Duleep Trophy, 2007-08

[Dravid]

jaffer back in india.. and now will make runs..

[guju24]

^dead pitches....no swing...no peace...so ofcourse he will make runs...

[sreej]

While watching the India-SL game they did bring up a graphic saying that the Duleep trophy final would be broadcast on sky. Probably cause the England Lions are going to be playing the final.

[Chandan]

DULEEP TROPHY, 2007-08 ROUND THREE, DAY THREE Jaffer and Rahane keep West's hopes alive Cricinfo staff February 13, 2008 England Lions 14 for 1 (Carberry 5*, Joyce 5*) and 355 trail West Zone 494 (Rahane 172, Jaffer 151, Parthiv 59, Rashid 3-88, Panesar 3-106) by 125 runs Scorecard Wasim Jaffer made a strong comeback after a string of poor scores in Australia © AFP Big tons from overnight batsmen Ajinkya Rahane and Wasim Jaffer left West Zone with an outside chance of qualifying for the final. West, who need to win against the England Lions to top the group, finished their first innings at 494, a lead of 139. At 14 for 1, the Lions still look poised to force a draw and make it to the final. West Zone resumed on 187 for 1 and both Rahane and Jaffer went on to score hundreds. The duo added another 155 runs and the 342-run stand for the second wicket before Steve Kirby got rid of Rahane, who made 172. His knock included 26 fours. Jaffer followed soon after; Kirby was the successful bowler yet again as the opener, who was dropped from India's playing XI for the final Test in Adelaide, fell for 151. Yusuf Pathan, who was sent up the order to boost the scoring-rate and the lead, blitzed 29 from 21 balls while Parthiv Patel, the West Zone captain, made a brisk 58. The Lions spinners took advantage as the batsmen tried to make quick runs. Both Monty Panesar and Adil Rashid grabbed three wickets apiece as the last seven wickets fell for 103 runs. The two bowlers got their wickets in identical manner as well, with two bowled and one lbw. In the 12 overs before close of play, the Lions lost the wicket of Michael Yardy, who made 169 in the first innings - the only score above 50. Despite trailing West by 125, the Lions would still be favourites to reach the final with one day remaining. ********************* Jaffer, Rahane make Lions toil WEST ZONE batsmen Wasim Jaffer (151) and Ajinkya Rahane (172) notched up a record partnership to guide their team to a comfortable position on the third day of the Duleep Trophy league tie at the Motibaug Palace ground on Wednesday . The two Mumbai batsmen added 342 for the second wicket as West piled on 494 in reply to England Lions' 355. Jaffer and Rahane beat the record of West Zone batsmen Anshuman Gaekwad and Sanjay Manjrekar, who had shared a partnership of 288 against Central Zone at Nagpur in 1987-88. At stumps, the Lions were at 14 for the loss of captain Michael Yardy (2), who was trapped in front by pacer Siddharth Trivedi. Michael Caberry (5) and Ed Joyce (5) wear at the crease. In a must-win situation, West lead by 125 runs but could be ruing the slow progress early on. The scoring rate (3.6 runs per over) when Jaffer and Rahane were at the crease could be considered slow in the context of the game. But the pitch appeared to be on the slower side and the ball too did not come on. With Lions' spinners, Monty Panesar and Adil Rashid, sharing six wickets between them, the last day could still be eventful for West's slow bowlers. Earlier, Jaffer and Rahane, resuming on their overnight 82 and 93 respectively, continued from where they left off with some fluent stroke play . Rahane reached his century in the seventh over with a boundary to third man. Jaffer reached the three-figure mark by glancing Liam Plunkett down leg side for two runs. They played a total of 591 balls in 402 minutes and scored 48 boundaries. Both batsmen fell to fast bowler Steve Kirby It was some brisk scoring by captain Parthiv Patel (59) and Yusuf Pathan (29) that made up for the earlier slow scoring rate. Match referee has a word As both teams walked off after the day's play, Joyce had a word with one of the umpires and