Report
Leicestershire beat Yorkshire by 3 wickets
Leicestershire Foxes maintained their unbeaten record in the Norwich Union League when they beat Yorkshire Phoenix with 10 balls to spare
Neil Whitaker
04-Jun-2000
Leicestershire Foxes maintained their unbeaten record in the Norwich Union League when they beat Yorkshire Phoenix with 10 balls to spare. Ben Smith guided the Foxes home with an unbeaten 88.
After heavy rain on Saturday night the Foxes put Yorkshire into bat on a cold and overcast afternoon. The start to the Phoenix innings was strangled by the Foxes opening bowlers, especially Chris Lewis who bowled three maidens in his first six overs and conceded five runs. However James Ormond's third over gave momentum to the Phoenix start when he conceded 16 runs off it.
David Byas scored ten in 28 minutes before he was caught behind by Burns of Lewis. Gary Fellows and Richard Blakey put on 129 in 29 overs. When he had scored 63, Fellows was dropped at long on by Ward of Lewis. He was eventually out when he added another two runs to his score. Fellows pulled Dakin and DeFreitas made a running catch from square leg. His innings lasted 134 minutes and he hit four fours.
Blakey's fifty came after 113 minutes from 102 balls. Together with Lehmann the pair tried to get the Yorkshire innings going and put the match beyond the foxes as Lehmann hit Dakin for two successive fours. Lewis struck again when he had Blakey caught by Maddy for 68 in the 44th over. Michael Vaughan playing his first match for Yorkshire since breaking a bone in his hand scored two as the Yorkshire innings closed on 189 for three. Darren Lehmann scored an unbeaten 30 in35 minutes.
Full postEarly Indian exit was very much on the cards
The early exit of the Indian team from the Asia Cup was very much on the cards even after the display against the host nation, Bangladesh
Woorkheri Raman
04-Jun-2000
The early exit of the Indian team from the Asia Cup was very much on
the cards even after the display against the host nation, Bangladesh.
It is not a case of being wise in hindsight but the lack of firepower
in the bowling attack was very much in evidence in that game. To make
matters worse, the batting never looked like compensating the weakness
in the bowling department. The fact that Tendulkar, basically a part
timer, had to bowl the entire quota of overs is a reflection of the
state of affairs.
Coming back to the game against Pakistan, it was very obvious that the
side that batted better would emerge victorious, as the pitch was
flat. Pakistan, the team very much in touch, won the toss and the
early overs indicated the course the game was bound to take. Anwar,
the seasoned campaigner along with the talented Imran Nazir took off
to a mini flier of a start and Ganguly's problems carried on till the
end. The Indians were further handicapped as Joshi and Chopra were
unfit. The introduction of Kumble brought back the Indians into the
game as he effected quick dismissals. Agarkar, by dismissing Inzamam
provided a big opening to run through the Pakistani line up.
It was at this stage that the indomitable fighter, Moin Khan, joined
Youhana. He is one of those rare cricketers who excel in tight
situations. Khan, who likes to dominate the bowling, was not going to
let go of the clueless Indian attack. Youhana, whose potential was
evident in his first outing in international cricket, kept one end
going and played an innings with great common sense. The two
consolidated the innings and the significant aspect was that they did
not allow the run rate to drop. Eventually Agarkar broke the
partnership when he had Moin Khan caught at the wicket.
Youhana at the other end displayed the kind of maturity that would
have made Javed Miandad proud. He paced his innings with precision and
at no stage did he look ruffled. The highlight of his partnership with
Razzaq was the running between the wickets. The Indians were made to
look ragged but the placement of Youhana in his strokes into the
outfield was impeccable. His second fifty came in a jiffy and in the
later stages he had decided to be impish enough to toy with the Indian
bowlers. His six off the last ball of the innings is what normally
dreams are made off. By the time the Pakistani innings concluded, the
writing was on the wall. Another aspect that the Indians continue
messing up is not bowling the overs within the specified time limit.
Full postSomerset Sabres v Sussex Sharks
Marcus Trescothick chose home soil to show why he is on the verge of a breakthrough into international cricket at the age of 24
04-Jun-2000
Marcus Trescothick chose home soil to show why he is on the verge of a breakthrough into international cricket at the age of 24.
Somerset's maturing vice-captain hit a superb 72 on a sluggish Bath Festival pitch to help his side make it maximum points from their opening three National League First Division fixtures.
And, just for good measure, Trescothick added the priceless wicket of danger-man Michael Bevan with his occasional medium-paced bowling as the Sabres got home by 16 runs, having been dismissed for 197 after losing the toss.
A product of nearby Keynsham Cricket Club, the powerful left-hander looks increasingly capable of earning an England cap this season, in limited overs cricket if not the Tests.
He was called up to act as 12th man for the first three days of the current Test against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge, having already taken part in a pre-season England get-together under coach Duncan Fletcher.
