India crushes The Netherlands

By Steve Whiting

CHRISTCHURCH, DEC. 2. Indian women, so long the Cinderellas of a cricket- mad nation, are becoming a big hit in the Cricinfo World Cup in New Zealand after joining the mighty Australians at the top of the round-robin table. They reached there with a 154-run win over The Netherlands and now have the maximum four points from their two games.

At the same time, England, which was expected to beat South Africa, crashed by five wickets and now faces India in a crunch game on Monday. With the probability that Australia will finish top of the eight teams, the objective is to avoid it in the semifinals.

Every single one of India's first five batsmen took advantage of some gentle Dutch bowling at the Lincoln Green ground. Captain Anju Jain was the lowest scorer with 32 off 54 balls while Anjum Chopra earned the man of the match award with 69 off 112 balls and six boundaries. In between Hemlata Kala made 56, Mithali Raj 51 and Chandrakanta Kaul 39 not out.

That was enough to take India to 275 for four in 50 overs, with Kala being bowled off the last ball.

It managed only 121 for six by the end of its 50 overs. Economy was the name of the game for India's seven bowlers, but nobody did better than Smitha Harikrishna who took two for 10 in her 10 overs.

Meanwhile at Lincoln Park, South Africa, facing a must-win situation following the setback against India, overcame a disastrous start on the chase to subdue England by five wickets.

In pursuit of 143, South Africa seemed to have lost its way at 39 for four, but the fifth wicket pair of M. Terblanche and S. Viljoen added 71 for the fifth wicket to put their team on the road to recovery.

Terblanche, who incidentally took 36 balls to open her account, was dismissed for 41, but Viljoen remained unbeaten with 54 as South Africa won with just over three overs to spare.

Earlier, England, put in, was bundled out for 143 in 47.5 overs with only opener K.M. Leng offering some resistance with 46.

lThe scores: India 275 for four in 50 overs (Anju Jain 32, Anjum Chopra 69, Mithali Raj 51, Hemalatha Kala 56, Chandrakanta Kaul 39 not out, Oudolf two for 44) bt The Netherlands 121 for six in 50 overs (P. te Beest 33, C. Verheul 46, Smitha Harikrishna two for 10).

England 143 in 47.5 overs (K.M. Leng 46, C.J. Connor 25, Price two for 20, Van der Merwe three for 25) lost to South Africa 144 for five in 46.5 overs (M. Terblanche 41, S. Viljoen 54 not out, Person two for 14).

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