Ranji Trophy - Super League 2009-2010 - Discussion thread

[Malcolm Merlyn]

Ranji Trophy Round VII The round VII of the Ranji Trophy starts tommorow. From Group A:Tamil Nadu have certainly qualified while Punjab and Mumbai are tied on same points and one of them will make it to the semis.Railways have a mathematical chnace as well,though only slight. From Group B:Karnataka is almost certain to qualify while the 2nd semifinal slot is up for grabs. TOMMOROW'S MATCHES Group B: Bengal v Delhi at Kolkata Dec 15-18 (09:30 local, 04:00 GMT) Group A: H. Pradesh v Orissa at Dharamsala Dec 15-18 (09:30 local, 04:00 GMT) Group A: Hyderabad v Tamil Nadu at Hyderabad (Decc) Dec 15-18 (09:30 local, 04:00 GMT) Group B: Maharashtra v Baroda at Pune Dec 15-18 (09:30 local, 04:00 GMT) Group A: Mumbai v Gujarat at Mumbai (BS) Dec 15-18 (09:30 local, 04:00 GMT) Group A: Railways v Punjab at Delhi Dec 15-18 (09:30 local, 04:00 GMT) Group B: Saurashtra v Karnataka at Rajkot Dec 15-18 (09:30 local, 04:00 GMT)

[Sachinism]

Thanks

[kabira]

so Rajkot will have action for another 4 days.

[Sachinism]

Bengal 185/4 Ganguly 72* :yay: Hyderabad 209/4 Rayudu 106 Mumbai 229/3 R Sharma 70* Saurashtra 216ao

[Gambit]

Rayudu is back in the picture.

[Sachinism]

^^ I think he still has a lot more to prove, there are quite a few other batsmen that have leapfrogged him

[Sachinism]

Mumbai 352/3 R Sharma 145* (152) Bengal 265/4 Ganguly 110*

[Malcolm Merlyn]

Bengal 265/4 Ganguly 110*:yay::kkr:

[coffee_rules]

Karnataka continuing their dominance this season. It might be a TN v/s Kar final this year, the traditional rivals.

[kabira]

so one pitch in rajkot produced 825 runs and another at new stadium was not that flat. 12 wckets in a day