Full postYorkshire v Leicestershire, Match abandoned as a draw
Rain ruined this top of the table clash at Headingley
Neil Whitaker
03-Jun-2000
Rain ruined this top of the table clash at Headingley. No play at all was possible on the final day following overnight rain. On Friday only 16.3 overs were bowled and on Thursday the Yorkshire batsmen faced 45 overs. The rain was a stark contrast to when play started on Wednesday in glorious sunshine.
On that first morning the Leicester openers Maddy and Ward set off like an express train with the Leicester 50 coming up after only 38 minutes. Maddy's own 50 was scored in 65 minutes off 57 balls and included nine fours. It was his second fifty of the season.
The partnership was broken with the score on 84 when Ward was caught by Byas at second slip of Gavin Hamilton for 19. Maddy was the next out when the score reached 106. He too was caught by Byas but this time of the off spinner Middlebrook.
Vince Wells scored 19 but he lost his off stump to Hutchison. After that dismissal the Leicester middle order folded. Habib was caught by Lehmann at short leg when he clipped Hutchison of his toes. Darren Stevens miss timed his pull shot straight to Craven at short mid wicket. Ben Smith became James Middlebrook's third victim when he was leg before for 30.
Full post2nd Test, 3rd day, Nottingham
For the third successive day the weather had its say with the start being delayed until 12.15pm
Andy Jalil
03-Jun-2000
For the third successive day the weather had its say with the start being delayed until 12.15pm. But surprisingly there were no interruptions once it going.
From England's point of view, the initial interest lay in Michael Atherton scoring the four runs for which he had waited since the end of play on the first day. That amounted to seven and a quarter hours during which no play was possible.
Despite having scored four hundred runs in the previous Test at Lord's and near enough that figure in the innings completed today, there is no clear indication that all is well with England's batting, going by the innings here.
Atherton's patient innings took him to his fourteenth Test century and the 50th of his first-class career. With it he also equalled Denis Compton's record of five Test centuries on this ground and it was of no surprise to hear him say that this was his favourite venue and that he always enjoyed batting here. Indeed, his maiden Test hundred (151) was also at Trent Bridge, against New Zealand in 1990. With the exception of Pakistan and Sri Lanka, he has now scored centuries against every Test-playing nation.
Full postYouhana bats Pakistan into Asia Cup final
India lost the toss - and just about everything that followed
Anand Vasu
03-Jun-2000
India lost the toss - and just about everything that followed.
They were beaten hands down in the batting department while the
bowlers had the worst possible day. If Ganguly was upset about experienced cricketers not applying themselves in the defeat
against Sri Lanka he would certainly be upset with the showing
his youngsters put up today. When your opening bowlers give away
161 runs between them, the match is halfway lost. The other half
proved equally painful as India slumped to 251 all out and were
knocked out of the seventh Asia Cup, going down to Pakistan by
44 runs at the Bangabandhu stadium on Saturday.
Imran Nazir must be controlled. There must be some kind of
law prohibiting the assault he launched on the Indians. Hitting
cleanly, Nazir took the Indian bowlers to task in the severest
possible manner. Neither the inexperienced Thirunavukarasu Kumaran
nor the even more inexperienced Amit Bhandari could stop him.
As is usually the case, the ball was thrown to Anil Kumble in
distress. Brought on to bowl the ninth over, Kumble sent down a
good, tight over, the first maiden of the day. In just his second
over, Kumble drew first blood for India as Saeed Anwar hit a ball straight to Kumaran at long on. Even as the first wicket fell,
Pakistan had 74 runs on the board. Before the scoreboard could
tick over, Imran Nazir followed his senior partner back to the pavilion. In similar fashion he holed out to Ajit Agarkar in the
deep.
Shahid Afridi joined Yousuf Youhana and the latter played the
kind of innings that people will remember for a long time to come.
No pomp. No splendour. But he never ever gave the bowlers a chance. Knocking the ball neatly around the park, using the angled bat to
great effect, Youhana sealed one end up. He brought up his fifty in
90 balls, rather slow one might say for a limited overs international. But when Kumaran sent down the last ball of the innings and that
promptly disappeared off Youhana's blade over the long on fence, it
was a fairy tale finish. Youhana's second fifty had come off just
23 balls. Ending on a neat, unbeaten 100, Youhana looked up to the skies and made the sign of the cross in gratitude.
Full postEngland v Zimbabwe, Second Test, Day 2
The duration of a Test match is usually determined by the state of play in the first two days
Andy Jalil
02-Jun-2000
The duration of a Test match is usually determined by the state of play in
the first two days. At Trent Bridge, however, the progress of the match seems
totally dependent on the elements.
Although, in the end, only an hour's playing time was lost yesterday with the
extra hour being taken in sunshine towards the end of the day, the second day
saw no action at all.
Having made several ground inspections, the umpires finally decided around
5.30pm, that no play was possible, the outfield being particularly wet. It is
an interesting statistic that this is the tenth time that an entire day's
play has been lost on this ground and it's the first time since August 1967.
