Ranji Trophy, Super League, 2008-09

[Sachinism]

^^ Add Jaffer's ton

[Sachinism]

This is pathetic...it really is. How must the young players feel knowing that the selectors are not even bothering to turn up to assess their performances? Totally demoralising and demotivating for them. It's a sad joke this.

Exactly, they may as well cancel the tournaments, if these people are playing for the sake of playing

[Show_stopper]

^^ Add Jaffer's ton

Do you believe he'll make it back into the team? To re-phrase,do you want him to?:--D

[Sachinism]

Do you believe he'll make it back into the team? To re-phrase' date='do you want him to?:--D[/quote'] Well if Gauti or Sehwag do get injured, then maybe a replacement is needed

[Ram]

Lol, most India prospects living upto their billing and performing well.

[Ram]

Generally speaking, the current selection committee is doing quite well. They handled the Kumble and Ganguly retirements quite well and have also shown lots of respect for Dravid, which is only fair. They've also shown they arent afraid to think out of the box when they replaced Kumble with Dhoni as captain in the middle of a test series. However, the groundwork was laid by the previous committee under Vengsarkar. They really started the whole process. Only complaint; The whole post WC '07 wasnt dealt with properly, while Dravid was forced to resign unceremoniously from captaincy. On the topic; This time, there's no excuse for being slack. Till now, selectors have all held honorary positions, so often they cited other 'professional commitments' as an excuse sidestep their BCCI responsibilities. The current lot are being paid truckloads of money. So, they must be more accountable.

[Shane]

Notable performances so far.. Rohit-98 Raina-93 Praveen- 5-fer Tiwary-144 Robin-139 jadeja- 5-fer

Nayar 6fer

[Brainfade]

Another Sreesanth - now in Karnataka's team: Sreesanth Aravind (LHMF): 19-9-31-1. And the one wicket? That of Cheteshwar Pujara.

[cowboysfan]

Lol' date=' most India prospects living upto their billing and performing well.[/quote'] pujara was dissapointing but i am happy for uttappa.

[Chandan]

Selector to watch Mumbai-HP match Ahmedabad: Apparently following HT's report on Saturday (headlined 4 games, 5 selectors no coordination) 1 East Zone solector Raja Venkat is travelling to Ahmedabad to catch a few hours of the Mumbai-Himachal Ranji Trophy quarterfinal. HT had reported that despite there being five national selectors and only four quarterfinals, India's first paid selectors were unable to coordinate a schedule that would have one at every game. But as Venkat is taking a morning flight from Mumbai and returning by an evening one to be able to make a Monday morning flight to Kolkata, this seems to be merely to resister a selector's presence in town. Not much else!

[Guest Hiten.]

If they think they're gonna fool us by 'visiting' the stadiums after media proved their commitment towards Indian cricket, then they're just sh itting themselves. It is outright pathetic for the selectors to not attain such 'high' events in the domestic setup as their only option to pick players for future comes from this setup. As marirs mentioned, these guys are paid quite big bucks to DO their job and not a volunteer position. Their priority should be to attained as much matches possible (ranji + duleep + irani) because that's their only job. They cannot follow cricinfo and pick players based on the scorecard...heck even I could do that and would not ask for money.

[Mr. Wicket]

Best team in the Ranjis, two highest run getters this season plus one of the top wicket takers. And a fringe national player taking part, yet no selectors present? Pathetic and amateur. Why are we paying this round of jokers?

[Guest Hiten.]

Best team in the Ranjis, two highest run getters this season plus one of the top wicket takers. And a fringe national player taking part, yet no selectors present? Pathetic and amateur. Why are we paying this round of jokers?

25 lakhs per year + traveling expenses covered (that's if these nawabs feel like traveling) + best accommodations. What else would you want for watching a game of cricket and picking a best player according to you.

