India lose; SA on (Tendulk)aroll

India made a couple of changes to their playing eleven – Sourav Ganguly and Pankaj Dharmani made way for Navjot Singh Sidhu and Aashish Kapoor. South Africa made three changes to the eleven that last played the Indians – Andrew Hudson, Derek Crookes and Brian McMillan made way for Herschelle Gibbs, Nicky Boje and Lance Klusener.

On winning the toss, Sachin Tendulkar, India’s skipper, chose to bat. Their openers weren’t in seventh heaven. Sidhu, who faced 16 balls, scored just a couple. Hansie Cronje, the South African skipper, ran him out. Tendulkar, whose 38-ball innings included five boundaries, scored 28. He was trapped leg before wicket by Allan Donald, who broke the 41-run stand.

Javagal Srinath, whose 69-ball innings included four boundaries and the only six of the innings, scored 53. Pat Symcox broke the 57-run stand. The fourth-wicket pair put on half-a-dozen. Rahul Dravid, who faced 40 balls, scored 21. Jonty Rhodes, the player of the match, ran him out.

Mohammad Azharuddin, who faced 23 balls, scored nine. He was caught by David Richardson. Boje broke the 11-run stand. Nayan Mongia, who faced eight balls, scored three. He was caught by Boje, who broke the six-run stand.

Sunil Joshi, whose 28-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 20. He was caught by Daryll Cullinan. Klusener broke the 41-run stand. Kapoor, who faced a ball, didn’t get off the mark. He was trapped leg before wicket by Klusener, who broke the one-run stand.

Ajay Jadeja, whose 46-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 26. Donald broke the ninth-wicket stand, which was worth a couple. Anil Kumble, who faced 18 balls, scored a dozen. Donald broke the 13-run stand. Venkatesh Prasad, who faced seven balls, scored a run. He was unbeaten.

South Africa conceded 10 extras. India were dismissed for 185 off 48.1 overs. Cronje, who bowled an over, conceded a couple. He was wicketless, as was Fanie de Villiers, who bowled nine overs, including a maiden. He conceded 19.

Symcox, who bowled 10 overs, conceded 37. He picked up a wicket. Klusener, who bowled nine overs, conceded 54. He picked up a couple of wickets, as did Boje, who bowled 10 overs, conceding 38. Donald bowled 9.1 overs, including a maiden. He conceded 31, picking up three scalps.

Gibbs, whose 49-ball innings included five boundaries, scored 35. He was caught by Tendulkar. Prasad broke the 62-run stand. Cullinan, who faced 18 balls, scored half-a-dozen. He was caught by Kumble. Joshi broke the 10-run stand.

Gary Kirsten, whose 68-ball innings included a boundary, scored 38. He was caught by Jadeja. Joshi broke the 16-run stand. The fourth-wicket pair put on 63. Cronje, who faced 50 balls, scored 27. Azharuddin ran him out.

Rhodes, whose 81-ball innings included four boundaries and the only six of the innings, scored 54. He was caught by Jadeja. Prasad broke the 33-run stand. The left-hander, who faced 23 balls, scored 13. He was unB(oj)eaten, as was Richardson, who faced four balls, scoring as many. His runs came by way of a boundary.

India conceded 11 extras. South Africa, who scored 188 for the loss of five wickets off 48.4 overs, won by five wickets with eight balls to spare. Tendulkar, who bowled a couple of wicketless overs, conceded 13. Srinath, who bowled eight wicketless overs, conceded 26.

The (Kumb)leggie bowled 9.4 wicketless overs, including a maiden. He conceded 40. Kapoor bowled 10 wicketless overs, conceding 32. Prasad bowled nine overs, conceding 38. He picked up a couple of wickets, as did Joshi, who bowled 10 overs. He conceded 32.  

RaIn(di)adds to the Aussies’ woes

The match between India and Australia was (Bar)aba(ti)ndoned due to rain. There was no toss, and the reserve day wasn’t scheduled. Both teams shared a point each. In fact, it was Australia’s only point.

The Indians’ loS(ach)ing StreAk continues

India made just one change to their playing eleven – Sujith Somasunder made way for debutant Pankaj Dharmani. South Africa made no changes to the eleven that last played the Indians. On winning the toss, Tendulkar, India’s skipper, (Sach)inserted the South Africans.

Andrew Hudson, whose 10-ball innings included a boundary, scored five. He was trapped leg before wicket by Venkatesh Prasad, who broke the five-run stand. Gary Kirsten, whose 32-ball innings included five boundaries, scored 29. He was caught by Sunil Joshi. Anil Kumble broke the 50-run stand.

Hansie Cronje, the South African skipper, scored 58. His 73-ball innings included four boundaries. He was caught by Sunil Joshi, who broke the 113-run stand. Jonty Rhodes, who faced a dozen balls, scored four. He was trapped leg before wicket by Ajay Jadeja, who broke the 12-run stand.

Derek Crookes, whose 18-ball innings included a boundary, scored 10. He was trapped leg before wicket by Jadeja, who broke the 24-run stand. Daryll Cullinan, the player of the match, scored 106. His 130-ball innings included 10 boundaries. He was stumped by Nayan Mongia. Kumble broke the 28-run stand.

Brian McMillan, whose 21-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 19. He was unbeaten, as was David Richardson, who faced 10 balls, scoring eight. India conceded 10 extras. South Africa scored 249 for the loss of six wickets off 50 overs.

Tendulkar, who bowled three overs, conceded 22. He was wicketless, as was Javagal Srinath, who bowled 10 overs, conceding 45. Prasad, who bowled nine overs, conceded 42. He picked up a wicket.

Joshi, who bowled 10 overs, conceded 41. He picked up a wicket. Jadeja, who bowled eight overs, conceded 47. He picked up two scalps, as did the (Kumb)leggie, who bowled 10 overs, conceding 49.

Tendulkar, whose 93-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 64. He was caught by Kirsten. McMillan broke the 126-run stand. The second-wicket pair didn’t get off the mark. Rahul Dravid, who faced a ball, didn’t open his account. He was caught by Richardson off the bowling of McMillan.

Sourav Ganguly, whose 104-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 54. Allan Donald broke the 22-run stand. Mohammad Azharuddin, whose 60-ball innings included five boundaries, scored 56. He was unbeaten. Javagal Srinath faced four balls, scoring as many. Pat Symcox broke the five-run stand.

Jadeja, who faced 18 balls, scored 10. McMillan broke the 38-run stand. Dharmani, who never represented India again, faced eight balls, scoring as many. Fanie de Villiers broke the 16-run stand. Kumble, who faced a couple of balls, scored a run. Donald broke the one-run stand. Mongia, who faced 10 balls, scored eight. He was unbeaten.

South Africa conceded 17 extras. India, who scored 222 for the loss of seven wickets off 50 overs, lost by 27 runs. Crookes, who bowled four overs, conceded 32. He was wicketless, as was Cronje, who bowled seven overs, conceding 35.

Symcox and de Villiers bowled 10 overs each, picking up a wicket each. While the former conceded 38, the latter, whose spell included two maidens, conceded 28. Donald, who bowled 10 overs, conceded 49. He picked up two wickets. McMillan bowled nine overs, including a maiden. He conceded 32, picking up three scalps. 

India beat the (Sach)inconsistent Aussies

While India made no changes to their playing eleven, Australia made a couple of changes to the (Reiff)eleven that last played the Indians – Ricky Ponting and Paul made way for Mark Taylor (who was leading the team) and Jason Gillespie. On winning the toss, Taylor chose to bat.

Mark Waugh, who faced 13 balls, scored four. He was caught by Sachin Tendulkar, India’s skipper. Venkatesh Prasad broke the nine-run stand. Michael Slater, who faced 21 balls, scored just three. He was caught by Nayan Mongia. Prasad broke the 16-run stand.

Steve Waugh, whose 61-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 41. He was caught by Sourav Ganguly. Sunil Joshi broke the 92-run stand. Taylor, whose 144-ball innings included nine boundaries, scored 105. He was caught by Mohammad Azharuddin. Tendulkar broke the 82-run stand.

Michael Bevan, whose 49-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 36. He was caught by Anil Kumble. Needless to say, Prasad was in seventh heaven. Stuart Law, who faced eight balls, scored five. He was trapped leg before wicket by Kumble, who broke the eight-run stand.

Ian Healy, whose six-ball innings included a boundary, scored eight. He was caught by Tendulkar. Kumble broke the three-run stand. Brad Hogg, who faced a couple of balls, scored three. He was unbeaten.

India conceded 10 extras. Australia scored 215 for the loss of seven wickets off 50 overs. Sourav Ganguly, who bowled a couple of overs, conceded 11. He was wicketless, as was Javagal, who bowled 10 overs, including a couple of maidens. He conceded (Srina)thirty-five.

Tendulkar, who bowled eight overs, conceded 45. He picked up a wicket, as was Joshi, who bowled 10 overs, including a maiden. He conceded 42. The (Kumb)leggie, who bowled 10 overs, conceded 40. He picked up a couple of wickets. Prasad, who bowled 10 overs, conceded 37. He picked up three wickets.

