Report
South Africa win Plate final
South Africa maintained their status as favourites by defeating Bangladesh by 80 runs in the Plate Championship final of the Under-19 World Cup at the Asgiriya stadium in Kandy on Thursday
27-Jan-2000
South Africa maintained their status as favourites by defeating
Bangladesh by 80 runs in the Plate Championship final of the Under-19
World Cup at the Asgiriya stadium in Kandy on Thursday.
Winning the toss, South Africa posted a challenging total of 213
before being all out in 49.4 overs. Openers G Smith (51) and A Puttick
(19) put on 62 runs off 13 overs. Smith played aggressively and faced
only 62 balls while hitting six fours. J Trott, who came in at No 4,
consolidated the healthy start by hitting 41 off 79 balls. The latter
half made some valuable contributions to bolster the total. Medium
pacer Ranjan Das struck late in the innings and was the most
successful bowler with three for 43 off ten overs.
Losing both openers by the third over with just five runs scored,
Bangladesh were never really in the hunt. They lost wickets at regular
intervals and the only beacon of light was provided by skipper Hannan
Sarker who came in at No 3 in the second over and was seventh out at
113. Sarker scored 51 off 90 balls with eight hits to the
ropes. Mahfuz Kabir (14) was the only player to reach double figures
and the total was inflated by 24 extras. But Bangladesh were all out
for 133 off 47.5 overs. Opening bowler Senekal was the most successful
bowler with three for 20 off ten overs while his partner Morkel took
two for 36, also from ten overs.
Full postSouth Africa beat Bangladesh in Plate final
Bangladesh came to this World Cup with high hopes of winning the Plate competition
Charlie Austin
27-Jan-2000
Bangladesh came to this World Cup with high hopes of winning the Plate
competition. They would have almost certainly done so had it been for
the wretched rain the first week, which knocked South Africa out of
the Super League.
To beat a professional and experienced South African unit required
heroism and fortune in equal measure. Neither was forthcoming
and they eventually lost this game by 81 runs in the 48th over.
Nevertheless they have once again highlighted to show to the world
that Bangladesh's cricket is presently developing at a rapid pace.
With a development programme in place and talent in abundance it will
not be long before they get the Test status.
South Africa will have mixed feelings about winning this. Having
failed to qualify for the Super League they were expected to win it -
anything less would have been humiliating. With nothing to gain and
plenty to lose they have professionally beaten all their opponents.
Deep down though they will still be desperately disappointed about not
competing with the big boys in Colombo.
Full postEngland women falter in tour opener
The English women's team got their tour of Australia and New Zealand off to a shaky start today with a five-wicket loss to Australian National League champions New South Wales at Old King's Oval, Parramatta, in western Sydney
Rick Eyre
26-Jan-2000
The English women's team got their tour of Australia and New Zealand off to a
shaky start today with a five-wicket loss to Australian National League
champions New South Wales at Old King's Oval, Parramatta, in western Sydney.
England, who were at one stage reeling at 8/61 in the fifty-over-a-side
match, made 104 in 49.5 overs. The NSWIS (New South Wales Institute of
Sport) Blues, containing four current and two ex-Australian representatives, scored the required 105 runs for the loss of five wickets with
15.3 overs to spare.
All six of the NSW bowlers were among the wickets after Julie Hayes won the
toss and sent England into bat, Belinda Clark playing but stepping down from
captaincy duties for the day. Charlotte Edwards (16) provided some
resistance against a well-drilled NSW bowling attack, until last pair Laura
Newton (25*) and Lucy Pearson (13) added 27 for the tenth wicket. NSW pace
bowler Bronwyn Calver took 2/13 from her ten overs, including the wicket of Clare Taylor through an exceptional diving one-handed catch from Julie Hayes. Therese McGregor claimed 1/4
from five, while off-spinner Lisa Sthalekar (1/28) was somehow permitted to
bowl an eleventh over - though that extra over, which went for seven runs,
was one of the most costly of the England innings.
A 72-run opening stand between Australian internationals Lisa Keightley (39)
and Michelle Goszko (34) put the match beyond any shadow of a doubt,
although nineteen year-old left-arm spinner Dawn Holden (4/31 from ten
overs) had an impressive debut appearance in an England senior team.
