Antigua, April 6: Pakistan carried their Sharjah Cup form into Antigua Recreation Ground where they had a five-wicket win over Zimbabwe in the first-ever triangular one-day series being played in the Caribbean (partly reported in Thursday's edition)

Qamar Ahmed

07-Apr-2000

In fact they made a heavy weather of it, reaching the required target of 200 in 47.1 overs. Absence of an established opening pair and the inconsistency in their batting line up once again showed up as they were set about to score just about four runs an over. Nevertheless, it was a sort of victory which would hold them in good stead when they face the West Indies at St. Vincent on April 12.

Chasing the target, Pakistan had lost opener Imran Nazir who was caught by Stuart Carlisle off medium-pacer Neil Johnson in the third over. Later Younis Khan departed 41. But then Shahid Afridi and Inzamam-ul-Haq, taking the charge, batted brilliantly to add 67 runs for the third wicket and take the score to 108 in the 21st over. Afridi, uncharacteristically, showed a sound temperament as he stroked his way to an entertaining 69 off as many deliveries. In the process, he hit five fours and two towering sixes of Johnson and Mluleki Nkala.

His dismissal by Der Viljoen, the left-arm spinner who had him caught at long off, was followed up by that of Inzamam who like him also went down the wicket to hit Viljoen out of sight and then paid for it when 32. He had put on 26 runs with Yousuf Youhana who ran himself out when 21 to make Pakistan 152 for five in the 36th over.

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The juggernaut rolls on for the women from Indian Railways

Indian Railways executed a ridiculously easy nine wicket victory over North Zone in the CricInfo Rani Jhansi Trophy at the SRMC ground in Chennai today

Sankhya Krishnan

06-Apr-2000

Indian Railways executed a ridiculously easy nine wicket victory over North Zone in the CricInfo Rani Jhansi Trophy at the SRMC ground in Chennai today. After winning the toss and electing to bat, North were bundled out for the lowest score of the tournament so far, mustering a mere 49 runs that left their opponents with the modest requirement of scoring 50 runs in 50 overs to win the match. Rupanjali Shastri had the most miserly figures amongst the three Railways spinners of 10-5- 6-1 but Neetu David left a greater trail of destruction, taking 3/8 in seven overs. Railways proceeded to polish off the match in the 14th over to take home their fourth successive triumph. Rupanjali and Rajini Sharma delivered the final touches by adding an unbroken 49 for the second wicket.

North openers Rakhi Mehra and Gulshan Sharma provided the brightest moment of the innings with a stand of 24 in just under 12 overs, with Gulshan even having the temerity to score a boundary to third man. But after she gave the simplest of return catches to the left arm medium pacer, Umesh Chaudhary, a procession began to and from the crease even as injured North captain, Richa Dubey, still undergoing treatment for a knee problem, watched resignedly from the sidelines.

Reema Malhotra had hardly got her eye in before trying to pull Umesh away into the nether regions of the on side. She missed and a straightforward leg before decision was handed out. Rupanjali Shastri's loping off breaks were introduced in the 15th over and she frustrated the batsmen with a skilled line. But the next two wickets were to fall unassisted by the bowlers. On both occasions Gurdeep Kaur played the ball into the covers and called but while she made her ground safely, her partners, Rakhi Mehra and Rajni Bhalla did not. The fielder involved in both runouts was Poornima Chaudhary.

Anjuman Bassi came and went for a duck, with a simple top edge being snaffled by the bowler, left arm spinner, Neetu David. Two balls later Gurdeep was gone as well, after scratching around for 37 balls to make 5, when Neetu induced a leading edge that was well taken over her head by Rupanjali at first slip. The scoreboard was not a pretty sight at 38/6 and it ceased to be prettier still when, one run later, Asha Jain gifted her wicket by lobbing Rupanjali straight to Hemlata Kala at mid off for another duck.

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East wins a battle among equals

East Zone won a battle among equals against South Zone by 31 runs in the CricInfo Rani Jhansi Trophy Women's tournament at the Southern Railways Ground in Chennai on Thursday

Natarajan Sriram

06-Apr-2000

East Zone won a battle among equals against South Zone by 31 runs in the CricInfo Rani Jhansi Trophy Women's tournament at the Southern Railways Ground in Chennai on Thursday.

Having to score 190 for their first win, the South openers Vanitha (58 off 83 balls) and Manjula (18 off 29 balls) started in a spirited fashion. The injured Vanitha especially picked both Jhulan and Babusha for three bouddaries in their first overs. Though south proceeded to a score of 33 rin the 6th over, the East was equal to the task on the field. Their fielding looked much improved after he first four days of the competition.