Somasunder – who never represented India again – faced (Suji)thirty-two balls. He wasn’t in seventh heaven, because Glenn McGrath broke the 30-run stand. Rahul Dravid, whose 13-ball innings included a boundary, scored half-a-dozen. He was trapped leg before wicket by Damien Fleming, who broke the 11-run stand.

Azharuddin, who faced three balls, scored just a run. He was trapped leg before wicket by Gillespie, who broke the one-run stand. Following his dismissal, the game was suspended for 20 minutes due to crowd trouble.

The fourth-wicket pair put on five. Ganguly faced four balls, scoring as many. His runs came by way of a boundary. Steve ran him out. The fifth-wicket pair put on 79. Ajay Jadeja, whose 62-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 27. Steve ran him out.

Mongia, whose 22-ball innings included a boundary, scored 14. He was caught by McGrath. Steve broke the 31-run stand. Joshi, who faced half-a-dozen balls, scored a run. Fleming was in seventh heaven. The eighth-wicket pair didn’t get off the mark. Tendulkar, whose 111-ball innings included nine boundaries, scored 88. He was trapped leg before wicket by Steve.

Srinath, whose 23-ball innings included a couple of boundaries and the only six of the innings, scored 30. He was unbeaten, as was Kumble, who scored 16. His 19-ball innings included a boundary.

The Australians conceded 22 extras. The Indians, who scored 216 for the loss of eight wickets off 48.5 overs, won by a couple of wickets with seven balls to spare. Hogg, who bowled 10 wicketless overs, conceded 45.

Gillespie bowled 10 overs, including a maiden. He conceded 44, picking up a wicket. McGrath bowled 9.5 overs, including a couple of maidens. He conceded 27, picking up a wicket. Steve, who bowled nine overs, conceded 52. He picked up a couple of wickets, as did Fleming, who bowled 10 overs, including a maiden. He conceded 39.

  

It’SA(chi)nother defeat for the Indians

India made one change to their playing eleven – Aashish Kapoor made way for debutant Sujith Somasunder. South Africa made a couple of changes to the eleven that last played the Indians – Shaun Pollock and Craig Matthews made way for Jonty Rhodes and Allan Donald.

South Africa’s skipper, Hansie Cronje, chose to bat on winning the toss. Andrew Hudson, whose 51-ball innings included four boundaries and a six, scored 34. He was caught by Mohammad Azharuddin. Venkatesh Prasad broke the 74-run stand.

Pat Symcox, who faced a dozen balls, scored three. Anil Kumble broke the 11-run stand. Daryll Cullinan, whose 24-ball innings included a boundary, scored 16. He was caught by Prasad. Sunil Joshi broke the 43-run stand.

Rhodes, who faced a dozen balls, scored 10. He was caught by Ajay Jadeja, who broke the 17-run stand. Gary Kirsten, the player of the match, scored 84. His 81-ball innings included nine boundaries and a six. He was caught by Azharuddin. Kumble broke the 13-run stand.

Cronje, whose 75-ball innings included half-a-dozen boundaries, scored 63. He was unbeaten. Derek Crookes, who faced eight balls, scored just a couple. The (Kumb)leggie broke the eight-run stand.

The seventh-wicket pair put on 76. Brian McMillan, whose 34-ball innings included four boundaries, scored 32. Prasad ran him out. David Richardson, whose six-ball innings included a boundary, scored nine. He was unbeaten.

India conceded eight extras. South Africa scored 261 for the loss of seven wickets off 50 overs. Sachin Tendulkar, India’s skipper, bowled five overs, conceding 28. He was wicketless, as was Javagal Srinath, who bowled nine overs, including a maiden. He conceded 45.

Jadeja, who bowled half-a-dozen overs, conceded 33. He picked up a wicket. Joshi and Prasad bowled 10 overs each, picking up a wicket apiece. While the former conceded 64, the latter conceded 45. Kumble, who bowled 10 overs, conceded 42. He picked up three scalps.

Tendulkar, whose eight-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 11. He was caught by Cullinan. Fanie de Villiers broke the 19-run stand. The second-wicket pair put on 11. Somasunder, whose 31-ball innings included a boundary, scored nine. Cullinan ran him out.

Azharuddin, who scored 32, failed to impress the fans at his home ground, but his 55-ball cameo included three boundaries. He was caught by Cullinan. Crookes broke the 67-run stand.

Rahul Dravid, whose 87-ball innings included half-a-dozen boundaries, scored 62. He was caught by Rhodes. Crookes broke the 47-run stand. Sourav Ganguly, whose 42-ball innings included three boundaries and the only six of the innings, scored 31. He was caught by Symcox. Donald broke the 27-run stand.

The sixth-wicket pair wasn’t in seventh heaven. Nayan Mongia, whose faced four balls, scored three. Rhodes ran him out. Jadeja, whose 19-ball innings included a boundary, scored 15. He was caught by Cronje. Donald broke the two-run stand.

Srinath, who faced 19 balls, scored 17. He was unbeaten. The eighth-wicket pair put on eight. Joshi, who faced five balls, scored a couple. Cronje and McMillan ran him out. Kumble, whose eight-ball innings included a boundary, scored nine. He was caught by Hudson. Donald broke the 18-run stand.

Prasad, who faced a ball, didn’t get off the mark. He was caught by Crookes. De Villiers broke the eight-run stand. South Africa conceded 23 extras. India, who were dismissed for 214 off 46.3 overs, lost by 47 runs.

Cronje bowled a couple of wicketless overs, conceding 11. McMillan bowled eight wicketless overs, including a maiden. He conceded 30. Symcox, who bowled 10 wicketless overs, conceded 43.

De Villiers bowled 8.3 overs, including a maiden. He conceded 27, picking up a couple of wickets. Crookes bowled nine overs, including a maiden. He conceded 41, picking up a couple of wickets. Donald, who bowled nine overs, conceded 43. He picked up three scalps.  

India aren’t (Sach)in the (Aus)s(er)ies

The match was originally scheduled to be played the previous day, but was postponed due to rain. It was reduced to a 45-overs-a-side match. While India made no changes to their playing eleven, Australia made three changes to the (Reiff)eleven that last played the Indians – Mark Taylor and the Shanes (Lee and Warne) made way for Michael Slater, Brad Hogg and Paul.

Healy, the Aussie skipper, won the toss, I(a)nserting the Indians. Sachin Tendulkar, India’s skipper, faced 11 balls, including a boundary. He wasn’t in seventh heaven, because he was caught by Steve Waugh, the player of the match. Glenn broke the (McGra)thirty-two-run stand.

Nayan Mongia, promoted to open the batting, scored 38. His 30-ball innings included eight boundaries. He was caught by Michael Bevan. McGrath broke the 32-run stand. Mohammad Azharuddin, who faced half-a-dozen balls, scored three. He was caught by Mark Waugh. Reiffel broke the three-run stand.

Vinod Kambli wasn’t in seventh heaven, because he scored just a run. He was caught by Healy. McGrath broke the one-run stand. Rahul Dravid, whose 25-ball innings included a boundary, scored 13. Reiffel broke the four-run stand.

Ajay Jadeja, whose 17-ball innings included a boundary, scored half-a-dozen. He was caught by Steve, who broke the 17-run stand. Joshi, whose 67-ball innings included five boundaries, scored 48. Bevan broke the 100-run partnership. The eighth-wicket pair put on just a couple. Javagal Srinath, who faced five balls, scored two. Damien Fleming ran him out.

Sourav Ganguly, whose 75-ball innings included seven boundaries, scored 59. He was trapped leg before wicket by Bevan, who broke the three-run stand. Anil Kumble, who faced three balls, didn’t open his account. He was caught by Steve. Needless to say, his twin Mark was in seventh heaven. Venkatesh Prasad, who faced seven balls, scored half-a-dozen. He was unbeaten.

Australia conceded 18 extras. India were dismissed for 201 off 41 overs. Hogg, who bowled five overs, conceded 33. He was wicketless, as was Fleming, who bowled half-a-dozen overs, conceding 25. Steve, who bowled half-a-dozen overs, conceded 20. He picked up a wicket, as did Mark, who bowled seven overs, conceding 36.

Bevan, who bowled three overs, conceded 14. He picked up a couple of wickets, as did Reiffel, who bowled five overs, conceding 37. McGrath bowled nine overs, including a maiden. He conceded 33, picking up three scalps.

Mark, whose 33-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 23. He was caught by Tendulkar. Joshi broke the 50-run stand. The second-wicket pair didn’t get off the mark. Ricky Ponting, who faced three balls, didn’t open his account. He was trapped leg before wicket by Joshi. Slater, whose 56-ball innings included four boundaries, scored 29. He was caught by Azharuddin. Prasad broke the 19-run stand.

Stuart Law, whose 70-ball innings included three boundaries and a couple of sixes, scored 67. He was caught by Dravid. Prasad broke the 113-run stand. Steve, whose 83-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 55. He was stumped by Mongia. Kumble broke the three-run stand.

Bevan, whose nine-ball innings included a boundary, scored a dozen. He was unbeaten. The sixth-wicket pair put on nine. Healy, who faced 13 balls, scored four. Azharuddin ran him out. Hogg, who faced four balls, scored a couple. Kumble broke the three-run stand. Reiffel, who faced a ball, scored a run. He was unbeaten.

