Report
UP women maintain unbeaten record
Uttar Pradesh's women cricketers maintained their unbeaten record in Sri Lanka with an exciting five run victory over a Young Women's XI at the Colts Club in Colombo on Thursday
Charlie Austin
21-Apr-2000
Uttar Pradesh's women cricketers maintained their unbeaten record in
Sri Lanka with an exciting five run victory over a Young Women's XI at
the Colts Club in Colombo on Thursday.
In scorching heat, the Young Women XI made the surprise decision to
field first after winning the toss. They may well have thought that
they had made the correct decision at the half way stage, after
bowling out UP for just 116. However the tourists had defended a low
total on Tuesday and they repeated the trick again, by bowling out
their opponents for just 111 in 45 overs.
Having been put into bat, the mainstays of the Uttar Pradesh innings
were the opener, Priyanka Shally, with a breezy 22 off 34 balls (She
was the top scorer in the last match with a fine 34), and Rahul Singh
with a not out 26. Apart from these contributions none of the batsmen
got to grips with the bowling and wickets fell at regular intervals
throughout the innings. Wasanthi and Janakanthi were the pick of the
bowlers for the Sri Lankans, both picking up three wickets.
In reply, the Sri lankan openers made a positive reply, putting on 26
for the first wicket. When the second wicket partnership took the
score to 48, the visitors must have feared the worst. However this UP
side appears to never give up. Once again it was the mid-innings
bowlers that did the damage, Rahul Singh following her fine batting
with a match winning 4-24 off her allotted 10 overs.
Full postPakistan gain upper hand
The West Indies cricket team lost for the first time in six matches this past Wednesday when they were defeated in the first of three Cable and Wireless one-day finals against Pakistan at Kensington Oval in Barbados
Zach Kenworthy
21-Apr-2000
The West Indies cricket team lost for the first time in six
matches this past Wednesday when they were defeated in the first
of three Cable and Wireless one-day finals against Pakistan at
Kensington Oval in Barbados. West Indies captain, Jimmy Adams
lost the toss and was asked to bowl for the first time in the
one-day series. Pakistan scored steadily but lost two early
wickets in Shahid Afridi (17) and Imran Nazir (12), but as Younis
Khan (23) was joined by Inzamam-ul-Haq (66) Pakistan made a
recovery with a 49 run partnership. It was obvious that the game
was going to be dominated by slow scoring as both batsmen, who
are typically attacking, struggled to put together the first
substantial partnership of the innings from 18 overs. After Khan
was brilliantly run out by Jimmy Adams and Ridley Jacobs,
however, the wheels of the Pakistani innings began to come off.
Wickets fell at regular intervals and at one point Pakistan were
144 for 8 with just 8 overs remaining. However, experience once
again displayed its worth as Wasim Akram (42 not out from 36
balls) played with authority as he and Mushtaq Ahmed (11 not out)
lifted Pakistan's total to 197 for 8 from 50 overs. The West
Indies' bowlers bowled with continued accuracy and consistency as
Reon King claimed 2 for 37 and was ably assisted by Ambrose,
McLean, Adams and Gayle who all picked up 1 wicket apiece.
In reply, the West Indies never truly got going. They made a
valiant effort to pace themselves for the chase but continued to
fall too far behind the required run rate. After Campbell fell
for just 11, Philo Wallace (47) and Wavell Hinds (35) plodded
along as they built a partnership of 87 from 24.3 overs. Like the
Pakistani innings, wickets then began to fall at regular
intervals as the lower order batsmen realised that they were
under immense pressure to score runs quickly. Only Sylvester
`Bouncin' Joseph, in his debut was capable of guiding the West
Indies toward the Pakistani total as he crashed 28 from 32 balls
with 1 four and a six. His teammates crumbled around him as the
West Indies innings closed at 180 all out. All-rounder, Shahid
Afridi was the pick of the bowlers as he cleaned up the lower
order with 3 for 16 and pacer Waqar Younis claimed 2 for 34.
It was a disappointing start to the West Indies' 3 match finals
as much was expected of them as they crushed Zimbabwe in the two
test series and won 4 one days in a row. However, the spirit
within the dressing room is still very high and after the match,
West Indies captain, Jimmy Adams expressed that he is still a
believer that the West Indies will win the inaugural three-way
one-day series in the Caribbean.
