Ranji Trophy, Super League, 2008-09

[Sachinism]

Pujara is on fire at the moment Some other notable performances Rajasthan batting is looking clueless against Punjab bowlers Gagandeep Singh ripping through them in both innings Jaffer got out straight away in the morning on 172 Kulkarni picked up another 4 out of the 6 wickets to fall P Kumar gets 5 I Pathan gets 5 btw who is I S Pathan from Baroda we now have I K Pathan, I S Pathan and Y Y K Pathan lol Sangwan gets 4

[Chandan]

Oh sorry guys. I'm a bit late in the round up this time. I'll do it for day 1 today. But I'll put a preview first.: Tamil Nadu better placed in south Indian derby Sidharth Monga November 10, 2008 S Badrinath (centre) might make a comeback to the Tamil Nadu side, but Dinesh Karthik (right) will continue to lead © Cricinfo Ltd The days of 20,000 spectators coming to watch the prime rivalry in south India are gone, with both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu depleted in terms of talent, but once the teams are on the field there is still some needle. There might not be many to watch their Group B Super League match, starting tomorrow at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, but the few who come would want to see some of the same intensity. Tamil Nadu had a better first match of the two, with their openers putting up 462 runs against Maharashtra. M Vijay, the double-centurion, went on to open for India, while Abhinav Mukund, the 18-year-old left-hand batsman, scored an unbeaten 300. Tamil Nadu, though, failed to take 20 wickets after that, something that doesn't bother them much. "It was a very flat wicket," WV Raman, their coach, said. He was pleased with L Balaji's comeback to first-class cricket - he had missed the last season because of a back injury, and bowled 32.2 overs for two wickets on an unhelpful Nasik pitch. Vijay is likely to be replaced by Arun Karthik, who will be making his first-class debut. The other change to their team could be the inclusion of S Badrinath, who has been dropped from India's ODI squad, if he can make it to Bangalore in time for the match. Dinesh Karthik, however, will continue to lead the side. Badrinath was not the only uncertainty for the Tamil Nadu team, though. They reached Bangalore under the impression the match would be played at the Rajinder Singh Institute Ground, but until the morning before the match they were not sure if the game had been shifted to the Chinnaswamy. Karnataka, though, have more issues to address. In their first match, a home game against the recently-promoted Railways, they wasted a good start, going from 191 for 1 to 286 for 7, and then getting bowled out for 365. Their bowlers had Railways down at 110 for 4, but that was when the experience of Yere Goud, Sanjay Bangar and Raja Ali prevailed to get Railways a first-innings lead. Experience is what Karnataka lack, Vijay Bharadwaj, their coach, reckons. "First innings are very important in Ranji Trophy, and we need to do better in our first innings," he said. To rub it in, Karnataka folded for 127 in the second innings, an effort that didn't cost them an outright result but would have dented their confidence further. There were positives in that match - Robin Uthappa, the captain, scored a century on the first day, and debutant Manish Pandey scored 64 from No. 7. "But I would want others in the middle order to score runs too," Bharadwaj said. "There is a temptation to push Pandey up the order, and also to play an extra bowler." Karnataka had gone with seven batsmen in the first game. The pitch at the Chinnaswamy could have enough help for the bowlers to produce an outright result, something Bharadwaj is aware of. "Three points will be a satisfactory result, but this is a result-orientated pitch," he said. "And our first target is to beat Tamil Nadu." If both the teams come with the same attitude, given a good pitch, we have an interesting match on our hands. Teams (from) Karnataka:: Robin Uthappa (capt), KB Pawan, C Raghu, Bharat Chipli, Ganesh Satish, Thilak Naidu (wk), Manish Pandey, Sunil Joshi, R Vinay Kumar, NC Aiyappa, Sunil Raju, Sreesanth Arvind, M Gautam, Deepak Chougule, NV Prasad. Tamil Nadu:: Dinesh Karthik (capt/wk), Abhinav Mukund, Arun Karthik, R Srinivasan, R Prasanna, S Vidyut, Suresh Kumar, R Ashwin, C Suresh, L Balaji, Yo Mahesh, P Amarnath, Ganapathy, KH Gopinath, S Badrinath.

[Chandan]