[Mr. Wicket]

Hell of a lot of money to be getting for doing nothing and sitting on their lazy arses while trying to figure out who flies where. Sack the lot and beg Gangluddin to take over. ;)

[Chandan]

THE QUARTER-FINALS Mumbai v Himachal Pradesh in Ahmedabad, Day 2 Mumbai 405 for 6 (Jaffer 108, Rohit 98) lead Himachal Pradesh 250 by 155 runs Scorecard Jaffer and Rohit help Mumbai dominate Wasim Jaffer scored his third century of the competition, and added 113 for the fourth wicket with Rohit Sharma to put Mumbai in a dominant position against Himachal Pradesh on the second day in Ahmedabad. Vishal Bhatia, the left-arm spinner, took three wickets, but was unable to prevent the Mumbai batsmen from scoring over four an over, and building significant partnerships. Wasim Jaffer scored his third century of the tournament to help Mumbai build a sizeable lead against Himachal Pradesh The Mumbai openers, Jaffer and Vinayak Samant, put on a half-century stand before Jitender Mehta, the medium-pacer, had Samant caught for 20. Ajinkya Rahane, the tournament's top-scorer, started from where he left off against Punjab, scoring a run-a-ball 35. Rahane and Amol Muzumdar fell within 27 runs of each other, but Jaffer, joined by Rohit, crushed any hopes HP entertained about running through the Mumbai batting line-up. Jaffer's innings was laced with 14 boundaries, and his stand with Rohit, who hit eight fours and three sixes, took Mumbai past HP's total Jaffer fell for 108, caught by Ashok Thakur off Bhatia, but Rohit continued to build the lead, and was ably supported by Abhishek Nayar, with whom he added 80. Both, however, departed in quick succession, but Ajit Agarkar and Sairaj Bahutule, who have proved capable batsmen, put on an unbeaten 56 for the seventh wicket amid some sloppy bowling by HP, who conceded 37 extras. Though he got to three figures, Jaffer was slightly disappointed by his dismisssal. "It was a bad shot. I would have scored much more than what I have got today. The wicket has become batsmen friendly," he told DNA. Another POV Jaffer hits ton, Rohit misses by a whisker G. Viswanath Ahmedabad: Wasim Jaffer demonstrated fine skills, plenty of common sense and made an immense contribution to his side against a rival that showed character and refused to yield for a major part of the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal here at the Motera on Saturday. Jaffer made 108, studded with 14 boundaries, and shared a 113-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Sharma to help the team post 405 for six, having resumed the day at 19 for no loss. With the exception of Amol Muzumdar, all other batsmen chipped in, helping Mumbai take a first-innings lead of 155. Mumbai’s main run-getter in the league Ajinkya Rahane (35, 35b, 6x4) came up with a cameo effort. Though Abhishek Nayar (39, 40b, 4x6) smashed four sixes and Rohit Sharma (98, 152b, 8x4, 3x6) played a responsible knock without compromising his aggressive intents, it was the Mumbai skipper’s show of poise while facing 183 balls that turned out to be an obstacle for Himachal Pradesh to pose as a genuine challenger. Jaffer’s tenure in the middle for three minutes short of five hours produced a quality knock of 108 with 14 boundaries. So focused was Jaffer on Friday evening and Saturday morning that he did not risk a first scoring shot until the 30th ball he faced in a time span of 45 minutes. Jaffer and Vinayak Samant held out for almost an hour, after which Rahane played shots all over the park before offering his wicket on a platter to off-spinner Sarandeep Singh . Soon Amol Muzumdar perished offering a straightforward chance to the ‘keeper. Mumbai needed another 110 runs to gain the first innings lead at the fall of Muzumdar, but after the arrival of Rohit, Jaffer decided to extend his solid full face of the bat defence into firm drives on the on side, straight down the ground and cut and force shots on the off side. Sharma was hitting immaculate drives of the front foot, while