was also seen talking to Parthiv. While details were not available, match referee Sunil Chaturvedi said, "I had a word with both captains and told them to behave on the final day as the match was getting tense." Chopra and Manhas put North on track for final Cricinfo staff February 13, 2008 East Zone 143 and 28 for 1 (SS Das 18*, Arindam Das 2*) need another 649 runs to beat North Zone 360 and 459 for 2 (Chopra 205*, Manhas 205*) Scorecard Aakash Chopra slammed an unbeaten 205 as North tightened their grip on the match © Cricinfo Ltd Double-centuries from opener Aakash Chopra and captain Mithun Manhas all but ensured North Zone a place in the final of the Duleep Trophy. With a day remaining in the match, East Zone need a gargantuan 649 more runs to win and progress to the finals. Resuming on 109 for 2, North piled on the misery as Chopra and Manhas forged a monumental unbroken 368-run third-wicket stand. Manhas, who top scored in the first innings with a brisk 88, needed just 255 balls to crack his 205 with the help of 27 fours and two sixes. Chopra was a touch more subdued, consuming 301 deliveries in his knock which included 21 fours. This was Manhas' maiden first-class double while Chopra's 205 was his third double in the last six months, having made 215 against Himachal Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy in December and an unbeaten 239 against the visiting South Africa A side in September. It was a day of hard toil for the East bowlers, with left-arm spinner Tushar Saha bearing the brunt, sending down 43.5 overs, nearly half the total bowled, in the innings. North finally declared at 459 for 2, setting a colossal target of 677, and leaving the East batsmen facing a sticky 12 overs to face before stumps. Wriddhiman Saha, who was the only batsman to make a substantial contribution in the first innings, was promoted to open the innings. However, he fell to Rajat Bhatia for 2. At stumps, East were at 28 for 1, with little chance of advancing to the final. ************************ Northern lights light up west : Manhas, Chopra hit unbeaten doubles WITH THE bat dominating the ball on a placid track, Delhi opener Aakash Chopra and captain Mithun Manhas helped themselves to their highest Duleep Trophy scores - 205 not out. North declared an hour before scheduled close on the penultimate day at 459 for two and set an imposing target of 677 for East, who lost opener and first in top-scorer nings Wriddhman Saha for two and were 28 for one at stumps. Sharing the new ball with Vikramjit Malik in the absence of VRV Singh, Rajat Bhatia took the only wicket to fall, beating Saha's defence to knock back the middle stump. It was a Chopra-Manhas show all day long at the Madhavrao Scindia Stadium. Chopra (441m, 301b, 21x4) and Manhas (335m, 255b, 26x4, 2x6) found the gaps without any difficulty and directed the ball to the boundaries at will. The three half-chances that Manhas offered - on 49 when left-arm spinner Tushar Saha failed to take the return catch; an edge on 139 off SS Paul eluded a diving H Das' gloves; and on 156 when Das muffed a stumping chance - were the only occasions when East came close to breaking the third-wicket partnership, which yielded 368 runs, the sec ond highest for this wicket and third for any wicket in the Duleep Trophy . Resuming at 56, Chopra paced his innings intelligently and reached the 100 with a cut off Saha for a boundary Tuck . ing away Debasis Mohanty for a single to square leg, the Delhi opener reached his maiden Duleep double hundred. Manhas, 12 overnight, completed his own maiden Duleep Trophy ton with a six over long on off off-break bowler Anustup Ma jumdar. He got to his double with a six off Saha and the declaration came soon after. Unfortunately, in deciding to prolong the declaration, the inter est in the game has died. East can never think of achieving a target of 659 on the final day If they manage a . draw, it would be a honourable one. If they lose, it will be an expected result. ------------ I think final would be between North and West.

