April 11, 2001
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South African opening batsman Herschelle Gibbs has been reprimanded by match referee Mike Denness for showing dissent after he was given out by umpire S Venkatraghavan, after he had been caught of a rather high bouncer bowled by leg-spinner Ramnaraine. Gibbs pointed to his shoulder indicating the ball was a trifle too high. The South Africans quietly accomplished a professional victory over West Indies in the fourth Test at St John's Antigua by 82 runs. South Africa making their first full tour to the Caribbean has won the series by taking a two-nil lead. Brian Lara made a quick-fire 91 and raised visions of a possible match saving innings but was soon dismissed by Jacques Kallis. This was West Indies' first series loss at home since 1995, when Australia won the four-match Test series 2-1. It may be recalled just last year in March the South Africans had beaten India 2-0, the latter's first series defeat at home since 1987. So the South Africans have performed much better than the so-called world champions Australia - away from home.  Sri Lanka beat a young inexperienced Kiwi side by a huge margin of 106 runs to score their first victory in the ARY Gold Cup in Sharjah. Centuries by Sanath Jayasuriya (107) and Mahela Jayawardene (116) who put on a record 184 for the third wicket after the first two wickets had fallen for just one run in the first three balls of the match helped Sri Lanka post a total of 269 runs. The Kiwis who got off to a good quick start failed to sustain the tempo and were bowled out for 163. The highlight of the match was the 30 runs scored of a single over of Chris Harris by Jayasuriya - 6 6 6 6 4 2 - which equaled his own performance against Pakistani Aamer Sohail at Singapore in April 1996.
Former International umpire Shakoor Rana died of a heart attack in his home at Karachi. He was aged 65. Rana was mostly remembered for his rather ugly confrontation with then England captain Mike Gatting at Faisalabad in 1987, that almost threatened the cricketing relations between the two countries. Gatting expressed his sympathies to the family of the umpire on hearing of his death. As the Ashes series draws near the Australian selectors are faced with the dilemma of team selection. Among the bowlers Brett Lee appears to be fit and raring to go, but Jason Gillespie who returned from India after the Test matches appears to be a doubtful contender. Chester-le Street, the home of the Durrham Cricket Club is pressing for becoming a regular venue for Test matches in England. Though the ground has hosted one-day internationals, including World Cup games, the authorities are still not satisfied. The club is looking to improve its facilities to convince the English Cricket Board to grant them the Test venue status. Investigations have brought to light the fact that senior officials of the Sri Lankan Board have drawn cheques amounting to Rs. 45 million just before the BCCSL was dissolved by the sports minister last week. The matter is being investigated. Australian skipper Steve Waugh lamented at the lack of facilities at some of the venues of the one-day international matches played in India. He said it was difficult in venues that had no proper indicators as to how many overs each bowler had bowled. He further added that some of the venues lacked proper clocks to keep track of the time. He said if Australia had another two more weeks in India some of the boys would have reached "breaking point". Steve Waugh also said it was time for the ICC to standardise rules with regard to bad behaviour. The Goa police have arrested Goa Cricket Association treasurer Rama Shankar Das and two others for alleged forgery and sale of duplicate tickets for the fifth one-dayer between India and Australia played on April 6. Meanwhile the Income Tax authorities have withdrawn the tax exemption from the BCCI and have demanded a Rs 10-crore (approx US$ 2 million) penalty from them. The BCCI had been exempted from paying income-tax under the provision of the IT Act, since 1992-93, on condition that it ploughs back its income into the game. With the recent CBI report on match-fixing, which was critical of the BCCI's functioning, the IT authorities have withdrawn the exemption since the Cricket Board's expenditure did not conform to the IT rules and hence should be treated as a commercial body. The BCCI is expected to go in appeal to the IT Commissioner of Appeals in Mumbai against this penalty. West Indies vs South Africa 4th Test at St John's, Antigua (5th day) South Africa:247 (HH Gibbs 85, ND McKenzie 35, S Pollock 48 not out, N Boje 36; N McGarrell 4-72) 215-7d (HH Gibbs 45, ND McKenzie 44, JH Kallis 30 not out, SM Pollock 41 not out; C Walsh 4-56) West Indies:140(S Chanderpaul 40, RR Sarwan 25; L Klusener 3-15) 240 (WW Hinds 29, BC Lara 91, RR Sarwan 26; N Boje 4-118) Result: South Africa won by 82 runs (to lead the five-match Test series 2-0) Man of the match: SM Pollock (South Africa) Ary Gold Cup, Sharjah Sri Lanka vs New Zealand(2nd match) Sri Lanka :269-9 in 50 overs (S Jayasuriya 107, M Jayawardena 116, D Tuffy 3-49, J Oram 3-40) New Zealand: 163 in 42.1 overs (CJ Nevin 48, MS Sinclair 60, M Muralitharan 3-12) Result: Sri Lanka won by 106 runs. Man of the match: Mahela Jayawardene (SL) Points table:
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Compiled by: Mohandas Menon
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