Report
Sri Lanka snatch victory from Proteas
For much of this afternoon, the spectators who had crowded into Galle International Stadium sat quietly on as their side drifted towards an apparently inevitable defeat
Charlie Austin
06-Jul-2000
For much of this afternoon, the spectators who had crowded into Galle International Stadium sat quietly on as their side drifted towards an apparently inevitable defeat. Then at 4:24 Gary Kirsten tried to sweep Mutiah Muralitharan and was bowled. Suddenly the band started banging their drums with hope, the Sri Lankan flags begun to wave and the spectators awoke from their slumber.
One hour later the same spectators where cheering their team into their dressing room after Sri Lanka had won the match by 37 runs after a dramatic South African collapse in which 10 wickets had fallen for just 62 runs.
The mood of the crowd was mirrored by that of the players who had appeared to have given up hope of winning the match during a 150 run opening stand between Gary Kirsten (59) and Andrew Hall (81). The dismissal of Gary Kirsten though galvanised the team, shook them from their gloom and as the wickets fell steadily, they couldn't hide their undulated joy.
Prior to the match the Sri Lankan's had opted for three spinners in the expectation that the ball would turn in the second innings. It was a tactic that paid off as the spinners ran through the South African batting.
Full postLara leads harvest of fifties
On a slowish pitch where quick scoring was never very easy, West Indies achieved what was probably the match-winning total of 232 for seven off an accurate but essentially toothless Zimbabwe attack
John Ward
06-Jul-2000
Bristol: West Indies 232 for seven (50 overs)
On a slowish pitch where quick scoring was never very easy, West Indies
achieved what was probably the match-winning total of 232 for seven off an
accurate but essentially toothless Zimbabwe attack. The foundation was laid
during a sound second-wicket partnership between Chris Gayle and Wavell
Hinds, with Brian Lara and Ricky Powell reaping the harvest with aggressive
fifties.
Bryan Strang, bowling speed in the lower seventies, opened for Zimbabwe to
Adrian Griffith of West Indies in the NatWest Series limited-overs match at
Bristol - two singles nudged to third man coming off his first over. After the rain of the preceding days the ground at the start was less than half full, but encouragingly with a large proportion of children.
West Indies accelerate after steady start
Full postWest Indies accelerate after steady start
Bryan Strang, bowling speed in the lower seventies, opened for Zimbabwe to Adrian Griffith of West Indies in the NatWest Series limited-overs match at Bristol - two singles nudged to third man coming off his first over
John Ward
06-Jul-2000
Bristol, 30 overs: West Indies 103 for two (Hinds 41, Lara 1)
Bryan Strang, bowling speed in the lower seventies, opened for Zimbabwe to
Adrian Griffith of West Indies in the NatWest Series limited-overs match at
Bristol - two singles nudged to third man coming off his first over. After the rain of the preceding days the ground at the start was less than half full, but encouragingly with a large proportion of children.
Nkala had a close lbw appeal, although off the front foot, against Gayle rejected by umpire Peter Willey in his second over, and both bowlers beat the batsmen off the pitch occasionally; in fact after several overs they were showing signs of frustration at being tied down by accurate bowling and tight fielding. The first boundary did not come until the ninth over when Gayle, who had scored only two singles before then, drove Strang through the covers, and then lashed three more off-side boundaries in Nkala's next over. In his following over, though, Nkala struck back by having Griffith (10) caught by Brent at mid-off lashing out with a touch of desperation; West Indies 33 for one.
Gayle continued to bombard the covers with his powerful drives, and greeted Brent in his first over with a lofted four, almost a six, wide of midwicket. Hinds excelled that with a six over Brent's head as the West Indian batsmen slowly began to establish their dominance.
Full postZimbabwe up with scoring rate
Some fine batting by Zimbabwe, their innings held together by a restrained Neil Johnson, has kept them on even terms in the NatWest Series match at Bristol with a West Indian team thatprobably did not expect such stern opposition
John Ward
06-Jul-2000
Bristol, NatWest Series: West Indies 232 for seven (50 overs); Zimbabwe 136
for three (30 overs)
Some fine batting by Zimbabwe, their innings held together by a restrained
Neil Johnson, has kept them on even terms in the NatWest Series match at
Bristol with a West Indian team thatprobably did not expect such stern opposition. In reply to what appeared to be a very adequate total of 232 for seven, Zimbabwe were well up with the required run rate after the 30th over, with Johnson (43 not out) and Andy Flower (29 not out) in fine form. It remains to be seen whether their fragile nerve will hold when it comes to the crunch.
On a slowish pitch where quick scoring was never very easy, West Indies
achieved what was probably the match-winning total of 232 for seven off an
accurate but essentially toothless Zimbabwe attack. The foundation was laid
during a sound second-wicket partnership between Chris Gayle and Wavell
Hinds, with Brian Lara and Ricky Powell reaping the harvest with aggressive
fifties.
Full postIndia beat Pakistan, both enter U-15 final
Karachi, July 5: India defeated Pakistan by 33 runs in a match of academic interest in the Asia Cup Under-15 cricket tournament at Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday
06-Jul-2000
Karachi, July 5: India defeated Pakistan by 33 runs in a match of
academic interest in the Asia Cup Under-15 cricket tournament at Kuala
Lumpur on Wednesday.
