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Royal College 294 for 6 dec and 35 for 2 lead St Thomas College 245 for 7 (Silva 85, Paduwawala 51) by 84 runs
ScorecardA captain’s innings of 85 from Kaushal Silva brought St Thomas College back into the match on the second day of their game against Royal College at the Sinhalese Sports Club. The day was almost a carbon-copy of yesterday – early successes for the bowlers, a middle-order recovery, and then late wickets.St Thomas College resumed on 22 for 2, and half-an-hour after lunch were in deep trouble at 91 for 6. But Silva, who has represented Sri Lanka at U19 level, arrested the slide in a seventh-wicket stand of 114 with Paduwawala (51*) which occupied a session-and-a-half and ground Royal’s bowlers down.Silva’s 196-minute innings was ended by Manoj Morawake, Royal’s most successful bowler with 3 for 45, but that only increased the tempo as Paduwawala and Videsh Balasubramaniam (25*) accelerated, smacking 40 in six overs.St Thomas declared 49 in arrears to leave Royal’s batsmen a tricky hour before the close, and the bold move paid off as Balasubramaniam, a legspinner who had bowled poorly in the first innings, removed both openers before bad light brought an early finish.With only one day remaining, the odds are on this match ending in a draw, although another morning of cheap wickets could give St Thomas a chance.

Many eyebrows were raised at the completion of the recent lowscoring one-day series between New Zealand and India. Even NewZealand cricket’s top man, Martin Snedden, was quite displeasedwith the state of pitches in the series. Ironically enough,Snedden is one person who would know more about getting smackedaround the park; he holds the dubious distinction of being theonly bowler to have conceded more than 100 runs in a World Cupinnings!But say what you will, the nature of the one-day game is suchthat it is geared for instant entertainment, and that invariablyinvolves the ball flying to all directions in the field. The NewZealand series was an aberration at best, and rarely have bowlershad such a good time in a one-day series. In fact, even the fastbowlers have had the benefit of the new ball and early-morningmoisture to help them; it is the spinners who have been thewhipping-boys of spectacle called one-day cricket.

Indeed, there was even a time when spinners were unwanted in oneday cricket. That changed when Imran Khan used Abdul Qadir as anattacking option during the 1983 World Cup. Qadir obliginglysnapped up four wickets against New Zealand, and then fiveagainst Sri Lanka. Mind you, Qadir was a complete leg-spinbowler, a master of his craft; he had a deadly googly thatbamboozled even the very best of batsmen, and in 1983, Qadir waspossibly at the peak of his powers.Spin played a large role in Indian one-day victories as well, andthat is a factor that most people do not recall about Indiawinning the Benson & Hedges World Championship in 1984/85. On thebouncy tracks down under, India employed spin as a mode of attackto claim wickets, a ploy that no team had effectively pursuedbefore. I was then the manager of the Indian team, and it was apleasure to see Laxman Sivaramakrishnan and Ravi Shastri bowl intandem, picking up wickets at regular intervals.One absolute necessity for this strategy to work is the presenceof an astute captain who is willing to set fields for spin andattack without qualms. Imran was a sharp leader, and so was SunilGavaskar; both knew the psyches of their bowlers only too well,and they ensured that the spinners got the fields they wanted andbowled with the sole objective of taking wickets.

On the other hand, if spinners bowl only to restrict, it becomesa totally different ball game. For starters, it would allow abatting side on 180 for two in 40 overs to easily add around 100runs in the remaining 10. That scenario would change completelyif two spinners picked four wickets between them in theirallotted 20 overs. Any team that loses four wickets in the middleovers will struggle to make it to 235, and that is why I believethat spin will have an important role to play, not just in thisWorld Cup but in all one-day internationals.A close analysis will reveal that it is the teams without qualityspinners that go in for bits-and-pieces medium-pacers to seethrough the middle overs. The really good spinners – Shane Warne,Muttiah Muralitharan and Saqlain Mushtaq – have taken the art ofone-day spin bowling to dizzying new levels. The game, in fact,owes Warne much for reinventing spin; he always looks to attack,whatever the situation, and even the fielder on the midwicketfence becomes an attacking position when Warne weaves his magic.As I mentioned earlier, it takes a very good captain to see to itthat a spinner succeeds in one-day cricket, and Warne was luckyto start his career under the experienced and wily Allan Border.Even Mark Taylor was quick to recognise the significance ofWarne’s attacking role when he took over the captaincy, and oneof the consequences – Warne’s match-winning performance in the1996 World Cup semi-final against the West Indies at Mohali – issimply unforgettable.

