Report
Zimbabwe maintain winning momentum
Zimbabwe's resilience showed through the Kennington gloom as they fought back from a position of almost despair to beat England by five wickets in the NatWest Series limited-overs match at The Oval to move comfortably to the top of the triangular
Staff and agencies
08-Jul-2000
Zimbabwe's resilience showed through the Kennington gloom as they fought back
from a position of almost despair to beat England by five wickets in the NatWest Series limited-overs match at The Oval to move comfortably to the top of the triangular tournament table.
Earlier in the day England had appeared to be in a commanding position as Marcus Trescothick (79), showing much promise on his debut, and Graeme Hick (50) to the score to 150-2.
A rain-break made all the difference and, thereafter, the home batsmen struggled against Paul Strang (3-26) and Grant Flower (3-9) to be dismissed for 207 runs. It did not appear to be enough on a pitch which was essentially good for batting, and so it proved ot be.
Full postStrang brings Zimbabwe back into game
A combination of the second break for rain and the rejuvenated leg-spin of Paul Strang turned the England innings on its head when the team had built such a fine foundation to their innings
John Ward
08-Jul-2000
NatWest Series, The Oval, Interval: England 207 all out (50 overs) v
Zimbabwe
Rain - good change bowler
A combination of the second break for rain and the rejuvenated leg-spin of
Paul Strang turned the England innings on its head when the team had built
such a fine foundation to their innings. The middle order, instead of
launching an assault that could have taken the home side close to 300,
collapsed in familiar fashion as Zimbabwe commendably pulled themselves
right back into the game.
Brown blasts Leicestershire
Alistair Brown hammered a magnificent 211 n.o
Staff and agencies
08-Jul-2000
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Alistair Brown - a double hundred Photo © Paul McGregor |
Alistair Brown hammered a magnificent 211 n.o. in Surrey's 334-8 score
against Leicestershire in their championship match at Oakham School - the first time the championship had come there in 62 years. He showed that the pitch was
well-suited to batting in spite of the visitors having lost three early wickets to James Ormond at 25-3.
Brown attained his double-hundred off 257 deliveries with 24 fours and one
six to put Surrey in a formidable position. He outpaced his colleagues as the
next-highest scorer was Nadeem Shahid (37) and Alex Tudor (22) was a junior partner in the 141 runs eighth-wicket stand in 37 overs. Although he was missed a couple of times Brown prospered as the pitch improved with the greater sunshine.
Full postIndia obliterate Hong Kong in 363 run thrashing
Perhaps the most farcical match of the entire Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Under-15 tournament in Malaysia took place just before the final at the Royal Military College on Saturday
Anand Vasu
08-Jul-2000
Perhaps the most farcical match of the entire Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Under-15 tournament in Malaysia took place just before the final at the Royal Military College on Saturday. A victory by 363 runs is not a result you see often in a 40 overs a side game. But that is exactly what India handed out to minnows Hong Kong.
India has emerged as the strongest side in the tournament by far and Hong Kong have been as close to the bottom of the list as possible. When Hong Kong won the toss and invited India to bat they certainly would not have been prepared for the kind of battering they received.
Every batsman who took the crease made merry. And in quick time to boot. But the honours were cornered by Palash Jothi Das who helped himself to 112 off just 59 balls before he felt he had enough and retired. His innings had just four boundaries. How then did he manage to score so quickly? Perhaps the 11 times he cleared the ropes might have something to do with that.
Sushil Kumar slammed 73 off 60 balls while leg spinner Nikhil Rathod was good for 38 runs that came off just 19 balls. Ambati Tirapati
Rayudu who has opened the innings thus far came in at number five and
trotted to 53 off just 30 balls.
An amazing 403 runs were scored off 40 overs. Spectators at the ground were treated to a batting spectacle of the highest possible excitement levels.
Full postZimbabwe resistance flowers in poor light
After losing three wickets, one of them controversially, for 35 runs in pursuit of England's total of 207, Zimbabwe appeared to be as good as buried
John Ward
08-Jul-2000
NatWest Series, The Oval: England 207 (50 overs);
Zimbabwe 105 for three (Campbell 41, A Flower 36)
After losing three wickets, one of them controversially, for 35 runs in
pursuit of England's total of 207, Zimbabwe appeared to be as good as
buried. Then came a determined fighting partnership between present and
past captains, Andy Flower and Alistair Campbell, who fought back against
some fine bowling and poor light to keep their team in the match with 20
overs still to be bowled.
England struck back with the third ball of the Zimbabwe innings, as
without a run on the board their key batsman Johnson drove uppishly at
Caddick and Maynard at backward point juggled and then held the vital low
catch.
