Report
Winning start for Railways
Railways got off to a winning start in the CricInfo Rani Jhansi tournament at the AC Tech ground in Chennai today
Sankhya Krishnan
03-Apr-2000
Railways got off to a winning start in the CricInfo Rani Jhansi
tournament at the AC Tech ground in Chennai today. The spin troika of
Rupanjali Shastri, Deepa Kulkarni and Neetu David ran rings around the
Central Zone batswomen to restrict them to 116 in the morning
session. After losing two relatively early wickets in reply, a durable
third wicket association between Rajini Venugopal and Hemlata Kala put
Railways on the victory trail and they closed out the match by six
wickets with almost ten overs to spare.
In a change of tactics , Central Zone decided to bat first on winning
the toss rather than chase a target which they had successfully
accomplished yesterday. The dependable combination of Bharati Varma
and Priyanka Sailey opened the innings . Priyanka was clearly being
the more flamboyant of the two while Bharati played the anchor role.
The strategy seemed to be to keep wickets in hand by waiting for the
bad balls and in the meantime, taking the singles aggressively. The
running between the wickets was not the most professional, a little
more method in the madness would have been desirable, but they managed
to avert tragedy.
The score had mounted to 34 in 13 overs when spin made its first
appearance in the form of Rupanjali Shastri's off breaks. In the next
over the left arm orthodox tweakers of Neetu David were
introduced. She kept Bharati quiet for four balls before the latter
lost patience, going for a heave against the spin to be bowled.
Chitra Vajpayee tried another cross batted swipe off Rupanjali, a la
Bharati, and was lucky to see it miss the stumps. But the writing was
on the wall and she tried to cut one outside off in the same over only
to nick one through to the keeper. She was gone for a fourth ball
duck.
This started a procession as Rupanjali then packed off Arundhati and
Preeti Dudhe in her next two overs, also for ducks, to put Central in
dire straits at 41/4 in the 20th over. Priyanka had watched the
bloodletting from the other end and she now got a partner in Rahul
Singh, coming in at No.6, who seemed to possess the same steely
nerves. Neetu gave the ball plenty of air, inviting Priyanka to come
to the pitch of the ball, and the latter picked up the gauntlet to
loft her for two fours to wide long on. A fielder was quietly put back
on the long on boundary and Priyanka just could not resist launching
herself into another flighted delivery and holed out to her. If ever
an object lesson was delivered in how to buy your wicket, this was
it. Priyanka had made 24 (63 balls, 3 fours), which remained the top
score in the innings.
Full postAmrutha, Kalyani steer West Zone to eight wicket win
Yesterday when the West Zone side were defending a smallish total against East Zone, they opted to shuffle their bowling line up and opened with off spinner Sonali Chandok
Anand Vasu
03-Apr-2000
Yesterday when the West Zone side were defending a smallish total
against East Zone, they opted to shuffle their bowling line up and
opened with off spinner Sonali Chandok. That paid rich dividends.
Extending the thinking to today's game, West Zone opened the batting
with Arti Vaidya and Amrutha Shinde. Amrutha batted in the middle
order in the previous game and did not make too many runs. However,
Amrutha played the sheet anchor role to perfection against South Zone,
carrying her bat through the innings. In the company of her captain,
Kalyani, who also picked up a half century she took West Zone to a
comfortable eight wicket victory.
West Zone's second match in the CricInfo Rani Jhansi Trophy 2000 at
the Chemplast IIT stadium got off to a less than ideal start when they
lost the toss to the South Zone team. The South Zone captain Lakshmi
had no hesitation in electing to bat. The conditions were ideal for
batting with the ball coming on to the bat nicely. The fact that the
outfield was perfectly green and trimmed made it lightning fast.
Opening the bowling, skipper Kalyani and Neelima bowled an impeccable
line and length. Keeping the ball just short of a length and outside
the off stump in the area Geoff Boycott calls the 'corridor of
uncertainty' the two medium pacers choked the South Zone openers. Both
Hamsavalli and Karuna Jain struggled to rotate the strike. Hamsavalli
in particular struggled, playing over 20 balls before she could get
off the mark. At the end of 15 overs, South could manage just 22
runs. Trying to push the scoring rate to something approaching what
would be competitive, Hamsavalli fell being stumped by 'keeper
Sulakshana Naik off the bowling of Amrutha Shinde. Lured out by the
teasing loop of the spinner, Hamsavalli was beaten both in the air and
off the wicket. Her slow innings of 38 balls yielded just seven runs.