Being an off-spinner myself, there is no way I can ignoreMuralitharan’s contribution to this arena. The amount of turn hegets on any surface makes him a very special talent, and it was apleasure to give him the CEAT International Cricketer of the Yearaward last Tuesday. I am sure Arjuna Ranatunga deserves much ofthe credit when people talk about the mercurial rise ofMuralitharan, but the genial off-spinner’s own qualities havehelped in no small measure. I was quite moved when Muraliapproached me after the awards ceremony for some help; he wantedmy advice on how to bowl to batsmen who are adept at playing thesweep-shot. If not for the prodigious turn alone, I admire Muralifor still wanting to constantly learn and perfect his art, evenat the peak of a brilliant career.Murali and Warne’s success over the recent years has made onething clear – spin is no more a mere sidekick to fast bowling. Itcan be devastatingly attacking in its own right, and as aspinner, I am proud that spin is holding its own – and doingrather well at that – not only in Test cricket but in the one-daygame as well.

In a thrilling and controversial match between two of the top three sides in Division One of the NCL the Notts Outlaws successfully chased a revised (D/L) victory target of 228 to win by six wickets with four balls to spare. Paul Johnson led the run–chase scoring 88 not out. Earlier, the reigning champions had posted a total of 228-8 with Jeremy Snape hitting his first competitive century.Greg Blewett’s first innings as an opener for Notts lasted until the third over when Michael Cawdron trapped him lbw. In another attacking change of order Paul Johnson was promoted to number three but it was Notts skipper Darren Bicknell who gave the innings early impetus, sweetly timing seven boundaries in a classy half-century (70 mins 72 bails).On a good batting track runs flowed as easily as they had for the Gladiators lower order and the 100 was posted in the 22nd over. Johnson began to monopolise the strike and moved within 5 of his partner as he brought up his own 50 (74 mins 53 bails 6×4)The stand had reached 118 when Bicknell, in trying to work Mark Hardinges to leg, played all round the ball and was bowled. Usman Afzaal then came to the crease and was shortly the innocent party of a controversial incident.Johnson pulled Snape high to midwicket, towards Martyn Ball. The fielder, leaping high, completed a brilliant catch but clearly appeared to come down adjacent to the boundary rope, his ankle seeming to twist as he landed. Ball, presumably realising that he couldn’t complete the catch fairly, dropped the ball but recovered to hurl it in towards Jack Russell. Johnson had wandered down the wicket after his shot and both batsmen were at the same end – although they had made a token crossing.Russell removed the bails and despite a hostile crowd screaming that the rope had been touched the umpires gave Afzaal out, much to the anger of the spectatorsGloucs may well have rued the emergence from the pavilion of Kevin Pietersen, who for the second day running flayed the bowling to all, parts. A quite scintillating half century came up in just 34 minutes (35 balls 6×4 1×6). When he departed only 2 runs were needed for victory and Johnson completed the formalities.Earlier the Gladiators had recovered from 33-5 to reach 228–8 from a rain– reduced 44 overs. The final total was indebted to a domestic one–day seventh wicket record of 164 between Jeremy Snape and Mark Hardinges; Snape hitting an unbeaten 104 and Hardinges weighing in with 65 on his competition debut.

