DLF League

Tuesday 11, November 2008

With many games evenly matched across the Ranji Trophy, attention has inevitably been drawn to Surat and Mohali, where huge wins are in the offing for Mumbai and Punjab.

GROUP A

Gujarat v Mumbai at Surat
After a convincing win in week one, Mumbai are once again in complete control after turning in two days of almost perfect cricket. Although Wasim Jaffer failed to add to his overnight score, it was a miniscule blot on an otherwise flawless performance, capped in the final hour by another inspired spell of controlled seam bowling by the enormously talented teenager Dhawal Kulkarni, who added to his nine wickets last week against Rajasthan with four of the six to fall so far in Gujarat’s lamentable first innings. Barring a remarkable rearguard, the home side are doomed here.

Mumbai 486 (W Jaffer 172, AM Rahane 104; MB Parmar 6-143); Gujarat 77-6 (DS Kulkarni 4-32). Gujarat trail Mumbai by 409 runs with four first innings wickets in hand.

Punjab v Rajasthan at Mohali
It gets worse for Rajasthan. After losing heavily to Mumbai last week, they are facing the prospect of another emphatic beating here after losing 16 wickets in just 77 overs of cricket. With scorecards reading 17-6 in the first innings and 40-6 in the second, a collective crisis of confidence – expertly exploited on day two by Ankur Kakkar’s teasing slow left-armers – has clearly afflicted their top-order. All of which is in stark contrast to Sunny Sohal; successive centuries for the 21-year-old right-hander has propelled him to the forefront of the national selectors’ thoughts. Watch this space…

Rajasthan 133 (Gagandeep Singh 4-37, Manpreet Gony 4-39) & 57-6 (VA Saxena 36*; A Kakkar 3-6); Punjab 262 (S Sohal 106). Rajasthan trail Punjab by 72 runs with four second innings wickets in hand.

Saurashtra v Orissa at Rajkot
On a garlanded day in Rajkot where records tumbled in searing heat, Cheteshwar Pujara (302*, 33 fours and three sixes) and Ravindra Jadeja (232*, 23 fours and two sixes) combined to grind Orissa’s toiling bowlers into the dust. When they had finished – or rather, when their skipper Jaydev Shah mercifully decided enough was enough – they had put together the eighth-highest partnership in first-class history. Coming together with the score on 100-4, they were called in having batted for 117 overs and adding a monstrous 520 runs. It is the highest-ever partnership for the fifth wicket, and the second highest unbeaten partnership in history. Spare a thought for Saurabh Sehgal, Orissa’s slow left-armer, who turned in figures of 0-175 from 42 overs of unrelenting misery.

Saurashtra 620-4 (CA Pujara 302*, RA Jadeja 232*); Orissa 46-0 (BS Pati 29*). Orissa trail Saurashtra by 574 runs with ten first innings wickets in hand.

Hyderabad v Delhi at Hyderabad
Two evenly matched teams continue to slug it out in this enthralling encounter. Despite the best efforts of Anoop Pai, who added a further 28 to his overnight score of 102, Hyderbad were unable to add significant runs in the morning session, and were eventually dismissed for 334. In response, Delhi skipper Aakash Chopra compiled a measured 51, putting together an 80-run opening partnership with Shikhar Dhawan (47), before handing Syed Quadr his maiden first-class wicket to go with a defiant 28 in the Hyderabad innings. With three wickets down in the Delhi innings, which way this match will swring is anyone’s guess.

Hyderabad 334 (SA Pai 130, Abhinav Kumar 76; P Sangwan 4-86); Delhi 124-3 (A Chopra 51; Ashwin Yadav 2-15). Delhi trail Hyderabad by 210 runs with seven first innings wickets in hand.

GROUP B

Baroda v Uttar Pradesh at Vadodara
A fine display of swing bowling from Irfan Pathan helped Baroda to fight back strongly on day two. Pathan, having picked up Anshul Kapoor at the end of the first day, was irresistible at the resumption of play, removing nightwatchman Praveen Gupta and Tahir Abbas for ducks to leave Uttar Pradesh struggling at 9-3. Tanmay Srivastava (79) and captain Mohammad Kaif (51) fought back, adding 122 for the fourth wicket, but Rajesh Pawar removed Kaif with a delivery that turned and bounced to leave the visitors in trouble. Srivastava pressed on, supported by some doughty lower-order batting from Ravikant Shukla (37) and Praveen Kumar (38*), but Pathan continued to take wickets and at the close the match could scarcely be more in the balance. Day three promises to be fascinating.

Baroda 235 (RK Solanki 71; P Kumar 5-71); Uttar Pradesh 251-8 (TM Srivastava 79, M Kaif 51; IK Pathan 5-71, RV Pawar 2-44). Uttar Pradesh lead by 16 runs with two first innings wickets in hand.

Karnataka v Tamil Nadu at Bangalore
Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan, who has a first-class century from number 11, took his overnight score to within seven of a maiden double century on the second morning in Bangalore. Coming on the back of Arun Karthik’s century on day one, Vidyut’s 193 formed the backbone of an imposing total for Tamil Nadu, and it will take a resolute effort by the home side to save this one. Karnataka have started well though, reaching 82-1 at the close.

Tamil Nadu 531 (S Vidyut 193, AB Karthik 149); Karnataka 82-1. Karnataka trail Tamil Nadu by 449 runs with nine first innings wickets in hand.

Maharashtra v Andhra at Nasik
An aggressive century from opener Harshad Khadiwale went some way to relieving the frustration Maharashtra will have felt during the morning session. Andhra, 262-6 overnight, battled on to 348 all out, Israel Raju making a quickfire 26, but eventually the hosts wrapped things up, Samad Fallah continuing his fine start to the season by claiming six wickets. Khadiwale and Rohan Bhosale set about making up for lost time, putting on 158 for the first wicket before Khadiwale was dismissed via a sharp return catch off the bowling of Doddapaneni Kalyankrishna, but with Bhosale still there Maharashtra will be confident going into day three.

Andhra 348 (HH Watekar 142; SM Fallah 6-102); Maharashtra 205-1 (HH Khadiwale 103, RU Bhosale 72). Maharashtra trail by 143 runs with nine first innings in hand.