Report
Australia completes series clean sweep
In many ways, this series has represented both the best of times and the worst of times
05-Jan-2000
In many ways, this series has represented both the best of
times and the worst of times. Well nearly anyway, for
Australia has played about as well as might be expected and
the Indians have been about as poor by comparison. It was
far from a surprise then that this was yet again the general
formula in accordance with which matters transpired on the
third day of the Third Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground, at
the very end of which the tourists plunged to defeat by an
innings and 141 runs.
For those who may have expected a more competitive and
enthralling series, it also sadly served as yet another
celebration of the twin abilities of Australia's batsmen to take
toll of flagging attacks and for its own bowlers to work their
way through an opposing batting list. Nevertheless, there was
some time for three significant individual highlights all the
while - Justin Langer chalking up several notable feats in
the course of scoring his first Test double century, Ricky
Ponting making an excellent century of his own and VVS
Laxman registering his maiden Test hundred in bravely
inspiring manner. There were also several bizarre curiosities
late in the day - foremost among them a decision by Umpires
Ian Robinson and Darrell Hair to grant the Australians an
extra half hour at the end of the day to complete their seventh
successive Test victory.
These seven and a half hours began amid brilliant sunshine
with Australia again on the offensive with the bat. Around two
run out chances which were badly fluffed by Rahul Dravid,
Langer (223) and Ponting (141*) indeed opened in lucent
style. In front of a crowd delighting in their dominance,
Ponting was the chief architect of a run-spree in the course
of which seventy-two runs were plundered in the first hour of
proceedings and the rate rarely slowed thereafter.
Even by Langer's own admission, his was far from a great
innings in terms of substance and, by its end, it had become
difficult not to recognise the impact of a string of close
decisions (at least four - at 7, 22, 25 and 55 - springing to
mind immediately) that had gone in his favour. But one can
not deny him considerable plaudits for his effort. It was
another performance among many from him in recent seasons
which offered a great testament to his powers of
concentration, his reserves of energy and his ability to take
toll of a labouring attack. Confirmation of the impact of the
innings came in the notion that his is now the highest score
ever made by an Australian against India, exceeding the 213
made by former captain Kim Hughes in 1980/81. What was
additionally only the fifth ever double century by an
Australian against this foe ultimately finished twenty minutes
before lunch when he launched a tired off drive at the gentle
off spin of Sachin Tendulkar but succeeded only in lofting a
short distance to the right of Venkatesh Prasad at extra
cover.
Full postMiddle order batsmen put Orissa in command
Sound middle order batting put Orissa in a position of some strength at close of play on the second day of their East Zone Ranji Trophy league match against Assam at the Angul stadium on Tuesday
05-Jan-2000
Sound middle order batting put Orissa in a position of some strength
at close of play on the second day of their East Zone Ranji Trophy
league match against Assam at the Angul stadium on Tuesday. After
scoring 425, they took three first innings wickets for 117 runs.
Resuming at 262 for five, Orissa were well served by the overnight not
out batsmen P Jaichandra and R Morris. They took the score to 311
before Jaichandra was out for 72. He faced 111 balls and hit eleven
fours and a six. Morris and G Gopal then took the score to 366 before
the latter was dismissed for a valuable 30. Morris with the help of
the tail kept the innings going till he was last out for 88. He faced
147 balls and hit seven fours and four sixes. Sukhbinder Singh, with
five wickets for 129 runs, was the most successful bowler.
When Assam batted, skipper Zuffri scored a gallant 68 for which he
faced 95 balls and hit ten boundaries. But his dismissal shortly
before close was a severe blow and Assam were in some trouble at
stumps.
Full postKuruvilla, Mhambrey put Mumbai in command
Two former Indian opening bowlers Abhey Kuruvilla and Paras Mhambrey struck as Mumbai took a handsome first innings lead of 114 runs on the second day of their West Zone Ranji Trophy league match against Saurashtra at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai
05-Jan-2000
Two former Indian opening bowlers Abhey Kuruvilla and Paras Mhambrey
struck as Mumbai took a handsome first innings lead of 114 runs on the
second day of their West Zone Ranji Trophy league match against
Saurashtra at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday. The home team
then consolidated their position by hitting 53 for one at close of
play.
