Report
Mashonaland hold advantage in Logan Final
Mashonaland, the favourites, held an advantage at the end of the first of three days' play in the Logan Cup final against Manicaland, although they should have done better and would have done much worse had the opposition held their catches
John Ward
07-Apr-2000
Mashonaland, the favourites, held an advantage at the end of the
first of three days' play in the Logan Cup final against
Manicaland, although they should have done better and would have
done much worse had the opposition held their catches. They
totalled 345, gaining three batting points against Manicaland's
four for bowling, but failed to part the Manicaland openers in
seven overs before the close.
Manicaland, the underdogs, were forced to play a weakened team,
which included four schoolboys, as the Brents and Whittalls were
all missing: Jon Brent abroad, Gary and Guy Whittall in the West
Indies and Andrew Whittall unfit with a badly swollen finger.
Mashonaland had lost Dirk Viljoen to the West Indies, but gained
Trevor Gripper and Bryan Strang who had returned.
On a heavily overcast day, with rain a strong possibility at some
stage, Manicaland put Mashonaland in to bat on winning the toss,
hoping for the usual life in the Harare Sports Club pitch. It
proved to be quite a good batting pitch, though, although the
bowlers did get some early life when they put it on the spot.
Unfortunately that was all too infrequently. Leon Soma in
particular proved inaccurate, and the Manicaland bowlers in
general sent down too many short, wide balls. Openers Gavin
Rennie and Gripper, not usually known for his fast scoring, were
able to play themselves in with ease, and most of the early runs
came from pulls and cuts off rank bad balls.
To make matters worse Manicaland, perhaps overcome by the
occasion, dropped four catches during the morning session, three
of them offered by Gripper. Rennie had much less luck,
eventually falling to the second chance he gave, caught in the
covers just before lunch by Patrick Gada off captain Mark
Burmester for 52. The opening stand was worth 126 and already
the sound of nails hammered into the Manicaland coffin could be
heard. Off-spinner Steve Lawson bowled a good spell before
lunch, despite being hit for six over long-on by Gripper, and had
the same batsman dropped at the wicket off an inside edge, a hard
chance. At lunch Mashonaland went in on 134 for one (Gripper 68,
Darlington Matambanadzo 5).
Full postRajini takes an engrossing contest North's way
North Zone captain Rajini Bhalla played a matchwinning knock of 54 not out (92 balls) to marshal her side to a thrilling two wicket victory over Central Zone in the CricInfo Rani Jhansi tournament at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk today
Sankhya Krishnan
07-Apr-2000
North Zone captain Rajini Bhalla played a matchwinning knock of 54 not
out (92 balls) to marshal her side to a thrilling two wicket victory
over Central Zone in the CricInfo Rani Jhansi tournament at the MA
Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk today.
After Central had run up an extremely competitive total of 193/9
thanks to a typically aggressive knock from wicketkeeper Arundhati
Kirkire, North were facing a sticky situation at 140/6 after 40
overs. Rajini displayed ice cold nerves under pressure and the tide
turned with a 31 run seventh wicket stand that she compiled with Seema
Wadhwa. The equation boiled down to nine in eleven balls with two
wickets in hand and No. 10 Sandeep Saini struck the winning runs off
the fourth ball of the last over. All the North players raced onto the
field to cheer the two gladiators and especially Rajini who had,
earlier in the match, delivered a tidy bowling spell of 1-18 in eight
overs with her leg breaks.
After Central won the toss and elected to bat, openers Bharati Verma
and Priyanka Sailey laid a strong foundation with a 59 run
partnership. The North bowlers were a bit indisciplined to begin with
as five wides and two no balls were gifted by Vandna Gupta and Asha
Jain in the first two overs. Bharati was off the blocks in the fourth
over with a couple followed by a boundary to mid wicket off Asha. The
scoreboard was kept ticking away efficiently with singles being taken
to fielders on the edge of the circle. Sandeep Saini was given the
ball in the 12th over which went for 10 runs including a Bharati
boundary to backward square leg.
The 50 came up off 12.2 overs but nine runs later Priyanka knocked
Seema Wadhwa to Rajini Bhalla at mid off for 17. Two overs later,
Bharati also departed, run out by Raakhee at short mid wicket, after
being sent back by Arundhati. Her 29 (49 balls) included three hits to
the fence. Chitra Bajpai and Arundhati now put on another profitable
association of 55 runs in 13.2 overs. Arundhati laid into the hapless
Seema in the 24th over with a straight driven boundary and a second
four to wide long on.
