Ranji Trophy, Super League, 2008-09

[Dirty_South]

T N - 445 Ao

[Rajan]

TanMay out-UP: 1-1 Ganapathy picks up first wicket, Tanmay Srivastava: UP have lost Tanmay Srivastava. C Badrinath bowled C Ganapathy. 1 for 1

[King Tendulkar]

Triple ton from jaffer

[fineleg]

Nayar mistimed couple of shots off the back foot in this over. It reminds me of the conversation I had with him last year when he spoke about how Tendulkar helped him a lot. From what I wrote then, "I was down and was having problems with my batting. I was unable to get any power in my strokes off the back foot," Nayar told Cricinfo. He says he could drive but knew his back-foot play was going to hinder his cricketing career. Tendulkar asked him to take his stance and play a few back-foot shots. Nayar, who crouches in his stance before shuffling across from an outside-leg-stump guard, tried changing his stance in the Under-16 and 19 days but felt uncomfortable and returned to what he knew best - attack. Tendulkar spotted that his weight was on the heels rather than toes and that Nayar's shift in balance was not smooth. "He suggested a few drills - playing with a cone, he told me not to bother about changing my stance and talked a lot about the mental strength. He gave examples from his own career - how he once famously played out seven quiet overs from [Glenn] McGrath in a Test before returning the next morning and going onto the attack." Nayar told himself that if such a famed batsman could swallow his ego and play according to the situation, so could he. "

[Dirty_South]

good start for TN

[Dirty_South]

Sir Eggy gone :((

[fineleg]

Sir Aggy! :hahaha: gone for 2!

[Chandan]

