The match between Hyderabad Under-22s and Goa Under-22s saw the hostscomplete a facile innings and 17 run victory at the ECIL Ground atHyderabad.On the first day, Hyderbad won the toss, elected to bat first againstGoa. The Hyderabad side boasted a strong batting line up and movedfrom strength to strength against a Goa bowling attack that could dolittle to make inroads. Anirudh Singh made 88 (197 balls, 13 fours),but it was NA Yadav who stole the show. Slamming 139 off as manyballs, Yadav struck 21 boundaries and cleared the ropes on threeoccasions. At 403 for 7, Hyderabad declared their innings closed.The target of 404 for a first innings lead proved to be too much forGoa. Mohammed Ghouse with 6/58 was the wrecker in chief as Goasuccumbed to a paltry 138 all out in 40 overs. Asked to follow on, Goawere once again floundering. Losing wickets at refular intervals, theyended the second day on 191/6 despite a good 65 from opener S Kamat.Starting the last day on 191/6, Goa were still 104 runs behind afterbeing asked to follow on. Nothing short of a superhuman effort couldsave Goa the blushes. On the day, there were no heroics forthcoming,and the visitors’ last four wickets delayed the inevitable by 16.5overs. Goa were all out for 248 in 46.5 overs, losing the match by aninnings and 17 runs, Goa collected no points from the game whileHyderabad were left with 8 points.

Hampshire will be giving a County Championship debut to at least one player, as both Irfan Shah and Chris Tremlett are included in the squad for the CricInfo Championship clash against top-of-the-table Middlesex at Southgate.The pair are in the squad of 12, that is without Alan Mullally, who is on England international duty.Tremlett has played one first-class game, against New Zealand ‘A’ two seasons ago, while Shah is included for the first time, with the prospect of a typical turning Southgate wicket requiring Hampshire to list two spinners.Team: GW White, DA Kenway, WS Kendall, RA Smith (capt), NC Johnson, LR Prittipaul, AN Aymes (w-k), AD Mascarenhas, SD Udal, AC Morris, IH Shah, CT Tremlett.

