Report
South Africa enter Sharjah Cup final
Sharjah, March 27: India came here with the reputation of being the favourites
Viren Varma
28-Mar-2000
Sharjah, March 27: India came here with the reputation of being the
favourites. But they did nothing special to justify all the hype. They
now face the prospects of returning home early. Only an extraordinary
twist to the Sharjah Cup script can delay their flight.
On Monday, India were bowled out for 164 - exactly the same score they
had made in the opening match against the Proteas - but the only
difference being they didn't lose by 10 wickets. This time the margin
was a bit better - six wickets with 7.2 overs to spare.
South Africa with three clean victories from as many matches have made
it to the final with ease and they take on Pakistan in the last match
of the double-league preliminaries on Tuesday. Even if Pakistan lose,
they might still qualify for the triangular series final since they
have a much better run-rate.
The only way India can date South Africa in the final if Pakistan lose
the match by more than 100 runs if they bat second. If South Africa
bat second than they have to achieve the target before 35 overs to
relegate Pakistan to the third place.
Full postSydney Grade: Bankstown through to final
Bankstown-Canterbury stormed into the Belvidere Cup final against arch rivals St
Bankstown-Canterbury Cricket Club
28-Mar-2000
Bankstown-Canterbury stormed into the Belvidere Cup final against arch rivals St. George after withstanding a determined Balmain fightback last weekend at Bankstown Oval. The Bankstown Sports Club sponsored Bulldogs held on grimly to save the match with 8-210 in reply to the Tigers' 5-250 and move a step closer to another title.
After winning the minor premiership by a huge margin Manly suffered a one run defeat at the hands of Balmain in the qualifying final to be relegated to fourth position for the semis. Consequently they had to win to progress to the final but were denied victory over Saint George by a mere three runs.
Similarly the Bulldogs need to beat Saints in the final as a draw would give the premiership to the Dragons. To compensate for this Bankstown will have the home ground advantage because Memorial Oval was once again named ground of the year and all local enthusiasts are urged to turn out and support the 'Dogs in what should be another thriller.
The final will start at 10 a.m. next Friday through to Sunday and ardent cricket fans are advised that full canteen facilities including drinks and the usual culinary delights will be available. Patrons are once again reminded that no charge is made for admission to the magnificent new Memorial Oval complex so come along and cheer the 'Doggies home.
Full postInconsistency has been the Indians' major problem
The Indians failed badly on the day of reckoning to be knocked out of the Coca-Cola Cup at Sharjah
Woorkheri Raman
28-Mar-2000
The Indians failed badly on the day of reckoning to be knocked out of the Coca-Cola Cup at Sharjah. The batsmen failed throughout the tournament with Azharuddin alone aggregating more than a hundred runs. As a matter of fact, nothing went right for the Indians after the euphoric victory in the one-dayers against South Africa at home. The highly accomplished top order batsmen found the going tough, as they were kept on a tight leash by the disciplined South Africans and the crafty Pakistanis.
Coming back to the game against South Africa, the Springboks' hunger to keep their record intact at Sharjah came to the fore. Their fielding was as usual top class and it gave one the impression that they were defending a target of 140. The back of the length stuff dished out by the South African medium pacers coupled with their magnificent fielding ensured that the Indians were kept under constant pressure. Cronje's job was made easier as his plans were not thwarted in the least by the Indians.
Hayward worked up good speed and he beat Ganguly with sheer pace and the promotion of Azharuddin was the right move as he is in form. Tendulkar was determined to play a long knock but his grit was corroded with some superb fielding in the inner circle. His timing was not the same as we are accustomed to seeing when he is on song. Azharuddin from the other end decided to go after anything pitched up which resulted in a few boundaries. As the singles were hard to come by, both Azharuddin and Tendulkar were not very sure in their calling and eventually Azharuddin called for a run and McKenzie from mid-on effected a crucial run out.