Full postZimbabwean batsmen surprise confident Sri Lankan's
If the Sri lankan's expected the Zimbabweans to lie down and die on this five week tour, they had better have a rethink
Charlie Austin
20-Apr-2000
If the Sri lankan's expected the Zimbabweans to lie down and die on this five week tour, they had better have a rethink. The tourists surprised the Sri Lankans with an impressive batting display at the P.Sara Stadium in Colombo today, finishing the day on 254-4.
Kevin Curran, who has just arrived in Sri Lanka and will be coaching the Zimbabwean side, was very satisfied with the team's performance. Speaking to CricInfo after the match he said, "we lost one wicket early on but the guys just got stuck in. For one guy to get a hundred and another to get a fifty in the first warm-up game it is very pleasing. Its good to see how enthusiastic the players are and how quickly they have adapted."
The coach has every reason to be pleased with his players and especially with Mark Vermeulen, who batted brilliantly today, scoring 152 off 199 deliveries. The manner in which they battled hard in the opening hour when conditions so favoured the bowlers and then the positive intent they displayed thereafter, could well set the tone for the tour. To succeed in Sri Lanka they know that they have to play positively and take the game to the confident Sri lankan's.
Kevin Curran saying afterwards that, "I always played positive when I played and I as a coach I have adopted the same approach. I am not one for boring draws, I like to see the guys play the game in the right spirit and play the game positively at all times with bat and ball."
Full postHyderabad falter as Azhar, Laxman flatter to deceive
Hyderabad's big guns, Mohammed Azharuddin and VVS Laxman looked like they might have it in them to steer Hyderabad past Mumbai's first innings total in the Ranji Trophy final
Anand Vasu
20-Apr-2000
Hyderabad's big guns, Mohammed Azharuddin and VVS Laxman looked like
they might have it in them to steer Hyderabad past Mumbai's first
innings total in the Ranji Trophy final. However at the end of the
second day, neither could do enough to cement Hyderabad's
position. Having conceded a lead of 181 and with three days left to
play, Hyderabad will have to fight hard to dig themselves out of the
hole they are in.
At the end of the first day, centurion Vinod Kambli thought that even
300 was a good score for Mumbai. He added that anything more would be
a bonus. It's always handy to have a bonus of 76 runs. Ending on 376
all out, Mumbai got ready to have a go at the Hyderabad batsman.
Even the 73 runs they managed on the second morning was thanks to a
late in the order 75 from Paras Mhambrey. He has been in good nick
with the bat this season, with 117 against Maharashtra in the season
opener being his best. Coming in at number 7, the Mumbai medium pacer
kept Kambli good company yesterday. Even after Kambli was dismissed,
Mhambrey continued to bat confidently. Approaching the bowling more
like a batsman than a bowler, Mhambrey shared a partnership of 60 with
Ajit Agarkar and gave the Mumbai total the extra solidity that could
prove crucial.
Venkatapathy Raju who is a past master at bowling spin on Indian
wickets bowled efficiently on the second day of this five day
encounter. Bowling a spell of 3.2-1-10-2, Raju helped himself to the
wickets of Mhambrey and Saxena, Raju ended with innings pickings of
37.2-11-110-4.
Full postAndhra take first innings points
Fine bowling by off spinner H Vatekar and an unbeaten century by opening batsman Krishna Mohan highlighted the final day's play in the Coca Cola Trophy South Zone (under-25) tournament between Andhra and Karnataka at the Chinnaswamy stadium at
Partab Ramchand
20-Apr-2000
Fine bowling by off spinner H Vatekar and an unbeaten century by opening batsman Krishna Mohan highlighted the final day's play in the Coca Cola Trophy South Zone (under-25) tournament between Andhra and Karnataka at the Chinnaswamy stadium at Bangalore on Wednesday. Andhra, which who came out better in the drawn game, took five points while Karnataka finished with three.
When play resumed in the morning, the stage seemed set for a keen tussle for the first innings lead. But Karnataka, who were 116 for two in reply to Andhra's 385 were dismissed for 269. The early dismissal of Prajwal Raj who added only one run to his overnight score before he was run out for 42 set them on the backfoot. The other not out batsman Sushanth and SP Shinde (42) however added 43 runs for the fourth wicket in 12.4 overs before the former was also run out for 68. Sushanth faced 106 balls and hit six of them to the ropes. There was a sixth wicket partnership of 56 runs between Shinde and skipper T Aditya (32) which raised hopes of Karnataka challenging strongly for the lead. But with the tail offering little resistance in the face of some inspired bowling by Vatekar, Karnataka slid from 228 for five to 269 all out. Vatekar finished with four for 59.
