Report
Das, Kumaran shine in President's XI win
A star studded Board President's XI beat back a strong Mumbai challenge to win their Wills Trophy quarterfinal clash by 28 runs at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore on Tuesday
11-Jan-2000
A star studded Board President's XI beat back a strong Mumbai
challenge to win their Wills Trophy quarterfinal clash by 28 runs at
the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore on Tuesday.
The highlight of the well contested game was an unbeaten 133 by Orissa
opener SS Das. Put in to bat, Board President's XI were given a sound
start with Das and his partner Jyoti Yadav (45) putting on 111 runs
off just 18 overs. Yadav faced 57 balls and hit six fours. Left hander
S Sriram was run out for three but skipper Azharuddin (24) and Das got
the innings going again with a third wicket partnership of 48 runs off
10.3 overs. S Sharath, another left hander was also, like his Tamil
Nadu collegue Sriram, run out for two. But Das and Sanjay Bangar (38)
provided the much needed filip to the scoring rate by adding 81 runs
off 13.3 overs for the fifth wicket. Bangar faced just 43 balls and
hit three fours and a six. During the association, Das reached his
century and then kept going. By the time the President's XI innings
ended at 272 for six off 50 overs, Das had faced 140 balls and hit 13
fours and two sixes.
Faced with a formidable target, Mumbai needed a good start. Wasim
Jaffer (43) and RJ Sutar (12) got them off to fair beginning putting
on 39 runs off 6.2 overs. T Kumaran dismissed Sutar and No 3 Jatin
Paranjpe (1) in successive overs, dealing a severe blow to Mumbai's
hopes. When Jaffer fell at 73 after facing 52 balls and hitting eight
fours, Mumbai were in deep trouble. However skipper Amol Muzumdar
(50) and Sushant Manjrekar (23) raised their hopes by putting on 47
runs off 11.3 overs for the fourth wicket. This was followed by a
fifth wicket partnership of 41 runs off 8.5 overs between Muzumdar and
AA Rane (26). But the fall of Muzumdar (he was the sixth batsmen to be
dismissed) at 178 was the death blow to Mumbai's hopes. The skipper
faced 88 balls and hit four of them to the ropes. And though SV
Bahuthule (25) and Amit Dani (28) came up with valuable contributions,
it was obvious by now that Mumbai were fighting a losing battle. And
Kumaran came back for a second spell to take three quick wickets and
bring the innings to a swift end. He finished with five wickets for 37
off 9.1 overs as Mumbai were all out for 244 in 48.1 overs.
Full postKalyani stars in Bengal's comfortable win
The Wills Trophy quarterfinal clash between Bengal and Punjab at the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai on Tuesday was expected to be a close game
11-Jan-2000
The Wills Trophy quarterfinal clash between Bengal and Punjab at the
MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai on Tuesday was expected to be a
close game. But it turned out to be lop sided with Bengal running out
comfortable winners by five wickets with 4.4 overs to spare.
Opting to bat first, Punjab were a major disappointment. Openers
Vikram Rathour and Sandeep Sharma were dismissed by the time the score
was 29 in the seventh over. Then commenced the only notable stand of
the innings - 58 runs for the third wicket off 13.4 overs between
Pankaj Dharmani (33) and A Kakkar (41). Following this, only D Mongia
(22) and Amit Sharma (39) made valuable contributions. The last five
wickets fell for 35 runs in 9.5 overs and the Punjab total was an
inadequate 196 in 49.4 overs. Opening bowler S Panda was the most
successful bowler with three for 36.
Medium pacer Sandeep Sharma gave Punjab some hopes by dismissing both
openers Nikhil Haldipur and LR Shukla in successive overs by the time
the score was 33. The left handed Rohan Gavaskar also did not last
long and Bengal were 60 for three in 16 overs. However veteran Srikant
Kalyani and experienced wicketkeeper Saba Karim put Bengal on the road
to recovery with a fourth wicket partnership of 64 runs off 15.4
overs. Karim was then out for 32. He faced 56 balls and hit three
fours and a six. Charanjeet Singh was out quickly but Kalyani played
some thrilling strokes and he and skipper Utpal Chatterjee, who hit
out boldly steered Bengal to a convincing victory. Chatterjee's
unbeaten 29 was compiled off 34 balls with three fours and a six. But
the star was clearly Kalyani who remained unconquered on 81. He faced
99 balls and hit 12 fours. Sandeep Sharma was the pick of the bowlers
finishing with three for 34 off nine overs.
