Report
The balance is tilting in Pakistan's favour
Hobart, Nov 21: The outcome of this Test, which has had innumerable twists and turns may well hinge on the unpredictable Tasmanian weather
A. Jalil
22-Nov-1999
Hobart, Nov 21: The outcome of this Test, which has had innumerable
twists and turns may well hinge on the unpredictable Tasmanian
weather. Rain has been forecast but if it should stay away Pakistan
having a firm grip on the match should wrap it up sometime before
mid-afternoon.
That is not to say that even at this stage trailing so far behind and
requiring as many as 181 runs for an improbable victory, Australia are
not going to contest the issue. They undoubtedly felt the enormity of
their task that lay ahead when Pakistan set them such a formidable
target of 369 runs, but despite that they have made quite a fist of
their response.
For a very considerable period this morning Australia, in their
batting, clearly indicated that they were going to push Pakistan all
the way. Their innings was well in progress for the loss of just one
wicket when suddenly the variation in Pakistan's attack rocked the
Australians back on their heels. Azhar Mahmood with his medium pacers
had done the trick after the blitz carried out by Shoaib Akhtar, Waqar
Younis and Wasim Akram had been thwarted
Giving the impression that he was still quite undeterred with the loss
of two wickets in successive balls, Steve Waugh, the most pugnacious
of batsmen, frustrated Pakistan for near enough an hour and a half
along with Justin Langer, while Wasim Akram constantly kept varying
Pakistan's attack. It paid off eventually with Saqlain, the hero of
Pakistan's bowling in the first innings, accepting a low return catch.
Full postYuvraj's century puts Punjab in pole position
Gurgaon: Punjab batted themselves into a position of strength despite the failure of their run machine Pankaj Dharmani on Day 2 of their North Zone Ranji Trophy league match against Haryana at the Nehru Stadium here yesterday
22-Nov-1999
Gurgaon: Punjab batted themselves into a position of strength despite
the failure of their run machine Pankaj Dharmani on Day 2 of their
North Zone Ranji Trophy league match against Haryana at the Nehru
Stadium here yesterday. Yuvraj Singh's unbeaten century and his 185
run opening partnership with Vikram Rathour lifted Punjab to 233-2 at
close of play.
Earlier, resuming at 242-8, Haryana were bowled out for 279 with off
spinner Sharandeep Singh finishing with 6-98. Rathour and Yuvraj then
put on 185 in 232 minutes before Rathour was caught behind by keeper
Ratra off Pradeep Jain for 80 (169 balls, 11 fours). Two runs later
Dharmani was out to the same combination for a six ball duck. Yuvraj
was still going strong on 131 (251 balls, 18 fours, 2 sixes) in the
company of Dinesh Mongia (14 not out).
Full postContest evenly balanced at Una
Una: The North Zone Ranji Trophy league match between Services and Himachal Pradesh at Una was evenly poised at the end of Day 2 at the Indira Gandhi stadium here yesterday
22-Nov-1999
Una: The North Zone Ranji Trophy league match between Services and
Himachal Pradesh at Una was evenly poised at the end of Day 2 at the
Indira Gandhi stadium here yesterday. After Services was bowled out
for 355 thanks to their tail being generously allowed to wag,
Himachal's reply had reached 173-4 by the time stumps were drawn.
Services which resumed at 229-6 were reduced to 277-9 before an
enterprising last wicket stand of 78 between S Kulkarni (29 not out
off 51 balls) and SV Ghag (43 off 31 balls) took them to a fighting
total. Shakti Singh finished with 4-89.After Himachal slipped to 43-2,
marathon man Rajeev Nayyar (60 not out) and Satya Prakash (54) put on
a 107 run third wicket partnership. But Services pulled back two late
wickets to reassert themselves in the game. At close of play Nayyar
was in the company of A Verma (0 not out).
Full postEksteen's little triumph as England XI crash
Centurion: While a pall of gloom hung over the England dressing room last night, and most of it they would have to admit is self-induced, Clive Eksteen finally managed to take Mike Atherton's wicket
Trevor Chesterfield
21-Nov-1999
Centurion: While a pall of gloom hung over
the England dressing room last night, and most of it they would
have to admit is self-induced, Clive Eksteen finally managed to
take Mike Atherton's wicket. As the England XI stretched their
overall lead to 238 when they reached 136 for seven in the second
innings against the combined Northerns/Gauteng XI at SuperSport
Park yesterday, Eksteen extracted a small measure of revenge
which was not lost on the yobbo element in the crowd, when he had
the former England captain caught in the slips by Daryll
Cullinan.