Despite a dismal start, tumbling to 2 for 39, Pakistan ended the day with a fabulous score of 370 for 8. It was great to finally see a magical transformation of Pakistan’s batting, facing up to the England speedsters with courage while destroying their ‘danger men’ image built at Lord’s.A masterly partnership of 141 runs between Inzamam (114) and Younis Khan (65) laid the real foundation for Pakistan’s big innings. Inzamam gave a superb display of batsmanship, punishing every bowler coming in front of him. Today Incidentally England’s fielding was not as impressive as at Lords.Then followed another excellent partnership of 53 between Rashid Latif and Azhar Mahmood. Rashid, however, continues to hold the fort with absolute command and Pakistan is quite likely to cross 400 runs if he stays at the wicket till end of the innings. His partner, Saqlain Mushtaq has the tenacity to give the support for a long stand. All day Pakistan’s electrifying scoring rate was a spectacular feature as loose balls were punished for 51 fours and 2 sixes.Earlier Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat on a rainy morning. Waqar thought the pitch to be good for batting against some commentary box comments that conditions were ideal for bowling.It was an inauspicious start though, with Pakistan paying the price for promoting Abdur Razzaq to the opener’s slot, an experiment not suited to the occasion. Razzaq was dropped in the slips on the first ball he faced and in the next over was bowled by Andy Caddick.Faisal Iqbal, another youngster on trial, offered an easy catch and departed after scoring 16 runs bringing Pakistan down to a petty 39 for 2. The two best batsmen in the side Saeed Anwar and Inzamam-ul-Haq, got together to pull the side out of crisis. Hitting sparkling shots all round the wicket, they hoisted 50 of the innings in 13 overs.Toying with a shoulder high delivery by Caddick outside off, in the last over before lunch, Saeed was the next victim. After scoring a valuable 29 Saeed asked for his exit on a ball that could have been ‘well left’ showing that Caddick has that ability to extract extra bounce and Pakistan was 86 for 3.Yousuf Youhana also ranked among the top Pakistan batsmen was out in similar fashion, repeating his Lord’s performance of dangling his bat and offering a catch behind the stumps. It seemed the batsmen had not learnt the Lord’s lesson. By earning 3 out of the 4 scalps Caddick was now in full cry and playing havoc with the ball. Pakistan’s 100 came in 23 overs but only after losing 4 wickets.Inzamam completed his breezy but beautiful 50 in 69 balls with 9 exciting shots to the boundary. He was also the one to hoist the 50 and 100 of the Pakistan innings with sizzling shots to the square-leg boundary. Earlier in his innings he completed his 5000 runs in test cricket.Having stemmed the rot, the pair of Inzamam and Younis Khan raised Pakistan’s score to 200 in 48 overs with Younis completing his 50 in 89 balls. Something new for England bowlers was the punishment they received in the form of fours and sixes.Playing aggressive cricket, Inzamam completed his glorious century (his 14th in tests) in 135 balls with the help of 16 fours and a six, but a little later, lost his partner Younis Khan trapped lbw by Hoggard after a fine innings of 65. At 233 for 5 Pakistan had maintained a remarkable run rate of over 4 per over and the partnership had yielded 141 precious runs.Hoggard struck again when he claimed the prized wicket of Inzamam after he had played a flawless innings of 114, laying a solid foundation for Pakistan, now at 255 for 6.Rashid Latif and Azhar Mahmood batted valiantly raising the total to 308 with a useful partnership of 53 when Azhar Mahmood became Hoggard’s 3rd victim after scoring 37.Rashid Latif and Wasim Akram produced another valuable partnership of 49 when Wasim left after scoring 16. Pakistan was 357 for 8 with Rashid Latif in full command after having completed his half-century.Play ended after a full quota of 90 overs with Pakistan at 370 for 8 with Rashid Latif holding the crease with a confident 64. Andy Caddick and Mathew Hoggard were England’s star bowlers sharing 3 wickets each. All credit too for England’s pacers who had toiled all day on a reasonably batting friendly pitch, as it turned out to be. Their perseverance and effort right to the last ball was a remarkable feature of the day.

Sachin Tendulkar passed another milestone during the third day of thesecond Test against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club. When he struckArnoldus Blignaut for his third boundary to move from 18 to 22,Tendulkar surpassed Dilip Vengsarkar’s tally of 6868 runs to becomeIndia’s second highest Test run getter (in 32 fewer matches and 60fewer innings).Only Sunil Gavaskar with 10,122 lies beyond the pale, for now.Tendulkar was caught at gully by Grant Flower off Heath Streak for 69to close the match with an aggregate of 6919 runs at 57.18. In theprocess, Tendulkar also moved into 23rd place worldwide, the two namesimmediately above him being Sir Leonard Hutton (6971) and Sir DonaldBradman (6996). Here is a list of India’s top 15:

Name Mat I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50SM Gavaskar 125 214 16 10122 236* 51.12 34 45SR Tendulkar 84 135 14 6919 217 57.18 25 28DB Vengsarkar 116 185 22 6868 166 42.13 17 35M Azharuddin 99 147 9 6215 199 45.03 22 21GR Viswanath 91 155 10 6080 222 41.93 14 35N Kapil Dev 131 184 15 5248 163 31.05 8 27M Amarnath 69 113 10 4378 138 42.50 11 24RJ Shastri 80 121 14 3830 206 35.79 11 12R Dravid 45 78 8 3798 200* 54.25 9 19PR Umrigar 59 94 8 3631 223 42.22 12 14VL Manjrekar 55 92 10 3208 189* 39.12 7 15NS Sidhu 51 78 2 3202 201 42.13 9 15CG Borde 55 97 11 3061 177* 35.59 5 18SC Ganguly 43 73 6 2831 173 42.25 7 14MAK Pataudi 46 83 3 2793 203* 34.91 6 16

The Indian team for the Triangular One-Day International Tournament will arrive on Monday the 16TH of July 2001 at the Bandaranaiake International Airport on Flight Number UL 192, at 03:35am.The New Zealand team will arrive on Saturday the 14th of July 2001 at the Bandaranaiake International Airport on Flight number SQ 402, at 12:05 am.We advise that you confirm flight details by calling Flight Information on 073-2377 or 073-2677 prior to leaving for BIA.All media persons are requested to kindly make their own arrangements in respect of ministry approval and security clearance or the BIA.Thanks for supporting Sri Lanka cricet.Acting Media Manager.

