March 18, 2001
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Hoping to scale the pinnacle of cricket Courtney Walsh took 2-47 as the West Indies bowled out South Africa for 286 on the first day of the second Test at Port of Spain. Walsh's wicket tally now stands at 498. Daryll Cullinan offered the only serious resistance from the South Africans against a rejuvenated West Indian attack 
The Third and deciding test between India and Australia begins in Chennai today. The pitch at the MA Chidarmbaram Stadium is expected to be a spinning one and hence the possibilities of India playing three spinners and Australia playing Shane Warne and Colin Miller are highly likely. The skippers of the two sides Sourav Ganguly and Steve Waugh refused to divulge details of the team composition for the deciding Test at Chennai. Srinath after playing the first Test has since not recovered from the injury he sustained and is still unable to bowl and bat. With Chepauk having a reputation for spinners, slow bowlers from both sides are likely to play a key role. The Australian skipper Steve Waugh refused to admit that his team were weighed down after the loss and said the team had got over the initial disappointment of having lost the match after having India on the mat for the better of three days. The Australian replacements for the one-day series were getting all set to make the trip to India, but two freak accidents resulted in two key players being unable to make the trip on schedule. All-rounder Andrew Symonds fell off an ice cooler he had climbed on to get some things of a shelf and has injured his shoulder. Symonds was packing his bags for the Indian trip. Soon after the fall he began to feel pain and the doctors fear he may have suffered a tear in his joint. In another incident the fast bowler from New South Wales Nathan Bracken had to miss the flight to Mumbai after he lost his travel documents. The officials were unable to get a replacement of his passport and papers in time and he missed the flight taken by his teammates Darren Lehmann and Michael Bevan. Bracken will arrive at a later date. Meanwhile Mark Higgs an all rounder from New South Wales is likely to replace the injured Symonds in the one-day squad. Some tweaks were visible for the first time in what seems to be a well-oiled Aussie machinery. The Australian coach John Buchanan and Steve Waugh had a public go at each other over Shane Warne. While Buchanan maintained that Warne was unfit physically and mentally to play in Chennai, while Steve Waugh maintained that the coach alone could not make a decision on the leg-spinner and that it was up to the tour selection committee (including the skipper and vice-captain Gilchrist) to decide.Warne's lack of fitness in the trying conditions of Chennai. It was a reunion of sorts for those 22 players who were involved in that historic tied Test (the second in Test history) at Chennai. In a one-day match played at the colourful Guru Nanak College Ground between the class of '86 teams of India and Australia saw the latter emerge clear winners. In the absence of the then skipper of the Indian team Kapil Dev, Ravi Shastri led the Indian side. Mohammad Azharuddin who was also a part of the match was not available. L Sivaramakrishnan and Roger Binny took the place of Kapil Dev and Azharuddin. Even the two umpires Dara Dotiwala and Vikram Raju who had umpired in the Test were present. The Australian side was in full strength, except for Steve Waugh who was 21 years old at the time the historic test took place. A part of the proceeds of the match will go to the Gujarat earthquake fund. Scores: India: 222-7 in 40 overs (K Srikkanth 27, S Gavaskar 21, M Amarnath 48, C Pandit 59; G Matthews 4-39) Australia: 224-3 in 29 overs (David Boon 102, G Marsh 21, D Jones 53, A Border 28). Australia won by seven wickets with 11 overs to spare. In an amazing turn of events England pulled of a series win in Sri Lanka defeating the hosts by 4 wickets at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo. On a day that resembled a roller coaster ride where both teams looked like pulling off the inevitable, 22 wickets fell in the day. Sri Lanka who were bowled out for 81 in their second innings after some clever leg-spin bowling by Ashley Giles fought back to take 6 wickets while England were chasing a victory target of 74. Left-hander Graham Thorpe remained undefeated in both innings of the match. Sri Lankan skipper Sanath Jayasuriya said his batsmen let him down in the last two Tests of the series. At close of play on the third day of the second Test Pakistan were 341-6 at Christchurch. Still 135 runs behind New Zealand's first innings score of 476 runs, Pakistan have Yousuf Youhana batting on 73 and off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq on 20.
The one person who would have sorely missed playing the Kolkata Test Anil Kumble is recovering slowly. He said he was not keen to hurry his come back as he has been asked not to bowl for at least 3 months and it is now only 2 months since his surgery was done. In which case Kumble may not be fit to undertake the summer tour of Zimbabwe as well and may be fit only in time for the July-August tour of Sri Lanka. Former Pakistani fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz has offered his services to the PCB committee to help review the action of Shoaib Akhtar. Sarfaraz has offered his services after the resignation of Abdul Qadir from the committee. Mumbai will be led by Amol Muzumdar in the quarter-final match of the Ranji Trophy to be played in Mumbai from 20th to 24th March. Mumbai have lost the services of their frontline bowlers Sairaj Bahutule and Nilesh Kulkarni and skipper-keeper Sameer Dighe to national duty. Keeper Amol Rane, Robin Morris andAmit Dani will replace the three Mumbai players England have come a long way from being ranked as the worst Test team some 18 months ago. With wins in South Africa, Pakistan and now Sri Lanka, England have moved up the ladder of the Wisden Test rankings to fourth place in level with Sri Lanka. The table is led by Australia followed by South Africa and the West Indies. India and Australia will clash for the "Siyaram Cup" in a day-night limited-over match on March 23, the proceeds of which will go to the Gujarat earthquake fund. The match has been organised jointly by the BCCI and Tamil Nadu Cricket Association. Speaking to the press the president of the BCCI, AC Muthiah thanked the ACB for co-operating with the idea. Indian umpires VK Ramaswamy & K Hariharan have been nominated by the BCCI to attend an umpires seminar in Islamabad from March 19 to 26. The seminar is organised by the Asian Cricket Council. The ACC has invited two umpires each from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. They would discuss the new laws and various interpretations of the game. Pakistan vs New Zealand 2nd Test at Christchrurch (2nd day) New Zealand: 476 (M Richardson 46, M Bell 75, M Sinclair 204 not out, S Fleming 32, A Parore 46; Waqar Younis 3-114, Fazl-e-Akbar 3-87, Saqlain Mushtaq 3-134) Pakistan: 371-6 (Inzamam ul Haq 130, Yousuf Youhana 73 not out, Saqlain Mushtaq 20 not out) Latest: At tea (4th day) Pakistan: 490-6 (Inzamam ul Haq 130, Yousuf Youhana 158 not out, Saqlain Mushtaq 79 not out) Sri Lanka vs England 3rd Test at Colombo (2nd day) Sri Lanka: 241 (S Jayasuriya 45, K Sangakkara 45, A deSilva 38, M Jayawardene 71; R Croft 4-56) 81 (Jayasuriya 23, Aravinda de Silva 23; D Gough 3-23, A Giles 4-11) England: 249 (G Thorpe 113 not out; Vaas 6-73). 74-6 (G Thorpe 32 not out; S Jayasuriya 4-24) Result: England won by four wickets Man of the match: G Thorpe (Eng) Man of the Series: D Gough (Eng) SOUTH AFRICA IN WEST INDIES 2nd Test at Port of Spain (1st day) South Africa: 286 (HH Gibbs 34, JH Kallis 53, D Cullinan 103; N MacLean 3-60). West Indies: 2-0 Yesterday's News
Compiled by: Mohandas Menon
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