South Africa has tied the inaugural Super Challenge 2000 series at Melbourne’s Colonial Stadium at one match apiece with a eight run win in the third and final match of what has proved to be a very innovative and enjoyable series.There were several heroes for the visitors, in particular the underrated left arm spinner Nicky Boje, who took 2/29 from ten overs of very accurate left arm spin and was awarded the Man of Series award. He proved difficult to get away in the mid to latter stages of the match and along with skipper Shaun Pollock (2/36 off eight) did some valuable damage during the run chase. Pollock proved again his great ability with the new ball getting the first two wickets while Adam Gilchrist (63 off 67 balls) powered away in the opening stages of Australia’s innings.Curiously right at the death Andrew Hall, who kept very well in the absence of the finger knife slicing Mark Boucher, was called up to bowl the second last over, with 22 needed. He started with a nervous wide but held up well under the pressure to concede only eight off the over and this left the Aussies needing 14 off the last.Jacques Kallis took the ball and after a smiling conversation involving he and skipper Pollock, South Africa wrapped up the match with a bit to spare.Earlier, South Africa were in desperate trouble at 4/19 in the seventh over, after great opening spells by Glenn McGrath (3/26 off ten overs) and Brett Lee (3/56 off ten).McGrath was first to strike, finding the edge of Andrew Hall’s (1) bat and Mark Waugh accepted the hot head high chance at second slip.At the Latrobe Street end, Brett Lee, who started to find his rhythm after an early speight of no balls, struck twice in his third over, having Kallis edge a lifting ball through to Gilchrist for three and then Daryl Cullinan went, bowled between bat and pad by a very sharp in dipper for a fourth ball duck. The veteran right-hander will come away from his Colonial Stadium experience was little fondness for it after a pair of noughts in the last two matches. South Africa were now 3/19 as Neil McKenzie walked out to join the experienced Kirsten.McGrath knocked over Kirsten (9) thanks again to the safe hands of Mark Waugh at second slip and at 4/19 the 15,000 odd that had bothered to make it for the 10am start were facing a free afternoon.South Africa have come from the depths of these positions before to win matches and today the men who rose to the challenge with the bat were Neil McKenzie (45) and Lance Klusener (49) who added 98 for the fifth wicket in 26 overs. They were the initial heroes with the bat, with Shaun Pollack (34) and Nicky Boje (28 off 28 balls) ensuring South Africa got past 200 after falling to 7/150 in the 43rd over after the initial recovery. The pair added an unbeaten 56 in seven and a half overs and with the Australians slow in bowling their overs and subsequently having their innings reduced to 48 overs, the South African total reached a level of respectability.This reduction to 48 overs was a real surprise, given the fairly liberal interpretation of the rule in the previous two matches.In Game one, South Africa were 21 minutes over time and on Friday Australia were around a quarter of an hour but neither were penalised in any way. Admittedly though on Wednesday, South Africa’s bowlers were continually cleaning their sprigs giving the damp nature of the surface.In the Australian reply, Shaun Pollock picked up the first wicket, with a fairly straight ball which Mark Waugh played around as he came forward to drive. Waugh went for a single and Australia were 1/21 in the seventh over.Adam Gilchrist was making the job of batting look very easy as he opened his shoulders to eventually hit nine fours and a pulled six over square leg off Roger TelemachusRicky Ponting would have been disappointed with his dismissal as he played an impatient shot which brought about his downfall, attempting to loft Pollock over the on-side on the up. The result – a catch to Makhaya Ntini at mid on and Australia were now tottering a little at 2/31.Gilchrist continued to make batting look easy but his batting partner Michael Bevan was doing anything but, as he struggled to find a gap in the field with thirteen balls being needed before he could get off the mark.Gilchrist’s entertaining hand came to an end on 63 in the 20th over as he attempted a pull shot off Ntini and top edged it as high and as close as any ball had been near the roof, to be caught by Neil McKenzie at backward point.Ntini, who had been working up some pace during his first spell, struck the Aussie skipper Steve Waugh on the left arm with his next ball which was a sharp, rising delivery. Waugh rubbed his arm vigourously and Ntini returned to the top of his bowling mark, intent to try and put his side on top in the match.The eventual loss of the Australian captain, was a big blow for South Africa, as Waugh lofted Lance Klusener to mid off after making 17 and in the 29th over Australia were reduced to 4/114.Bevan had now started to find the gaps but when he reached 33 off 80 balls, he was brilliantly run out by Neil McKenzie from backward point in the 35th over and Australia now needed right on a run a ball if they were to win the match and clinch this series.Shane Warne was elevated up the order and lofted a few deliveries to various points of the arena without being able to pick up a boundary.Damien Martyn eased the tension somewhat as he found the first boundary for nine overs by charging and lofting South African skipper over mid wicket to the fence but in the 38th over Warne attempted to take on Nicky Boje and holed out to a great catch by Gary Kirsten at a widish long-on for seven.Shane Lee played rebustly as the run rate required found its way to over six and he and Damien Martyn added 28 in six overs before Lee hoisted a ball to deep mid wicket where a good catch was taken by Neil McKenzie, Australia were 7/171.What eventually broke the back of the chase was the demise of Damien Martyn, who after making 31 off 42 balls, was bowled by a Telemachus yorker in the 45th over at 8/176, this left Australia needing 31 off three and a half overs and this, unsurprisngly proved too much for the remaining batsmen.