Full postTamil Nadu regain Sounderarajan Trophy
With the South Zone Ranji Trophy match between Karnataka and Hyderabad ending in a tame draw at the Gymkhana ground in Secundarabad on Sunday, Tamil Nadu regained the MD Sounderarajan Trophy, the symbol of supremacy in the zone
10-Jan-2000
With the South Zone Ranji Trophy match between Karnataka and Hyderabad
ending in a tame draw at the Gymkhana ground in Secundarabad on Sunday,
Tamil Nadu regained the MD Sounderarajan Trophy, the symbol of supremacy
in the zone. Tamil Nadu finished with 31 points. Karnataka and Hyderabad
who both had 24 points at the start of the match, finished with 27 and
29 points respectively. It was the second title triumph in a week for
Tamil Nadu. Only a few days before, they had won the Subbiah Pillai
Trophy for the one day South Zone championship. The triumph also
clinched a place for Tamil Nadu in next year's Wills Trophy tournament
Chasing a difficult target of 356, Karnataka, the reigning Ranji Trophy
champions, were never really in with a chance. But they made sure of
preventing Hyderabad from registering an outright victory that would
have given them the trophy. The top order performed commendably with
openers Arun Kumar (26) and Mithun Beerala (46) putting on 49 runs.
Then Rowland Barrington (64) and skipper Sujith Somasundar (55 not out)
consolidated with a third wicket partnership of 92 runs off 43.4 overs.
Barrington faced 165 balls and hit three of them to the ropes. NP Singh
dismissed Barrington and A Vijay in the same over but Somasundar and
VST Naidu (31 not out) steered Karnataka to a comfortable draw with
an unbeaten fifth wicket partnership of 53 from 8.1 overs. Somasundar
faced 153 balls and hit seven of them to the fence. Naidu's bright
knock was compiled off just 29 balls and he hit seven fours. Karnataka
were 239 for four when stumps were finally drawn.
Full postPunjab in comfortable position
Punjab were comfortably placed to take the all important first innings lead against Rest of India at stumps on the third day of their MA Chidambaram Trophy match at the Dhruv Pandove stadium in Patiala on Sunday
10-Jan-2000
Punjab were comfortably placed to take the all important first
innings lead against Rest of India at stumps on the third day
of their MA Chidambaram Trophy match at the Dhruv Pandove
stadium in Patiala on Sunday. In reply to Rest of India's total
of 237, Punjab were 161 for four wickets at close of play.
Rest of India, resuming at 220 for 7, were dismissed after
10.3 overs. Opening bowlers Gagandeep Singh and A Uniyal took
the remaining three wickets. In fact both the bowlers shared
all the ten wickets with Gagandeep taking six for 58 from 23
overs and Uniyal four for 35 off 16.3 overs.
Punjab lost GS Garry at 18 but the other opener Binwant Singh
and skipper V Mahajan put Punjab back on course with a second
wicket stand of 104 runs off 50.1 overs. Binwant then was out for
a sedate 43, compiled off 168 balls with the help of four hits
to the fence. M Dhuper (16) and Gagandeep Singh (1) did not last
very long but Mahajan carried on till stumps with a fine unbeaten
70. The captain batted patiently for 285 minutes, facing 218
balls in the process. He hit eight fours.
Full postWest Indies punch-drunk
Wellington - The West Indian cricketers must feel rather like some heavyweight boxing champion's punch-bag
Don Cameron
10-Jan-2000
Wellington - The West Indian cricketers must feel rather like some heavyweight boxing champion's punch-bag.
Yesterday they were pummelled into another clear-cut defeat by New
Zealand, who have now gone 4-0 up in the five-match One-Day International series.
