Report
Sonu Sharma leads Haryana fightback
A strong fight back from Haryana after they were dismissed were for 206 in their first innings saw them take an all important first innings lead against Orissa
14-Mar-2000
A strong fight back from Haryana after they were dismissed were for
206 in their first innings saw them take an all important first
innings lead against Orissa. 23 year old left arm spinner Sonu Sharma
bowling the spell of his life captured 7/32 off 26.5 overs and
scuttled out Orissa for just 165.
Resuming on a shaky 17 for 3, Orissa lost their way completely. Though
Sonu Sharma did not pick up a wicket on the first day, he more than
amply made up by dismissing the remaining seven Orissa batsmen. Sanjay
Raul was the only batsman to offer any sort of resistance. Even Raul
could manage just 51 before he was undone by the guiles of Sonu
Sharma.
Though Raul's innings took 151 balls, it was studded with 9
boundaries.
The fact that Sonu Sharma got six of his seven wickets either LBW or
bowled spoke a lot about the discipline with which he sent down his
overs.
Full postBaroda struggling against Hyderabad
Chasing a target of 235, Baroda were struggling at 24 for 2 at stumps on the third day of the Ranji Trophy Super League Group B match against Hyderabad at the Gymkhana Ground in Secunderabad on Tuesday
14-Mar-2000
Chasing a target of 235, Baroda were struggling at 24 for 2 at stumps
on the third day of the Ranji Trophy Super League Group B match
against Hyderabad at the Gymkhana Ground in Secunderabad on
Tuesday. Hyderabad thus placed themselves in a comfortable position to
try and force a victory to qualify for the knock-out stage of the
tournament.
Earlier, openers A Nandakishore (30 runs of 57 balls) and D Vinay
Kumar (33 runs of 97 balls) gave Hyderabad a good start, putting on 49
runs in 15.5 overs. Then, VVS Laxman(48 runs of 75 balls) joined
Vinaykumar in a partnership worth 65 runs off 19.4 overs for the
second wicket. After that P Satwalkar and JS Yadav (10 runs of 39
balls ) put on 55 runs in 17.3 overs for the seventh wicket. But when
P Satwalkar (56 runs of 79 balls) was out at 211, NP Singh (20 runs of
24 balls) and Kanwaljit Singh (15 runs of 31 balls) took the score to
246.
VN Buch was the pick of the Baroda bowlers, taking 5 for 79 with a
match analysis of 8 for 139. While Swaroop and Z Khan picked 2 for 46
and 39 respectively.
Full postMumbai in command against Bengal
Bengal's hope of making it to the quarter-finals of the Ranji Trophy took a back seat as Mumbai bundled them out for 117 only to take a first innings of lead of 65 runs
14-Mar-2000
Bengal's hope of making it to the quarter-finals of the Ranji Trophy
took a back seat as Mumbai bundled them out for 117 only to take a
first innings of lead of 65 runs. As a result, Bengal will get only
three points from this match if it ends in a draw. That would take
their tally to 16 and if Karnataka manage a first innings lead against
Delhi then it would also make their tally same. In that case, last
year's champions will qualify as they have one outright victory
against Bengal's none.
However, as far as a draw is concerned, it is a distant proposition in
this match. On a pitch where the ball is jumping and turning square it
will require tremendous technique and courage to survive even a full
day. Mumbai failed to do it in the first innings and the Bengal
batsmen were no exception today. Except for skipper Utpal Chatterjee
who was the highest scorer with 27 with a fractured right thumb and
Rohan Gavskar (23) none of the other batsmen were able to cross
15. Mumbai in their second innings were 102 for the loss of Amol
Rane's wicket.
Even though there was appreciable turn for the bowlers it was
slow. However, the Bengal batsmen were not ready to play a waiting
game. Devang Gandhi, who was the main hope for the home side perished
early on, falling leg before to Abey Kuruvilla. He made the mistake of
going back to a ball which he should have played forward to. Gavaskar
batted against his father's team with a lot of grit. His 23 came in
120 minutes. However, both he and Srikkanth Kalyani got out trying to
cut balls that they could have well avoided. For Mumbai, Kuruvilla
took three wickets while Nilesh Kulkarni, Rajesh Pawar and Romesh
Powar finished with two wickets apiece.
Whatever hopes Bengal had of making a comeback were dashed by
Jaffer. He is unbeaten with 64 of 97 balls. Of the 12 boundaries that
he has so far struck, seven have been hit off Chatterjee. The Bengal
left-arm spinner looked a demoralised bowler today. Maybe, the
performance of his batsmen had influenced his bowling. Mumbai now are
in a very healthy position leading by 167 runs with nine wickets
remaining.
