Duleep Trophy, 2007-08

[Chandan]

I didn't know that teams played warm-up for Duleep trophy too, or is it just for the England Lions?? MCA XI v England Lions, Mumbai, 1st day Lions boosted by lower-order resistance Cricinfo staff January 29, 2008 England Lions 311 for 8 (Carberry 91, Trott 67, Malvi 4-41) v Mumbai Cricket Association XI Scorecard England Lions recovered from a shaky start to post a competitive 311 for 8 on the opening day of their Duleep Trophy warm-up match against Mumbai Cricket Association XI at the Brabourne Stadium. Opener Michael Carberry, who top-scored with 91, was the mainstay for most of the day but by the close it was Adil Rashid, unbeaten on 54, who had put his side back on track in a 91-run stand for the seventh wicket with James Foster, who made 43. The Lions got off to a poor start after being put in to bat, losing Michael Yardy and Joe Denly for ducks in successive overs from the seamer Usman Malvi. Carberry and Ed Joyce repaired the damage from a shaky 5 for 2 and took the score to 63 before Mun Mungela removed Joyce and James Hildreth to peg the Lions back to 79 for 4. But Carberry stood firm and added 129 for the fifth wicket with Jonathan Trott to consolidate the innings. He looked set for a century before Malvi struck again, twice, to dislodge both batsmen. Trott fell for 67 from 106 balls while Carberry faced 181 balls for his 91. Foster, the former England wicketkeeper who toured India with the Test side in 2001-02, and the legspinning allrounder Rashid then buckled down to lift their side from a dicey 209 for 6. Nilesh Kulkarni, the left-arm spinner, struck with two wickets in the closing minutes to redress the balance for Mumbai, but Rashid remained unbeaten with Graham Onions for company. ------------------------------------------------------ Malvi didn't do badly. Why didn't he play for Ranji this year?

[Mr. Wicket]

Injuries. Out of Bombay's seam attack, Waingarkar, Hazare, Agarkar, Malvi, Salvi and Rajesh Verma all got hit with injuries for significant periods during the season.

[Chandan]

MCA XI v England Lions, Mumbai, 2nd day Panesar gives Lions the edge Cricinfo staff January 30, 2008 England Lions 311 for 8 and 86 for 7 (Denly 30, Hussain 3-15) lead Mumbai Cricket Association XI 165 (Revendkar 48, Panesar 5 for 38) by 232 runs Scorecard A five-wicket haul by Monty Panesar gave England Lions the edge on the second day at the Brabourne Stadium as the Mumbai Cricket Association XI conceded a big first-innings lead of 146. But the wickets continued to tumble in the Lions' second innings - they slipped to 86 for 7 at the close, for an overall lead of 232 - leaving the game interestingly poised going into the final day. The Lions declared on their overnight score of 311 for 8, and Graham Onions soon provided the first breakthrough when he trapped the opener Anand Singh lbw for 3 in the seventh over of Mumbai's reply (28 for 1). Anup Revendkar and Hiken Shah then added 40 for the second wicket but that proved to be the highest stand of the innings. Revendkar top-scored with 48, but when he was second man out to Alan Richardson, the Mumbai middle order stumbled. Twelve runs later, Prashanth Naik became Richardson's second victim, then it was over to Panesar. He sent back Shah and Aditya Tare and later ran through the lower order to finish with figures of 5 for 38, wrapping up the innings for 165. It was the perfect riposte to the selectors after his omission from England's one-day squad. The Lions openers, Joe Denly and Michael Carberry, set about extending their advantage with a stand of 48 but Mumbai struck back hard. D Kulkarni and Murtaza Hussain removed both openers in the space of four overs before the middle order capitulated for the second time. Four wickets fell for the addition of 11 runs and Kulkarni ended the day with 3 for 15 including the dangerous Adil Rashid for a duck. At stumps Jonathan Trott remained unbeaten on 18 with Liam Plunkett for company, as the Lions looked to extend their lead. -------------------------- I expected more from Hussain. BTW, why has he not been chosen for the U-19 squad, any ideas?

