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India beat Zimbabwe by five wickets
HYDERABAD, India: India beat Zimbabwe by five wickets in the fourth one-day international to level the five-match series 2-2 here on Saturday.
Scores: Zimbabwe 240-8 in 50 overs; India 244-5 in 48.1 overs
March 16, 2002 - 1530 GMT
Friend's twin strike rocks India
HYDERABAD, India: Zimbabwe medium-pacer Travis Friend struck twice in two balls as India, chasing 241 for victory, recovered to 104 for three after 25 overs in the fourth one-day international on Saturday.
The 21-year-old Friend forced opener Dinesh Mongia to edge a catch to the slips for a 32-ball 30 and had Vangipurappu Laxman caught behind for 13 to be on a hat-trick and reduce India to 56 for three.
But Mohammad Kaif, batting on 31, and Rahul Dravid, 17 not out, had added 48 runs in an unbroken fourth-wicket stand to keep India in the hunt in the day-nighter.
India, needing to win to stay in the five-match series, were in trouble when skipper Saurav Ganguly was dismissed for seven runs.
The left-hander drove medium-pacer Douglas Hondo straight to Grant Flower in the covers, frustrated after being denied singles by Zimbabwe's tight fielding.
Mongia attacked Hondo, hitting him for three fours in one over and cutting fast bowler Heath Streak through point for another, but he edged a wide ball from Friend to slip fielder Alistair Campbell, who took a low catch to his left.
Laxman edged a leg-side catch trying to play a lifting ball off his hips to leave the hosts in serious trouble on a pitch on which the ball did not come on to the bat. Earlier, left-hander Andy Flower hit a well-paced 89 to lift Zimbabwe out of trouble to reach 240 for eight in their 50 overs after electing to bat.
Flower added 96 runs for the fourth wicket with his brother Grant (44) from only 107 balls after gathering 66 for the previous wicket with opener Dion Ebrahim, who made 38.
Coming into bat in the fourth over with Zimbabwe struggling at 13 for two, he hit six fours from 107 balls and anchored the innings until the 43rd over. Skipper Stuart Carlisle then lashed a 33-ball 40 to push the score before he was out off the last ball of the innings.
Seamer Ajit Agarkar, who struck twice in the fourth over to rock Zimbabwe, bowled lively spells to return impressive figures of four for 32 from his 10 overs.
March 16, 2002 - 1300 GMT
Flower hits 89 to boost Zimbabwe
HYDERABAD, India: Andy Flower hit a well-paced 89 to lift Zimbabwe out of early trouble to a total of 240 for eight in the fourth one-day international against India on Saturday.
The dependable left-hander anchored the innings, sharing two crucial partnerships after fast bowler Ajit Agarkar had left the tourists struggling at 13 for two early in the day-nighter.
The 33-year-old showed no ill-effects of the recent hip strain which forced him to miss his side's six-wicket win in the last game on Wednesday.
Flower added 96 runs for the fourth wicket with his brother Grant (44) from only 107 balls after gathering 66 for the previous wicket with opener Dion Ebrahim, who made 38.
Coming into bat in the fourth over, he used the reverse-sweep to telling effect and also ran some quick singles, stepping up the scoring rate after rebuilding the innings with Ebrahim.
Flower hit six fours from 107 balls and looked set for a deserved century before left-arm seamer Zaheer Khan struck in the first over of his new spell to reduce Zimbabwe to 190 for five.
But skipper Stuart Carlisle lashed a 33-ball 40 before being bowled off the last ball of the innings by Agarkar, who was the most successful bowler with figures of four for 32.
Earlier, Agarkar had rocked the visitors by snapping up two wickets in the fourth over as India, needing to win to stay in the five-match series, began brightly.
The lean medium-pacer, extracting sharp lift on a grassless pitch, removed in-form opener Alistair Campbell for three when the left-hander edged a rising ball to Rahul Dravid in the slips.
He then forced pinch-hitter Travis Friend to glove a sharp bouncer to wicketkeeper Ajay Ratra for a duck. Khan almost removed Ebrahim for nought in the first over, edging to Rahul Dravid at first slip, but television replays to confirm whether the catch was taken cleanly proved inconclusive.