New Zealand 213 for 6 (McCullum 77, Sidebottom 3-51) beat England 242 for 7 (Wright 47, Mills 4-36) by 34 runs (Duckworth-Lewis)
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Last week, Brendon McCullum was the surprise package in the IPL auctions – today he batted like a cricketer with a million-dollar price tag. His superlative 77 from 43 balls ensured that New Zealand finished their five-match one-day series against England as they had begun it; with a thumpingly impressive victory. Had it not been for a late collapse of 3 for 1 in seven balls, and the even later invention of rain, this result would have been as comprehensive as New Zealand’s first two victories at Wellington and Hamilton. It really was that one-sided.England were off the pace throughout. They batted too slowly, bowled too naïvely, and fielded like a side resigned to defeat – four chances of varying degrees of difficulty were shelled while the game was still live, including a howler by Stuart Broad at third man when McCullum had made 31. New Zealand were led superbly in the field by Kyle Mills, who took 4 for 36 with two wickets in an eight-over burst with the new ball and two more with his offcutters in the death overs, but none of England’s bowlers seemed willing to follow his lead.James Anderson, once again, was especially culpable. He unleashed the Kiwi beast in his third over by serving up another diet of short wide long-hops that McCullum bludgeoned up and over the covers for two fours and a six. When he returned for a second burst at 75 for 0 in the tenth over, with his side in dire need of wickets, he was clobbered for three massive sixes in a row – the first, which was spectacularly caught in the second tier of the grandstand, took him to his fifty from just 27 balls.McCullum’s form in this series has been nothing short of sensational. He finished with 261 runs from 203 balls faced, and only once, at Auckland, did he fail to reach 40 – not surprisingly, that was the only game that New Zealand went on to lose. Once again he compiled a century stand with his new opening partner, Jesse Ryder, but on this occasion Ryder was little more than a bystander. By the time he was lucklessly run out for 24 from 32 balls, his partner had pummelled his way to 72 from 34.It was England’s captain, Paul Collingwood, who eventually ended McCullum’s stay. One ball after dropping a regulation return chance, he knocked back the off stump as McCullum attempted another heave through midwicket. But Jamie How, in the form of his life, responded with two sumptuous drives before the new batsman, Ross Taylor, got off the mark with consecutive edges for four. It was clear that nothing was going to stop New Zealand now.Well, almost nothing. Just as at Napier, England found a second wind at precisely the moment that everyone else had given up on them. Scott Styris was once again the unwitting catalyst, as he wellied an attempted pull to cover off the undeserving Anderson, before Ryan Sidebottom – very much in the zone – removed the debutant Daniel Flynn and the dangerous Jacob Oram with consecutive off-stump legcutters. At 198 for 6, there was a glimmer for England and they were convinced that Vettori had edged Anderson but Billy Bowden disagreed. Then came the mandatory ball change at the end of the 34th over, and the venom went out of their challenge as the rain began to fall.In truth, England scarcely deserved to get so close to victory. Batting first, their innings had been a mishmash of partially formed anchor roles, and all-too-brief cameos. Phil Mustard never got going, Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen played themselves in then gave their wickets away in crass fashion – Bell to a lofted drive, a shot he had been playing exquisitely, and Pietersen to a second-ball mow off the spinner, Jeetan Patel.Alastair Cook seemed set to drop anchor for the full 50 overs when he missed a quicker one from Daniel Vettori, who also served up the ball of the innings to have Collingwood stumped for 14. Owais Shah was scratchy in a rare lengthy opportunity, and in the end England owed every ounce of their competitiveness to Luke Wright and Dimitri Mascarenhas, who belted six sixes between them as 81 runs were added in the final eight overs.Unfortunately for England, Wright and Mascarenhas’s ease of strokeplay was the norm for this wicket, not the exception. By the time McCullum was into his stride, there was no doubt about the outcome. England had done well to recover their poise after the humiliations of the opening two games, but the 3-1 series result still flatters them. There is much for Collingwood and his team to work on before the return one-day series in June.