ROUND TWO , DAY 1 Karnataka v Tamil Nadu, Ranji Trophy Super League at Bangalore, 1st day Arun Karthik puts TN on top The Bulletin by Sidharth Monga November 10, 2008 Tamil Nadu 325 for 4 (AB Karthik 149, Vidyut 115*, Vinay 2-48) Scorecard Tamil Nadu's romance with debutants continued. Abhinav Mukund scored a century on debut last year and in the absence of M Vijay, who had to leave the last match mid-way to go open for India, Arun Karthik, playing his first first-class match, rescued his team - struggling at 51 for 3 - in an incredibly positive manner to run Karnataka ragged. To assist him at the other end was an experienced campaigner in S Vidyut, playing his ninth season. By the time Arun finally got out for 149 off 189 balls, the two had added 246 in 358 balls, and Karnataka lost the initiative Vinay Kumar had given them in the first session. Tamil Nadu won the toss and batted on a pitch that would surely assist spin, and hence it was important for Karnataka to get off to a good start. Vinay Kumar and Bharat Chipli gave them just that, getting consistent away swing in the first session. Mukund, fresh from a triple-century, followed a delivery angled away from Vinay to let them in. S Badrinath, dropped from the Indian ODI team, came back to play a tentative 7. He survived a sharp caught-and-bowled chance off Chipli, and two close lbw shouts off Vinay before hanging his bat out to an outswinger from Kumar. A controversial dismissal followed. Dinesh Karthik drove the first ball Sunil Joshi bowled into the boot of KB Pawan at silly point and it lobbed off to Deepak Chougule at cover. The Karnataka fielders started celebrating right away, and the umpire ruled Karthik out, but the batsman was not pleased with the decision. He stood his ground, and when told to walk off, he did so reluctantly. Three wickets had fallen in the space of 27 runs, and the advantage the toss brought seemed to be fading away. But once Vidyut joined Arun, Karnataka started being pushed out of the match. The spinners - as many as four of them in the side: Vinu Narayanan was brought in for NC Aiyappa - got purchase even in the first session. As soon as the 23rd over, Thilak Naidu collected one in front of his face, but the spinners were hit out of the attack by an aggressive Arun. Vinu, the other debutant in the match, was welcomed with a slog-sweep over midwicket. Joshi was hit over the infield twice before Sunil Raju was introduced. Raju got big turn from the pitch, but that didn't put Arun off his aggressive ways. Arun slog-swept Raju twice in the 26th over to reach his half-century, with ten boundaries and a six, and in only 52 deliveries. There were no signs of slowing down either. Defensive fields ensued in the post-lunch session. Raju bowled from round the stumps, with a 7-2 leg-side field - the wicketkeeper standing outside leg stump - but Arun still swept him to the square-leg boundaries. Karnataka were soon caught short of bowling options, and imagination. On 90, Arun got his chance when Ganesh Satish misjudged a catch at fine-leg boundary, and didn't come in fast enough. Soon Arun reached his century with a pull off Vinay. The hundred came off 115 deliveries, 70 in boundaries. The Tamil Nadu camp was pleased as punch, and relieved too. The applause went on for about two minutes, sort of making up for the lack of spectators. Vidyut, from the other end, provided the wise hand. He hogged the strike in the initial stages, seeing off the Vinay threat, and not letting the scoring stagnate at the same time. Especially impressive was his use of feet to spinners. When he stepped out, he took long strides, and got right to the pitch of the ball, and cleared the infield with ease. He reached his half-century just after lunch; it took 122 balls and included six boundaries and a six. At that point of time, he had faced 122 deliveries, while Arun, opener, had faced only 115. In the middle session, he took charge of the scoring, and moved from 26 to 95. Tamil Nadu didn't lose a wicket in that session, as only C Raghu could keep the scoring-rate down. Vidyut brought up his century with a straight six, which went to the tier above the press box. And after Arun finally fell - to the shot he had lived by, the sweep - in the 77th over of the day, Vidyut shut shop. He scored only four runs after that, but made sure he went unbeaten into day two. Karnataka took only four minutes more than the stipulated six hours to bowl their 90 overs, a commendable over-rate going by the prevailing standards both in Ranji Trophy and Test cricket. But the over-rate was the only thing they got right after the early-morning burst by Vinay Kumar. How they were out Mukund: Vinay Kumar, after bowling a string of outswingers, got one to angle across the left-hand batsman, and Mukund edged it to second slip. Badrinath: After an uncomfortable 26-minute stay at the wicket, Badrinath hung his bat out to an outswinger, starting just outside the off stump, and got an edge. Dinesh Karthik: Drove into the boot of KB Pawan at silly point, and it lobbed up to the substitute, Deepak Chaoughule, at cover. Karthik didn't look pleased with the decision. Arun: Fell finally to a sweep, this one getting a top edge to deep fine-leg boundary. Punjab v Rajasthan, Ranji Trophy Super League at Mohali, 1st day Gagandeep and Gony dismiss Rajasthan cheaply Cricinfo staff November 10, 2008 Punjab 115 for 2 (Sohal 66*) trail Rajasthan 133 (Yadav 41*, Gagandeep 4-37, Gony 4-39) by 18 runs Scorecard Twelve wickets fell on day one in Mohali after Gagandeep Singh and Manpreet Gony tore through Rajasthan's batting order and then Punjab lost two wickets as they looked to wipe out the first-innings deficit. Gagandeep was the first to strike when he removed Shubhansu Vijay and Nikhil Doru in the space of four balls. Rajasthan looked set for a collapse at 9 for 2. That is what followed when Gony had Vineet Saxena caught behind for 9 and two balls later did the same to Venugopal Rao. There was no respite for Rajasthan as the two seamers struck thrice in four overs to reduce them to 22 for 7. None of the top six reached double figures with three of them falling for ducks. Robin Bist led a brief revival by adding 28 with Pankaj Singh after which he lent support to No. 10 Vijay Yadav, whose unbeaten 41 was the innings' highest score. Yadav took Rajasthan past 100 after left-arm spinner Amol Kakkar had Bist caught for 39. But Gony ended his fight when he dismissed last batsman Gajendra Singh with 133 on the board. Sunny Sohal, the Punjab opener, scored half of that in the 36 overs the hosts batted before stumps. Batting with Uday Kaul, after Pankaj Singh picked up two wickets, Sohal will look to go past Rajasthan early on day two. Mumbai vs Gujarat, Ranji Trophy Super League at Surat, 1st day Mumbai 327 for 2 (Jaffer 172*, Rahane 104) v Gujarat Scorecard The situation was completely different at Surat's Lalbhai Contractor Stadium where Wasim Jaffer and Ajinkya Rahane made the Gujarat bowlers toil away all day while they took Mumbai to an imposing 327 for 2. In their last match, Gujarat's bowlers, led by Siddharth Trivedi, bowled