Report
Gautam Dutta bowls Assam to innings win
Gautam Dutta's ten wicket match haul played a big role in Assam's innings and 56 run victory over Tripura in the East Zone Ranji Trophy league match at the Mangoldoi stadium in Agartala on Sunday
Partab Ramchand
26-Dec-1999
Gautam Dutta's ten wicket match haul played a big role in Assam's
innings and 56 run victory over Tripura in the East Zone Ranji Trophy
league match at the Mangoldoi stadium in Agartala on Sunday. The
scheduled four day game was over in a day and a half.
Dutta ripped through the Tripura batting line up in the first innings,
taking eight for 23 off 11.3 overs. Tripura were shot out for 57 in
22.3 overs. Assam in reply lost six wickets for 58 but a strong
rearguard action saw them reach 249. First S Ghosh (52) and GD Dutta
(45) added 80 runs for the seventh wicket. Then Sukhbinder Singh,
coming in at no 10, hit a breezy 73 off 68 balls with five fours and
five sixes. Tripura in their second innings were bowled out for 136
with Gour Banik top scoring with 40. Dutta took two wickets for 39 to
finish with match figures of ten for 62.
In another match at the Barabati stadium in Cuttack, Orissa batted
doggedly to score 219 for two off 86.1 overs at close of play on the
first day of the match against Bengal on Saturday.
Skipper SS Das dominated an opening stand of 52 runs in 25.3 overs
with BBCC Mahapatra (3). This was followed by a second wicket
partnership of 80 runs between Das and P Mullick. Das was out for 81,
compiled off 171 balls with seven fours. Mullick and SS Raul then
added 87 runs for the unbroken third wicket off 37.2 overs. At stumps
Mullick was batting with 73 off 166 balls with seven fours and a six
while Raul was batting with 40 off 114 balls with four hits to the
ropes.
Full postSlater the main act in rain-reduced show
Over recent seasons, inclement weather seems to have become more synonymous with the Boxing Day Test than the sense of theatre and excitement for which it has always been renowned
John Polack
26-Dec-1999
Over recent seasons, inclement weather seems to have become more
synonymous with the Boxing Day Test than the sense of theatre and
excitement for which it has always been renowned. And this year's
experience will do little to alter the impression; more than two and a
half hours of play lost at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on a day
during which the quality of the conditions rarely exceeded the
mediocre.
In those passages of play that were possible, another relatively
familiar pattern was also afforded repetition - namely, the
Australians' indefatigable ability to recover from a poor start from
their top order batsmen.
Following a three hour delay at the commencement, the locals had
indeed looked to be courting trouble when Greg Blewett (2) and Justin
Langer (8) fell inside the first hour of play. But, around the odd
fortuitous escape, they thereafter showed exactly the same sense of
steely resolve that has marked several recoveries from poor starts
earlier in the summer and progressed to a scoreline of 3/138 by the
time that bad light finally forced a cessation at 5:48 pm.
It was essentially opener Michael Slater (64*) who was the main star
of the action that was conceived and he hit a number of delightful
shots forward of the wicket throughout his exhibition. Despite the
evidence of significant bounce and pace in an unusually white
Melbourne pitch, the opener trusted his desire to play off the front
foot for the most part and it reaped excellent rewards for him. His
play through the covers was sparkling and he was also impressive when
taking toll of those few deliveries directed on to the line of his
pads.
Full postTamil Nadu too strong for Hyderabad
Tamil Nadu's superb all round efficiency proved too strong for Hyderabad in the South Zone Ranji Trophy one day cricket tie for the KS Subbiah Pillai Trophy at the MAC stadium in Chennai on Sunday
Partab Ramchand
26-Dec-1999
Tamil Nadu's superb all round efficiency proved too strong for
Hyderabad in the South Zone Ranji Trophy one day cricket tie for the
KS Subbiah Pillai Trophy at the MAC stadium in Chennai on Sunday. They
bowled out Hyderabad for 188 in 48.3 overs and then coasted to victory
for the loss of four wickets in 41.1 overs.
Put in to bat, Hyderabad were given a good start wth openers D Manohar
(34) and A Nandakishore (18) putting on 54 runs in 13.3 overs. But
skipper Robin Singh effected a middle order collapse and Hyderabad
slumped to 85 for four. However Md Azharuddin and P Satwalkar
retreived the innings with a fifth wicket stand of 87 runs in 18.4
overs. Azhar played strokes fluently all round the wicket before he
was out for 69 compiled off 97 balls with the help of three fours and
two sixes. Satwalkar's 36 was compiled off 52 balls with a solitary
boundary hit. Once this stand was broken however medium pacer
Gokulakrishna brought about a sharp collapse and Hyderabad lost six
wickets for 12 runs in 5.5 overs.Gokulakrishna finished with four for
23 and Robin with three for 25.