After seeing his side end the day still needing one run to avoid the follow-on with the last pair at the wicket, Somerset coach Kevin Shine said: “It will be a very exciting first over tomorrow. Once we have got the run then it will be game on, and it could be very interesting.”With both sides in the pack chasing Yorkshire the coach suggested that “it’s likely that we would declare because we’re interested in getting a result from the game – we want to stay in the hunt.”Regarding Steffan Jones’ five-wicket haul he said: “It was an excellent sustained bowling performance from Steffan. He kept it going, and bore the brunt of the bowling when “Johnno” was called to Trent Bridge. He has now got 45 wickets for the season which is brilliant.”When I asked him about the team for the home game against Leicestershire which begins at Taunton on Tuesday he replied: “The England boys may well be back. The Test looks like finishing early, and then they will be without a match for ten days, apart from the semi-final. Andy Caddick bowled himself back into form in the Glamorgan game so it will be interesting to see what Duncan Fletcher decides.”He went on: “obviously it will be a disappointment for the two who get dropped to make way for Andy and Marcus, but they are world class players and we would love to welcome them back for the crucial Leicestershire game.”

After a day of mixed fortunes Sussex skipper Chris Adams faces a tough decision over when to declare against Durham at Chester-le-Street.An astonishing spell of four for six by Adams was not enough for Sussex to enforce the follow-on as they seek their fifth win in six matches.The captain is on 33 not out as Sussex go into the final day on 135 for one in their second innings, leading by 217.He could be influenced by an elbow injury to his leading wicket-taker Jason Lewry, who retired today just as the new ball was due.Durham had already passed the follow-on target by then, but there was further frustration as Mark Robinson had to be removed for running down the wicket and Adams had to bowl again.He finished with 4-28, beating the career-best 4-29 he took for Derbyshire against Lancashire at Derby in 1991, but Durham’s last two wickets put on 115 before they were all out for 360.Replying to 442, Durham were 222-3 when Adams introduced his gentle medium pace and induced a skied return catch from Nicky Peng off his first ball.Paul Collingwood skied a catch to mid-wicket, Martin Speight was bowled shouldering arms and Danny Law was stumped down the leg side.When Lewry had Graeme Bridge lbw Durham went into lunch on 245-8, still needing 48 to avoid the follow-on.But wicket-keeper Andrew Pratt led the revival, making 51 not out, his second Championship half-century.

