Propelled by a fine 117 by opener Rajat Jaswal, North Zone outplayedSouth Zone by 92 runs in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (under-16) crickettournament at the KL Saini stadium in Jaipur on Monday.Opting to bat first on winning the toss, North Zone were given a soundstart by Jaswal and his partner Manik Kohli (34) who put on 91 runsoff 19.2 overs. Then Jaswal and Bhuvnesh Sharma (50) built upon thiswith a second wicket partnership of 107 runs off 17.4 overs. Jaswal,who had dominated both the stands was the second batsman to bedismissed. He faced only 114 balls and hit eleven fours. There was norespite for South Zone after his departure for Bhuvnesh Sharma andskipper Joginder Sharma (45) then got entrenched in a third wicketassociation that yielded 74 runs off 9.2 overs. Both fell offsuccessive deliveries in the 47th over. While Bhuvnesh was run outafter facing 72 balls and hitting two fours, Joginder was out toStuart Binny after facing 31 balls and hitting six of them to theropes. Thanks to their top order, North Zone ultimately were able topost an imposing total of 286 for six in 50 overs. Binny took three ofthe five wickets to fall to bowlers for 72 runs.The match was virtually decided when South Zone lost the first threewickets for 43 runs. After that, all that some rearguard action fromskipper Gnaneswara Rao (34) and DS Chougule (75 not out) could do wasto delay the inevitable. The defiant Chougule batted till the end,facing 103 balls and hitting two fours. But South Zone, never reallyin the game, were all out for 194 in the 46th over.

LOGAN CUP REPORT: MATABELELAND v MASHONALAND, Day 3ByAfter putting up a good fight for the first day and a half of theLogan Cup match at Bulawayo Athletic Club, Matabeleland thensubsided weakly to lose to Mashonaland by the huge margin of 276runs in a most unimpressive performance. The highlight of the daywas a record partnership for any wicket in Zimbabwean crickethistory, as Craig Evans and Dirk Viljoen put on 330 together forthe third wicket. The previous best by a Zimbabwean team was300, also for the fourth wicket, by Robin Brown and Peter Allanfor Rhodesia B against Eastern Province B in 1978/79, and byopponents 317 for the second wicket between Roger Twose and AsifDin for Warwickshire against a Mashonaland XI in 1993/94.Mashonaland began the day 261 runs ahead, with seven wickets inhand, and it was clear from the start that the policy was tobuild on this lead with all possible speed. Dirk Viljoen drovethe first ball he faced on the third day through the covers forfour; Craig Evans pulled his second over the leg boundary forsix. Both batsmen hit at everything against a toothless attack,and added 100 runs to the score in just eight overs. Evans,after passing his century, began to look for his usual massivesixes, one over long-off and the rest pulled over midwicket,while Viljoen slashed and cut his way past 150.Evans took 24 in an over from Dion Ebrahim, including threesixes, then, in Ebrahim’s next over, with a declaration imminent,he tried to swing him over the midwicket boundary again, only forthe ball to keep a little low, trapping him lbw for 153. Viljoenwas not out with 173 off 175 balls, including a six and 18 fours,while Evans’ 153 came off 143 balls and included 5 sixes and 16fours.Matabeleland’s target, for what it was worth, was 363 runs; theyneeded to survive 97 overs to avoid defeat. Charles Coventry(12) played some sweet drives, but was adjudged lbw to GusMackay, following which Mark Vermeulen was caught at the wicketdown the leg side first ball. The normally aggressive DionEbrahim came in and concentrated on strict defence, but in vain;two overs alter and still without addition, he suffered an almostunplayable ball from Mackay – directed at leg stump, swinging inand pitching on middle, then cutting away to uproot off.Matabeleland, at 13 for three, were in serious trouble.Mark Abrams, as so often, flattered only to deceive, playing eachball on its merits for a while, hitting two fine fours, and thenpulling Mackay down the throat of fine leg to be out for 10; thescore 23 for four, with the defiant Siziba still there on 1.Sanyo Nyakutse played some good strokes before lunch, whenMatabeleland were 39 for four (Siziba 3, Nyakutse 14).After lunch, for a while it appeared as if Matabeleland weregoing to make a fight of it. Siziba continued to play safely,while Nyakutse went for his strokes, playing some attractivefront-foot drives and twice pulling Mackay for four in an over.Then, after a partnership of 49, the fight evaporated. Siziba,having looked so solid, drove half-heartedly at Viljoen and hit alow catch to mid-on, after scoring 9 off 82 balls. In thefollowing over, Nyakutse (41) obligingly pulled Evans straightdown the throat of Dan Peacock at deep midwicket; Rennie paddedup to a ball from Evans that broke back sharply and was given outlbw; then Engelbrecht, appearing to lose his nerve, was stumpedby Campbell standing up to Evans. All four wickets fell with thescore on 72, and Evans had bowled three successivewicket-maidens.Warren Gilmour played a couple of defiant strokes, but Jason Hitzcontributed the fifth duck of the innings, turning Evans tomidwicket where substitute fielder Brighton Watambwa took a goodlow catch. Evans’ figures were now 5-5-0-4. He finally concededruns when Gilmour slashed him over backward point for four, butthe sorry end was not long in coming, as Gilmour hit Viljoenuppishly to short extra cover for Mackay to take the catch.Matabeleland had compiled a sorry 86, the same figure as theirfirst-innings lead, and caved in on the final day with scarcely astruggle.

