da dobrowin： There was nothing dramatic about the first day’s play at the NehruStadium in Indore
Anand Vasu08-Nov-2000There was nothing dramatic about the first day’s play at the NehruStadium in Indore. The medium-sized crowd that gathered was given ahint of what was actually possible. On winning the toss, Guy Whittalldecided to kick off Zimbabwe’s tour of India by having a bit of a bat.The Zimbabweans did just that. After piling up 322/6 they declared andmanaged to scalp an NCA wicket in the dying moments of the day.To start the proceedings for the National Cricket Academy team RakeshPatel and Mrithyunjay Tripathi ran in hard. Both established a goodrhythm and troubled the Zimbabwe batsmen. On a wicket that had verylittle on offer for the bowlers, Patel worked up a decent pace and histhree wickets were well deserved. If he impressed the three nationalselectors who were present at the venue, the spinners did nothing tocatch the eye. Sharandeep Singh bowling his offspinners and VidyuthSivaramakrishnan bowling left arm spin failed to make an impact. Whilebowling well in patches, the duo served up far too many loosedeliveries.Stuart Carlisle who is known for his steady approach to batting wasunusually brisk in his manner and took just 83 balls to make his 61runs. If Carlisle was steady, Alistair Campbell was the epitome ofsafety. The talented southpaw put his head down and applied himselfperfectly. Taking very few chances, Campbell chalked up the runs withease. Using his feet well to the spinners, Campbell faltered just once- when he was on 44 and edged a catch to Sriram in the slips.Fortunately for him the chance was floored and he strode resolutelyon. When he brought up his century with a well placed single the crowdcheered lustily. If nothing he was endeared to the crowd when he tooka hard knock on the helmet from Tripathi and continued manfullydespite bleeding profusely.When Zimbabwe declared their innings closed at 322/6 Campbell wasunbeaten on 114. His innings included 12 fours and three hits thatsailed over the ropes. The biggest of those was a clout off MohammedKaif that disappeared back over the bowler’s head.With just nine overs to play out and light fading gradually, SridharanSriram and Nikhil Doru came out to bat. While Doru was flamboyant,Sriram stuck to his cautious method. Driving through the off side withconfidence and skill, Doru raced to 14 in no time. Unfortunately forthe lad, he drove hard at a ball wide of off stump and dragged theball back onto his stumps. Playing away from his body, the Rajasthanopener’s first mistake cost him his wicket.Sharandeep Singh joined Sriram out in the middle and the pair safelysaw NCA to stumps. Sriram was unbeaten on a patiently compiled 8 andthe NCA were 28/1. Tomorrow will be little more than a day of bowlingpractice for the visitors. It will be interesting to see how theyadapt to conditions in the subcontinent. At a first glance, theopening bowlers looked less than sharp. Bryan Strang was accurate, butclearly lacked pace. While Travis Friend managed to get the ball tomove a shade in the air, he did not get much nip off the wicket. Ifthe Zimbabweans are to win a Test match or more on this tour, theirbowlers will have to get into groove in a hurry.