Sorry for being too lazy and hence so late in posting the first day round-up of semi-final! Semi-final, Day 1 Mumbai v Saurashtra, Chennai, Day 1 Mumbai 268 for 1 (Jaffer 162*, Rahane 52*, Samant 49) v Saurashtra Scorecard Jaffer's unbeaten century puts Mumbai on top On a batting paradise, Wasim Jaffer hit his fourth ton of the season to charge Mumbai to a healthy position by the end of the opening day in Chennai. With Sachin Tendulkar slated to bat next, Saurashtra might be on a leather hunt tomorrow . Wasim Jaffer went past 1000 runs in the tournament Jaffer and Ajinkya Rahane reached 1000 runs in the season in contrasting knocks. While Rahane struggled for timing, Jaffer was, as ever, easy on the eye. Jaffer added 91 runs with Vinayak Samant before stitching together 177 runs in 55 overs with Rahane to grind down the Saurashtra attack. The ball came on nicely to the bat on a pitch that is expected to turn from the third day and Jaffer made full use of the good batting conditions. It was a typical Jaffer knock, full of wristy flicks and back-foot punches. There were sashays down the track against the left-arm spinners and sweeps against the offspinner. The interesting phase of the day came when the left-arm medium-pacer Balkrishna Jadeja, who operated from around the stumps, persisted with a wide line outside off stump in an effort to frustrate the batsmen. While Rahane was conservative, Jaffer countered it by repeatedly walking down the track and across the stumps to either drive through the off side or, if it was short in length, whip it through the on side. And when the wicketkeeper came up to the stumps, Jaffer shuffled to the off and unfurled late cuts. Jaffer also capitalised on Rakesh Dhruv's errant line and hit him for 12 runs in an over. Dhurv had earlier taken the only wicket to fall in the day; opener Vinayak Samant was trapped lbw for 49 after he had added 91 with Jaffer. Sandeep Jobanputra continued to be Saurashtra's best bowler, conceding only 50 runs in his 20 overs. But Jaffer brought up his fourth hundred of the season off his bowling - straight-driving to the boundary before late-cutting him through slip and gully. Ravindra Jadeja tried gamely with his left-arm spin but couldn't do much damage on the docile track. Rahane, the top scorer of the season before this game, was not on song today. The bat came down in an angle and the feet refused to move into right positions but he fought through the phase to make another half-century. Another POV Jaffer makes merry as Saurashtra flounders S. Dinakar STANDING TALL: Wasim Jaffer assumed centre-stage on a good batting pitch at Chepauk on Sunday with his unbeaten century. Chennai: They came in numbers and created an atmosphere worthy of a Ranji Trophy semi-final, with only one intention: Watching Sachin Tendulkar do what he does best with the bat. And once Mumbai skipper Wasim Jaffer won the toss and elected to bat, their anticipation of what was to come was evident. But the large Sunday crowd at the MA Chidambaram Stadium were forced to be content with just a sighting of their superhero taking a few ‘knocks’ at the end of the first day, with Mumbai comfortably placed at 268-1. What it did mean though was that the focus remained deservedly on the real heroes of the day, Jaffer and Ajinkya Rahane, both of whom crossed the 1000-run mark in Ranji Trophy this season. On a pitch that provided little or no assistance to neither spinners nor fast bowlers, Jaffer was his usual self as he took time to settle down before getting into grinding the Saurashtra bowlers down, and remained unbeaten on 162 at stumps. Mumbai skipper Wasim Jaffer assumed centre-stage on a good batting pitch at Chepauk as his team progressed to a dominant 268 for one on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy semifinal against Saurashtra. The Sunday began and finished well for Jaffer. He first won the toss and was unbeaten on 162 (275b, 19x4) at stumps. Standing tall to whip the ball past square-leg, the grace and the flow in his batting are unmistakable. Here, footwork combines with dexterous wrists as the gaps are found and pierced. He started off by letting fellow opener Vinayak Samant take most of the strike against left-armers Sandeep Jobanputra and Rajkot wrecker-in-chief Balkrishna Jadeja. But once the diminutive wicket-keeper was trapped leg-before by Rakesh Dhruve for a well-made 49, the skipper took control of the situation. Samant’s dismissal seemed to increase the anxiety in the stands, as their moment seemed just a bad shot or a good ball away. But the incoming batsman was someone who needed just 24 runs to become the first Mumbai batsman since Rusi Modi in 1948-49 to cross the 1000-run landmark in a Ranji season. The 20-year-old Rahane started slowly, while Jaffer put the bowlers to the sword, as he kept stepping down the wicket to Dhruve and Jadeja, and hitting them over their heads to the fence. Jaffer and the young Ajinkya Rahane (52 batting, 154b, 2x4, 1x6) have so far added 177 runs for the second wicket in 55 overs. Jaffer and Rahane also went past 1000 runs each in the Ranji Trophy for the season. This is the first occasion in the competition’s history that two batsmen from one team have achieved the feat in the same season. Rahane also crossed 1000 runs in first class cricket for the season. Contrasting styles The two batsmen were a study in contrast. Jaffer eased into his strokes while Rahane struggled with his initial movement and timing. To his credit, Rahane put a price on his wicket as Jaffer collected runs off either foot. Whether creating room with deft footwork for the inside-out drives through the off-side, punching off the back-foot or walking across to force the ball on the leg-side, Jaffer was poised and balanced. When left-arm paceman Balakrishna Jadeja attempted to frustrate him by bowling a negative line from round-the-wicket, Jaffer stepped down the track to cut down the angle. The experienced opener also used the width of the crease well. Earlier, Jaffer put on 91 for the first wicket with the bustling wicket-keeper batsman Vinayak Samant. Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja largely disappointed; he tended to push his deliveries through rather than flight them. On the odd occasion he gave the ball air, he spun it past the outside edge. But then, Jadeja did not back himself on a big day. Technically, he needs to be bowling from closer to the stumps to spin the ball away. More often than not, Jadeja released from wider points of the crease negating the away spin. The other left-armer, Rakesh Dhruv, has a lovely, easy action but struggled with his line. He consumed Samant on the sweep though. The left-arm pace bowling of Jobanputra was steady. Balakrishna Jadeja was no more than pedestrian. The lack of variety in the Saurashtra attack — left-armers operated for most part while sending down pace or spin — hurt the side. Skipper Jaydev Shah’s field placements did not inspire confidence either. He switched to the defensive mode too quickly and did not have enough men in the single saving positions to build pressure. Mumbai and Jaffer were not complaining. Jaffer now expects his batsmen to put up a huge first innings score. “They (Saurashtra) do tend to play defensive cricket. I’m confident that Ajit (Agarkar) and Zaheer (Khan) will get much more assistance on this wicket,†he said. But for now, his focus will surely be on stretching both his individual and the team’s score to a satisfactory position, while the Chennai faithfuls will be hoping to get a glimpse of genius sometime during Monday. Tamil Nadu v UP, Nagpur, Day 1 Tamil Nadu 296 for 2 (Mukund 100, Vijay 69, Badri 59*, Karthik 58*) v Uttar Pradesh Scorecard Tamil Nadu top order tires out UP January 4, 2009 Not too shabby, eh? Abhinav Mukund and M Vijay added 167 for the first wicket There is no doubt as to who is currently the best opening combination in Ranji Trophy. In a way M Vijay and Abhinav Mukund have been to Tamil Nadu what Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir have been to India. They are a right-hand-left-hand combination who score fast and run well between the wickets. They have the numbers to prove their success as a combination: the ongoing semi-final is their eighth match as an opening pair and they already have four 100-run partnerships (including 256 the first time they came together and 462 in the first match this season), and an 84-run stand in a potentially tricky chase of 227 in the quarter-final this season. Last season, when they batted together for the first time, they were the fourth different combination in four different matches. Tamil Nadu's poor run of form until then could be attributed to the failure of their batsmen. "If a side has to do well in the Ranji Trophy, it has to put runs on the board," WV Raman, their coach, said. "Whenever the runs have been put on the board, we have been thereabouts - if not titles, at least semis or finals. That's what has been harped on in the last two or three years." It's no coincidence that Tamil Nadu have succeeded when Vijay and Abhinav have. Their 168-run partnership has put them in with a good chance to play the final this year. Dinesh Karthik can't thank the two enough. "I think they are the best openers in the country, as a pair they are the best opening partnership, and whenever we have required they have given us big partnerships," Karthik said. "This eases off the pressure on the middle order." Abhinav - called "baby" by his team-mates - turns 19 on Tuesday and, for the second year running, Raman will be there with him on the day. "I was there with him last year, too, on the Under-19 tour to South Africa." It was an eventful year for Abhinav, who went with the team to Malaysia for the U-19 World Cup but saw India win it from the bench. He came back to churn out a phenomenal domestic season. A fluent left-hand batsman through the off side who gets cramped when bowled to on his pads, Abhinav tended to either score really big or get out early. The same has been the case with his partnerships with Vijay: 256 was followed by 5 and 17, including ducks for both players; 127 was followed by 19. Abhinav said it was a good sign he scored big when he got in, just as with their partnerships. Ask him of the 462-run partnership, which included a triple-century from him, and he grins. "We batted the whole day, adding 377 without being separated," he said. "That was the best partnership I have ever had. "At that time we weren't aware that we were near the record. We came to know only at the end of the day." They missed it by two runs. But there was good news by the end of the day: Vijay had been selected to replace Gautam Gambhir in the Test against Australia and had to leave the match mid-way. Vijay is the big boy of the team. Over the last year, he has done better than Abhinav. With a day's notice he turned up for India, and looked as comfortable in Test whites as he did in first-class flannels. His natural batting