Robin Smith reversed the fortunes of a disappointing season to raise Hampshire’s hopes of securing a place in the final of the NatWest Trophy final at Edgbaston this afternoon.Opening the batting for the first time this season, the Hampshire skipper made a quick and purposeful 61 as his side launched a strong reply to Warwickshire’s 50 overs total of 262 for four.He batted with John Stephenson who was happy to play second fiddle to the impatient Smith and together the pair scored at more than five an over for the first 13 overs, scoring at a higher rate than Warwickshire had at the same stage before them.But with the score on 66, Stephenson attempted to hook Dougie Brown and mistimed the ball sending it high to square leg where Michael Powell took the catch.Smith, who’s highest score in NatWest cricket this year was 23, was unruffled and progressed stylishly to his 50. It came from 58 balls and included eight fours, most of them the trademark square cuts that made him one of England’s most effective players at the start of the last decade.But in the 23rd over, Smith was bamboozled by the introduction of two spin bowlers into the attack who exploited his weakness for the turning slower ball and it was Neil Smith, the skipper who captured him with a ball that pitched outside the off-stump and turned neatly, bowling Smith through the gate.The score was 102 for two and with Hampshire’s batting their principal problem area this year, the game instantly swung back in Warwickshire’s favour for the first time since the innings started.Giles White went four overs later caught at deep mid wicket by Nick Knight to beome Smith’s second victim of the innings leaving Hampshire on 121 for three and with plenty still to do.

Tamil Nadu batsmen Hemanth Kumar and JR Madanagopal were in fine formon the third day of their South Zone Ranji Trophy league match againstKerala at Kochi on Friday. The added 168 runs for the third wicket tohelp their team to score 204 for four in reply to Kerala’s firstinnings total of 206 by close of play.The second day’s play had been washed out but when play resumed thismorning medium pacer Tinu Yohannan dismissed both the openers RajatBhatia and Badrinath in successive overs. Coming together at 25 fortwo, Madanagopal and Hemanth Kumar initiated the recovery process bysome confident batting. Their association lasted 80.2 overs beforeMadanagopal was caught by Kamaruddin off CP Menon for 84. Madanagopalbatted 5-1/2 hours, faced 222 balls and hit a four and two sixes. Offthe final ball of the day, Vidyuth Sivaramakrishnan (5) was caught byKamaruddin off CP Menon, giving the Kerala wicketkeeper his thirdcatch of the day. But Hemant Kumar, showing deep concentration, camethrough unbeaten at the end of the day. For his 84, he has so farfaced 283 balls and hit three fours. Yohannan (2 for 37) and Menon (2for 17) shared the wickets.

Resuming on 218 for 8, Saurashtra added just four runs to theirovernight score before being dismissed for 222 by Gujarat on thesecond day of their West Zone Ranji Trophy encounter at the LalabhaiContractor Stadium, Surat on Sunday.Responding to this modest total, Gujarat had few problems. Althoughopener Vivek Gandhi was dismissed with just 15 on the board, openerNilesh Modi took on the challenge and batted splendidly to make acentury. Playing patiently, Modi spent just under six hours at thewicket for his 104. Although he only struck 10 boundaries in hisinnings, he saw Gujarat to 243/5. Well supported by Tejas Varsani(63), Modi ensured that Gujarat took the vital first innings lead.At the fall of Modi’s wicket, stumps were drawn. Although the leadthey currently have, 21, is nothing to write home about, Gujarat canpost a useful overall lead if they bat sensibly from here on.