[Mr. Wicket]

Murtaza Hussain? Probably... um... because he's 21??

[Chandan]

Murtaza Hussain? Probably... um... because he's 21??

And I read somewhere that he is just 17. Maybe the guy would have been confusing him with another Murtaza who is in ICL.:D

[Chandan]

MCA XI v England Lions, Mumbai, 3rd day Shreck and Kirby seal Lions win Cricinfo staff January 31, 2008 England Lions 311 for 8 dec (Carberry 91, Trott 67, Rashid 54*, Malvi 4-41) and 114 (Trott 34, Kulkarni 5-33) beat MCA XI 165 (Revendkar 48, Panesar 5-38) and 230 (Gurav 46, Shreck 4-52, Kirby 3-12) by 30 runs Scorecard Charlie Shreck and Steve Kirby shared seven wickets as England Lions completed a 30-run victory against a Mumbai Cricket Association XI in a warm-up match. The pair, neither of whom were in the original touring party, ensured the MCA XI fell short of their 261-run target and allowed the Lions to head into their opening Duleep Trophy match in good spirits. The Lions began on 86 for 7 and extended their second innings to 114 before Jonathan Trott was last man out for 34 to hand Dhaval Kulkarni a five-wicket haul. Mumbai were soon in trouble as Liam Plunkett claimed his first wicket of the match and Shreck struck twice with the new ball to leave them tottering on 48 for 3. Hiken Shah (23) and Aditya Tare (39) began to repair the damage with a fourth-wicket stand of 55 before Kirby snared both in the space of five overs. Shreck worked away at the middle order and Adil Rashid, given his first bowl of the match ahead of Monty Panesar who sat out the second innings, collected Kulkarni as the Lions closed in. However, they were made to wait by a feisty last-wicket stand of 42 between 19-year-old Omkar Gurav and Usman Malvi. They chipped away at the target, but just as it was coming into view Kirby returned to remove Gurav for a battling 46. England now travel to Vadodara ahead of their opening Duleep Trophy match, against Central Zone, starting on February 3.

[Mr. Wicket]

Not too bad a performance from what's effectively a Bombay B side with most of the names (Rahane, Powar, Kukreja, Sachin, Rohit and Abdulla) either with the Duleep, India or India U19 squads - or in the case of the other frontline seamers (Aag, Salvi), injured. Shame Naik and Hiken couldn't step up though. They've really taken a big step back this season.

[Chandan]