Full postIt's Australia's day as India crumbles
At its commencement, suspicions were high that match ten of the Carlton and United Series would effectively go a long way toward marking the end of India's campaign in international cricket in Australia this season
John Polack
26-Jan-2000
At its commencement, suspicions were high that match ten of the Carlton and
United Series would effectively go a long way toward marking the end of
India's campaign in international cricket in Australia this season. And by
its cessation, the impression was certainly reinforced - a devastating 152
run loss to Australia ensuring that the vanquished now have only the barest
of chances of progressing beyond the preliminary rounds of this competition.
Given that a series of seven losses from eight matches had preceded it on
this tour, there was only a sliver of an opening for the Indians to set
about reviving their fortunes in international competition in any case.
But even that was never a real possibility, for the Australians' batsmen
gained a early, record-breaking advantage for their team after it had won
the toss and there was absolutely no way back for their rivals at all.
Indeed, from the moment in the opening over of the day that Mark Waugh
(116) powered the very first delivery that he received to the cover fence,
the writing was probably on the wall. On Australia's national day and in
front of a capacity holiday crowd at the Adelaide Oval, Waugh and Adam
Gilchrist (92) simply toyed with an uninspired Indian bowling and fielding
outfit.
Against an attack which was rapidly forced to come to grips with the
reality that the strip in use for this game was again eminently unsuited to
bowlers, the two openers ignited the game with a sizzling exhibition. They
set about shattering their previous best association (of 39) in the
tournament, Gilchrist characteristically playing very powerfully through
the off side to establish the trend. Two sparkling shots through and over
point off Debashish Mohanty in the sixth over and then a glorious off drive
off the same bowler in the eighth all generated boundaries and there was no
particular diminution in his scoring rate thereafter. Not to be completely
outdone, Waugh was also in fine touch from the outset, serially easing and
nudging the ball into gaps the ball for many of his runs. Neither was
afraid at any stage to lift the ball over the infield, nor to hit with
power and precision through a tightly set field.
Full postSouth Africa rely on the K factor to beat late England charge
Cape Town - South Africa's reliance of the K factor emerged during the World Cup last year when mostly Lance Klusener engineered victory out of any number of improbable situations
Trevor Chesterfield
26-Jan-2000
Cape Town - South Africa's reliance of the K factor emerged during the World
Cup last year when mostly Lance Klusener engineered victory out of any number of
improbable situations. On occasions we also had Jacques Kallis embroidering a
few fancy touches.
At Newlands on Wednesday both combined to give England a double barrel blast in
one of the more sensational finishes to a slogs event as we are going to
see in this particular triangular series.
And at the end of it all, with four needed off the last ball to win, Darren
Gough swings at a Kallis delivery and the best he can gallop is a two as South
Africa scrape home by one run.
No doubt it will go down in the column of matches won by one run or less in
some esoteric book of records and close finishes in LOIs; and yes, for many it
was a tad like the players enclosure being knee deep in chewed finger-nails
(yet again). Even the Barmy Army pals were arguing whether or not to sing
the "Run, Allan, run ..." ditty they love trotting out so much on this tour
Full postArun Kumar stars in South Zone's victory
Making light of a difficult target, South Zone romped to an eight wicket victory over East Zone in the Deodhar Trophy match at the Sardar Patel stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday
Partab Ramchand
25-Jan-2000
Making light of a difficult target, South Zone romped to an eight
wicket victory over East Zone in the Deodhar Trophy match at the
Sardar Patel stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. Chasing a challenging
total of 275 for seven in 50 overs, South Zone, led by the
irrepressible J Arun Kumar coasted to a win with 5.1 overs to spare.