Saurashtra out of the game to hand their side an innings win. But today Trivedi went wicketless and his 16 overs went for 53 runs. Jaffer added 218 with Rahane and another 104 with Amol Muzumdar after his opening partner Sahil Kukreja was lbw to Ashraf Makda for a duck in the fourth over. Gujarat had to wait 57.2 more overs before they got their second wicket - Timil Patel had Rahane stumped for 104. After his dismissal, the run-rate, which had been at nearly four an over, slipped below three and a half. Jaffer scored 88 of his 172 in boundaries; Gujarat used seven bowlers in trying to stem the flow of runs. Other POV MUMBAI MUST be lucky to be in the position they are right now. On a pitch that begged of the batsmen to make the most of it, Gujarat captain Parthiv Patel won the toss and invited Mumbai to bat. Captain Wasim Jaffer and Ajinkya Rahane gobbled up the opportunity and raised 218 for the second wicket, helping Mumbai to 327 for two in the Ranji Trophy Super League Group ‘A’ clash. Parthiv might have been prompted to bowl as the pitch had dampness on it initially. But such assistance prevailed for the first hour or so in which left-arm medium-pacer Ashraf Makda trapped Sahil Kukreja leg before by bringing one in sharply after beating him repeatedly with away going de liveries. This was Kukreja’s second successive first innings failure. This success in the first 15 minutes seemed to have supported Parthiv’s decision. But, as it panned out, with Rahane and Jaffer batting with total freedom and with the ball coming beautifully onto the bat, the decision looked odd. Rahane and Jaffer have sown the seeds of Mumbai batting Gujarat out of the match. None trailed the other by a distance. Parmar, who imitates Muttiah Muralitharan with his run up and action but is no patch on the Sri Lankan, was trusted upon by Parthiv to provide a breakthrough. He was given a lengthy opening spell of 15 overs but went for nearly four an over. He tried bowling from round the wicket, packing the on side with seven fielders. But Jaffer was cleverer, reverse sweeping the youngster for successive fours. Amol Muzumdar, who flopped against Rajasthan, returned to form. scoring 43. Uttar Pradesh vs Baroda, Ranji Trophy Super League at Vadodara, 1st day Uttar Pradesh 3 for 1 trail Baroda 235 (Solanki 71, Praveen Kumar 5-71) by 232 runs Scorecard Uttar Pradesh's bowlers, led by Praveen Kumar, also toiled for 90 overs but returned better results than Gujarat's by bundling out Baroda for 235. Praveen picked up 5 fof 71 but it was legspinner Piyush Chawla who gave UP the timely breakthroughs which included the wicket of Rakesh Solanki, the innings top scorer with 71. Solanki's partnership with Shatrunjay Gaekwad was blossoming at 48 when Chawla bowled Gaekwad for 18. Then when Solanki was trying to herd the tail-enders along, Chawla had him stumped with the score on 235. Praveen had slowed Baroda down with two early wickets - Satyajit Parab (22) and Azharuddin Bilakhia (40) - before he returned to wrap up the tail. UP batted for three overs, in which they lost Ashish Kapoor - bowled by Irfan Pathan - for a duck. At stumps Tanmay Srivastava was batting with Praveen Gupta. Another POV UTTAR PRADESH seamer Praveen Kumar was all smiles after seeing a fair bit of grass on the Motibaug Palace Ground pitch on Monday morning. He knew at once the turf had made his day. On Day One of the four-day Group ‘B’ Super League Ranji Trophy match, the paceman returned this season’s first fivewicket haul to help UP gain an upper hand against hosts Baroda, restricting them to 232. In reply, UP too had a bad start with Irfan Pathan uprooting the middle stump of opener Anshul Kapoor (0) off the fourth ball of the innings as the visitors finished the day on three for 1. At stumps was unbeaten on 2, while Praveen Gupta had yet to open his account. It was a good toss to win for UP skipper Mohammed Kaif, who opted to field in order to make full use of the ground conditions. Praveen Kumar complemented his skipper’s decision by snaring the wicket of Satyajit Parab. The opener edged a simple catch to Praveen Gupta at point. Thereafter, Praveen had danger man Azhar Bilakhia (40, 6x4) caught by Tanmay Srivastava at second slip just after lunch. Baroda were 95 for 2 at lunch and heading for a big score with stylish southpaw batsman Rakesh Solanki in full form. But Kaif ’s ploy of frequently changing the bowlers didn’t allow Baroda batsmen to settle down. Praveen Gupta took two crucial wickets, while Sudeep Tyagi, had allrounder Irfan Pathan going for duck. Thereafter, it was the turn of Piyush Chawla, who also took two vital wickets to rub more salt into the wounds of a struggling Baroda batting line-up. Hyderabad vs Delhi, Ranji Trophy Super League at Hyderabad, 1st day Hyderabad 247 for 5 (Pail 102*, Abhinav 76) v Delhi Scorecard Anoop Pai anchored Hyderabad's innings with a patient unbeaten 102 after the first three wickets fell for 58 and at stumps the hosts reached 247 for 5 against Delhi. Pradeep Sangwan bowled D Ravi Teja in the second over and Ashish Nehra followed it up by bowling T Suman in the seventh. D Rushi Raj, who scored a half-century on debut in the previous match, batted 70 balls for his 28 and added 38 with Pai before being caught off Sangwan. Pai briefly upped the run-rate at Rushi Raji's fall by scoring at more than seven an over in adding 46 (off 35 balls) with Arjun Yadav (9). The revival began in earnest, even though the run-rate plummeted to 2.44, when Abhinav Kumar joined Pai at the crease. The two added 134 together before Abhinav was trapped leg before off Rajat Bhatia late in the day. His 186-ball 76 included nine fours while Pai's 239-ball innings had 11. Another POV IT WAS the 27th over of the Hyderabad innings when the first tremors of what turned to be a day's cricket in which Delhi’s credentials as worthy defenders of their Ranji crown looked shaky . Ashish Nehra had started his eighth over when he felt his right hamstring. The look of concern was writ large on Delhi skipper Aakash Chopra’s face and his worst fears came true when Nehra pulled up after his next delivery. The scoreboard might read Hyderabad only 247/5 at the end of Day One but Delhi must have been alarmed by the ease with which Anoop Pai (102*) and Ab hinav Kumar (76) took Hyderabad out of troubled waters. It was this 134-run stand that was the base for the hosts’ eventual score. The day started with promise for Delhi. Ravi Teja fell in the second over when the ball trickled on to the wicket off his pads. It looked gloomier for the hosts when T.Suman was cleaned up by Nehra while trying an expansive drive in the seventh over. When Parwinder Awana removed Arjun Yadav (9) in the 30th over, Delhi were within one wicket of the Hyderabad tail. That wicket, however, came in the 85th over of the day when Abhinav was adjudged lbw to Rajat Bhatia. Abhinav and Pai showed great application and ability to, first consolidate what could have been a precarious position at 104/4, and then build a partnership of note. Application was something the Delhi bowlers, however, lacked. Apart from opening spells from Nehra