The SACA have contracted 22 players to the 2001/2002 Southern RedbacksSquad. The players are:

• Ben Higgins
• Ben Johnson
• Brad Young
• Brett Swain
• Chris Davies
• Daniel Harris
• David Fitzgerald
• Graham Manou
• Jeff Vaughan
• Luke Williams
• Mark Harrity
• Michael Smith
• Mick Miller
• Nathan Adcock
• Paul Rofe
• Paul Wilson
• Peter McIntyre
• Ryan Harris
• Shane Deitz

Rookies

• Cameron Borgas
• Mark Cosgrove
• Matthew Weekes

These players join the ACB contracted players Jason Gillespie, DarrenLehmann and Greg Blewett in the South Australian Team.This year the ACB have set down a rule for Rookies allowing young up andcoming players to be included in the squad in order for them to continue todevelop in the game.Under player movement regulations set down by the ACB, States must havesigned a minimum of 14 players by June 8th, allocating 90 percent of theirplayer payment pool. All states must finalise the complete list ofcontracted players and fully allocate their player payment pool by September30.Newcomers to the Redbacks squad are fast bowler Mick Miller, batsmen BenHiggins and Nathan Adcock (previously in the 1999/2000 squad) as well asRookies Cameron Borgas, Matthew Weekes and Mark Cosgrove. All three Rookieswere members of the South Australian Cricket Academy last year and have beenincluded in the Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy Squad this season.

Despite a number of trials and experimentation, a specialist openingpair in Tests has eluded India for a long time now and is a majorworry in an otherwise formidable batting line-up.With Shiv Sunder Das performing consistently, half of that problemseems to be over. But the other half remains. And that is the mainworry for the Indians ahead of a long season.The reluctance to continue with Sadagoppan Ramesh, the only specialistopener apart from Das, was evident when his state mate Hemang Badaniwas tried in the three-day match against CFX Academy.Badani, who showed promise in that match, had to wait for the secondTest when a stiff back and lack of faith by the team management sawRamesh sitting out. But the experiment with him lasted just oneinnings and six balls. Badani was out for two in the first innings ofthe match.On Sunday, wicket-keeper Samir Dighe was asked to open the secondinnings and he too failed, prolonging India’s agony in this vitaldepartment.With coach John Wright and manager Chetan Chauhan being accomplishedopeners of their time with a combined experience of 122 Tests, theirony only gets magnified.Former greats feel the slot needs to be filled by specialists only andmakeshift openers are no solution.”Opening the innings is quite different,” says Sunil Gavaskar, one ofthe greatest openers of all time. “You never get a night watchman atan opener’s slot, do you? Even if it is only 10 minutes of the day’splay left and a team is starting its innings, the regular openers arethe ones who come out to bat,” he said.With no outstanding talent available on the domestic front, there is afeeling within the management that a partner for Das has to beselected from within the current team.One of the choices before the management is vice-captain Rahul Dravidwho has the right technique and enough experience to face the new ballbowlers on fast and bouncy pitches outside the sub-continent. Dravidhas opened the innings on a few occasions with mixed success.”I will bat at whatever position my team asks me to,” Dravid had saidafter his unbeaten 68 in the second innings of the first Test inBulawayo. But the stylish right-hander from Karnataka, who by instinctis a number three batsman and has played many a brilliant knock inthat position could not give a satisfactory answer on Sunday.”Sorry, I can’t answer this question,” Dravid said when asked whetherhe was ready to come as an opener. “There are quite a few things wediscuss in the dressing room and we can’t share it all with themedia.”With VVS Laxman having virtually sealed the No 3 spot, he too cannotbe sent as an opener now.Wright said the experiments will continue for more time. “The thingabout this game is flexibility. We did so in Kolkata (second Testagainst Australia) when we were following on exchanging the numberthree and six slots,” he said.For the Indian team it seems it would be a case of experiment,experiment, experiment till an opener is discovered.

