da esoccer bet： It was an agonising day for the bowlers, spin and pace alike, at theMA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai on Monday
Staff Reporter20-Aug-2001It was an agonising day for the bowlers, spin and pace alike, at theMA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai on Monday. While MRF toiled hard,after having lost the toss and being put out on the field, the NewZealand A batsmen took their time milking the bowling. At the end ofthe day, the visiting team’s skipper Matthew Bell could be nothing butpleased, both for his 111 and for the side’s 303/4 off 101 overs.Having won a close first round encounter against Mumbai CricketAssociation, New Zealand A took no chances. On a wicket that can bestbe described as a featherbed, the spinners toiled ceaselessly withlittle reward. A look at the bowling analysis tells the tale – leftarm spinner Babloo Kumar 0/65 from 22 overs, Ashish Kapoor 0/68 from27 overs, Tanseer Jabbar 0/43 from 22 overs.Having said all this, it would be unfair to the extreme to takeanything away from the Kiwi batsmen. Having played out the best partof the day with extreme care, pushing, nudging and stroking the ballinto the gaps for ones and twos, the New Zealand batsmen really cashedin, just after tea, when the wicket was at its best and the bowlingtired.Earlier in the day, Mark Richardson (0) and Mathew Horne (4) missedout on a good chance to get some good scores as New Zealand A slumpedto 20/2. From there on however, the pair of Bell and Lou Vincent shutthe door on the MRF bowlers. Adding 156 runs for the third wicket, thepair blunted the bowling. Playing the sweep with aplomb, both Bell andVincent were positive without being aggressive. Bell in particular waskeen to play a long innings and outlasted Vincent (85 runs, 165 balls,11 fours). The departure of Vincent saw young Hamish Marshall have ago at the batting. Easily the most comfortable batsman at the crease,Marshall took the attack to the spinners, striking 11 boundaries andtwo sixes, one that clattered into the sight screen, on the way tomaking an unbeaten 84 (123 balls).It took a long while, 377 minutes in all at the wicket, before Bellwas dismissed on 111. Coming off nearly 300 balls, Bell’s knockincluded 11 hits to the fence. At the end of the day, Marshall hadJacob Oram (1 not out) for company.