Tendulkar, sent back by Azharuddin on many earlier occasions, tried to sneak a sharp single but in his eagerness to rotate the strike, picked the wrong fielder - Herschelle Gibbs. He does not miss many opportunities and his direct hit rang the death knell for the Indian team. Dravid having lost Jadeja at the other end was trying his best to play freely but he seems to be stuck in a sort of a quicksand. The harder he tried to pierce the infield, the lesser he succeeded. Robin Singh hung around but the South Africans had put the lid on the Indians far too firmly by then. The total in the end was not too encouraging and only an extraordinary performance by the bowlers could have prevented the inevitable.
Full postPakistan win in stunning turnaround
Pakistan snatched an incredible 67 run win against South Africa at Sharjah today to end a run of 14 consecutive losses against the Proteas and go into the final on Friday holding the psychological whiphand
Sankhya Krishnan
28-Mar-2000
Pakistan snatched an incredible 67 run win against South Africa
at Sharjah today to end a run of 14 consecutive losses against
the Proteas and go into the final on Friday holding the
psychological whiphand. Shoaib Akhtar made the initial breach in
the South African wall with a three wicket burst in his fourth
over, and the 17th of the innings, and although he then walked
off with a groin injury his fellow quicks, Messrs. Akram, Younis
and Razzaq were good enough to complete the job. Earlier, Gary
Kirsten had been helped off the field after straining his back
but South Africa appeared to be breezing to victory on the back
of a run a ball second wicket partnership between Gibbs and
Boucher that took the score to 71/1 at the end of 15 overs.
A sensational 17th over from Shoaib turned the tide of the
match to such good effect that suddenly Pakistan were the hunters
and South Africa the hunted. Off the first ball Mark Boucher
tried to pull a short one that was suspiciously close to shoulder
height and got a top edge through to Boucher. The fourth ball of
the over knocked back Dale Benkenstein's off stump as the batsman
played inside the line. And the sixth ball pierced Lance
Klusener's defences as well, also for a duck, to leave South
Africa at 74/4.
Wasim Akram was immediately brought back and off the last ball of
the 18th over, he had Shaun Pollock pushing at one away from his
body and getting a nibble to Inzamam at second slip who showed
surprising agility for so bulky a man. Pollock was the third
successive duck in the middle order and Pieter Strydom joined
Gibbs with the score at 75. Shoaib then bowled a blinder that
went through Moin's gloves for four byes but after the third ball
his groin muscle began playing up and he walked off to let Abdur
Razzaq complete the over for him.
And incredibly Razzaq got a wicket in that half over when Peter
Manuel raised the finger to a ball that seemed to be swinging
down the leg side as it struck the unfortunate Strydom on the
pad. Another duck and at 80/6, for all practical purposes 80/7
with Gary Kirsten unlikely to resume his innings, the South
Africans were on the ropes. What a turnaround! Five wickets had
fallen in the space of 18 balls for the addition of six runs.
Herschelle Gibbs had watched all the drama from the other end and
duly completed his 50 from 62 balls in the 22nd over.
Full postRose turns it around
A week ago, Franklyn Rose was at the heart of the Miracle of Port-of-Spain, helping to scatter Zimbabwe for 63 with his pace and swing and conjure up the remarkable first Test victory
Tonmy Cozier
27-Mar-2000
A week ago, Franklyn Rose was at the heart of the Miracle of
Port-of-Spain, helping to scatter Zimbabwe for 63 with his pace and
swing and conjure up the remarkable first Test victory.
On the third day of the second Test yesterday, his role as saviour was
in his unusual and little regarded guise of batsman, joining his
single-minded captain, Jimmy Adams, in an unbroken, record
eighth-wicket partnership of 124 that restored the balance that was
distinctly tilting against the West Indies in a wildly fluctuating
match.
They finally found the correct accord between the ultracaution that
had handed the initiative to the Zimbabweans and the belligerence that
had been flagrantly missing. And their 14 000 fellow Jamaicans, who
filled Sabina Park to overflowing, celebrated the transformation as if
Bob Marley had been reincarnated and he and the Wailers were doing
their stuff in the middle.
Even against an attack sorely missing its injured spearhead, Heath
Streak, the pair scored at a mere 2-1/2 runs an over.