Ebrahim and Andy Flower slowly re-built the innings and saw off the sharp spells of both opening bowlers before picking up the run rate. Skipper Sourav Ganguly eventually broke the partnership when Ebrahim top-edged his gentle medium-pace to Dravid at square-leg. He hit five fours in his 74-ball knock.
Andy Flower looked in early discomfort after being struck a painful blow on his left thumb by Agarkar, but took charge in his brother's company to reach his second 50 of the series.
He reverse-swept superbly to upset the rhythm of debutant left-arm spinner Murali Kartik and looked set for a huge score.
Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh removed Grant Flower when he attempted to loft over long-on, Dinesh Mongia running in from the boundary line before completing a diving catch. But captain Carlisle stayed till the last ball of
the innings, seeing his side through to a respectable total.
March 16, 2002 - 1130 GMT
Zimbabwe struggling at 88 for three v India
HYDERABAD, India: Zimbabwe chose to bat but made a shaky start to reach 88 for three after 25 overs in the fourth one-dayer against India on Saturday.
Pace bowler Ajit Agarkar rocked the visitors by snapping up two wickets in the fourth over to reduce them to 13 for two.
Opener Dion Ebrahim and left-hander Andy Flower then put on 66 runs for the third wicket to re-build the innings before Ebrahim was dismissed for 38. He top-edged a sweep against skipper Saurav Ganguly's gentle medium-pace
to Rahul Dravid at square-leg. He hit five fours in his 74-ball knock.
Andy Flower was batting on 37 with brother Grant on four midway through the innings. Zimbabwe batsmen struggled against sharp opening spells by new-ball bowlers Agarkar and left-arm Zaheer Khan.
Khan almost removed Ebrahim for nought in the first over edging to Rahul Dravid at first slip, but television replays to confirm whether the catch was taken cleanly proved inconclusive.
Agarkar, who got sharp lift from the grassless pitch, then had the visitors in serious trouble. He removed in-form opener Alistair Campbell as the batsman edged a rising ball to Dravid in the slips for three runs and forced pinch-hitter Travis Friend to glove a sharp bouncer to stumper Ajay Ratra for a third-ball duck.
Andy Flower, back in the side after recovering from a hip strain, looked in early discomfort after being struck a painful blow on his left thumb by Agarkar.
But both he and Ebrahim ran sharp singles before gradually stepping up the scoring.
March 16, 2002 - 0900 GMT
Zimbabwe bat v India in fourth one-dayer
HYDERABAD, India: Zimbabwe skipper Stuart Carlisle won the toss and chose to bat against India in the fourth one-day international on Saturday.
India made two changes to the side which lost the third game of the five-match series by six wickets, including attacking left-hander Yuvraj Singh and left-arm spinner Murali Kartik for his one-day debut.
Off-spinner Sarandeep Singh and all-rounder Sanjay Bangar were left out of the 11 from the previous game.
Zimbabwe, looking to win the series in Hyderabad after going up 2-1 in the series, made one change. Key left-hander Andy Flower returned to the side after missing the third game in Cochin on Wednesday because of a hip strain. He replaced Craig Wishart.
The day-nighter began in hot and humid conditions in this southern venue on a pitch expected to get slower later in the game.
Teams:India - Sourav Ganguly (captain), Dinesh Mongia, Vangipurappu Laxman, Rahul Dravid, Mohammad Kaif, Yuvraj Singh, Ajay Ratra (wk), Harbhajan Singh, Ajit Agarkar, Murali Kartik, Zaheer Khan.
Zimbabwe - Stuart Carlisle (captain), Alistair Campbell, Dion Ebrahim, Travis Friend, Andy Flower, Grant Flower, Heath Streak, Douglas Marillier, Tatenda Taibu (wk), Douglas Hondo, Mpumulelu Mbangwa.
Umpires: K.Hariharan and Satish Mahal, TV Umpire: SC Gupta
Match Referee: JR Reid (NZ)
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