A strong rearguard action by Assam failed to prevent Orissa from taking a first innings lead of 119 runs on the third day of their East Zone Ranji Trophy league match at the Angul stadium in Orissa on Wednesday

06-Jan-2000

Resuming at 117 for three in reply to Orissa's 425, Assam ran into trouble against S Satpathy and were tottering at 134 for seven. Then commenced the splendid fightback. First R Borah and VR Samant (20) added 51 runs for the eighth wicket off 12.4 overs. But the Assam batting really gained impetus during the ninth wicket association of 118 runs off 26.3 overs between Borah and GD Dutta. Borah finally fell to Satpathy for 82 compiled off 95 balls and inclusive of 13 fours and a six. Dutta remained unbeaten with 55. He faced 107 balls and hit nine fours and a six. Assam were finally all out for 306 with Satpathy finishing with six for 86 off 35 overs.

In the remaining time, Orissa in their second innings hit up 118 for one. SS Das was bowled by O Singh for 71 off the last ball of the day. He faced 94 balls and hit five of them to the ropes. P Mahapatra, content to play second fiddle, was unbeaten with 41 at close. He faced 100 balls and hit three fours. With an overall lead of 237 runs and nine wickets in hand, Orissa are in a position to call the shots on the final day.

Full post

Karim's unbeaten ton helps Bengal take lead

Bengal, with their top order working efficiently, serenely proceeded to a first innings lead of 36 runs with five wickets still intact at stumps on the third day of their East Zone Ranji Trophy league match against Bihar at the Keenan stadium in

06-Jan-2000

Resuming at 128 for one, Bengal suffered an early blow when opener Nilamber Saha was out for 60, adding only six runs to his overnight score. Rohan Gavaskar, 49 overnight went on to get 72 before he was third out at 172. The 24-year-old left hander faced 114 balls and hit six fours and a six. But Bengal really took command during the fourth wicket stand between S Kalyani and Saba Karim. The two added 158 runs off 55.2 overs. Kalyani seemed headed for his century but was out for 94. He faced 226 balls and hit eleven fours. C Singh (5) fell quickly but in the company of skipper Utpal Chatterjee, Saba Karim reached his century shortly before close. At close, Karim was unbeaten with 105. He batted 285 minutes, faced 213 balls and hit eight fours and a six. Bengal at close were 377 for five in reply to Bihar's 341.

Full post

Maharashtra fighting hard to stave off defeat

Maharashtra were fighting hard to stave off defeat at the hands of Baroda at stumps on the third day of their West Zone Ranji Trophy league match at the Deccan Gymkhana ground in Pune on Wendesday

06-Jan-2000

Maharashtra were fighting hard to stave off defeat at the hands of Baroda at stumps on the third day of their West Zone Ranji Trophy league match at the Deccan Gymkhana ground in Pune on Wendesday.

The home team were restricted to 213 in their first innings conceding a lead of 180 runs. Forced to follow on, Maharashtra were 176 for three at close of play.

Veteran opening batsman Surender Bhave tried his best to keep the Maharashtra innings going in the morning. He added 54 runs for the seventh wicket with Iqbal Siddiqui (24) and then went on to get 113. He batted 399 minutes, faced 260 balls and hit 15 of them to the fence. His 25th Ranji Trophy hundred was his fifth against Baroda. Following on, Maharashtra lost two wickets for 30 runs but AV Kale and S Sugwekar (34) commenced the recovery process by adding 67 runs for the third wicket off 21 overs. The rescue act continued with Kale and KD Aphale (34) putting on a further 79 runs for the unbroken fourth wicket off 30.2 overs. By stumps, Kale had batted four hours for 77. He faced 161 balls and hit eight fours.

Full post

Natal made heavy weather of defending a total of 223

Ken Borland

06-Jan-2000

Natal made heavy weather of defending a total of 223 in their Standard Bank Cup match against Free State at Kingsmead last night, squeezing home by seven runs in an exciting contest that produced much for the crowd of 4000 to enjoy. The game's exciting conclusion was mainly due to most of the Natal bowlers being unable to find a disciplined line or length and even though Victor Mpitsang, with one run in his only previous Standard Bank Cup innings, had little chance of seeing Free State home when he came in with 35 runs wanted off four overs, he and Herman Bakkes did enough to make a close match of it.

The Natal innings saw man of the match Andrew Hudson at his best as he plundered the Free State bowlers for an unbeaten half-century off just 32 balls, his innings turning a competitive total into an almost unbeatable one.

Captain Dale Benkenstein also got on top of the attack as he scored 58, he and Hudson adding 61 for the fourth wicket off just 48 balls as Natal ran amok in the closing stages of their innings, having been asked to bat first in conditions that were kind to the bowlers, swing and bounce being freely available.

Doug Watson (35) and Mark Bruyns (47) had got the innings off to a solid start, seeing off some impressive bowling by Bakkes, Mpitsang and Matthew Hoggard.

Full post

Tamil Nadu book Wills Trophy berth

Tamil Nadu won the Subbaiah Pillai Trophy for zonal one-day supremacy after an astonishing batting display against Goa at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai yesterday

06-Jan-2000

Tamil Nadu won the Subbaiah Pillai Trophy for zonal one-day supremacy after an astonishing batting display against Goa at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai yesterday. Chasing a target of 136 and mindful of the need to beef up their net run rate in the event of a Karnataka victory in a parallel match at Hyderabad, the TN batsmen went berserk, knocking up the runs in 66 balls and 61 minutes. As it turned out Karnataka lost to Hyderabad leaving TN as clear winners. With this title triumph Tamil Nadu have also qualified for next season's Wills Trophy.

