The African Safari begins
Ajit Agarkar will replace Ashish Nehra in the touring party that left for South Africa early this morning for the first leg of the tour comprising of the one-day international triangular series. Agarkar was selected from amongst Debasish Mohanty and Baroda's Rakesh Patel on the grounds that he was an all rounder. The lucky cricketer nicknamed "Bombay Duck" after his poor run with the bat last year was the first choice of skipper Sourav Ganguly as well. Meanwhile a few changes are likely to be made in the Test squad in November where VVS Laxman, Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan are sure to make a comeback.
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It was reported that the Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly was as dejected as the bowler himself when the team physio ruled left-arm pace bowler Ashish Nehra unfit for the tour. Ganguly was convinced that Nehra was fit and able to play. But he certainly was stubborn with the selectors on having a man of his choice as replacement and made sure he got Agarkar. Injury prone Agarkar has never really been a favorite with the selectors but has made lots of tours purely because of the influence of his skipper. Agarkar recently went through the whole tour of Sri Lanka without appearing in any Tests or one-dayers.
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After a mind boggling century in the final match of the league stage at Colombo against the Kiwis in which India had to win to qualify for the final Virendra Sehwag is determined to raise his performance level in crunch situations. Cricket watchers have been amazed at the similarity in batting style with the little master Tendulkar but this Delhi all-rounder is modest when reminded of it. Stating the biggest challenge of his career so far would be this triangular tournament, Sehwag said the key would be to learn to cope with the fast tracks and the fast bowling. He has been practicing at the Madan Lal Cricket Academy with a bowling machine as well as on matting surfaces with synthetic bounce so as to ready himself for the unfriendly South African pitches.
South Africa in Zimbabwe
South African opener Herschelle Gibbs led an awesome batting performance by the visiting team in the first one-day international at Bulawayo. Scoring 125 in 112 balls with 15 fours and 2 sixes, he led the SA batting with a 150 plus run opening partnership with Kirsten (66). Kallis (83) and Rhodes (54 not out) continued from where he left off and South Africa piled up a mammoth record 363-3 in 50 overs. The home side never looked like getting there and Campbell's 81, Andy Flower's 34 and Craig Wishart's 45 were of only academic interest. South Africa ended up winners by 153 runs.
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South Africa's 363-3 in 50 overs against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo on Sunday was the fifth highest total in One-day internationals. It was by far South Africa's best effort in ODIs. Its previous highest was the 328-3 against Netherlands (an associate ICC member) at Rawalpindi on March 3, 1996 during the 1996 World Cup, while their 324-4 against New Zealand at Centurion on October 25, 2000 was its best performance against a Test playing nation. Meanwhile, Zimbabwe conceded its highest total against any team in ODIs. Sri Lanka's 313-7 in 49.2 overs at New Plymouth, New Zealand on February, 23, 1992 during the 1992 World Cup was the previous highest total against Zimbabwe.
The top team totals are listed below:
398-5 by Sri Lanka v Kenya at Kandy, 6-3-1996
376-2 by India v New Zealand at Hyderabad, 8-11-1999
373-6 by India v Sri Lanka at Taunton, 26-5-1999
371-9 by Pakistan v Sri Lanka at Sri Lanka at Nairobi, 4-10-1996
363-3 by South Africa v Zimbabwe at Bulawayo, 23-9-2001
363-7 by England v Pakistan at Nottingham, 20-8-1992 (55-over match)
360-4 by West Indies v Sri Lanka at Karachi, 13-10-1987
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Herschelle Gibbs, who equalled his highest score of 125 after reaching his 100 off just 84 balls recorded the fastest hundred by a South African in ODIs. The previous fastest was the 89-ball hundred by Nicky Boje against New Zealand at Potchefstroom on 20 October 2000 during his unbeaten innings of 105.
Miscellaneous
The cash starved Pakistan Cricket Board has extended its SOS call to its Sri Lankan counterpart and has pleaded with them to organise a short one-day tour early October. Losses to the PCB by way of tour cancellations (India & New Zealand) have reportedly reached the US$ 35 million mark. The Sri Lankan Board mindful of the support received by Pakistan when Australia and West Indies refused to play their 1996 World Cup matches in Sri Lanka after political uncertainty had gripped the island are seriously considering the request. The BCCSL Chief Anura Tennekoon said a decision would be made next week.
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Although no one turned out for the Justice Karamat Bhandari inquiry commission into match-fixing in the World Cup matches, which opened its proceedings on Saturday at the Lahore High Court, Justice Bhandari has asked the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to provide video cassettes of two 1999 World Cup matches within one week. He has also asked the PCB to provide the list of Pakistan players, who participated in both the matches. It is likely that the commission will watch the video of the matches in the presence of senior cricketers on September 29, the next date of hearing.
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In another development, the court rejected PCB's legal advisor Asghar Haider's appeal to summon the South African cricket board's Managing Director, Dr. Ali Bacher, who had alleged that Pakistani umpire Javed Akhtar was approached by a bookmaker during a Test between England and South Africa in 1999. However, Haider requested the court to summon former Test cricketers Imran Khan and Zaheer Abbas for assistance in the case.
SCORES AT A GLANCE
Zimbabwe vs South Africa (1st ODI)
At Bulawayo
Toss: South Africa
South Africa: 363-3 in 50 overs (G Kirsten 66, H Gibbs 125, J Kallis 83, J Rhodes 54 not out)
Zimbabwe: 210-5 in 50 overs (A Campbell 81, A Flower 34, C Wishart 45)
Result: South Africa won by 153 runs
Man of the match: HH Gibbs (SA)
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