Jaffer was punching the ball to the fence off the back-foot. Pushing left-arm seamer Ashok Thakur to mid wicket, he ambled across for a single and completed his 35th first-class century. He departed at the stroke of tea, but by then Jaffer had played a captain’s knock and taken his team beyond the opponent’s total. Breezy stand Nayar and Rohit added 80 runs off 87 balls. Abhishek Nayar’s cameo of 39 that included four sixes ensured runs kept coming at a brisk pace, before the left-handed Nayar top-edged a skier. On a day when they piled 386 runs, Sharma appeared to be in the zone during his 98, which included three sixes and eight fours. The three-figure mark seemed a formality till he, often criticised for some poor shot selection, attempted an audacious reverse sweep off Vishal Bhatia only to see the timber disturbed. With all-rounders Ajit Agarkar and Sairaj Bahutule unbeaten on 34 and 28 respectively, and Ramesh Powar still to come, Mumbai seem all set to make the semi-finals. Mumbai ended the day at 405 for six and has virtually earned a passage to Chennai for the semifinals. Gujarat v Uttar Pradesh in Vadodara, Day 2 Uttar Pradesh 305 (Raina 93, Parvinder Singh 64) and 76 for 1 (Srivastava 42*) lead Gujarat 117 (Timil Patel 42*, Praveen Kumar 5-29) by 264 runs Scorecard Praveen sends Gujarat packing Gujarat squandered their first-day advantage, being bowled out for 117 after restricting Uttar Pradesh to 305. Praveen Kumar took five wickets, and was well supported by fellow medium-pacers Imtiyaz Ahmed and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who shared the remaining wickets between them, to help UP gain a massive 188-run lead. Their batsmen Tanmay Srivastava and Suresh Raina, who were involved in an unbeaten 61-run second-wicket partnership, then stretched that lead to 264 to leave Gujarat staring at a daunting fourth-innings target. Gujarat started the day well, removing Amir Khan early, but shepherded by Parvinder Singh, the UP tail showed some spunk to take their score past 300. Ashraf Makda, the left-arm medium pacer, was Gujarat's most effective performer, taking 3 for 40. In reply, the Gujarat batsmen capitulated to pace, losing their openers to Praveen for 10. Bhuvneshwar Kumar took the next two wickets, including captain Parthiv Patel for 2, before Praveen trapped Bhavik Thaker for a first-ball duck. Imtiyaz removed Mohnish Parmar two runs later to leave Gujarat tottering at 48 for 7, but Timil Patel, who top-scored with an unbeaten 43, and Makda added 34 for the eighth wicket to help take their team towards three figures. Another POV Praveen Kumar rocks Gujarat J.R. Shridharan U.P. decides not to enforce follow-on Praveen returned five for 29 VADODARA: It's almost all over for Gujarat in their quarterfinal tie against Uttar Pradesh. A strong Gujarat batting line-up, led by Parthiv Patel, surrendered in front of UP’s seamers, with Praveen Kumar showing the way. Uttar Pradesh medium-pacers, led by India international Praveen Kumar (five for 29), shot Gujarat out for a meagre 117 in 40.2 overs thus clinching the all-important first innings lead of 188 runs in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal at Motibaug Stadium here on Saturday. With a handsome 188-run first innings lead, Mohhammed Kaif and his team chose to bat again in their second innings instead of enforcing follow-on. It could turn out to be a good move to get some batting practice under the belt as bigger battles await. At the end of the second day’s play, U.P. was 76 for one in 25 overs. Suresh Raina was at his punishing best smacking four boundaries and a six in his unbeaten 29, with Tanmay Srivastava giving him company at 42. Earlier, resuming at 242 for six, U.P. was all out for 305. Praveen Kumar bamboozled the Gujarat top order and along with Imtiyaz Ahmed (three for 32) and Bhuvneshwer Kumar (two for 43), dealt crippling blows at regular intervals. All at sea In-form batsmen Bhavik Thaker, skipper Parthiv Patel and Nilesh Modi were all at sea. Praveen