2000 India-South Africa series: Court says some matches fixed, attempts made to fix others

'It was decided that the South African Team will not score more than 250 runs in an inning and the same is evident from the statement of Pieter Strydom and Hansie Cronje before the King's Commission,' the court observed.

New Delhi: A Delhi court, which framed charges against four accused in the 2000 cricket match-fixing scandal case, said some matches of the India-South Africa test and ODI series were fixed and attempts were made to fix other fixtures.

The two tests and five one-day internationals were held from February 19 to March 19, 2000.

The court said, "Investigation also concluded that some of the matches were fixed and an attempt was made to fix some other matches."

It said, noting the investigation, that in the first test match at Mumbai from February 24 to 28, "it was decided that the South African Team will not score more than 250 runs in an inning and the same is evident from the statement of Pieter Strydom and Hansie Cronje before the King's Commission."

In the second test match at Bengaluru from March 2 to 6, the court noted that, "Though Hansie Cronje had spoken to other players as per the statements made before the King's Commission, this match was not fixed although an attempt was made to fix it."

Noting the evidence before it, the court said that the first ODI on March 9 in Kochi was a fixed match.

"The conversation recorded on March 16, 2000, wherein Hansie Cronje demands outstanding payment and Hansie Cronje's statement before King's Commission admitting receiving of money from Sanjeev Chawla, clearly prove that the 1st One Day International was a fixed match," it said.

"Statement of Hansie Cronje made before the King's Commission that he had informed Sanjay (alias Sanjeev Chawla) about losing the first One Day International is further corroborated by the statement of others made before the King's Commission," the court added.

Regarding the second ODI at Jamshedpur on March 12, third ODI at Faridabad on March 15 and the fourth ODI at Baroda on March 17, the court said that Cronje, in his statement before the King's Commission, said that "he was forecasting as to what would happen."

"Thus, though the matches were not fixed, it can be inferred that Hansie Cronje helped in giving inside information to the accused persons and helped them in placing bets and earning huge profits," the court said.

Regarding the fifth ODI on March 19 at Nagpur, the court said that according to the recorded conversation, "it is evident that Hansie Cronje had agreed to fix the score of the match and he had also agreed to fix the individual score of Herschelle Gibbs. He had also spoken to Williams to give more than 50 runs in his 10 overs. Both were promised USD 15000 each."

"Though the players forgot about the deal in the heat of the game and did not play as per agreed terms, it can be concluded that a serious attempt was made to fix the match," it added.

The court further noted, "From the recorded conversations, it is revealed that between the accused persons, large amounts of foreign exchange has also changed hands through hawala dealings for onward payment to the South African members who were part of the criminal conspiracy."