Imran Khan, the former Pakistan captain, has offered his services to help restore Pakistan’s status after their shocking exit from the World Cup in a three-wicket defeat against Ireland.”I am ready to sit down with the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board [PCB] and see what we could do to bring the nation out of this cricketing crisis,” Imran said in a television programme.Imran blamed captain Inzamam-ul-Haq for the debacle after Pakistan lost both their group matches – against the West Indies and Ireland – to become the first team to exit the World Cup.”His captaincy was timid,” Imran said. “Inzamam himself said before the World Cup that he would bat at No.4, but when the tournament began he came out to bat at No.5. This built pressure on the team and we simply collapsed against medium-pace bowlers of Ireland,” he explained.After the untimely death of the Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer, Imran advised the PCB to bring in two coaches – one for the bowlers and other for batsmen.”I would suggest Aaqib Javed should be the bowling coach because he had coached Pakistan to win two Under-19 World Cups,” Imran suggested. He added, without offering any names, that the PCB also should look for a good batting coach.Imran backed Younis Khan as the future captain. “It’s not the time to take drastic measures,” he said.Domestic cricket, in Imran’s opinion, also had to be streamlined in the manner in which domestic competitions were run in Australia and South Africa. “I have played in Sheffield Shield and I know they have the best system of just six teams in first-class cricket,” Imran said. “That’s the only way we could also produce quality cricketers,” he explained.

While quietly content at the manner in which India had seen off a feebleEnglish challenge in this game, Greg Chappell came out strongly in supportof a couple of his embattled batsmen. Virender Sehwag and Mohammad Kaifare both going through a prolonged drought, but Chappell was certain thatboth would emerge from it stronger.”Both Kaif and Sehwag are very experienced,” he said. “Both have theskills to succeed and we will give both as many chances as we possiblycan.” When asked about Kaif in particular – he now has four zeroes and 4in his last five one-day innings – Chappell harked back to his ownhorror-run in 1981-82. “I feel it’s more of a mental thing,” saidChappell. “The focus is not quite right, and the anxiety to succeeddoesn’t help you either.”When Chappell took over as coach last June, Kaif was one of the players tomake an immediate positive impression, with his excellence in the fieldand reputation as a hard worker. He also started the season superbly, andwas easily India’s best batsmen in the tri-series in Zimbabwe. However, ahamstring injury picked up in the Challenger Trophy final caused him tomiss the first five games against Sri Lanka, and he has found run-scoringa struggle since, with not even a half-century to his name.Despite some of his stars misfiring, Chappell ruled out wholesale changesor drastic experimentation with four more matches left to play in theseries. He did admit though that more of the squad players could be givenopportunities to prove their worth. He was especially impressed with theimpact made by Ramesh Powar when given his chance. “I am very happy withhis bowling. He’s a very clever bowler and got us important wickets inFaridabad. He’s fitting into the team very well.”Another to make the most of his fortune has been Suresh Raina, who led thechase in Faridabad, and followed it up with an assured 61 in Goa. Whenasked if Raina had done enough to warrant a move up the order, Chappellsaid: “We’ll have to see if it’s in his best interests. We’ve eased himinto the team, put him in some pressure situations, and he’s done well forus. Maybe he’s ready for more challenges.”The almost-inevitable and now-redundant query about a recall for SouravGanguly was met with a poker-faced “Who knows?” and he was visiblyirritated with yet another query about the pace at which Irfan Pathanbowled. “He’s not a fast bowler, but a swing bowler who has lot ofvariations. He took the wickets today with his change of pace, and we’revery happy with that.”Chappell’s curt response was understandable given how outstanding Pathanhas been in the limited-overs game in recent times. Ineffectual withthe SG ball in Tests, he’s a vastly different proposition when armed withthe white Kookaburra that he appears to swing almost at will. In his lastsix ODIs, he has taken 17 wickets and invariably given the team theperfect start.There was nothing perfect about England’s start, and Andrew Flintoffadmitted that his team had been batted out of the game by Yuvraj andRaina. The pursuit of 295 was further affected by the absence of KevinPietersen, ruled out this morning with a stomach bug. “When you lose aplayer of Kevin’s ability, it’s a big loss,” said Flintoff. “But you’vegot to get on with it.”He smiled wanly when asked about the sweep that caused his downfall, andsaid: “What I was thinking then [with gloved hand clutching helmet grilledin despair] … well, this is an inappropriate time and place to say it.”This is a very good Indian side. But there are four games left, and we’vestill got to believe that we can win it. If we win the next two, we’ll beright back in it. But the team knows that we’ve got a mountain to climb.”Unless he and Pietersen can emulate Yuvraj’s big hitting, and the bowlingimproves drastically, England could find that the rest of the series is asarduous as trying to climb Everest without oxygen.

Scorecard