India conceded nine extras. Australia, who scored 202 for the loss of seven wickets off 44.3 overs, won by three wickets with three balls to spare. Jadeja, who bowled four wicketless overs, conceded 18. The Karnataka pacer bowled half-a-dozen wicketless overs, conceding (Srina)thirty-two. Tendulkar bowled eight wicketless overs, conceding 38.

Kumble bowled 8.3 overs, including a maiden. He conceded 36, picking up two wickets. Prasad and Joshi bowled nine overs each, picking up a couple of scalps apiece. While the former conceded 53, the latter, whose spell included a maiden, conceded 23.

While Australia advanced, India were eliminated. 

All iZ(imbab)well aS(ach)India win comfortably

India made just one change to their playing eleven – Aashish Kapoor made way for debutant Sunil Joshi (which meant that every member of India’s bowling attack was from Karnataka). Zimbabwe made three changes to the eleven that last played the Indians – Andy Waller, Stephen Peall and Charlie Lock made way for Craig Wishart, Mark Dekker and Ali Shah.

Tendulkar, India’s skipper, won the toss, (Sach)inserting the Zimbabweans, whose skipper, Alastair Campbell scored 10. His 20-ball innings included a couple of boundaries. He was caught by Tendulkar. Venkatesh Prasad broke the 22-run stand.

Paul Strang, whose 35-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 19. He was stumped by Nayan Mongia. Joshi broke the 28-run stand. Craig Evans, who faced 15 balls, scored four. He was caught by Mongia. Joshi broke the 11-run stand. Grant Flower, who faced 44 balls, scored 26. Anil Kumble broke the 56-run stand.

Wishart, whose 41-ball innings included three boundaries and as many sixes, scored 53. He was caught by Joshi. The (Kumb)leggie broke the 84-run stand. The sixth-wicket pair put on just three. Guy Whittall, who faced four balls, scored just a run. Ajay Jadeja, who bagged the player of the match award, ran him out.

Andy Flower, whose 115-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 78. He was caught by Prasad. Kumble broke the 13-run stand. Dekker, who faced (Srina)thirteen balls, scored three. He was caught by Kumble. Javagal broke the 0ne-run stand.

Heath Streak wasn’t in seventh heaven, because he scored just a couple. Kumble broke the two-run stand. Shah, who never played a One-day International again, scored half-a-dozen. His five-ball innings included a boundary. He was caught by Mohammad Azharuddin. Prasad broke the six-run stand. Bryan Strang, who faced three balls, scored a run. He was unbeaten.

India conceded 23 extras. Zimbabwe were dismissed for 226 off 49.4 overs. Sourav Ganguly, who bowled three wicketless overs, conceded 20. Tendulkar, who bowled four wicketless overs, conceded 20. Jadeja, who bowled five wicketless overs, conceded 20.

Srinath bowled 10 overs, including a couple of maidens. He conceded 42, picking up a wicket. Prasad, who bowled 7.4 overs, conceded 42. He picked up a couple of wickets, as did Joshi, who bowled 10 overs, including a maiden. He conceded 37. Kumble bowled 10 overs, including a couple of maidens. He conceded 33, picking up four scalps.

Tendulkar, whose 46-ball innings included eight boundaries, scored 40. He was caught by Bryan. Streak broke the 91-run stand. Ganguly, whose 52-ball innings included three boundaries and a six, scored 36. He was caught by Bryan, whose older brother, Paul, broke the 57-run stand.

Jadeja, whose 80-ball innings included half-a-dozen boundaries and a couple of sixes, scored 68. He was caught by Andy. Evans broke the 13-run stand. Azharuddin, whose 54-ball innings included five boundaries, scored 40. He was unbeaten, as was Vinod Kambli, who scored 26. His 36-ball innings included four boundaries.

Zimbabwe conceded 16 extras. India, who scored 229 for the loss of three wickets off 43.5 overs, won by seven wickets with 37 balls to spare. Grant, who bowled a couple of wicketless overs, conceded 10. Bryan, who bowled 7.5 wicketless overs, conceded 52. Whittall, who bowled nine wicketless overs, conceded 29.

Evans, who bowled five overs, conceded 19. He picked up a wicket. Paul and Streak bowled 10 overs each, picking up a wicket apiece. While the former conceded 72, the latter, whose spell included a maiden, conceded 46.  

Tendulkar takes charge; The IndianSLose

India made a couple of changes to their playing eleven – Vikram Rathour and Venkatapathy Raju made way for Vinod Kambli and Aashish Kapoor. Sri Lanka made three Chan(dana)ges to the team that last played the Indians – Marvan Atapattu, Upul and Pramodya Wickramasinghe made way for Asanka Gurusinha, Kumar Dharmasena and Ravindra Pushpakumara.

Sachin Tendulkar, who replaced Mohammad Azharuddin as India’s skipper, chose to bat on winning the toss. India’s openers put on four. Ajay Jadeja, who faced nine balls, failed to get off the mark. Gurusinha ran him out. Sourav Ganguly, whose 41-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 16. He was caught by Aravinda de Silva. Dharmasena broke the 53-run stand.

Azharuddin, whose 99-ball innings included a boundary, scored 58. He was stumped by Romesh Kaluwitharana. Sanath Jayasuriya, the player of the match, broke the 129-run stand. The fourth-wicket pair on 31. Tendulkar, whose 138-ball innings included five boundaries and a six, scored 110. De Silva ran him out.

The fifth-wicket pair put on just a run. Kambli, whose 14-ball innings included a boundary and a six, scored 18. De Silva ran him out. Rahul Dravid, who faced four balls, scored seven. He was unbeaten, as was his statemate, Javagal Srinath, who faced a ball, scoring a run.

Sri Lanka conceded 16 extras. India scored 226 for the loss of five wickets off 50 overs. De Silva, who bowled five wicketless overs, conceded 24. Pushpakumara, who bowled half-a-dozen wicketless overs, conceded 23. Chaminda Vaas bowled nine wicketless overs, including a couple of maidens. He conceded 35.

Muttiah Muralitharan, who bowled 10 wicketless overs, conceded 42. Dharmasena and Jayasuriya bowled 10 overs each, picking up a scalp apiece. While the former conceded 59, the latter, whose spell included a maiden, conceded 39.

Jayasuriya, whose 128-ball innings included eight boundaries and three sixes, scored 120. He was unbeaten. Kaluwitharana, whose 65-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 53. Tendulkar broke the 129-run stand. De Silva, whose 76-ball innings included four boundaries, scored 49. He was unbeaten.

India conceded eight extras. Sri Lanka, who scored 230 for the loss of one wicket off 44.2 overs, won by nine wickets with 34 balls to spare. Ganguly, who bowled two wicketless overs, conceded 14. Jadeja, who bowled 2.2 wicketless overs, conceded 13. Venkatesh Prasad, who bowled half-a-dozen wicketless overs, conceded 47.

The Karnataka pacer, who bowled eight wicketless overs, conceded (Srina)thirty-three. Kapoor and Anil Kumble bowled 10 wicketless overs apiece. While the former, whose spell included a couple of maidens, conceded 51, the latter, whose spell included a maiden, conceded 40. Tendulkar, who bowled half-a-dozen overs, conceded 29. He picked up the only wicket to fall.

The Indians (Azh)are not (En)gla(n)d

India made three changes to their playing eleven – Navjot Singh Sidhu, Sanjay Manjrekar and Paras Mhambrey made way for Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Venkatapathy Raju. England made just one – Mark Ealham made way for Neil Smith.

On the first day, play was abandoned due to rain, with England having scored just a couple of runs for the loss of a wicket off one over. On the reserve day, Mohammad Azharuddin, India’s skipper and one of the two players of the series, chose to bat on winning the toss.

Sachin Tendulkar, who faced 11 balls, scored a run. He was caught by Graeme Hick. Dominic Cork broke the 11-run stand. Vikram Rathour, whose 95-ball innings included five boundaries, scored 54, which was his highest score in ODIs. He was caught by Cork. Graham Thorpe broke the 92-run stand.

Ganguly, whose 83-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 46. He was stumped by Alec Stewart. Thorpe broke the 15-run stand. Azharuddin, whose 64-ball innings included three boundaries and a couple of sixes, scored 73. He was unbeaten.

Ajay Jadeja, whose 32-ball innings included a boundary and a six, scored 29. He was caught by Stewart. Cork broke the 72-run stand. Dravid, whose 15-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 22. He was unbeaten.

England conceded 11 extras. India scored 236 for the loss of four wickets off 50 overs. Smith, who was never picked again, bowled half-a-dozen wicketless overs, conceding 39. Peter Martin, who bowled 10 wicketless overs, conceded 50.

Chris Lewis, the other player of the series, and Darren Gough bowled 10 wicketless overs, including a maiden, apiece. While the former conceded 49, the latter conceded 43. Thorpe, who bowled four overs, conceded 15. He picked up a couple of scalps, as did Cork, who bowled 10 overs, including three maidens. He conceded 35.

