Report
Gandhi, Kalyani steer Bengal to draw
A third wicket partnership of 108 runs between Devang Gandhi and Srikkanth Kalyani enabled Bengal to draw their Ranji Trophy Super League encounter at the Eden Gardens on Sunday
Sakyasen Mittra
27-Feb-2000
A third wicket partnership of 108 runs between Devang Gandhi and
Srikkanth Kalyani enabled Bengal to draw their Ranji Trophy Super
League encounter at the Eden Gardens on Sunday. Chasing a victory
target of 310 in 46 overs, Bengal finished the day at 180 runs for the
loss of five wickets. Earlier, Rajasthan had declared their second
innings closed at 216 for the loss of eight wickets. Rajasthan managed
five points from the match. Bengal, on the other hand finished with
three and their chances of qualifying for the knockout stage now
appear slim as they have two tough matches against Karnataka and
Mumbai.
It was a day when a number of personal achievements were
recorded. Utpal Chatterjee took five wickets in the second innings
once more to have match figures of 10 for 160. It was the fourth time
that Chatterjee recorded a haul of 10 wickets in a Ranji Trophy game
and the 20th time that he had five wickets in an innings. Kalyani
became the 27th player and fourth from Bengal to score over 5,000 runs
in the Ranji Trophy. When he reached 40, square cutting left arm
spinner D.P.Singh, Kalyani had joined the elite ranks of Pankaj Roy,
Arun Lal and Ashok Malhotra from Bengal.
Bengal, aspiring for an outright win had two early successes in the
day. Skipper Chatterjee sent back Nikhil Doru and off spinner
Sourashis Lahiri accounted for Kuldip Singh to have Rajasthan
tottering at 96 for 5. However, a sixth wicket stand of 90 between
Sanjeev Sharma (54 with seven boundaries) and Saket Bhatia (48, 8x4)
dashed their hopes. The partnership was finally broken by Lahiri who
had Sharma bowled as the batsman tried to swing him over mid
wicket. Shortly afterwards, the Rajasthan skipper Gagan Khoda declared
the innings at 216.
When Bengal batted, Sanjeev Sharma had Alokendu Lahiri caught behind
and Singh had Rohan Gavaskar caught bat-pad at short leg to have
Bengal tottering at 23 for two. But Gandhi and Kalyani with some fine
strokes brought things under control. Gandhi had one huge six over mid
wicket of Jaykumar and eight boundaries in his 67. Kalyani who got his
second fifty of the match also had eight fours in his 56. Most of them
came through pleasing drives in the `V' between mid on and mid of. At
final draw of stumps Saba Karim (17) and LR Shukla (1) were at the
crease.
Full postSodhi century helps Punjab draw with Baroda
Punjab comfortably earned an honourable draw against Baroda in their Ranji Trophy Super League group B match at the PCA stadium in Mohali on Sunday
27-Feb-2000
Punjab comfortably earned an honourable draw against Baroda in their
Ranji Trophy Super League group B match at the PCA stadium in Mohali
on Sunday. In arrears by 139 runs on the first innings, Punjab who
were 84 for one at stumps on Saturday, were 274 for four when stumps
were finally drawn. Baroda got five points and Punjab three.
Punjab suffered an early setback when skipper Vikram Rathour fell
without adding to his overnight score of 46. But Reetinder Singh Sodhi
and Pankaj Dharmani made matters safe by adding 122 runs for the third
wicket off 56.4 overs. The two batted patiently, avoiding risks and
when finally Dharmani was out for 67, Punjab were virtually assured of
a draw. Dharmani faced 175 balls and hit nine fours.
Dinesh Mongia fell in the following over for a duck but Sodhi and
Yuvraj Singh then added 60 runs off 21.2 overs for the unbroken fifth
wicket before the match was called off. Sodhi, showing deep
concentration, batted 448 minutes, faced 325 balls and hit 14 fours
and a six for his unbeaten 114. Yuvraj faced 68 balls for his unbeaten
31, hitting five fours.