[apocalypse]

Cant say that Chandan

[Chandan]

Cant say that Chandan

Hmm.. This is an interesting situation. But West have already secured first inning lead and it'll be too difficult for Lions to save the match from here. How much will they gain for not losing the match? West will have 6 points at the end. Lions already have 5. Will they get one point or 2 points. If they get one point then both Lions and West will be tied at 6. Who'd proceed to final in that case? Anyone knows the rule?

[chanakya]

no semis just straight finals ??

[apocalypse]

it will depend on the quotient I think

[Chandan]

Quotient is not needed as West gained an outright victory. DULEEP TROPHY, 2007-08 ROUND THREE, DAY FOUR West brush aside Lions to seal final spot Cricinfo staff February 14, 2008 West Zone 494 (Rahane 172, Jaffer 151, Parthiv 59) and 28 for 1 beat England Lions 355 (Yardy 169) and 165 (Joyce 66, Pathan 5-35) by nine wickets Scorecard The England Lions faced a tough task going into day four of their clash with West Zone but were still considered favourites to reach the Duleep Trophy final; instead, a complete mess-up with the bat allowed West Zone to comprehensively notch up a win that took them to the showpiece match in Mumbai. Having conceded a 139-run first-innings lead the Lions were bowled out for 165 - four less than their captain Michael Yardy's fine century in the first innings - and West duly knocked off the minimal target set for them. Resuming the day on 14 for 1 the Lions looked poised to force a draw and make it to the final but Yusuf Pathan and Siddharth Trivedi had other ideas. Pathan started the slide by trapping opener Michael Carberry leg before for 17 in the 23rd over and added top-scorer Ed Joyce (66 from 136 balls) and James Foster. Trivedi, a right-arm medium-pacer, removed Joe Denly, Liam Plunkett and Graham Onions in relative succession and young Adil Rashid's resistance was cut short on 39 as Pathan bagged his fifth wicket. Set just 27 to complete a somewhat improbable victory West lost first-innings centurion Ajinkya Rahane for 6 but set up a date with North Zone in the five-day final at the Wankhede Stadium, starting on February 19. North gain massive win Cricinfo staff February 14, 2008 North Zone 360 (Manhas 88, Nanda 58, Mishra 52, Paul 5-106) and 459 for 2 (Chopra 205*, Manhas 205*) beat East Zone 143 (Saha 56, VRV 5-59) and 243 (Vardhan 83, Majumdar 82) by 433 runs Scorecard A match that looked to be heading for a draw swung North Zone's way spectacularly, as East Zone crashed from a position of safety to a crushing 434-run defeat on day four in Rajkot. Chasing a mammoth 677 for victory East had progressed to 238 for 3, thanks to gritty half-centuries from Manish Vardhan and Anustup Majumdar, but a run out opportunity shortly before tea triggered the most dramatic of collapses, and six wickets fell for just five runs. East began the day on 28 for 1 and with little chance of winning this game and stopping North from entering the final. They were soon 70 for 3 but Vardhan and Majumdar applied themselves admirably to defy North for over 40 overs. Both refrained from risky singles and instead collected useful boundaries as North's attack lost a bit of fight. But late into the second session, it all came apart. Vardhan worked the ball to midwicket and called for a single; substitute fielder Joginder Sharma swooped in, collected cleanly, and nailed a direct hit to get rid of Majumdar for a well-made 82. What happened next was unbelievable - first-innings hero VRV Singh and Amit Mishra, the legspinner, ran loops around the lower order. VRV forced Halhadar Das to pop a catch to Joginder, Mishra snapped up Vardhan for 83, VRV cleaned up Tushar Saha and the tail had no answer. North will now face West Zone from February 19-23 at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium. ------------------ So these were the results I wanted. Now the final would be between North and West and that'll be one heck of the match since both these teams have good batting but not so good bowling line up. I guess the toss would be as important too.

[Online]

I might go watch this match. Anyone else who may be there?

[Sachinism]

^^ you in india now?