Some may think that in view of Zimbabwe's performance on this tour generally
and after the one-sided show at Lord's, the inclement weather is being
merciful to them. Not even the most optimistic of their supporters would be
entertaining serious thoughts of Zimbabwe being able to lift their game
sufficiently to come anywhere near to levelling this two-match series.
Full postPakistan crush Bangladesh before vital clash
After the run feast that happened in the early part of the day, there was nothing much to look forward to as Pakistan took the field
Anand Vasu
02-Jun-2000
After the run feast that happened in the early part of the day, there
was nothing much to look forward to as Pakistan took the field. Maybe
Wasim Akram would charge in and make the ball talk. Even that did not
happen. At the end of the day, it made absolutely no difference to the
result. Pakistan go through to their next encounter in the Asia Cup
against India tomorrow, having beaten Bangladesh by 233 runs at the
Bangabhandu stadium on Friday.
The crowd went silent as wicket after wicket fell on what was as
docile a wicket as you would see. Habibul Basher who made a half
century against India provided the lone resistance. Even that was only
a token resistance. His 23 provided the crowd with some relief from a
seemingly unending list of soft dismissals.
For Pakistan, the wickets were shared around. Abdur Razzaq bowled the
straightest of the lot and was the most successful, bagging three
wickets. Bangladesh ended on 87 all out. Shariar Hossain could not bat
after as he was seriously dehydrated earlier in the day and left the
field. This was Bangldesh's lowest total in limited overs cricket. To
add insult to injury, this was also the largest margin of victory in a
limited overs match beating the 232 run thrashing that Australia
handed out to Sri Lanka in 1987.
When cats run around among pigeons, mayhem is the only result. Imran
Nazir was licking the cream off his whiskers as bowler after bowler
tried his luck at stemming the rot. Fortunately for the hosts Saeed
Anwar was motoring sedately along at a run a ball. Driving the ball
with more elegance than the rampaging Nazir, Anwar found the gaps with
consummate ease.
Full postEngland v Zimbabwe, Second Test, Day 1
With wet conditions continuing to prevail in this series, the playing hours were slightly restricted on the first day
Andy Jalil
01-Jun-2000
With wet conditions continuing to prevail in this series, the playing hours
were slightly restricted on the first day. It provided the opportunity for
CricInfo to talk to Clive Rice, Nottinghamshire's Cricket Manager.
While his team is making good progress this season, Rice is particularly
happy with the long-awaited arrival of Pakistan's fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar.
"You can see what Shoaib has done with coming into the club, the membership
has increased by 20% already, before the season has properly started. So
that's the interest shown by the people. He is probably the most exciting
young player in world cricker today and the fastest bowler. When you get
someone bowling at that sort of pace it is really exciting and most
spectacular.
"The anticipation of what he might do this season is certainly evident in
terms of enquiries as to when he will start playing and also when you see
within the side the excitement about the fact that a missile is about to be
delivered, there is a lot of confidence created in the team.
Full postComplete metamorphosis in Bangladesh batting
Bangladesh's batting seemed to have taken a U-turn after their dismal performance against Sri Lanka in the previous match
Syedur Rahman
01-Jun-2000
Bangladesh's batting seemed to have taken a U-turn after their dismal
performance against Sri Lanka in the previous match. For once, the recovery
in the batting department was identical to that of the ground after the
heavy rain. Although India did not have a strong bowling attack, the 249
made by Bangladesh was a more than respectable score put up by the rookies.
When last match's saviour Javed Omar was bowled and Shahriar Hossain once
again went early, it seemed Bangladesh would crawl in to a shell and never
come out, as they did against Sri Lanka. That was not the case this time.
Habibul Bashar with captain Aminul Islam, started off cautiously, but then
began to free their arms and make their strokes. They no longer had
problems with the short delivery, as they played it quite late, often
guiding it to third man or square leg. Anything pitched up to the
Bangladeshi batsman was quickly dispatched to the boundary.
It was all
going along fine for them until Sachin Tendulkar was brought on and he
claimed both of their wickets. It was obvious that the Bangladeshis
underestimated Tendulkar's bowling talents, and thought it would be a good
idea to really go after him. Akram Khan and Naimur Rahman then slowly led
another recovery taking the score 158/4 after 40 overs, with a score of 200
seeming most likely. That was the time that the Bangladeshis came out of
their shells and simply took the Indian bowling apart. Akram simply
exploded on each bad delivery, and the Indians were not short of those.
After Kumble and Joshi had been smashed all over, Ganguly brought himself
on, and that was a very regrettable mistake. He was brutally punished by
Akram, in an over that cost the Indians twenty runs. When Ganguly went back
to his regular bowlers, Agarkar, the best in the Indian side, had Akram
caught trying to go for another lusty blow over the top. The ever
aggressive Rafique who came in join the part only lasted just five
deliveries but he made his impression by hitting Kumaran for a huge six,
straight into the side screen. Naimur Rahman, who played a fantastic
innings although lurking in Akram's shadow, along with Enamul Haq made the
finishing touches taking six runs off the last four balls, after Rafique's
dismissal.
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