Report
What a start for the West Indies!
On the first day of this first Test match against New Zealand, Adrian Griffith, in his fourth Test, and his more seasoned partner, Sherwin Campbell, in his 35th Test, did a few things and even set some new records along the way
Colin Croft
16-Dec-1999
On the first day of this first Test match against New Zealand, Adrian Griffith, in his fourth Test, and his more seasoned partner, Sherwin Campbell, in his 35th Test, did a few things and even set some new records along the way. It would be interesting to note some of their achievements.
Firstly, they managed to break a 20 year old West Indian record for opening batsmen playing in New Zealand. Not a small feat at all, really, since that record, 225 at Christ Church on that ill-tempered tour of 1980, was put on by the best pair of openers ever to play for the West Indies, that venerable opening pair of Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes. Strangely, perhaps not incidentally, they too were another pair of opening batsmen from Barbados.
In stretching that opening partnership to 276, Griffith and Campbell also broke a West Indian all-wicket partnership record of 269, against New Zealand. This particular record had belonged to Roy Fredericks and Lawrence Rowe, scored at Sabina Park, Jamaica in 1972. That was Rowe's first Test and he went on to make 214 (plus another 100 in the second innings) and Fredericks 163.
Further still, this was the second highest opening partnership in New Zealand for all Test teams. However, Griffith and Campbell were somewhat away from that particular record; 413 were scored by Pankhag Roy and Vinoo Mankad, the Indian batsmen, in 1955.
Full postWest Indies openers in command on day one
The first scoring shot said virtually everything about the opening day of the first New Zealand test at Hamilton: a loosener from Dion Nash wide outside West Indies opener Sherwin Campbell's off stump casually flicked high over point for four
Chris Rosie
16-Dec-1999
The first scoring shot said virtually everything about the opening day of
the first New Zealand test at Hamilton: a loosener from Dion Nash wide
outside West Indies opener Sherwin Campbell's off stump casually flicked
high over point for four.
When Campbell departed just 15 minutes short of stumps, his score was 170,
the West Indies had 282 and he was New Zealand's only success of the day.
Campbell and Adrian Griffith between them had set a new opening stand
against New Zealand of 276, Griffith had completed his maiden test century
and was not out on 103 and things generally look bleak for the New
Zealanders going into the second day.
Campbell had much to thank his captain for. Brian Lara made only one
appearance on the field but it was long enough to win the toss and ensure
his batsmen first use of a pitch that offered little invitation to the pace
men. So it proved. New Zealand went into the match with Chris Cairns and
Dion Nash as its opening pair but what bounce was available was generally
slow, neither West Indian looking in any trouble. The result was the
unusual sight of spin, in the form of Daniel Vettori's orthodox left arm,
in action in the 10th over.
While neither batsman was in any difficulty, it did appear the gentle grass
surrounds of Hamilton's WestpacTrust Park had created a gentle Sunday
atmosphere instead of the tension of a test match. Only 23 runs came off
the 14 overs in the first hour. The scoring rate picked up in the second
hour but even then West Indies went to lunch at just 57.
Full postSix wicket win for Himachal
Himachal Pradesh beat Jammu and Kashmir by six wickets in a North Zone Vijay Merchant Trophy match at Bilaspur on Wednesday to collect 8 points
16-Dec-1999
Himachal Pradesh beat Jammu and Kashmir by six wickets in a North Zone
Vijay Merchant Trophy match at Bilaspur on Wednesday to collect 8
points. After Vimash Kawd's 122 (255 balls, 10 fours) had taken J&K to
233 all out, Anubhav Dutt bagged 5-48 to restrict Himachal to a lead
of 34. Captain Munish Gupta's 87 was the cornerstone of Himachal's
innings. But a disastrous collapse in their second innings spelt the
end of J&K's challenge as they faded away to 118 with Kawd's 54 once
more being the only spark. Set just 85 to win, Himachal breezed to
88-4 in the 24th over.
Full postRatan Kumar, Dhoni help Bihar recover
An unbroken sixth wicket partnership of 99 off 33.3 overs between opener Ratan Kumar and MS Dhoni rescued Bihar from a shaky position on the opening day of their Cooch Behar Trophy (under-19) final against Punjab at the Keenan stadium in Jamshedpur
16-Dec-1999
An unbroken sixth wicket partnership of 99 off 33.3 overs between
opener Ratan Kumar and MS Dhoni rescued Bihar from a shaky position on
the opening day of their Cooch Behar Trophy (under-19) final against
Punjab at the Keenan stadium in Jamshedpur on Thursday. After being
159 for five, Bihar recovered to 258 without further loss from 95
overs at stumps.