and Sangwan the tourists looked alarmingly off-colour. Chopra changed his bowlers around in the hope of procuring a wicket, even bowling himself, but Pai and Abhinav resisted. They batted for more than two hours to put their team on way to a challenging Delhi’s formidable batting with a fighting total. None of the bowlers looked up for the fight on a placid wicket. They bowled either too wide or too short. Nehra is the man Delhi will be looking at for the wickets when the chips are down, and his absence hurt Chopra. Pai and Abhinav were dogged in their approach and were determined to fight it out. It wasn’t a pretty partnership, they played and missed, they went for long periods without scoring, but they did not stop trying. Bhatia has the almost innate ability to get a crucial wicket and break a stand, and once again it was Bhatia who did that. With Abhinav gone, the onus was on Pai to steer the Hyderabad ship to the end of the day without any more casualties. And he did just that. He reached his century with a quick two and found an able ally in M P Arjun to see out the last few overs. IT WAS the 27th over of the Hyderabad innings when the first tremors of what turned to be a day's cricket in which Delhi’s credentials as worthy defenders of their Ranji crown looked shaky . Ashish Nehra had started his eighth over when he felt his right hamstring. The look of concern was writ large on Delhi skipper Aakash Chopra’s face and his worst fears came true when Nehra pulled up after his next delivery. The scoreboard might read Hyderabad only 247/5 at the end of Day One but Delhi must have been alarmed by the ease with which Anoop Pai (102*) and Abhinav Kumar (76) took Hyderabad out of troubled waters. It was this 134-run stand that was the base for the hosts’ eventual score. The day started with promise for Delhi. Ravi Teja fell in the second over when the ball trickled on to the wicket off his pads. It looked gloomier for the hosts when T.Suman was cleaned up by Nehra while trying an expansive drive in the seventh over. When Parwinder Awana removed Arjun Yadav (9) in the 30th over, Delhi were within one wicket of the Hyderabad tail. That wicket, however, came in the 85th over of the day when Abhinav was adjudged lbw to Rajat Bhatia. Abhinav and Pai showed great application and ability to, first consolidate what could have been a precarious position at 104/4, and then build a partnership of note. Application was something the Delhi bowlers, however, lacked. Apart from opening spells from Nehra and Sangwan the tourists looked alarmingly off-colour. Chopra changed his bowlers around in the hope of procuring a wicket, even bowl- ing himself, but Pai and Abhinav resisted. They batted for more than two hours to put their team on way to a challenging Delhi’s formidable batting with a fighting total. None of the bowlers looked up for the fight on a placid wicket. They bowled either too wide or too short. Nehra is the man Delhi will be looking at for the wickets when the chips are down, and his absence hurt Chopra. Pai and Abhinav were dogged in their approach and were determined to fight it out. It wasn’t a pretty partnership, they played and missed, they went for long periods without scoring, but they did not stop trying. Bhatia has the almost innate ability to get a crucial wicket and break a stand, and once again it was Bhatia who did that. With Abhinav gone, the onus was on Pai to steer the Hyderabad ship to the end of the day without any more casualties. And he did just that. He reached his century with a quick two and found an able ally in M P Arjun to see out the last few overs. Andhra vs Maharashtra, Ranji Trophy Super League at Nasik, 1st day Andhra 262 for 6 (Watekar 142, Fallah 5-65) v Maharashta Scorecard The honours on day one in Nasik belonged to Maharashtra, for whom Samad Fallah, a left-arm medium-pace bowler, took five out of the six Andhra wickets to fall, including that of centurion Hemal Watekar. Fallah was in the thick of things right from his first over when he had opener Prasad Reddy caught for a duck. When he trapped Y Gnaneswara Rao leg before for 16, Andhra stumbled to 39 for 2 in 15 overs. But Bodapati Sumanth gave able support to Watekar with a 93-ball 45 and the two added 91 before Sumanth was run out. More help was on the way in the form of Satykumar Verma, who contributed 45 to the 116-run stand. When he fell, lbw to Fallah, Andhra were still well-placed at 246 for 4. But it turned around in the penultimate over of the day: off his first ball Fallah got Watekar to edge to the keeper and off his last he had D Kalyankrishna dismissed the same way for a duck. He will hope to better his best figures - 6 for 49 - on day two of his seventh first-class game. Another POV Samad Fallah and Hemal Watekar were stand-out performers at the old golf course ground here on Monday. While Maharashtra left-arm seamer Fallah (five for 65) rocked Andhra, Watekar calmed the nerves of an anxious Andhra dressing room with a splendid 142 (268b, 22x4), his third century in the Ranji Trophy. Thanks to Fallah’s three-wicket strike in a space of 13 balls with the second new ball claimed in the 85th over, Maharashtra returned to the pavilion in a chirpy mood having managed to bring down Andhra from 246 for three to 262 for six wickets on the opening day of the super league match. Andhra suffered heavily in the last half an hour with both Watekar and A.K.S. Verma falling to the crafty left-armer. Fallah struck the first blow off the last ball of his second over by removing L.N.P. Reddy and at the stroke of the first drinks interval trapped Gnaneswara Rao plumb in front. Andhra’s third wicket pair of Watekar and Bodapati Sumanth efficiently repaired the early damage and dominated the bowling with a flurry of front-foot shots. Sumanth was in control firmly driving Harshad Khadiwale for three fours in an over. Andhra had advanced positively from 130 for three to 246 when Maharashtra took the second new ball and staged a fine comeback with Fallah getting rid of Verma, Watekar and D. Kalyankrishna. Saurashtra vs Orissa, Ranji Trophy Super League at Rajkot, 1st day Saurashtra 274 for 4 (Pujara 128*) v Orissa Scorecard Cheteshwar Pujara shrugged off a poor first game to score his eighth first-class century and at stumps the Orissa bowlers would have left the Khandheri Cricket Stadium in Rajkot in an apprehensive mood for they were unable to break his 173-run stand with Ravindra Jadeja. Last month Pujara scored triple-centuries in a week at the same venue while participating in the CK Nayudu Under-22 tournament. Today when he came to the crease, Saurashtra were at 26 for 2 and two overs later they lost another wicket with only one run added to the total. Pujara began the rescue effort, helped by Shitanshu Kotak, who batted nearly two hours for his 37. The two scored at two and a half an over before Kotak was trapped lbw when Saurashtra were at 100. Jadeja's arrival improved the situation - the run-rate increased to nearly four - and they added 173 in 286 balls. Pujara, who spent more than five hours over his 128, hit 16 fours, while Jadeja (71) hit eight.