A pity the heavy cloud, which had been building since tea,
finally wiped a further 17 overs from the day's play with Chris
Adams and Alex Tudor all too eager to accept the bad light offer.
It was Eksteen's unsuccessful marathon duel with Atherton on the
last day of that second game of the series at the Wanderers four
years ago, now a part of modern Test folklore as the then England
captain batted all day, which led to the left-arm spinner's last
appearance for South Africa. It still rankles with some and stirs
the memory for others who have less than generous thoughts for
Eksteen's bowling abilities and tactics.
At Centurion yesterday the tourists had reached 88 without loss
at the start of the 23rd over when Atherton dipped at a delivery
from the Combined XI's captain only to find himself offering a
catch to Cullinan after a 94 minute innings for 39. Quite a
dashing effort from the tourists' opener. After his departure the
innings went into sharp decline for the visitors, or if you
prefer improved for the locals who after being dismissed for 201
fought back to be in with a chance of a victory of they can only
get their batting act together.
At one stage Mark Butcher, also on 39, Nasser Hussain, Alec
Stewart and Michael Vaughan all came and went in rapid succession
as first Eksteen and then Walter Masimula picked up wickets as
the visitors plunged 96 for four. Not the sort of parlous
position Duncan Fletcher, the England coach would have enjoyed.
It was all a matter of tight bowling, good fielding and poor shot
selection as at one stage Eksteen had the impressive figures of
three for 15 off 17 overs. That was before Andy Flintoff defaced
the figures with three boundaries which broke the stranglehold. A
six followed by a four and then a six took Flintoff into double
figures before he too perished one of the three Van Jaarsveld
catches in the innings.
Full postAbbas Ali ton sustains MP
Jaipur: Abbas Ali, with a fine 159, helped Madhya Pradesh to score 315 on the second day of their Central Zone Ranji Trophy tie against Rajasthan here yesterday
21-Nov-1999
Jaipur: Abbas Ali, with a fine 159, helped Madhya Pradesh to score 315
on the second day of their Central Zone Ranji Trophy tie against
Rajasthan here yesterday. At close the home team had made a good reply
scoring 120 without loss in 33 overs.
Abbas Ali, who was unbeaten with 41 overnight, was seventh out at
295. He batted 325 minutes, faced 208 balls and hit 22 fours. With JP
Yadav (50) he added 114 runs for the fourth wicket and with R Ali (28)
he put on 84 runs for the sixth wicket. Opening bowler Krishnakumar
was the most successful bowler taking six wickets for 84.
Rajasthan made a confident start and with both openers AS Jain and N
Doru hitting unbeaten half centuries, they had made a sound start by
close. Jain faced 101 balls for his 50 and hit five fours and Doru
faced 110 balls for 54 and hit six of them to the ropes.
Full postRain, bad light curtail play
Jaipur: Rain and bad light curtailed play on the opening day of the Central Zone Ranji Trophy match between Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan here yesterday
21-Nov-1999
Jaipur: Rain and bad light curtailed play on the opening day of the
Central Zone Ranji Trophy match between Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan
here yesterday. Play started three hours late because of wet pitch
conditions. Play was halted in the evening because of bad light. In
between, MP put in to bat, were 109 for three.
Opening bowler Krishnakumar dismissed both openers Rajagopal and
Majithia with only 30 runs on the board. Then Sanjeev Sharma got rid
of Amay Khurasia and MP were 35 for three. JP Yadav (34) and Abbas Ali
(41) however retreived the position with an unbroken fourth wicket
partnership of 74 runs before play was halted.
Full postBhaskar, Sanjay shine for Services
Una: Valuable half centuries by H Bhaskar (51) and skipper Sanjay Verma (68) enabled Services to score 229 for six from 89.2 overs at stumps on the first day of their North Zone Ranji Trophy league match against Himachal Pradesh at the Indira Gandhi
21-Nov-1999
Una: Valuable half centuries by H Bhaskar (51) and skipper Sanjay
Verma (68) enabled Services to score 229 for six from 89.2 overs at
stumps on the first day of their North Zone Ranji Trophy league
match against Himachal Pradesh at the Indira Gandhi stadium here
yesterday.