Winning the toss, Bihar made a poor start when Gagandeep Singh bowled
S Vig for one with his first delivery with the total at two in the
second over. F Khan (22) and Ratan Kumar steadied the innings by
adding 48 runs for the second wicket off 9.2 overs. The recovery
process was maintained by Ratan Kumar and A Hashmi (43) putting on 75
runs for the third wicket from 40.3 overs. Hashmi batted 162 minutes,
faced 123 balls and hit seven of them to the ropes. Sanwal who
dismissed Hashmi then bowled Manish Kumar for six. Shortly afterwards
T Pratap was leg before wicket to Yuvraj Singh for 15 and Punjab had
wrested the initiative.
However Ratan Kumar was playing the sheet anchor role and he now found
an able partner in wicketkeeper Dhoni. While Ratan Kumar stood firm,
Dhoni made some bold strokes and dominated the partnership. While
Ratan Kumar took 235 minutes and 193 balls to reach his half century,
Dhoni brought up his 50 off 83 balls and in 74 minutes. By stumps
Dhoni was unbeaten with 70. He faced 116 balls and hit eleven fours
and two sixes. Ratan Kumar by close had faced 285 balls and hit nine
fours. For Punjab, Sanwal's two wickets cost him 90 runs from 27 overs
while Yuvraj, Gagandeep and HK Kali took one wicket each.
Full postFirst Test Preview: New Zealand v West Indies
As if to emulate each other, both teams to contest this 1st Test have some injury worries
Colin Croft
15-Dec-1999
As if to emulate each other, both teams to contest this 1st Test have some injury worries.
The West Indies have a leg problem with Merve Dillon, almost a certainty to play in the Test, if fully fit. He was hit while batting in the nets on the penultimate day before the Test, during the last practice session.
Dion Nash, the bowling all-rounder from New Zealand, is also having some problems with his continuing injury foot from India.
Both will be very late starters, at best.
Full postPunjab to meet Bihar in final
Not unexpectedly, Punjab made it to the title round of the Cooch Behar Trophy in Jamshedpur on Tuesday, by virtue of their first innings lead of 249 runs against Madhya Pradesh at the Telco club ground
15-Dec-1999
Not unexpectedly, Punjab made it to the title round of the Cooch Behar
Trophy in Jamshedpur on Tuesday, by virtue of their first innings lead
of 249 runs against Madhya Pradesh at the Telco club ground. Resuming
at 296 for two in reply to MP's first innings total of 268, Punjab
batted almost the full day and went on to get 517 off 166
overs. Skipper Yuvraj Singh, who was 103 overnight, went on to get
122. Then there were valuable contributions from the other overnight
batsman V Mahajan (35), M Dhuper (31) and SP Singh (58). There were
several notable partnerships - 77 for the third wicket between Yuvraj
and Mahajan; 52 for the fourth wicket between Mahajan and Dhuper; and
55 runs for the sixth wicket between SP Singh and AS Sodhi (17). Even
the tail wagged and No 9 Gagandeep Singh (21) and No 10 SK Sanwal (26)
added 39 runs for the ninth wicket.
Full postBihar enter Cooch Behar final
Bihar, on the basis of their first innings lead of 140 runs, entered the final of the Cooch Behar Trophy (under-19) tournament at the Keenan stadium in Jamshedpur on Tuesday
15-Dec-1999
Bihar, on the basis of their first innings lead of 140 runs, entered
the final of the Cooch Behar Trophy (under-19) tournament at the
Keenan stadium in Jamshedpur on Tuesday. Delhi, who were 115 for two
in reply to Bihar's first innings total of 398, were all out for
258. In the remaining time, Bihar scored 56 for the loss of two
wickets.