Andhra, with a lead of 116 runs, got some good batting practice in the second innings. Openers LNP Reddy (52) and Krishna Mohan hit 109 runs off 19.5 overs. Reddy faced 55 balls and hit four fours and a six. Krishna Mohan remained unbeaten with 105 after facing only 102 balls and hitting 15 fours and a six as Andhra were 179 for two when the match was called off after nine mandatory overs.
Andhra now meet Kerala from April 21 to 23.
Full postCable and Wireless ODIs: West Indies Falter
The fairly-tale dream the West Indies have enjoyed for the last five weeks was transformed into a horrible nightmare in a mere 90 minutes at Kensington Oval yesterday evening
Haydn Gill
20-Apr-2000
The fairly-tale dream the West Indies have enjoyed for the last five
weeks was transformed into a horrible nightmare in a mere 90 minutes
at Kensington Oval yesterday evening.
Everyone who watched it would have awaken this morning trying to come
to terms with the reality of a dreadful collapse after Jimmy Adams'
previously unbeaten men lost a match they appeared to have a firm grip
on.
The bare statistics cannot tell the story, but for the record, the
West Indies, set 198 from the full quota of 50 overs, deteriorated
dramatically from 99 for one to 180 all out to lose the first of the
three One-Day finals to Pakistan by 17 runs.
The manner especially in which the cream of the batting perished in a
dreadful period that saw seven wickets fall for 47, would have upset
the almost packed ground of more than 11 000.
Full postBrave Start by Zimbabwe A'
In scorching heat the Zimbabwean captain won the toss and elected to bat on a damp wicket at P
Charlie Austin
19-Apr-2000
In scorching heat the Zimbabwean captain won the toss and elected to bat on a damp wicket at P. Saravamuttu Stadium in Colombo today. It was a brave and confident decision when one considers the watering of the wicket yesterday morning and the was heavy overnight rain. Gus Mackay's faith in his batsmen was paid off as Zimbabwe batted patiently in the morning, taking the score to 71-1 at the lunch interval.
As is traditionally the case at the P.Sara Stadium, the ball moved prodigiously for the first hour of play and all the BCCSL XI seamers looked dangerous. Prabath Nissanka, returning from an ankle injury that he sustained in the U19 World Cup, lacked direction in the early overs and took some time to find his rhythm. His opening partner, Charitha Buddhika, however bowled splendidly, moving the ball both ways off the seam whilst consistently maintaining a good length.
During the first hour the Zimbabwean openers, Neil Ferreira and Gavin Rennie, primarily looked to defend. Just when it seemed that that they were going to surface unscathed from the first hours play Kaushalya Weeraratne replaced Prabath Nissanka and immediately struck, dismissing an unlucky Gavin Rennie for 6 runs.
Gavin Rennie, one of Zimbabwe's main batsmen on this tour, was desperately disappointed to be given out, when the ball appeared to have just flicked his pads on the way to young wicket keeper, Prasana Jawardena. Nevertheless the wicket brought to crease, Mark Vermeulen, who changed the tempo of the Zimbabwean innings.
Full postKambli stands tall as Mumbai make 303/6
With the flick of a coin, Hyderabad ruined Mumbai's best laid plans
Anand Vasu
19-Apr-2000
With the flick of a coin, Hyderabad ruined Mumbai's best laid
plans. Mohammed Azharuddin began well, winning the toss and putting
Mumbai in to bat. The preparation of the wicket and indeed their team
composition banked on the fact that Mumbai would get the first go with
the ball. Denying them this advantage, Hyderabad did well to restrict
Mumbai to 303/6 on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy final at the
Wankhede stadium on Wednesday, despite a fighting century from Vinod
Kambli.
Nevertheless, Mumbai had the batting to set up a good platform.
Sameer Dighe and Wasim Jaffer took on Narendrapal Singh and Fiaz Ahmed
in an interesting first few overs. Though the two Hyderabad medium
pacers generated good nip off the wicket, it took them six overs to
break through.
