Buchi Babu all India invitation tournament in Madras by virtue of its 143-run first innings lead over Air India
Sankhya Krishnan
18-Aug-2000
The National Cricket Academy today marched into the quarterfinal of the
MRF-Buchi Babu all India invitation tournament in Madras by virtue of its
143-run first innings lead over Air India. The game was called off at the
end of the NCA innings by the mutual consent of both captains, Reetinder
Sodhi and Pravin Amre.
Resuming at the Guru Nanak College Ground on their overnight score of
124/1, NCA lost Gautam Gambhir for 69 in the sixth over of the day. Mohd.
Kaif and Shiv Sunder Das then added a further 59 before the Orissa opener
was agonisingly dismissed six runs short of his hundred. His 94 had taken
197 deliveries and included twelve boundaries.
Yuvraj Singh indulged in some lusty hitting to swiftly compile 39 from 36
balls before he was dismissed at 267 by off spinner Dheeraj Jadhav. Two
runs later Reetinder Sodhi disappointed by falling to his namesake
Harvinder Sodhi for a fourth ball duck. In his next over Sodhi also saw the
back of wicketkeeper Rohit Jhalani, trapped leg before for one. Kaif and
Romesh Powar proceeded to take NCA past Air India's first innings total of
277 during a 64 run stand before the former gave the charge to left arm
spinner Niraj Patel and was stumped for 65 (155 balls, 4 fours and a six).
Mumbai all rounder Powar made a blistering 68 in an hour and a quarter,
inclusive of seven rasping hits to the fence. After he gave Patel his
second wicket at 371, the innings proceeded in a desultory manner with both
sides having agreed to call off the match at tea. NCA coach Roger Binny was
busy making notes on his wards from a vantage perch on the first floor of
the dressing room.
Full postKiwi Academy trounce Districts by innings
The New Zealand Cricket Academy completed a thumping innings and 11 run victory over Tamil Nadu Districts at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai today to enter the quarterfinals of the MRF-Buchi Babu all India invitation tournament in style
Sankhya Krishnan
18-Aug-2000
The New Zealand Cricket Academy completed a thumping innings and 11 run
victory over Tamil Nadu Districts at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai
today to enter the quarterfinals of the MRF-Buchi Babu all India invitation
tournament in style.
After declaring at their overnight score of 382/8, the visitors from the
Southern Hemisphere knocked over the Districts men for 212. The NZCA now go
through to a quarterfinal clash against Hyderabad beginning August 20 at
the Guru Nanak College Ground.
Only four batsmen topped double figures in Districts' second knock, Tamil
Nadu Ranji Trophy player Vasant Saravanan top scoring with an enterprising
61 (78 balls, 8 fours, 2 sixes). Opener KN Riaz (30), middle order batsman
S Saravanan (45) and tailender P Muthupandian (25) were the others to show
some semblance of a fight.
For the Kiwis, left arm spinner Bruce Martin got the best purchase with
figures of 4/63, while leg spinner Aaron Redmond complemented him well by
grabbing 3/46. Redmond drove the final nail in the Districts coffin by
having STD Kumar caught by his fellow wrecker Martin for seven in the 76th
over of the innings.
Full postTie reshapes cricket's frontiers again
As Australia and South Africa continued to play their part in expanding cricket's frontiers at Melbourne's Colonial Stadium today, so they added to their own inimitable legend
John Polack
18-Aug-2000
As Australia and South Africa continued to play their part in expanding cricket's frontiers at Melbourne's Colonial Stadium today, so they added to their own inimitable legend. With the spectre of no less than their second tie in the space of five meetings, their reputation for producing some of the more remarkable finishes in one-day international history remains as pronounced as it has ever done. This was a spectacular result at a spectacular venue on a spectacularly peculiar night of sport in Melbourne.