It was Mhambrey who rocked Saurashtra initially by taking three quick
wickets. He dismissed both openers SS Tanna and Vasanth Kumar in his
first over for ducks. Saurashtra, in reply to Mumbai's 297 were
tottering at 44 for five. Then FU Bambhaniya (59) and MM Parmar (32)
steadied the innings with a sixth wicket partnership of 80 runs in 24
overs. Then it was Kuruvilla's turn to strike. He dismissed both
Bambhaniya and Parmar, took two more wickets and Saurashtra were again
struggling at 140 for nine. A last wicket stand of 43 runs in 14.3
overs between Garsondia (25) and Chavda (15 not out) stretched the
innings a bit. Mhambrey had three for 46 while Kuruvilla finished with
five for 47.
Full postBengal on course for first innings lead
Nilambar Saha and Rohan Gavaskar with unbeaten knocks of 54 and 49 added 70 runs to put Bengal on course to make a fitting reply to Bihar's first innings total of 341 at stumps on the second day of their East Zone Ranji Trophy league match at the
05-Jan-2000
Nilambar Saha and Rohan Gavaskar with unbeaten knocks of 54 and 49
added 70 runs to put Bengal on course to make a fitting reply to
Bihar's first innings total of 341 at stumps on the second day of
their East Zone Ranji Trophy league match at the Keenan stadium in
Jamshedpur on Tuesday. At stumps Bengal were 128 for one.
Saha dominated a first wicket partnership of 58 runs in 17.3 overs
with H Firozi (7) and then in association with Gavaskar, he helped
Bengal consolidate. By close, Saha had faced 112 balls and hit ten
fours while the left handed Gavaskar had faced 71 balls and had four
hits to the ropes.
Earlier, Bengal skipper Utpal Chatterjee played a leading role in
restricting Bihar. Resuming at 223 for five, Bihar lost wickets at
regular intervals and were 299 for nine. However a last wicket stand
of 42 runs off 15.3 overs between Avinash Kumar (32 not out) and S
Gupta (25) boosted the Bihar total. Chatterjee finished with five for
90 off 54.1 overs with his left arm spinners, picking up three of the
five wickets to fall on the second day.
Full postMaharashtra in trouble against Baroda
Despite a gallant unbeaten 77 by opener SS Bhave, Maharashtra were in all sorts of trouble at stumps on the second day of their West Zone Ranji Trophy league match against Baroda at the Deccan Gymkhana ground in Pune on Tuesday
05-Jan-2000
Despite a gallant unbeaten 77 by opener SS Bhave, Maharashtra were in
all sorts of trouble at stumps on the second day of their West Zone
Ranji Trophy league match against Baroda at the Deccan Gymkhana ground
in Pune on Tuesday. Replying to Baroda's first innings total of 393,
the home team were 134 for six at close of play.
Resuming at 309 for seven, Baroda lost two quick wickets but then the
innings got an unexpected bonus in the form of a partnership of 74
runs in 97 minutes off 22 overs between No 10 RB Patel (26 not out)
and No 11 Z Khan (48). The former faced 53 balls and hit four of them
to the ropes while the more aggressive Khan faced 81 balls and hit
seven fours and a six.
Maharashtra started off well with Bhave and DS Jadhav (16) putting on
56 runs for the first wicket off 33.2 overs. But then wickets fell at
regular intervals. Bhave however stood firm amidst the ruins and by
close of play had batted about 4-1/2 hours, faced 180 balls and hit
eleven fours.