Harsha Harinarayan came in at the fall of the first wicket and did not
last long. Attempting to heave Nilima through the off side, Harsha
ended up dragging the ball back onto her stumps.
Full postPurnima pilots Air India to second win
Air India, powered by an allround performance by captain Purnima Rau, won their second match by nine wickets against East Zone in the CricInfo Rani Jhansi Trophy women's cricket tournament at the Southern Railway ground in Chennai on Monday
Natarajan Sriram
03-Apr-2000
Air India, powered by an allround performance by captain Purnima Rau, won their second match by nine wickets against East Zone in the CricInfo Rani Jhansi Trophy women's cricket tournament at the Southern Railway ground in Chennai on Monday.
After restricting East Zone to a score of 148, Air India coasted to victory with Anju Jain (32 runs of 61 balls) and Purnima Rau (82 not out off 73 balls with 12 fours) putting on 84 runs for the first wicket. Promoting herself up the order, Purnima opened her account with a scorching cover drive off Rumeli's first over which raced to the boundary. Then Anju joined the act with two fine flicks for fours in the next over of Rumeli. The breezy start that Air India got prompted the East Zone captain to bring in Babusha in the sixth over of the innings. But even that move backfired as Purnima took three fours off Babusha's first over. By the end of the tenth over Air India were 56 for no loss.
Both Purnima and Anju displayed keenness in going for their shots. Purnima in particular played all round the wicket and was never afraid of going down the track against the spinners. Of the 12 boundaries that she hit, the cover drive, the off drive and the sweep were a treat to watch. Both the openers guided Air India to 84 in the 17th over, when Anju gave a return catch to Madhusmitha when she tried to loft one past the bowler.
Anjum Chopra (23 runs off 40 balls) then joined Purnima and the two thrashed the East bowlers in an unbeaten partnership worth 65 runs in 11.1 overs to seal the victory.
Full postCable and Wireless ODIs: Jump and Wavell
If you weren't, you missed one of the most brutal and belligerent displays by two young Jamaican batsmen amidst unrestrained celebrations from 14 000 of their countrymen
Haydn Gill
03-Apr-2000
Kingston - Alison Hinds' voice kept emanating from the speakers in the
electrifying Mound Stand with the phrase: 'Are you there.'
If you weren't, you missed one of the most brutal and belligerent
displays by two young Jamaican batsmen amidst unrestrained
celebrations from 14 000 of their countrymen.
Sabina Park once more took on a Carnival-like atmosphere, especially
for one exhilarating hour when Wavell Hinds and Chris Gayle destroyed
Zimbabwe's bowling with the type of fury of the hurricane that
devastated Jamaica 12 years ago.
The 23-year-old Hinds, taking advantage of a promotion in the order,
was the initial aggressor and was unbeaten on 116 off 125 balls when
the West Indies relieved Zimbabwe from their misery with the total 280
for three.
Full postCFX Academy valiant effort thwarted by weather
The CFX Academy made a valiant effort to win the match against Matabeleland at the Country Club, Harare, but the rain which had washed out more than half the second day's play proved too much for them, as they were unable to bowl their opponents out
John Ward
02-Apr-2000
The CFX Academy made a valiant effort to win the match against
Matabeleland at the Country Club, Harare, but the rain which had
washed out more than half the second day's play proved too much
for them, as they were unable to bowl their opponents out a
second time. The final will therefore be contested between
Mashonaland and Manicaland at Harare Sports Club in a three-day
match beginning next Friday, 7 April.
The Academy began the day needing 65 runs to reach 300 with three
wickets standing. The 300 was crucial since, as long as they won
the match, the extra batting point would take them ahead of
Mashonaland into the final against Manicaland next weekend. A
mere 250 would leave them level on points, and the Zimbabwe
Cricket Union had apparently not legislated for a tie-break were
two teams to be equal on points, although requested to do so by
the Academy before the match. An enthralling battle resulted in
their reaching their target, but they owed much to the Matabele
fielding, with at least six possible catches going down.
They soon lost new batsman Clement Mahachi (0), who hit a full
toss straight back to Keith Dabengwa for a return catch. But
then came a determined partnership between the injured Jason
Young and Gregg Haakonsen. Both had their luck: Haakonsen early
on gave a hard chance high to the right of slip off Dabengwa,
while Young, sweeping at Engelbrecht, skyed a ball high to
midwicket and had given up his innings as lost when the ball
popped out of the hands of the waiting fielder. They continued
to bat positively and the target was in sight, at 290, when Young
drove at Senyo Nyakutse, with the new ball, and was bowled.