Michael Atherton, England’s skipper, faced a couple of balls. He failed to get off the mark. He was trapped leg before wicket by Javagal Srinath, who broke the two-run stand. Smith, whose 27-ball innings included a boundary, scored 11. He was caught by Venkatesh Prasad, who broke the 30-run stand.

Hick, whose 45-ball innings included a couple of boundaries and a six, scored 32. He was caught by Dravid. Prasad broke the 85-run stand. The fourth-wicket pair put on 69. Thorpe, whose 33-ball innings included three boundaries, put on 29. Prasad ran him out.

Ali Brown, the player of the match, scored 118. His 137-ball innings included 10 boundaries and a couple of sixes. He was caught by Dravid. The Karnataka pacer broke the (Srina)thirty-one-run stand. Matthew Maynard, whose 28-ball innings included a boundary, scored 14. He was trapped leg before wicket by Anil Kumble, who broke the nine-wicket stand.

Stewart, whose 19-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 13. He was unbeaten, as was Lewis, who faced a couple of balls, scoring four. His runs came by way of a boundary. India conceded 18 extras. England, who scored 239 for the loss of six wickets off 48.5 overs, won by four wickets with seven balls to spare.

Tendulkar and Ganguly bowled two wicketless overs apiece. While the former conceded 22, the latter conceded 14. Jadeja, who bowled five wicketless overs, conceded 30. Raju bowled 9.5 wicketless overs, including a maiden. He conceded 50.

The (Kumb)leggie bowled 10 overs, conceding 52. He picked up a wicket. Srinath and Prasad bowled 10 overs, included a maiden, each, picking up a couple of scalps apiece. While the former conceded 35, the latter conceded 26.

England won the three-match series 2-0. 

The Englishmen wIn(di)a RA(zharudd)in-marred match

Owing to a delayed start and rain interruptions, it was reduced to a 42-overs-a-side match. While India’s playing eleven was unchanged, England made a couple of changes to theirs – Neil Smith and Ronnie Irani made way for Matthew Maynard and Darren Gough. On winning the toss, Michael Atherton, England’s skipper, inserted the visitors.

India’s openers put on 16. Sachin Tendulkar, who faced 19 balls, scored half-a-dozen. Mark Ealham ran him out. Vikram Rathour, who faced 26 balls, wasn’t in seventh heaven. He was caught by Graham Thorpe, the player of the match. Dominic Cork broke the one-run stand.

The third-wicket pair put on 41. Navjot Singh Sidhu, who faced 41 balls, scored 20. Cork ran him out. Mohammad Azharuddin, India’s skipper, scored 40. His 68-ball innings included a couple of boundaries and the only six of the (Mart)innings. He was caught by Ali Brown. Peter broke the 36-run stand.

The fifth-wicket pair put on 19. Sanjay Manjrekar, whose 33-ball innings included a boundary, scored 24. Maynard and Cork ran him out. Nayan Mongia, who faced 13 balls, scored nine. He was caught by Atherton. Cork broke the 32-run stand.

The seventh-wicket pair didn’t get off the mark. Ajay Jadeja, whose 27-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 33. He was caught by Martin off the bowling of Cork. Anil Kumble, who faced a couple of balls, didn’t open his account. He was caught by Alec Stewart. Martin broke the four-run stand.

Javagal Srinath, whose four-ball innings included a boundary, scored five. He was caught by Cork. Gough broke the sixth-wicket stand. Paras Mhambrey, whose five-run innings included a boundary, scored seven. He was unbeaten. Venkatesh Prasad, who faced five balls, scored a run. He was caught by Stewart. Martin broke the three-run stand.

England conceded half-a-dozen extras. India were dismissed for 158 off 40.2 overs. Ealham, who bowled half-a-dozen overs, conceded 23. He was wicketless, as was Chris Lewis, who bowled nine overs, including a maiden. He conceded 30.

Gough bowled eight overs, including a maiden. He conceded 24, picking up a wicket. Martin, who bowled 8.2 overs, including a maiden, conceded 34. He picked up three wickets, as did Cork, who bowled nine overs, including a maiden. He conceded 46.

Brown, who faced a couple of balls, didn’t get off the mark. He was trapped leg before wicket by Srinath, who broke the one-run stand. Graeme Hick, who faced a ball, didn’t get off the mark. He was trapped leg before wicket by Prasad, who broke the one-run stand.

Atherton, who faced 36 balls, wasn’t in seventh heaven. He was caught by Tendulkar. Prasad broke the 21-run stand. Thorpe, whose 118-ball innings included 10 boundaries, scored 79. He was unbeaten.

The fourth-wicket pair put on 45. Maynard, whose 23-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 14. Srinath ran him out. Stewart, whose 59-ball innings included four boundaries, scored 47. He was unbeaten.

India conceded 15 extras. England, who scored 162 for the loss of four wickets off 39.3 overs, won by six wickets with 15 balls to spare. Manjrekar, who bowled three wicketless balls, conceded four. Jadeja and Tendulkar bowled three wicketless overs apiece. While the former conceded 22, the latter conceded 15.

Mhambrey, who bowled half-a-dozen overs, conceded 29. He was wicketless, as was the (Kumb)leggie, who bowled nine wicketless overs, conceding 36. Srinath bowled nine overs, including four maidens. He conceded 18, picking up a wicket. Prasad bowled nine overs, including two maidens. He conceded 33, picking up a couple of scalps.

The Englishmen led the three-match series 1-0.  

(In)Di(s)appointingly, it En(glan)ds sans (Azh)aresult

India, who were playing England after three years, made just one change to their playing eleven – Venkatapathy Raju made way for One-day International debutant Paras Mhambrey.

England made eight changes to their playing eleven – Robin Smith, Neil Fairbrother, Mike Gatting, Graham Gooch, Dermot Reeve, Phil DeFreitas, Paul Jarvis and Devon Malcolm made way for Michael Atherton (who was leading the side), Neil Smith, Graham Thorpe, Dominic Cork, Peter Martin and three debutants – Ali Brown, Ronnie Irani and Mark Ealham.

On winning the toss, the hosts chose to bat. Atherton, who faced 31 balls, scored 13. He was caught by Nayan Mongia. Venkatesh Prasad broke the 31-run stand. Smith – the son of former Warwickshire and England captain M J K Smith – scored 17. His 11-ball (Sach)innings included four boundaries. He was caught by Tendulkar. Mhambrey broke the 26-run stand.

Brown – whose given name is Alastair – scored 37. His 52-ball innings included four boundaries. Mhambrey broke the 28-run stand. Thorpe, whose 31-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 26. He was caught by Mongia. Ajay Jadeja broke the 56-run stand.

The fifth-wicket pair put on half-a-dozen. Alec Stewart, who faced half-a-dozen balls, scored three. Jadeja ran him out. Irani, who faced 13 balls, scored 11. He was caught by Prasad. Anil Kumble broke the 29-run stand.

Ealham, whose 34-ball innings included three boundaries and a couple of sixes, scored 40. Kumble broke the 76-run stand. Graeme Hick, whose 102-ball innings included four boundaries and a six, scored 91. He was caught by Sanjay Manjrekar. Javagal Srinath broke the 24-run stand.

Chris Lewis, the player of the match, scored 29. His 21-ball innings included a couple of boundaries and a six. He was unbeaten, as was Cork, who faced a ball. He didn’t get off the mark.

India conceded 24 extras. England scored 291 for the loss of eight wickets off 50 overs. Tendulkar, who bowled half-a-dozen wicketless overs, conceded 44. Jadeja, who bowled five overs, conceded 29. He picked up a wicket.

Prasad and Srinath bowled 10 overs, including a maiden, each, picking up a wicket apiece. While the former conceded 63, the latter conceded 45. Mhambrey, who bowled nine overs, conceded 69. He picked up a couple of scalps, as did Kumble, who bowled 10 overs, including a maiden. He conceded 29.

Vikram Rathour, whose 19-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 23. He was trapped leg before wicket by Lewis, who broke the 54-run stand. The second-wicket pair didn’t get off the mark. Kumble, who faced a couple of balls, didn’t get off the mark. He was caught by Hick off the bowling of Lewis.

The third-wicket pair put on just a couple. Tendulkar, whose 19-ball innings included five boundaries and the only six of the innings, scored 30. He was trapped leg before wicket by Martin.

Navjot Singh Sidhu, who faced 13 balls, scored three. Lewis broke the six-run stand. Mohammad Azharuddin, India’s skipper, scored 15. His 25-ball innings included a boundary, He was unbeaten. Manjrekar, who faced eight balls, scored three. Lewis broke the six-run stand. Jadeja, whose 18-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 11. He was unbeaten.

England conceded 11 extras. India scored 96 for the loss of five wickets off 17.1 overs. Cork, who bowled three wicketless overs, conceded 21. Martin, who bowled half-a-dozen overs, conceded 29. He picked up a wicket. Lewis, who bowled 8.1 overs, conceded 40. He picked up four scalps.

The match ended without a result.

Play was abandoned on the first day due to rain. No play was possible on the reserve day.

The three-match series was level at 0-0.

