Ranji One-dayers: Day 5

Bowlers continue Delhi's dominance

(by-Arjun Sen in New Delhi)

Delhi have an air of invincibility around them at the moment. Every member of the squad seems certain of his duties in creating a winning outfit, and just about everything is falling in pace without any glitches whatsoever. And this seamless transition from perennial underachievers to unbeatable champions was on show once again on Saturday.

Delhi won their third straight match in the North Zone Ranji one-dayers, beating Himachal Pradesh by eight wickets and qualify for the knockouts. On an unusually hot February afternoon, the hosts, chasing 161, took only 35.3 overs to get there. Led by half-centuries from Shikhar Dhawan (70) and Mayank Tehlan (45), Delhi also accrued a bonus point from the game.

Like the last match against Punjab, Delhi's top-order came good against HP too. They knocked off the runs without too much of an effort and continue this amazing run of victories. But unlike the last game, Saturday's chase was made easier by a very disciplined bowling effort.

Delhi's new ball duo of Parwinder Awana (4/30) and Amit Bhandari (2/24) found an amazing amount of assistance and carry on a Kotla wicket, which before this game, had been the perfect batting track. The two ran through the HP line-up, reducing them to 21/4 in just eight overs. Awana, who had been taken to the cleaners by the Punjab batsmen in the last match, reveled in the responsibility of being handed the new ball.

It took him only three deliveries to get the first of his four wickets, castling Hemant Dogra with one that held its line after pitching. The opener decided to let it go, only to hear the death knell from behind. It was Bhandari's turn to get into the act next. The experienced seamer removed both the dangerous Paras Dogra (0) and Vikramjeet Malik (1) in the fifth over to throw the visitors into all kinds of trouble.

Two more quick wickets - NS Negi's first and Awana's third - exacerbated HP's already fragile position and left them staring at a humiliating loss. 32/6 became 40/7 when Awana had HP skipper Ajay Mannu caught at gully for a duck.

Though a 33-run stand between Mukesh Sharma (84*) and Sarandeep Singh (11) followed that wicket, Rajat Bhatia (1/27) trapped a shuffling Sarandeep right in front, while offie Suhail Sharma took a sharp return catch to send Vishal Bhatia back. These two quick wickets looked to have all but end HP's hopes of a fighting total. Or that's what Delhi had hoped, anyway.

Mukesh, along with No. 11 Ashok Thakur, then put on a gritty 72-run unbeaten partnership for the last wicket off 29 overs to finish their innings on a high.

That joy however did not last long. Despite the absence of an in-form Aakash Chopra from the opening slot - the pulled hamstring hampered his running - Delhi raced to victory. Dhawan was his usual aggressive self, while Tehlan started slow but quickly built up steam. The two put on 110 before Dhawan was caught at extra cover off Sarandeep. Skipper Mithun Manhas and Bhatia knocked off the remaining runs without any trouble.

Delhi are on their way down South for the knockouts, and judging by the form they are in, they could end up on top there too. But before that, it's Haryana on Monday.

SCORECARD

Himachal Pradesh: H Dogra b Awana 01, S Sharma lbw Negi 22, V Malik b Bhandari 01, P Dogra b Bhandari 00, M Bisla b Awana 00, M Sharma not out 84, A Mannu b Awana 00, R Dhawan c Jain (sub) b Awana 01, S Singh lbw Bhatia 11, V Bhatia c & b Suhail Sharma 10, A Thakur not out 17

Extras: (lb-4, w-8) 12

Total: 160

Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-12, 3-12, 4-21, 5-31, 6-32, 7-40, 8-73, 9-88

Bowling: A Bhandari 7-2-24-2, P Awana 10-0-30-4, N S Negi 10-2-23-1, C Nanda 6-0-26-0, R Bhatia 7-2-27-1, Suhail Sharma 10-1-26-1.