[maaki]

West Zone in Duleep throphy final after winning against England lions http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/duleeptrophy/engine/match/306400.html

[ludhianvi]

North gain massive win Cricinfo staff February 14, 2008 North Zone 360 (Manhas 88, Nanda 58, Mishra 52, Paul 5-106) and 459 for 2 (Chopra 205*, Manhas 205*) beat East Zone 143 (Saha 56, VRV 5-59) and 243 (Vardhan 83, Majumdar 82) by 433 runs Scorecard A match that looked to be heading for a draw swung North Zone's way spectacularly, as East Zone crashed from a position of safety to a crushing 434-run defeat on day four in Rajkot. Chasing a mammoth 677 for victory East had progressed to 238 for 3, thanks to gritty half-centuries from Manish Vardhan and Anustup Majumdar, but a run out opportunity shortly before tea triggered the most dramatic of collapses, and six wickets fell for just five runs. East began the day on 28 for 1 and with little chance of winning this game and stopping North from entering the final. They were soon 70 for 3 but Vardhan and Majumdar applied themselves admirably to defy North for over 40 overs. Both refrained from risky singles and instead collected useful boundaries as North's attack lost a bit of fight. But late into the second session, it all came apart. Vardhan worked the ball to midwicket and called for a single; substitute fielder Joginder Sharma swooped in, collected cleanly, and nailed a direct hit to get rid of Majumdar for a well-made 82. What happened next was unbelievable - first-innings hero VRV Singh and Amit Mishra, the legspinner, ran loops around the lower order. VRV forced Halhadar Das to pop a catch to Joginder, Mishra snapped up Vardhan for 83, VRV cleaned up Tushar Saha and the tail had no answer. North will now face West Zone from February 19-23 at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium.

[Chandan]

North Zone v West Zone, Duleep Trophy final, Mumbai : Preview Both sides anxious over depleted bowling The Preview Sidharth Monga in Mumbai February 18, 2008 Aakash Chopra has scored three double-centuries in this first-class season © Cricinfo Ltd The Wankhede Stadium has an expectant air about it. Enter through the Polly Umrigar gate and it resembles a construction site, while on the other side the Vinoo Mankad gate leads one to the swank BCCI office, a sign of a huge shift in progress. The ground itself is expecting a complete overhaul, which will put it out of action for some time. But before that happens, Wankhede has some cricketing business to take care of: the Duleep Trophy final, and North Zone and West Zone - the finalists - owe it a good contest over the next five days. It helps that both teams are battle-ready, after having fought their way into the final from a difficult corner in their respective final league matches. North were 28 for 3 on the first morning against East Zone, but their captain Mithun Manhas led a middle- and lower-order resistance to take them to 183 for 6. The last four added 177 more as they wore the East bowlers down. In the second innings, Manhas and Aakash Chopra completely dominate the bowlers in their 368-run unbeaten partnership and sealed North's participation in the final at Wankhede. West Zone had more trouble entering their match against the England Lions. They needed an outright win to enter the final. A draw was not an option even if they ended on the favourable side. Things looked bleak when the England Lions ended the first day at 273 for 4, but West stuck to it to bowl the Lions out for 355 and then gained a 139-run first-innings lead to get to a position from where their bowlers could at least work towards an improbable Lions collapse. Yusuf Pathan and Siddharth Trivedi did just that to set up an easy win in the end. What's more North and West are evenly-matched sides with similar line-ups. They both have at least two batsmen in the top order who have been prolific in the domestic season so far; they both have an allrounder each who has stepped up every time his team has needed him; and they both have uncertain bowling attacks. To add to Parthiv Patel