Shrugging off a six wicket defeat at the hands of West Zone in their
opening game on January 22, South Zone put up a commendable show
against East Zone, who went down to their second successive loss. The
batsmen in particular displayed very good form and no one played
better than the consistent Arun Kumar who notched up his second
successive century in the competition. He had scored 121 against West
Zone. Arun Kumar and S Mahesh set South Zone on the road to victory
pretty early with a first wicket partnership of 126 runs off 23
overs. The Tamil Nadu opening bowler, who loves to strike the ball,
relished his new role and almost matched the in form Arun Kumar in
strokes and run production. By the time Mahesh was out for 50 off 70
balls with six fours and a six, South Zone were already on their
way. Arun Kumar and left hander S Sriram (39) then maintained the
tempo with a second wicket partnership of 78 runs from 11.3 overs. By
the time Sriram left in the 35th over, South Zone had virtually made
sure of a facile victory. By this time, Arun Kumar had got to his
century and the Karnataka opening batsman just carried on in the
company of his captain Sridharan Sarath, who at the end was not out
with 20. But the cynosure was Arun Kumar who remained unbeaten with
148. So commanding was his batsmanship that he faced just 150 balls
and hit 16 fours and three sixes. The unbroken third wicket stand
between Arun Kumar and Sarath added 72 runs off 10.2 overs to steer
South Zone home quite comfortably.
The morning belonged to East Zone and to Rashmi Ranjan Parida in
particular. The 25-year-old Orissa right hander struck an unbeaten 106
off 112 balls with 13 fours as East Zone made runs confidently. His
innings was important as it also rescued East Zone from a hesitant
start. Nikhil Haldipur was dismissed by Kumaran for a duck and then
Rohan Gavaskar (26) fell at 66 in the 14th over. But Parida and opener
SS Das then initiated a recovery process by adding 69 runs for the
third wicket off 14.3 overs. Das then fell for 52 off 77 balls,
inclusive of four hits to the ropes. The recovery process was
continued by Parida and Saba Karim who put on 44 runs for the fourth
wicket off 7.4 overs. But off spinner Aashish Kapoor who had dismissed
Das, then triggered off a mini collapse by taking the wickets of SS
Raul (1) and Rajiv Kumar with successive deliveries. But Laxmi Ratan
Shukla and Parida then revived the innings with a seventh wicket
partnership of 75 runs off 10.5 overs before the former was out for a
valuable 37. Shukla faced 40 balls and hit four fours and a
six. Parida reached his hundred shortly afterwards and East Zone were
able to post what seemed to be a challenging total, despite the
efforts of Kapoor, who finished with three for 53 off ten overs. But
then they reckoned without Arun Kumar.
Full postBangladesh too strong for Ireland
Bangladesh convincingly beat Ireland by 67 runs in the Under-19 World Cup Plate Championship semi-final at Kurunegala on Tuesday
Errol Seneviratne
25-Jan-2000
Bangladesh convincingly beat Ireland by 67 runs in the Under-19 World
Cup Plate Championship semi-final at Kurunegala on Tuesday.
Winning the toss, Bangladesh found the accurate Irish bowling
difficult to cope with. They were soon in trouble. Having collapsed to
117-7 in 29 overs they were then rescued by a spirited innings from
M. Kalim. His 58 in 86 balls allowing them to post respectable 196 in
48.5 overs. The other batsman to contribute was Naidu Haq (32) and
M. Kabir (23).
Speaking to CRICINO after the innings the Bangladesh manager was
confident that 196 would be enough before going on to say, ``a win
here is important to us. The future of Bangladesh cricket is with
these lads. We are striving to be admitted as a full member of the
ICC. Our performances here will hopefully help our cause.
``Our cricket infrastructure in Bangladesh is good and we have the
support of thousands of fans. With the former South Africa Test
cricketer, Eddie Barlow, as Director of Coaching, our country has made
great strides towards becoming the next Test playing nation.''
Full postIndia storm into final with 170-run victory
After India won the toss and elected to bat on a wicket that looked like it would crumble later in the day, openers Manish Sharma and Ravneet Ricky got India off to yet another solid start
Anand Vasu
25-Jan-2000
After India won the toss and elected to bat on a wicket that looked
like it would crumble later in the day, openers Manish Sharma and
Ravneet Ricky got India off to yet another solid start. Rofe began
with a maiden over but after that the Indians began to collar the
bowling.
Ricky and Sharma alternated well and struck the ball off the meat of
the bat with regularity. The Australians swapped the bowling around a
fair bit. It was only when the spinners came on at 59/0 after 12 overs
that the Australians could check the scoring rate. O'Brien and Hauritz
bowling in tandem kept the Indians quiet for six overs, giving away
just 21 runs in that period.
