St John's (Antigua), April 10: Pakistan avenged their defeat of Saturday against the West Indies Select XI by gaining a marginal 14-run victory over the home team at the Antigua Recreation Ground here on Sunday

Qamar Ahmed

11-Apr-2000

Like the Pakistan team in the first match, the West Indies Select XI also collapsed in a similar fashion while chasing 184 to win in 50 overs.

Mohammad Akram, who took three for 27 in the first match, was once again in good form as he picked four for 28 as the Select XI were bowled out for 169 in the 40th over. Pakistan in their innings had made 183 for nine after winning the toss.

The Select XI from 135 for four had plummeted to 137 for seven after Ramnaresh Sarwan and Runako Morton seemed to have taken the grip on the game with a stand of 70 for the fifth wicket. The two had taken their innings from 65 for four to 135.

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Mashonland win Logan Cup despite spirited resistance from Manicaland

John Ward

09-Apr-2000

It took Mashonaland until just after tea to wrap up the Logan Cup final, winning by 257 runs, after some spirited resistance at times from Manicaland, who played the game in fine spirit throughout, as indeed they have done all season. Neil Ferreira and Stuart Matsikenyeri scored determined fifties, while Gavin Rennie, who has been bowling regularly again this season after virtually giving up his left-arm spin due to back trouble, took seven wickets.

Mashonaland declared overnight, setting Manicaland a mere 498 to win. Manicaland were determined not to give in weakly, but the odds were stacked against them, despite Mashonaland's rather apathetic attitude in the field at times. Steve Lawson this time opened with Neil Ferreira, but had scored only 7 before popping up a ball from Gus Mackay backward of square on the leg side, for Everton Matambanadzo to dive and catch.

Then came a determined stand between Ferreira and Patrick Gada, both looking secure and playing each ball on its merits until, with the total on 51, Gada thrust his pad at a straight ball from Gavin Rennie, misreading the arm ball completely, to be given out lbw for 18. In the same over Hamilton Masakadza, in contrast to his fine first-innings effort, appeared to give it away; he hit an uppish four that just cleared short mid-on, and then pushed a low return catch that Rennie dived to take.

Mark Burmester looked aggressive and hit some firm boundaries, only to be given out caught off bat and pad by Mackay off Rennie for 20. Ferreira once again held out gallantly, and just before the interval Strang bowled to him with all nine of his fielders on the off side. Ferreira waited for the right ball and then tapped it away wide of mid-on and ran three.

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Strang sews up Logan Cup for Mashonaland

Mashonaland 345 and 275/5; Manicaland 123

John Ward

08-Apr-2000

Mashonaland 345 and 275/5; Manicaland 123.

Mashonaland have won the Logan Cup, de facto if not de jure. After taking a first-innings lead of 222 over Manicaland, they declined to enforce the follow-on and pointlessly added a further 275 runs before the close, leaving the visitors in a hopeless situation.

Under sunny skies, later to cloud over, Manicaland soon found themselves with their backs to the wall, with Bryan Strang getting movement in the air and off the pitch. Neil Ferreira, backbone of the Manicaland batting, scored only 8, misjudging a ball from Strang just outside the off stump, shouldering arms and having it nip back to hit his off stump. Strang got his next ball to swing in from outside leg stump and trap Patrick Gada lbw, and Manicaland were 12 for two.

Steve Lawson saved the hat-trick, but he and Hamilton Masakadza, batting with great determination but few strokes, really struggled for runs, and there were times when overs bowled exceeded the runs on the board. Finally Lawson's concentration seemed to break, as he reached for a wide ball from Anton Hoffman outside the off stump to be caught by Campbell for 2; 19 for three in the 23rd over, and quite a few of these were courtesy of some sloppy Mashonaland ground fielding.

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Bevan's brilliance not enough in Bangladesh

Despite a stunning 185-run knock by Michael Bevan, the Rest of the World XI conceded a one-run defeat to mighty Asia XI in a thrilling limited-over match at the flood-lit Bangabandhu National Stadium Saturday

Zahid Newaz

08-Apr-2000

Southpaw batsman Bevan, who is famed for his top class finishing ability in one-dayer, lifted the match to an exciting position making a 119-run partnership in the eight-wicket stand with Andrew Caddick.

The match was dragged to a nerve breaking moment when Rest of the Eleven needed six runs from the last delivery of the innings but they completed their fifty overs making 319 runs for eight wickets in chasing the 320 runs scored by Asia.

In the last over of their innings, Rest of the Eleven needed 20 runs which was made almost possible when Bevan hit three consecutive boundaries off Pakistani pacer Abdur Razzaq.

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Air India derails Indian Railways

The much awaited title clash in the CricInfo Rani Jhansi Trophy women's tournament between Air India and Indian Railways got underway at the MA Chidambaram Stadium this morning

Anand Vasu

08-Apr-2000

The much awaited title clash in the CricInfo Rani Jhansi Trophy women's tournament between Air India and Indian Railways got underway at the MA Chidambaram Stadium this morning. Both teams came into the match unbeaten. At the end of the day however, Air India were just too good for Indian Railways. Their 178 run total proved 48 runs too many for Indian Railways.