and Cheteshwar Pujara in the middle order, West now have the services of Wasim Jaffer who scored 151 to set up the win against the Lions. North have Chopra and Manhas, who when teamed up with Yashpal Singh and Shikhar Dhawan on their good days, make a potentially dangerous batting line-up. Chopra and Jaffer provide an interesting individual contest within the final. India are still without stable Test openers, and they will be looking for one before South Africa come for three Tests in late March. Jaffer, who was dropped for the last two Tests in Australia, has come back and scored big. Chopra, on the other hand, has done enough throughout the season to remain in the selectors' minds. He scored three centuries to aggregate 783 in the Ranji Trophy, the most important innings being his century in the final to resist the Praveen Kumar onslaught. His double-century against East was his third this first-class season. But perhaps the Most Valuable Players might just be Rajat Bhatia and Pathan - their zonal and state teams will have realised that by now. Bhatia has good memories of Wankhede, as it was him and Chopra who scripted an amazing turnaround to help Delhi win the Ranji Trophy. Pathan scored his third whirlwind century of the season in the Duleep Trophy opener, and then took the crucial five-for against the Lions. If one were to pick an XI from the current domestic season, Bhatia, for his consistency, and Pathan, for his audacity, would fight for the allrounder's slot. The next five days might be a good stage to settle the imaginary contest. Moreover, the two will want to end what has been perhaps their best first-class season on a high note. But the two sides haven't fared well in their bowling. An obvious reason is they haven't had the time to figure out the best combination; they have played only two matches together. Munaf Patel and VRV Singh's availability and non-availability hasn't helped either. In the one match he played for North, VRV Singh has shown the ability to bowl in devastating bursts. North will look at VRV to be the main strike bowler, with Vikramjeet Malik and Bhatia doing their steady medium-pace bits. The big decision for Manhas is whether to go with two spinners or an extra seamer. If he picks an extra seamer, he has to choose between Ashok Thakur and Samiullah Beigh, and drop either Amit Mishra or Chetanya Nanda. Manhas will have to discuss his match strategies with senior players since North don't have a coach any more. They had Vijay Dahiya for the first match but he was called back by Delhi to be with the Ranji one-day team. Munaf's absence, having played the first match and then leaving to join the Indian team in Australia, leaves West without any fire power in the bowling department. Trivedi and Sandeep Jobanputra haven't really carried their Ranji form over to Duleep and they are left with the difficult task of leading the attack in the final. Rajesh Pawar, who hasn't made any impression, and Ramesh Powar, who hasn't even been picked in final XI, have given West further headaches. Parthiv might look towards his state team to strengthen the attack by picking Ashraf Makda and Mohnish Parmar, the latter having made his way into the squad after Powar was dropped. The bowling gives North a slight edge, but this one promises to be a contest between the batsmen. The Wankhede wicket hasn't troubled the batsmen much this season, and the one for the final looks like another good wicket for them. Both captains said they expected some early movement with good bounce and little lateral movement. That should make stroke-playing easier and productive. Teams: North Zone: Aakash Chopra, Shikhar Dhawan, Karan Goel, Mithun Manhas (capt), Yashpal Singh, Rajat Bhatia, Uday Kaul (wk), Amit Mishra, Chetanya Nanda, Vikramjeet Malik, VRV Singh, Ashok Thakur, Joginder Sharma, Samiullah Beigh, Sachin Rana. West Zone: Sahil Kukreja, Wasim Jaffer, Ajinkya Rahane, Parthiv Patel (capt/wk), Cheteshwar Pujara, Rakesh Solanki, Yusuf Pathan, Rakesh Dhurv, Sandeep Jobanputra, Siddharth Trivedi, Ashraf Makda, Mohnish Parmar, Samad Fallah, Pinal Shah.

