Report
Haddin hits the sign but Warriors hit the target
Mike Hussey produced another Man-of-the-Match performance as Western Australia cruised to yet another one-day win, under lights at the WACA against New South Wales last night
Mic Cullen
22-Jan-2000
Mike Hussey produced another Man-of-the-Match performance as Western
Australia cruised to yet another one-day win, under lights at the WACA
against New South Wales last night. WA are now almost certain to host a
semi-final of the Mercantile Mutual Cup next month.
Earlier in the day, NSW keeper and opening batsman Brad Haddin collected AU$150,000 for the team fund when he straight drove the ball into a sponsor's
sign for six - only the third time this has been since the promotion began
in the early nineties. Tournament promoters claim that the ball hit the same
dent that Steve Waugh put in the same sign when he collected $140,000 in
1995.
WA captain Justin Langer put the Blues in, and for a while NSW looked on
target for a 280-300 score, but a steady stream of wickets saw NSW dismissed
in the 48th over for 249, a total which they would have found disappointing.
Haddin again did well with 70 off 77 and Higgs constructed 40 off 42, but
were the only ones to go on with their innings.
Full postSecond successive victory for North Zone
Inspired by the presence of the re-instated Ajay Jadeja, North Zone raced to their second successive victory in the Deodhar Trophy tournament, defeating East Zone by seven wickets at the IPCL Sports Complex ground in Baroda on Saturday
Partab Ramchand
22-Jan-2000
Inspired by the presence of the re-instated Ajay Jadeja, North Zone
raced to their second successive victory in the Deodhar Trophy
tournament, defeating East Zone by seven wickets at the IPCL Sports
Complex ground in Baroda on Saturday.
East Zone were a shadow of the side that defeated Central Zone on
Wednesday. Put in to bat, they were dismissed for 166 off 44.5
overs. Opener SS Das (23) and Rohan Gavaskar (25) made brief
contributions in the top order but it was only a fighting 53 by SS
Raul which carried the East Zone score to modest proportions. There
was only one notable partnership during the entire innings - 49 runs
for the eighth wicket between Raul and Laxmi Ratan Shukla (18). Raul
scored 53 off 72 balls with six hits to the ropes. But generally the
batsmen found it difficult to get runs off Sarandeep Singh (3 for 41)
and Amit Bhandari (3 for 15). Jadeja chipped in with two wickets for
38 runs.
A total of 166 could never pose many problems for North Zone. And
predictably enough, they coasted to victory in 31.3 overs. Ashu Dani
(27) and skipper Vikram Rathour (70) put on 45 runs for the first
wicket off 8.5 overs. This was followed by a second wicket partnership
of 45 runs between Rathour and Jadeja (13). And a third wicket stand
of 48 runs between Rathour and Pankaj Dharmani (25 not out) took North
Zone to the doorstep of victory. Rathour, who faced 89 balls hit nine
fours and a six. Dharmani and Virender Shewag (16) then applied the
finishing touches.
Full postConsolation prize for England
England's last game was a real end of the season affair
Charlie Austin
22-Jan-2000
England's last game was a real end of the season affair. England with
nothing to gain but more humiliation won easily in the end, defeating
Nepal by 64 runs.
But there was time for a couple of scares along the way and Nepal's
total, their highest of the tournament will have raised some eyebrows.
England who won the toss and elected to bat were reduced to 39-3 when
John Maunders (6), Jimmy Adams(13) and Ian Bell (13) all fell cheaply.
However a fine 116 run partnership between Ian Pattison and the
irrepressible Gary Pratt rescued the potentially embarrassing
situation and took control of the game. Gary Pratt (51) has been the
one highlight of this tour and this was his third fifty. Pattison's
97 today being the only other one of the tour.
The final total of 260 was always likely to be too many for an
extremely weak, but highly enthusiastic Nepalese side. England tried
their best to assist Nepal and make a game of it by gifting them with
36 wides - 50 extras in total.
Full postPakistan prevail after close contest
Pakistan defeated the West Indies by three wickets after a closely fought game in the U-19 World Cup Super League match at the Colombo Cricket Club on Saturday
22-Jan-2000
Pakistan defeated the West Indies by three wickets after a closely
fought game in the U-19 World Cup Super League match at the Colombo
Cricket Club on Saturday.
Put in to bat, West Indies were all out for 182 off 49.4 overs. They
lost five wickets for 86 runs but a sixth wicket partnership of 84
runs off 18.3 overs between skipper RO Hinds (32) and S Chattergoon
(44) saw West Indies make a good recovery. But then in an astonishing
collapse they lost their last five wickets in only two overs for 12
runs. Pace bowler Zahid Saeed was the wrecker-in-chief taking four
wickets for 27 runs off 9.4 overs.
