DLF League

Monday 10, November 2008

The second round of matches from the Ranji Trophy Super League kicked off today, and once again it is Mumbai who are setting the pace.

GROUP A

Gujarat v Mumbai at Surat
Poor Parthiv Patel must be ruing his decision to field first, as his Gujarat bowlers endured a miserable day at the hands of Wasim Jaffer and Ajinkya Rahane. Both Mumbai men made centuries, and Jaffer was especially severe, hitting 19 fours and a pair of sixes in a perfectly timed unbeaten 172 that will have been duly noted by the national selectors.

Mumbai 327-2 (W Jaffer 172*, AM Rahane 104).

Hyderabad v Delhi at Hyderabad
Anoop Pai’s brilliant century rescued Hyderabad from a potentially perilous position on day one against the reigning champions. At 104-4, Pai needed some support to restructure the innings, and he found it from the keeper, Abhinav Kumar, who made an excellent 76 himself before falling just before the close. For Delhi, the teenaged Pradeep Sangwan continued his fine start to the season, capturing a couple of wickets and bowling with impressive discipline.

Hyderabad 247-5 (SA Pai 102*, A Kumar 76; P Sangwan 2-73).

Punjab v Rajasthan at Mohali
After losing heavily last week in Mumbai, Rajasthan endured another poor day here, losing all ten inside 48 overs and mustering just 133 as Punjab’s opening pacemen, Gagandeep Singh and Manpreet Gony, shared eight wickets between them. In reply, Punjab have eased to 115-2, with Sunny Sohal, a centurion in round one, batting serenely to reach the close on 66 not out.

Rajasthan 133 (Gagandeep Singh 4-37, Manpreet Gony 4-39); Punjab 115-2 (S Sohal 66*). Punjab trail by 18 runs with eight first innings wickets remaining.

Saurashtra v Orissa at Rajkot
After winning the toss and electing to bat only to find themselves 27-3 inside 16 overs, a strong showing from Saurashtra’s middle-order has restored confidence following their thrashing last week at the hands of Gujarat. The turnaround is largely down to Cheteshwar Pujara’s strokeplay and Ravindra Jadeja’s teenage precocity: both men are unbeaten, Pujara on 128 and Jadeja on 71, with the promise of adding to their 173-run partnership on day two.

Saurashtra 273-4 (CA Pujara 128*, RA Jadeja 71*).

GROUP B

Baroda v Uttar Pradesh at Vadodara
Exceptional performances from Praveen Kumar (5-71) and Piyush Chawla (2-37) helped dismiss Baroda for just 235 on the opening day. Rakesh Solanki’s cultured 71 provided some resistance, but when he departed, stumped off the bowling of Chawla, the Baroda innings fell away. In response, Irfan Pathan accounted for Anshul Kapoor just before the close, but Baroda will have to bowl tightly to make up for their disappointing first innings total.

Baroda 235 (RK Solanki 71; P Kumar 5-71); Uttar Pradesh 3-1. Uttar Pradesh trail by 232 runs with nine first innings wickets remaining.

Karnataka v Tamil Nadu at Bangalore
Although the day belonged to Tamil Nadu and their centurions Arun Karthik (149) and Vidyut (115*), it will forever be remembered by Karnataka’s long-serving left-arm spinning all-rounder, Sunil Joshi, whose 400th Ranji Trophy wicket was duly secured when Dinesh Karthik perished in the morning session. It moved him into eighth place in the list of all-time Ranji wicket-takers – Rajinder Goel is still in top spot with 637, followed by the great Venkat with 530. That wicket left the home side 51-3, but Karnataka would have to wait another 60 overs for their next success as the century makers played with great freedom to craft a sparkling 246-run partnership.

Tamil Nadu 325-4 (AB Karthik 149, S Vidyut 115*; R Vinay Kumar 2-48).

Maharashtra v Andhra at Nasik
A composed 142 from Hemal Watekar and a five-wicket haul for left-arm seamer Samad Fallah ensured that this match remains finely balanced at the end of the first day. Watekar received good support from Bodapati Sumanth and Satyakumar Verma, both of whom made 45, but the nagging accuracy of the 23-year-old Fallah, the only Maharashtra bowler to take a wicket, has kept his side firmly in contention.

Andhara 262-6 (HH Watekar 142; SM Fallah 5-65).