[Chandan]

ROUND TWO , DAY 2 Karnataka v Tamil Nadu, Ranji Trophy Super League at Bangalore, 2nd day Vidyut and Suresh Kumar keep TN in control The Bulletin by Sidharth Monga November 11, 2008 Karnataka 82 for 1 trail Tamil Nadu 531 (Vidyut 193, Suresh Kumar 90, Joshi 4-136) by 449 runs Scorecard S Vidyut, who has a first-class century batting at No. 11, punished the lacklustre Karnataka bowlers ruthlessly on day two at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Beating his personal best and missing his first double-century by seven runs, Vidyut took Tamil Nadu to a position from where they could seriously control the game. With their captain Robin Uthappa on a drip - he spent more than half of day one off the field because of a viral fever - Karnataka's inexperienced batting line-up faced a tough task of getting close to Tamil Nadu's huge first innings, their second 500-plus score in a row. They batted resolutely to play out 27 overs for the loss of one wicket. Vidyut resumed the second day in the same fashion as he had left off yesterday - cautiously after a violent mid-day assault. In the first six overs of the day, he scored only four runs. Once Karnataka took the new ball, and he got used to it, Vidyut unleashed his power hitting. R Vinay Kumar, Karnayaka's most effective bowler, was hit for two boundaries in his second over with the new ball. This Karnataka attack lacked so much in depth that a batsman only needed to see off Vinay, and Vidyut did that without incident. From the moment the spinners came on, Vidyut and Suresh Kumar, the overnight partner, tucked into them. Mid-way into the first session, seven continuous overs went for at least a boundary or a six each. In no time, Vidyut had reached the 190s and there was no element of slogging to his assault. He stepped out to the spinners repeatedly, covering a lot of ground and reaching the pitch of the ball, and looked to hit straight with immense power. A similar shot off Sunil Joshi hit the sight screen even before the bowler could turn back and see where the ball went. Of the 94 deliveries he faced today, Vidyut scored 82, getting 52 of them in fours and sixes. His most productive shot, though, consumed him when seven short of what would have been would be a maiden double. Vidyut charged C Raghu, the most impressive of the spinners, was beaten in the flight, yet still went ahead with the shot, only for the ball to turn sharply and beat him. Suresh, from the other end, provided him with solid support. He began the day on 23 and started slowly, but once Vidyut opened his shoulders, he matched the left-hander shot for shot. He hit Vinoo Narayanan, who gave up bowling because of a cut finger, for a six, and then meted out the same to Joshi, who took over bowling from Vinoo. Those sixes came immediately after Suresh had reached his second first-class half-century. After Vidyut's dismissal, with the team score at 447, Suresh took charge of the situation. Two quick wickets fell, but for the eighth wicket he found an able ally in his namesake, C Suresh, the left-arm spinner. The two added 42 to take Tamil Nadu to 500, as Suresh reached 90. But his maiden century was not to be. He was given out lbw to Joshi and showed displeasure at the decision. Immediately, the bat went up in the air to suggest to the umpire he had hit it, and he walked off reluctantly looking back at the umpire repeatedly. C Suresh didn't give it up easily, and took the score to 531. He stayed unbeaten at 31. Karnataka's batsmen faced a huge task when they came in to bat, especially with their captain out of the picture for the time being. But Bharat Chipli, the makeshift opener, and KB Pawan started off resolutely. Chipli continued with his reputation of not being a good leaver outside the off stump, but today he managed to hit them off the middle of the bat. L Balaji and Ganapathy, the opening bowlers, failed to get any disconcerting movement either in the air or off the pitch. Chipli started off with a punched boundary off Ganapathy, and followed it up with a flash over the slips. The introduction of Yo Mahesh brought the Karnataka batsmen their first challenge, and he troubled Chipli from his first over. His away movement beat Chipli twice, but Yo Mahesh couldn't keep that attack on consistently, bowling six no-balls in four overs. Dinesh Karthik had to resort to spin, and C Suresh struck for him in his first over. For once, Chipli left a ball alone, but this one was an arm-ball that went straight. But Pawan ensured there was no further loss close to stumps, batting out more than two hours for his 23. With Uthappa not certain to come out to bat tomorrow, Karnataka will need more of such doggedness from Pawan and the rest How they were out Vidyut: Charged down the track, was beaten in the flight, and then by the sharp turn, and was stumped. Ashwin: Played back to a fullish delivery from Joshi, and missed it. Ganapathy: Went forward to defend a Joshi delivery, which spun and took the edge. Suresh Kumar: Given out lbw, but the batsman was clearly disappointed with the decision, protesting that he had hit it. Yo Mahesh: Late-cut a shortish delivery straight to slip. Balaji: Shaped to launch a wide, full one into the orbit, but edged it to slip. Punjab v Rajasthan, Ranji Trophy Super League at Mohali, 2nd day Rajasthan staring at defeat Cricinfo staff November 10, 2008 Rajasthan 133 and 57 for 6 (Saxena 36*, Kakkar 3-6 Gagandeep Singh 2-2) trail Punjab 232 (Sohal 106, Gajendra Singh 4-67) trail by 77 runs Scorecard A second straight defeat looms for Rajasthan after another poor performance from their batsmen, who didn't seem to have learnt any lesson from Day 1, when they were reduced to 22 for 7. Trailing by 129, Rajasthan's second-innings performance was equally inept, and at 57 for 6 they still need 72 runs to make Punjab bat again. Gagandeep Singh