Report

It was a most disappointing start to their Indian tour for the New Zealanders

02-Oct-1999

It was a most disappointing start to their Indian tour for the New Zealanders. Rain washed out the first day's play in their game against India A at Pune on Thursday. On the second day there was time for 44 overs to be bowled during which the visitors struggled to make 135 for six. Whatever hopes the tourists might have entertained of having some further match practice were dashed by the inclement weather as rain ruled out play on the final day on Saturday.

One recalls how the scheduled opening three day game of the West Indies tour in 1987-88 at Hyderabad was a total washout, with not a ball being bowled. But on that occasion, the West Indies had already played much cricket in the sub continent over the preceding month since they had taken part in the Reliance Cup. So much so that they were still able to win the first Test by five wickets. This lack of match practice does not augur well for the New Zealanders. All they can hope for now is for better weather at Jodhpur where they take on Board President's XI in a three day game commencing on October 5. They have to make the most of it for it remains their only match before the first Test starts on October 10.

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Rest of India hold advantage

Rest of India held a slight edge over Karnataka at stumps on the second day of the five day Irani Trophy tie at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore on Saturday

Partab Ramchand

02-Oct-1999

Rest of India held a slight edge over Karnataka at stumps on the second day of the five day Irani Trophy tie at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore on Saturday. After bowling out the home team for 170, Rest of India scored 93 for three off 37 overs at close of play.

Resuming at 65 for two, Karnataka lost wickets at regular intervals. First to go was Naidu who was bowled by Kumaran for five. Arun Kumar, the other overnight batsman who had opened the innings on Friday, and had batted steadfastly was finally out at 80, when he was adjudged leg before to Kumaran for 30. The medium pacer from Tamil Nadu, continuing his fine spell, had Sriram leg before in his next over and Karnataka had slid to 81 for five. The collapse did not stop for at 96, Kumble was caught by Kulkarni off Reetinder Singh Sodhi for one.

Shiraguppi, who was holding one end up firmly, was now joined by Srinath and the two got entrenched in the highest partnership of the innings - 34 runs for the seventh wicket. Kumaran then got his fourth wicket when he had Srinath caught by Laxman for 12. The recovery of sorts continued with Shiraguppi and Yalvigi adding 25 runs for the eighth wicket. At 155, however Shiraguppi's fighting innings of 42 came to an end when he was caught by Kotak off Reetinder Singh Sodhi. Shiraguppi had faced 107 balls and hit four boundaries and a six. Sodhi then brought the innings to a quick end by dismissing Yalvigi (23) and Ganesh in successive overs. Kumaran (4 for 47) and Sodhi (4 for 33) shared the bowling honours while Harvinder Singh Sodhi who had taken both the wickets on Friday, finished with two for 46.

When Rest of India batted, Javagal Srinath gave Karnataka an early breakthrough when he bowled VVS Laxman in his third over. But Haldipur and Das steadied the innings with a second wicket stand of 60 runs off 20 overs before the latter was caught by Somasundar off Ganesh for 23. Das faced 68 balls and hit two of them to the ropes. In the next over, Yalvigi bowled Haldipur for 40. Haldipur faced 75 balls and hit four boundaries. Rest of India were now 69 for three but Badani and Kotak batted through till stumps, both having made 12 runs.

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India A bowlers make New Zealand struggle at Pune

The rain had put a dampener on the proceedings and very few spectators were at the ground

Anand Vasu

01-Oct-1999

The rain had put a dampener on the proceedings and very few spectators were at the ground. Those present were very vocal and excited in welcoming the players onto the ground. Chris Harris had the crowd roaring behind him as he walked out onto the field.

The New Zealanders went through some innovative fielding exercises, and looked a thoroughly professional unit. In contrast the India 'A' side went through the motions of their exercises, much the same way warm ups are done in schools cricket. Stephen Fleming began his tour of India on a high note, winning the toss. With the outfield still wet and slippery, Fleming chose to bat first.

