Report
South Zone u-25 tournament: Unbeaten 140 by Fayaz
An unbeaten 140 by Ranji player KA Fayaz helped Andhra to score 324 for five wickets at close of play on the opening day of the three day KSCA Coca Cola South Zone (under-25) cricket tournament in Bangalore on Monday
Partab Ramchand
18-Apr-2000
An unbeaten 140 by Ranji player KA Fayaz helped Andhra to score 324 for five wickets at close of play on the opening day of the three day KSCA Coca Cola South Zone (under-25) cricket tournament in Bangalore on Monday.
Winning the toss, Andhra lost LNP Reddy (14) at 23. He edged medium pacer Sunil Kumar to wicketkeeper Rajasekhar Shanbal in the sixth over of the innings. But the other opening batsman KNV Krishna Mohan (40) and Fayaz added 74 runs for the second wicket off 21 overs. Krishna Mohan then edged a ball from Karnataka captain T Aditya to Shanbal. Balaji K Singh (4) did not last long and when Gnaneswara Rao (10) fell, Andhra were shakily placed at 124 for four.
Fayaz and skipper I Srinivas (68) however set Andhra on the road to recovery with a fifth wicket association of 164 runs off 37.3 overs. Before Srinivas was caught by Shanbal off Ashwath, he had faced 120 balls and hit ten fours.
The recovery process was maintained with Fayaz and H Vatekar (22 not out) adding 36 runs in an unbroken sixth wicket partnership of 36 runs off 11.4 overs before play was called off, about an hour before the scheduled close due to bad light. By close, Fayaz, who had batted 271 minutes and faced 210 balls had hit 14 fours and two sixes, both off spinner N Aswath. For Karnataka, Sunil Kumar took two for 49 while Ashwath, who was expensive, captured two for 104 off 21 overs.
Full postWest Indies score 17-run victory over Pakistan
St George's (Grenada), April 17: Pakistan made a valiant attempt to reach a difficult target of 249 but failed by 17 runs to beat West Indies in the last preliminary round fixture of the triangular series at the Queen's Park Stadium here on Sunday
Qamar Ahmed
18-Apr-2000
St George's (Grenada), April 17: Pakistan made a valiant attempt to
reach a difficult target of 249 but failed by 17 runs to beat West
Indies in the last preliminary round fixture of the triangular series
at the Queen's Park Stadium here on Sunday.
Pakistan were all out for 231 in 48.1 overs as West Indies finished
the league rounds with four victories in as many matches. The defeat,
however, does not affect Pakistan's position in the series as they had
already booked their place n the best-of-three finals against the West
Indies. The finals get underway from Wednesday at Bridgetown, followed
by two more ties in Port-of-Spain next Saturday and, if required,
Sunday.
Pakistan will have to perform a lot better with the bat than they have
done so far. There seems to be an eternal weakness in their batting
approach and unless they are able to apply themselves with much more
purpose and determination they may struggle against the West Indian
bowling which has suddenly started to show its old dominance. Reon
King, Franklyn Rose and Nixon McLean are looking quite dangerous and
with Curtly Ambrose coming to join them in the finals things could be
even more formidable for Pakistan.
King picked up three wickets for 38 on Sunday, followed by McLean two
for 47 and off-spinner Nehemiah Perry two for 54. Pakistan, having
lost three for 24, were well served by Inzamam-ul-Haq and Yousuf
Youhana, who between them put on a sizeable stand of 123 for the
fourth wicket, to offer some hope. Inzamam made 69 off 95 balls with
five fours while Youhana hit 56 off 77 balls with three boundaries.
Full postCable and Wireless ODIs: West Indies Making It A Habit
St
Haydn Gill
17-Apr-2000
St. George's - To a cacophony of sounds reverberating from almost
every single corner of a packed stadium, the West Indies' resounding
resurgence continued here yesterday with another victory over
Pakistan.
For eight non-stop hours, the impressive Queen's Park generated noise
from sound systems, drums, horns, bells, cymbals, triangles, shangos,
trombones and countless other sources.