Kumar was praised for his accuracy before the start and was on song from the very first delivery. As soon as he scalped opener Priyank Panchal (0) with the third ball of his second over, Praveen didn’t look back. He removed Nilesh Modi (9), Niraj Patel (14), Bhavik Thakar (0) and last man Siddarth Trivedi (4) with in a fine display of swing bowling. This was Praveen’s second five-wicket haul of the season, and was also his best first-class figures so far. There was no question of relief for Gujarat as seamers Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Imtiyaz Ahmed too responded well. Playing his third match of the season, Imtiyaz Ahmed, who came in for the injured R.P. Singh, wiped out the tail. Ashraf Makda swung his bat a bit and smacked a couple of boundaries and sixes. But diminutive Timil Patel hung around till the end with a crafty unbeaten 43. Karnataka v Saurashtra in Mumbai, Day 2 Saurashtra 183 for 9 (RA Jadeja 38, Raghu 2-8, Joshi 2-32, Vinay 2-46 ) trail Karnataka 305 (Uthappa 139, Vinay 48, RA Jadeja 5-82, Odedra 3-68) by 122 runs Scorecard Bowlers swing it in Karnataka's favour Karnataka, buoyed by probing spells of swing bowling, wrested control of their quarter-final from Saurashtra on the second day in Mumbai. Despite possessing a line-up that has scored heavily in the league phase, Saurashtra stuttered in reply to Karnataka's 305, and ended the day 122 runs adrift with one wicket left. R Vinay Kumar dismissed Shitanshu Kotak for 11 as Saurashtra struggled in their response to Karnataka's 305 It was a completely different picture to the first day, when spin dominated proceedings - a situation that raised questions over the teams' strategy to go with an extra fast bowler. But the success of R Vinay Kumar, S Aravind and B Akhil has silenced those doubts, at least for the moment. Aided by the presence of a constant breeze, the fast bowlers repeatedly beat the bat and never allowed the batsmen to settle down. The numbers provided the proof: Ravindra Jadeja's 38 was the best by a Saurashtra batsman while the biggest partnership was also 38, for the sixth wicket between Jadeja and Sagar Jogiyani. Although opener Chirag Pathak used the bottom hand to pick up a few boundaries initially, Karnataka were not worried since their new-ball pair of Vinay and NC Aiyappa got appreciable movement. After being pulled by Pathak for four early, Vinay finally beat the left-hander from around the wicket. A brilliant outswinger moved into Pathak, who opened up, and then swung away, catching the edge en route to Thilak Naidu behind stumps. Saurashtra took lunch with no further damage but their hopes were completely deflated in the middle session, during which five wickets fell. Sunil Joshi, Karnataka's leading wicket-taker, struck off the fourth ball after the break. Bhushan Chauhan, the other opener, tried to prod at one, only edging to Rahul Dravid at first slip. At the other end, debutant left-armer Aravind impressed with his aggression: in addition to injecting more pace, he progressively improved his length to a fuller one while taking the ball away from the batsmen. What was also commendable was a firm wrist, which remained straight at the point of delivery - a trait useful for generating swing. A memorable moment for Aravind arrived when he worked out Cheteshwar Pujara to earn his maiden wicket: Saurashtra's highest run-getter was new to the crease and was trying to shrug off early nerves. Slanting a delivery away, Aravind was successful in forcing a faint edge, which was picked well by Naidu. Aravind was unlucky when he beat Jadeja with a straighter one in his next over. A few overs later Jadeja's leading edge travelled past the outstretched hands of the diving C Raghu at gully. In the final delivery of the same over, Jadeja pulled Aravind straight to a charging Joshi at deep square leg, who spilled an easy offering. Jadeja was on eight, Saurashtra 68. The bowler's frustration was obvious, but it did not prove to be an expensive miss. Shitanshu