and Manpreet Gony were Punjab's stars on the first day and they prised out three wickets in the first four overs in Rajasthan's second innings. Left-arm spinner Ankur Kakkar took the remaining wickets in a six-over spell of 3 for 6, and Rajasthan will now rely on their lower order, who had pushed them to 133 in their first innings, and Vineet Saxena, who's unbeaten on 36. If 12 wickets fell on the first day, there were 14 on the second. Rajasthan fought well after Punjab looked poised for a big lead at 171 for 2. Sunny Sohal scored a second century in as many games, and got support from Uday Kaul. Both batsmen, though, fell in the space of eight runs. Pankaj Dharmani and Kakkar ensured there wasn't a quick collapse, but both failed to further the advantage after adding 44 for the fifth wicket. The final six wickets fell for 49 runs. Left-arm spinner Gajendra Singh finished with four in the innings, and Venugopal Rao, the new Rajasthan captain, took two. Rao also got a pair, one of two batsmen to do so for Rajasthan - they have a total of seven ducks so far in the match. Mumbai vs Gujarat, Ranji Trophy Super League at Surat, 2nd day Gujarat 77 for 6 (Kulkarni 4-32) trail Mumbai 486 (Jaffer 172, Rahane 104, Muzumdar 61, Parmar 6-143, Makda 3-59) by 409 runs Scorecard The second day at Surat's Lalabhai Contractor Stadium also saw 14 wickets fall. Gujarat offspinner Mohnish Parmar triggered a collapse to restrict Mumbai, resuming on 327 for 2, to 486, but Dhawal Kulkarni's four-wicket burst left the hosts in a slump at 77 for 6. Kulkarni, who took 13 wickets on his Ranji Trophy debut, furthered his wickets' tally in the tournament to boost his team's chances of a win. He struck at regular intervals, with Sairaj Bahutule and Ajit Agarkar taking one wicket each. Nilesh Modi and Bhavik Thaker, unbeaten on 23, were the only two batsmen to reach double figures, and it will take a big fightback for Gujarat, who won their first game handsomely over Saurashtra, to get back into the game. Jaffer, overnight on 172, was trapped leg-before by Ashraf Makda without adding to his score, and Amol Muzumdar scored 18 more before he was out to Parmar for 61. Makda and Parmar combined for the eight Mumbai wickets on Tuesday. Six of those batsmen failed to consolidate after going past 15, but in hindsight 486 looks a winning total. Other POV Mumbai bowlers have Gujarat reeling Uttar Pradesh vs Baroda, Ranji Trophy Super League at Vadodara, 2nd day Uttar Pradesh 251 for 8 (Srivastava 79, Kaif 51, Praveen 38*, IK Pathan 5-70) lead Baroda 235 by 16 runs Scorecard Down to 9 for 3 in reply to Baroda's 235, Uttar Pradesh recovered to take the first-innings lead in Vadodara. Despite Irfan Pathan's 5 for 71, half-centuries for Tanmay Srivastava and captain Mohammad Kaif, and useful 30s from Ravikant Shukla and Praveen Kumar gave last season's finalists the edge. Pathan, who removed Anshul Kapoor for a duck in his first over on Monday, dismissed Praveen Gupta and Tahir Abbas off successive deliveries this morning - both were out for ducks as well. Kaif and Srivastava then revived the innings with a 122-run fourth-wicket partnership. Kaif was dismissed by left-arm spinner Rajesh Pawar for 51, a patient knock that came off 174 deliveries. Srivastava was next to go, before Ravikant Shukla and Bhuvneshwar Kumar pushed them from 154 for 5 to 199 for 6. Pathan and Pawar struck to leave UP at 210 for 7, but Praveen Kumar, who like Pathan was dropped from India's ODI squad to face England, made a 30-ball 38 to help his side to the first-innings lead. Another POV Pathan scalps five, leaves UP reeling at 251/8 Irfan Pathan wrecked the Uttar Pradesh line-up with a five-wicket haul helping Baroda put the visiting side on the mat at 251 for eight in their first innings on the second day of their Ranji Trophy match on Tuesday. Irfan's precision with the ball made up for Baroda's first innings collapse in which they were all out for 235. UP had a slim 16-run lead over the hosts at the stumps. Resuming at the overnight three for one, Uttar Pradesh lost two quick wickets with the total reading just nine runs. Having lost two quick wickets UP were depending on skipper Mohd Kaif and Tanmay Srivastav to rescue the innings and they delivered with a 122-run fourth-wicket partnership. Srivastav and Kaif enabled Uttar Pradesh to take the score to a total of 131 before the collapse started. Srivastav misjudged a delivery from Irfan Pathan (Sr) and leaving him plumb in front of the stumps. Srivastav's 79-run knock had 13 fours and he faced 123 deliveries. Kaif did not survive for long after that and got out after making 51 runs -- studded with eight fours. R shukla (37) and B kumar (24) were other top-scorers for UP. Seven out of eight wickets which fell on the second day were captured by the medium pacers, while spinner Rajesh Pawar took two wickets. Hyderabad vs Delhi, Ranji Trophy Super League at Hyderabad, 2nd day Delhi 124 for 3 (Chopra 51, Dhawan 47, Ashwin 2-15) trail Hyderabad 334 (Pai 130, Abhinav 76, Sangwan 4-86) by 210 runs Scorecard Hyderabad could add only 87 to their first-day score of 247 for 5, all out for 334, before defending champions Delhi reached 124 for 3 in reply by stumps. Pradeep Sangwan took two wickets, including that of overnight centurion Anoop Pai for 130, and there were two run-outs as Hyderabad went at less than two an over on the second day. Delhi's openers put on an 80-run stand, but both Shikhar Dhawan and Aakash Chopra were unable to convert their starts. Medium-pacer Ashwin Yadav took 2 for 15 in his ten overs Another POV Delhi slip after bowlers toil The heads were dropping and the shoulders drooping. The piece de resistance from the Hyderabad tail was making life as difficult as ever for Delhi and the excruciatingly slow rate of scoring wasn’t helping matters. Delhi skipper Aakash Chopra must be