But it was at its most deafening at 5:17 p.m. when West Indies captain
Jimmy Adams calmly accepted the match-winning catch that ended a
contest that could have gone either way.
West Indies, defending a total of 248, won by 17 runs, but the
recently crowned Sharjah Cup champions were mounting a daring
challenge when old warrior Inzamam-ul-Haq and emerging talent Yousaf
Youhana were together in a fourth-wicket stand of 123.
Full postGloucestershire too good for Warwickshire
Gloucestershire comprehensively defeated Warwickshire in their home-opener Sunday
Sean Beynon
16-Apr-2000
Gloucestershire comprehensively defeated Warwickshire in their home-opener Sunday. The holders won by five wickets, with over 20 overs to spare in front of a depleted crowd - football team Bristol City were at Wembley.
Gloucester won the toss, and breaking with their conventions, chose to field. It was clear there would be some help for the bowlers, on a crisp, bright spring morning. Pinch-hitter Neil Smith cracked Mike Smith to the point fence from the first over. Mike won the duel of the Smith's later in the over, as he had the Warwickshire batsman well caught by Jack Russell. What followed was a steady trickle of wickets. James Averis clean bowled David Hemp, with Dominic Ostler well caught by Russell: standing up to the medium pace of Cawdron.
The vital wicket came with the score tottering on 36-3. Nick Knight, who had looked scratchy all morning, was trapped leg before by Mark Alleyne. Cawdron got rid of Dougie Brown, thanks to a juggling mid-on catch from Averis, then followed it up, as he shattered Mohammed Sheikh's stumps. Averis and Russell combined to dismiss Ashley Giles and Keith Piper first ball. Trevor Penney,
who had provided some resistance, fell for 25, Russell's fifth catch. Averis bowled Allan Donald with a magnificent slower ball, to finish with figures of 4-8 from his 7.4 overs. Cawdron had chipped in with 3-30, with Gloucester's second string attack destroying Warwickshire for 94.
Still, all was not over. Allan Donald looked fiery, and had able apprentices: Giddins, Brown, Giles and Smith all England internationals. Hancock was caught at point, and Giddins picked up his second wicket, bowling an out-of-sorts Kim Barnett. Windows and Alleyne fell cheaply, and
Warwickshire still had a glimmer of hope.
Full postKlusener helps bury Edgbaston ghost
It was the sort of batting revival which was more in keeping with the World Cup than the emotion-charged early evening at an over-flowing Wanderers but South Africa came back almost from the dead to bury the Edgbaston ghost
Trevor Chesterfield
16-Apr-2000
It was the sort of batting revival which was more in keeping with the World Cup than the emotion-charged early evening at an over-flowing Wanderers but South Africa came back almost from the dead to bury the Edgbaston ghost. While it was a flashing Mark Boucher cover drive which sealed a six-wickets victory over Australia yesterday to take the Challenge Series trophy it was man of the match Lance Klusener who pulled the lower-order together to tie up the victory.
Exhibiting the sort of batting flair which has been missing from his limited-overs game plan for a lengthy portion of the second half of this season Klusener, it is easy to imagine, dreamed about this victory for 10 months between this third game in late highveld autumn and the tied game against the Aussies last June. An unbroken seventh-wicket partnership of 87 off 96 balls between Klusener and Boucher wrested the initiative from the Aussies after cautious start.
You could not get a much more dramatic stage than a packed, raucous bullring either as on a pitch far from easy and helped the swing bowlers throughout the day Klusener took hold of a what had been a jittery innings to help steer it to 209 for six in response to the Wizards of Oz's 205.
While Klusener reacted with a typical modest "thank goodness" to the query that he had discovered form at the right time, Shaun Pollock, playing his 100th match for South Africa felt the "stubborn character of Klusener and Boucher" did as much to ensure victory, forgetting to mention his own efforts as a bowler with his four for 37. Which supports Pollock's initial thought of "a great all-round team effort" being the main reason South Africa won the series 2-1 and set up the August series in Melbourne's new massive indoor for arena. It is going to be an enticing showdown all right between the two strongest sides in the LOI arena.