The IndianSAre beaten yet agA(zharudd)in

India made no changes to their playing eleven. South Africa made three to theirs – Jacques Kallis, Jonty Rhodes and Paul Adams made way for Andrew Hudson, Pat Symcox and Craig Matthews. On winning the toss, Hansie Cronje, the latter’s skipper, chose to bat.

Gary Kirsten, the player of the match, scored 115. His 142-ball innings included four boundaries and a six. He was unbeaten. Hudson, who faced a ball, didn’t get off the mark. He was caught by Mohammad Azharuddin, India’s skipper. Javagal Srinath broke the five-run stand.

Daryll Cullinan, who faced 19 balls, scored just a couple. Venkatesh Prasad broke the 15-run stand. Symcox, whose 49-ball innings included five boundaries and a couple of sixes, scored 61. He was caught by Ajay Jadeja. Venkatapathy Raju broke the 95-run stand.

Cronje, whose 34-ball innings included a boundary, scored 25. He was caught by Vikram Rathour. Anil Kumble broke the 60-run stand. Derek Crookes, whose 30-ball innings included a boundary, scored 26. He was caught by Rathour. The (Kumb)leggie broke the 52-run stand. Brian McMillan, whose 25-ball innings included a couple of boundaries and three sixes, scored 37. He was unbeaten.

India conceded 21 extras. South Africa scored 287 for the loss of five wickets off 50 overs. Jadeja bowled four overs, conceding 18. He was wicketless, as was Sachin Tendulkar, who bowled seven overs, conceding 51. Raju bowled nine overs, conceding 70. He picked up a wicket.

Srinath and Prasad bowled 10 overs, picking up a wicket apiece. While the former, whose spell included a maiden, conceded 51, the latter conceded 50. Kumble bowled 10 overs, including a maiden. He conceded 42, picking up two scalps.

Rathour, whose 35-ball innings included a boundary and a six, scored 23. He was caught by David Richardson. Matthews broke the 59-run stand. The second-wicket pair put on 19. Kumble, whose nine-ball innings included a boundary, scored 10. He was run out.

The third-wicket pair put on 34. Tendulkar, whose 71-ball innings included half-a-dozen boundaries, scored 57. He was run out. Navjot Singh Sidhu, whose 44-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 26. He was caught by Matthews. Cronje broke the 18-run stand.

The fifth-wicket pair put on 74. Azharuddin, whose 43-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 39. He was run out. Jadeja, who faced three balls, scored a couple. He was caught by Cullinan. McMillan broke the four-run stand.

The seventh-wicket pair put on just a run. Sanjay Manjrekar, whose 47-ball innings included a boundary, scored 41. He was run out. The man from Mysuru, who faced 22 balls, scored 10. He was caught by Richardson. Fanie de Villiers broke the (Srina)thirty-four-run stand.

Nayan Mongia, whose 24-ball innings included a boundary, scored 23. He was caught by Shaun Pollock broke the six-run stand. Prasad, whose four-ball innings included a boundary, scored five. He was unbeaten, as was Raju, who faced a ball. He didn’t open his account.

South Africa conceded 13 extras. India scored 249 for the loss of nine wickets off 50 overs, losing by 38 runs. Symcox bowled half-a-dozen wicketless overs, conceding 23. Cronje bowled four overs, conceding 23. He picked up a wicket.

Pollock, McMillan, Matthews (whose spell including a maiden) and de Villiers bowled 10 overs each, picking up a wicket apiece. They conceded 57, 48, 46 and 42, respectively.

South Africa won the 1995/96 Pepsi Sharjah Cup.   

India (Azh)are dejected; SA unbeaten

India made just one change to their playing eleven – Aashish Kapoor made way for Venkatapathy Raju. South Africa made three changes to the team that last played the Indians – Andrew Hudson, Pat Symcox and Craig Matthews made way for Jacques Kallis, Derek Crookes and Paul Adams.

Mohammad Azharuddin, India’s skipper, chose to bat on winning the toss. Tendulkar, whose 26-ball (Sach)innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 17. He was caught by Gary Kirsten. Fanie de Villiers broke the 23-run stand. Navjot Singh Sidhu, who faced eight balls, scored just a run. He was trapped leg before wicket by de Villiers, who broke the three-run stand.

Sanjay Manjrekar, who faced 33 balls, scored 14. He was caught by Kirsten. Kallis broke the 46-run stand. Azharuddin, who faced eight balls, scored four. He was stumped by David Richardson.

Adams, the player of the match, broke the 17-run stand. Vikram Rathour, whose 91-ball innings included four boundaries, scored 50. He was caught by Hansie Cronje, the South African skipper. Adams broke the 11-run stand.

Ajay Jadeja, whose 69-ball innings included a couple of boundaries and as many sixes, scored 71. He was unbeaten. Nayan Mongia, who faced 35 balls, scored 13. He was caught by Kirsten. Adams broke the 40-run stand. The seventh-wicket pair put on 37. Anil Kumble, whose 21-ball innings included a boundary, scored 16. Jonty Rhodes and Shaun Pollock ran him out.

Javagal Srinath, whose eight-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 15. He was caught by substitute Matthews. Pollock broke the 22-run stand. Venkatesh Prasad, who faced a ball, scored a run. He was unbeaten.

South Africa conceded 13 extras. India scored 215 for the loss of eight wickets off 50 overs. Brian McMillan, who bowled five wicketless overs, conceded 25. Crookes, who bowled 10 wicketless overs, conceded 55.

Kallis, who bowled seven overs, conceded 34. He picked up a wicket, as did Pollock, who bowled eight overs, conceding 39. De Villiers bowled 10 overs, including a couple of maidens. He conceded 28, picking up a couple of wickets. Adams, who bowled 10 overs, conceded 30. He picked up three scalps.

South Africa’s openers put on 53. Kallis, whose 32-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 22. Jadeja ran him out. Kirsten, whose 57-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 39. He was caught by Mongia. Kumble broke the 32-run stand. Cronje, who faced four balls, scored just a run. Raju broke the 13-run stand.

Crookes, whose 61-ball innings included a couple of boundaries and as many sixes, scored 54. Raju broke the 94-run stand. Daryll Cullinan, whose 100-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 64. He was caught by Prasad. Raju broke the one-run stand. Pollock, whose 15-ball innings included a boundary, scored 11. He was unbeaten, as was Rhodes, who scored a dozen. His 14-ball innings included a six.

India conceded 13 extras. South Africa, who scored 216 for the loss of five wickets off 47.1 overs, won by five wickets with 17 balls to spare. Sidhu, who bowled a wicketless ball, conceded a run. Jadeja, who bowled seven wicketless overs, conceded 37.

Srinath and Prasad bowled 10 wicketless overs apiece. While the former conceded 55, the latter conceded 43. Kumble, who bowled 10 overs, conceded 37. He picked up a wicket. Raju, who bowled 10 overs, conceded 38. He picked up three scalps.

The Indians advanced, so it was a curtain-raiser to the final.

The Indians are diSAppointed agA(zharudd)in

India made no changes to their playing eleven. South Africa made three C(allag)hanges to the team that last played the Indians – Dave, Eric Simons and Allan Donald made way for Brian McMillan, Shaun Pollock and Craig Matthews. On winning the toss, Hansie Cronje, South Africa’s skipper, chose to bat.

Andrew Hudson, who faced a ball, didn’t get off the mark. A couple of balls into the match, he was caught by Sachin Tendulkar. Javagal Srinath broke the one-run stand. Daryll Cullinan, whose 33-ball innings included half-a-dozen boundaries, scored 28. Fifty-even balls later, he was caught by Rahul Dravid. Anil Kumble broke the 55-run stand.

The third-wicket pair failed to get off the mark. Pat Symcox, who faced a ball, did not open his account. The next ball, he was dismissed by Kumble. The fourth-wicket pair put on 154. Cronje, the player of the match, scored 90. His 82-ball innings included four boundaries and three sixes. A hundred and fifty-one balls later, he was run out.

Gary Kirsten, whose 116-ball innings included nine boundaries, scored 106. Forty-three balls later, Raju broke the (Venkatapa)th(irt)y-nine-run stand. Jonty Rhodes, whose 33-ball innings included a boundary, scored 23. Twenty-five balls later, he was caught by Rahul Dravid. Raju broke the 17-run stand.

McMillan, who faced 24 balls, scored 14. He was unbeaten, as was Pollock, who scored 15. His 11-ball innings included a boundary. India conceded a dozen extras. South Africa scored 288 for the loss of six wickets off 50 overs.

Prashant Vaidya, who bowled six wicketless overs, conceded 42. Tendulkar, who bowled seven wicketless overs, conceded 40. Ajay Jadeja, who bowled eight wicketless overs, conceded 44.

Srinath, who bowled nine overs, conceded 43. He picked up a wicket. Raju and Kumble bowled 10 overs each, picking up a couple of scalps apiece. While the former conceded 67, the latter conceded 45.

Tendulkar, who faced 15 balls, scored just a couple. Six overs into the chase, he was caught by Kirsten. Fanie de Villiers broke the 20-run stand. Vaidya, who never played another ODI, scored a dozen. His nine-ball innings included a couple of boundaries. Three overs later, he was trapped leg before wicket by Pollock, who broke the 21-run stand.

