Pakistan sink archfoe India in Champions Trophy
Pakistan sink archfoe India in Champions Trophy
SHARJAH (Reuters): Opener Saeed Anwar hit 104 off 128 balls to
lead Pakistan to a four-wicket victory over India Sunday in the
Champions Trophy.
Set 240 to win by India, Pakistan hit 243 for six in 47.2 of
the allotted 50 overs. Pakistan, which lost to West Indies in its
opening match, now plays England which won its first two matches
in the four-team tournament.
If India had beaten Pakistan, England would have qualified for
Friday's final automatically.
Saeed Anwar's century was his seventh at the ground, his 14th
in one-day cricket and contained eight fours and one six.
He batted for all but the last two overs of the Pakistan
innings, building a sixth wicket partnership of 82 with Moin Khan
before being caught by Saba Karim off pace bowler Javagal
Srinath.
"There's no doubt about it - he's one of the greatest batsmen
in the world today," said Wasim Akram, the Pakistan captain.
Pakistan was handicapped by a rib muscle injury, incurred
during fielding, to its other powerful hitter Inzamam-ul-Haq, who
made 19.
"He was a hero," said the Pakistan physio Dan Keisal. "He was
badly hurt but he was determined to bat. If I know him he will
want to play against England -- but for his own sake I may have
to stop him."
Four dramatic dismissals were the highlights of the Indian
innings, held together by Saurav Ganguly's 90. The first two
wickets to fall were run outs which could not have been decided
without slow-motion television cameras.
Saurav Ganguly and Saba Karim put on 31 for the opening wicket
before Ganguly drove a ball back to fast bowler Wasim Akram who
deflected it on to the wicket, leaving Karim stranded by a tiny
margin.
Ganguly had reached 50 with his third six and added 112 with
Navjot Sidhu when a quick throw from Inzamam-ul-Haq enabled
Pakistan wicket-keeper Moin Khan to run out Sidhu.
It was four minutes before, amid uproar among the 15,000
capacity crowd, Sidhu was given out even though replays showed
the ball had fallen from Moin's hand as he broke the stumps.
In the next nine balls two more wickets fell. Robin Singh,
sent in to boost the scoring rate, was caught by Moin but only
after he had knocked over the square leg fielder Manzoor Aktar.
At 147, Indian captain Sachin Tendulkar was caught at short
mid-wicket by Inzamam, who tore a muscle in his side as he dived
and had to leave the field.
The massive crowds of Indian sub-continent workers trying to
gain admittance to the 18th clash between the two sides in
Sharjah created traffic problems around the ground and the noise
inside was deafening.
South Africa
In Devonport, Australia, South Africa captain Hansie Cronje
hit his first century in more than two years yesterday to rescue
his side against Tasmania on the third day of its four-day match.
Cronje hit a patient 165 to help the tourists recover from 136
for six to reach 402 for eight declared in reply to Tasmania's
535 for five declared.
At the close of play, Tasmania had made 27 without loss in its
second innings to push its overall lead to 160 with one day to
go.
Concerned at South Africa's performances with the bat so far
on tour, Cronje had hoped his batsmen could use the match as
preparation for the first test against Australia, starting in
Melbourne on Dec. 26.
However, the tourists' top order wasted their chance on a
relatively tame wicket to slump to 132 for five overnight.
Standings in the Champions Trophy (after four matches):
P W L Pts
England 2 2 0 4
West Indies 2 1 1 2
Pakistan 2 1 1 2
India 2 0 2 0