Mathew Horne and Mathew Bell took first strike for New Zealand on this tour of India. Amit Bhandari took up the attack for India 'A' but began badly, sending down two consecutive no balls to begin the match. After the initial difficulty, Bhandari settled down and bowl a good line outside the off-stump. Iqbal Siddiqui was on the spot from the first ball and made Bell play. After 16 balls the Kiwis got their first run off the bat.

Bell had an early let off when he fended at a ball outside offstump. Bell was nowhere near the pitch of the ball and the ball flew off the edge to the slip cordon. The India 'A' captain Amol Muzumdar at second slip let the ball slip through him. The ball raced to the third man boundary.

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Rain restricts play on opening day

Only 28 overs play was possible on the first day of the five day Irani Trophy tie between Rest of India and Ranji Trophy champions Karnataka at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore on Friday

Partab Ramchand

01-Oct-1999

Only 28 overs play was possible on the first day of the five day Irani Trophy tie between Rest of India and Ranji Trophy champions Karnataka at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore on Friday. In that time, Karnataka, put in to bat, were 65 for two.

Rain delayed the start of play till 2 pm. Karnataka openers Sujith Somasundar and J.Arun Kumar put on 29 runs in 9.5 overs before the former who dominated the scoring was caught by Nilesh Kulkarni off Harvinder Singh Sodhi for 21. Somasundar faced 33 balls and hit four boundaries. A.Vijay joined Arun Kumar and the two added 23 runs off 12 overs before Sodhi claimed his second wicket, having Vijay leg before for just 8. Vijay faced 44 balls and hit one boundary. VST Naidu came in and kept the steady Arun Kumar company till stumps were prematurely drawn with bad light halting play. Arun Kumar at close was batting on 23. He had faced 79 balls and had four hits to the ropes. Naidu was batting with four after having faced 18 balls.

Medium pacer Harvinder Sodhi was easily the pick of the Rest of India bowlers. He sent down 12 overs to capture both the wickets that fell for 27 runs.

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India wins by 107 runs

Zimbabwe had only one chance to qualify for the LGCUP final on Sunday

Keith Lane

01-Oct-1999

Zimbabwe had only one chance to qualify for the LGCUP final on Sunday. They had to beat a very confident and balanced Indian team convincingly. India, unlike the other teams in the tournament, had already played numerous matches this season and was the form team. For Zimbabwe to pull off a win they would have had to play well above themselves.

This was not to be. Zimbabwe came up against a determined Sourav Ganguly who smote the bowlers to all parts of the ground and with his 139, at nearly a run a ball, helped India post the highest score of the tournament, 277/6.

Zimbabwe had to score 278 in 50 overs, to win the match, and 42.1 overs to improve their net run rate to qualify for the final on Sunday. Starting well, it all petered out to be dismissed for 170 and allowed their neighbours South Africa to meet the Indians in the final.

With overcast conditions and some dampness from late afternoon watering, both captains were keen to win the toss and field first. Zimbabwe drew first blood, winning the important toss and electing to field. The pitch later turned out to be the best of the tournament so far.

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South Africa wins by 24 runs

South Africa, after the resounding win against Zimbabwe, had moved to second place ahead of their neighbours on the point's table

Keith Lane

30-Sep-1999

South Africa, after the resounding win against Zimbabwe, had moved to second place ahead of their neighbours on the point's table. To be sure of a place in the final on Sunday, they however needed to win this match by a big margin to increase their net run rate.

This was not to be. Whether the South Africans underestimated the Kenyans will not be known but the experimentation continued. Firstly Hansie Cronje decided to opening the batting, then decided to bowl three overs from a five meter run-up giving away 21 runs. Paul Adams was also allowed to bowl his full quota of 10 overs for 59 runs that included five wides, while Shaun Pollock and Steve Elworthy had overs in hand. If it was not for the South African fielding they might just not have won this match.