Neil Johnson the Zimbabwean all-rounder receives his cap after just 3 months with the side. He recently recovered from a shoulder injury, and the return to full bowling fitness has contributed to the success Hampshire has found of late.Alex Morris the tall Yorkshireman has fought well through injury to command a regular place in the first team. His seam bowling has been an great asset to the side, and his batting at times can prove vital down the order, as was proved against Durham in the recent CricInfo Championship match.Derek Kenway’s season started badly when he was left out of the Hampshire party to their pre-season tour to South Africa. There were doubts mainly to his fitness levels. Instead of sulking, this likeable opening bat, who also acts as wicket-keeper in one day matches, has knuckled down to his game, and is now looked as as one of the brightest batting prospects around.The trio were awarded their caps by David Robinson, Cricket Committee Chairman, with Club Chairman Rod Bransgrove and captain Robin Smith in attendance.

Australia’s opening batsmen Matthew Hayden and Michael Slater both have injury worries ahead of Thursday’s Second Test against England at Lord’s.Neither player batted for the tourists on the third day of the Vodafone Challenge match against Somerset at Taunton today.Slater is nursing a wrist injury sustained while batting against Somersetguest player Shoaib Akhtar on Friday. However, both are said to be confident that they will be fit enough to play in the Lord’s Test.In a net session on the Taunton pitch this morning he batted one-handed with a strapping protecting his left wrist.Meanwhile, Hayden felt his right knee lock while fielding against Somerset yesterday and is not expected to bat or field in the remainder of the game.The pair opened the batting against England in the First Test at Edgbaston and put on 98 for the first wicket with Slater, in particular, looking in excellent form with a quickfire 77.In the first innings of the game against Somerset, Hayden managed only six runs and Slater 28. This morning Justin Langer and Simon Katich opened the batting for the Australians.

England will need to dig deep into their character reserves to stage anAshes fightback against Australia after crashing to an eight-wicket defeat at Lord’s today.The dropped catches on Saturday were followed by a dramatic batting collapse on Sunday with England’s remaining six wickets falling in 39 minutes and 48 balls, leaving Australia with just 14 runs to gather to claim their second Ashes win in two npower Test matches.When Mark Waugh came on first thing to bowl – a decision prompted by another look at some videos of Alec Stewart which exposed his vulnerability to right arm spin bowling – the omens were good with Stewart and Mark Butcher picking off quick and easy runs in the first five overs.Their efforts raised hopes among the capacity Lord’s crowd that a big second innings total was in the offing and finally, this match would become a more equal contest. But after Stewart and Butcher had put on 42 runs for the fifth wicket, Stewart received a ball from Glenn McGrath that came back and rapped him on the pads.His wicket marked the start of England’s downfall and from 188 for four, they crashed to 227 all out, with only Craig White showing any defiance in the final throes, with an unbeaten 27. Butcher was eventually caught behind for 83, after playing indiscriminately at Gillespie.The mighty Glenn McGrath and impressive Jason Gillespie, who bowled superbly throughout the match, shared the spoils with the South Australian finishing with 5-53 and McGrath picking up three wickets in the hour. Mark Waugh set a new world record for catches in Test cricket when England’s last batsman Darren Gough became his 158th victim.Having completely dominated since the Test series started, the task of making 14 should have gone smoothly without incident but both Darren Gough and Andrew Caddick picked up wickets – one each – when the Australian batsmen proved themselves to be nervous and possibly emotional.Michael Slater and Ricky Ponting were both back in the pavilion before the third over had been completed but Matthew Hayden took his side across the finishing line to complete another emphatic victory.It was a disappointing result, said England skipper Mike Atherton after the game.”We would like to have got a different result here but we didn’t deserve to. Australia played some fine cricket and fully deserve their success.”We had a couple of opportunities yesterday morning and we dropped a few chances so the opportunity went away. If we had taken those chances we could have reduced Australia’s lead to a manageable proportion and set them a total which would have made the game competitive but it was not to be.”We have to revive the memories of the way the team played last summer and during the winter. We have a settled squad and we are all good mates so we shall stick together through this thin time. There is no point getting too despondent and it does not matter what is going on, you still have to give it your all. You cannot fault our effort,” he commented.Graham Thorpe was taken to hospital for an X-ray today after being hit on the finger by Brett Lee on Saturday. The scans were inconclusive and Thorpe will see a specialist tomorrow.