Full postPunjab consolidates as Railways crumble
Railways were staring at the prospect of surrendering the first innings lead to Punjab as they were reduced to 176 for 9 at stumps on the third day of the Ranji Trophy Super League group B match at the Karnail Singh Stadium at New Delhi on Tuesday
14-Mar-2000
Railways were staring at the prospect of surrendering the first
innings lead to Punjab as they were reduced to 176 for 9 at stumps on
the third day of the Ranji Trophy Super League group B match at the
Karnail Singh Stadium at New Delhi on Tuesday.
Earlier, some good batting by tail-enders Sharandeep Singh (44 not
out) and Navdeep Singh (42) saw Punjab push their score to 355. Ending
day one on 246 for 7 there was very little chance that Punjab could
salvage the situation. However, the two Singhs combined well, adding
65 runs for the eighth wicket. While 355 is not the score they would
have been looking at when they began their innings, it is a score they
would settle for given the fact that they were 164 for 5.
Punjab's Kulamani Parida bowled his off breaks to good effect and
ended with the more than respectable figures of 6/84 off his 36.2
overs.
In response, Railways were neck deep in trouble. Losing their top five
batsmen before tea was taken, Railways were reduced to 90 for 5.
Opening the bowling, Gagandeep Singh was both economical and effective
initially as he picked up 2/17 off his 9 overs. In the post tea
session Yere Goud (64 of 151 balls) and Kilamani Parida (34 of 46
balls) added 46 runs in 13 overs between them for the ninth wicket .
But Railways were to end the day with the score of 176 with only the
last pair at the crease, as Punjab consolidated on their first innings
total.
Full postSriram misses triple ton as Tamil Nadu amass 599/4
Resuming on 152, Sriram continued to be in solid touch
14-Mar-2000
Resuming on 152, Sriram continued to be in solid touch. Batting almost through the second day, he helped himself to another 136 runs before he was dismissed on 288, the third highest score by a Tamil Nadu batsman ever in the history of Ranji Trophy cricket. Helped along by a hundred from another Sridharan - Sharath Tamil Nadu ended the day on 599 for 4.
It was more hard work for the Uttar Pradesh bowlers on Day 2. There was no joy for the bowlers as almost all batsmen made merry. JR Madanagopal (85) added just 5 runs to his overnight score before he was dismissed by young medium pacer Shalab Sriwastava.
S Sharath who has been in national reckoning for a few years now, and scored consistently in the Challenger Trophy, joined the party. Batting fluently, the two southpaws took the game well away from Uttar Pradesh.
Nearing his triple hundred, Sriram slowed down considerably after tea. However, the triple hundred proved to be elusive. Falling just 12 runs short of the mark, Sriram was caught by Sriwastava off the bowling of Raza. His innings lasted just over eleven hours and included a mammoth 38 boundaries.
Full postArun Kumar stands tall as Karnataka slump to 254/6
After being reasonably placed at 308/5, Delhi could add just 34 runs to their total on the second day
14-Mar-2000
After being reasonably placed at 308/5, Delhi could add just 34 runs
to their total on the second day. A strong performance from national
discard Venkatesh Prasad cleaned up the Delhi tail. The last four
batsmen failed to reach double digits as Prasad ended with figures of
6/60.
In response, the hosts were in a position of relative strength thanks
to a century at the top of the innings from J Arun Kumar. Arun Kumar
who figured in Board President's XI team that took on the South
Africans in Mumbai recently, blasted 17 fours and 3 sixes in his 229
ball essay that yielded 127 runs.
However, there was very little support for Arun Kumar at the other
end. Only wicketkeeper Tilak Naidu with 36 managed a score worthy of
mention. Vijay Bharadwaj, whose presence in the side was to boost
Karnataka's chances of securing a positive result, managed only 14
runs before he was caught by Chaudhary off the bowling of left arm
seamer Ashish Nehra.
Nehra scalped two more, caught behind, and ended with figures of 3 for
65.
Full postFinal Test evenly balanced after Pakistan take lead
Karachi, March 13: Muttiah Muralitharan continued to be an enigma for the Pakistan batsmen as Sri Lanka pulled themselves back into contention of the third and final cricket Test being played here on Monday at the National Stadium
Samiul Hasan
14-Mar-2000
Karachi, March 13: Muttiah Muralitharan continued to be an enigma for
the Pakistan batsmen as Sri Lanka pulled themselves back into
contention of the third and final cricket Test being played here on
Monday at the National Stadium.
Muralitharan pushed Pakistan on the backfoot when he picked up two
crucial wickets on Monday evening after the home team appeared to run
away with the match after Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Naveed Qureshi
had provided them with the best opening start of the series by scoring
70 in 18 overs.
But Muralitharan trapped Naveed in front of the wickets and then
earned a controversial decision against Ijaz Ahmad to restrict
Pakistan to 88 for three at stumps on the second day.