There were several times when the West Indians seemed to have broken the hosts' tight grip when the fourth One-Dayer began on Saturday at Wellington's new stadium, was stopped after 10.5 overs, and then resumed yesterday.
Yesterday afternoon West Indies reached 43 for one wicket in reasonable shape, with Ridley Jacobs and Jimmy Adams looking sound.
Full postModi's unbeaten 133 highlights Gujarat's victory
Opener ND Modi's unbeaten 133 was the highlight of Gujarat's 29-run win over Maharashtra in the West Zone Ranji Trophy one day league match at the Sardar Vallabhai Patel stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday
10-Jan-2000
Opener ND Modi's unbeaten 133 was the highlight of Gujarat's 29-run
win over Maharashtra in the West Zone Ranji Trophy one day league
match at the Sardar Vallabhai Patel stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Winning the toss, Gujarat lost AS Kotecha at 27 but Modi and Sheth
(19) added 68 runs for the second wicket off 19.1 overs. Then Modi
and K Damani (49) consolidated with a third wicket partnership of
137 runs off 21.5 overs. Damani, who faced 70 balls hit two fours
and a six. Modi carried his bat, facing 150 balls in the process
and hitting 13 fours. Gujarat scored 241 for four off 50 overs.
Maharashtra too lost an early wicket with PT Shahane (1) out at
four. But NA Godbole (24) and AV Kale (41) added 50 runs for the
second wicket off 13.4 overs. The recovery process was maintained
with Kale and veteran S Sugwekar (53) putting on 44 runs for the
third wicket off 8.3 overs. This was followed by a fourth wicket
stand of 55 runs off 11.4 overs between Sugwekar and KD Aphale
(25). With Maharashtra 153 for three in the 37th over, the match
had reached an interesting stage. But except for SA Shah, the later order batsmen did not rise to the occasion and Maharashtra were
all out for 213 off 48.3 overs. Shah remained not out with 34 off
33 balls with two fours and a six.
Full postWilliams' unbeaten 114 of no avail
Opener Cecil Williams' unbeaten 114 went in vain as Saurashtra completed a comfortable eight wicket victory over Baroda in the West Zone Ranji Trophy one day league match at the Municipal stadium in Rajkot on Sunday
10-Jan-2000
Opener Cecil Williams' unbeaten 114 went in vain as Saurashtra
completed a comfortable eight wicket victory over Baroda in the
West Zone Ranji Trophy one day league match at the Municipal
stadium in Rajkot on Sunday.
Opting to bat first, Baroda's innings revolved totally around
Williams. The next highest score was NR Mongia's 22. And the
highest partnership was 50 runs for the sixth wicket between
Williams and skipper AP Bhoite. Williams faced 142 balls and hit
six fours and three sixes. Thanks chiefly to his heroics,
Baroda finished with 228 for seven off 50 overs.
Saurashtra however made light of what should have been a
challenging target. Openers RC Vasanth Kumar and HD Jani put on
87 runs off 15 overs. Vasanth Kumar dominated the stand with a
series of attacking strokes and his 67 was hit off just 49
balls, inclusive of 13 fours. Building upon the excellent start
given by Vasanth Kumar, Jani and skipper Sitanshu Kotak added 83
runs for the second wicket off 18.3 overs before the opener was
out for 54. He faced 90 balls and hit six of them to the ropes.
Kotak in the company of PJ Bhatt steered Saurashtra to an easy
victory with 3.1 overs to spare with an unbroken third
wicket partnership of 59 runs off 13.2 overs. Kotak's unbeaten
56 came up off 102 balls with four boundary hits while Bhatt's
38 not out was scored off just 42 balls with five hits to
the ropes.
Full postHyderabad set Karnataka daunting target
Hyderabad set reigning champions Karnataka a daunting target on the third day of their South Zone Ranji Trophy league match at Hyderabad on Saturday
09-Jan-2000
Hyderabad set reigning champions Karnataka a daunting target on the
third day of their South Zone Ranji Trophy league match at
Hyderabad on Saturday. Shortly before close, they declared their
second innings at 312 for six, leaving Karnataka a victory target
of 356. In four overs by close of play, Karnataka were one
for no loss.
