Date-stamped : 11 Feb94 - 10:31 Australia vs Nicky Oppenheimer XI. Played at Randjiesfontein, 10 February 1994. Match Drawn (rain washed out play). Their batting wasn`t too convincing, but the visiting Australian cricket team still started their tour of SA on a sound note when they drew with a Nicky Oppenheimer XI at Randjiesfontein yester- day. Allan Border`s side, batting first by agreement, looked anything but comfortable in the rarified highveld atmosphere and against a fired-up Oppenheimer bowling attack determined to put one over their more illustrious opponents. They lost wickets at regular intervals, and only Matthew Hayden and Dean Jones posted scores in excess of 20 as the side was dismissed for 223 in 55. 5 overs. The Nicky Oppenheimer XI re- plied with 121/4 before rain brought a premature halt to the day`s proceedings. Hayden, 22, one of the younger members of the Australian side who is not a certainty once the side comes up against SA, started ag- gresively and scored the bulk of his side`s run in the opening few overs. He faced 57 balls and hit 6x4 before becoming the first victim of Jacob Malao, a left-arm spinner who is a product of the United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA) development programme. Jones, an integral part of Australia`s limited-overs team, faced 100 balls and hit eight fours and a six in his 128-minute stay at the crease. West Indian Eldine Baptiste was the most successful bowler in the Oppenheimer XI, finishing with 4/56 off 14 overs. But Malao also did his reputation no harm with a return of 3/59 in 11 overs. The Oppenheimer XI lost two early wickets, Mandy Yachad (1) and Roy Pienaar both taking early showers with the total on 11. Western Province pair Herschelle Gibbs and Adrian Kuiper took the score along to 79 before Kuiper was dismissed for 56, scored off just 51 balls and including 9 boundaries. Baptiste went for 11 and Jeffrey Toyana (6 not out) and Gibbs, who batted sensibly for his unbeaten 31, stayed together until the rain brought a premature halt to the match at 5.09pm. Thanks Natal Mercury. Contributed by Frank (sokolic@*.und.ac.za) ====> MORE The Australian tour opener yesterday ended in a draw. The match was played at Randjiesfontein (pronounced more or less had some unusual rules. There was no toss, the touring team bats first. The game is played over one innings each. The touring team de- clares when thay think they have enough runs. Twenty overs are bowled in the last hour. Apparently Nicky Oppenheimer donated R100,000 to the United Cricket Board development programme for the privilege of hosting this match. Anyway, Australia scored 223 runs in 55.5 overs, Dean Jones scoring 60, Matthew Hayden got 40 and the Sowetan spinner, Jake Malao, took 3 for 59 in 20 overs. The Nicky Openheimer XI were on 121/4 when rain stopped play after 2 of the last 20 overs had been bowled. Adrian Kuiper scored 50+. The Australians move on to Verwoerdburg to play Northern Transvaal in a 4 day game starting tomorrow (Saturday). Contributed by Frank.Sokolic (sokolic@*.und.ac.za)