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Seamers put Karnataka on top against Saurashtra A listless, low-intensity passage of play post lunch notwithstanding, Karnataka had plenty of cause for cheer at the Khanderi Stadium on Tuesday. More... Seamers put Karnataka on top Robin Uthappa’s young band, also missing experienced paceman R Vinay Kumar — nursing an ankle niggle — were all over eternal nemesis Saurashtra on day one of their final Ranji Trophy Super League Group B encounter. At close of a mostly satisfying day, Karnataka had replied to the home side’s timid 216 with 80 for two, Ganesh Satish playing some exquisitely sparkling strokes on his way to 45 not out. Strangely, Uthappa did not walk out to open the batting. In need of a big knock for self-confidence, if nothing else, the skipper will hope to cash in on what are expected to be the best batting conditions of the match on the morrow. With left-arm paceman S Arvind (4/84) in the forefront and A Mithun (2/46) backing him up admirably, Karnataka reduced Saurashtra to an anaemic 93 for seven at lunch. After the interval, however, the visitors let last year’s semifinalists off the hook, allowing Sandeep Jobanputra to make a well-crafted unbeaten half-century and help realise 101 for the last two wickets alongside Pratik Mehta and number eleven Sandip Maniar. Before their lacklustre post-lunch display, Karnataka had been on top of their game. Determined to make up for the absence of Vinay – the season’s leading wicket-taker – Arvind took it upon himself to spearhead the attack in the company of the increasingly impressive Mithun as Saurashtra frittered away the advantage of choosing to bat. Early damage There was some juice in the pitch early on and the bounce was slightly uneven, but that was no excuse for Saurashtra’s total lack of stomach for battle. Mithun did the early damage, firing out Sagar Jogiyani and the attack-minded Chirag Pathak – one of five left-handers in the Saurashtra top-seven – and then watched as Arvind cut a swathe through the middle-order. Saying that, it was a wonderful reflex catch on his followthrough by Stuart Binny to get rid of the prolific Cheteshwar Pujara that set the cat among the pigeons. Pujara came into this tie with 491 runs this season, but after two silken boundaries, he was sent packing as Karnataka got a look-in at the Saurashtra middle-order. Arvind had bowled well without luck in his first spell, even seeing Pathak put down at fine-leg by Mithun. A change of ends did the trick for him as, in a burst of 5-1-14-3, he ripped the heart out of the home side. Skipper Jaydev Shah was trapped palpably in front, the obdurate Sitanshu Kotak removed without scoring with a delivery that shaped away and Rakesh Dhruv cleaned up first ball by one that jagged back into the left-hander. Brilliant stuff! Mehta and Jobanputra began the rescue act with generous help from Karnataka’s listlessness after lunch. Spinners Udit Patel and KP Appanna – umpires MG Mandle and R Subramaniam Iyer spoke to Uthappa about the left-arm tweaker’s action – were less than threatening, allowing 53 to be added for the ninth before Binny returned to roll over Mehta. Sandip Maniar eventually perished after putting on 48 for the last wicket with fellow quick Jobanputra, left stranded on a handy 53. The scores: Saurashtra — 1st innings: C. Pathak c Verma b Mithun 28, S. Jogiyani c Pandey b Mithun 9, J. Shah lbw b Aravind 24, C. Pujara c & b Binny 8, S. Kotak c Verma b Aravind 0, P. Mehta b Binny 48, R. Dhruv b Aravind 0, K. Makvana (run out) 10, V. Joshi c Pandey b Aravind 11, S. Jobanputra (not out) 53, S. Maniar c Gautam b Appanna 14; Extras: (b-8, nb-1, w-2) 11; Total: (in 70.3 overs) 216. Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-39, 3-75, 4-76, 5-77, 6-77, 8-93, 8-115, 9-168. Karnataka bowling: Mithun 15-2-46-2, Aravind 21-3-84-4, Binny 9-5-20-2, Patel 13-5-23-0, Appanna 10.3-5-28-1, Verma 2-0-7-0. Karnataka — 1st innings: K.B. Pawan c Jogiyani b Joshi 3, C.M. Gautam c Mehta b Makvana 24, G. Satish (batting) 45, U. Patel (batting) 6; Extras: (nb-2) 2; Total: (for two wkts. in 19 overs) 80. Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-68. Saurashtra bowling: Jobanputra 7-2-23-0, Maniar 3-1-8-0, Joshi 3-0-30-1, Dhruv 4-0-12-0, Makvana 2-1-7-1.