Full postSouth Africa beat India, do Pakistan a favour
South Africa made heavy weather of a modest target of 165 but held their nerve to win a third successive match in the Coca Cola Cup and their eighth in eight appearances at this venue
Sankhya Krishnan
27-Mar-2000
South Africa made heavy weather of a modest target of 165 but held
their nerve to win a third successive match in the Coca Cola Cup and
their eighth in eight appearances at this venue. An unbroken 71 run
partnership between Jacques Kallis and Hansie Cronje took them to a
six wicket victory over India, with 7.2 overs to spare, that confirmed
South Africa's place in the final and did Pakistan a favour by all but
putting the Indians out of the tournament. With India's net run rate
plunging even further to -1.01 as opposed to a healthy +0.31 for
Pakistan, the latter are virtually assured of making the final even if
they lose to South Africa tomorrow. Nantie Hayward won the MoM award
for his lethal spell of 4-31.
The South Africans reached 30 without loss after seven overs and it
looked as though the match was taking the pattern of the earlier
encounter between these two when, chasing an identical target, the
openers knocked it off on their own. But the drama began to unfold in
the eighth over when Gibbs gave Prasad the charge a trifle prematurely
and failed to clear Ganguly at mid on. Lance Klusener walked in,
presumably to strike a few blows and ease the pressure, but the
situation hardly merited such a response and when Prasad trapped him
first ball in front of the wicket, it left the Indians sniffing at an
outside chance of victory.
Anil Kumble was the ace up India's sleeve and he had Kirsten caught at
slip by Ganguly in his second over to leave South Africa at 50/3 and
the cat firmly among the pigeons. Kumble and Chopra then strangled the
run rate with some relentlessly accurate bowling that gave just 11
runs away in 7 overs. Neil McKenzie decided to hit his way out of
trouble and got two boundaries off Chopra in one over to seemingly
break the spell that had been cast on the batsmen.
But Chopra was not done with and foxed McKenzie in the flight as the
batsman miscued one into Jadeja's hands at cover. India missed a
golden opportunity to tighten the screws further when Kallis played
Agarkar low into and out of Jadeja's hands at square leg with the score at
100/4. The South Africans never looked back after that as Kallis
mauled Chopra for two sixes over long off in the 30th over to
virtually put India out of the sweepstakes. Cronje finished the match
with aplomb with two fours and a six from successive balls off Robin
Singh.
Full postIndians must enhance their net run rate
The Pakistanis were in danger of exiting from the Coca-Cola Cup at Sharjah when they took on the Indians
Woorkheri Raman
27-Mar-2000
The Pakistanis were in danger of exiting from the Coca-Cola Cup at Sharjah when they took on the Indians. If at all there was a combination of factors for Pakistan to raise their game, the venue (Sharjah) and the opponents (Indians) was it. The senior cricketers took it upon themselves to ensure their side kept its chances alive. The return of Akram and Akhtar meant real hard work for the Indian batsmen.
Moin Khan put his faith on his batsmen and opted to bat on a pitch loaded with runs. Agarkar got rid of Nazir early on and Afridi, hard up for runs, decided to attack his way out of poor form. He was beginning to get dangerous when a very poor stroke ended his innings. Inzamam ul Haq, the lovable character for his apparent casual demeanour strode out with a lot of responsibility on his shoulders. His first scoring stroke was a soaring hit straight over the top against Kumble, which made his intentions clear. The Pakistani ploy of going after Kumble was as courageous as it was sensible because he is one bowler who can frustrate batsmen into submission.
Youhana, along with Haq, batted sensibly through the middle portion of the innings without taking too many chances. Robin Singh was mainly instrumental in tying down this pair with nagging accuracy. Inzamam showed a lot of maturity and common sense in his batting and his guidance made Youhana play a very valuable knock. The assault in the final overs was expected but the result it produced could not have been predicted by many watching the game. Inzamam majestically smashed the Indian without any preference, be it Kumble, Agarkar or Prasad. A knock of such quality is not played very often and Inzamam could not have chosen a better time than this.
It has been written in this column that Waqar is dangerous as he is fighting to prove that he still belongs in the international arena. He foxed Ganguly with a slower delivery and the Indians never recovered from the early setback. Akram once again bowled Tendulkar with just about enough movement into the batsman. Not for nothing have both Waqar and Akram been so successful over the years. Dravid and Azharuddin are the sort of players who take time to settle down before they venture to play big shots. The Pakistani bowlers ensured that they were not allowed to go into their top gear and the asking rate was slowly climbing beyond gettable proportions.