Losing the toss and asked to bat first by Maurice Odumbe, South Africa with their rotation policy came into the game with three changes, Boeta Dippenaar for Herschelle Gibbs, Elworthy for Derek Crookes and Victor Mpitsang for Alan Dawson. Kenya left out Josephat Ababu for debutante Peter Oshieng.

The first surprise of the day was that captain Cronje came out to open the innings with Dippenaar, while Martin Suji and Thomas Odoyo were entrusted with the new ball. Unlike yesterday's early overs, the Kenyan bowlers strayed to both sides of the wickets and it was Dippenaar who recorded the first boundary of the day with a little flick to fine leg. He followed this with two more fours, one to backward square leg and one past backward point, off the bowling of Suji.

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India beat Kenya by 58 runs

Nairobi - India, after a very difficult start, recovered well to defeat Kenya by 58 runs in match four of the LG Cup in Kenya

Keith Lane

29-Sep-1999

Nairobi - India, after a very difficult start, recovered well to defeat Kenya by 58 runs in match four of the LG Cup in Kenya.

Sent in to bat India initially struggled to score, but managed to recover to 220/7 after some good batting by Vijay Bhardwaj. Kenya, after losing three early wickets, was always up against it and a disciplined bowling performance from the Indians did not make matters any easier.

With India on a high after their recent victories Kenya had to play really well to repeat the only victory, in India, that they hold against them. Starting off well enough, in overcast conditions, by winning the toss, Kenya elected to field and not bat first against the Indian bowlers who have bowled with a lot of discipline having not conceded any wides or no-balls in the tournament so far.

Sadagoppan Ramesh and Sourav Ganguly opened the batting for an unchanged Indian team facing up to Martin Suji and Thomas Odoyo from Kenya. Both bowlers started well beating the bat with away movement off the pitch. Ramesh twice played and missed, while Ganguly nearly inside edged onto the stumps and then had a thick edge land just short of the backward point.

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South Africa get back to winning ways

Nairobi - South Africa in their first match against Zimbabwe since the World Cup defeat at Chelmsford beat a gallant Zimbabwean team at the Nairobi Gymkhana Club Ground by 9 wickets

Keith Lane

28-Sep-1999

Nairobi - South Africa in their first match against Zimbabwe since the World Cup defeat at Chelmsford beat a gallant Zimbabwean team at the Nairobi Gymkhana Club Ground by 9 wickets. With Lance Klusener scoring his second one-day international century and ably assisted by first Herschelle Gibbs and the Jacques Kallis the South Africans reached the 217 run target with 15 overs to spare.

South Africa coming into this match sitting at the bottom of the log started the overcast morning well by winning the toss and electing to field. Using a rotation basis for selection. Alan Dawson came in for Steve Elworthy, who bowled well against India, and Boeta Dippenaar made way for Paul Adams.

A solid first over start by Shaun Pollock, moving the ball both ways and getting some nice bounce, saw Alan Dawson give away the first boundary to Grant Flower with a leg side ball in the second over.

Neil Johnson, who was the thorn in the RSA flesh during the World Cup, lashed out at Pollock in the fifth over sending him to the boundary on two occasions. Flower finished Dawson's fifth over with a great well timed cover drive, beating the off side field.

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Zimbabwe limp home against Kenya

The Zimbabwe captain Alistair Campbell won the toss in the opening match of the LG Cup and put Kenya in to bat

Anand Vasu

26-Sep-1999

The Zimbabwe captain Alistair Campbell won the toss in the opening match of the LG Cup and put Kenya in to bat. Kennedy Otieno and Ravindu Shah opened the batting for Kenya and played the Zimbabwe medium-pacers steadily. Debutant Mutendera and Neil Johnson did not trouble the Kenyan batsmen. Ravindu Shah was in particularly good form, and played the ball well through the gaps. Otieno struggled to score freely and was dismissed by Johnson after he had made 7.