Kotak, Saurashtra's senior-most batsman, looked miserable in his near two-hour stint at the crease. He eventually poked at an away-going delivery from Vinay to give Naidu his third catch. Akhil, after a wayward over to begin with, got in to the groove with a superb inswinger that beat the clueless Saurashtra captain, Jaydev Shah, in the air before sending the off stump flying. With Saurashtra in danger of following on, the pair of Jadeja and Sagar Jogiyani went for their shots. Jogiyani hit two fluent square-drives off Aiyappa, Karnataka's weakest bowler. Furious, Aiyappa fired in low and short on off stump, but a vigilant Jogiyani pushed deftly for consecutive boundaries past third man despite two slips and a gully. It also brought up Saurashtra's hundred. However, just like the first day, a crucial wicket fell just before tea when Jadeja, having pushed to mid-on off Joshi, rushed for a quick single. Jogiyani did not respond and Jadeja failed to make his ground as Akhil's throw to the keeper beat him. It was a rude jolt for Saurashtra and Jadeja raised arms in disappointment, obviously displeased at his partner. Their 38-run stand was the last significant effort of the day from Saurashtra as Karnataka strengthened their position. Earlier, Saurashtra, frustrated by a 40-run eighth-wicket stand on the first day, had to wait nearly ten overs and 40 runs to take the final two Karnataka wickets. Vinay, overnight on 22, hit some fluent strokes as they went past 300, and was last man out, falling two short of a maiden first-class half-century. Another POV Karnataka in the driver’s seat : Ball dance at Brabourne Nandakumar Marar DELIGHTED: Karnataka’s R. Vinay Kumar celebrates the dismissal of Sitanshu Kotak of Saurashtra on Saturday.. Mumbai: There are certain days in Cricket where nobody in particular stands out, and the cliché of it being a team game gets proven right. Saurashtra’s inept batting display on the second day of their Ranji Trophy quarter-final may have induced bouts of boredom for the few who decided to venture into the Brabourne Stadium for some weekend entertainment. But Karnataka captain Robin Uthappa definitely had a lot to smile about as the shadows grew longer on Saturday, with his bowlers combining well on a helpful wicket to reduce their opponents to 183 for 9, still 122 runs in arrears. Karnataka’s big hope Rahul Dravid may have disappointed in the first innings, and counterpart Cheteshwar Pujara seemed to follow in his footsteps, as he managed to score a single run, before handing Sreesanth Aravind his maiden first-class wicket. Karnataka made a bright start to the day by adding 40 crucial runs to their overnight tally and stretching the total to 305, largely due to tail-ender R Vinay Kumar, who missed his half-century by two runs. Saurashtra frittered away the advantage when the Karnataka tailenders stretched the first innings score to 305 on the second of the four-day Ranji Trophy quarterfinal knockout game. The value of R. Vinay Kumar’s 48 off 109 balls at No. 9 will be known only in the later stages. The right-arm fast bowler then started off excellently with the new ball in tandem with NC Aiyappa, as Saurashtra’s openers found the going very tough. Stocky Chirag Pathak opened his account with a fearsome pull-shot and then struck a flurry of boundaries to get the innings moving. But Vinay Kumar got one to move away from him from around the wicket, and the ball took the edge off Pathak’s bat on its way to Thilak Naidu’s safe hands behind the wicket. Veteran Shitanshu Kotak joined Bhushan Chauhan at the crease and the two plodded along, as the scoring rate predictably began to fall. The duo dragged Saurashtra safely to lunch at 49 for 1. The tide seemed to change right after the break though, as Chauhan first edged Sunil Joshi to Dravid at slip. Aravind, who impressed in his debut performance with his pace and movement, then got the big scalp of Pujara, as the right-handed run-machine nicked a ball that moved away from him to