Services were given a good start with openers Sarabjit Singh (32) and
Bhaskar putting on 73 runs in 25 overs. Then Sanjay Verma and P
Maitrey (27) added 87 runs for the fourth wicket off 32 overs.
Full postHinds and Lewis lead the way for WI-A
At the close of the third day of this very even four day game, the West Indies "A" team might just have a slight upper hand in this game, but India "A"'s batsmen are proving to be very resolute indeed
Colin Croft
21-Nov-1999
At the close of the third day of this very even four day game,
the West Indies "A" team might just have a slight upper hand in
this game, but India "A"'s batsmen are proving to be very
resolute indeed.
Having led the visiting India "A" team by 63 runs of first
innings, the West Indies "A" had restricted India "A" to 54 - 1
after 18 overs at the end of day 3, with the not out batsmen
being Jacob Martin, promoted to No. 3, with an enterprising 36
and opener Gagan Khoda, with a patient 14.
The day began with much prospect for Antigua & Barbuda and the
Leeward Islands batsman, Sylvester Joseph, who was not out on 56
overnight, and young Barbadian Ryan Hinds, who was not out
overnight on two, the West Indies "A" 131-4.
India "A", though, did not have to wait long for their first
success of the 3rd day. In the 3rd over of the day, with the
score on 134, and having only added 2 to his overnight score,
Joseph drove at a slower ball from pacer Dodda Ganesh, only to
present a simple catch to Murali Kartik, fielding at extra-cover.
Joseph out for 58, West Indies "A" 134-5 in over 58, Ganesh's
third wicket.
Full postPakistani batting gets back into form
Hobart, Nov 20: It was a day for batting to flourish and the Bellerive pitch facilitated that enough for Pakistan to put themselves in command of this Test
A Jalil
21-Nov-1999
Hobart, Nov 20: It was a day for batting to flourish and the Bellerive
pitch facilitated that enough for Pakistan to put themselves in
command of this Test.
They needed a couple of big innings and that they got with
Inzamam-ul-Haq leading the way with a flawless century. All too often
Pakistan's batsmen have let themselves down when concentration and
patience were the virtues to be displayed. Today they built an
innings, playing entertaining cricket and yet not being overly
flamboyant which has been their downfall time and again.
With the bowlers having done their bit on the previous day, this was
the only opportunity that Pakistan had of cornering Australia by
setting a daunting target for them in the last innings of the
match. Trailing by a Test and just one more to play next week in
Perth, Pakistan could not afford to slacken. For once their intention
was clear and they stuck to the task with a purpose from the start of
the day.
Nightwatchman, Saqlain Mushtaq gave his support for over an hour this
morning while Saeed Anwar picked up runs. It was looking good for
Pakistan on 100 for 1 just before Shane Warne claimed the first of his
three victims today. The leg spinner then struck again before lunch to
remove Anwar with a ball which turned prodigiously from the rough of
the bowlers' footmark, coming into the left-hander and knocking back
the leg stump. Warne had taken 2 for 29 this morning but there wasn't
much more to come his way.
Full postUttar Pradesh make a pile
New Delhi: With Gyanandre Pandey completing a fine century and with the tail wagging furiously, Uttar Pradesh made 439 on the second day of their Central Zone Ranji Trophy match against Railways at the Karnail Singh stadium here yesterday
21-Nov-1999
New Delhi: With Gyanandre Pandey completing a fine century and with
the tail wagging furiously, Uttar Pradesh made 439 on the second day
of their Central Zone Ranji Trophy match against Railways at the
Karnail Singh stadium here yesterday.
Pandey resumed on 98 and went on to get 107. He batted 280 minutes,
faced 220 balls and hit 12 fours. S.Shukla (43), M Saif (71), AW Zaidi
(23) and M Raza (35) all made merry to enable UP to reach a good
score. UP had resumed at 247 for four.
Railways were 33 for one wicket in reply by stumps.
Full post