Ravindra Pushpakumara had provided Muralitharan the inroad by sending
Shahid Afridi's off stump cartwheeling.
Full postHyderabad restrict Baroda but concede lead
Hyderabad managed to restrict Baroda to a slender first innings lead of 12 runs and were 4 for no loss at stumps on the second day in their group B match at the Gymkhana Ground in Secunderabad on Monday
13-Mar-2000
Hyderabad managed to restrict Baroda to a slender first innings lead of
12 runs and were 4 for no loss at stumps on the second day in their
group B match at the Gymkhana Ground in Secunderabad on Monday.
Hyderabad still have two more days to pursue their objective of
an outright win to qualify for the knockout stage of the tournament.
Earlier, Baroda resumed at 2 for no loss, and soon were 70 for 5. HR
Jadhav (84 runs of 224 balls in 315 minutes), who came in at the fall
of the first wicket, played the sheet-anchor role for Baroda with
three valuble partnerships. Jadhav was initially helped by NR Mongia
(21 runs of 44 balls), in a sixth wicket partnership worth 41 runs in
12.5 overs. Then Jadhav was joined by AP Bhoite (42 runs of 85 balls)
and the two put on 65 runs in 25.3 overs for the seventh wicket.
Later, RB Patel and Jadhav helped Baroda to their first innings lead
with a eight wicket partnership of 32 runs in 11 overs. When Jadhav
was the ninth batsman out at the score of 211, he had made sure that
Baroda gained the vital 5 points from their slender first innings
lead.
For Hyderabad, Z Singh and Raju were the most successful bowlers with 3
for 54 and 56 respectively, while Satwalkar and Kanwaljit Singh picked
up two wickets apiece.
Full postChatterjee spins Bengal to position of strength against Mumbai
Mumbai won the toss as visitors at the Eden Gardens in Calcutta and did themselves no good over the first day against Bengal
13-Mar-2000
Mumbai won the toss as visitors at the Eden Gardens in Calcutta and
did themselves no good over the first day against Bengal. A Mumbai
batting lineup that looks very strong on paper folded up against the
wiles of experienced campaigner Utpal Chatterjee. The left arm spinner
picked 4/48 and sent Mumbai reeling to 182 all out on the first day.
Recently picked to play Test cricket for India, Wasim Jaffer opened
the batting for Mumbai with Amit Pagnis. The two have opened in each
others' company in various grades of cricket and are reputed to have a
good understanding. However, whatever understanding they might or
might not have was of no consequence as Jaffer was dismissed by Shukla
before he reached double digits.
Pagnis made 43, which itself was hardly a score worthy of mention.
However, the fact that it was the top score by a Mumbai cricketer on
the day speaks volumes. Three batsmen with big reputations - Jatin
Paranjpe, Amol Muzumdar and Vinod Kambli all failed to impress,
managing just 63 runs between them.
At 98/4 there was not much Mumbai could hope for from the day. Matters
were made worse by the dismissals of both wicketkeeper Amol Rane and
Ramesh Powar for ducks.
Full postSriram makes merry at UP's expense
Having already qualified for the knock out phase, Tamil Nadu could afford to go all out to press home their advantage against Uttar Pradesh at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur
13-Mar-2000
Having already qualified for the knock out phase, Tamil Nadu could
afford to go all out to press home their advantage against Uttar
Pradesh at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur. The presence of Test cap
Sadagoppan Ramesh at the head of the order helped bolster a batting
line up that was in good nick as it is.
Opening the bowling for Uttar Pradesh, Ashish Winston Zaidi struck
early, getting rid of Ramesh after the south paw managed just six
runs. However, that was all the joy Uttar Pradesh were entitle to as
Sridharan Sriram stole the limelight with a scintillating unbeaten
hundred. Well supported by hard hitting youngster Hemang K Badani,
Sriram notched up milestone after milestone in the course of the
day. Reaching his fifty off a sedate 121 balls, Sriram then increased
the tempo, requiring only an additional 61 balls to reach the three
figure mark. Sharing a 109 run partnership with Badani, Sriram took
Tamil Nadu to a position of real strength.
When Badani (62) was stumped by Manoj Mudgal off the bowling of Raza
Uttar Pradesh might have thought they finally got the breakthrough
that would help them restrict the rampaging Tamil Nadu side. No such
luck. JR Madanagopal walked out to the middle and joined the
unstoppable Sriram. Helping himself to an unbeaten 80 that included
five boundaries and two sixes, Madanagopal saw Sriram through to
152. With Sriram unbeaten on 152, stumps were called. At 311 for 2, it
would be safe to say that Tamil Nadu are firmly in the driving seat at
the end of the first day.
Full post