wondering why, within a season, bowlers who ripped the heart out of much stronger teams, are suddenly looking a little better than pedestrian. Ashish Nehra managed all of three overs in the day before hobbling off to the dressing room, and his partners were as ineffective as ever in their efforts to bring an early close to the innings. Led by another workmanlike effort from overnight centurion Anoop Pai (130), the hosts made Delhi toil for 45 overs under the not so pleasant sun to add another 87 runs to their total. Delhi finally managed to end their misery and the Hyderabad innings a little less than an hour after lunch. The hosts ended their first innings at 334. However, while the Hyderabad batsmen did occupy the crease for long periods of time, they showed no intention to score quickly. The Delhi bowlers went unpunished for their waywardness, with the bad balls finding the fielders instead of the fence. 334 on a placid wicket like the one here was not expected to stretch the star-studded Delhi batting in its efforts of gaining what should be a decisive first innings lead. And that looked like the case when Chopra and Shikhar Dhawan started the Delhi reply with a flurry of boundaries. The two have a tacit understanding, they know each other's strengths and weaknesses, and back each other to the hilt. Riding on the back of yet another 50-run partnership between Chopra (51) and Dhawan (47), Delhi found themselves en route to a strong position at tea. Scoring at almost 5 an over, a far cry from the 2.46 Hyderabad got their runs at, the tourists took tea at 57/0. The balls being used in the Ranji Trophy have come for a lot of flak, both from players and coaches. Their propensity to lose shape after a couple of hits to the fence has led to frequent changes. And it was a similar change that got Hyderabad right back on track. It took Ashwin Yadav only five deliveries with a changed ball to find Dhawan’s outside edge. Chopra, now joined by Mayank Tehlan, continued with his innings and was looking good for a big one, when offie Ahmed Quadri had him caught at slip by Ravi Teja. Delhi had lost two big wickets for 28 runs, and the job at hand was to see out the day without any further losses. But, it was not be. Mayank Tehlan was bowled off what proved to be the last ball of the day to put Delhi deeper in the mire. They ended the day on 124/3. The shoulders were drooping all over again. Andhra vs Maharashtra, Ranji Trophy Super League at Nasik, 2nd day Andhra 262 for 6 (Watekar 142, Fallah 5-65) v Maharashta Scorecard Harshad Khadiwale made 103 and Rohan Bhosale made an unbeaten 72 to put Maharashtra on course for the first-innings lead in Nasik. The two added 158 for the first wicket after Andhra were bowled out for 348. Andhra, resuming on 262 for 6, lost three wickets for 20 overs before they were boosted by a last-wicket stand of 38. Samad Fallah finished with 6 for 102, while Bangladesh left-arm spinner Enamul Haque jnr finally grabbed his first Ranji wicket; he took 0 for 171 in the first match against Tamil Nadu. Another POV Khadiwale delights Nashik: Harshad Khadiwale played his part well with an array of delightful shots for Maharashtra at the old golf course ground here on Tuesday. The right-hander stroked the ball firmly with a majority of his strokes played through mid-off and mid-on. He scattered the field to notch up a splendid century (103, 113b, 17x4), his second, in the Ranji Trophy Super League cricket match against Andhra. Khadiwale’s first century (126) was against Tamil Nadu at Chepauk last season. A senior player in the side with 14 matches in the premier national championship, Khadiwale made amends for his lapses in the previous two innings against Tamil Nadu and put his team on a sound footing. Big blows Andhra’s tailenders hit some big blows and took their side’s first innings total to a competitive 348 from the overnight score of 262 for six. Seamer Samad Fallah picked up one more wicket to finish with impressive figures of six for 102. Khadiwale, Maharashtra’s rising star, got into the act on the second day by inducing A.G. Pradeep to lob the ball to Shrikande to break the seventh-wicket stand. While batting, Khadiwale began his innings in typical aggressive fashion a few minutes before lunch by driving Kalyankrishna and Vijaykumar and thereafter punished two easy offerings from Gnaneswara Rao. Good scoring rate Maharashtra’s scoring rate was almost four runs an over, thanks to Khadiwale’s initiative and enterprise for 170 minutes. He was dropped on 78 and 86 at the wicket of the bowling of Vijaykumar and Kalyankrishna. Saurashtra vs Orissa, Ranji Trophy Super League at Rajkot, 2nd day Orissa 46 for 0 trail Saurashtra 620 for 4 (Pujara 302*, Jadeja 232*) by 574 runs Scorecard Waughs' record eclipsed as Pujara scores triple Triple-centuries seem to come by every other game for Cheteshwar Pujara. He had scored two in one week last month in the CK Nayudu Under-22 tournament, and today he pushed from his overnight 128 to become the first Saurashtra batsman to make a triple ton. His partner in the run-fest, Ravindra Jadeja, scored his maiden century, ending unbeaten on 232. The unbroken fifth-wicket stand was worth 520 runs, the two scoring 347 in 72.5 overs on the second day. It was the second-best partnership in Indian cricket - after Vijay Hazare and Gul Mahomed's 577-run stand for Baroda against Holkar in 1946-47 - and the highest fifth-wicket partnership in any first-class cricket, beating the unbroken 464-run stand between the Waugh twins for New South Wales against Western Australia in 1990-91. Following the declaration, Orissa's openers played out the remaining 15 overs. For Saurashtra, it was a welcome bounce back after their innings defeat to Gujarat, a timely wake-up call for last season's surprise semi-finalists from their recently-promoted neighbours. .