Full postPakistan outclass India
Sharjah, March 26: When it comes to India-Pakistan matches, it all boils down the ability of a team to psyche themselves up to the challenge on that day
Viren Varma
27-Mar-2000
Sharjah, March 26: When it comes to India-Pakistan matches, it all
boils down the ability of a team to psyche themselves up to the
challenge on that day. The two are pretty sentimental sides and hence
prone to cracking under pressure.
Pakistan made no such mistake on Sunday and applied themselves much
better to the task at hand with experienced Inzamam-ul-Haq leading
their batting revival with a blistering century just when it mattered
most.
They badly needed to win the match to stay in the hunt - and they did
in style, beating an indifferent India by 98 runs to record their
first victory in three matches in the Sharjah Cup triangular series.
Berated for inept batting for a long, Pakistani batsmen came good on a
wicket sympathetic towards batsmen, scoring a handsome 272 for three,
rattling up a brisk 93 in the last 10 overs - certainly one of the
high-points of their innings.
Full postCFX Academy v Manicaland
CFX Academy won toss and elected to bat
Gwynne Jones
26-Mar-2000
CFX Academy won toss and elected to bat.
Weather overcast.
Pitch devoid of grass and a little spongy.
The new format for 1st Class cricket in Zimbabwe with 4
provincial teams and the Academy, proposed by the Academy and
adopted by the ZCU is proving to be an outstanding success. The
talent in the former stronghold, Mashonaland, has now been
dissipated to the provinces and the games are proving to be
highly competitive and even contests. The Academy is now proving
that its existence is vital to the future of cricket in Zimbabwe.
Already in this competition 8 out of the 9 centuries have been
scored by Academy or former Academy students.
Full postLuckless Matabeleland side lose hope
The luckless Matabeleland side lost all reasonable hope of victory and faced probable defeat after the second day of their match against Mashonaland at Bulawayo Athletic Club
John Ward
26-Mar-2000
The luckless Matabeleland side lost all reasonable hope of
victory and faced probable defeat after the second day of their
match against Mashonaland at Bulawayo Athletic Club. They
finished their first innings well to lead by 86, and Mashonaland
at one stage were only 32 runs ahead with three wickets down.
Then came two fatal dropped catches, fairly hard but to prove
fatal, as the reprieved batsmen made hay and piled on the agony.
The loss of John Rennie from their bowling attack removed their
chief weapon, and the two misses set the seal on a disastrous
afternoon.
The pitch had flattened out considerably, and the weather was
warm, if cloudy, but with no imminent sign of rain. The
overnight pair of John Rennie and Jason Hitz found no terrors in
the Mashonaland attack and continued their invaluable partnership
for over an hour, with Rennie playing the major role. He played
a sensible game, waiting for the bad all and then hitting it
hard. Hitz concentrated on defence at first in support of his
partner, but then played a few fine strokes of his own without
exceeding his limitations. Mashonaland started to get vociferous
again as the stand passed the fifty mark, and it took a brilliant
throw from extra cover by Gus Mackay to run out Hitz (24) while
attempting a quick single in order to give the strike to Rennie.
With last man Steve Brown at the crease, Rennie hit out more
vigorously, with two lofted leg-side fours off Viljoen. But,
when trying the same shot against Hoffman at the other end, he
holed out to Craig Evans on the midwicket boundary, to be out for
63 (109 balls). Matabeleland totalled 256, an unexpected lead of
86.
Mashonaland made a dour start to their second innings, without a
run coming until the fifth over, when Darlington Matambanadzo
pulled Sanyo Nyakutse for four. Neither Rennie was in evidence:
John was still suffering from the arm injury that cut him short
in his 22nd over the previous day, while Gavin was unwell and
unable to open the batting. His replacement Brad Robinson scored
9 before he attempted a big drive and skyed the ball off the
outside edge into the covers, where Mark Abrams held the catch.
The wicket had fallen at 23, and another ten runs were scored by
lunch (Matambanadzo 18, Dan Peacock 4).
Full post