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Rayudu thrives on TN skipper Karthik’s generosity Ambati Rayudu thrived on the generosity of Tamil Nadu captain and wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik, who dropped him thrice, to hit a century and help Hyderabad post its best score in any single day’s play this season. More... Rayudu thrives on Karthik’s generosity Principal Correspondent HYDERABAD: Ambati Rayudu thrived on the generosity of Tamil Nadu captain and wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik, who dropped him thrice, to hit a century and help Hyderabad post its best score in any single day’s play this season — 269 for four — at close of play in their Ranji Trophy Super League match at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Tuesday. Tamil Nadu surprised many before the start of the match by resting fast bowler Laxmipathi Balaji and star batsman Murali Vijay. Then, the Hyderabad camp was in for an even more pleasant surprise — being put in. Opener Sashank Nag was out early, chasing an out-swinger — the first ball of the match by C. Ganapathy — to be caught at slip by S. Badrinath. But the smiling faces soon reflected the rapidity with which the wicket eased out, giving little help to the bowlers once the early morning dew evaporated. The fact that Karthik opted, in the ninth over of the day, for leg-spinner Abhinav Mukund hinted that there was nothing in the pitch for the fast bowlers. And, the spinner struck with his first ball — having Abhinav Kumar stumped. At 31 for two, Hyderabad seemed about to repeat the same old story of folding up. But captain Anirudh Singh played a near flawless innings (75, 170b, 10x4) and in the company of the free-stroking Rayudu (106, 152b, 19x4), put on 166 for the third wicket, which pushed Tamil Nadu on the defensive on a near-perfect batting strip. In a clever move, Anirudh went after the highly gifted left-arm spinner Aushik Srinivas. The latter was allowed to settle down by repeatedly hitting him over the in-field. At the other end, Rayudu was dropped thrice by Karthik — on 38 in off-spinner Ashwin’s first over, on 70 off medium-pacer Jesuraj in the first over after lunch and finally on 88 — a difficult, fast snick off left-armer Sutheesh. To his credit, Rayudu played some grand strokes — like the inside-out over mid-off off Sutheesh to reach his 100. Then when he looked good for a big score, he went for another big one off Aushik to be caught in the deep. In the next over, Ashwin forced the Hyderabad captain to play back and across to be lbw. Two quick wickets saw Hyderabad slip to 197 for four before the in-form Ahmed Quadri and out-of-form Anoop Pai played sensibly to deny Tamil Nadu any more wickets as the host finished the day on a satisfying note. The scores: Hyderabad — 1st innings: P. Shashank Nag c S. Badrinath b C. Ganapathy 0, A. Kumar st. D. Karthik b A. Mukund 16, Anirudh Singh lbw b R. Ashwin 75, A.T. Rayudu c Mukund b A. Srinivas 106, S. Anoop Pai (batting) 29, A. Quadri (batting) 34; Extras (b-1, lb-8): 9. Total (for four wickets in 90 overs): 269. Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-31, 3-197, 4-197. Tamil Nadu bowling: Ganapathy 13-2-60-1, Jesuraj 13-6-28-0, Mukund 7-1-25-1, Sutheesh 14-3-49-0, Satish 3-1-11-0, Ashwin 20-8-39-1, A. Srinivas 19-5-48-1, Badrinath 1-1-0-0.