[Sachinism]

Punjab win by 9 wickets Mumbai beat Gujrat by an innings and 239 runs Gujrat 2nd innings 44ao lmao Kulkarni gets 7 for 77 in the game 2nd innings 3-7

[Mr. Wicket]

Hahaha... Gujarat just got embarrassed 2-0-0 for the men who're taking the Ranji this season. Hammered Rajasthan... now Gujarat were ROLLED by an innings + 239 runs. That's an asskicking! And 44 all out in the 2nd... :hysterical: Kulkarni's having a PHENOMENAL season so far - Cheeka take note.

[sm332]

where are you getting the updates mate?

[Guest Hiten.]

LMAO! Ranji title # 38,here we come :D

[Mr. Wicket]

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/ranjisuperleague2008/engine/current/match/368243.html Good to see Rahane and Jaffer in the runs. Next clash is v. Delhi in the coming round... I REALLY wish I could go to the Kotla for that one. Jaffer always does well against them. Last time he batted at Kotla v. Delhi, he slammed a double in a day.

[Guest Hiten.]

where are you getting the updates mate?

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/ranjisuperleague2008/engine/current/series/361120.html

[Mr. Wicket]

LMAO! Ranji title # 38,here we come :D

And we actually have a real attack this season. His Aag-Ness, Dhawal (16 wickets at an average of 10.31 so far this season!), Powar (in form again), and then a lot of backup options between Abdulla, Kulkarni, Bahutule, Rohan Raje and a bunch more.

[Mr. Wicket]

Um - abject failure? When? http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/184/184845.html http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/184/184844.html Bowled decently on a slow spinning pitch in the first game v. Aus A, second got washed out but he started well. Those are his only two f/c games before these. In the one dayers his form wasn't as good - but he's very much a f/c bowler... not an LOI guy yet. Rahane is class, agreed. Can't wait to see him in India colours.

[Dravid]

Parmar having a good season too. Bhajji's replacement :D BTW..u lucky baroda is in group B, otherwsie that ass would have been tapped

[Dravid]

Kulkarni is a trundler who'll get thrashed at the higher level

exactly.

[Mr. Wicket]

Parmar having a good season too. Bhajji's replacement :D BTW..u lucky baroda is in group B, otherwsie that ass would have been tapped

We'll whip Baroda in the knockouts then. As for Parmar, he's a blatant chucker. Ever watched him? Horrible action - won't survive a year unless the ICC shift the laws to allow a 30-40 degree bend.

[Dravid]

he has been cleared by NCA...will worry about ICC when time comes

[Guest Hiten.]

Parmar having a good season too. Bhajji's replacement :D BTW..u lucky baroda is in group B, otherwsie that ass would have been tapped

A city based team owned your state based team. You really think your city based team could do any better ? :hysterical:

[Dravid]

A city based team owned your state based team. You really think your city based team could do any better ? :hysterical:

brah, favor will be returned nov 29- dec 2, - baroda v maha. ..... bring the lube

[Dravid]

A city based team owned your state based team. You really think your city based team could do any better ? :hysterical:

BTW wanna be.. its not "your" its "our" :hysterical::hysterical::hysterical:

[Predator_05]

I'd pay to watch Delhi vs Mumbai. Should be a good one.