Full postVanka hits century as match meanders to listless end
With the competitive interest having long been put to rest, the Ranji Trophy semifinal between Karnataka and Hyderabad meandered to a listless conclusion in Bangalore today
Sankhya Krishnan
15-Apr-2000
With the competitive interest having long been put to rest, the Ranji Trophy semifinal between Karnataka and Hyderabad meandered to a listless conclusion in Bangalore today. Vanka Pratap's sixth Ranji century and his second this season was the only saving grace after Karnataka's resistance had terminated at 557 in the morning. VVS Laxman failed and Mohd. Azharuddin did not deign to grace the wicket with his presence as Hyderabad settled at a score of 236/6 to go ahead towards a summit clash with Mumbai in Mumbai beginning April 19.
Earlier Dodda Ganesh enlivened the proceedings with some big hitting on the final morning. Ganesh struck consecutive sixes over long on and mid wicket off Kanwaljit Singh while Mansur Ali Khan who had got off the mark earlier with a five, including two overthrows, played the two spinners with an admirably straight bat. The third new ball was due eight overs into the session but Azhar persisted with the two spinners and it was Raju who drove the final nail into the coffin when Ganesh charged at him with head high in the air and eyes off the ball, to have his stumps rearranged. His 76 was the sixth half century of the innings and if just one guy had played a longer hand, Karnataka would have got within sniffing distance of the Hyderabad total.
With a lead of 154 in the kitty, Daniel Manohar and Nandakishore resumed battle against the Karnataka seam attack. Ganesh bowled a short length to Manohar and was pulled away to the boundary on two occasions. But Ganesh persisted and took a good left handed catch to his intense delight as Manohar got an edge while trying to dismiss the ball from his presence once more. Off the very next ball, Nandakishore fell leg before to Prasad, playing forward but not enough to sow some doubt in the umpires mind. VVS Laxman and Vanka Pratap both got their first boundaries to the vacant third man area. With Sunil Joshi not taking the field, Vijay Bharadwaj was thrust into the role of lead spinner and in the second ball after lunch he uprooted Laxman's middle stump through the gap between bat and pad, with the batsman having taken his season's tally to 1258, just 22 short of Bharadwaj's record.
Parth Satwalkar kept driving into the midriff of silly point who was standing too close to hold anything but Bharadwaj finally snared him when he flicked one in the direction of midwicket where Akhil leapt to his right to hold a brilliant one hander. That left Hyderabad at 93/4 but Azharuddin still did not bother to make the effort to climb down one flight of stairs and enter the middle. Karnataka were bowling with enthusiasm and appealing spiritedly as they tried to make further inroads into the middle order although it was dubious whether this would serve any practical purpose.
Full postMumbai romp home with 8 wickets to spare
The Mumbai batsmen finished the formalities in quick time at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday morning
Anand Vasu
15-Apr-2000
The Mumbai batsmen finished the formalities in quick time at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday morning. And the oft crowned champions entered the final of the Ranji Trophy in style by beating Tamil Nadu by eight wickets. It was Mumbai's 38th entry into the title round.
Sameer Dighe gifted part time off spinner Sadagopan Ramesh a wicket. Having made 73 with consummate ease, Dighe hit an off spinner straight to Kumaran at deep mid off.
Sachin Tendulkar walked out to the middle and in the company of Jatin Paranjpe who helped himself to a half century, wrapped up the match. Robin Singh, bowling off spin, provided light relief in an otherwise dead match.
Mumbai will now take on Hyderabad in the final. The five day match commences at the Wankhede stadium on April 19. With Mohammed Azharuddin and Sachin Tendulkar meeting face to face, the match should be a hard fought one. The only previous occasion when the two teams met in the final was in 1964-64 when the then Bombay, in the midst of their all conquering run, defeated Hyderabad at the Fateh Maiden by an innings and 124 runs.