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Ganguly and Saha from Bengal frustrate Delhi bowlers Starved of runs right through the season, Bengal on Tuesday found two unbeaten centuries from the bats of Wriddhiman Saha and Sourav Ganguly that were similar in the way they were constructed but different in their import. More... Ganguly and Saha frustrate Delhi bowlers Nikhilesh Bhattacharya, Hindustan Times Kolkata, December 15, 2009 Starved of runs right through the season, Bengal on Tuesday found two unbeaten centuries from the bats of Wriddhiman Saha and Sourav Ganguly that were similar in the way they were constructed but different in their import. It was a day when two people — one young and the other ‘not so old’ came together to teach a lesson or two on what the word application means. For Bengal this season, words like patience and application were only meant to be read in the dictionary. On Tuesday, the 25-year-old Wriddhiman Saha and the 37-year-old Sourav Ganguly decided otherwise. Just when it looked like Bengal were heading for yet another batting collapse on a placid track at the Jadavpur University (JU), Salt Lake campus ground, Wriddhiman and Sourav led a tremendous fightback adding 222 runs for the fifth wicket. Reduced to 43 for four in just 18 overs, Sourav (110n..) and Wriddhiman (106n..) showed that there was no devil in the pitch. And as a result, Bengal were comfortably placed at 265 for four at the end the first day’s play. Save the first 30 minutes of their 268-minute undefeated stand, the duo were hardly in any sort of trouble. The JU ground strip is not known for having a good carry. It has always been a batsman’s paradise. The quartet of Arindam Das (4), Rohan Banerjee (5), Dibyendu Chakraborty (18) and Manoj Tiwary (8) will surely feel disappointed having missed out on a run feast. They can only blame themselves for their indiscretion. Arindam poked at an away going delivery from Pradeep Sangwan and was brilliantly caught by wicket-keeper Puneet Bisht. Banerjee, who looked a bit unsettled by Ishant Sharma’s pace, saw one jump up from short of good length and Bisht took his second catch. Manoj and Dibyendu will feel unlucky because they batted close to an hour seeing off dangerman Ishant’s first spell. However, when Parvinder Awana came on to bowl, both were guilty of playing loose shots. While Dibyendu was castled by a delivery that kept low, Manoj didn’t reach the line of the delivery and was bowled. Then it was all about Sourav and Wriddhiman doing the simple things correctly. Wriddhiman was a bit edgy to begin with as he hit a few streaky boundaries. However once the day progressed, he opened up. With an able guide in Sourav, the Bengal glovesman finally got into the groove in an otherwise poor season. When the spinners were brought on, he was well set and didn’t have any problems in negotiating the mediocre left-arm spin of Vikash Mishra and part-time off-spinner Mithun Manhas. His 206-ball innings consisted of 16 boundaries. At the other end, neither of the trio of Ishant, Awana and Sangwan could bother Sourav bowling on the off-stump channel. He was prepared to wait for the loose deliveries. He started by driving Awana through covers and then followed it up with shots through the point region. The former Indian captain knew that Delhi didn’t have spinners or medium pacers to back-up their frontline pacers. Once Delhi skipper Rajat Bhatia introduced Manhas and Mishra, Sourav launched into the latter. One of the best players of left-arm spin, Sourav hit Mishra for 15 runs in an over which included a square cut, cover drive and a straight six over long that landed out of the ground and the ball got lost in the process. Sourav later added another over boundary to his kitty when he hit Mishra over long-on. Debutant Mishra (13-1-72-0) was the bowler that the Bengal duo singled out for rough treatment. After matching each other stroke for stroke, Wriddhiman beat his senior partner to the milestone. Delhi bowlers stuck to a plan and reduced Bengal to 43 for four on the first morning of their Ranji Trophy Elite Division Group B match before coming up against Saha and Ganguly. At stumps, Bengal had reached 265 for four from 77 overs. Delhi bowlers could not be faulted for their effort or enthusiasm. Ishant Sharma bowled 17 overs in four spells, making the batsmen play most of the time and still giving away only 31 runs. Pradeep Sangwan allowed the batsmen to leave him more often, but gave a particularly torrid time to Manoj Tiwary in the morning. Ishant and Sangwan scalped an opener each. First-change Parwinder Awana used his out-swingers to good effect against a nervous Bengal top-order and castled No. 3 Dibyendu Chakraborty before squaring up Tiwary and taking his off-stump. Young debutant left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra went for quite a few and was twice deposited over the sightscreen by Ganguly. But he also had Ganguly dropped on 54 by Ankur Julka at first slip. On a wicket devoid of pace, Ganguly and Saha were particularly cautious against the medium-pacers and targeted the 16-year-old Mishra. They kept pace with each other for most of their innings and reached their hundreds, both against the occasional leg-spin of Aditya Jain, at the *** end of the day. Saha’s effort- his third first-class century in three seasons — against Ishant & Co. was a small step in rebuilding his credentials as a future India prospect. That the selectors are keeping an eye on him can be guessed from how frequently he makes it to fringe players’ squads — be it for the Emerging Players’ tournament in Australia, Challenger Series or Board President’s XI’s match against visiting Sri Lanka. But with only one 50 in four Ranji Trophy matches and a failure to make the No. 3 slot his own, Saha was not exactly paying back the faith. This century, scored at No. 6, will enable him to hold his head high for a while and let Bengal look to the future with hope. Ganguly’s century on the other hand was something to be enjoyed for the moment, with little importance as far Bengal cricket’s future is concerned. The former India batsman will be happy to know that he can still bat nearly a day and grind out a century against a first-class attack. It may also be a small, but important, step in ensuring Bengal get something from this match and are not demoted. But that is where the century’s significance ends.