Full postMumbai crushes Delhi by 310 runs
Delhi collapsed unaccountably to give Mumbai a 310-run victory on the final day of their Ranji Trophy Super League group A match at the Feroz Shah Kotla grounds in New Delhi on Sunday
27-Feb-2000
Delhi collapsed unaccountably to give Mumbai a 310-run
victory on the final day of their Ranji Trophy Super League
group A match at the Feroz Shah Kotla grounds in New Delhi on
Sunday. Mumbai picked up eight points in registering their
second successive win in the group. They had earlier defeated
reigning champions Karnataka.
Delhi, chasing an unlikely victory target of 501, were 41 for
no loss when they resumed on Sunday morning. The opening pair
Devinder Sharma (34) and A Chopra (23) put on 56 runs. But except
for Ashu Dani who came in at No 8, none of the other batsmen
offered much resistance as Abhey Kuruvila (3 for 43), Nilesh
Kulkarni (3 for 37) and Sairaj Bahutule (3 for 18) ran through
the Delhi line up. Wickets fell at regular intervals though Dani
who hit 47 of 86 balls with six fours and a six, tried to delay
the inevitable as Delhi were all out for 190, shortly after tea.
Full postRailways defeat Bihar by 40 runs
Bihar fought hard but could not stop Railways from winning their Ranji Trophy Super League Group B match at the MECON Sail stadium in Ranchi on Sunday by 40 runs
27-Feb-2000
Bihar fought hard but could not stop Railways from winning their Ranji
Trophy Super League Group B match at the MECON Sail stadium in Ranchi
on Sunday by 40 runs.
Bihar, chasing a victory target of 241, were 136 for five at stumps on
the third day on Saturday. Manish Kumar and MS Dhoni, the overnight
not out batsmen, carried the score to 163 before the former was
out. Dhoni, Kunjan Sharan and last man S Khan put up a semblance of a
fight but Parida and Hussain proved to be too steady with the
ball. Each took two wickets on Sunday as Bihar were all out for
201. Parida finished with four for 52 to have match figures of eight
for 81. Hussain had match figures of seven for 84.
Full postPakistan's woes continue as Sri Lanka seize control
Rawalpindi, Feb 26: Pakistan continued their poor run with the bat after Sri Lanka dismissed them for a dismal 182 on the opening day of the three-match Test series here at the Pindi Cricket Stadium on Saturday
Farhana Ayaz
27-Feb-2000
Rawalpindi, Feb 26: Pakistan continued their poor run with the bat
after Sri Lanka dismissed them for a dismal 182 on the opening day of
the three-match Test series here at the Pindi Cricket Stadium on
Saturday.
Sri Lanka, who earlier made a clean sweep in the one-day series,
seized control of the Test by reaching 58 for two at close of play
with Russel Arnold (23) and the old campaigner Aravinda de Silva (10)
at the crease.
There was more bleak news for Pakistan when former skipper Wasim Akram
left the field with a groin problem after bowling just 2.1 overs.
However, a rejuvenated Waqar Younis gave Pakistan early hopes with the
prized scalps of the in-form Marvan Atapattu (8) and skipper Sanath
Jayasuriya (17) in a fiery opening spell.
Although, 12 wickets fell during the day, the pitch itself was not
doing anything extra-ordinary to create panic for the batsmen. It was
a slow-paced wicket with occasional uneven bounce. The bowlers,
however, gained some assistance from a strong breeze while bowling
from the Media Box End. Eight batsmen were dismissed from the end.
Full postOrissa win by 209 runs with day to spare
Sanjay Satpathy and Debashish Mohanty ripped through hosts Saurashtra as Orissa completed a 209 run victory on the third day of their Group C Super League tie at the Municipal Stadium in Rajkot today
26-Feb-2000
Sanjay Satpathy and Debashish Mohanty ripped through hosts Saurashtra
as Orissa completed a 209 run victory on the third day of their Group
C Super League tie at the Municipal Stadium in Rajkot today. With this
win Orissa take their points tally to 8 points from 2 matches while
Saurashtra stay on 8 points from 3 matches.