There was not much to choose from in the two openers though Sharma
scored his runs a little faster than Ricky. When Sharma notched up his
fifty in the 21st over, Ricky was still in the thirties. Ricky then
moved into a higher gear and matched Sharma shot for shot. Ricky
brought up his fifty soon after.
Just when things were going smoothly for the Indians, a wicket fell
against the grain of play. Sharma went after a wide, full delivery
from Aaron O' Brien and ended up nicking it to the 'keeper Hartley who
took a smart catch. O'Brien picked up his solitary wicket in the last
over of his spell, conceding just 24 runs from his 10 overs.
Full postSouth Africa win easily, enter plate final
South Africa defeated Zimbabwe by eight wickets on Tuesday to make it to the Plate Championship final, where they will play Bangladesh
Blessington Thomas
25-Jan-2000
South Africa defeated Zimbabwe by eight wickets on Tuesday to make it
to the Plate Championship final, where they will play Bangladesh.
Requiring 180 runs for victory at 3.59 runs an over, the South African
openers, Smith (82) and Puttick (37) ran away it with an opening stand
of 117 runs in 131 balls.
In the morning the Zimbabweans, deciding to bat first after calling
the toss correctly, lost wickets at regular intervals in the face of
some very disciplined bowling by the South Africans. Off-spinner
V. Abrahams was particularly impressive, bowling his ten overs on the
trot to finish with 2-33.
The only resistance from Zimbabwe was a fine fourth wicket partnership
of 100 in 145 balls by Ervine and Greg Lamb.
Full postCentral hand North first Defeat
After two consecutive victories, North Zone were brought down to earth when Central Zone defeated them by three wickets in the Deodhar Trophy match at Pune on Tuesday
Partab Ramchand
25-Jan-2000
After two consecutive victories, North Zone were brought down to earth
when Central Zone defeated them by three wickets in the Deodhar Trophy
match at Pune on Tuesday.
North Zone's problems lay with their batting. When they started off
losing half the side with only 74 runs on the board, it was always
going to be an uphill task for them to come back into the match. HS
Sodhi rocked them by dismissing Vijay Dahiya (8) and Ajay Jadeja (3)
by the eleventh over. Jai P Yadav then took the wickets of Pankaj
Dharmani (12) and Virendra Shewag (0) in the same over. And with left
arm spinner Kartik Murali forcing the North Zone captain Vikram
Rathour into giving him a return catch, North Zone were down in the
dumps. Rathour played the sheet anchor role in hitting 37 off 68 balls
with six hits to the ropes.
It was left to the latter half to bolster North Zone's total. First D
Mongia (23) and M Minhas added 49 runs for the sixth wicket off 12.3
overs. The recovery process was maintained with Minhas and Rahul
Sanghvi (44 not out) increasing the score by 79 runs off 15.5 overs
during a seventh wicket association. Minhas then fell for a gallant
72, for which he faced 85 balls and hit four fours and a six. As if to
mock the top order, Sanghvi and Amit Bhandari then added 34 runs for
the eighth wicket off just three overs. Bhandari was run out for 18
off only 10 balls, hitting two fours and a six. Sanghvi faced 53 balls
and hit four of them to the fence. North Zone were finally able to get
a highly respectable 237 for eight off 50 overs.
Openers Gagan Khoda (71) and Jyoti P Yadav (30) got Central Zone off
to a good start by putting on 77 runs off 16 overs. A second wicket
stand of 50 runs off 13.3 overs between Khoda and Jai P Yadav (33) put
Central Zone in a comfortable position. Khoda who played an attacking
innings which lasted 84 balls, hit eleven fours. After he was second
out at 127 in the 30th over, wickets fell at regular intervals thanks
to some incisive bowling by Robin Singh. But D Bundela stood firm at
one end. He and P Krishnakumar (19) shared a vital seventh wicket
partnership of 35 runs off four overs and Central Zone were finally
home with 2.1 overs to spare. Bundela remained unbeaten with a
valuable 45. He faced 53 balls and hit five fours. Robin Singh's fine
spell of four for 45 went in vain. This was Central Zone's first win
in two games.
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