On winning the toss Air India captain Purnima Rau had no hesitation in electing to bat. However, when she played down the wrong line to a straight one from Sunita Kanojia the skipper couldn't have been too pleased. She was trapped plumb in front and Air India had lost a big wicket.

Anjum Chopra came in and gave Air India fans something to cheer about with some fine batting. Playing with a straight bat, Chopra made good use of a field that was spread out. Taking no risks, she forced the scoring on.

When Anjum tried to cut a ball from off spinner Rupanjali Shastri things went wrong for Air India. The ball was too close to the stumps for the shot. All she managed to do was drag the ball back onto her stumps. She looked good for a big score but managed just 24.

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West Zone wins a cliff hanger

Asked to make 117 for a win against probably the best of zonal teams, on the hottest day of the Cricinfo Rani Jhansi tournament Central Zone could not hold the nerve and so lost to West Zone, giving the second one run win match of the day

Ganesh Virudhagiri

08-Apr-2000

U Kalyani won the toss for West Zone in their last match of the CricInfo Rani Jhansi tournament at the SRMC grounds and decided to bat against Central Zone on a wicket that had a lot of cracks. West Zone women were not looking very enthusiastic after their close loss to Air India yesterday.

West Zone openers, Amrutha Shinde and Triptimani Rocue added 57 in the first 15 overs until the latter played a poor shot at Rahul Singh only to lose her off stump. Amrutha along with Kalyani manouvred the spin of Rahul Singh and Varsha Raphal sensibly and took the score to 77 when the skipper ran herself out for 17. The consistent Amrutha also followed her captain giving an easy catch to Bindeshwari at deep square leg after making a well played 40.

Once these two players were back in the pavilion, a slide was expected. But Aarti Vaidya, capitalising on a dropped chance by Varsha Raphal of Bindeshwari, kept one end tight and helped her team to cross the three figure mark. Aarti perished in the 47th over trying to step on the accelerator.

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North go down by slenderest of margins

North choked at the death to throw away a game they should have won with ease at the CPT ground in Chennai on the final day of the CricInfo Rani Jhansi tournament today

Sankhya Krishnan

08-Apr-2000

North choked at the death to throw away a game they should have won with ease at the CPT ground in Chennai on the final day of the CricInfo Rani Jhansi tournament today. Replying to South Zone's total of 164/9, North fell agonisingly short by one run, at 163/6. The number of wickets in hand tells the tale of how North failed to force the pace in the final overs. A magnificent 88 run third wicket partnership between Rajini Bhalla (56 not out) and Gurdeep Kaur (44) took North to 137/2 in the 42nd over.

The stand was broken in the only possible way that it looked like happening, a run out, and two more wickets fell cheaply. But with captain Rajini Bhalla around at the crease, North were still the favourites until the very end. Eight were needed from the last two overs and four from the last. Seema Wadhwa just could not get the ball away in the final over bowled by Mamtha. Two runs were needed from the last ball and Seema was bowled to give South a consolation victory and North a most inconsolable loss. Mamtha had done the trick for South with a spot on last over and finished with figures of 10-3-21-3.

Raakhee Mehra and Jaya Sharma had given North the ideal start with a 49 run stand in just under 18 overs. Both were dismissed at the same score, the latter trapped leg before by Mamtha, and the former being pointlessly run out. Rajini and Gurdeep made the task look easy as they kept the scoreboard moving relentlessly for the next 23 odd overs with some clean hitting, some deflections and some edges. The bowling held no terror as the two never looked remotely in trouble. However both began to tire towards the end, easing up in their running between the wickets so much so that a run out looked a distinct possibility. After Gurdeep had obliged South, Gulshan Sharma played out a maiden from Mamtha in the 44th over to pile the pressure on North. Yesterday North had mocked at an asking rate of 54 runs in 60 balls to take out Central but today they baulked at a much simpler proposition. There was a funereal atmosphere in the North camp after the match and as their coach launched into a tirade against them you really felt sorry for these girls who had played their heart out for the greatest part of the contest. Cricket can be a very unforgiving game.

Earlier a 75 run third wicket partnership between Sudha Rani and Harsha had helped South recover from the perilous depths of 17/3 but North hit back towards the end to peg their target down to 165. A combination of some poor running between the wickets and some inspired bowling by Vandna Gupta and Anjuman Bassi cost South dearly. South came into the match with a day's rest behind them and elected to bat after winning the toss against a rejuvenated North side playing the same eleven that beat Central yesterday. Vanita Viola cover drove Vandna Gupta to the boundary in the very first over. A no ball was called in Vandna's second over for illegally employing three fielders behind the popping crease on the leg side. Asha Jain at the other end was bowling to an unusual 7-2 field and in the 4th over of the day, Manjula patted a halfvolley straight back to her to fall for a duck.

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Mashonaland hold advantage in Logan Final

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).

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Rajini 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

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.

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Air 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.