Full postAir India pip West Zone in thriller
West Zone lost an absolute humdinger to Air India in the CricInfo Rani Jhansi Trophy in Chennai today
Anand Vasu
07-Apr-2000
West Zone lost an absolute humdinger to Air India in the CricInfo Rani
Jhansi Trophy in Chennai today. Losing by just five runs to an Air
India side that was made to work hard for victory, West Zone settled
once more for silver in a big match. Despite a fighting 51 from
skipper Kalyani, West Zone could not make the required runs.
Chasing 152, West Zone got off to a bad start, losing Amrutha Shinde
early in the innings. Arti Vaidya looked confident while she took
strike, stroking the ball effortlessly through the off side. Coming to
the pitch of the ball, she used the angled bat to great effect,
carving the ball through the gaps in the off side. However when she
was going strong on 14 she tried to force the ball through the offside
off the bowling of mediumpacer Smita Harikrishna. The ball flew off
the face of the bat towards Manju Nadoda at slip. Sticking her right
hand out in a split second, she plucked the ball out of the air just
before it hit the ground.
In walked captain Kalyani Umbrani. She started slowly, content on
pushing the ball into the gaps for ones and twos. As the overs piled
on, the asking rate steadily crept up towards the six an over
mark. Vice captain Sunetra Parajape played steadily at the other
end. However, she perished just when things began to look solid for
West Zone.
After Sunetra was dismissed, things began to look decidedly better for
Air India. Sangeetha Kamat played a few good shots but could not
sustain her aggression. Sulakshana Naik, drafted into the side to
bolster the batting, livened up the proceedings with a pugnacious
knock. Hitting cleanly through the line, she narrowed the gap between
balls remaining and runs required. Sweeping the off spinners, she gave
West a glimmer of hope. When she ran herself out pushing hard for a
run that was simply not on, things were all but over.
Full postRailways get useful practice before title clash
Aided by a sedate 74 by Rajini Venugopal, Indian Railways completed a one sided eight wicket win over East Zone at the AC Tech ground in the CricInfo Rani Jhansi Trophy Women's tournament in Chennai on Friday
Natarajan Sriram
07-Apr-2000
Aided by a sedate 74 by Rajini Venugopal, Indian Railways completed a
one sided eight wicket win over East Zone at the AC Tech ground in the
CricInfo Rani Jhansi Trophy Women's tournament in Chennai on
Friday. The match provided Railways with an an excellent opportunity
to have some valuable match practice before they take on arch rivals
Air India in the title clash on Saturday.
After restricting East to 146, Railways stared the run chase with a
little hiccup when Rajini Sharma was caught behind in the very first
over off Jhulan. Rajini Venugopal (74 runs off 107 balls) joined
Balbir Kaur and the two added 28 runs in 5.2 overs for the second
wicket. Balbir (7) was run out while trying to steal a
single. Hemalatha (42 runs off 88 balls) then joined Rajini. With two
early wickets having fallen as a result of misjudgements, Rajni and
Hemalatha put their heads down and made sure of a Railways win.
The pair moved steadily towards the target with a sedate partnership
which saw them capitalizing on some frequent lapses in the
field. Boundaries were far and few between since the two preferred to
pick up the runs by placing the ball into the gaps. The stand
flourished and with the East bowling not upto the mark, the two were
able to rotate the strike and kept the score ticking.
Rajini in particular looked at ease against the spin attack of Sabari,
Seema and Saswati. She made some crisp drives on both sides of the
wicket. Rajini reached her half-century in 69 balls with the help of
six boundaries. Then the two of them consolidated and helped the team
to close out the match in 35.2 overs with a 155 run unbroken stand off
171 balls.
Full postPakistan carry form to Antigua
Antigua, April 6: Pakistan carried their Sharjah Cup form into Antigua Recreation Ground where they had a five-wicket win over Zimbabwe in the first-ever triangular one-day series being played in the Caribbean (partly reported in Thursday's edition)
Qamar Ahmed
07-Apr-2000
Antigua, April 6: Pakistan carried their Sharjah Cup form into Antigua
Recreation Ground where they had a five-wicket win over Zimbabwe in
the first-ever triangular one-day series being played in the Caribbean
(partly reported in Thursday's edition).