Pakistan too made a bad start losing three wickets for 54 runs. But
opener Taufeeq Omer (65) and Faisal Iqbal (67 not out) put Pakistan on
the road to victory with a fourth wicket partnership of 116 runs off
25 overs. However Hinds spearheaded his team back into the match with
an amazing spell in which he took four wickets - two in the 39th over
and two more in the 41st over. Suddenly Pakistan had collapsed from
170 for three to 173 for seven. However Faisal Iqbal stood firm and
with support from Zahid Saeed took Pakistan to victory in 43.1
overs. While Taufeeq Omer faced 112 balls and hit six fours, Faisal
Iqbal, who hit the winning boundary, faced 95 balls and hit seven of
them to the ropes. The gallant Hinds finished with four wickets for 19
runs off seven overs.
Full postWest Zone bounce back with remarkable win
Shrugging off the reverse against North Zone, West Zone bounced back into contention with a remarkable six wicket victory over South Zone In the Deodhar Trophy league match at the Municipal stadium in Rajkot on Saturday
Partab Ramchand
22-Jan-2000
Shrugging off the reverse against North Zone, West Zone bounced back
into contention with a remarkable six wicket victory over South Zone
In the Deodhar Trophy league match at the Municipal stadium in Rajkot
on Saturday.
It was another of those typical high scoring games played on good
batting tracks. As many as 637 runs were scored for the loss of only
12 wickets off 97.5 overs. Replying to South Zone's 317 for eight in
50 overs, West Zone raced to victory for the loss of only four wickets
with 2.1 overs to spare.
Vinod Kambli's second successive century in the competition was the
main highlight of the match. The 28-year-old left hander, ignored by
the national selectors was again in his elements, rattling up an
unbeaten 119 off just 103 balls with ten fours and three sixes. Unlike
last time when his century failed to prevent a North Zone victory,
this time his effort was crowned with success.
Kambli received admirable support from Amol Muzumdar. The Mumbai
captain also hit a fine hundred, matching Kambli in strokes and run
production as the two made a West Zone victory almost certain by
adding 226 runs for the third wicket off only 33.2 overs. They had
come together in the tenth over after West Zone had lost two wickets
for 64. Actually openers Sitanshu Kotak (31) and ND Modi (20) gave
West Zone a fine start by putting on 60 runs off 8.4 overs but they
fell in successive overs.
Full postAuckland take NZ women's title
Auckland have ended Canterbury's dominance of New Zealand provincial women's cricket today with a six-wicket win in the final of the State Insurance Cup at Eden Park
22-Jan-2000
Auckland have ended Canterbury's dominance of New Zealand provincial women's
cricket today with a six-wicket win in the final of the State Insurance Cup
at Eden Park. Canterbury, who had previously won 20 out of 21 titles, lost
today's game after being 154 without loss during their 37th over.
Veteran Canterbury captain Debbie Hockley, who earlier this week announced
her decision to step down as captain of the New Zealand side, won the toss
and elected to bat first. After a slow start, including a superb opening
spell by Munokoa Tunupopo (0/12 from six overs), Hockley and her opening
partner Paula Flannery accelerated the scoring. Hockley was dismissed for
76 on the final ball of the 37th over when Natalie Scripps sent her middle
stump flying. The opening partnership was worth 154.
Canterbury lost another four wickets before ending their fifty overs on 236
for 5. Flannery finished unbeaten on 96 after taking a single off the first
ball of the final over and losing the strike. Her innings was a fortunate
one, however, as she gave several chances to dropped catches or missed
stumpings. Nicola Payne (13) contributed the only six of the day, a hoick
off Kathryn Ramel.
Fruin (21) and Tyler (55) added 53 for the first wicket before Fruin was
trapped lbw by Debbie Hockley. Emily Drumm (79* from 91 balls), who played
a near-flawless innings, and Kathryn Ramel (42 from 37 balls) kept Auckland
within striking distance of Canterbury's run rate. It was wicketkeeper
Rebecca Rolls, who came to the crease with Auckland needing 36 to win from
32 balls, who sealed the win for the home side. Rolls smashed an unbeaten 27
from 14 balls with five boundaries, including two in a row to finish the
match. Canterbury shuffled eight bowlers to no avail.
Full postZimbabwe secure berth in Semifinals
Zimbabwe secured a place in the semifinals of the Plate championship of the Under-19 World Cup beating Namibia by three wickets at the Galle International Stadium on Friday
Simon Williams
21-Jan-2000
Zimbabwe secured a place in the semifinals of the Plate championship
of the Under-19 World Cup beating Namibia by three wickets at the
Galle International Stadium on Friday.
Replying to Namibia's 231 for 5, Zimbabwe's victory came in the
penultimate over of an enthralling match.
Namibia won the toss in the morning sunshine and elected to bat. It
was an innings of two partnerships. The first came from openers Marius
Van De Merwe and Stefan Swanepoel who cruised to 50 in just 47 minutes
making use of some wayward Zimbabwe bowling. There was plenty of
attractive strokeplay, undone in the end by a sharp one handed catch
returned to the off-spinner Ewing by Swanepoel who out for 38 in a
first wicket stand of 68.