style has a lot to do with it: he goes for his shots and is a flamboyant character. So how does it work out between two batsmen who are quick scorers? "We don't get into a contest," Abhinav said. "Just that whoever gets going that day, the other plays second fiddle. I was 94 when he got out [on 69]." Abhinav explained how their partnership worked: "Vijay and I get along really well, we point out each other's shortcomings, we encourage each other a lot, we run really well. I enjoy batting with him, he is a good partner to bat with. We clicked from the start. "In today's innings [day one of the semi-final] we looked to leave the balls initially, then we got a good start, got boundaries, and after that we didn't talk much because we were batting really well." Communication is the key, Karthik said. "They are able to judge periods of play when the bowlers are giving them a tough spell, and they have to slow down the scoring, and periods when they can capitalise and lift the scoring rate." Vijay wanted to cash in on the good times. "He [Abhinav] is in great form, I am also doing well… so we just want to keep the partnership. It is a great feeling to get good starts for your team, so we feed off it. We are enjoying each other's success." Another POV Abhinav, Vijay set up the platform A. Joseph Antony The TN openers put on 167 with the former scoring a flawless century STERLING KNOCK: Abhinav Mukund began on an ominous note on Sunday, coaxing a Praveen Kumar delivery towards the boundary and his century was fair reward for his near four-hour stay. NAGPUR: Tamil Nadu took its time, but cruised to a comfortable 296 for two against Uttar Pradesh in their Ranji Trophy semifinal cricket match at the Vidarbha Cricket Stadium here on Sunday. When the Ranji season kicked off in the first week of November, two batsmen instantly grabbed the headlines. Two months down the line, in the final fortnight of the premier domestic competition, the duo have lived up to the early promise, building an intimidating reputation on the domestic circuit. And it was Uttar Pradesh on the receiving end on Sunday as in-form Tamil Nadu openers Abhinav Mukund and Murali Vijay, who’d scored a triple and a double ton respectively in very first league game, put together a 167-run partnership on the first day of the Ranji semi-final. Skipper Dinesh Karthik wouldn’t have blinked twice after he called right and chose to bat. The opening pair of Abhinav Mukund and M. Vijay saw their side well and truly launched on a pitch that played true to its shirtfront patent, posing not a problem almost all through the day. Abhinav’s flawless century (100, 231 mins, 175 balls, 16x4) was fair reward for his nearly four-hour stay. With the flair that comes naturally to left-handers, the southpaw who turns 19 on Tuesday (January 6) — he shares his birthday with Kapil Dev — set out by coaxing an outgoing Praveen Kumar delivery towards the third-man boundary. Straight and cover drives followed off the same bowler, as did swivelled pulls off Imtiyaz Ahmed, racing to the ropes, backward of square and to mid-wicket. He caned Piyush Chawla through the covers; the leg-spinner came in for some rough treatment especially in his second spell that conceded 31 runs. Ideal foil When Abhinav had notched up his eighth boundary, cracking Bhuvneshwar to long-off, Vijay had only three to his credit, but the latter was a picture of poise, shouldering arms thrice in a Praveen Kumar over. Presently, he opened up too, greeting Chawla with a straight-driven four. The partnership prospered as the twosome took their team to three figures in a minute short of two hours, Mukund having posted his half-century by then. With the frontline bowlers failing to make an impression, it took Parvinder Singh, last to be introduced into a six-pronged attack, to separate the seemingly well-set openers, in the post-lunch session. Vijay was first to perish, his miscued drive picked up by Praveen at mid-off. His carefully crafted 69 contained eight boundaries. About half an hour later and before tea was taken, Abhinav departed, snapped up by stumper Aamir Khan off Bhuvneshwar. S. Badrinath had the fireworks going soon enough, finding the fence through a packed off-side. In the company of captain Dinesh Karthik, he saw the day through without further damage, reaching his 50 in the process with a six into the sight-screen off Praveen Gupta. Abhinav said he was thrilled with his century in a crucial semifinal. On his association with Vijay, he said their chemistry clicked, their mid-pitch chats getting shorter as their individual essays flourished. In comparison to his triple-century at Nasik on an absolutely flat strip, Abhinav said the ball moved more here. This knock was special because it came against a strong U.P. attack, he said. Some credit goes to the UP bowlers as well, as such was their ineffectiveness that the four TN batsmen on show on the day helped themselves to three half-centuries and a hundred. For Mukund, it was the fourth time this season that he reached the three-figure mark. “This has been a great season for me. Whenever I have crossed 20, I have scored a century. Besides, I have a great chemistry with Vijay and I hope that this continues,†he later said. Vijay, who scored 69 before holing out to Praveen Kumar off Parvinder, too had words of praise for his younger partner. “The best part is that we play aggressively and know each other’s game well. If I miss something, he reminds me and vice versa,†he said.