Delhi: M Tehlan c Bisla b Bhatia 45, S Dhawan c Mannu b S Singh 70, M Manhas not out 31, R Bhatia not out 15

Extras: (nb-1, w-1) 2

Total: 163

Fall of wickets: 1-110, 2-128

Bowling: A Thakur 5.5-0-21-0, V Malik 8-0-44-0, A Mannu 0.4-0-4-0, R Dhawan 5-0-24-0, S Singh 9-0-34-1, V Bhatia 6-0-30-1, M Sharma 1-0-6-0.

MP through to knock-out at UP's expense

(by-Sharad Deep in Kanpur)

LAST SEASON Madhya Pradesh had missed the knock-out berth by just two points, but this time around they appeared a determined lot right from the beginning. On Saturday, they proved their supremacy in the Central Zone Inter-state one-day tournament for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, outplaying defending zonal champions Uttar Pradesh by 27 runs, at the Green Park Stadium here.

The Mohammed Kaif-led UP batsmen did not apply themselves on a perfect batting pitch and looked a mediocre lot before a disciplined bowling attack from MP. MP fielders too gave good support to the bowlers and didn't allow UP batsmen to free their arms while chasing a modest 209 in 50 overs.

Barring young keeper-batsman Eklavya Dwivedi and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, no other batsman could put up any sort of resistance against the MP bowlers. Kaif was a disappointment as he was trapped lbw for two by Shantanu Pitre in the 23rd over. However, the young Dwivedi displayed good temperament and, after taking two stunning catches earlier during the day, he hit the highest score for UP (42 off 85 balls with six hits to the fence). Bhuvaneshwar, on the other hand, remained unbeaten on 30.

MP seamer Rajesh Kanojiya did the maximum damage, bagging 3 for 35 as UP were bundled out for 181. Things looked difficult for UP batsmen right from the start as they could score just 50 in 19.3 overs and crossed the 100-run mark in the 31st over.

MP collected four points from this match and took their points' tally to 13 from four matches. UP have just five points from three matches.

Earlier, MP despite a four-wicket burst by lanky seamer Shailendra Singh Senger posted a challenging 202 in 49.3 overs. Playing only his second first-class match, Senger came up with a fine show of seam bowling, edging opener Naman Ojha (4) into the safe hands of Ravikant Shukla in the fourth over. But, thereafter Himalaya Sagar (47, 67b, 8x4) and Jatin Saxena (29, 45b, 3x4) steadied the innings.

In down the order, Shabad Khyan (33, 46b, 4x4) and Harpreet Singh (27, 55b, 3x4) and Rajesh Kanojiya (19, 17b, 3x4) chipped in useful runs, which helped MP cross the 200-run mark.

Besides Senger, Team India seamer Rudra Pratap Singh on his comeback trail took 2/31, while orthodox spinner Praveen Gupta also had 2/40.

On Sunday, Railways take on Rajasthan, at the Green Park Stadium, while UP lock horns with Vidarbha in the last league match, at the Kamla Club Ground.

SCOREBOARD

MP: N Ojha c R Shukla b SS Senger 4, H Sagar c M Kaif b SS Senger 47, J Saxena c A Kapoor b SS Senger 29, H Singh c E Dwivedi b RP Singh 27, M Ali lbw b M Kaif 13, S Khan c A Kapoor b P Gupta 33, R Khan b B Kumar 5, J Saxena c E Dwivedi b P Gupta 6, S Pandey b RP Singh 7, R Kanojiya not out 19, S Pitre c M Kaif b SS Senger 2. Extras (b4, lb6, w6) 16. Total (all out; 49.3 overs) 208. Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-83, 3-88, 4-115, 5-144, 6-163, 7-178, 8-179, 9-200, 10-208. Bowling: RP Singh 10-2-31-2, SS Senger 9.3-0-42-4, B Kumar 10-0-45-1, P Gupta 10-0-40-2, M Kaif 7-0-28-1, A Yadav 3-0-12-0.