Naidu. Saurashtra’s most successful batsman this season was surprised by an outswinger for the wicket-keeper to grab his third catch. Pujara lasted seven balls, making just one run. Saurashtra’s bowling hero in the first innings Ravindra Jadeja escaped an early dismissal as he miscued a pull shot, only for Joshi to floor the catch. Kotak would have been expected to come up with one of his renowned rearguard innings, but it wasn’t to be, as he fell soon after, leaving his team struggling at 70 for 4. And their plight worsened, as captain Jaydev Shah’s off-stump was sent cart-wheeling by Balachandra Akhil in the very next over. Wicket-keeper Sagar Jogiyani looked to take the attack to the opposition, but got involved in a misunderstanding between wickets with Jadeja, and the latter was run-out. Jogiyani himself managed to keep the inspired Karnataka bowlers at bay for almost two hours, but fell to a soft dismissal off Joshi’s bowling. Tail-enders Sunil Jobanputra and Kamlesh Makhwana held their ground, without making much of an impact, on what was a bad day to be a Saurashtra fan. Karnataka will now be hoping to strengthen their hold on the contest on Day Three, which will also provide Dravid with his second chance of creating a much-awaited impact. Tamil Nadu v Bengal in Bangalore, Day 2 Tamil Nadu 188 for 5 (Mukund 47, Karthik 46) trail Bengal 345 (Tiwary 144, Chakrabarty 57, Saha 53, Ganapathy Scorecard Disciplined Bengal seize advantage On an enthralling day, Bengal seized the advantage as Tamil Nadu slipped to 188 for 5, still trailing by 157 runs with the last recognised pair of Suresh Kumar and R Ashwin at the crease. One early wicket tomorrow can open up the semi-final spot for Bengal, and Tamil Nadu will hope against hope that Suresh and Ashwin can stretch their stand of 41 to something really substantial. The pitch still holds no demons but the pressure-cooker situation can prove too much to handle for the batsmen. Dinesh Karthik hit ten fours in his 46 There were two pivotal moments today that opened up the game for Bengal. The first came on the last ball before tea. Dinesh Karthik pushed the ball close on the offside and set off before pulling out of the run. By the time his partner Abhinav Mukund, Tamil Nadu's leading run-scorer this season, could get back to safety, Rohan Banerjee relayed the throw to the bowler Laxmi Ratan Shukla who broke the stumps. And as the verdict came from the third umpire, Karthik, who had nearly caused Mukund's run-out off the first ball he faced, let out a cry of agony that echoed around the empty stadium. He smashed his bat furiously against his pads as he walked off. Karthik knew that he had nearly derailed Tamil Nadu's Ranji campaign. It was up to him now. And he tried gamely before the second dramatic incident. On 46 Karthik went for a sweep against the offspinner Ritam Kundu and the ball ballooned to the short fine-leg region where Manoj Tiwary ran to his right before diving full stretch to take a stunning catch. The umpire Hariharan put up his finger even as Karthik seemed to suggest that it hit his arm guard. The replays too seemed to validate his plea though one couldn't be certain that it had not rolled off the gloves. Tamil Nadu slipped to 147 for 5. Karthik had adopted an attacking approach in trying to turn things around after the Mukund run-out. He started off with a series of late cuts, threw in some classy on-the-up punches through off, hit a flamboyant pull, and flicked a couple through midwicket. But all through his innings you could sense a nervous energy that threatened to explode. His judgment of singles was imperfect and his shot selection must have raised the blood pressure of his team-mates. His late cuts squirted dangerously between slip and gully. He attempted a reverse-sweep off the first ball he faced from Kundu which luckily for him bobbed only off the pad to short leg and the appeal for a catch was rightly turned down. He again tried another reverse sweep which he connected but then he