Resuming at 21 for no loss, Hyderabad went for runs from the start.
Openers A Nandakishore (46) and AG Shetty (25) put on 56 runs in 16
overs. Skipper Azharuddin (12) did not last long but Vinay Kumar (93)
and P Satwalkar (80) boosted the scoring rate with a fourth wicket
partnership of 177 runs off 52.2 overs. While Vinay Kumar faced 181
balls and hit ten fours, Satwalkar faced 175 balls and hit nine
fours and a six. Dodda Ganesh dismissed both the batsmen and also
NP Singh (1) and finished with three for 52.
Full postPlay curtailed on second day
Only 18.4 overs play was possible on the second day of the four day MA Chidambaram Trophy (under-19) match between Punjab and Rest of India at the Dhruv Pandove stadium in Patiala on Saturday
09-Jan-2000
Only 18.4 overs play was possible on the second day of the
four day MA Chidambaram Trophy (under-19) match between Punjab
and Rest of India at the Dhruv Pandove stadium in Patiala on
Saturday. In that time, Rest of India took their score of 191
for five to 220 for seven off 80 overs at the truncated end.
Play started only at 2.10 pm because of fog. But after 47 minutes,
play was halted because of bad light. Play resumed at 3.25 but was
again stopped at 3.50 pm. Play started a third time at 4.20 but
was again halted - this time for the day - after only 20 minutes.
Both the wickets were taken by A Uniyal. He forced A Pandey (8)
to give him a return catch and he then had Suhail Sharma (6)
caught by Dhuper.
Full postAustralia sinks as Shoaib resurfaces
To say that this was an unusual day in the life of Shoaib Akhtar and of Pakistan cricket in general would be a gross understatement
John Polack
09-Jan-2000
To say that this was an unusual day in the life of Shoaib Akhtar
and of Pakistan cricket in general would be a gross
understatement. To postulate that it was momentous probably would
not be overselling the position either. In whatever manner it is
described, though, it is likely that it will ultimately be one
upon which he and his Pakistani teammates will look back with
supreme fondness; a forty-five run victory over Australia in the
opening match of the Carlton and United Series here in Brisbane
coming at the end of an extraordinary twenty-four hours of action
both on and off the field.
The day started, in fact, with the young paceman at the
completely opposite end of the country to the one in which this
match was being played. Indeed, he was in Perth - around five
hours away by plane - and seemingly not in any position to play
in this match at all. That he should have been so distant, and
not with his countrymen, was the legacy of the much publicised
decision eleven days ago of the International Cricket Council
(ICC) to ban him from all cricket on account of an allegedly
suspect bowling action.
It was in the early hours of the morning that matters began to
change markedly for him. It was then that he was provided with
the news that chairman Jagmohan Dalmiya, on behalf of the ICC,
had decided to lift the ban - although whether the reprieve is
temporary or permanent appears to remain unclear. And, although
his humiliation was not completely over - for he was surrounded
and jostled by waiting cameramen (at the core of a general media
scrum) after being escorted to the ground late in a four wheel
drive vehicle - it was from there that the portents for a
remarkable day of cricket began to be set in place.
Initially, Pakistan struggled on the field of play. Indeed, after
winning the toss and electing to bat, the visitors laboured
badly, collapsing to a mark of 6/60 at one stage in an innings
which was generally devoid of any real momentum. The first wicket
- that of Mohammad Wasim (0) - was surrendered in just the second
over and the top and middle order fell with almost equivalent
frequency thereafter. Against a persistently accurate attack, and
in the face of some fine all round fielding, the Pakistanis were
never able to garner any real sense of resistance; only a fortythree run partnership between Wasim Akram (35) and Moin Khan (33)
for the seventh wicket and then an unexpected yet brilliantly
steadfast one of fifty-seven for the ninth between Saqlain
Mushtaq (37*) and Waqar Younis (23*) offering salvation. It was
symbolic indeed that even the first two of those batsmen fell to
appalling pieces of judgement - Moin out to a loosely top edged
sweep at Shane Warne and Wasim suicidally setting off for a
single after pushing a shot virtually straight to Ricky Ponting
at extra cover.
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