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Indian Domestic cricket 08-09 : Md Nissar Trophy

Chandan

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Report of Day three : Delhi v SNGPL, Mohammad Nissar Trophy, 3rd day Chopra and Kohli stretch lead to 384 Cricinfo staff September 17, 2008 Delhi 134 and 516 for 4 (Chopra 182, Kohli 197) lead Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited 266 by 384 runs Scorecard 323567.jpgAakash Chopra made up for his first-innings failure with 182 © Cricinfo Ltd Delhi, backed by massive scores by the overnight pair of Virat Kohli (197) and Aakash Chopra (182), gained a handsome 384-run lead on the penultimate day, but their reluctance to declare might make their task of winning the Mohammad Nissar Trophy a little difficult. The Ranji Trophy champions finished the day at 516 for 4 when rain put a full stop to the day's proceedings with 17 overs remaining. After being bundled out for 134 in the first innings, Delhi needed to pile a big score quickly today and save enough time to aim for an outright victory. Instead, Virender Sehwag and the Delhi think-tank, surprisingly, decided to play on even though the conditions after tea appeared more in favour of the bowlers as the clouds gathered. The day's story could've been split into two halves, with the first session going to Delhi, and the visitors wresting control after the lunch break. After a first-over maiden from the seamer Adil Raza, both batsmen reached their centuries in contrasting ways. Chopra's prod between point and cover got him to the three-figure mark, while Kohli went for the drive on the up against Raza but played too early. Fortunately, the resultant edge landed a yard in front of Misbah-ul-Haq at first slip, went past him and the batsman ran a double and celebrated his first hundred of the new season. Once the Delhi pair had crossed their landmarks, they eased themselves and accelerated the lead. Kohli was harsh on Raza especially and anything short was pulled or cut powerfully. At the other end, Chopra played fluent drives and one of the shots of the day was the on-the-knee cover drive against Asad Ali. With the fast bowlers failing to extract anything out of the bland pitch, Mohammad Hafeez decided to bring spin in. Just after the first hour in the morning, Kohli stepped out to drive one past the midwicket fence to reach his 150 against Hafeez. Few overs later, he pulled Imran Khalid over midwicket first for a boundary, and a ball later stepped out to hit a big six in the same region, the only one of the day. With the wicket not offering any assistance and the SNGPL bowlers failing to attack a consistent length and line, both batsmen confidently marched towards their double-centuries. But an over-cautious approach after lunch put paid to their aspirations. An hour after lunch, Kohli was five short of his double-century when Asad peppered him with short deliveries, trying to tempt him to pull. But as he was trying hard not to lose focus, he slowed down - he took 15 balls to move from 193 to 197 - and calamity struck. Bowling a tight line, Asad bowled a straight one, but Kohli went for an unnecessary, and premeditated flick to on side and was bowled. After losing his partner, with whom he had shared a massive 385-run stand for the second wicket, nervous energy seemed to have crept into Chopra. At one point he got stuck in a rut after his 150 - it took him 18 balls to move from 167 to 168. Eventually his extra circumspection put paid to his downfall when a fast one down the leg side from Raza beat him for pace and knocked the leg stump. The SNGPL bowlers had finally started to find their rhythm after their insipid performance for the better part of the first session. Bowling with more purpose, they started to add pressure on the well-set batsmen and capitalised on the only window of opportunity when Kohli and Chopra slowed down. The best session for the visitors came between lunch and tea when only 76 runs were scored and three wickets fell in 25 overs. With just one more day to go, and if the weather holds true, Sehwag will have to declare first thing in the morning and expect his bowlers to run through the SNGPL batting line-up. Heavy rain in the afternoon led to several puddles across the outfield, and there's a danger that some water may have seeped into the pitch. A scheduled start tomorrow seems unlikely and if it's not yet too late for Delhi, they might have scripted their own fate already. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Another report is : September 17, 2008 18:21 IST Teenaged Delhi [images] batsman Virat Kohli and seasoned opener Aakash Chopra missed double hundreds but steered Delhi to a mammoth 516 for four against Pakistani's Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited on the rain-curtailed third and penultimate day of the Mohammad Nissar Trophy in New Delhi on Wednesday. Kohli fell just three runs short while Chopra smashed 182, contributing 385 runs in a partnership that lasted 536 balls. Rajat Bhatia was batting on 32 and Mayank Tehlan was on 24 when rains played spoilsport an hour and 20 minutes before schduled close of play. Seventeen overs were lost of the day's play. Kohli and Chopra put Delhi in an advantageous position with a huge lead of 384 runs on another frustrating day for the bowlers of the Quaid-e-Azam champions in the four-day match at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground. Asked whether declaring the innings would have been a good idea, Delhi coach Vijay Dahiya said, "The weather was not in our hand. We didn't declare because we didn't want to take any chance for the wicket was still playing good." Resuming at overnight 242 for one, the duo of Kohli and Chopra started from where they had left off yesterday and propelled the total to 395 for one at lunch. SNGPL skipper Mohammed Hafeez made desperate efforts to break the partnership but it had little effect. Hafeez even introduced himself, bowling his off-breaks but Kohli treated him with disdain, hitting him for a huge six over mid-on. The SNGPL skipper's five overs cost 36 runs. Having paced the innings well to reach their respective centuries in the pre-lunch session, Chopra and Kohli slowed down a bit with the double tons in sight. Despite the hot and humid conditions, Kohli and Chopra kept their nerves, putting a premium on their wicket in the post-lunch session. The 19-year-old Kohli was eventually dismissed by Asad Ali, having made 197 runs off 274 balls, hitting 29 fours and a six. This knock could open the door to his maiden berth in the Test series against Australia [images]. Chopra's 315-ball knock contained 21 fours. The second highest run-getter in the last domestic season has started the new year on a bright note and would hope to be rewarded when Australia come calling. Asad was the most successful bowler with 2-98 while Imran Khalid proved expensive, giving away 100 runs without a wicket. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sehwag should have declared a bit early. With overcast condition, we could have got a wicket or two before bad light and eventually rain ended the day. Delhi will lose otherwise also if Sui Gas are able to draw this match.
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Ram Newbie