Full postODI No. 2: WI v NZ: Taupo - A Review
There are at least three things that were so very obvious, if one really looked, after the New Zealanders took a 2-0 lead over the West Indies in this five match series
Colin E. Croft
05-Jan-2000
There are at least three things that were so very obvious, if one
really looked, after the New Zealanders took a 2-0 lead over the West
Indies in this five match series.
Firstly, if you did not believe it, then you should. One day cricket
is changed forever. Twenty years ago, Daniel Vettori, as an orthodox
left arm leg break bowler, would not have been selected for his
bowling, as fast bowlers ruled then. However, he was again the
architect of the West Indies downfall. He bowled with tremendous
guile, as he did in the first game. Here, though, he was that much
better, attacking the batsmen by bowling straight at them. He actually
teased the West Indian batsmen to try to dispatch him. None did.
8-1-24-4 were not just flattering figures. These did not come from a
late West Indian slog. These figures were well worked out, and
achieved, when the West Indies, in the forms of Jimmy Adams and
Ricardo Powell, were trying to recover from the poor start the team
had had which saw them to 31-3. By then, Brian Lara and the two
openers, Sherwin Campbell and Ridley Jacobs had already departed.
Vettori's "Man of the Match" effort was pure magic.
Secondly, there was a repeat of the first game in the second for the
West Indies. Considering that "Olde Lang Syne" was sung almost a week
ago now, deja vu is still with the West Indies. In the first game,
the West Indies deteriorated from 111-1 in the 18th over to only
manage 268-7 in 50 overs. In this 2nd game, the West Indies again
only managed 42 runs in the last 10 overs, while losing five wickets.
They moved from 150-5 in over 32 to the eventual 192 all out in over
42. It seems that when the going gets tough, when the pressure should
be put mostly on the fielding side in the final 10 or so overs, the
West Indies just cannot, or do not have the lower order batting
skills, to implement this pressure. Less than 200 runs in 42 overs
was again hopelessly inadequate, especially when that total was easily
within grasp. One day cricket is a team game. The West Indies
cricket team have got to remember this, if nothing else.
Full postNorthward journey for Vinoo Mankad Trophy
The North Zone Under 19 team won the Vinoo Mankad Trophy at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on January 1st beating Rest of India by three wickets
05-Jan-2000
The North Zone Under 19 team won the Vinoo Mankad Trophy at the MA
Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on January 1st beating Rest of India by
three wickets. The Vinoo Mankad trophy is contested by the winner of
the CK Nayudu inter zonal tournament and the Rest of India. North had
won the CK Nayudu Trophy just a day earlier after winning all four
matches in the round robin league.
The Rest of India won the toss and made 223-7 in their 50 overs.
Prashant Joshi top scored with 95 (106 balls, 6 fours, 1 six) before
he was run out and Sushant Manjrekar provided the acceleration towards
the end with an unbeaten 41 off 43 balls (3 fours, 1 six). For North
Ravneet Ricky took two wickets but captain Reetinder Sodhi was the
best bowler with figures of 10-4-25-1.
North openers Ravneet Ricky(66) and Manish Sharma (76) then seemed to
have taken the game away from the Rest by putting on 141 for the first
wicket in 35.5 overs. But Rest captain Venugopala Rao triggered a
collapse by ripping out the North top order. He grabbed 5 wickets in
the space of 20 balls to reduce North to 168-5 and the game again hung
in the balance. When North lost their seventh wicket at 203 from the
last ball of the 47th over they needed 21 from 24 balls. But Chetan
Sharma put the issue beyond doubt with a rousing 17 from 7 balls as
North won with an over to spare. No.4 Yuvraj Singh had withstood all
the mayhem from the other end with an unruffled 36 from 28 balls. Rao
ended with 5-37 from 9 overs.
The list of 25 probables for the Under 19 World Cup beginning January
11 will be pruned to a final squad of 15 by the junior national
selection committee when they meet at Chennai tomorrow.