UP: E Dwivedi lbw b M Ali 42, P Singh c N Ojha b S Pandey 0, M Kaif lbw b S Pitre 2, R Shukla c S Khan b R Kanojiya 10, A Kapoor st N Ojha b R Kanojiya 0, R Elahi lbw b S Pandey 22, P Gupta c Jatin b J Saxena 4, A Yadav c Jatin b J Saxena 11, RP Singh c Jatin b S Pitre 22, B Kumar not out 30, SS Senger b R Kanojiya 9. Extras (b4, lb8, w17) 29. Total (all out; 48.1 overs) 181. Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-22, 3-63, 4-63, 5-66, 6-87, 7-107, 8-129, 9-142, 10-181. Bowling: S Pandey 10-2-28-2, S Pitre 8-1-22-2, R Kanojiya 8.1-1-35-3, M Ali 10-0-38-1, J Saxena 10-0-39-2, R Khan 2-0-7-0.

Punjab beat J&K to register win

New Delhi: Punjab beat J&K in their third match of the Ranji Trophy one-day tournament played at the Harbax Stadium on Saturday. Punjab batting clicked to garner a healthy 259 for five. Mayank Sidhana (62), Pankaj Dharmani (52) and Uday Kaul (51 not out) struck half-centuries, while Karan Goel contributed a useful 43.

In reply to this, skipper Samiullah Beigh (61) and Zahoor Sofi (35) led the J&K run chase, but their efforts were not enough to overhaul the Punjab total.

J&K managed 222 for eight in 50 overs as Manpreet Singh picked up three wickets for Punjab.

Brief Scores: Punjab 259 for 5 (M Sidhana 62, P Dharmani 52, U Kaul 51 not out, Karan Goel 43) vs J&K 222 for 8 (S Beigh 61, Z Sofi 35, M Singh 3-37).

Amardeep shines in Haryana win

New Delhi: In the match played between Haryana and Services at Palam Ground, impressive knocks by Amardeep Sonkar (73) and Sachin Rana (48) helped Haryana to reach 232 for seven in 50 overs. Haryana bowlers Amardeep Sonkar (3/29) and Amit Mishra (3/38) shared six wickets between them to thwart Services' march.

Meanwhile, Tahir Khan (75) and Soumik Chatterjee (45) were the major scorers for Services, who were all out for 196 in 47.3 overs.

Brief scores: Haryana 232 for 7 (A Sonkar 73, S Rana 48) vs Services 196 all-out (T Khan 75, S Chatterjee 45; A Sonkar 3-29, A Mishra 3-38).

Spirited Vidarbha too make it to knock-out

(by-Sharad Deep in Kanpur)

SPIRITED VIDARBHA continued their good run in the Central Zone Inter-State One-Day Tournament for the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Saturday, scoring a thumping six-wicket win over Rajasthan to make it to the knock-out with 13 points.

Opener Faiz Fazal (67, 109b, 7x4, 16) and Alind Naidu (59, 84b, 6x4) made Rajasthan's total of 201 runs quite small with their fascinating batting display, a the Kamla Club Ground.

Now, Vidarbha's last match against host Uttar Pradesh on Sunday will decide the leader of the zone as Madhya Pradesh too have 13 points, but in four matches.

Sandip Singh and Mohd Hashim destroyed the Rajasthan's batting line-up with three wickets each after they chose to bat first. Nikhil Doru (55, 5x4) and Sumit Khatri (51, 2x4, 1x6) made good efforts to help side post a good challenge for the Vidarbha, but in vain. Pankaj Singh too struck 31 in 29 balls with one four and a six.

Vidarbha though lost opener Amit Paunikar (1) in the very fifth over, Fazal and Naidu then went on adding 118 runs for the second-wicket to design the innings for team's comfortable win.