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A day is more than enough to bowl out a team in the last innings. Me thinks Sehwag was trying to do what Ganguly did in 2001 against Aus, when kept batting in the last day, despite having a 300+ lead. Ganguly's justification was that if the target was beyond reach of the batting team right from the start, he can have men catching close, irrespective of how well the batsman were playing. If the fielding team opts for more time and moderate target, if the batting gets off to a good start or if there is a quick partnership, the pressure is right back on the bowling team. If things go well and we dont lose play to bad or anything, we should wrap this up, sometime after tea.

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Chandan Newbie

Chandan

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i read somewhere that play is highly unlikely to start on time since there were big puddles on the ground and it will take a while for it to dry
Can be true, Tics because the downpour was really heavy; but if it doesn't rain again at night and if the Delhi groundsmen start drying up the outfield from night itself (highly unlikely though), the game can start in time. I still think that after the lead crossed 350, Sehwag should have declared and given his bowlers a chance to pick up at least one or two wickets! Overcast condition should have helped them with the new cherry.
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Cricketics Contributor

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Chandan, i heard that about 25 overs were remaining and that sehwag was about to declare the innings in couple of overs but bad light interrupted the play 25 overs, means even if 20 overs were bowled, it would have been ideal thing for us. i think sehwag would have declared definately. just that light was the reason, why play wasn't continued

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Chandan Newbie

Chandan

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Chandan, i heard that about 25 overs were remaining and that sehwag was about to declare the innings in couple of overs but bad light interrupted the play 25 overs, means even if 20 overs were bowled, it would have been ideal thing for us. I think sehwag would have declared definately. just that light was the reason, why play wasn't continued
17 overs were left. Read the report that I have posted in the previous page. Had Chopra and Kohli not slowed down post lunch when they had their double ton in sight, Sehwag could have declared post tea itself. But Chopra got out when they needed to accelerate it further.
Excellent performance by Kohli and Chopra how ever the current 2 not out batsmen should have scored a bit faster.
Tehlan and Bhatia scored at painstakingly slow rate, but they were new at crease and aren't such good batsmen either. Had Manhas stayed a bit longer, I could have expected fast scoring. These two aren't known for scoring fast anyway.
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Cricketics Contributor

Cricketics

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17 overs were left. Read the report that I have posted in the previous page. Had Chopra and Kohli not slowed down post lunch when they had their double ton in sight, Sehwag could have declared post tea itself. But Chopra got out when they needed to accelerate it further. Tehlan and Bhatia scored at painstakingly slow rate, but they were new at crease and aren't such good batsmen either. Had Manhas stayed a bit longer, I could have expected fast scoring. These two aren't known for scoring fast anyway.
o damn. Yes, Manhas was ideal for this situation, even Virat. don't know why did they slow down.. let's hope the ground dries up fast and first thing in the mornign Ishant and Nehra give Delhi good start
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