This left the last pair to score ten runs, and they kept their
heads and their luck. An attempted pull by Haakonsen flew over
the slips for four, and Hondo gave a low sharp chance to slip on
299. He then skyed a ball towards square leg which the fielder,
running full tilt, just failed to hold, and the batsmen scampered
through for the critical run. They continued to look for runs
until Haakonsen was stumped off Dabengwa for a courageous 45,
leaving Hondo not out with 5 and the total 316, a lead of 140.
Full postTamil Nadu well placed despite Rathour's heroics
Punjab captain Vikram Rathour led a gallant Punjab fightback on the penultimate day of their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal tie against Tamil Nadu at the MA Chidambaram stadium on Sunday
Partab Ramchand
02-Apr-2000
Punjab captain Vikram Rathour led a gallant Punjab fightback on
the penultimate day of their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal tie
against Tamil Nadu at the MA Chidambaram stadium on Sunday. But
the hosts were still poised for a berth in the semifinal by close
of play. Punjab, 203 runs in arrears on the first innings, scored
366 the second time around thanks in the main to Rathour's
marathon 127 which lasted 505 minutes. Requiring 164 runs for
victory, Tamil Nadu at stumps were 30 for one. And even though
the batsmen out is the in form Sridharam Sriram, they should
fancy their chances of getting the remaining 134 runs with nine
wickets in hand on the final day on Monday on a wicket that
is still playing reasonably well.
Punjab, 127 for two overnight, lost two more wickets fairly early
in the morning. Pankaj Dharmani was caught behind by Reuben Paul
off Kumaran for 15 and then Youraj Singh after a bright 24 off 35
balls with four boundaries and a six. He dominated a fourth
wicket stand of 41 runs off 10.2 overs with Rathour.
Punjab's hopes were lifted with Rathour and Dinesh Mongia (35)
adding 64 runs for the fifth wicket off 25.5 overs. Mongia, who
faced 94 balls and hit five of them to the ropes, was then caught
by Reuben Paul off Badani. A little later, Sanjay Sharma was
bowled middle stump by Sriram for a duck and Punjab were down
in the dumps at six down for 278 - lead of only 75.
But Rathour soldiered on and with Sandeep Sharma again revived
Punjab's hopes. Rathour reached his century with a boundary and
the two added 55 runs for the seventh wicket off 16 overs.
Rathour, who had played the sheet anchor role to perfection now
was a bit more aggressive before he was caught by Gokulakrishnan
off Mahesh. Opening the innings, Rathour was out at 333 in the
105th over. His 262-ball knock was embellished by 14 hits to the
ropes.
Full postGilchrist, Langer star as Australia dominates third day
The Trans-Tasman series continued its practice of record-setting as Australia rammed home the advantage on the third day of the third test in Hamilton
Chris Rosie
02-Apr-2000
The Trans-Tasman series continued its practice of record-setting as
Australia rammed home the advantage on the third day of the third test in
Hamilton.
Adam Gilchrist finished with 10 catches, breaking the Australian record for
a wicket-keeper's dismissals in a test, and Justin Langer's 50 off 42 balls
broke by one ball the previous Australian test speed record.
Around the individual Australian highlights, New Zealand were left rueing an
inability to develop substantial partnerships, the best being the 55 for the
eighth wicket between Chris Cairns and Paul Wiseman. The result was a target
for Australia of 210, which Langer's contribution threatened to see written
off in one session.
After a 20-minute delay in the morning, New Zealand resumed at 58 for 3.
Showers had arrived in Hamilton earlier than forecast and Glenn McGrath and
Brett Lee took up the attack under heavy overcast skies with further
interruptions expected.
Full postHyderabad-UP match poised for interesting finish
After four days of much good cricket, the well contested Ranji Trophy quarterfinal between Hyderabad and Uttar Pradesh at Green Park in Kanpur is headed for a keen finish
02-Apr-2000
After four days of much good cricket, the well contested Ranji Trophy
quarterfinal between Hyderabad and Uttar Pradesh at Green Park in
Kanpur is headed for a keen finish. Hyderabad, 71 runs behind on the
first innings, did well to get 381 for five before declaring their
second innings closed. Needing 311 runs for victory, UP were 38 for no
loss by stumps. With a whole day's play left on Monday, UP require 273
more for a win. Of course if they choose not to go for the target and
remain content with playing out time, they would still qualify for the
penultimate round on the basis of their first innings lead.