Both the teams qualified for July 9 final.
Batting first, Indian teenagers slumped to 79 for five before reaching
181 for seven from the allotted 40 overs. An unbeaten 52 by
wicketkeeper-batsman Abhinav Kumar, who starred in a 83-run sixth
wicket partnership with N.Chaudhary (28) was the feature of the
innings.
In reply Pakistan could manage only 148 for 9. Brief scores: India
181-7 in 40 overs Pakistan: 148-9 in 40 overs on Tuesday, Pakistan
beat Bangladesh team by seven wickets in its fourth pool match.
Full postNatWest Series under way - and the sun shines through
The NatWest Series opened in Bristol under rather better weather than during the previous few days, warm and humid, with the sun often shining through the haze
John Ward
06-Jul-2000
The NatWest Series opened in Bristol under rather better weather than during
the previous few days, warm and humid, with the sun often shining through
the haze. The West Indies won the toss and decided to bat.
The Nevill Road ground capacity had been raised to about 10,500, thanks
to temporary seating, and about 6,500 of these had been sold in advance. The pitch is expected to play true, if slow and low, meaning the batsmen will have to work for their runs, as the desired amount of sun has been unavailable recently, due to circumstances beyond the club's control.
Familiar faces from Zimbabwe attack
Henry Olonga, classified as fit in Zimbabwe, returned to England but has
already brokendown with a recurrence of his leg injury and is unlikely to
play in the series at all. In fielding practice both other key bowlers, Heath Streak and Pommie Mbangwa, injured their shoulders and will miss this match,
although they are likely to be fit for the weekend.
Full postButcher boosts Surrey in NatWest Trophy
Mark Butcher (87 n.o.) took out his in Surrey's convincing win by 7 wickets over Sussex in the NatWest Trophy fourth-round match at The Oval
Staff and agencies
06-Jul-2000
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Mark Butcher - foundation of Surrey's success Photo © Paul McGregor |
Mark Butcher (87 n.o.) took out his in Surrey's convincing win by 7 wickets
over Sussex in the NatWest Trophy fourth-round match at The Oval. The South Londoners' reward is a home match with Lancashire in the quarter-finals.
Chasing 193 runs to win Surrey made 196-3 in 47.4 overs, of which Butcher scored his runs from 146 balls in 209 minutes with three boundaries. He and his brother-in-law Alec Stewart (31) added 85 runs for the second wicket after Ally Brown had been caught at the wicket cheaply. With the wayward Sussex bowlers giving away 20 wides in 35 extras Robin Martin-Jenkins, alone, achieved any consistency.
Full postMiddlesex win in a hurry
Somerset didn't hang around too long at Southgate this morning
Staff and agencies
06-Jul-2000
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Tim Bloomfield wrecked Somerset Photo © AllSport |
Somerset didn't hang around too long at Southgate this morning. Middlesex
crushed them by 169 runs on their way to a place in the NatWest Trophy quarter-finals. The visitors were bowled out for 58 - perhaps an improvement after being once 9-4. Fast bowler Tim Bloomfield (4-17) did the main damage and was appropriately Man-of-the-Match.
Partnered by veteran Angus Fraser he ripped through the Somerset batting in
dismissing Marcus Trescothick, Peter Bowler, Michael Burns and Ian Blackwell in a shattering opening burst. Bloomfield expressed his pleasure at being back in the county side after a month's absence.
Full postGlamorgan survive Ealham shock to beat Kent
Keith Newell (62 n.o.), the Glamorgan opening batsman, kept his nerve at Canterbury as Kent showed greater fight today than they had the day before in their NatWest Trophy fourth-round match
Staff and agencies
06-Jul-2000
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Keith Newell steered Glamorgan home Photo © Huw John |
Keith Newell (62 n.o.), the Glamorgan opening batsman, kept his nerve at
Canterbury as Kent showed greater fight today than they had the day before in their NatWest Trophy fourth-round match. Rain had upset play to a considerable degree yesterday and starting at 65-1 the visitors needed to score a further 56 runs from 37 runs.
After their opponents' lacklustre performance hitherto it seemed to be little more than a formality. That reckoned without Marl Ealham who struck an inspired patch in which he dismissed Stephen James, Matthew Maynard, Adrian Dale and Michael Powell, three to catches by Paul Nixon behind the stumps. Yet he could not shake Newell's resolve and he saw Glamorgan home by 5 wickets at 122-5 and to a quarter-final match against Warwickshire.
Full postZimbabwe shock win brings NatWest Series to life
Bristol, NatWest Series: West Indies (232 for seven off 50 overs) lost to Zimbabwe (233 for four off 45 overs) by six wickets
John Ward
06-Jul-2000
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Neil Johnson - first star of the new series Photo © CricInfo |
Bristol, NatWest Series: West Indies (232 for seven off 50 overs) lost to
Zimbabwe (233 for four off 45 overs) by six wickets.
The NatWest Series has come to life, thanks to the shock result of the first
match in the programme. Against all expectations, a Zimbabwe team castrated
by the in part avoidable absence through injury of its three top bowlers
gained a comfortable six-wicket victory over a West Indian team that
appeared quite unprepared in the field for a stern contest. It was
Zimbabwe's first win over West Indies in any form of cricket, and they have
now beaten each of the other Test-playing countries at least once.
Full post