On a day which again dawned with expansive evidence of blue sky but which remained mild enough in temperature to remind everybody that this series is being played in the opposite season to the one nature intended for the sport, it was another occasion which undeniably championed the cause of shifting one-day international cricket indoors. At a final figure of 35724, the crowd was close to ten thousand in excess of Wednesday's roll-up and there was a genuine sense of atmosphere around the ground all day. No more so of course than in the closing stages as the Australian batting line-up dramatically disintegrated, revived itself, stumbled again, and then hung on for grim life, all in the space of the match's closing seventeen overs. Four wickets fell and thirty-three runs were scored in the home team's final five overs no less. Another wicket came in the form of the run out of Jason Gillespie (0) from the third last ball of the contest before Shane Warne (9*) played the match's penultimate delivery to fine third man for two runs and then struck the closing ball straight down the ground to scramble a single and leave the scores in their locked state. This was all as the Australians pursued a target of 227 for victory - a score which seemed well within reach for most of the game's evening session.
From the scoreline of 2/146 to which Mark Waugh (48), Ricky Ponting (39) and Adam Gilchrist (37) had guided them by the thirty-fourth over, it is hard to pinpoint how and why events unravelled as they did for the Australians. Maybe it was Damien Martyn (18) overplaying a conventional delivery from left arm spinner Nicky Boje (2/33); maybe it was Andrew Symonds (17) chopping a Lance Klusener (2/41) delivery back into his stumps; maybe it was a rash cross-batted stroke from Ian Harvey (7) at Klusener, which was the turning point. Maybe of most consequence of all was the fact that Michael Bevan (3) was batting as low as number eight in the order, and without anything like his usual polish, as a legacy of dislocating a knuckle on his right index finger when grassing a simple catch in the outfield earlier in the afternoon.
And then again maybe it was the tactical nous of South African skipper Shaun Pollock in shuffling his attack and reconfiguring his field settings imaginatively. More specifically, maybe it was his daring in throwing the ball to medium pacer Andrew Hall (2/8 from three overs) as late as the forty-fifth over of the innings. Hall's first ever international wickets - Bevan (3) and Steve Waugh (30) - could hardly have been any more crucially conjured. That some among the crowd missed a number of these events as they huddled around television monitors scattered across the stadium to watch the finish of an Australian Rules Football final across town at the Melbourne Cricket Ground only made the quest for a definitive answer more complex.
Full postRain frustrates Durham
Heavy rain frustrated Durham's hopes of forcing the victory they need to ease First Division relegation fears
Richard Latham
18-Aug-2000
Heavy rain frustrated Durham's hopes of forcing the victory they need to ease First Division relegation fears.
Only 16 overs were possible on the third day at Taunton where Somerset resumed on 58-0 in reply to the visitors' 378.
The start was delayed until 4.45pm, by which time the game already looked doomed to a draw. But there were bonus points to play for and Durham moved close to a fifth one by removing both overnight batsmen.
Full postEmphatic innings victory for England under-19s
England U19s continued their superiority over Sri Lanka U19s with an emphatic victory at Trent Bridge in the first NatWest Test Match
Dave Bracegirdle
17-Aug-2000
England U19s continued their superiority over Sri Lanka U19s with an emphatic victory at Trent Bridge in the first NatWest Test Match.
After a blazing start to both their innings Sri Lanka succumbed to a well balanced England bowling attack. Sri Lanka won the toss and batted but after a 50 opening partnership England tenaciously took a grip on the match.
Bowled out for 211 before the close of the first day Sri Lanka never recovered. England batted for 4 sessions amassing 417. Skipper Ian Bell 72 put on 164 with Gary Pratt for the second wicket . Kaddeer Ali gave the middle order substance with a solid 59 adding a record 126 for the 6th wicket with the belligerent Peter Trego. Trego was annoyed to be bowled by Ranil Dhammika ten short of the century.
Thilina Kandambi with 4 - 75 and Muthumudalige Pushpakumara 2- 39 backed up Dhammika 2- 61 but England lead of 206 always looked a winning position.
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