Navjot Singh Sidhu, who faced five balls, scored just a run. Eleven balls later, he was caught by Kirsten. Pollock broke the four-run stand. Jadeja, whose 48-run innings included three boundaries and a six, scored 42. Fifteen balls later, he was caught by David Richardson. Matthews broke the 17-run stand.

Mohammad Azharuddin, India’s skipper, scored 28. His 66-ball innings included a boundary. A hundred and thirty-six balls later, he was caught by Hudson. Symcox broke the 81-run stand. Sanjay Manjrekar, whose 80-ball innings included three boundaries and a six, scored 53. Nine balls later, he was caught by Cronje. Symcox broke the four-run stand.

Dravid, who faced 21 balls, scored 11. Seven overs later, he was caught by Rhodes. Pollock broke the 41-run stand. His statemate, whose (Srina)thirty-one-ball innings included a boundary and a couple of sixes, scored 35. Eight balls later, de Villiers broke the six-run stand.

Nayan Mongia, who faced 14 balls, scored nine. He was unbeaten, as was Kumble, who faced 16 balls, scoring nine. The South Africans conceded half-a-dozen extras. The Indians, who scored 208 for the loss of eight wickets off 50 overs, lost by 80 runs.

Cronje, who bowled half-a-dozen overs, conceded 23. He was wicketless, as was McMillan, who bowled seven overs, conceding 18. Symcox, who bowled seven overs, conceded 43. He picked up a couple of wickets.

Matthews, who bowled 10 overs, conceded 26. He picked up a wicket. De Villiers, who bowled 10 overs, conceded 54. He picked up a couple of wickets. Pollock, who bowled 10 overs, conceded 42. He picked up three scalps.

Ind(ia)eed, the iSLanders (Azh)aren’t invincible

India made a couple of changes to the eleven that played Sri Lanka in the World Cup semi-final – Vinod Kambli and Aashish Kapoor made way for One-day International debutant Rahul Dravid* and Venkatapathy Raju.

Sri Lanka, the eventual champions, made a couple of changes to the eleven that beat the Indians to advance to their maiden final – Asanka Gurusinha and Kumar Dharmasena made way for Marvan Atapattu and Upul Chandana.

Mohammad Azharuddin, India’s skipper, chose to bat on winning the toss. Tendulkar, whose 31-ball (Sach)innings included three boundaries and a six, scored 28. He was caught by Jayasuriya. Pramodya Wickramasinghe broke the (Sana)thirty-three-run stand. The second-wicket pair put on 25. Azharuddin, whose 11-ball innings included a boundary, scored nine. He was run out.

Dravid, who faced four balls, scored three. He was caught by Romesh Kaluwitharana. Muttiah Muralitharan broke the four-run stand. Sanjay Manjrekar, who faced 16 balls, wasn’t in seventh heaven, because he was trapped leg before wicket by the offie fondly called Murali, who broke the 20-run stand.

Ajay Jadeja, who faced 31 balls, wasn’t in seventh heaven either. He was caught by Chandana. Jayasuriya broke the 32-run stand. Nayan Mongia, who faced 14 balls, scored four. He was caught by Aravinda de Silva, who broke the 16-run stand. Anil Kumble, who faced 10 balls, scored four. He was caught by Atapattu. De Silva broke the seventh-wicket stand, which was worth half-a-dozen.

Navjot Singh Sidhu, whose 116-ball innings included four boundaries, scored 94. Chaminda Vaas broke the 55-run stand. Javagal, whose (Srina)thirty-two-ball innings included a boundary and a six, scored 28. He was unbeaten. Venkatesh Prasad, whose 11-ball innings included a six, was in seventh heaven. He was caught by Jayasuriya. Vaas broke the eight-run stand.

The last-wicket pair didn’t get off the mark. Raju, who faced a couple of balls, didn’t open his account. He was caught by Kaluwitharana off the bowling of Vaas. Sri Lanka conceded eight extras. India were dismissed for 199 off 45.4 overs. Chandana, who bowled 10 wicketless overs, conceded 52.

Wickramasinghe and Jayasuriya bowled eight overs each, picking up a wicket apiece. While the former conceded 39, the latter conceded 31. De Silva, who bowled four overs, conceded 15. He picked up a couple of scalps, as did Murali, who bowled eight overs, conceding 25. Vaas, who bowled 7.4 overs, conceded 35. He picked up three scalps.

Kaluwitharana, who faced three balls, scored four. His runs came by way of a boundary. He was caught by Azharuddin. Srinath, whose all-round heroics earned him the player of the match award, broke the five-run stand. Jayasuriya, whose nine-ball innings included a boundary, wasn’t in seventh heaven. He was caught by Manjrekar. Srinath broke the seven-run stand.

De Silva, who faced half-a-dozen balls, scored just a run. He was caught by Dravid. Prasad broke the one-run stand. Atapattu, whose 17-ball innings included a boundary, scored 10. He was trapped leg before wicket by Srinath, who broke the 10-run stand.

Arjuna Ranatunga, Sri Lanka’s skipper, scored 13. His 22-ball innings included a couple of boundaries. He was caught by Azharuddin. Raju broke the 30-run stand. Hashan Tillakaratne, whose 66-ball innings included a boundary, scored 42. He was caught by Prasad. Raju broke the 92-run stand.

Roshan Mahanama, whose 124-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 59. He was caught by Dravid. Raju broke the 18-run stand. The eighth-wicket pair put on half-a-dozen. Chandana, whose 17-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 11. Tendulkar ran him out.

The ninth-wicket pair didn’t get off the mark. Vaas, whose run-a-ball innings included a boundary, scored half-a-dozen. He was dismissed by Srinath. Murali, who faced eight balls, wasn’t in seventh heaven. He was unbeaten. The last-wicket put on 18. Wickramasinghe, whose 13-ball innings included a boundary, scored 11. He was run out.

India conceded 16 extras. Sri Lanka, who were dismissed for 187 off 48.1 overs, lost by 12 runs. Jadeja, who bowled three wicketless overs, conceded 14. Tendulkar, who bowled 5.1 wicketless overs, conceded 19.

Kumble bowled 10 wicketless overs, including a maiden. He conceded 46. Prasad bowled 10 overs, including a couple of maidens. He conceded 39, picking up a wicket. Raju bowled 10 overs, including a maiden. He conceded 26, picking up three wickets. Srinath, who bowled 10 overs, conceded 35. He picked up four scalps.     

(*Note: Dravid was born on January 11, 1973. He turns 46 today.)

India (Ki)win A(zharuddi)nother bilateral series

This wasn’t just India’s last One-day International match in 1995, but it was their last ODI before the Wills World Cup, which was slated to take place in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka between February and March 1996.

While India made no changes to their playing eleven, New Zealand made two changes to theirs – Martin Crowe and Chris Cairns made way for Adam Parore and Simon Doull. Mohammad Azharuddin, India’s skipper, won the toss, inserting the visitors.

Mark Greatbatch, who faced five balls, scored four. He was caught by Sanjay Manjrekar. Javagal Srinath, the player of the match, was in seventh heaven. Nathan Astle, whose 13-ball innings included a boundary, scored nine. He was caught by Venkatesh Prasad. Manoj, the player of the series, broke the 13-run P(rabhak)artnership.

Stephen Fleming, whose 17-ball innings included a boundary, scored eight. He was caught by Srinath, who broke the 18-run stand. The fourth-wicket pair didn’t get off the mark. Parore, whose 12-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 14. Azharuddin ran him out.

Roger Twose, whose 29-ball innings included a boundary, scored 14. He was stumped by Nayan Mongia. Aashish Kapoor broke the 26-run stand. The sixth-wicket pair put on 24. Shane Thomson, whose 38-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 20. Azharuddin ran him out.

Gavin Larsen, who faced 22 balls, scored half-a-dozen. He was caught by Srinath. Kapoor broke the nine-run stand. Dion Nash, who faced 16 balls, scored 11. He was caught by Prasad. Anil Kumble broke the 16-run stand.

Doull wasn’t in seventh heaven, because he scored just two. He was caught by Prasad. Kumble broke the 10-run stand. Lee Germon, the New Zealand skipper, scored 29. His 51-ball innings included a couple of boundaries. Kumble broke the three-run stand. Danny Morrison, who faced four balls, scored just a run. He was unbeaten.

India conceded eight extras. New Zealand were dismissed for 126 off 35 overs. Prasad bowled half-a-dozen wicketless overs, conceding 22. Prabhakar bowled five overs, conceding 29. He picked up a wicket.

Srinath bowled half-a-dozen overs, conceding 22. He picked up two wickets, as did Kapoor, who bowled 10 overs. He conceded 33. Kumble bowled eight overs, conceding 17. He picked up three scalps.

Prabhakar, whose 92-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 32. He was unbeaten. Sachin Tendulkar, who faced four balls, scored just a run. Needless to say, Morrison was in seventh heaven.

Vinod Kambli, whose 34-ball innings included eight boundaries, scored 48. He was caught by Greatbatch. Doull broke the 64-run stand. Azharuddin faced four balls, scoring as many. He was caught by Germon. Doull broke the four-run stand.

