Report

Aphale helps Maharashtra take big lead

KD Aphale scored 158 as Maharashtra took a big first innings lead of 214 runs over Saurashtra at the end of the third day of their four day West Zone Ranji Trophy league match at the Deccan Gymkhana ground in Pune on Wednesday

30-Dec-1999

Replying to Saurashtra's 217, Maharashtra were all out for 431. At close of play on the penultimate day, Saurashtra were 165 for two in their second innings.

AV Kale, at No 4 scored a valuable 84. He faced 144 balls and hit eleven fours and added 76 runs for the fourth wicket with veteran S Sugwekar (26). But the Maharashtra innings really gathered momentum when Aphale and SD Lande put on 167 runs for the sixth wicket off 45.2 overs. Lande was out for 62, compiled off 138 balls and inclusive of eight hits to the ropes. Aphale however continued to bat till he was last out after batting 333 minutes. He faced 234 balls and hit 22 fours. Opening bowler SS Gansondia was the one bowler to make an impression with a bag of five for 90.

Saurashtra in their second innings were given a good start by openers Vasanth Kumar (46) and SS Tanna (19) who put on 65 runs off 24 overs. This start was consolidated upon by an unbeaten third wicket partnership of 94 runs off 40.3 overs between skipper Sitanshu Kotak (39) and PJ Bhatt (54).

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South Africa salvage honourable draw

Gary Kirsten led the way on a day of tumbling batting records at Kingsmead yesterday as South Africa salvaged an honourable draw against England in the third cricket Test

Ken Borland

30-Dec-1999

Gary Kirsten led the way on a day of tumbling batting records at Kingsmead yesterday as South Africa salvaged an honourable draw against England in the third cricket Test.

Kirsten matched Daryll Cullinan's 304-day-old record for the highest individual Test score by a South African, 275, finally being dismissed shortly after 5pm. He was just a single away from setting a new mark when part-time spinner Mark Butcher bowled him round his legs to finish an epic day on a most unexpected note.

The Western Province opener, under huge pressure to keep his place in the side, said he was not disappointed about failing to break his teammate's record, set in New Zealand on March 1, but instead savoured being able to save the Test for South Africa.

"That's what makes cricket such a great game, things happen out of nowhere. I was just ecstatic to get that far, whether you equal or break the record, so what? It was great to be very much involved in the rescue effort.

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Rajasthan set to take lead

Rajasthan were poised for a first innings lead at the end of the second day of their Central Zone Ranji Trophy league match against Railways at the Karnail Singh stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday

30-Dec-1999

Rajasthan were poised for a first innings lead at the end of the second day of their Central Zone Ranji Trophy league match against Railways at the Karnail Singh stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday.

After bowling out Railways for 132, Rajasthan were 109 for three at close of play. For Railways only skipper PS Rawat put up a semblance of a fight with an unbeaten 51. He faced 121 balls and hit six fours. Md Aslam was the most successful bowler with four for 35 while Sanjeev Sharma took three for 39. In reply, Rajasthan lost three wickets for 57 but an unbeaten fourth wicket stand of 52 runs between N Doru (26) and PK Krishnakumar (35) helped them recover.

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Zaidi demolishes Vidarbha

The Uttar Pradesh batsmen built upon Ashish Winston Zaidi's dream spell to place themselves in a commanding position at stumps on the second day of their Central Zone Ranji Trophy league match against Vidarbha at Green Park in Kanpur on Wednesday

30-Dec-1999

On the opening day, Zaidi bowling unchanged, ripped through the Vidarbha batting to finish with nine for 45. Opening the bowling, Zaidi started the rot by taking a wicket with his second ball. There was little fight in the Vidarbha ranks thereafter but a 40 run stand for the third wicket between skipper MS Dosi (20) and AS Naidu (24). Zaidi finished with the excellent figures of 19.4-3-45-9 as Vidarbha were shot out for 98 in 38.4 overs.

When UP batted, opener Jyoti Yadav scored 46 but it was a third wicket partnership of 163 runs in 52.2 overs between Md Kaif and R Shamshad that placed Up in commmand. While Shamshad was out for 95 compiled off 165 balls with ten hits to the fence, Kaif went on to get 112. He faced 245 balls and hit 14 fours. Zaidi followed his dream spell with a bright 26 off 36 balls with five hits to the ropes late in the order. UP at stumps were 351 for eight.

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Third successive win for North Zone

North Zone had things their own way against East Zone in notching up their third successive victory in the CK Nayudu inter-zonal (under-19) cricket tournament at the IIT Chemplast ground on Thursday

Partab Ramchand

30-Dec-1999

North Zone had things their own way against East Zone in notching up their third successive victory in the CK Nayudu inter-zonal (under-19) cricket tournament at the IIT Chemplast ground on Thursday.

Put in to bat, East Zone were restricted to 210 for seven in 50 overs. Actually they were off to a fine start with opener SG Das (59) and Manish Kumar (67) adding 88 runs for the second wicket off 24 overs. Das faced 101 balls and hit five fours. After his departure, Manish Kumar and RR Das (41 off 54 balls) put on 83 runs for the third wicket from 16.3 overs. At 185 for two in the 45th over, East Zone seemed headed for a challenging score. But the fall of Manish Kumar who faced 113 balls and hit four boundaries triggered a collapse and East Zone could score only 25 runs in the last five overs while losing five wickets.