In fact they made a heavy weather of it, reaching the required target
of 200 in 47.1 overs. Absence of an established opening pair and the
inconsistency in their batting line up once again showed up as they
were set about to score just about four runs an over. Nevertheless, it
was a sort of victory which would hold them in good stead when they
face the West Indies at St. Vincent on April 12.
Chasing the target, Pakistan had lost opener Imran Nazir who was
caught by Stuart Carlisle off medium-pacer Neil Johnson in the third
over. Later Younis Khan departed 41. But then Shahid Afridi and
Inzamam-ul-Haq, taking the charge, batted brilliantly to add 67 runs
for the third wicket and take the score to 108 in the 21st
over. Afridi, uncharacteristically, showed a sound temperament as he
stroked his way to an entertaining 69 off as many deliveries. In the
process, he hit five fours and two towering sixes of Johnson and
Mluleki Nkala.
His dismissal by Der Viljoen, the left-arm spinner who had him caught
at long off, was followed up by that of Inzamam who like him also went
down the wicket to hit Viljoen out of sight and then paid for it when
32. He had put on 26 runs with Yousuf Youhana who ran himself out when
21 to make Pakistan 152 for five in the 36th over.
Full postThe juggernaut rolls on for the women from Indian Railways
Indian Railways executed a ridiculously easy nine wicket victory over North Zone in the CricInfo Rani Jhansi Trophy at the SRMC ground in Chennai today
Sankhya Krishnan
06-Apr-2000
Indian Railways executed a ridiculously easy nine wicket victory over
North Zone in the CricInfo Rani Jhansi Trophy at the SRMC ground in
Chennai today. After winning the toss and electing to bat, North were
bundled out for the lowest score of the tournament so far, mustering a
mere 49 runs that left their opponents with the modest requirement of
scoring 50 runs in 50 overs to win the match. Rupanjali Shastri had
the most miserly figures amongst the three Railways spinners of 10-5-
6-1 but Neetu David left a greater trail of destruction, taking 3/8 in
seven overs. Railways proceeded to polish off the match in the 14th
over to take home their fourth successive triumph. Rupanjali and
Rajini Sharma delivered the final touches by adding an unbroken 49 for
the second wicket.
North openers Rakhi Mehra and Gulshan Sharma provided the brightest
moment of the innings with a stand of 24 in just under 12 overs, with
Gulshan even having the temerity to score a boundary to third man. But
after she gave the simplest of return catches to the left arm medium
pacer, Umesh Chaudhary, a procession began to and from the crease even
as injured North captain, Richa Dubey, still undergoing treatment for
a knee problem, watched resignedly from the sidelines.
Reema Malhotra had hardly got her eye in before trying to pull Umesh
away into the nether regions of the on side. She missed and a
straightforward leg before decision was handed out. Rupanjali
Shastri's loping off breaks were introduced in the 15th over and she
frustrated the batsmen with a skilled line. But the next two wickets
were to fall unassisted by the bowlers. On both occasions Gurdeep Kaur
played the ball into the covers and called but while she made her
ground safely, her partners, Rakhi Mehra and Rajni Bhalla did not. The
fielder involved in both runouts was Poornima Chaudhary.
Anjuman Bassi came and went for a duck, with a simple top edge being
snaffled by the bowler, left arm spinner, Neetu David. Two balls later
Gurdeep was gone as well, after scratching around for 37 balls to make
5, when Neetu induced a leading edge that was well taken over her head
by Rupanjali at first slip. The scoreboard was not a pretty sight at
38/6 and it ceased to be prettier still when, one run later, Asha Jain
gifted her wicket by lobbing Rupanjali straight to Hemlata Kala at mid
off for another duck.
Full postEast wins a battle among equals
East Zone won a battle among equals against South Zone by 31 runs in the CricInfo Rani Jhansi Trophy Women's tournament at the Southern Railways Ground in Chennai on Thursday
Natarajan Sriram
06-Apr-2000
East Zone won a battle among equals against South Zone by 31 runs in
the CricInfo Rani Jhansi Trophy Women's tournament at the Southern
Railways Ground in Chennai on Thursday.
Having to score 190 for their first win, the South openers Vanitha (58
off 83 balls) and Manjula (18 off 29 balls) started in a spirited
fashion. The injured Vanitha especially picked both Jhulan and Babusha
for three bouddaries in their first overs. Though south proceeded to a
score of 33 rin the 6th over, the East was equal to the task on the
field. Their fielding looked much improved after he first four days of
the competition.