Tomorrow we have these two matches: Feb 3-6: East v South at Mumbai; England Lions v Central at Vadodara South Zone in must-win tie against East Mumbai (PTI): Crushed by North Zone in just over two days in the previous match, South Zone face a do-or-die situation going into their second and concluding Duleep Trophy League tie against East Zone commencing here on Sunday. The S Badrinath-led South put up an abject batting performance against the North Zone pace attack, without some key bowlers, and were shot out for 157 and 211 at Ahmedabad. Badrinath, among the leading run-getters in Ranji Trophy this season after having come close to making his ODI debut earlier, had a personally poor match and was one of the four batsmen who got ducks against their names in the first innings of their opening tie. The Tamil Nadu middle order batsman is hoping that his batting line-up will click against the varied bowling attack of East to give their own bowlers a good total to defend and show their worth at the Wankhede Stadium. "Our batting failed against North and basically we did not get enough runs on the board. There was something for the bowlers in the wicket throughout. But we start afresh here and need to put that (defeat) behind. To stay in the race we need to win this match," Badrinath said here. East skipper and Test discard Shiv Sunder Das felt that with a largely inexperienced middle order at his team's disposal, it was imperative he and fellow-opener Arindam Das give their side a good start. "We have a good bowling side with (former India bowler) Debasish Mohanty bowling very well along with Shib Shankar Paul and Ranadeb Bose. South are a good side and it will be a good challenge," the 30-year-old Das said. ------------------------------ The second match will also be interesting about how the Eng Lions go against Central. It'll be an interesting contest. Yardy Seeks Lions Glory February 01 2008 Yardy - sees the bigger picture. England Lions captain Michael Yardy insists the squad challenging for the 2008 Duleep Trophy in India are fully aware of the rewards on offer. The Lions, aiming to better their 2003-04 counterparts who lost both games in the competition, take on Central Zone in Baroda, starting this Sunday. They warmed up for that four-day contest by completing a 30-run victory over a Mumbai XI at the Brabourne Stadium, one of India's most picturesque venues. In addition to the team goal of becoming the first foreign team to lift the Duleep Trophy, impressive individual performances will enhance the chances of moving up the England ladder. "People recognise they have been picked for the England Lions and it is a fantastic opportunity to do well," said Yardy. "If you can produce performances here, in what is a very competitive standard of cricket, and follow it up in county cricket there is a chance to play for England potentially. "We are playing against a lot of international players and in their own conditions. It's a real challenge and we will have to perform straight away." Although the Central Zone XI is captained by Mohammad Kaif and also includes another household name in spinner Murali Kartik, the majority of the opposition are unknowns from an English perspective. But Yardy said: "Doing well in higher-profile cricket will have its own rewards and we will have to concentrate on doing our things right first and foremost. "You try to assess as much footage as possible but there will be some players we do not know a lot about and our advantage might be they don't know a lot about us. "Sometimes it's good to start afresh, make sure the basics are spot-on and then worry about what the opposition are going to do."

[zub2006]

any highlights of the england lions match. nice to see m kaif among the runs. the game is equally balanced at the moment

[Chandan]