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Back to ‘old self’, Rohit puts Mumbai on top The disappointment of missing out on a berth in the India squad was visible on Rohit Sharma’s face as he watched on TV Sehwag & Co. butcher the Sri Lankan attack in the first ODI at Rajkot. More... Back to ‘old self’, Rohit puts Mumbai on top The disappointment of missing out on a berth in the India squad was visible on Rohit Sharma’s face as he watched on TV Sehwag & Co. butcher the Sri Lankan attack in the first ODI at Rajkot. The 22-year-old was, however, determined to have a party of his own at the Cricket Club of India where the national side rose to the top in Test rankings just over a week ago. A cracking straight drive off the very second ball he faced made his intentions clear and by the time the umpires called stumps, Sharma had raced to 145 runs in 152 balls with 20 boundaries and three sixes. Very early in his innings, Rohit Sharma hit a straight drive from the middle of his bat and the resulting sound of the leather hitting the willow echoed in the virtually empty stadium. A few heads did turn though at the Cricket Club of India pavilion and the eyes glued to the television following the run glut at Rajkot momentarily moved to the action on the field. That was to be the trend all day as the frequency of the thuds from Sharma’s bat increased, repeatedly distracting those tuned in to international cricket. If attention grabbing happens to be the prime aim of those who play domestic cricket on days of big games on television, Sharma’s unbeaten 145 from 152 ball with 20 very audible fours and 3 delightful sixes did just that on Tuesday. And with new opener Shushant Marathe too remaining unconquered on 105, Mumbai were sitting pretty at 352/3 on Day One of their Super League Ranji Trophy game against Gujarat . Sharma found an ideal foil in opener Sushant Marathe, who made the most of two lives to score a patient hundred, as the duo added 223 for the unbeaten fourth wicket. Marathe was on 39 when Sharma came in to bat but the latter overtook him soon after completing his 48-ball 50. While Sharma missed no opportunity to drive and pull the pacemen and stepped out every time leg-spinner Salil Yadav tossed up the ball, Marathe played the sheet anchor and concentrated on remaining not out till the end of day. Marathe, one of the four changes in the side that faced Tamil Nadu in the last match, eventually reached his 100 in 252 balls and though he did take the aerial route after that, he never looked in any hurry. Earlier, Mumbai made a sedate start after being put into bat. They lost Sahil Kukreja early but Marathe and Ajinkya Rahane steadied the ship as the hosts went to lunch without further damage. But Tatsat Brahmbhatt disturbed Rahane’s woodwork on the very first ball after lunch and when skipper Wasim Jaffer (23 off 21) played one on to his stumps off Ishwar Choudhary, the visitors might have smelt an opening. Things could have been different had Jay Desai at square-leg held on to a catch offered by Marathe when the left-hander tried to pull Brahmbhatt when on 39. Though Sharma showed the same touch that saw him being touted as one of the brightest young stars on the domestic circuit no so long ago, on this day he knew that he needed to do more. “There are several batsmen who score a hundred on a given day in Ranji cricket. I need to continue and score and a really big knock to stand out,” said the 22-year-old. Besides, his early classical straight drive, the other stroke that stood out was the cover drive — straight from the coaching manual. With Gujarat stand-in skipper Niraj Patel (Parthiv Patel was indoors for most of the day because of sore throat) packing the off-side field Sharma repeatedly bisected the cover and extra cover fielders with his threading-the-needle drives. To stop Sharma, leggie Sushil Yadav bowled on the leg-side to a 7-2 field. That was when Sharma played the inside out shot from way outside the leg stump. As he grew in confidence he played the paddle to similar balls and later even reverse swept to take advantage of the vacant off-side field. “The hundred against Railways on a turning track and a similar negative line gave me a lot of confidence. Early in the season I wasn’t being myself and was getting too cautious. But now I have decided to revert back to my free-flowing style,” said Sharma. He sounded like a youngster rediscovering his true self after dealing with the demons of doubts that creep after setbacks. Just before the knockout stage of the tournament, Sharma has found his old touch. More such knocks will see the echo of his strokes going beyond the stadium confines and the turning of more important heads. Brief scores: Mumbai: 352/3 (S Marathe 105*, R Sharma 145*; I Choudhary 2/66) vs Gujarat More... One point agenda Mumbai will go all out for an outright victory even though a point will take them to the quarters By Ashish Magotra Posted On Tuesday, December 15, 2009 at 02:03:58 AM When you need just one point to seal your place in the knock-out round and you are facing one of the ‘weaker’ teams in the competition, you really don’t have too many things to worry about. But Mumbai should know better. In the last game against table-topping Tamil Nadu, Mumbai had collapsed from 308 for three to 366 all out and that experience, if nothing else, should have put them in the right frame of mind when they take on Gujarat in their final league game. “This is an important game going to the quarters. Practically this is a pre-quarter match for us. We want to take the momentum from this match in to the quarter,” said Wasim Jaffer, the Mumbai skipper after practice yesterday. Mumbai, 16 points, are fighting with Punjab, also with 16 points but placed second due to a better run-rate, and the Railways, 13 points, for the two places that are still open in their group. Bolstering mumbai Ajit Agarkar and Rohit Sharma will bolster champions Mumbai in the match which is to be held at the Brabourne Stadium. Agarkar, Mumbai’s vice-captain, skipped the previous tie against Tamil Nadu while Sharma was unavailable as he is a member of the India Twenty20 team which is playing against Sri Lanka. Gujarat are fifth with nine points and have no chance of making it to the next stage of the competition. Mumbai have been unlucky as well but at the end of the day, Jaffer knows they only have themselves to blame. “We could have easily won three games outright. But sometimes you do need luck to be on your side. And you also need to hold on to those catches,” he said. “Whoever is in form needs to carry on the good work. But apart from me, Ajinkya (Rahane) has been playing well so has Sahil (Kukreja).” Coach Praveen Amre has done his bit and he’s going to make sure the team isn’t going to take things easy going into the game. “We need to pull up our socks. We have to push ourselves,” said Amre. Gujarat will be banking on skipper Parthiv Patel to continue with his good run. He is the leading run-getter in the Ranji Trophy with 578 runs from his 10 innings from six matches. But Patel can soon be displaced by the second placed Jaffer as Gujarat are already out of the knock-out race. Jaffer has 546 runs from his seven innings in six matches.

