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Cricket At The 1998 Commonwealth Games




Sixteen teams entered the competition, including seven of the nine then sent a high-quality squad packed with Test and ODI regulars while India and Pakistan sent weakened teams as a result of a clash with the 1998 Sahara Cup . South Africa were also rather below full strength; nevertheless, it was the South Africans who eventually came away with the Gold Medal .


COMPETITION FORMAT

All matches were played at one of six grounds in Kuala Lumpur . The 16 teams were divided into four groups of four on a seeded basis. Each team played the other three once in matches packed into a single week between 9 September and 15 September , scoring two points for a win, one for a no-result and none for a loss. The top team in each group went forward to the knock-out stages of semi-finals and final (plus a third-place play-off). Teams with equal numbers of points were separated on Net Run Rate , but in the event this rule was only needed to decide the minor placings.


TEAMS



GROUP STAGES


Group A

  • ) brought them close to victory at 258/6. Streak then took three quick wickets, but the last pair survived to give Sri Lanka a one-wicket win.


In the other Group A games, Zimbabwe (144/4) beat Jamaica (142ao) by six wickets thanks in large measure to an unbeaten 55 from Evans , then piled up 309/9 ( Flower 70, Evans 59 , Goodwin 53) as they crushed a poor Malaysia side (88ao; Nkala 3-6) by 221 runs. The Wooden Spoon game saw Malaysia crumble to 83ao thanks to 4-13 from Cunningham and lose by six wickets to Jamaica (87/4).


Group B

  • from Moody contributed to a total of 255/5 that proved far too much as India stuttered to 109ao.


Antigua and Barbuda put up 164/9 (a recovery from 77/7) in a 41-over match against India, but the rain fell again with India 30/2 in reply and the match was declared a no-result. India were dependent on Khurasiya 's 83 against Canada - no other batsman passed 22 - but their 157/9 turned out to be well sufficient as their opponents fell apart, Kumble claiming 4-11 as the Canadians were humiliatingly dismissed for 45. Antigua and Barbuda (256/7) beat Canada (135ao) thanks to a fine all-round display from Lake , who made 54 before retiring hurt and then took 4-17; Walsh also made 51 for the Antiguans.


Group C

Honours in this group went to South Africa, who started off against Northern Ireland. The Irish had reached 89/5 from 38.1 overs when it rained, and the Duckworth-Lewis Method was used to calculate a target of 131 from 38 overs for the South Africans, who won by making 133/6. South Africa then bowled out Bangladesh for a paltry 79 and made 80/5 for a five-wicket victory, before rounding things off against Barbados. The Barbadians set a useful 254/6 ( Wallace 74), but 71 from Kallis and 54 from Gibbs saw their opponents through to 257/6 with ten balls remaining.

Barbados (160/6 in 41.3ov) beat Bangladesh (144/7 in 47ov, 53) before Cooke ran through the Bangladeshi order, taking 5-35 as they were dismissed for 63.


Group D

One-day specialists New Zealand won all their matches in Group D, beginning with a comfortable five-wicket win over Kenya (Kenya 144/8; New Zealand 145/5) before an even more straightforward success against Scotland. The New Zealanders amassed 278/6 ('s 4-47, but only three Pakistanis (and Extras ) reached double figures as they lost their last six wickets for 21 runs, being bowled out for 134 to slide to an 81-run defeat.

Pakistan had earlier been frustrated by rain against Scotland; they had scored 201/5 from their 50 overs ('s 4-39 had restricted them to 189/8, but Arshad Khan 's 4-14 and Javed Qadeer 's five catches behind the stumps helped Pakistan to a 129-run win as they dismissed the Africans for only 60. Odumbe took 5-38 as Kenya kept Scotland down to 156/8; they then made 157/5 to win with 12.3 overs in hand.


FINAL GROUP TABLES

''Teams highlighted in yellow qualified for the semi-finals.''


SEMI-FINALS


South Africa v Sri Lanka

  • ) and Dawson (15---) compiled an unbroken stand of 35 for the last wicket to lead their team to 131/9 and a one-wicket victory.



Australia v New Zealand

A totally one-sided trans- Tasman clash saw New Zealand collapse to a feeble 58 all out after being sent in, with only captain Fleming reaching 20. Australian slow left-armer Brad Young took a Hat-trick to finish with an exceptional Analysis of 4-2-4-4. In reply, the Australians rattled along at nearly six an over, losing only Mark Waugh as they raced to 62/1 in 10.5 overs with Gilchrist smashing three Sixes as he hit 42 from 36 balls.


THIRD-PLACE PLAY-OFF


New Zealand v Sri Lanka

  • from Harris and 56 from Astle were the main elements of a final total of 212/7 that included three run-outs. The Sri Lankans struggled to 77/7 in their innings, and though they added 53 for the eighth wicket thanks to Perera 's 45, it was never likely to be enough and they were bowled out for 161.



FINAL


Australia v South Africa

Put in by South Africa, the Australians were indebted to Steve Waugh's unbeaten 90 as they recovered from 58/4 to post a still below-par 183 all out. Pollock was the chief destroyer for South Africa, with 4-19 from nine tight overs to remove Mark Waugh , Ponting , Gilchrist and Lehmann . South Africa got off to a good start in their reply with an opening partnership of 73 between Rindel (67) and Hudson (36). A burst of wickets from Lehmann (3-14) saw the South Africans wobble as they fell from 158/2 to 183/6, but it was too late for Australia and Kallis ' watchful 44 from 96 balls saw South Africa through to 184/6 and the gold medal.


LEGACY


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