The first wicket to fall was that of Manjula, in the ninth over when Kavitha had her bowled when trying to plat across. Then Karuna joined Kavitha, and Kavitha carried on with her stroke filled innings. She kept finding the gaps at will and the boundaries as well. She bisected the field with some good shots in front of the wicket and was never afraid to go over the top. She reached her half-century with the help of her seventh boundary hit past the long on.

Then Karuna, trying to emulate her partner, pulled seema singh over square leg and the very next ball was castled trying the same shot when it was not there to be hit. The match was heading south?s way, when in a needless run out saw the end of Vanitha's innings. This created panic in the South ranks and there was hesitation in the running and atrocious shot selection by the batswomen.

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Pakistan makes winning start to Windies tour

Karachi, April 5: Pakistan made a winning start to their tour of West Indies when they defeated Zimbabwe by five wickets in the tri-nation one-day series match at Antigua's Recreation Park

06-Apr-2000

Karachi, April 5: Pakistan made a winning start to their tour of West Indies when they defeated Zimbabwe by five wickets in the tri-nation one-day series match at Antigua's Recreation Park.

Chasing a target of 200, Pakistan achieved victory with 17 balls to spare. Abdur Razzaq (28 not out) hit the winning boundary. With him was Moin Khan (25 not out). Shahid Afridi who blasted two sixes and five fours in his breezy run-a-ball 69 put But Pakistan on course for a comfortable win.

Afridi, adjudged Man-of-the-Match, added 67 runs for the third wicket with Inzamam-ul-Haq (32). But both the batsmen perished in an identical fashion - holing out in the deep off Dirk Viljoen.

Pakistan found themselves in some sorts of problems when Yousuf Youhana (21) was run-out in a terrible mix-up with Moin Khan.

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Anjum dominates as Air India post match winning total

For the first time in the tournament Air India captain Purnima Rau won the toss

Anand Vasu

06-Apr-2000

For the first time in the tournament Air India captain Purnima Rau won the toss. After the first innings was completed and Air India had 221/4 on the board thanks to 71 from Purnima Rao and a classy unbeaten 89 from south paw Anjum Chopra it was clear that the match was also won. In the end, the target proved to be overwhelmingly large and Central Zone succumbed to a 152 run loss.

Electing to bat first on a flat batting track at the AC Tech Ground she took the crease with Anju Jain. The two have been the batswomen to watch all series and today was no exception. Central Zone opening bowlers were all at sea against the seasoned Air India campaigners. Opening the bowling for Central Zone skipper Leena Muley and Neetu Singh could not keep the run flow in check.

Hitting the ball cleanly, the two batswomen got Air India off to a strong start. It was only a run out caused by a misunderstanding that broke the partnership. Anju Jain had 8 to her name in the fifth over when she was forced to run on a call that brought Purnima Rau to her end. Stranded by a good throw, Anju was run out.

In came Anjum Chopra, another big name in women's cricket in India. Before going in to bat, Anjum watched the game keenly from the confines of the pavilion. When it was her turn to go in, a silent prayer with gloves in hand preambled what was an important entrance.

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Everton Matambanadzo on Zimbabwe A's match against Kenya

Everton Matambanadzo returned to bowling form in Zimbabwe A's second match of the Emerging Nations tournament, against Kenya, when he took four good wickets in a match left drawn after rain in mid-afternoon

John Ward

06-Apr-2000

JW: Everton, can you describe the conditions during the match, please?

EM: When we arrived this morning the pitch looked quite hard, a good batting track, and there was a bit of moisture and some grass there so we decided to bowl. Bryan Strang and I were hoping to use the new ball quite well and we did; we got two early wickets. We had them in trouble quickly at 12 for two, and then they batted quite well; they just grafted their runs. Tikolo stroked it quite nicely, timed the ball very well, played some good shots off Craig Evans, and then we got him out and wickets fell from then on.

JW: Which other batsmen impressed you?

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Doug Marrilier on the Midlands - Mashonaland match

Doug Marillier, a Zimbabwe A player and a member of the Zimbabwe Cricket Academy last year, is currently based in Kwekwe where he coaches and plays

John Ward

05-Apr-2000

Doug Marillier, a Zimbabwe A player and a member of the Zimbabwe Cricket Academy last year, is currently based in Kwekwe where he coaches and plays. Here he talks to John Ward about the recent match between Midlands and Mashonaland, which he missed with a broken finger, and Midlands cricket in general.