The MRF Buchi Babu All India Invitation Tournament witnessed a fineperformance from Pankaj Dharmani in the opening clash between TamilNadu Cricket Association Districts XI and All India Associate Banks(AIAB) XI at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday. Onwinning the toss, Karnataka’s B Akhil decided that his team, AIAB XI,would bat. However, it all went wrong for the AIAB team when they wereset back at 27/4 by the Districts XI opening bowlers. Twenty-sevenyear old Punjab keeper batsman Dharmani changed the course of the gamewith a face saving 141 as AIAB ended the day on 283/8 off 95 overs.Dharmani, who has turned out for India, boasts a first class averageof over 50 and has a triple century to his name. Clearly a class actin domestic circles, Dharmani took to the Districts bowling and playeda hand that all present at the ground will remember for a while tocome. Picking off the bowling for 21 boundaries and two sixes,Dharmani stayed at the wicket for just over five hours, facing 211balls in the process. Involved in a mammoth 180-run stand for thefifth wicket with Sanjay Mohan, Dharmani turned the game around on itshead. The fact that Sanjay Mohan contributed just 46 (234 mins, 149balls, 6 fours) in that stand is proof of Dharmani’s dominance.Finally, it was mediumpacer G Vignesh who put an end to Dharmani’srun, having him caught behind with the AIAB score on 230. As many as203 runs were added while Dharmani was at the wicket. The AIAB tailtoo wagged, putting on another 53 runs, and the side finished with ascore that never looked on the cards when four wickets were lost forless than 30 runs. G Vignesh (3/48) and KS Veeranan (2/40) were themost successful bowlers.Khirid plays the sheet anchor role for MaharashtraRanjit Khirid played the sheet anchor role to perfection in helpingMaharashtra build up a total of 267 all out in 90.4 overs on theopening day of their MRF Buchi Babu invitation cricket tournamentfirst round match against Indian Railways at the Southern Railwayground in Chennai on Sunday.The right handed batsman came in when the first wicket fell at 37 inthe 18th over and did not depart till he was seventh out at 207 offthe last ball of the 68th over. His contribution of 88 was invaluableto Maharashtra who progressed only by fits and starts.Winning the toss, Maharashtra lost their first wicket when JaideepNarse who struggled for 73 minutes and 56 balls for four runs – aboundary being his only scoring shot – was out to left arm spinnerMurali Karthik. Niranjan Godbole, who dominated the first wicketpartnership with Narse, and Khirid then took the score to 86 beforethe former was run out for 58. He faced 106 balls and hit ten of themto the ropes.Off spinners Sanjay Satpathy and Kulamani Parida then struck atregular intervals and Maharashtra at one stage were 162 for six.Satyen Lande (27) and Khirid then added 45 runs for the seventh wicketoff 11 overs before Khirid was caught by wicketkeeper Sudhir Wankhedeoff Satpathy. During his 205-minute stay at the crease, Khirid faced151 balls and hit 14 of them to the fence. Lande and Satyajit Satbhaithen kept the innings going with an eighth wicket partnership of 51runs off 19.5 overs. Satbhai remained unbeaten with 37 off 70 ballswith four boundary hits. Parida was the most successful bowler withthree for 67 off 21 overs while Satpathy took two for 77 from the samenumber of overs. Murali Karthik had two for 69 off 28 overs while YereGoud who took the wickets of the last two batsmen with successivedeliveries had two for five off 2.4 overs.At close, Railways were seven for no loss off three overs with VineetSaxena (4) and Amit Pagnis (2) at the crease.

LONDON – Man of the series Glenn McGrath feels inferior to Dennis Lilleedespite beating the great fast bowler’s benchmark of 355 wickets in theFifth Ashes Test.And Shane Warne, pipped by McGrath for the honour of being the highestwicket-taker in the series by 32 to 31, says he has never bowled betterthan on the final day at the Oval.McGrath took 5-43 in England’s second innings of 184 for a match haul of7-110 and a total of 358 wickets from his 75-Test career.That’s three more wickets than Lillee claimed in his 70 Tests, but thosefigures do not include his 103 scalps from World Series Cricket andSuperTests which would have bumped Lillee’s aggregate up to 458.”I dont think I’m up there with Dennis yet,” said McGrath.”He was my hero and I doubt I will every get up there alongside him.”I rate him as one of the best – if not the best – fast bowler ever.”To go past him is a great honour but I still feel I have a long way togo yet.”Warne, dogged by injury over the past two years, bowled with all his oldturn, flight and bounce on a pitch ideally suited to spin, finishing theTest with 11-229 and a man of the match award.Warne’s 92 Tests have netted 407 wickets, fifth on the all-time listbehind Courtney Walsh (519), Kapil Dev (434), Sir Richard Hadlee (431)and Wasim Akram (414).”Here in the second innings is probably the best I can bowl,’ Warnesaid.”I think I bowled two bad balls in 28 overs and I had the ball fizzing.”A bit of the old turn was there … I feel like I’m bowling as well asI ever have.”The ball from McGrath for wicket No.355 to match Lillee was his best ofthe series, rearing off a good length and prompting a floated returncatch off Marcus Trescothick’s gloves as he ducked for cover.”There was just a spot on the wicket there where I hit it and it jumpedoff a length,” McGrath said of the Trescothick ball.”It was hard call for Marcus to get and the fact it flew straight to mewas a little bit unusual.”He could think himself a little bit stiff.The Australian bowlers were superior to their English rivals throughoutthe series with the exception of Brett Lee, who came out of adisappointing series with only nine wickets at 55.11.McGrath’s 32 were at 16.93, Warne’s 31 were at 18.7 and Jason Gillespietook 19 wickets at an unlucky 34.31.”England bowled well in spells but when you bowl to a lineup like we’vegot it is pretty tough work,” said McGrath.”You look at Gough and Caddick and they go for the wickets a lot of thetime rather than build it up and try to maintain pressure that way.”I bowl line and length because I don’t swing the ball and I’ve got nopace.”No pace, but plenty of wickets.

