The Hindu : Sport : Facile wins for Asian men and women

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Wednesday, Jun 06, 2007
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Facile wins for Asian men and women

K.C. Vijaya Kumar

Rumeli Dhar and Jhulan Goswami engineer a spectacular collapse

— Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash

EASY PICKINGS: Pace bowler Jhulan Goswami's early burst ensured a comfortable win for the Asian women.

Bangalore: Asia XI scored a double whammy at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Tuesday night.

The Asian men's team defeated its African counterparts by six wickets in an Afro-Asia Cup Twenty20 match. It was an Asian encore, as earlier the women's team had defeated the African eves by 60 runs.

And the crowd, sparse in the beginning, acquired volume and sound as the night progressed. The tumult of Twenty20 reigned on a newly re-laid pitch that afforded bounce. The rain stayed away until the last ball was bowled, and then the downpour began.

Chasing Africa XI's 109 for eight in 20 overs, Asia XI suffered a top-order wobble with N. Odhiambo scalping Imran Nazir and Mohammed Ashraful and Morne Morkel's pace consuming Kamran Akmal. Meanwhile, opener Tamim Iqbal (30) essayed a few scorchers past covers and the southpaw hoisted seamer Mupariwa for a six before being stumped off Tshabalala.

The merry chase continued unhindered as Tilakaratne Dilshan (47 n.o., 36b, 6x4, 1x6) and skipper Shoaib Malik whittled down the target with a flurry of shots and an unbeaten 49-run partnership that stung an inexperienced attack. Asia XI scored 110 for four in 15.5 overs.

Bosman loots!

Earlier, the African innings was a lone-ranger act as Loots Bosman (52, 55b, 3x4, 3x6) bristled while his partners deserted him. That his opening partner G.H. Bodi managed a 12 and the rest failed to tide past the single-digit score hints at Bosman's rescue act as well as his dominance. Bosman's breezy knock included a mauling of Afridi's third over (20 runs) and had its acme in a six off Sreesanth over mid-wicket. The ball just short of length was homing onto Bosman's thighs when he moved a few inches and whipped the delivery high into the Western Stands. Sreesanth, on a comeback trail following a calf-muscle injury, however, had his vengeance immediately, feathering a faint snick of Bosman.

Earlier, it was a stroll in the park for the Asian women in the day's first Twenty20 match. Chasing Asia XI's 105 for nine in 20 overs, the African eves mustered 45 in 15 overs as its batting unspooled with a mix of tentative prods and ambitious swipes against a bowling attack that remained steady.

A nippy Jhulan Goswami (three for eight) put the visitors on the backfoot in the very first over as she trapped Margaret Banja and Julle Chibhabha. Soon skipper Cri-Zelda Brits too fell to Rumeli Dhar (four for eight) who came back later in the innings and prised out three wickets in the 14th over with deliveries that homed onto the stumps.

The scores: Africa XI 109 for eight in 20 overs (Loots Bosman 52, M. Mortaza two for 17, S. Sreesanth two for 26, Afridi two for 31) lost to Asia XI 110 for four in 15.5 overs (T. Dilshan 47 n.o., Tamim Iqbal 30, N. Odhiambo two for 21).

Asia Women's XI 105 for nine in 20 overs (Sulakshana Naik 31, P.R.C.S. Kumarihami 22, Ashlyn Petro three for 16) bt Africa Women's XI 45 in 15 overs (Alicia Smith 23 n.o., Rumeli Dhar four for eight, Jhulan Goswami three for eight).

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