Earlier Niraj Odedra bowled his heart out to take his second six
wicket haul in the match as Orissa, resuming at 18-2, were dismissed
for 181 in their second innings. P Das top scored with 49 and
nightwatchman Satpathy contributed 43 off 45 balls. The last pair of
Mohanty and J Das added 42 to set Saurashtra a victory target of
316. Odedra's match figures were 12-169.
It took just 28.2 overs for Orissa to signal an end to Saurashtra's
challenge. The home team collapsed for 106 with Mohanty (5-28) and
Satpathy (5-65) doing the job for their captain. Saurashtra opener RC
Vasanth Kumar top scored with 33.
Full postIndia lose first round of the battle
The last day's play in the first Test in Mumbai raised an intriguing question
Anand Vasu
26-Feb-2000
The last day's play in the first Test in Mumbai raised an
intriguing question. Did South Africa win this game or did
India lose it? If one looked carefully at the way the game
progressed, the opinion would have to be that India lost the
match.
The first battle was lost while selecting the team. The
inclusion of Ajay Jadeja at No 6 meant straightaway that India
were playing with one player short. Jadeja's record in Test
cricket is unimpressive. Moreover, in the Board President's XI
game against South Africa, he made scores of 2 and 3. Hardly the
kind of scores that warrants Test selection. The non-inclusion
of Nikhil Chopra might also have had a bearing on the game as
India were clearly one spinner short in the final innings.
India began well, winning the toss. And with that India's good
run ended. Batting first, India made just 225 on a track that
looked good for batting. The South African pacemen were too hot
for everyone in the team save Tendulkar. The captain made a
brave 97 but was not backed up by any of his teammates. In
response, India did well to restrict the South Africans to 176.
Apart from the openers, none of the visitors made runs.
A lead of 49 was quite handy, and far more than the Indians would
have hoped for after South Africa were 90 for no loss. What they
needed was a solid second innings performance. If they had put
between 150 and 170 on the board they could have given South
Africa a run for their money. Instead, they collapsed
inexplicably. Doing far worse than their first innings, India
folded up for just 113 runs. In an all too familiar script, the
openers failed, the middle order collapsed and the tail refused
to wag. A couple of twitches of the tail came late in the
innings when Mongia, batting at No 11, made 19 off just 10 balls.
In the middle of all this, the man we knew as Rahul `The Wall'
Dravid stuttered and stumbled, making a painful 37 in over
three hours. He was totally unable to either score freely or
make runs with the tail and one wondered what happened to the
young man who made centuries in tough conditions in both New
Zealand and South Africa.
Full postThe absence of a third spinner was felt
Hansie Cronje, the South African captain, was not exactly on top of the world when he arrived in India
Woorkheri Raman
26-Feb-2000
Hansie Cronje, the South African captain, was not exactly on top of
the world when he arrived in India. He has not been among runs in
recent times and added to that there is some uncertainty hanging over
his future both as a captain and a player. But not one to be deterred
by his ordinary personal form, he was determined to make this trip
memorable. One way of making an Indian tour memorable for any visiting
captain is by winning the series. Cronje would probably not hesitate
to swap a few of his achievements for a victory in the Test series in
India. The victory at the Wankhede is bound to relieve Cronje a lot,
which might result in him batting better at Bangalore.
Cronje's determination apart, he is supported by his team members to a
great extent. The attitude of the entire team is positive and everyone
is keen to assume responsibility when it matters. In comparison,
Tendulkar does not have many options to look at for support. I had
mentioned that the absence of a third spinner would be felt in the
fourth innings and it has turned out to be true. Apparently it took
the collective wisdom of seven people (five selectors plus the captain
and the coach) to pick the final eleven and yet the balance of the
team was ignored. Six batsmen along with a keeper and four bowlers is
not the ideal combination to win a Test match. Because of the fact
that it has failed time and again, adherence to the same formula is
inexplicable.