The fourth-wicket pair didn’t get off the mark. Manjrekar, who faced a couple of balls, didn’t open his account. He was caught by Thomson off the bowling of Doull. Ajay Jadeja, whose 56-ball innings included five boundaries, scored 35. He was unbeaten.

The Kiwis conceded eight extras. India, who scored 128 for the loss of four wickets off 32 overs, won by six wickets with 108 balls to spare. Nash bowled eight wicketless overs, including a maiden. He conceded 25.

Larsen bowled nine wicketless overs, including a maiden. He conceded 27. Morrison bowled nine overs, including two maidens. He conceded 32, picking up a wicket. Doull bowled half-a-dozen overs, conceding 42. He picked up three scalps.

India won the six-match series 3-2.   

India lose to NZ agA(zharudd)in

Neither team made any changes to its playing eleven. Mohammad Azharuddin, India’s skipper, won the toss, inserting the Kiwis. Mark Greatbatch, whose 40-ball innings included eight boundaries, scored 38. Aashish Kapoor broke the 62-run stand.

Crowe, playing his last One-day International, scored 63. His 62-ball (Mart)innings included seven boundaries and a six. He was stumped by Nayan Mongia. Kapoor broke the 128-run stand.

Nathan Astle, the player of the match, scored 114. His 188-ball innings included a dozen boundaries and a six. He was caught by Azharuddin. Venkatesh Prasad broke the 98-run stand.

Stephen Fleming, whose 40-ball innings included four boundaries and a six, scored 60. He was caught by Azharuddin. Prasad broke the 18-run stand. Chris Cairns, whose eight-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 14. He was caught by Sanjay Manjrekar. Anil Kumble broke the 11-run stand.

The sixth-wicket pair put on eight. Roger Twose, who faced 21 balls, scored nine. He was run out. Shane Thomson, whose nine-ball innings included a couple of boundaries and a six, scored 15. He was trapped leg before wicket by Kumble, who broke the 12-run stand.

Lee Germon, the New Zealand skipper, faced a couple of balls, scoring a run. Javagal Srinath broke the six-run stand. Larsen, whose run-a-ball (Gav)innings included a boundary, scored five. He was unbeaten, as was Dion Nash, who faced three balls, scoring four.

India conceded 25 extras. New Zealand scored 348 for the loss of eight wickets off 50 overs. Ajay Jadeja bowled a couple of wicketless overs, conceding 19. Sachin Tendulkar bowled half-a-dozen wicketless overs, conceding 54. Manoj Prabhakar bowled eight wicketless overs, conceding 55.

Srinath bowled nine overs, conceding 42. He picked up a wicket. Kapoor bowled seven overs, conceding 48. He picked up a couple of wickets. Prasad, who bowled eight overs, conceded 62, He picked up two wickets. Kumble bowled 10 overs, conceding 48. He picked up two scalps.

The Indian openers put on 23. Prabhakar, whose 10-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored nine. He was run out. Vinod Kambli, whose 25-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 16. He was caught by Crowe. Cairns broke the 48-run stand. Azharuddin, who faced half-a-dozen balls, scored just a run. Cairns broke the six-run stand.

The fourth-wicket pair put on 46. Tendulkar, whose 59-ball innings included nine boundaries and a six, scored 65. He was run out. Manjrekar, whose 45-ball innings included half-a-dozen boundaries, scored 44. He was caught by the substitute (Bryan Young). Astle broke the 27-run stand.

Mongia, who faced 29 balls, scored 20. He was caught by Young. Thomson broke the 52-run stand. Srinath, whose seven-ball innings included a boundary, scored half-a-dozen. He was caught Nash. Thomson broke the nine-run stand.

Kapoor, whose run-a-ball innings included a boundary, scored half-a-dozen. He was trapped leg before wicket by Larsen, who broke the seven-run stand. Jadeja, whose 45-ball innings included five boundaries and a couple of sixes, scored 61. He was stumped by Germon. Larsen broke the 23-run stand.

Kumble, whose nine-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored a dozen. He was caught by Young. Thomson broke the eight-run stand. Prasad, who faced a ball, didn’t get off the mark. He was unbeaten.

New Zealand conceded nine extras. India, who were dismissed for 249 off 39,3 overs, lost by 99 runs. Danny Morrison, who bowled four overs, conceded 25. He was wicketless, as was Nash, who bowled five overs, conceding 35.

Astle, who bowled five overs, conceded 31. He picked up a wicket. Cairns, who bowled seven overs, conceded 32. He picked up a couple of wickets, as did Larsen, who bowled nine overs, conceding 58. Thomson, who bowled 9.3 overs, conceded 63. He picked up three scalps.   

The six-match series was level 2-2.

India (Ki)win, leA(zharud)ding the series

India made just one change to their playing eleven – Navjot Singh Sidhu made way for Vinod Kambli. New Zealand made no changes to theirs. Mohammad Azharuddin, India’s skipper, won the toss, inserting the visitors.

The Kiwi openers put on 28. Nathan Astle, whose 34-ball innings included a boundary, scored 11. Aashish Kapoor ran him out. Mark Greatbatch, whose 43-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 13. He was caught by Nayan Mongia. Javagal broke the (Srina)three-run stand.

Martin Crowe, who faced 36 balls, scored 15. He was trapped leg before wicket by Kapoor, who broke the 37-run stand. Stephen Fleming, whose 39-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 26. He was caught by Sachin Tendulkar, who broke the seven-run stand.

Chris Cairns, the player of the match, scored 103. His 87-ball innings included 10 boundaries and four sixes. He was stumped by Mongia. Tendulkar broke the 147-run stand. Roger Twose, whose 57-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 46. He was caught by Mongia. Venkatesh Prasad broke the 13-run stand.

Shane Thomson, whose run-a-ball innings included a boundary, scored seven. He was unbeaten. India conceded 14 extras. New Zealand scored 235 for the loss of six wickets off 50 overs.

Anil Kumble and Manoj Prabhakar bowled eight wicketless overs apiece. While the former conceded 35, the latter conceded 31. Kapoor, who bowled seven overs, conceding 26. He picked up a wicket.

Prasad bowled eight overs, including a maiden. He conceded 45, picking up a wicket. Srinath bowled 10 overs, including a maiden. He conceded 42, picking up a wicket. Tendulkar bowled nine overs, conceding 49. He picked up a couple of scalps.

Tendulkar, whose 11-ball (Gav)innings included a boundary, wasn’t in seventh heaven. He was caught by Larsen. Danny Morrison broke the 20-run stand. The Delhi all-rounder, whose 31-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 20. He was caught by Twose. Cairns broke the 36-run P(rabhak)artnership.

The third-wicket pair put on 71. Kambli, whose 65-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 42. He was run out. Azharuddin, whose 68-ball innings included five boundaries, scored 58. He was trapped leg before wicket by Cairns, who broke the 31-run stand.

Sanjay Manjrekar, whose 56-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 47. He was unbeaten. Ajay Jadeja, who faced 17 balls, scored a dozen. His runs came by way of boundaries. Cairns broke the 21-run stand. Mongia, whose 30-ball innings included seven boundaries, scored 36. He was unbeaten.

New Zealand conceded 14 extras. India, who scored 236 for the loss of five wickets off 45.5 overs, won by five wickets with 25 balls to spare. Twose and Astle bowled three wicketless overs each. While the former conceded 16, the latter conceded 11.

Thomson, who bowled four wicketless overs, conceded 17. Dion Nash, who bowled eight wicketless overs, conceded 48. Larsen, who bowled 8.5 wicketless overs, conceded 42. Morrison, who bowled nine overs, conceded 62. He picked up a wicket. Cairns bowled 10 overs, including a maiden. He conceded 37, picking up three scalps.

India led the six-match series 2-1.

RaIn(di)and bad light meaN(ew) (Zeal)a(ba)ndonment

There was no toss. A soggy outfield (owing to rain) and bad light resulted in the abandonment of the match without a ball bowled.

The six-match series was level at 1-1.

Incidentally, it was India’s second Ma(rgao)tch in the Goan city, and they remained winless.

The IndiaNZ (Azh)are the avengers

India made a couple of changes to their playing eleven – Vinod Kambli and Utpal Chatterjee made way for Sanjay Manjrekar and Aashish Kapoor. New Zealand made no changes to theirs. Mohammad Azharuddin, India’s skipper, won the toss, inserting the visitors.

Mark Greatbatch, who faced four balls, scored a couple. He was caught by Sachin Tendulkar. Manoj, the player of the match, broke the 12-run P(rabhak)artnership. Martin Crowe, who faced a dozen balls, scored a couple. He was trapped leg before wicket by Prabhakar, who broke the 10-run stand.

Stephen Fleming, who faced three balls, scored three. He was caught by Nayan Mongia. Javagal Srinath broke the 15-run stand. Roger Twose, who faced 22 balls, scored five. Venkatesh Prasad broke the 20-run stand. Chris Cairns, who faced a dozen balls, scored four. Anil Kumble broke the 12-run stand.