SCOREBOARD

Rajasthan: M Sharma c R Paradkar b M Hashim 4, R Sharma c&b S Singh b S Singh 3, R Vishnoi b M Hashim 8, V Saxena run out (U Patel) 16, N Doru lbw b V Kadbe 55, R Jhalani run out (U Patel) 4, S Khatri c&b S Singh 51, P Singh c V Kadbe b M Hashim 31, S Mathur b S Singh 2, G Singh not out 8, M Arif not out 0. Extras (b3 lb3, n1, w12) 19. Total (for 9 wkts; 50n overs) 201. Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-9, 3-19, 4-50, 5-61, 6-127, 7-172, 8-183, 9-189, 10-201. Bowling: S Singh 9-1-29-3, M Hashim 9-2-38-3, A Naidu 3-0-17-0, R Jangid 10-1-31-0, P Gandhe 7-1-22-0, V Kadbe 7-0-37-1, G Upadhaya 5-0-21-0.

Vidarbha: F Faizal lbw b M Arif 67, A Paunikar b P Singh 1, A Naidu run out (G Singh) 59, R Jangid c P Singh b S Khatri 19, R Paradkar not out 27, G Upadhaya not out 20. Extras (b4, lb2, w6) 12. Total (for 4 wkts; 44 overs) 205. Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2119, 3-151, 4-162. Bowling P Singh 9-0-45-1, S Mathur 8-3-17-0, M Arif 8-0-40-1, R Bishnoi 2-0-9-0, G Singh 8-0-49-0, S Khatri 9-0-39-1.

Bengal win with bonus point

(by-Nilankur Das in Guwahati)

BENGAL SKIPPER Laxmi Ratan Shukla's poor luck with the toss is turning out to be a boon for his team as far as the ongoing East Zone One-dayers are concerned. Like in the opener against Assam, when the hosts' skipper Sadagoppan Ramesh called right and chose to bat only to see Bengal's tried and tested new-ball pair of Ranadeb Bose and Shib Sankar Paul immediately peg them on the back foot, on Saturday too, Tripura skipper Rajesh Banik's decision to bat first, killed the match in the first session itself.

On a much better wicket at the Nehru Stadium compared to Maligaon, Tripura managed 167 in their 50 overs, 20 more than what Assam had garnered against Bengal in the first. And yet again Bengal's top three batsmen were good enough for an eight-wicket win with yet another bonus point.

And yet again opener Arindam Das put a price tag to his wicket with a 75 off 88 balls before getting caught at the square-leg boundary trying to go for a second six. Anustup Majumdar too played the way he did in the last match and got to his 50 before getting caught in the deep.

In the other match, Jharkhand after losing to Tripura in the opener, came back strongly to beat Orissa by 96 runs and earn a bonus point at the North-East Frontier Railway Stadium in Maligaon. That leaves Orissa on 7 points from three matches and Jharkhand have five points from two. Tripura who too have played three matches have 3.

SCORECARD

Tripura: 167 for 9 in 50 overs (S Choudhury 40, R Datta 41, T Chanda 30; R Bose 4-54, SS Paul 1-24) vs Bengal 173 for 2 in 33 overs (A Majumdar 61, A Das 75). Bengal won by 8 wickets.

Jharkhand: 261/9 (Subrata Ghosh 69, Ishank Jaggi 65, Amir Hashmi 40, Paresh Patel 5/41) vs Orissa 165 in 37.3 ovs (Haladhar Das 35, Sunny Gupta 3/28, Shahid Khan 2/19). Jharkhand won by 96 runs.

Karnataka thrive on left turns

(by- G Krishnan in Chennai)

LEFT-ARM SPINNERS, 37-year-old Sunil Joshi (2 for 8) and 19-year-old KP Appanna (4 for 8) shared six wickets among them to help Karnataka defeat Kerala by a bonus point and draw level with hosts Tamil Nadu on 18 points after four rounds of the South Zone One-day tournament for the Subbiah Pillai Trophy here.

At the SRMC College grounds on Friday, Karnataka, defending 247, bundled out Kerala for 115 in 26.1 overs to earn a bonus point.

The last league match between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu on Monday will decide the title winners, though both have advanced to the all-India knock-out tournament for the Premier Cup to be held in Visakhapatnam in the first half of April.