The Sri Lankan team is now enjoying a well-earned break before we startpreparation for the forthcoming tri-nation series in Sharjah and West Indiestour of Sri Lanka in November. It allows for a moments reflection andlooking back over the last three months (including the pre-seriespreparation) I have identified three areas in which the team has progressed.

First and foremost the team has gained invaluable experience of playingunder the new six batsmen-fast bowler focused formation pursued by thenational selectors, designed to lead to greater competitiveness overseas,even if the actual surfaces during the Test matches were a shade dryer thanexpected.They is still plenty of learning ahead of course but, wherever possible, weshould aim to maintain our winning streak whilst at the same time improvingthe way we perform under the modified formation. The two goals of immediatesuccess and long-term development are not easy to balance all the time, butthe more often they are fused the better.It has not been easy for the batsmen at times, but I believe they ultimatelygained greater confidence of playing on previously foreign surfaces,particularly in the run-up to the India series, when we practiced on netsurfaces with a full covering of grass, where the ball frequently jagged offthe seam. In the short term the batsmen may lose some confidence, but thelong-term benefits make this worthwhile.The objective was simple: we want the batsmen to learn how to survive inconditions where the ball is darting around. The key to this is not playingat the ball away from the body. Playing and missing is fine, but you mustnot follow the ball. Survival against the moving ball requires a morecompact technique and the more practice the players have under thoseconditions the better they will become.The second area of progress has been the growing realisation that thebatsmen must not relax once they have made a good start. We have talkedabout it many of times before, as does every team at every level, but duringthe final SSC Test against India the immense value of placing a higherpremium on your wicket was graphically illustrated to the team.If you throw your wicket away after a solid start it can have a verydestructive effect. Look at the dismissal of Shiv Das in the first innings,who had batted so well in the morning, but gave his wicket away shortlyafter reaching his fifty, which then precipitated a dramatic first inningscollapse. On the other hand we capitalised on our good starts, four batsmenscored hundreds and the result was over 600 runs.The third aspect of our performance that impressed me was the fast bowlingon a dead SSC pitch. There was very little encouragement for the bowlers,which means that they have to concentrate on applying pressure by bowlingaccurately and keeping the runs down. It’s a heartless process that requiresplenty of guts and determination by each member of the bowling attack. Ifyou are able to maintain the pressure, though, then someone will invariablycash in and take some wickets.We need the fast bowlers to get used to this attritional and disciplinedform of attack because this can be a common feature of Test cricketoverseas, where the ball is not always boomeranging around. Sometimes youjust have to sit in and slowly apply pressure. We did this well at SSC andwill have to do so more often if we are to win consistently.It’s not only the batsmen who learn from playing on livelier surfaces, asthe bowlers too have to adapt their length to different conditions. If youlook back at the South African tour we tended to bowl slightly too short ofa length, which gives batsmen enough time to adjust to the movement off thepitch and through the air. To get edges overseas you generally need to bowla fuller length and our fast bowlers need to practice bowling this length.So, all in all, plenty of positives came out of the series, in addition tothe successful result itself. We now have to build on this progress over thecoming weeks, when we will be focusing hard on our skills with specialistassistance from Barry Richard (batting), Darrel Foster (fast bowling) andPeter Philpot (spin bowling).