Nathan Astle, whose 86-ball innings included five boundaries, scored 59. He was trapped leg before wicket by Tendulkar, who broke the 27-run stand. Shane Thomson, who faced 59 balls, scored 14. He was caught by Srinath. Prabhakar broke the 16-run stand.

Lee Germon, New Zealand’s skipper, faced 26 balls, scoring nine. He was caught by Mongia. Prabhakar broke the 11-run stand. The ninth-wicket pair didn’t open its account. Dion Nash, who faced a ball, didn’t get off the mark. He was trapped leg before wicket by Prabhakar.

Larsen, whose 28-ball (Gav)innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 20. He was caught by Mongia. Srinath broke the 22-run stand. Danny Morrison, who faced seven balls, scored a couple. He was unbeaten.

India conceded 25 extras. The Kiwis were dismissed for 145 off 44.1 overs. Kapoor bowled 10 wicketless overs, including a maiden. He conceded 27. Tendulkar bowled four overs, conceding 15. He picked up a wicket.

Kumble and Prasad bowled half-a-dozen overs each, picking up a wicket apiece. While the former conceded 16, the latter conceded 14. Srinath bowled 8.1 overs, including a maiden. He conceded 26, picking up two wickets. Prabhakar bowled 10 overs, conceding 33. He picked up five scalps.

Prabhakar, who faced a dozen balls, scored just one. He was trapped leg before wicket by Nash, who broke the two-run stand. Navjot Singh Sidhu, whose 22-ball innings included a boundary, scored eight. He was caught by Fleming. Cairns broke the 23-run stand.

Tendulkar, whose 51-ball innings included four boundaries, scored 39. He was caught by Germon. Thomson broke the 40-run stand. The fourth-wicket pair wasn’t in seventh heaven. Azharuddin, who faced 37 balls, scored 17. He was run out.

Manjrekar, whose 78-ball innings included five boundaries, scored 44. He was unbeaten, as was Jadeja, who scored 26. His 66-ball innings included a couple of boundaries. New Zealand conceded 11 extras. India, who scored 146 for the loss of four wickets off 43.4 overs, won by six wickets with 38 balls to spare.

Twose bowled four wicketless balls, conceding three. Astle bowled four wicketless overs, conceding nine. Morrison bowled half-a-dozen wicketless overs, conceding 20. Larsen bowled 10 wicketless overs, including three maidens. He conceded 23.

Nash bowled half-a-dozen overs, including a maiden. He conceded 17, picking up a wicket. Cairns bowled seven overs, conceding 33. He picked up a wicket. Thomson bowled 10 overs, including a maiden. He conceded 38, picking up a wicket.

The six-match series was level at 1-1.

This was the second (and final) One-day International played in Amritsar. The Indians won both.

The IndiaNZ (Azh)are beaten comfortably

India made a couple of changes to their playing eleven – Sanjay Manjrekar and Aashish Kapoor made way for Vinod Kambli and Utpal Chatterjee. New Zealand made four changes to the eleven that last played the Indians – Ken Rutherford, Adam Parore, Justin Vaughan and Murphy Su’a made way for Nathan Astle, One-day International debutant Roger Twose, Lee Germon (who wasn’t just leading the side, but keeping wickets too) and Dion Nash.

The visitors won the toss, inserting the hosts. Tendulkar, whose 20-ball (Sach)innings included five boundaries, scored 30. He was caught by Mark Greatbatch. Danny Morrison broke the 45-run stand. Navjot Singh Sidhu, who faced 22 balls, scored a dozen. He was caught by Nash. Gavin Larsen broke the 49-run stand.

Mohammad Azharuddin, India’s skipper, scored 32. His 45-ball innings included three boundaries. Chris Cairns broke the 65-run stand. Manoj, whose 118-ball innings included half-a-dozen boundaries, scored 83. He was caught by Astle. Larsen broke the 18-run P(rabhak)artnership. Ajay Jadeja, who faced a couple of balls, failed to get off the mark. He was caught by Shane Thomson, who broke the one-run stand.

Kambli, who faced 28 balls, scored 15. Nash broke the 16-run stand. Anil Kumble, who faced half-a-dozen balls, scored four. Nash broke the 10-run stand. Nayan Mongia, whose 29-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 26. Morrison broke the 18-run stand. Javagal Srinath, whose run-a-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 17. He was unbeaten.

The ninth-wicket pair put on a dozen. Utpal Chatterjee, who never represented India again, faced five balls, scoring three. Nash ran him out. Venkatesh Prasad, who faced three balls, scored just a run. Cairns broke the two-run stand.

New Zealand conceded 13 extras. India were dismissed for 236 off 49.1 overs. Astle bowled three wicketless overs, conceding 17. Thomson bowled eight overs, including a maiden. He conceded 17, picking up a wicket.

Morrison bowled nine overs, conceding 49. He picked up a couple of wickets. Cairns bowled 9.1 overs, including a maiden. He conceded 33, picking up a couple of wickets. Nash and Larsen bowled 10 overs each, picking up a couple of scalps apiece. While the former conceded 56, the latter conceded 40.

Astle, whose eight-ball innings included a boundary, wasn’t in seventh heaven, because he was trapped leg before wicket by Prabhakar, who broke the 18-run stand. Greatbatch, whose 44-ball innings included four boundaries, scored 31. Prasad broke the 48-run stand.

Martin Crowe, the player of the match, scored 107. His 129-ball innings included nine boundaries and a couple of sixes. He was unbeaten, as was Stephen Fleming, who scored 78. His 100-ball innings included half-a-dozen boundaries.

India conceded 14 extras. New Zealand scored 237 for the loss of two wickets off 46.5 overs, winning by eight wickets with 19 balls to spare. Tendulkar bowled three wicketless overs, conceding 18. The Karnataka pacer bowled eight wicketless overs, including a maiden. He conceded (Srina)thirty.

Chatterjee bowled 8.5 wicketless overs, conceding 54. Kumble bowled 10 wicketless overs, conceding 40. Prabhakar bowled seven overs, conceding 36. He picked up a scalp, as did Prasad, who bowled 10 overs. He conceded 50.

New Zealand led the six-match series 1-0.

India beat Sri Lanka agA(zharudd)in

While India’s playing eleven was unchanged, Sri Lanka made a couple of chanG(amag)es to theirs – Kumar Dharmasena and Janak made way for Ruwan Kalpage and Muttiah Muralitharan. Mohammad Azharuddin, India’s skipper, won the toss, inserting the Sri Lankans.

Roshan Mahanama, whose 37-ball innings included a boundary, scored 15. Ten overs into the match, Anil Kumble broke the 46-run stand. Jayasuriya, whose 28-ball innings included (Sana)three boundaries, scored 22. Four dot balls later, he was caught by Nayan Mongia off the bowling of Venkatesh Prasad.

Aravinda de Silva, whose 24-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 13. Fifty-seven balls later, he was caught by Mongia. Manoj broke the 35-run P(rabhak)artnership. The fourth-wicket pair put on eight. Arjuna Ranatunga, Sri Lanka’s skipper, wasn’t in seventh heaven, because he scored just three. He was run out.

Hashan Tillakaratne, whose 55-ball innings included a boundary, scored 22. He was caught by Mongia. Prasad broke the 61-run stand. Romesh Kaulwitharana, whose 19-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 18. Kumble broke the 42-run stand.

The seventh-wicket pair put on 26. Asanka Gurusinha, whose 122-ball innings included a couple of boundaries and three sixes, scored 85. He was run out. Kalpage, who faced 10 balls, scored seven. He was unbeaten, as was Chaminda Vaas, who faced eight balls, scoring five.

India conceded 37 extras. Sri Lanka scored 230 for the loss of seven wickets off 50 overs. Sachin Tendulkar bowled a wicketless over, conceding 10. Javagal bowled nine wicketless overs, including a couple of maidens. He conceded (Srina)thirty-eight.

Aashish Kapoor bowled 10 wicketless overs, conceding 32. Prabhakar bowled 10 overs, conceding 45. He picked up a wicket. Kumble and Prasad bowled 10 overs, including a maiden, each, picking up a couple of scalps apiece. While the former conceded 50, the latter conceded 32.

Prabhakar faced 17 balls, scoring nine. He was caught by Kaluwitharana. Vaas broke the 48-run stand. Tendulkar scored 41. His run-a-ball innings included five boundaries. He was caught by Jayasuriya. Champaka Ramanayake broke the 10-run stand.

Navjot Singh Sidhu, the player of the series, scored 84. His 106-ball innings included five boundaries. He was unbeaten, as was Azharuddin, the player of the match, who scored 90. His 89-ball innings included five boundaries and a couple of sixes.

Sri Lanka conceded nine extras. India scored 233 for the loss of a couple of wickets off 41.5 overs, winning by eight wickets with 49 balls to spare. Jayasuriya bowled half-a-dozen wicketless overs, conceding 38. Kalpage bowled eight wicketless overs, conceding 44.

Muralitharan bowled 10 wicketless overs, conceding 46. Ramanayake bowled 8.5 overs, conceding 52. He picked up a scalp, as did Vaas, who bowled nine overs, conceding 52.  

India won the 1994/95 Pepsi Asia Cup.