Delhi were in the running when they were 226 for five but they lost
their last five wickets for 32 runs. The overnight batsmen G Gambhir
and P Chawla continued to bat confidently and took their third wicket
association to 116 runs off 35.2 overs. Chawla was then out for 56 for
which he faced 111 balls and hit nine fours. Gambhir was fourth out at
159 for 81. He faced 18 balls and hit 13 fours. A fifth wicket fell at
163 but then Delhi's hopes were raised by a sixth wicket partnership
of 63 runs from 33 overs between skipper R Gupta and V Razdan
(35). However, once Razdan fell, the tail offered little
resistance. But Gupta however stood firm and was unbeaten with 57 when
the innings came to an end. He faced 175 balls and had four hits to
the ropes. Diwakar and Vikash Kumar took four wickets each. The rest
of the match was a formality.
Bihar will now meet Punjab in the three day final commencing on
December 16.
Full postHyderabad post comfortable win
Hyderabad beat Kerala by six wickets in their South Zone Vijay Merchant Trophy match at Calicut yesterday
15-Dec-1999
Hyderabad beat Kerala by six wickets in their South Zone Vijay Merchant Trophy match at Calicut yesterday. Set 111 to win Hyderabad coasted to 114-4 in the 28th over. However Hyderabad had to undergo some anxious moments over the preceding two days. They allowed the home team to recover from 53-7 to total 146 in their first innings. Hyderabad then struggled to overhaul them and it was left to No.4 Abhinav Kumar (76) in the company of last man Nalin Reddy to take the visitors past Kerala's total to 161. Reddy took 6-44 to demolish Kerala in their second knock for 125 and set up Hyderabad's victory for which they collected 8 points.
Full postAustralia wrap it up quickly
Since the 1993/94 season, Australia has not lost a Test series at home and India not won one away
John Polack
14-Dec-1999
Since the 1993/94 season, Australia has not lost a Test series at home
and India not won one away. Accordingly, it was probably to be
expected that the first match of their three Test battle in Australia
would provide the platform for the home team to flex its considerable
contemporary cricketing muscle. And so it proved here at the Adelaide
Oval; the locals today putting the seal on a comprehensive 285 run
victory.
As it eventuated, play on the final day only lasted a mere 54
minutes. Overnight batsmen Saurav Ganguly (43) and MSK Prasad (11)
battled gamely through the first 20 of those but, after that, the
sparse crowd of 4717 witnessed little more than a procession. Once the
former was out hooking at Damien Fleming, presenting Adam Gilchrist
with the chance to take a brilliant one-handed catch down leg side in
the process, there was indeed precious little resistance. Fleming
(5/30) rapidly became the star for the home side, capturing four of
the five wickets to fall today and ending not only with a third five
wicket haul at this level but his finest ever Test figures no less.
On a wearing pitch, the Australians only required Fleming and fellow
paceman Glenn McGrath (3/35) to bowl today, those two wholly exposing
the breaches that had been made evident in the Indians' defences last
evening. Around McGrath's dismissal of Javagal Srinath (11), Fleming
captured four wickets for seven runs in the space of 23 deliveries in
an excellent performance. There was, however, time for one moment of
extreme disappointment in between.
After removing Ganguly and Ajit Agarkar (0) with successive
deliveries, the speedster was on the verge of the rare feat of a
second Test hat-trick to complement one taken in Pakistan in
1994. But, in an extraordinary scene, the Victorian had his hopes
dashed when Shane Warne at first slip grassed a regulation catch
offered to him by a slashing Srinath.
Full postCampbell on fire
Sherwin Campbell, the 29-year-old Barbadian opening batsman who seems to get better with every passing innings, stole most of the limelight when he scored his second hundred of the match as the West Indies` four-day match bustled along to its
Don Cameron
14-Dec-1999
Sherwin Campbell, the 29-year-old Barbadian opening batsman who seems to
get better with every passing innings, stole most of the limelight when he
scored his second hundred of the match as the West Indies` four-day match
bustled along to its inevitable draw yesterday.
But the 20-year-old opener from Trinidad, Daren Ganga, gained a fair share
of the centre-stage when he scored his first century for West Indies,
figured in an opening second innings stand of 196 with Campbell, and was
warmly greeted by his team-mates when he returned.
When the start of play was delayed by four hours because of rain, the West
Indies` second innings became necessarily a batting exercise.
The Auckland bowlers withered under the punishment inflicted by Campbell`s
flashing blade, and from the 47 overs they provided Campbell, Ganga and a
brief show from Shivnarine Chanderpaul brought 228 runs without loss.
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