The first wicket to fall was that of Manjula, in the ninth over when
Kavitha had her bowled when trying to plat across. Then Karuna joined
Kavitha, and Kavitha carried on with her stroke filled innings. She
kept finding the gaps at will and the boundaries as well. She bisected
the field with some good shots in front of the wicket and was never
afraid to go over the top. She reached her half-century with the help
of her seventh boundary hit past the long on.
Then Karuna, trying to emulate her partner, pulled seema singh over
square leg and the very next ball was castled trying the same shot
when it was not there to be hit. The match was heading south?s way,
when in a needless run out saw the end of Vanitha's innings. This
created panic in the South ranks and there was hesitation in the
running and atrocious shot selection by the batswomen.
Full postPakistan makes winning start to Windies tour
Karachi, April 5: Pakistan made a winning start to their tour of West Indies when they defeated Zimbabwe by five wickets in the tri-nation one-day series match at Antigua's Recreation Park
06-Apr-2000
Karachi, April 5: Pakistan made a winning start to their tour of West
Indies when they defeated Zimbabwe by five wickets in the tri-nation
one-day series match at Antigua's Recreation Park.
Chasing a target of 200, Pakistan achieved victory with 17 balls to
spare. Abdur Razzaq (28 not out) hit the winning boundary. With him
was Moin Khan (25 not out). Shahid Afridi who blasted two sixes and
five fours in his breezy run-a-ball 69 put But Pakistan on course for
a comfortable win.
Afridi, adjudged Man-of-the-Match, added 67 runs for the third wicket
with Inzamam-ul-Haq (32). But both the batsmen perished in an
identical fashion - holing out in the deep off Dirk Viljoen.
Pakistan found themselves in some sorts of problems when Yousuf
Youhana (21) was run-out in a terrible mix-up with Moin Khan.
Full postAnjum dominates as Air India post match winning total
For the first time in the tournament Air India captain Purnima Rau won the toss
Anand Vasu
06-Apr-2000
For the first time in the tournament Air India captain Purnima Rau won
the toss. After the first innings was completed and Air India had
221/4 on the board thanks to 71 from Purnima Rao and a classy unbeaten
89 from south paw Anjum Chopra it was clear that the match was also
won. In the end, the target proved to be overwhelmingly large and
Central Zone succumbed to a 152 run loss.
Electing to bat first on a flat batting track at the AC Tech Ground
she took the crease with Anju Jain. The two have been the batswomen to
watch all series and today was no exception. Central Zone opening
bowlers were all at sea against the seasoned Air India
campaigners. Opening the bowling for Central Zone skipper Leena Muley
and Neetu Singh could not keep the run flow in check.
Hitting the ball cleanly, the two batswomen got Air India off to a
strong start. It was only a run out caused by a misunderstanding that
broke the partnership. Anju Jain had 8 to her name in the fifth over
when she was forced to run on a call that brought Purnima Rau to her
end. Stranded by a good throw, Anju was run out.
In came Anjum Chopra, another big name in women's cricket in
India. Before going in to bat, Anjum watched the game keenly from the
confines of the pavilion. When it was her turn to go in, a silent
prayer with gloves in hand preambled what was an important entrance.
Full postEverton Matambanadzo on Zimbabwe A's match against Kenya
Everton Matambanadzo returned to bowling form in Zimbabwe A's second match of the Emerging Nations tournament, against Kenya, when he took four good wickets in a match left drawn after rain in mid-afternoon
John Ward
06-Apr-2000
Everton Matambanadzo returned to bowling form in Zimbabwe A's second match of the Emerging Nations tournament, against Kenya, when he took four good wickets in a match left drawn after rain in mid-afternoon. He talks to John Ward about the match.
JW: Everton, can you describe the conditions during the match, please?
EM: When we arrived this morning the pitch looked quite hard, a good batting track, and there was a bit of moisture and some grass there so we decided to bowl. Bryan Strang and I were hoping to use the new ball quite well and we did; we got two early wickets. We had them in trouble quickly at 12 for two, and then they batted quite well; they just grafted their runs. Tikolo stroked it quite nicely, timed the ball very well, played some good shots off Craig Evans, and then we got him out and wickets fell from then on.
JW: Which other batsmen impressed you?
Full post