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