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Rahul Sharma of Punjab derails Railways after a good start Rahul Sharma spun the ball with vengeance to take five wickets on the first day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match, against Railways on Tuesday. More... Rahul derails Railways after a good start Shubhodeep Chakravarty, Hindustan Times New Delhi, December 15, 2009 Railways battled Punjab and the weather on Tuesday, and they came out on the wrong side on both counts. If not for opener Faiz Fazal’s commanding 87, Murphy’s law would have probably explained the situation Murali Kartik’s side find themselves in. Requiring nothing less than an outright victory to qualify for the quarter-finals, the home team were 191 for six in 59 overs at stumps on the first day of the last round match, where play in the first session was curtailed due to showers. Leggie Rahul Sharma was the hero for the visitors, scalping his first five-wicket haul in the Ranji Trophy. M Suresh and Karan Sharma were at the crease at the end of day’s play. Kartik called the coin right and decided to bat first, but with only four overs bowled in the first session of play due to overnight rains, Railways were on the blackfoot soon. Once the ground was declared fit to host a cricket match after lunch, Punjab’s fast bowling problems were exposed. Fast bowler Manpreet Singh Gony sat out due to injury — he joined Gagandeep Singh and Harmeet Singh on the bench — leaving debutant Rajwinder Singh and Love Ablish with the task of handling the new ball. Fazal resumed the post lunch session with intent, putting on display his full array of strokes, while V Cheluvaraj played the waiting game. When the opening bowlers pitched the ball short, Fazal dismissed the ball square off the wicket on the leg side with elegant wrist work. When they pitched it up, he drove straight down the ground with ferocity. If the ball was any fuller, an angled bat awaited the leather to guide it down to the fine-leg boundary. The pair raced to a 50-run partnership by the 12th over. Ablish was replaced by Rahul Sharma at the end of the twelfth over and Fazal greeted him by dancing down the track and smashing him into the Boxing Hall, which lies a few metres beyond the long-on boundary. He brought up his fifty with a deft sweep off Sharma in 58 balls, studded with nine boundaries and a six. With the spinners getting smashed at both ends, Ablish was brought back on from the Pavilion end, but only to be whacked for 17 runs by Fazal. The openers brought up 100 in the 19th over, with Cheluvaraj scoring 18. Thereafter though, it was all downhill for Railways, as they self-destructed with a little assistance from the pitch. Cheluvaraj’s sweep shot ricocheted back onto his back leg before hitting the off-stump. Fazal tried to keep the scoreboard ticking, but going for one shot too many, was caught and bowled by Sharma for his second wicket. From 139/2, Railways were reduced to 140/5 in the space of seven balls. TP Singh was out for six to Sarabjit Ladda — the only wicket that Sharma did not claim on Tuesday. Sanjay Bangar followed on the same score, bowled after he was beaten for pace for a 69-ball 17. The ball cleaned up Yere Goud’s timber an over later for a duck. Sharma brought up his five-for by dismissing Harshad Rawle soon after tea. Suresh played sensibly with the help of Karan Sharma for his unbeaten 31 before bad light called off play. Rahul Sharma spun the ball with vengeance to take five wickets on the first day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match, against Railways on Tuesday. The leg-spinner brought Punjab back into the game after openers Faiz Faisal and V. Cheluvaraj had given the hosts a good start. Sharma bowled an off-stump line with precision, creating doubts in the batsmen’s mind. Faisal was the only Railways player who was able to negotiate the low bounce as Punjab persisted with spin for most part of the day. His knock of 87 included 13 boundaries but a single mistake saw him lob a catch back to Sharma and his team frittered away a good start to reach 191 for six at stumps. Railways brought up their hundred in 18 overs but with Faisal’s dismissal, the scoring slowed (not needed)down to a trickle. The next seven overs saw only five runs being added to the total as leg-spinners Sharma and Sarabjeet Ladda took full advantage of the wicket. Sanjay Bangar looked to continue with his form of the previous match but he mistimed a Sharma delivery to end his brief stay at the crease. The rest of the batting line-up did not put up much in terms of resistance as Railways slipped to 140 for five from 102 for no loss. Coach Abhay Sharma was disappointed with his team’s performance. “The wicket was slow and there was hardly any bounce in it. But we should have capitalised on the good start,” said the Railways coach. The day began on a dull note. Heavy rain stopped the match after only three overs. Play resumed after close to three hours of delay. Overcast conditions are likely to prevail in the coming days which might continue to help bowlers. Brief scores: Railways 191/6 in 59 overs (Faiz Fazal 87; Rahul Sharma 5/58).