Gavin Ewing and Mike Sherren brought Zimbabwe back into the game by
some accurate bowling. Ewing has had an excellent tournament to date,
continuing his good form here. A large, burly figure, on the face of
it his bowling appears to be innocuous. However he is highly
effective, his line and length rooting the batsmen to the crease.
Full postIndia's drought refuses to break
Over recent months, Australia's southernmost capital city has barely experienced a drop of rain; indeed, the past three years have brought some areas around Hobart their lowest amount of rainfall on record
John Polack
21-Jan-2000
Over recent months, Australia's southernmost capital city has barely
experienced a drop of rain; indeed, the past three years have brought
some areas around Hobart their lowest amount of rainfall on record. So
it was probably fitting, then, that India's extraordinary drought in
international matches in Australia this season should come to its
zenith here today, with a 32 run loss to Pakistan leaving its players
all but condemned to the prospect of catching an early flight home in
a little over a week.
Essentially, this seventh match of the Carlton and United Series (at
the Bellerive Oval) was another emphatic personal triumph for
Pakistani allrounder Abdur Razzaq (70* and 5/48). For it was he who
not only had a large part to play in setting an imposing total for the
Indians to chase, but also captured five crucial wickets with the ball
to throw his rivals completely off the scent of already unlikely
success.
Notwithstanding the fact that India's two outstanding top order
players, Sachin Tendulkar (93) and Sourav Ganguly (43), were able to
mount a brave opening partnership of 99 to afford their team an
outside chance of overhauling their opponents' 7/262, neither they nor
their teammates could overcome the rapidly maturing 20-year-old. When
he induced Ganguly to leading edge a ball to Shahid Afridi at cover in
the 19th over, he precipitated what became an irreversible
slide. Another ten balls later into his sublime exhibition of
predominantly outswing bowling, he induced a struggling VVS Laxman (7)
to nervously edge an attempted cover drive through to wicketkeeper
Moin Khan. That suddenly rendered India 2/111, and undid much of the
excellent work that Tendulkar's classical strokeplay all around the
wicket and Ganguly's serial driving through the off side had effected.
Razzaq also dismissed Anil Kumble (14) and Javagal Srinath (2) later
in the innings when they committed the similar sin of playing down the
wrong line to him. That the Lahore-based allrounder in between bowled
the jewel in the crown, Tendulkar, for the second time in successive
meetings with a superb delivery spoke volumes in itself about the
quality of his performance. Moreover, it was interesting to note
that, by the time that India was eventually dismissed for 230, he had
even nearly enjoyed the almost inconceivable distinction of recording
his highest score and his best bowling figures in the one day in this
form of the game.
Full postNetherlands drift to 154 run loss
The match between South Africa and Netherlands could have finished in three hours if Netherlands had chosen to bat first
Anand Vasu
21-Jan-2000
The match between South Africa and Netherlands could have finished in
three hours if Netherlands had chosen to bat first. Instead, on
winning the toss, RV Ierschot put the South Africans in to bat on a
slow pitch at the Asgiriya Stadium in Kandy. The South Africans took
to the Dutch bowling with joy and toyed with it for the best part of
the morning. Yet, it was only Johan Myburgh who made it to the half
century mark. For Netherlands, R de Graff, playing his first match of
the tournament bowled a tidy line and picked up four wickets as
Puttick (33), Smith (44) and U Abrahams (40) got starts but lost their
wickets to careless shots.
Morkel used the long handle to good effect and clouted two sixes in
his 10 ball essay that yielded 25 runs. In the end South Africa
finished up with 278 runs off 50 overs.
The Dutch bowlers took half an hour longer than they should have, and
ended up being penalised one over when they came out to bat. This,
however, was of no consequence, as they never looked to seriously
chase the total. The South Africans for their part did not appear to
be operating in top gear. The Dutch struggled, played, poked and
missed but somehow stuck around. In a replay of the match between the
Americas and South Africa played at the same ground two days back, it
was only the captain who showed any batting prowess. R van Ierschot
made 31 before he swung across the line to an offspinner to Myburgh
and was trapped plumb in front.
The Netherlands batted out their 49 overs in quiet fashion and ended
up with 124. While it must have been a learning experience for the
Dutch, it was also a loss by 154 runs.
Full postBangladesh through to semifinals
Bangladesh beat Kenya convincingly at Matara today in the Plate Championship of the Under-19 World Cup
Errol Seneviratne
21-Jan-2000
Bangladesh beat Kenya convincingly at Matara today in the Plate
Championship of the Under-19 World Cup.
After winning the toss Bangladsh took first lease of the wicket and
were bowled out for 198 in 50 overs. In reply Kenya were bowled out
for just 73 in 37.3 overs.
The Bangladesh batsmen did not make full use of the good batting
conditions. M.D. Kalim top scored with 28 while seven other batsmen
reached double figures.
Kenya's captain, Muhammad Sheikh, was the pick of the Kenyan bowlers.
Bowling orthodox left arm spin from the Hospital end he picked up 4-37
from his 10 over spell.
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