Tamil Nadu lost S Sriram and Reuben Paul with only 54 runs on the
board but Hemang Badani and Tanveer Jabbar effected a recovery with a
third wicket stand of 59 runs off 14.1 overs. Badani was then out for
43 made off 52 balls with five fours. Madanagopal did not last long
but Jabbar and Robin Singh then steeered Tamil Nadu to victory with an
unbeaten fifth wicket partnership of 59 runs off 11.5 overs. Jabbar
remained unbeaten with a stroke filled 72. He faced 111 balls and hit
six fours and a six. Tamil Nadu got two points and now head the table
with nine points from four matches.
Full postChristmas in the workhouse for the Windies
'Christmas Day in the Workhouse' could be the theme of the West Indies preparations for the second and final test beginning at the Basin Reserve, Wellington on Boxing Day
Peter Hoare
23-Dec-1999
'Christmas Day in the Workhouse' could be the theme of the West Indies
preparations for the second and final test beginning at the Basin Reserve,
Wellington on Boxing Day. For New Zealand it is more a case of 'Hark the
Herald Angels Sing' following their stirring but unlikely victory in the
first test at Hamilton.
Showing the sort of generosity that makes Santa Claus look like Scrooge the
West Indies contrived to be the first team in 122 years of test cricket to
lose after a double century opening partnership.
Top of their Christmas present list is a backbone for their batting. 276 for
0 to 365 all out and 93 in the second innings tells its own story.
Captain Brian Lara must lead by example. His display at Hamilton suggested
that he had enjoyed his first experience of the 10 over an innings
CricketMax format so much that he had decided to keep playing it in the test
match. He twice fell to reckless shots.
Full postVics sink further into the Gabba abyss
The 'Gabba has long represented a graveyard for Victorian teams, and so it proved again tonight as the Bushrangers plunged to a heavy eight wicket defeat in their Mercantile Mutual Cup clash with Queensland in Brisbane
Warwick Torrens & John Polack
22-Dec-1999
The 'Gabba has long represented a graveyard for Victorian teams, and so it proved again tonight as the Bushrangers plunged to a heavy eight wicket defeat in their Mercantile Mutual Cup clash with Queensland in Brisbane. As part of a continuation of a miserable run of outs which has seen them fail to win a match at this venue in nearly eleven years, the visitors were indeed completely humbled in this contest, surrendering with almost eighteen overs still left to be bowled.
For much of the game, the only real threat to a Queensland win was some unsettled weather. Heavy drizzle forced the start to be delayed and then intervened again one over into the evening session, sending the players from the field for a period of thirty minutes. Even the Bulls' forfeiture of one over for bowling too slowly in the first session of the match did not prove a problem even in the remotest sense of the term.
After captain Paul Reiffel won the toss and elected to bat, little went right for the Victorians. They were pinned to the wall by some wonderful bowling from Adam Dale (1/24 off 10 overs), Andy Bichel (2/35 off 8 overs) and Mike Kasprowicz (3/29 off 8.2 overs) and were never allowed to develop any rhythm. Opener Graeme Vimpani (2) was dismissed in just the third over of the game and his teammates joined him in the pavilion at regular intervals for the remainder of the afternoon. On a pitch that looked to be significantly more placid than the one used for the Pura Milk Cup match between the sides earlier this week, they were consistently unable to deal with the accuracy of the three pacemen and paid a heavy price.
To compound their plight, the visitors also lost two wickets in highly unusual fashion - Laurie Harper (1) hitting his wicket when he played back and tried to force a Kasprowicz delivery through the off side, and Reiffel (4) himself being stumped off a wide from off spinner Dale Turner. Even champion leg spinner Shane Warne (22) could not have enjoyed the whole experience too much, constant heckling and hooting from a crowd keen to show its support for local player and recent Warne adversary, Scott Muller, virtually accompanying his every move on the field.
Full postNorth Zone regain Duleep Trophy
With the issue having been virtually decided on the fourth day, the last day's play in the Duleep Trophy final at the Eden Gardens in Calcutta, predictably enough, made for dull viewing
Partab Ramchand
21-Dec-1999
With the issue having been virtually decided on the fourth day, the
last day's play in the Duleep Trophy final at the Eden Gardens in
Calcutta, predictably enough, made for dull viewing. With North Zone
boasting of a formidable line up there was very little chance of West
Zone coming back into the game and the five day game meandered along
to a tame draw. North Zone, having gained the all important first
innings lead of 101 runs, won the trophy for the 14th time, equalling
the record of West Zone.