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Maharashtra's skipper’s 111 helps hosts pile up 288 against Baroda A century by Maharashtra skipper Harshad Khadiwale helped his team to reach a score of 288 runs at the end of the first day in their Ranji Trophy encounter against Baroda at the Poona Club Cricket Ground here on Tuesday. More... Maharashtra's skipper’s 111 helps hosts pile up 288 against Baroda century by Maharashtra skipper Harshad Khadiwale helped his team to reach a score of 288 runs at the end of the first day in their Ranji Trophy encounter against Baroda at the Poona Club Cricket Ground here on Tuesday. Baroda skipper Irfan Pathan won the toss and chose to bowl, looking to take advantage of the moisture on the wicket. Maharashtra suffered an early blow as skipper Khadiwale had to leave the field in the fourth ove, after an awkward delivery hit him on his finger. However, Rohan Bhonsale and Sangram Atitkar put on 76 runs for the first wicket before Bhonsale was clean-bowled by Murtuja Vohora. Atitkar fell soon after scoring 50 runs. Ankit Bawne, who has had a good run in his debut tournament so far, fell within next five minutes for nine runs. Khadiwale then returned and continued as if he had never left the field. Wickets kept falling around him and yet he continued to play his natural game. He reached his century with a magnificent six off spinner Abhimayu Chauhan straight down the ground. He finally departed for 111 runs caught by Yusuf Pathan off the bowling of Bhargav Bhatt. Maharashtra were reeling at this stage with 254 runs on the board and only three wickets in hand. Maharashtra team managed to reach 288 thanks to debutant Kishor Bhikane's quickfire 14, but Irfan Pathan wrapped the tail, taking two wickets in two balls. For Baroda, Murtuja Vohora and and Irfan Pathan picked up three wickets each while Bhargav Bhatt chipped in with two wickets. In reply Baroda ended the day at 11 for no loss after two overs. Baroda coach Paras Mhambrey was happy with the team's overall performance, but felt Maharashtra were allowed too many runs in the end. “At the start of the day, we had aimed at restricting them to 250 odd runs but we gave away too many in the end. We couldn't capitalise on the early conditions and I am a little disappointed,” he said. He added that tomorrow's first session would be crucial. More... I feel no pressure: Harshad after ton Harshad Khadiwale, skipper of the Maharashtra team, does not get psyched easily. His innings of 111 runs in extremely tough circumstances in Maharashtra's do-or-die match against Baroda made this evident. Khadiwale, is the youngest captain in the history of the Ranji Trophy. Also, his team is facing the prospect of relegation if they get anything short of an outright victory. But the soft-spoken 21-year-old is calm and composed. "I feel no pressure," he says. Khadiwale speaks only when spoken to off the field, and is seen as an introvert by many. But when he wields the willow and takes centrestage, he reveals a completely different side to his personality - that of an aggressor. With 13 boundaries and two hits over the fence in his knock of 111, the Baroda bowlers saw some of this aggression and most of them were left licking their wounds. Initially they thought they would get some respite after he walked off injured in the 4 th over, but he came back shortly after with renewed vigour and dashed their hopes. “Getting back into the groove was a bit tough, but I just stuck to my natural game,” he said. When asked about his hopes for the team staying in the Elite Division he said, “We are not thinking too far ahead. We are just concentrating on tomorrow’s first session and on winning the match.”

[Mr. Wicket]

Double hundred for Rohit.

[Sachinism]

Ganguly 152 :adore: Rohit 246* (246)

[kooljatt]

Ganguly 152 :adore: Rohit 246* (246)

Rohit 309*B->B->B->

[jusarrived]

like I have always been saying , Rohit is indias future no4