March 31, 2001
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New Zealand's innings and 185 runs victory over Pakistan at Hamilton was its largest in its history. Previously New Zealand had beaten England by an innings and 132 runs at Christchurch in February 1984. New Zealand batsman Craig McMillan said that he was unaware that he was setting a world record when he blasted Pakistan's occasional leg-spin bowler Younis Khan for 26 runs in one over and raced from 50 to 98 in just 17 balls in the third and final Test at Hamilton. With the tour of Pakistan coming to an end yesterday, McMillan was named New Zealand player of the season. 
The third one-day international between India and Australia will be played at Indore today. This is the first time an international match will be played here since the one-dayer against Sri Lanka had to be abandoned due to poor pitch conditions in December 1997. Indore was since then banned for a few years from staging international matches. Prior to this series, Sri Lankan ICC referee Ranjan Madugalle inspected the venue and approved of the pitch and other conditions. BCCI secretary JY Lele questioned the Indian team manager Chetan Chauhan's comments on team selection. Lele said Chauhan had no business to comment on team selection as he was just an administrative manager. Chauhan had told reporters at Pune that Reetinder Singh Sodhi may be considered for the last two one-dayers, since he has been performing well lately. The Australian team manager Steve Bernard openly abused an Indian journalist of a Mumbai eveninger after a diary item in the paper had a remark saying Mark Waugh as "arrogant". The reporter while showering praise on the skipper Steve Waugh and Adam Gilchrist had said the behaviour of Shane Warne and Mark Waugh was different when compared to the rest of the team. Bernard also accused the journalist of racism, since he (the journalist) did not mention anything about the behaviour of the Indian captain Sourav Ganguly. Mark Waugh who was injured in the Pune one-dayer after he was hit on the finger from a Srinath delivery will fly home. He will miss the rest of the series and will be seeing a specialist in Sydney. He is expected to be fit for the Ashes series.
A 132 run partnership for the ninth wicket between skipper Shaun Pollock (106 not out) and fast bowler Allan Donald (37) enabled South Africa reach a total of 454. West Indies at close are seven without loss. New Zealand has accepted the invitation to replace India in the tri-nation Sharjah tournament beginning on April 8. The team is guaranteed a minimum of $US 200,000 for taking part in the tournament. New Zealand are scheduled to play Sri Lanka on April 10 and 13 and Pakistan on April 12 and 15. The team will however not feature many of the leading players as Stephen Fleming and Nathan Astle will be leaving to England for their county assignments. It is likely that Roger Twose or in his non-availability Craig McMillan will lead the side. NZC chief Chris Doig said this would be a chance to unearth the talent of some of their younger players. ** Meanwhile, New Zealand's cricketers are in for an end of season bonus of $NZ 545,013 after the acceptance of an invitation to play in the Coca-Cola Cup tournament at Sharjah from April 8-20. Te team is getting a guaranteed minimum $US 200,000 for playing in Sharjah. The winner of the tournament can take home $US 50,000, while the team placed last at least $US30,000. Sri Lankan cricket supporters yesterday took to the streets in protest against the dissolution of the Cricket Board. The move to dissolve the Board, which came just a few days after the England tour, has not been taken to kindly by fans. More that 2000 demonstrators marched from the city hall to government offices in Colombo in protest demanding that elections be held as soon as possible. The former vice president of the BCCSL Prasanna Ranatunga (brother of Arjuna) has brought forward allegations against the committee of which he was once a member. Prasanna had decided not to contest the elections this year and has requested the minister of sport to suspended all activities of the BCCSL until further investigations. The allegations are said to do with the irregularities in the Dambulla Project (construction of a new stadium) and awarding of television rights.
Justin Langer ran into form as he made a hundred to help his state side Western Australia beat Indian champs Mumbai by seven wickets at Perth in the second match of the Champions Cup. The Mumbai total of 231-8 was easily overhauled by the host team at they coasted to 234-3 in only 46 overs.
A thanksgiving service was held in the Westminister Abbey in the memory of the former England captain late Lord Colin Cowdrey. Former Prime Minister John Major who was one of the speakers at the service played glowing tributes to his life and services. Cowdrey had passed away in December last year following a stroke. He was aged 67. A Sri Lankan Under-19 team will visit India on a reciprocal tour to play 11 matches against various club teams. The exchange programme was organised by the Jawaharlal Nehru Sports Trust, Delhi. The tour will commence on April 12 until April 26. Other tours planned for the coming year include visits to Lancashire and Australia to play against the under-19 and an under-25 teams tour to England and Kenya. SOUTH AFRICA IN WEST INDIES 3rd Test at Bridgetown (day 2) South Africa: 454 (HH Gibbs 34, D Cullinan 134, ND Mckenzie 72, N Boje 34, SM Pollock 109 not out; M Dillon 4-154, CA Walsh 3-87) West Indies: 7-0 (WW Hinds 0 not out, CH Gayle 5 not out) PERTH CHAMPIONS CUP 2nd match: At Perth, Australia Western Australia vs Mumbai Mumbai: 231-8 in 50 overs (Robin Morris 32, Wasim Jaffer 82, SV Bahutule 32 not out; KM Harvey 3-40) W Australia: 234-3 in 46.5 overs (Justin Langer 119 not out, SM Katich 30, Murray Goodwin 30, ME Hussey 32 not out) Result: Western Australia won by 7 wickets Man of the match: Justin Langer (WA)  Yesterday's News News Roll archive
Compiled by: Mohandas Menon
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