[Chandan]

West is dismissed for just 274 runs inside three session with VRV once again acting as the chief wrecker who destroyed West batting line up with yet another 5 for!

[Sachinism]

its on interactive on sky sports if any one from UK wants to watch i'll probably check it out after india-sl game

[Mr. Wicket]

Sigh. This is what happens when you load up the batting with dead weight from other states and leave out superior Bombay batsmen like Amol just to make up the numbers.

[Chandan]

North Zone v West Zone, Duleep Trophy 2007-08, Mumbai FINAL, DAY ONE VRV five-for gives North the edge The Bulletin by Sidharth Monga at the Wankhede Stadium February 19, 2008 North Zone 53 for 0 (Chopra 35*) trail West Zone 274 (Rahane 91, VRV Singh 5-91, Mishra 3-57) by 221 runs Scorecard and ball-by-ball details VRV Singh turned the game North's way with two big wickets with his first two balls after lunch © Getty Images Hostile bursts from VRV Singh, disciplined bowling from the other bowlers at the other end and some irresponsible batting from West Zone, vindicated Mithun Manhas's decision to bowl, as West were bowled out for 274 on the first day of the Duleep Trophy final. North ended the day at 53 for 0, with a strong advantage on a Wankhade wicket that was good to bat on. VRV took his second five-wicket haul in two Duleep Trophy matches since his return from Australia, while Ajinkya Rahane followed his 172 in the previous game with an aggressive 91 to make sure North were the more anxious side going into lunch. Although Amit Mishra dismissed Sahil Kukreja, who had put together an 88-run partnership with Rahane, just before the lunch, it seemed a foolhardy decision to put the opposition in at the Wankhede, something Mumbai have discovered to their peril twice over earlier this season. West went into lunch with their score at 130 for 2, Rahane having tucked into the bowling with 64 off 74 balls. But North had VRV's fire power, something Mumbai lacked throughout the season. VRV, who had been taken for 60 runs in his 12 overs before the interval despite troubling Rahane, turned the game North's way with two big wickets with his first two balls after lunch. Parthiv Patel got one that reared from a good length, and Cheteshwar Pujara got the nightmare first delivery - a searing yorker that swung away after he had made up his mind to play it on the on side. Rakesh Solanki was the right man to walk in after West had slumped from 122 for 1 to 139 for 4 in a matter of 21 deliveries, but by then Vikramjeet Malik had replaced VRV and started getting consistent reverse-swing to trouble Rahane. Rahane's response was to counterattack. Whenever Malik pitched it short or went too full looking for swing, he was taken for fours through the off side. But Malik had the final word, trapping Rahane in front, an over after the batsman had survived a similar shout. Yusuf Pathan came and batted in his characteristic fashion for a brief while. But when he mistimed one of the many shots he played, West in trouble at 170 for 5. Solanki, who had settled in by then, and Rakesh Dhurv batted 7.2 overs to ensure there was no more damage by tea, taking them to 233 for 6. The support staff must be giving something special to VRV in the intervals, as his first ball after tea proved to be another beauty: a scorching bouncer at Solanki, who ended up handcuffed and fended at it in an ungainly manner. In his next over VRV accounted for Sandeep Jobanputra, who played away from his body and offered Aakash Chopra a sharp chance at third slip. The rest caved in duly to give up the initiative Rahane had provided them in the morning session. North's bowlers, to their credit, stuck to the task, and didn't give up when it was easy to. Malik and Mishra, especially, provided VRV the necessary support and stability from the other end, keeping the run flow down even as VRV went all out. Manhas, for his part, kept the slips cordon populated throughout. Jaffer was on six when he edged between third slip and gully, and couldn't make the most of that reprieve. In the ninth over, after he had added 17 more, he hung his bat out to one from VRV that held its line instead of coming in, and quite uncharacteristically failed to capitalise on a good start. VRV's consistent pace of around 135kph, along with movement into the batsmen, proved to be the difference between the sides on the first day, but it shouldn't take away from Rahane's dashing knock, full of attractive strokeplay. But with Jaffer and Parthiv out early, West missed a batsman who had a proven capability of batting through the day. The North Zone openers, Chopra and Shikhar Dhawan, batted out the last hour without much incident. They kept the strokeplay to the bare minimum to start off with, negotiating the awkward period with relative ease. After negotiating Siddharth Trivedi and Ashraf Makda, Chopra set out to dominate Pathan. Chopra took a four of Pathan's first ball, which he bowled seam-up. He then gave his feet a bit of exercise as he lofted Pathan's offbreak for a four. Dhruv's left-arm spin was swept for four off his first ball. Apart from a few Trivedi deliveries which left Dhawan, resulting in close caught-behind shouts, West looked far away from a breakthrough. And if this is a trend, a long day awaits them tomorrow. ------------------------------ Monga slipped thinking that West Zone was Mumbai? :confused_smile: Quite disappointed by Pujara though. Although I didn't watch the match to assess what kind of delivery he got from VRV, he generally fights out such tough time quite credibly. But he failed this time.

[Sachinism]

another five-for for VRV oh lord, what is the world coming to

[ludhianvi]

Actually, VRV has been quite prolific at the domestic level. From 24 matches, he has the following bowling stats: 4 wicket hauls: 5 5 wicket hauls:6 10 wicket hauls:1