Unfortunately it wasn't a fantastic pitch at Harare Sports Club, and the Mashonaland bowling attack is a lot better and a lot more experienced than the Midlands bowling attack. We won the toss and did the right thing by fielding. The Mashonaland side is a good side and we got them out for 165, which we thought was pretty good for our bowling attack.

Unfortunately though our batsmen didn't show, I think, enough commitment. A couple did - Ken Connelly showed a fair amount of commitment, but everyone else tried to get themselves out of a tough position by playing big shots. I think that's something you learn by experience; the Midlands haven't played a lot of first-class cricket, and a lot of guys haven't played any first-class cricket before. The most experienced guys in the Midlands side apart from the pros have played a maximum of four first-class games, so we haven't a wealth of experience.

Being our first year, there are a lot of good things that have come out of it. I know we haven't done particularly well but we beat Matabeleland in one game, and it was great for us to come into a competition like this from playing league cricket to playing a much higher standard of cricket although the Logan Cup isn't at its strongest, with most of the national cricketers being away. But it's very encouraging to see that we've done as well as we have. We lost three games and won one, but to go through a season, our first in first-class cricket, and not lose all of them, we've done pretty well, and the guys have shown a lot of commitment.

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Central cruise past East

Central Zone comfortably beat East Zone by seven wickets in the CricInfo Rani Jhansi tournament at the SRMC ground in Chennai today

Sankhya Krishnan

05-Apr-2000

Central Zone comfortably beat East Zone by seven wickets in the CricInfo Rani Jhansi tournament at the SRMC ground in Chennai today. After knocking over East for just 93 in the 45th over, Central coasted home with their reply revolving around an unbeaten 40 (65 balls) from keeper Arundhati Kirkire. She also effected three dismissals behind the sticks besides completing two run outs and surely must be a cinch to be selected in the World Cup probables. Bindeshwari Goyal's spell of 3-11 had created the opening for Central in the first place. And spare a thought for Sabari Mukherjee who took two stunning catches, off her own bowling, that would have done Jonty Rhodes proud.

East won the toss and elected to bat with captain Pratima Chakraborti and Neetu Singh opening the innings. Things began brightly for them as Neetu straight drove Varsha to the boundary in the second over of the day. The score had mounted steadily to 15 in the fifth over before Central captain Leena Muley bowled Neetu with one that took the top of off stump as she played inside the line.

Chandrabarti Paul arrived at the crease and immediately found the gaps on either side of the wicket for a couple of twos. But in the very next over, a dreadful mixup with Pratima saw her depart without further addition. Pratima played to point, both ran, both stopped, and then continued on their way. Ranjana Gupta fired in a good throw to the keeper, finding Chandrabarti short of her ground. With the fielders at mid on, mid off, covers and mid wicket on the edge of the circle, Pratima and Kavita Roy were able to take singles to these regions without discomfort.

But disaster was lurking round the corner when Pratima pulled one to square leg, who was a little closer. Bindeshwari's throw was too good for Kavita as the batswomen scrambled frantically for a run. Two balls later, without any addition to the score, Pratima swept one into the hands of Bharati Verma at squareleg to make it 29/4 in the 12th over. Two new players, Geeta Samanta Ray and Rashmita Mohanty, were now facing a Central attack with their tails up.

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Hemalatha derails South Zone

Hemalatha helped Indian Railways to a comfortable seven wicket win with 9.3 overs to spare against South Zone in the CricInfo Rani Jhansi Trophy women's tournament at the Southern Railway ground in Chennai on Wednesday

Natarajan Sriram

05-Apr-2000

Having to score 170 for a win, Railways started in real earnest when openers Balvir Kaur and Purnima Choudary. Though Balvir thrashed two consecutive square cuts in the first over, she was adjudged leg before to Swarnalaxmi at the score of 16 in the fourth over. Rajni Venugopal joined Purnima but the partnership did not last long. Purnima was caught behind off Mamta in the ninth over while trying to steer the ball to backward square leg.

Purnima's dismissal brought together Rajni and Hemalatha. Both were looking to play their shots, especially Hemalatha. They chose the balls to be hit and never hesitated to run the singles hard. But Rajni in a rare misjudgement, found herself short of the crease when Mamta threw the stumps down with a direct hit.

Shyama now joined Hemalatha in a fruitful partnership. They added an unbeaten 101 runs for the fourth wicket in 24.1 overs. The two put their heads down and steered the score to 109 at the second drinks break in the 27th over. Hemalatha was more sensible in the selection of her shots and her placement than Shyama who was more flamboyant. But the two in tandem were more than a handful for the mediocre South Zone attack. During the last stretch, Shyama tried to finish off in style by hitting two crisply struck boundaries.

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