Duleep Trophy 2007-08 SECOND ROUND, DAY ONE SS Das and Halhadar Das lift East Zone Cricinfo staff February 3, 2008 East Zone 265 for 7 (SS Das 82, Halhadar Das 78*) v South Zone Scorecard Half-centuries by Shiv Sunder Das and Halhadar Das lifted East Zone to 265 for 7 on the first day at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai against South Zone. SS Das, the former Indian opener, scored a patient 82 at the top before Halhadar Das stepped in and led a lower-order revival after East lost half their side for 134. After they chose to bat first, East lost opener Arindam Das early, leg before to the seamer Vinay Kumar, and the top order failed to construct sizeable partnerships. NSC Aiyappa, the Karnataka seamer, struck twice in quick succession to reduce East to 54 for 3 before SS Das and Manish Vardhan added 48. SS Das was involved in stands of 32 and 36 with Palash Das and Halhadar respectively before edging offspinner R Ashwin to M Vijay at the slips for 82. He faced 160 balls and hit 12 fours in his knock. Halhadar and Tushar Saha settled down to construct the biggest stand of the day - 71 - before Saha fell to a brisk 29 off 39 balls to the seamer P Vijay Kumar. Halhadar remained unbeaten on 78 with Debasis Mohanty for company. ************* Captain, & 'keeper save East the blushes SKIPPER SHIV Sundar Das and stumper Haladhar Das dashed South Zone's hopes of an early end to East innings with fighting half-centuries on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy league tie at the Wankhede stadium here on Sunday. Shiv Sundar Das made a careful 82 while Haladhar stroked his way to an unbeaten 78 as title-starved East made 265 for seven after electing to bat on a rain-curtailed day. A sudden downpour at around seven on a chilly Sunday morning upset the ground staff and their preparation for the firstclass fixture. The rain left the outfield damp and, with clouds hovering around the stadium, a prompt 9.30 a.m. start was impossible. Sun peeped through after 10 a.m. and the drier was employed to suck some water that seeped through the covers. Play started an hour and 45 minutes behind schedule. The lost time was made up in the evening when play was extended till 5.48 p.m. with naturallight remaining good to allow the quota of 79 overs on the day. S.S. Das had little hesitation in opting to bat after calling correctly. But South new ball bowlers R. Vinay Kumar and NC Aiyappa exploited the conditions, the former succeeded in trapping opener Arindham Das leg before in his second over as East went to lunch at 20 for one in 10 overs. Only captain Das waged a lone battle in the weak East top-order. He stitched little partnerships but what East needed was a sizeable one at the top that would put South on the back-foot. Central Zone 238 for 7 (Kaif 64, Richardson 2-32) v England Lions Scorecard Mohammad Kaif top scored with 64 to propel Central Zone to a healthy position at 179 for 3 before England Lions picked up quick wickets in the last session to restrict the hosts to 238 for 7 by the end of the opening day's play at Vadodara. Walking in at 70 for 2, Kaif struck 13 fours in his 121-ball knock to charge Central before he fell to the legspinner Adil Rashid, triggering a mini-collapse. Monty Panesar prised out Sanjay Bangar, the former India International, and Harshad Rawle and Mahesh Rawat fell in quick succession. Earlier, Central were off to a steady start, reaching 54 runs without any loss, before Steve Kirby removed Faiz Fazal (37) in the 19th over. Five overs later, Onions made further inroads, but the opener Vineet Saxena settled the nerves, adding 54 runs with Kaif. Saxena fell after scoring a 116-ball 34, but Bangar nad Kaif pushed the total to 179 before Rashid got Kaif to bring the Lions roaring back into the game. But Sanjib Sanyal, who has a first-class average of 43.35, guided Central to the close without any further damage. ********* Central surrender initiative to Lions CENTRAL ZONE batsmen failed to capitalize on a good start on a sporting pitch, as they suffered a middle order collapse and finished with 238 for seven against England Lions at the end of day one of the Duleep Trophy cricket tie here on Sunday Central were well placed for a strong total at 179 for three at one stage, but then lost four wickets for 48 runs to squander the advantage. On Saturday, the pitch here at the Motibaug Palace ground had attracted a fair bit of attention as the previous match, the Ranji Trophy semi-final between Uttar Pradesh and Saurashtra, had ended in a little over two days. And on Sunday morning when Lions captain Michael Yardy called right at the toss and asked Central Zone to bat first, there were doubts about how the batsmen would cope with the tourists' seam attack and the moisture on this wicket. But openers Faiz Fazal and Vineet Saxena laid all such doubts to rest as they eked out a 54-run opening partnership. Faiz was particularly impressive scoring in boundaries. But the day belonged to the English seamers particularly Alan Richardson who used the conditions well, bowling 11 maidens out of the total 20 overs he bowled. The tall Middlesex bowler also accounted for Saxena in the morning and Mahesh Rawat in the final overs of the day And promising young leg-spinner Adil Rashid too bowled an impressive spell of 10 overs. The only time the Central Zone batsmen looked set for a big score was when their captain Mohammed Kaif (64) had a brief partnership going with Sanjay Bangar (29). They added 55 runs for the fourth wicket and dominated the bowling especially when left-arm spinner Monty Panesar was introduced into the attack. Kaif, who had scored a battling 80 in the previous match, was in fine touch again as he began scoring with a fine thump down the cover boundary He ran quick singles and stroked the ball freely bringing up his 50 with boundary through the mid-wicket off Jonathan Trott and followed it up with a boundary through the off side. He, however, fell to the guiles of Rashid in the latter's first over. Trying to sweep the leg-spinner, Kaif was bowled round his legs. Bangar, who had used his feet well against Panesar and had hit him to boundary a couple of times, fell to the Northants spinner edging him to the 'keeper.

[bunny]

For those watching the Duleep/Ranji trophy is it possible to record some clips of the upcoming stars (batsmen/bowlers)? I think there's no point in supporting a player just because he scores some double tons in Ranji. MT's technique was a complete shocker for me (not saying he can't score runs against international quality bowling, but I can't understand how he can be chosen ahead of a Kaif).