Dighe left his bat hanging limply in the air outside the off stump and
edged a Fiaz Ahmed delivery straight to Azharuddin at slip. Azhar has
taken too many catches at that position to miss out.
Jatin Paranjpe joined an increasingly confident Jaffer out in the
middle and pushed the scoring on. At the end of the 10th over, spin in
the form of Venkatapathy Raju was introduced into the attack. Raju
bowled a tidy little spell but was taken off after he had completed
three overs conceding just four runs.
Full postConfident reply by Karnataka
An unbroken 78 run partnership for the third wicket between SK Sushanth and Prajwal Raj helped Karnataka to make a fitting reply at stumps on the second day of their Coca Cola Trophy South Zone (under-25) tournament match against Andhra at the
Partab Ramchand
19-Apr-2000
An unbroken 78 run partnership for the third wicket between SK
Sushanth and Prajwal Raj helped Karnataka to make a fitting reply at
stumps on the second day of their Coca Cola Trophy South Zone
(under-25) tournament match against Andhra at the Chinnaswamy stadium
in Bangalore on Tuesday. Replying to Andhra's first innings total of
385, Karnataka were 116 for two at close.
Karnataka started badly losing both their openers Shyam Ponappa (9) at
20 and then MS Vinay (18) at 38. However Prajwal Raj and Susanth
played some positive strokes while adding 78 runs off 21.2 overs. At
close Prajwal was batting with 41 and Susanth with 39. While Prajwal
faced 76 balls and hit five fours and a six, Susanth faced 67 balls
and hit nine fours. Play could not restart after tea because of rain.
Earlier, Andhra 324 for five overnight, were restricted to 385 thanks
to some good bowling by medium pacer Aiyappa. He dismissed KA Fayaz
with the third ball of the day. Fayaz did not add to his overnight
score of 140. Aiyappa also got rid of the other overnight batsman
Vatekar who made 48. He faced 98 balls and hit six fours and a
six. The rest of the batting offered little resistance and Aiyappa
finished with three for 91 off 23 overs. The other medium pacer Sunil
Kumar took three for 70.
Full postKenyan team lose opening match of Indian tour
The visiting Kenyan team lost the opening match of their fortnight long tour of India when they went down by two wickets to Tata Sports Club at ELF Vengsarkar Sports Club ground in Mumbai on Tuesday
Partab Ramchand
19-Apr-2000
The visiting Kenyan team lost the opening match of their fortnight long tour of India when they went down by two wickets to Tata Sports Club at ELF Vengsarkar Sports Club ground in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Winning the toss and opting to bat, Kenya were restricted to 196 for seven in 50 overs. They actually lost five wickets for 75 runs before Steve Tikolo, with the help of the later order batsmen, effected a recovery. Tikolo added 41 runs for the sixth wicket off nine overs with skipper Maurice Odumbe (22). Then with wicketkeeper David Obuya (20) he increased the score by 52 runs during a seventh wicket association that lasted 11.3 overs. Finally with Martin Suji (21 not out off 14 balls) Tikolo added 28 runs for the unbroken eighth wicket off only three overs. Tikolo remained unbeaten with 66 off 80 balls with the help of six fours and two sixes. For Tata SC, SP Hazare took two wickets for 37 runs off eight overs. There were three run outs.
Martin Suji rocked Tata SC on their heels by removing openers VR Mane and skipper MV Joglekar in successive overs with only two runs on the board. But Kiran Powar (62) and Susanth Manjrekar (51) initiated a recovery process by adding 104 runs off 21 overs for the third wicket. While Powar played 79 balls and hit ten of them to the ropes, Manjrekar was equally aggressive hitting five fours and three sixes off 74 balls.
Shreyas Khanolkar (30) and NS Shetty (17) carried on the good work and Tata SC seemed to be cruising along at 155 for four in the 37th over. But Kenya put up a last ditch fight. Odumbe dismissed both Khanolkar and Shetty while Suji came back to get rid of SB Dahad for a duck. Tikolo then removed YV Kaudhare (8) at 187 to give Kenya a chance of victory. However wicketkeeper Abhijit Shetye (8) and S Kannan (6) steered Tata SC home with ten deliveries to spare. Suji finished with three for 29 from ten overs.
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