Cricket: Pakistan triumph after fan disorder

AFTER RENEWED disruption from angry spectators which held up play for more than three hours, Wasim Akram and his fellow fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar bowled Pakistan to a 46-run victory over India in the inaugural match of the Asian Test championship yesterday.

Most spectators were removed from the Eden Gardens stadium by police after missiles, oranges and empty water bottles were thrown on to the Calcutta outfield for the second successive day.

The Test victory came hours before a historic handshake between the prime ministers of the two countries after a scheduled trip by the Indian leader Atal Behari Vajpayee across the Wagah Border to Lahore.

Trouble broke out as India were on the verge of defeat, recalling memories of 1996 when the Calcutta crowd created trouble during the World Cup semi- final which India conceded later to Sri Lanka. Resuming at an overnight 214 for 6, India lost the remaining four wickets on the last day for just 18 runs, falling well short of their victory target of 279. Saurav Ganguly, who was on 23 overnight, was out after adding just one run, caught at slip off the bowling of Wasim in the second over of the morning.

Wasim soon followed up with the wicket of Javagal Srinath, caught brilliantly by the wicketkeeper Moin Khan for three. Shahid Afridi took a spectacular catch in the next over when Anil Kumble, who had made 16, tried to drive Shoaib on the off-side. The crowd, disappointed by the fall of three quick wickets, then began throwing objects, forcing a halt just as they had done on Friday when they were incensed by the controversial run-out of Sachin Tendulkar.

An hour after Saturday's interruption, the umpires and players tried to resume but under a fresh barrage of bottles and stones they aborted their efforts. After three hours 20 minutes, play resumed after police emptied almost all the stands.

The end was swift with Shoaib uprooting Venkatesh Prasad's stumps within seven minutes to give Pakistan their triumph. Pakistan and India drew their recent two-Test series 1-1 that preceded the start of the Asian championship, in which Sri Lanka are the third team.

l Brian Lara will lose the West Indies captaincy before the month is out following the recent Test drubbing in South Africa, the Antigua Sun has reported. The newspaper, quoting highly placed cricket sources, said that Lara would not be considered for the captaincy for the series against Australia when the West Indies Cricket Board meet tomorrow. The Australians begin their two-month tour in Antigua tomorrow.