Full postZimbabwe's clear-cut victory
NatWest Series, The Oval: England (207 all out off 50 overs) lost to Zimbabwe (210 for five off 48.2 overs) by five wickets
John Ward
08-Jul-2000
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Alistair Campbell Photo © CricInfo |
NatWest Series, The Oval: England (207 all out off 50 overs) lost to
Zimbabwe (210 for five off 48.2 overs) by five wickets.
Zimbabwe, NatWest Series outsiders, pulled off another surprise victory,
this time by five wickets over England at The Oval.
High scores in prospect
On an overcast morning, England won the toss in the second match of the triangular NatWest Series and decided to bat
John Ward
08-Jul-2000
England bat on "excellent" pitch
On an overcast morning, England won the toss in the second match of the
triangular NatWest Series and decided to bat. The pitch was expected to be
excellent for batting and some high scoring could be in prospect.
Zimbabwe made one change to the team that scored an upset win over West
Indies at Bristol on Thursday. Heath Streak is still unfit, but Paul Strang
replaced Mluleki Nkala, a spinning all-rounder for a pace-bowling one. From
their advertised twelve, England omitted Craig White and Vikram Solanki,
bringing in left-arm seamer Alan Mullally instead.
Full postDurham disappoint
Durham flattered to deceive in their championship match against First Division front-runners Yorkshire at Leeds
Staff and agencies
07-Jul-2000
Durham flattered to deceive in their championship match against First
Division front-runners Yorkshire at Leeds. A total 253-8 at the end of the day was a disappointment - to say the least - after Simon Katich (55) and Jon Lewis (66 with eight boundaries) had shared a 107 runs second-wicket partnership in 39 overs.
Ryan Sidebottom (4-51) brought about the decline from a 192-3 position at tea. He had already bowled Michael Gough to end the 60 runs first-wicket stand. Yet the manner in which Lewis and Katich handled the bowling gave no indication that Durham had been put in to bat. Both fell to catches within three overs.
After tea Sidebottom took the wickets of Paul Collingwood and Muazam Ali with two consecutive deliveries. Martin Speight, too, was out after being ill at ease for just over three-quarters of an hour. Durham's hopes of tomorrow depend on Nick Speak (37 n.o.) who has been at the wicket for 150 minutes. So far Yorkshire have not suffered too much from Gavin Hamilton leaving the field with an injury after having bowled less than five overs.
Full postWharf succeeds while wickets fall
Alex Wharf (101 n.o.), 25 years-old, made his first championship hundred as Glamorgan fought back from a disappointing start against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road
Staff and agencies
07-Jul-2000
Alex Wharf (101 n.o.), 25 years-old, made his first championship hundred as
Glamorgan fought back from a disappointing start against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road. Seven wickets fell in the day - a reminder of the Test Match at Lord's. Wharf, now with his third county, amassed 16 fours from 127 deliveries to lift the Welsh county from 77-6 at lunch to 234.
With commendable support from Adrian Dale (47) he passed his previous
championship best - 78 for his previous county Nottinghamshire (against
Glamorgan!) last season. Stand-in skipper Steve James could not have been too unhappy about his decision to bat - though the best batting conditions came later in the day.
Northamptonshire, at the foot of Division Two, were themselves soon in
trouble as the score dipped to 85-7. Wharf struck quickly with the ball, too, in dismissing Matthew Hayden quickly. However medium-paced Dale wrecked the middle-order with three wickets. Mal Loye was called back by umpire Graham Burgess before he had left the pitch from an adjudged l.b.w to Dale, but had no reprieve for a similar decision from John Holder shortly afterwards.
Full postSomerset sweep past Hampshire
Graham Rose and Steffan Jones of Somerset humbled Hampshire's batting in their championship match at Taunton
Staff and agencies
07-Jul-2000
Graham Rose and Steffan Jones of Somerset humbled Hampshire's batting in
their championship match at Taunton. With both bowlers taking four wickets the
visitors tumbled from 62-1 to 142 all out. Somerset were already batting when the sun shone at last in mid-afternoon and went on to score 208-4 by the close (66 runs ahead).
Opener Giles White (44), himself formerly with the county, alone defied
Somerset with some support from Will Kendall (29). Swing bowling, effecting five successful l.b.w decisions, was more to blame for the poor batting than the state of the pitch. Shane Warne (29) hit out to raise the total from 104-7 at lunch, but it was not enough.
Conditions improved almost immediately afterwards - but by then it was too late for Hampshire. Mark Lathwell, who had been out for the whole of last summer through injury, and Jamie Cox both were out to John Stephenson at 58. It was the 90 runs fourth-wicket stand between Keith Parsons (46) and Piran Holloway (53 n.o.) which put Somerset on top.
Full post