Full postCable and Wireless ODIs: Pakistan beat Zimbabwe
St George's (Grenada), April 15: Pakistan beat Zimbabwe by six wickets in the 5th match of the Triangular One-Day series here at the Queen's Park Stadium on Saturday
15-Apr-2000
St George's (Grenada), April 15: Pakistan beat Zimbabwe by six wickets
in the 5th match of the Triangular One-Day series here at the Queen's
Park Stadium on Saturday.
They have now qualified to play West Indies in the best of three
finals beginning on Wednesday. Imran Nazir the new Pakistan opener
scored a unbeaten 105 with the help of 10 boundaries and 2 sixes.
Final score: Zimbabwe 204 for 7 (50 overs), Pakistan 205 for 4 (43.1
overs).
Earlier Report: Zimbabwe 204/7 after fine start
Full postMumbai poised to enter Ranji Trophy final
The first half hour of play dictated terms for the whole match
Anand Vasu
14-Apr-2000
The first half hour of play dictated terms for the whole match.
Sachin Tendulkar took the game by the horns, scored the runs required
to secure a first innings lead and knocked the stuffing out of the
visiting team. At the end of the day, Tamil Nadu were staring defeat
in the face with Mumbai needing just 64 runs to win the Ranji Trophy
semifinal with a whole day and nine wickets in hand.
With just 16 runs to score to take a first innings lead, the air was
thick with tension at the Wankhede Stadium. Tamil Nadu were right on
the ball in the field, keen to deny Mumbai every small
opportunity. Kumaran conceded just one run in his first over and kept
the pressure up.
Mahesh bowled a dot ball to start his first over, the second of the
day. Tendulkar eased the ball past towards long off and pushed hard
for two. Unable to keep up, Kuruvilla was stranded by a good throw
from Gokulakrishna in the deep. One wicket was down and tension was
mounting.
Santosh Saxena came to the crease but had to be content watching
Tendulkar from the non striker's end. He had no regrets doing
that. Coming down the wicket, Tendulkar showed the full face of a very
heavy bat as he lofted Mahesh back over his head. The ball lifted,
climbed, took off and never returned. The Tamil Nadu team looked in
disarray as the ball disappeared out of the stadium. Sensibly,
Tendulkar took a single off the last ball of the over and kept the
strike.
Full postKarnataka to formally exit Ranji Trophy tomorrow
A light shower in the final session forced stumps to be called almost twelve overs early and prevented Hyderabad from mopping up the Karnataka tail this evening
Sankhya Krishnan
14-Apr-2000
A light shower in the final session forced stumps to be called almost
twelve overs early and prevented Hyderabad from mopping up the
Karnataka tail this evening. Tomorrow the Ranji Trophy holders will be
formally administered the push from this year's edition, a result that
was arguably on the cards by the end of the first day
itself. Karnataka's last pair averted the follow on but there will be
little relief in the home camp, trailing as they are by 188 runs at
523/9.
Not even a washout of the last day's play can save Karnataka. The
playing conditions affirm that in case of a no result on first
innings, a comparison of run rates will decide the winner. Karnataka
has an inferior run rate, a natural corollary to having an inferior
batting, bowling and fielding.
Karnataka started the fourth day trailing by 442 and with the second
new ball due in five overs. Raju and Kanwaljit bowled three overs each
before the new ball was handed to Fiaz Ahmed who had been
disappointing yesterday, with 40 runs being taken off his six overs.
Bharadwaj became the fourth successive batsman to get to his fifty and
neither he nor Barrington seemed to be in undue discomfort as the
seamers tried to find their rhythm.
The first boundary off the bat came in the 13th over of the day when
Barrington got Fiaz away between second slip and gully to third man,
bringing up the 300 in the process. But when Barrington tried to
streak one through the slips in the same over, he saw Mohd.
Azharuddin's left hand come in the way at the last possible moment and
catch the ball inches off the ground at second slip. In that one
moment the difference between the two sides was there to see in
unmistakable terms.
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