On the other hand, the presence of six batsmen has not made a major
difference to the totals put up by the Indians, be it Mumbai or
Melbourne. It is unanimously agreed that there are not that many
all-rounders available, but potential all-rounders like Nikhil Chopra
have to be encouraged. He can bat a bit and is a steady spinner with a
very good attitude. At an age when he should be playing, there is no
point in keeping him as a reserve on pitches that assist spinners. In
contrast, Cronje, reading the track well, played two spinners, though
he would not have expected them to run through the Indian batting line
up. I am not suggesting the Indians ape the visiting captain but the
term "horses for courses" comes to mind.
The South Africans won the Test at the Wankhede through sheer mental
strength. Gibbs once again provided a good start along with Kirsten,
which in retrospect proved to be very crucial. Kallis, the superb
cricketer that he is, showed great patience and maturity to stay till
the end. Boucher, just a few seasons old in international cricket, has
the distinction of having many records under his belt. That sweet
little innings of his proved that with a positive attitude, one could
overwhelm any pressure situation.
Full postMartin's ton secures sizable lead for Baroda
Jacob Martin gave a timely reminder to the selectors that his appetite for runs remains undiminished as Baroda secured a 139 run first innings lead over Punjab on the third day of their Super League tie at Mohali today
26-Feb-2000
Jacob Martin gave a timely reminder to the selectors that his appetite
for runs remains undiminished as Baroda secured a 139 run first
innings lead over Punjab on the third day of their Super League tie at
Mohali today. By stumps Punjab had wiped off 84 runs from the deficit
in 33 overs.
Martin and captain Tushar Arothe took their overnight stand for the
4th wicket to 139 before Arothe was sent back for 61. Atul Bedade did
not last long and Martin himself followed soon after for 118 (262
balls, 14 fours). AP Bhoite and M Mewada put on 60 but when Mewada was
seventh out at 380 the innings entered terminal decline. The last four
wickets were snapped up in the space of 15 balls for the addition of
only four runs as Baroda folded up for 384. Punjab's new ball bowler
Gagandeep Singh returned figures of 4-65 and Harbhajan Singh claimed
3-101.
Although Ravneet Ricky (2) was leg before to Zakir Khan in the third
over, Vikram Rathour (46) and Reetinder Sodhi (30) prevented any
further anxiety for Punjab with an unbroken stand of 72.
Full postParanjpe, Kambli rub it in as Delhi face uphill task
Mumbai set Delhi a victory target of 501 runs after Jatin Paranjpe and Vinod Kambli had hit hundreds in contrasting styles on the third day of their Super League match at the Feroze Shah Kotla today
26-Feb-2000
Mumbai set Delhi a victory target of 501 runs after Jatin Paranjpe and
Vinod Kambli had hit hundreds in contrasting styles on the third day
of their Super League match at the Feroze Shah Kotla today. At stumps
the Delhi openers had survived nine overs to make 41/0 with Devinder
Sharma batting positively to run up 32 in 33 balls.
The runs came in torrents during the day, 401 in all, with Mumbai
scoring 360 of them. After Amol Muzumdar (38) departed at 151,
Paranjpe and Kambli conjured up a 210 run partnership in just 30.5
overs. Paranjpe was a shade circumspect with his hundred coming off
235 balls but Kambli displayed no inhibitions in clubbing an 87 ball
hundred. His 114 (97 balls) was studded with 21 fours and one six and
reinforced that at this level of cricket he had no peers.
Mumbai captain Samir Dighe declared when Paranjpe (185) was eighth out
at 453. Paranjpe, whose knock numbered 16 fours and 5 sixes, had
stepped up the pace after reaching his centuryhe needed only 90 more
balls to get to 185. For Delhi, Virender Shewag claimed 4/87 from 36.4
overs with his off spinners.
Full post