[Cricketics]

i heard Freddie is coming to INdia to play for English lionz in remainder of the duleep trophy trmnt

[guju24]

i heard Freddie is coming to INdia to play for English lionz in remainder of the duleep trophy trmnt

he is not going to play...he just joining the team to get his fitness better thats wht i heard on cricinfo...

[chanakya]

How do you record from the TV direct to the laptop?? NEW Sports is showing the Duleep Trophy. SSD bored the hell out of the opposition

[Chandan]

Duleep Trophy 2007-08 ROUND TWO, DAY TWO Saha helps East gain big lead Cricinfo staff February 4, 2008 East Zone 313 (Halhadar Das 93, Aiyappa 5-84) and 5 for 0 lead South Zone 204 (Vijay 46, Saha 4-47) by 114 runs Scorecard A four-wicket haul by Tushar Saha, the left-arm spinner, helped East Zone bundle out South Zone for 204, in the process gaining a first-innings lead of 109 on the second day at the Wankhede Stadium. East, resuming on their overnight score of 265, added 48 before the seamer NC Aiyappa wrapped up the innings with his third five-wicket haul in first-class cricket. Halhadar Das, who led East's revival on the first day, fell seven short of his ton, The last-wicket pair of Shib Shankar Paul and Ranadeb Bose took the score from 290 to 313 before Aiyappa accounted for Paul to finish with figures of 5 for 84. South failed to get the partnerships going early on, the maximum being 59 for the fourth wicket between M Vijay and Arjun Yadav. Vijay, who hit eight fours in his 46, was Saha's first victim, caught by Debasis Mohanty. Yadav fell for 41 to the offspin of Palash Das and at that stage South were struggling at 151 for 5. The lower order failed to build on their starts as Saha pegged away at the wickets and wrapped up the innings for 204, finishing with 4 for 47 in just under 23 overs. East extended their lead to 114 after the openers played out one over before stumps. ********************** South succumb to spin pressure TAMIL NADU'S S Badrinath often reveals his strong character when the chips are down. But after showing initial promise on Monday, the right-handed middleorder batsman faded, and with him went South's chances of taking the upperhand against East on day two of the Duleep Trophy league tie at the Wankhede stadium here. Replying to East's healthy first innings total of 313, South were bundled out for 204. Left-arm spinner Tushar Saha from Tripura was the most successful with four for 47 from 22.2 overs, 20 of them on the trot in his second spell that fetched him three wickets. East, at stumps, faced one over and made five without loss in their second innings. South openers Swapnil Asnodkar and Ravi Teja were back in the hut earlier than even the duration in which the East tail sur- vived in the morning. It was a sorry 26 for two in nine overs when Badrinath walked in to join his statemate Murali Vijay. Badrinath picked up four fours in one over from medium-pacer Ranadeb Bose. A flick off Bose to long leg gave Badrinath the confidence after twin failures in the first match against North last week. A ball later, he leant forward and drove through the covers; used his wrist to steer behind square, and followed it with a front foot drive through covers for three successive boundaries. East quickly hit back through Shib Shankar Paul who beat Badrinath's forward defence and sent the middle stump cartwheeling. With this wicket evaporated South's desires of overhauling the East total. Badrinath fell for 23 and shared 42 for the third wicket with Vijay. The other South Zone batsmen did not look like posing any threat.Only the fourth wicket pair of Vijay (46, 172m, 130b, 8x4) and Arjun Yaday (41, 113m, 87b, 4x4, 1x6) that raised 59 looked like scoring big. Half the side was back in the hut when Yaday was trapped in front by off-spinner Palash Jyothi Das. It was too much asking the lower half to bail South out from 147 for five. The bottom half were troubled by Saha, who stuck to the basics and forced the batsmen into mistakes. Earlier in the day, the last three East wickets resisted for 66 minutes and added 