For the record, North Zone, 99 for two in their second innings
overnight batted on till they were all out for 248. Set to get 350 for
victory in 38 overs, West Zone were 64 for five in 22 overs when play
was called off.
West Zone did make a brave bid to come back in spite of the fact that
the wicket remained a `sleeping beauty' even on the final day. They
did take wickets at regular intervals and particularly impressive was
medium pacer Zaheer Khan, who finished with four wickets. The in form
Pankaj Dharmani however held firm. Shortly after lunch, North Zone
were 182 for nine. But Dharmani and Robin Singh prolonged West Zone's
agony with a last wicket partnership of 66 runs in an hour off 13.4
overs. Dharmani was last out for 93. He batted a shade over four
hours, faced 167 balls and hit 15 fours. In the process, he completed
1000 runs in the domestic season.
West Zone had a virtually impossible task. Amit Bhandari and Navdeep
Singh picked up some quick wickets and with about an hour to go, the
players mercifully decided to call a halt to the pointless
proceedings.
Full postTamil Nadu are proud possessors of Pattabhiraman Trophy
Tamil Nadu inflicted a crushing innings and 98 run defeat within two days over Kerala in their South Zone Vijay Merchant Trophy match at Kochi on Sunday
21-Dec-1999
Tamil Nadu inflicted a crushing innings and 98 run defeat within two
days over Kerala in their South Zone Vijay Merchant Trophy match at
Kochi on Sunday. With this win Tamil Nadu finished on top of the group
and won the V Pattabhiraman Trophy, the symbol of zonal supremacy.
After dismissing Kerala for 70 in 28.2 overs on the opening day with
paceman Tamil Kumaran taking 6-29, Tamil Nadu declared 13 overs into
the second day at 282-5. Opener S Vijaya Saradhy was in a punishing
mood helping himself to an unbeaten 149 (259 balls, 12 4's, 1 six).
Kerala fared marginally better in their 2nd innings reaching 114 from
38.4 overs as the match ended a little over an hour after lunch. This
time the main destroyer was A Mallick with 5-21 with Kumaran also
having a slice of the cake (3-26).
Full postMaharashtra fail to close out match
Maharashtra just failed to get an outright victory in their West Zone Vijay Merchant Trophy match against Gujarat at Ahmedabad on Sunday
21-Dec-1999
Maharashtra just failed to get an outright victory in their West Zone
Vijay Merchant Trophy match against Gujarat at Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Chasing a victory target of 63, they limped to 36-5 in the ten overs
available with Swapnil Patel taking all five wickets in a five over
spell. It was a day on which 18 wickets fell as Maharashtra (overnight
242-7) were all out for 295 to take a lead of 89. Timil Patel finished
with the figures of 7-95 from 37 overs. Gujarat then collapsed from
113-3 to 151 all out in their second innings with the visiting captain
Kiran Adhav taking 5-42. For Gujarat one-drop Varun Dave top scored
with 74 (147 balls, 9 4's). Maharashtra then floundered in their
runchase losing two wickets each in the 2nd and 4th overs of the
innings (bowled by Swapnil) and settled for a draw. They took five
points on account of their first innings lead while Gujarat had to be
content with three.
Full postFirst innings points for Andhra
Andhra took 5 points from their South Zone Vijay Merchant Trophy match against Karnataka which concluded in a dull draw at Vishakapatnam yesterday
21-Dec-1999
Andhra took 5 points from their South Zone Vijay Merchant Trophy match
against Karnataka which concluded in a dull draw at Vishakapatnam
yesterday. Andhra had amassed 432-8 declared courtesy centuries from
ASK Verma (175) and captain Y Gnaneswara Rao (116). Devaraj Patel took
5-80 from 20.5 overs and then proceeded to open the innings and score
110 (304 balls, 10 4's). Although Karnataka looked to be in a good
position at various stages (198-2, 257-4 and then 306-6) they kept
losing crucial wickets on each occasion to fold up for 316 (from 133.3
overs) and concede a lead of 116 upon which play was called off with
about 15 overs left for the end of the match.
Full postRain grants WI a reprieve
The West Indian cricketers may have sang as the rain foiled a strong New Zealand bid for victory on the fourth day of the first cricket Test at WestpacTrust Park yesterday
Don Cameron
20-Dec-1999
The West Indian cricketers may have sang as the rain foiled a strong New Zealand bid for victory on the fourth day of the first cricket Test at WestpacTrust Park yesterday.
But they would not be chanting hymns of praise about the lamentable batting that may still bring their defeat if the weather aids New Zealand today.
On a pitch still of amiable pace, West Indies lost their first three second innings wickets in the morning for only one run in the space of 20 balls.
This was almost as disastrous as England's loss of four wickets for two runs at the Wanderers earlier this month, from which England never recovered.
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