Tamil Nadu missed the bonus point that would have given them a one-point lead going into Monday's virtual final as they took 42.3 overs to overhaul Andhra's 292 with five wickets in hand.

Murali Vijay (100) scored his second hundred in as many days while left-handed Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan (111) scored his second century of the tournament as TN made a mockery of the Andhra bowling on a pitch that had runs written all over it. It will be on the same pitch that the Monday's tournament decider between TN and Karnataka will be played.

Even as Vijay and Vidyut were building their third wicket partnership that was eventually worth 184 in 154 balls, Andhra off-spinner Hemal Watekar was called for throwing by square leg umpire Yeshwant Barde. It was juts a one-off incident.

SCORECARD

At SRMC: Karnataka: 247 all out in 49.2 overs (CM Gautham 76, C Raghu 42, Devraj Patil 40; Prashant Parameswaran 6-35) bt Kerala: 115 all out in 26.1 overs (Sreekumar Nair 37; S Joshi 2-8, KP Appanna 4-8). Karnataka: 5 pts; Kerala: minus-1.

At Gurunanak College grounds: Andhra: 292 all out in 48.3 overs (H Watekar 71, ASK Verma 75, AG Pradeep 73) lost to TN: 295 for 5 in 42.3 overs (M Vijay 100, S Vidyut 111). TN: 4 pts; Andhra: 0.

At CPT-IP: Hyderabad: 284 for 8 in 50 overs (Arjun Yadav 54, S Anoop Pai 102) bt Goa: 222 all out in 47.2 overs (S Asnodkar 64, Ajay Ratra 63; Md Shakeer 4-52, Ravi Teja 3-24). Hyderabad: 4; Goa: 0.

Mumbai in a tight corner

(by- K R Guruprasad in Pune)

MUMBAI HAVE an uphill task at hand. They have to win both their remaining matches, beginning with their game against Saurashtra on Sunday, to stay alive in the West Zone one-dayers for the Ramakant Desai Trophy.

And they might have to do it without captain Amol Muzumdar, who sprained his ankle when he tripped and fell during nets at the Deccan Gymkhana here on Saturday. Limping off the ground, Muzumdar said, "I am not really sure if I will be able to play tomorrow. I am going for a medical check-up and should get the result by evening. I will decide then."

The injury only adds to Muzumdar's woes. He got out for a duck against Gujarat, a match that Mumbai lost by 46 runs, and was out for 15 against Baroda. Both times, he got out trying unorthodox shots. And Muzumdar's failure is just part of the problem the Mumbai middle-order, yet to come good in the tournament, is facing.

"Well, I have to start with my own batting," Muzumdar said. "I know both the shots I played (and got out) were not on. We have to be a bit more careful."

About the middle-order failure, Mumbai coach Praveen Amre said, "We may have to go for a shuffle in the batting order." However, he did not disclose what the change could be.

Mumbai have had a mixed bag so far in the tournament. They had a huge win, chasing 357 against Baroda, but floundered against Gujarat. Wasim Jaffer scored an unbeaten 178 in the first match and was run out in the next, when he had just started to look threatening.

Amre said that it was one of the reasons why they lost against Gujarat. "Wasim's run out and that of Abhishek Nayar proved a bit too much for us."

Muzumdar said that it was important to look forward to their next matches. Mumbai would once again look to their in-form openers Jaffer and Ajinkya Rahane to get them off to a good start. On these batting tracks with smaller boundaries, teams have often chased down 300-plus targets with ease. And both sides would rely heavily on their batsmen to deliver the goods.

Saurashtra failed to defend 327 against Maharashtra in their previous game. And they too face a must-win situation now. "Our bowling is a bit inexperienced," Saurashtra coach Debu Mitra said. "Once our bowlers learn with experience, we should be able to do well."

In the other match here, Gujarat will take on Baroda at the PYC Hindu Gymkhana here on Sunday.

Guajart have a win against Mumbai and have lost to Maharashtra, while Baroda have lost to Mumbai in the only match they have played so far.