[Sachinism]

Sachin 100 :yay: is he injured? or did he get bored:

[Lord]

SACHIN ROXXXXXXXXXXX:yay::yay::yay::hail::hail::band::cheer::cheer::cheer::cheer: btw,why the hell did aggy n powar bat ahead of zak?:hmmm:

[Lord]

Sachin 100 :yay: is he injured? or did he get bored:

neither,usko bachho pe taras aa gaya:giggle:

[amits]

just wait till pujara hits 400 & saurashtra gains the 1st innings lead & kicks mumbai out of ranji trophy 2008/09

[Lord]

just wait till pujara hits 400 & saurashtra gains the 1st innings lead & kicks mumbai out of ranji trophy 2008/09

:hysterical::hysterical::hysterical: let me tell u-this aint goin to happen this is a real test for pujara,we will see now how he does against the likes of zak,aggy n powar.

[SachDan]

just wait till pujara hits 400 & saurashtra gains the 1st innings lead & kicks mumbai out of ranji trophy 2008/09

bus aapki kami thi :adore:

[SachDan]

Stayed away from cricinfo and this very thread on ICF.Turned out to be a good decision in the end!! Yet another century for The Maestro at Chennai :two_thumbs_up: He was severe on spinners.Dancing down the track and hitting them straight down the ground.All of his sixes were massive ones.These kids would have learned a good lesson today on bowling to top class international batsman.After Sachin hoisting Dhruv over deep mid-wicket for a six,the look on Saurashtra WK Jogiyani's face was one coupled with excitement and admiration.That gave the impression that these kids were prepared to learn alot from the great man.

[Lord]

BAD NEWS:mumbai can be still be knocked out if it fails to bowl out saurashtra in 1st innings,irrespective of whether they concede the lead or not:((

[Guest Hiten.]

BAD NEWS:mumbai can be still be knocked out if it fails to bowl out saurashtra in 1st innings' date='irrespective of whether they concede the lead or not:(([/quote'] Mumbai has to declare first thing on the morning...jaffer played the most farcical domestic innings ever.SRT flayed the bowling whereas jaffer was busy in scoring runs at snail's pace on day one.Jaffer believed in 'quantity' rather than 'quality' to make his case stronger for test spot. SRT scored runs at a fast pace because he is well established in int'l arena and Jaffer (from this innings of his) proved he is not suited for int'l games.

[Sachinism]

highlights available anywhere?

[flamy]

Ganapathy picks up first wicket, Tanmay Srivastava: UP have lost Tanmay Srivastava. C Badrinath bowled C Ganapathy. 1 for 1

Tanmay is a good bat. Now Raina has to get a 500.

[Dravid]

Mumbai has to declare first thing on the morning...jaffer played the most farcical domestic innings ever.SRT flayed the bowling whereas jaffer was busy in scoring runs at snail's pace on day one.Jaffer believed in 'quantity' rather than 'quality' to make his case stronger for test spot. SRT scored runs at a fast pace because he is well established in int'l arena and Jaffer (from this innings of his) proved he is not suited for int'l games.

what are you smoking, CT? he scored at sr of 65, thats just the pace at which he bats..rahane, samant, and even rohit scored at a lower rate.. Mumbai have 2 days to take 10 wickets.. with that bowling attack, it will be easy.