Wills Cup Snippets (1 November 1998)
Dogs seized the limelight yesterday
01-Nov-1998
1 November 1998
Wills Cup Snippets
By Syed Ashfaqul Haque
Detective dogs
Dogs seized the limelight yesterday. Five dogs became stars, at least
for sometime, at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.
But they were not the average dogs that roam the city streets. They
belong to the privileged club, members of which are 'sniffer' dogs.
Under army escort, those 'sniffer' dogs went out on patrol duty both
inside and outside the stadium. Although the dogs did not detect any
explosives, they could arrest the attention of a good number of
photographers and onlookers.
The 'sniffer' dogs, however, appeared rather embarrassed in the face
of flashlights and clicking cameras.
Hasina alert
Security men were on red alert yesterday as Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina arrived to see the second semi-final between West Indies and
India. Hundreds of members of law-enforcing agencies made their
presence felt in the stadium arena to ensure the maximum security of
the premier, who was sitting at the VVIP Box with Bangladesh Cricket
Board president by her side.
Hasina, however, left the stadium after the India innings, much to
the relief of the spectators at the VIP stand and Hospitality Boxes.
The security personnel imposed restrictions on the movement and
transit of the spectators, making them virtually sit stationary for
nearly two hours.
Lara ... Lara ... Lara
After yesterday's match Brian Lara would certainly love the Dhaka
crowd. Albeit the majority of the spectators were behind India, a
section of appreciative fans chose to jive with the Calypso beat.
With beating trumpets, blowing whistles and chanting the name of the
West Indies captain, a strong band of spectators cherished each and
every stroke played by Lara throughout his unbeaten knock of 60.
Earlier, on October 29, after their quarter-final match against
Pakistan, Lara felt that the crowd was wishing a victory against
them. But, yesterday, it was a different experience of the
Trinidadian.
Face-to-face
The two best batsmen of the world were face to face yesterday. Brian
Lara and Sachin Tendulkar took on each other head-on while the West
Indies innings was in progress. But Lara was with the willow and
Tendulkar was out with the cherry. The Caribbean captain, facing
Tendulkar in the 19th over, paid his tribute to the Indian star
without scoring any run in that over.
The return of Philo
Opener Philo Wallace pulled the very first ball of the West Indies
innings straight over the long-off boundary. Javagal Srinath simply
couldn't believe it. But it was nothing new for the big fellow Philo.
The Barbados batsman made his debut in international cricket against
Pakistan in 1991. The very first ball he faced in international
cricket, and that too from the great Imran Khan, was disposed off in
similar fashion over the ropes. But it was not sufficient to sustain
a place for him in the Caribbean side. It took him another seven
years to return to the side. And what a return!
Dazzling debut
Reon King made a fiery debut in one-day cricket yesterday. The
21-year-old Guyanese was fast and accurate. He gave away only 26 runs
in his share of ten overs. The speedster was seaming and swinging a
lot, much to the discomfort of the Indians. He was recorded 138km/h
on the speedometer, 2km/h faster than his new-ball partner Mervyn
Dillon. However, his first one-day wicket remained elusive.
Source :: The Bangladesh Daily Star (https://www.dailystarnews.com)