After being put in, Goa could only muster a total of 135 in 41.4 overs. J Gokulakrishna with 4-23 from 9 overs and Sridharan Sriram with 3-9 from 3.4 overs were the bogeymen for Goa. In the TN reply S Mahesh, who opened both the bowling and batting, lashed a furious 69 from 29 balls (8 fours, 5 sixes). Madanagopal (19) and Sharath (12) were at the crease when the end came with five wickets to spare.

Full post

Hyderabad complete successful run chase

A 179 run 3rd wicket partnership in 30 overs between Mohd

06-Jan-2000

A 179 run 3rd wicket partnership in 30 overs between Mohd. Azharuddin (94) and D Vinay Kumar (97) helped Hyderabad see off Karnataka by two wickets at the Gymkhana Ground, Secunderabad and take the runner up spot with 8 points, one behind Tamil Nadu. Earlier Karnataka had posted an imposing 299-8 from their 50 overs. Thilak Naidu (63) and B Akhil (59) provided the springboard for the slog which S Shiraguppi (48 off 38 balls) and Anand Yalvigi (25 off 18 balls) completed most efficiently.

Hyderabad were 231-2 at one stage but after Azharuddin was out at that score, for a rousing 89 ball knock including 9 fours and a six, they made heavy weather of their target. They lost five wickets for 51 and were in a precarious position at 282-8. But Pawan Kumar and NP Singh saw them through with 14 balls to spare. Karnataka had to settle for third place in the league with 7 points.

Full post

Kerala hand Andhra fifth straight defeat

In the other inconsequential match between Kerala and Andhra at the REC Ground, Kozhikode, the hosts outplayed the visitors by 62 runs

06-Jan-2000

In the other inconsequential match between Kerala and Andhra at the REC Ground, Kozhikode, the hosts outplayed the visitors by 62 runs. A delayed start due to overnight rain meant that the match was reduced to 43 overs a side. Kerala won the toss and, boosted by a 135 run 4th wicket partnership between Sunil Oasis (53) and K Chandrashekara (68), totalled 199-8. A lethal spell of 6-2-11-4 by KN Ananthapadmanabhan then had Andhra struggling to 137-9. Kerala finished fourth with 4 points while Andhra sunk to the bottom of the table having lost all five games.

Full post

Gauteng win big against EP

In an exciting game of high scores and low wicket hauls, Gauteng pulled ahead of the EP target to finish their innings on 245/5 with a few balls to spare off their allotted 45 overs

Caryn Snashall

06-Jan-2000

In an exciting game of high scores and low wicket hauls, Gauteng pulled ahead of the EP target to finish their innings on 245/5 with a few balls to spare off their allotted 45 overs.

Winning the toss and electing to bat, EP set about creating a formidable total. With the runs coming freely, it was the spinning combination of Crookes and Eksteen that had to put the brakes on the run rate. Dylan Jennings achieved his first stumping on debut, when he caught Benfield out of his crease. The next wicket to fall was Bryant, in devastating form before he was run out off the fielding of Bacher. Callaghan's wicket was taken by skipper Eksteen's bowling, caught by Rutherford. Leaving Bradfield to finish his innings four runs short of a century when he ended on 96*.

The Gauteng innings was an impressive one, reaching 7 runs an over before the first wicket fell on 106 as Andrew Hall fell short of his crease after a series of close calls in previous overs. Rutherford too looked in form before he was stumped off Peterson's bowling. Bacher became the second run out vistim of the Gauteng innings - the decision going to the third umpire. Toyana and Crookes were well matched as they kept to the required run rate until Crookes wicket fell, a few short overs from the end, off the bowling of Kruger. His innings finishing on 49.

The decision by Rushmere to bowl Abrahams in the last few overs was to prove decisive for the visitors. The required run rate at that stage was 6 per over but after a few misdirected balls and an overthrow, the rate came down until Dylan Jennings was able to hit a four to clinch the win off his first ball.

Full post

Australia completes series clean sweep

In many ways, this series has represented both the best of times and the worst of times

05-Jan-2000

In many ways, this series has represented both the best of times and the worst of times. Well nearly anyway, for Australia has played about as well as might be expected and the Indians have been about as poor by comparison. It was far from a surprise then that this was yet again the general formula in accordance with which matters transpired on the third day of the Third Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground, at the very end of which the tourists plunged to defeat by an innings and 141 runs.

For those who may have expected a more competitive and enthralling series, it also sadly served as yet another celebration of the twin abilities of Australia's batsmen to take toll of flagging attacks and for its own bowlers to work their way through an opposing batting list. Nevertheless, there was some time for three significant individual highlights all the while - Justin Langer chalking up several notable feats in the course of scoring his first Test double century, Ricky Ponting making an excellent century of his own and VVS Laxman registering his maiden Test hundred in bravely inspiring manner. There were also several bizarre curiosities late in the day - foremost among them a decision by Umpires Ian Robinson and Darrell Hair to grant the Australians an extra half hour at the end of the day to complete their seventh successive Test victory.