The onus is on Hyderabad but given their display on Sunday, they will
no doubt exert tremendous pressure on UP. Led by VVS Laxman, who
stroked his way to a splendid unbeaten 177, Hyderabad scored 309 runs
off 85.4 overs during the day. Resuming at 72 for one, Nandakishore
and Laxman took the score to 209 before the former was leg before to
Gyanendra Pandey for 93. The in form opening batsman faced 206 balls
and hit eleven of them to the ropes. The second wicket partnership
added 180 runs off 54 overs. Vanka Pratap did not last long and was
leg before to Zaidi for 10. But Vinay Kumar helped Laxman to add 109
runs for the fourth wicket off just 18 overs. Vinay Kumar's 48 was
scored off 68 balls with five fours. Venkatpathi Raju finally closed
the innings when Laxman was unbeaten on 177. He batted 377 minutes,
faced 241 balls and hit 16 fours besides three sixes.
Raju applied pressure on M Saif and Jyoti Yadav but the openers came
through successfully after 21 overs of batting. Saif was on 16 and
Yadav on 18.
Full postEast Zone slump to 69 run loss
Overnight rain at the Sri Ramachandra Medical College meant that a damp wicket delayed the start of play between East Zone and West Zone in the CricInfo Rani Jhansi women's cricket tournament on Monday by almost two hours
Anand Vasu
02-Apr-2000
Overnight rain at the Sri Ramachandra Medical College meant that a
damp wicket delayed the start of play between East Zone and West Zone
in the CricInfo Rani Jhansi women's cricket tournament on Monday by
almost two hours. The wicket was one predominantly of clay and that
meant that the time taken to dry up was longer than usual.The match
was reduced to a 41 overs a side affair and as it turned out, a low
scoring game. West Zone were restricted to 124 off their alloted
quota. However, East were bundled out for 55 by some disciplined
bowling by West Zone.
While the umpires Gururajan and Sundar made inspection after
inspection, the players did some light warm up exercises.
Play finally got underway at 11.30. Winning the toss, the East Zone
skipper Pratima Chakravarty elected to take the field.
Opening the bowling for East Zone was medium pacer Zulan. For West,
southpaw Arti Vaidya got off the mark off the very first ball, easing
a ball on her pads through the on side. Her companion out in the
middle was Vaishali Landge.
Full postNorth Zone suffer a double setback
Air India completed a 70-run victory against North Zone in the CricInfo Rani Jhansi Trophy for women (50 overs) at the Central Polytechnic ground in Chennai on Sunday
Natarajan Sriram
02-Apr-2000
Air India completed a 70-run victory against North Zone in the
CricInfo Rani Jhansi Trophy for women (50 overs) at the Central
Polytechnic ground in Chennai on Sunday. North suffered a double
setback with their captain, Richa Dubey, sent to hospital with a
ligament tear in her knee, which might put her out of the rest of the
tournament.
Set to score 196, North Zone made a sedate start with openers Gulshan
and Jaya Sharma adding only 19 runs before Gulshan, looking tentative
was caught in the slips off the bowling of Smita for 11 of 28
balls. Air India's Smita and Kusumlatha pegged North Zone further on
the back foot with some good bowling especially by the former who kept
pegging away at the batswoman's off stump but failed to find the edge.
The 14th over saw the off spinner Seema Pujari replacing Kusumlatha
and she immediately struck a good line and length. After Richa had
twisted her knee in the field, the 15th over witnessed the second
casuality of the day when Mamta Maben dislocated her shoulder trying
to dive and field the ball at mid wicket. Immediately after the
incident, Jaya Sharma (13 runs off 41 balls) was stumped off the
bowling of Seema Pujari with only 39 on the board. The start of the
22nd over saw Seema grass a second caught and bowled chance, but she
immediately struck back in three balls, having M Raji caught at mid
wicket,trying to get on with the scoring.
In the same over Seema again picked up a wicket with the last ball.
Beating the batswomen through the air she bowled Reema Malhotra
without troubling the scorers. The match shifted well and truly in
favour of Air India as a reault of that single over. Seema went on to
contain the newcomers Gurdeep Kaur and Seema Wadwa and in an eight
over spell she gave away only 15 runs.The North Zone innings lay in
shambles and even a valiant effort of 40 runs by B Rajini could not
come to their rescue as she quickly ran out of partners. The next five
wickets fell with only 65 more runs being added to the total.
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