Full postODI No. 1: WI v NZ: Auckland - A Review
Maybe Stephen Fleming, the New Zealand captain, is right
Colin Croft
02-Jan-2000
Maybe Stephen Fleming, the New Zealand captain, is right. Right now, the West Indies cricket team does seem to be more prepared and certainly more suited for one day cricket than for Tests. The effort put out by the West Indies to win their first game of the new Millenium was considerable and pleasing to watch.
The move by Brian Lara to bat at No. 3 after Sherwin Campbell and Ridley Jacobs had given the West Indies a great start of 111 runs in only 18 overs was also a good, positive gamble. Lara seemed determined to make the first game of 2000 into a winner for the West Indies. He could even be excused if he thought, but did not voice, that he might have been let down by his bowlers when they batted, but especially when they bowled.
With such a start, 96-0 from the first 15 overs, the West Indies should have made at least 300 runs, especially after Daniel Vettori, New Zealand's leg spinner, had completed his wonderful stint of 10-1-28-1 in the middle overs. Nathan Astle has become more useful as an all-rounder, contributing a needed 9-0-37-1 to New Zealand's effort, after Chris Cairns left the field with a suspected back problem. It must be pleasing to his captain that Astle is becoming such a player. Meanwhile, the lower middle order of the West Indies just did not fire.
The first five West Indian batsmen, Campbell, Jacobs, Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ricardo Powell all made double figures, with the first three getting half centuries. Yet, the West Indies deteriorated from being 249-3 to being 268-7, their final score, in the space of three overs. When a team is tentative in its beliefs and not confident of its own efforts, such things as giving away the initial advantage do happen.
Full postNZ Beats Windies and Rain
The West Indies looked like a team intent on revenge for their test series savaging in the opening match of the one-day series against New Zealand
Chris Rosie
02-Jan-2000
The West Indies looked like a team intent on revenge for their test
series savaging in the opening match of the one-day series against New
Zealand.
Brian Lara won the toss and sent in Sherwin Campbell and Ridley Jacobs
to face Dion Nash and Chris Cairns on an Eden Park pitch that had
already been used for a domestic one-dayer, a match that produced just
223 runs.
Six runs off the first over set the scene. Cairns went for 11 in his
second. Jacobs hit a six off Nash in the fifth. It all added up to 27
runs off the first five overs, Jacobs and Campbell employing the ideal
mixture of quick singles and controlled hitting.
In the seventh over, Stephen Fleming brought the left-arm paceman
Shayne O'Connor on for Nash, whose three overs had cost 14 runs. The
run-rate did not slacken, six coming from the over.
Full postMumbai force Gujarat into a corner
Paras Mhambrey pushed Gujarat to the brink of defeat at stumps on the third day of their four day West Zone Ranji Trophy match against Mumbai at the Lalabhai Contractor stadium in Surat on Wednesday
30-Dec-1999
Paras Mhambrey pushed Gujarat to the brink of defeat at stumps on the
third day of their four day West Zone Ranji Trophy match against
Mumbai at the Lalabhai Contractor stadium in Surat on Wednesday. In
arrears by 114 runs on the first innings, Gujarat were 93 for six at
close of play.
Replying to Gujarat's first innings total of 305, Maharashtra were all
out for 419. They were given a fine start with openers Wasim Jaffer
and AA Pagnis putting on 123 runs in 35.5 overs. Pagnis was out for
52, compiled off 100 balls and inclusive of eight hits to the
fence. Then Jaffar and Vinod Kambli got entrenched in a fourth wicket
association that added 152 runs from 44.4 overs. Jaffer was then out
for a marathon 173 for which he occupied the crease for 409
minutes. He faced 312 deliveries and hit 21 fours and a six. Kambli
then kept the innings going until he was last out for 116. He faced
203 balls and hit eleven fours and a six.
When Gujarat batted a second time, Mhambrey struck early and then
wickets fell at regular intervals. Opener ND Modi stood firm with an
unbeaten 38 for which he batted a shade over three hours but Mhambrey
cut through the batting and by stumps had taken four for 15.
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