RSA v IND Veterans' Tournament - Summary

Report: Veterans' India v South  Africa  -  "A  Success  By  All
Means" - Kamesh Srinivasan - (Sportstar 13th Nov, 1993)

  The South African veterans showed their fighting spirit, though
they  lost  the five-match one-day series by a 2-3 margin against
the Indians, led by Dilip Vengsarkar.
  None of the South Africans, except  wicket-keeper,  Lee  Irvine
had  played  in  an  official  Test,  while  the Indians had star
players such as skipper Dilip  Vengsarkar,  Sandeep  Patil,  Syed
Kirmani, Madan Lal, and Surinder Khanna to name a few.
  No doubt, it was a laudable venture by the Veteran  Cricketers'
Benevolent Fund Trust, headed by Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, to have
planned a three-nation series along with Pakistan.  But  Pakistan
cricketers could not make it.
  Pakistan's non arrival plus the absence of stalwarts like Barry
Richards,  the  Pollock brothers and Mike Procter took some charm
away from the series.
  That veterans should be above 35 and  should  not  have  played
Test  cricket  in  the  last  three years, too, worked in India's
favor.  In all fairness, it should have been a first class crick-
et  instead  of Test cricket, that should have been the criteria,
because Kirmani is still a first class  cricketer  while  Sandeep
Patil  was  playing  in  the  Ranji Trophy championship till last
year.
  The South Africans did have some proven cricketers  in  wicket-
keeper  Lee  Irvine, Ken McEwan and Vincent Vander Bijl, but they
were not in touch with the game to play decisive roles as Sandeep
Patil, Roger Binny, Kirmani and Vengsarkar did for India.
  Opener Henry Fotheringham was highly successful  for  both  its
victories.  Except for his failure in Delhi, he had a half centu-
ry in all the other matches.  A fit Madan Lal and a  not  so  fit
but effective Balwinder Sandhu opened the Indian attack.
  Lee Irvine revived memories of his hard  hitting  days  with  a
quick-fire  half century in the Delhi, but otherwise he could not
contribute much.
  The series had a last-ball finish at Kanpur.  There was  confu-
sion regarding the exact score before South Africa which took two
runs off the last ball was declared the winner.
  Roger Binny was adjudged the "Man of the Series."
  Overall, the South Africans enjoyed the new experience and  got
better  as  the  series  progressed,  winning the third and fifth
matches.
  Hectic travelling and playing matches in  succession  may  have
sapped  their  energy,  but  the  South  Africans were pleasantly
surprised by the spectator interest in some of the  centres  like
Jaipur  and Kanpur, and were amazed by the 'live' television cov-
erage of all the matches on the national network.
  For once, the veterans scored over the current  cricketers,  as
the  cream of Indian talent, busy with Duleep and Deodhar engage-
ments in Baroda and Rajkot, did not get the 'live' coverage.
  With the idea proving  a  success,  despite  the  setback,  the
Veteran Cricketers' Benevolent Fund Trust has started thinking in
terms of hosting a World Cup in the near future.

====> OD1 more
KIRMANI, BINNY STEER INDIA TO VICTORY
BOMBAY -  Former Test wicketkeeper  Syed  Kirmani  and allrounder
Roger  Binny  steered  India  to a crushing 8-wicket victory over
South Africa in the opening match of the veterans' one-day series
at the Brabourne Stadium. (from m.n.s.)
====> OD2 more
BREEZY KNOCK BY SANDEEP PATIL
A stylish, unbeaten 71 by Sandeep Patil and a hard hitting 30  by
Madan  Lal, helped India register their second successive victory
over South Africa by 5 wkts in the 2nd  match  of  the  Veterans'
Cricketers Benevolent Fund series in Jaipur. (from m.n.s.)

 Contributed by Shash (sshah@*.acns.nwu.edu)