48 to their overnight 265 for seven. Central Zone 270 (Kaif 64, Richardson 4-50) and 23 for 2 v England Lions 155 (Rashid 40, Pankaj 4-35) Scorecard Pankaj Singh grabbed four wickets as Central Zone shot out England Lions for 155 and gained a healthy 115-run first-innings lead. Central, though, lost two wickets in the seven overs they had to face before stumps on the second day in Vadodara. In the morning session, Central, resuming from 238 for 7, could only add 32 runs to their first-innings effort before being bowled out. Alan Richardson, the right-arm medium pacer, took two more wickets to be the Lions' most successful bowler with four wickets. The Lions' batting effort got off to a poor start with Joe Denly, winner of the NBC Denis Compton award for four successive years at Kent, falling to Pankaj, who was part of the Indian squad that toured Australia recently, in the first over. Michael Yardy, the Lions' captain, was Pankaj's next victim, managing only 5. After some brief resistance, both Michael Carberry and Ed Joyce fell in quick succession to leave the Lions at 66 for 4. Uttar Pradesh's left-arm spinner Praveen Gupta ably assisted Pankaj as the Lions were unable to put together any partnerships of note, tumbling to 120 for 8. It was thanks to No. 7 Adil Rashid's 40 that the visitors managed to post their modest score - their innings ending when Sanjib Sanyal struck twice in the same over. Pankaj finished with 4 for 43 while Gupta had returns of 3 for 32 in 23 overs. *********************** Lions fail to roar, Central Zone take lead ENGLAND LIONS might have found the conditions here quite similar to that back home but they still did not have answers to Pankaj Singh's pace and the guile of left arm-spinner Praveen Gupta. As was being predicted before the match, bowlers dominated the day as 15 wickets fell with only 210 runs being scored on the second day of the Duleep Trophy league match between Central Zone and the Lions here on Monday. Resuming from their overnight 238 for seven, Central Zone ended their first innings at 270. In reply, the Lions were bowled out for 155 with Pankaj taking 4 for 35 and Gupta ending with 3 for 32. In their second innings, Central were 23 for two with Vineet Saxena (19) and Sanjay Bangar (0) at the crease. Central now have a lead of 115 over the Lions. Pankaj, who recently returned from Australia where he was in the squad for the Test series, generated pace and extracted bounce to trouble the English batsmen.He outsmarted captain Michael Yardy, a left hander, by feeding him with two balls that came in and then bowled one that moved away after taking the edge to second slip. Pankaj then had wicketkeeper James Foster trapped in front. The fast bowler bowled two spells of eight overs each. In the first, he gave away 12 runs and picked up two wickets and later in the day, gave away 13 runs to pick up two more. Left-arm spinner Gupta had both Ed Joyce and Jonathan Trott on their backfoot and trapped them leg before. The Lions looked to be in danger of following on but 19-year-old Adil Rashid rescued them with a fighting 40 and struck an important partnership of 35 for the ninth wicket. Crowd misbehaviour A SECTION of the motley crowd de- cided to have a go at the English team and abused them in Hindi and these expletives were clearly heard for quite some time. The umpires complained to the match referee following which security guards spoke to that section. Baroda Cricket Association joint secretary Vijaysinh Indulkar said the crowd was not abusing the fielders but were arguing among themselves.

[MundaPakistani]

I watched a bit of this. The Das brothers were quite impressive.

[Cricketics]

hmm where did u watch it mp???

[MundaPakistani]

hmm where did u watch it mp???

zee sports.

[Cricketics]

O OKAY, I THOUGHt u were in pak.. hence wondering..

[Chandan]

Wow!! The matches are wonderfully poised today, with SZ needing 222 runs to win and having 9 wickets in hand while England Lions need 219 nruns to win with havong 9 wickets in hand. It'll be very interesting from hereon!