fell next ball, leaving Suresh, perhaps, with too much to do. Suresh looked pretty solid, picking singles and disposing the loose ones. There was a neat straight drive that caught the eye and he bludgeoned Kundu for a straight six. The day started off pretty brightly for Tamil Nadu. L Balaji unfurled a lovely slower ball - a back-of-the hand googly - that completely fooled the centurion Tiwary to crash into the stumps. And C Ganapathy ran through the tail to pick up his maiden first-class five-for. Five wickets fell in 25 overs for the addition of 53 runs as the bowlers mixed up the pace very well, bowling quite a few slower ones. Tamil Nadu would have been confident of overhauling Bengal's 345 but they didn't get off to a good start. M Vijay and S Badrinath, who have been sitting in the Indian squad without much match practice, fell cheaply to raise Bengal's hopes. Vijay chased a short and wide delivery straight to Tiwary at point and Badrinath was trapped in front by the same bowler, Ranadeb Bose. Mukund batted with purpose, playing a few square drives and flicks and looked good for a long innings before being undone by the misunderstanding with Karthik. That in the end, could be the turning point of the game. Another POV Bengal puts TN on the backfoot K.C. Vijaya Kumar Ganapathy comes up with his maiden Ranji five for READY TO SOAR: Tamil Nadu’s C. Ganapathy cannot hide his glee after scalping Bengal’s Ranadeb Bose in the Ranji quarterfinal in Bangalore on Saturday. Bangalore: Bengal added a twist to the tale as it forced Tamil Nadu to play catch-up in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Saturday. At close on the second day, Tamil Nadu struggled at 188 for five in reply to Bengal’s 345, 157 runs adrift of the crucial first innings lead. The day began with Tamil Nadu polishing off Bengal’s last five wickets for just 53 runs with C. Ganapathy completing his maiden five-wicket haul in Ranji Trophy. Change of script The script changed after lunch as Tamil Nadu opener M. Vijay slashed to Manoj Tiwary at point and seamer Ranadeb Bose made it a double blow as he trapped S. Badrinath with one that nipped back. At 48 for two, Tamil Nadu’s hopes rested on southpaw Abhinav Mukund (47, 93b, 9x4) and skipper Dinesh Karthik (46, 66b, 10x4). Abhinav played a few elegant square-drives. But Karthik threatened to trigger a run-out any moment. The duo’s ‘yes-no’ dilemma suffered its fatal moment as Karthik drove rival skipper L.R. Shukla straight to covers and set off for an improbable single and it was too late for Abhinav to recover lost ground. Karthik falls The Bengal attack stuck to diligent lines and the fielders displayed a fierce resolve. Karthik fell to a sweep against off-spinner Ritam Kundu and as a diving Tiwary caught the ‘snick’, the Tamil Nadu skipper hinted that the ball had gone off his arm guard. The damage was done and Tamil Nadu was staring at a tough road ahead, as earlier Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan had fallen to a Sourav Sarkar delivery that moved a shade to elicit the edge. At close, S. Suresh Kumar and R. Ashwin played some shots to trigger weak applause from the Tamil Nadu ranks.

[Chandan]

Lunch time score: Bengal 345 Tamil Nadu 290/9 (92.0 ov) Karnataka 305 & 81/3 (30.0 ov) Saurashtra 189 Himachal Pradesh 250 & 6/1 (4.0 ov) Mumbai 495 Uttar Pradesh 305 & 164/4 (64.0 ov) : Raina made just 31 and Kaif 46 runs. Gujarat 117

[msb1991]

Any news on what pace Bose was bowling and what Balaji is currently clocking?

[Chandan]

Any news on what pace Bose was bowling and what Balaji is currently clocking?

Balaji is in low 120s and Bose in high 120s.

[Shane]

Balaji is in low 120s and Bose in high 120s.

Dhoni can bowl in the early 130's !!! :giggle:

[Chandan]

3rd day scores after stump : Bengal 345 & 134/4 (46.0 ov) Tamil Nadu 306 Karnataka 305 & 208 Saurashtra 189 & 10/2 (3.0 ov) Himachal Pradesh 250 & 200/5 (39.0 ov) Mumbai 495 Uttar Pradesh 305 & 285/8 (115.0 ov) : Parmar has taken 4 wickets. Gujarat 117