The modest target never posed any problems for North Zone. Openers RS Sharma (24) and Manish Sharma put on 44 runs in ten overs. This was followed by a second wicket partnership of 131 runs off 21.3 overs between Manish Sharma and G Gambhir. Then Manish Sharma was out for 77 compiled off 86 balls with nine hits to the ropes. In the next over, Gambhir was run out for 59. He faced 71 balls and hit five fours. North Zone were now 176 for three in the 33rd over. But R Gupta and I Gainda steeered North Zone to victory without any further loss in the 44th over.

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Orissa get five points, Bengal three

Orissa opted for batting practice and five points as their four day East Zone Ranji Trophy league match against Bengal ended in a tame draw at the Barabati stadium in Cuttack on Tuesday

30-Dec-1999

Orissa opted for batting practice and five points as their four day East Zone Ranji Trophy league match against Bengal ended in a tame draw at the Barabati stadium in Cuttack on Tuesday. Bengal got three points.

Orissa had gained a first innings lead of 95 and were 24 without loss at close of play on the third day. They batted throughout the final day and ended at 336 for five off 90 overs. Opener and skipper SS Das and P Mullick added 146 runs for the second wicket off 38.2 overs. While Das was out for 82 compiled off 156 balls with eleven fours and a six, Mullick remained unbeaten with 111. He faced 219 balls, and hit 13 fours and a six. Raul chipped in with a bright 52 off 54 balls with seven fours and two sixes. He and Mullick added 96 runs for the third wicket.

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West Zone lose to Central Zone

Central Zone beat West Zone by 47 runs in the CK Nayudu Trophy inter-zonal (under-19) cricket tournament in Chennai on Thursday

PartaPartab Ramchand

30-Dec-1999

Central Zone beat West Zone by 47 runs in the CK Nayudu Trophy inter-zonal (under-19) cricket tournament in Chennai on Thursday.

Put in to bat, Central Zone posted a challenging total of 253 for eight in 50 overs. A Kapoor and VA Saxena set them on the road to a good score by adding 133 runs for the second wicket off 30.5 overs. Kapoor hit 88 off 101 balls with eight fours and two sixes while the less aggressive Saxena's 60 was compiled off 106 balls with four fours and two sixes. Parvinder Singh kept the innings afloat with a bright unbeaten 54 off 68 balls with five hits to the ropes.

In reply, West Zone lost three wickets for 43 runs but SE Manjrekar (86) and RA Parab (43) raised their hopes with a fourth wicket partnership of 89 runs off 21.3 overs. Parab faced 68 balls and hit five fours while Manjrekar who was seventh out in the 42nd over, faced 118 balls and hit eight fours. Surendra Singh who dismissed both the batsmen then ripped through the batting and finished with five for 52 off 8.2 overs as West Zone crashed to 206 all out in 45.2 overs.

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Windies follow on

Not even a small classic of an innings by Brian Lara and a fantastic defensive effort by Adrian Griffith could stop the West Indies sliding closer to defeat by the end of the third day of the second Test against New Zealand at the Basin Reserve

Don Cameron

29-Dec-1999

The visitors will need even stronger batting over the remaining two days, for they are still 337 runs short of suffering an innings defeat.

The brave Lara-Griffith rearguard action, in a fourth-wicket stand of 112, was the only solid contribution to the miserly first innings total of 179. Once again the fragile tail accentuated the touring side's batting problems, for the last four wickets fell for five runs in 17 balls.

In the last three overs Griffith was in defensive action again, and he and Sherwin Campbell took the total to two without loss - with the New Zealand first innings of 518 for nine looming over the West Indians like an avalanche which will sweep them away.

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Kirsten's record century earns him hero status

TWO late wickets from medium-pacer Andrew Flintoff restored England's hopes of winning the third Test at Kingsmead on Wednesday after opener Gary Kirsten had scored a record-breaking century to guide South Africa towards safety

Ken Borland

29-Dec-1999

The beefy all-rounder struck six overs before the close when he had Daryll Cullinan caught behind for 16 and followed it up in his next over with the big scalp of South African captain Hansie Cronje (1), also caught behind.

Before that, Kirsten replied to the huge pressure on him to keep his place in the team by scoring the sweetest of centuries to take South Africa to 242 for two half-an-hour before the close, allowing home fans to feel confident about their chances of saving the game.

Kirsten's century was his 10th at Test level and saw him edge out Cullinan (9) in the race to beat Dudley Nourse's long-standing record for the most by a South African. Given the circumstances, South Africa battling to save the game after being forced to follow-on and the batsman playing for his long-term career, the innings was remarkably fluent. The hundred came off 280 balls and took 379 minutes, including eight fours.

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Fighting 115 by Rohan Gavaskar

28-Dec-1999

Despite a fighting 115 by Rohan Gavaskar, Bengal conceded a first innings lead of 95 runs to Orissa on the third day of their East Zone Ranji Trophy league at the Barabati stadium in Cuttack on Monday. Replying to Orissa's 370, Bengal were all out for 275. Orissa in their second innings were 24 without loss at stumps.

Resuming at 53 for three, Bengal lost two more wickets quickly and were tottering at 61 for five. However Gavaskar and A Das retreived the situation with a sixth wicket partnership of 84 runs off 24.2 overs. Gavaskar totally dominated the stand with Das scoring only eight runs.

Skipper U Chatterjee and Gavaskar then continued the recovery process by adding 62 runs for the seventh wicket off 11.3 overs. Chatterjee's bright 34 was scored off 48 balls with six hits to the ropes. Gavaskar was finally ninth out at 233. The left hander batted 225 minutes, faced 149 balls and hit 13 fours and two sixes. A last wicket stand of 42 runs from 8.5 overs between LR Shukla (29) and S Panda (15) kept the Orissa lead down to below 100. Opening bowler A Barick who did most of the early damage finished with four for 83.

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