Ranji Trophy - Super League 2009-2010 - Discussion thread

[jusarrived]

UP 153/7 & Delhi 199/7 Mithun has taken 4 already

[urbestfriend]

Cmon.. Mumbai is batting again , it is against the spirit if the game!

[Sachinism]

P Kumar :woot: UP 208 ao. Karnataka going through 4 wickets to Mithun

[Sachinism]

Cmon.. Mumbai is batting again ' date=' it is against the spirit if the game![/quote'] Should have just made Delhi follow on, they would have won anyway

[jusarrived]

strange Dravid dint bowl Mithun after he got 4

[urbestfriend]

strange Dravid dint bowl Mithun after he got 4

He doesn't want to burden his main seamer too much :woot:

[Sachinism]

Chawla pwning Karnataka for batting again 43/3 Chawla 3-9 in 5 overs Mumbai 123-4

[The Outsider]

Dravid - he needed some rest before the BD tests instead of tiring out his body in some useless domestic match. :wall:

[Sachinism]

Dravid - he needed some rest before the BD tests instead of tiring out his body in some useless domestic match. :wall:

:phehehe:

[coffee_rules]

What a sham of selection. Dravid who is a total failure in the last 2 years still get selected over Rohit Sharma, Nayar, Kukreja, jaffer and Agarkar. Gross injustice for people who burn the domestic mats still they select a 37-yr old for a useless Bangla tour. Where is Mohd Amarnath when you need him to call selectors names apt for them?

[Shane]

Dravid - he needed some rest before the BD tests instead of tiring out his body in some useless domestic match. :wall:

:hysterical::hysterical::hysterical:

[Guest Hiten.]

Dravid - he needed some rest before the BD tests instead of tiring out his body in some useless domestic match. :wall:

Tendulkar opted to rest, because his team can manage without him :giggle:. RD came, got Karnataka in the finals, finals mein kaun bachayega in kannadigans ko :hehe:

[coffee_rules]

Tendulkar opted to rest' date= because his team can manage without him :giggle:. RD came, got Karnataka in the finals, finals mein kaun bachayega in kannadigans ko :hehe:

Jaffer knows best not to buy a walking wicket. It should not be tamizhised. It is 'kannadigas'.

[cowboysfan]

Tendulkar opted to rest' date=' because his team can manage without him :giggle:. RD came, got Karnataka in the finals, finals mein kaun bachayega in [b']kannadigans ko :hehe:

self ban please.

[Guest Hiten.]

It should not be tamizhised. It is 'kannadigas'.

self ban please.

:reddy:

[Chandan]

Ranji trophy semifinal, Day three Powar struggle for Delhi as hosts tighten the noose It is all but over! Mumbai eye final berth after skittling out visitors for paltry 211 MUMBAI, WITH A LEAD OF 412, WILL HAVE TO PLAY SOME SILLY CRICKET TO LOSE THIS MATCH AND ARE MOST LIKELY TO MEET KARNATAKA IN FINAL. Mumbai have almost assured themselves of a spot in the Ranji Trophy final. Off-spinner Ramesh Powar ensured that Delhi didn't get the crucial first innings lead with a fivewicket haul. Weathering the storm Delhi’s Rajat Bhatia and Gaurav Chhabra batted with hope and courage for nearly three hours after the fall of Shikhar Dhawan after the pressure was created in the opening spells by Ajit Agarkar and Avishkar Salvi on Tuesday morning in the Ranji Trophy semifinals. Left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla’s tactics (delivering wide of the crease over the wicket) failed to unsettle Bhatia, a veritable backbone of the Delhi squad. Bhatia was well supported by Chhabra as Mumbai deployed all its resources to break the fifth-wicket pair, but did not succeed until an hour after lunch. Wasim Jaffer gave Ramesh Powar change of ends and it turned out to be lucky. In a space of 33 deliveries, Powar caused Delhi’s downfall — from a stable 188 for four to 211 all out — giving the home team a 289-run lead. It was the first five-wicket haul for any Mumbai bowler this season and it came in a span of 24 balls. The deadly second spell read 5.3-3-9-5. Till then, Delhi were fighting at 188 for four but were bowled out in eight overs. Powar was introduced from the pavilion end in the 14th over of the day and proved largely ineffective in that spell of seven overs. He got all his wickets from the far end. Delhi lost overnight batsman Shikhar Dhawan early in the day but Rajat Bhatia and Gaurav Chabra hardly had any problem dealing with the Mumbai attack. It stayed that way until Jaffer decided to bring Powar back into the attack from the far end, almost an hour after lunch. The change in ends seemed to do the trick for Powar as he got the ball to turn and also extracted bounce with his tantalisingly flighted deliveries. Mumbai batted again and scored 123 for an overall lead of 412 runs, and with six wickets remaining has nearly secured a place in the final. Resuming at 85 for three, Delhi saw the misfortune of Dhawan’s tentative forward play resulting in a nick to the ’keeper. And once Powar got rid of Bhatia (85, 174b, 9x4, 2x6), Delhi wilted. Pitch helping spinners The third day surface hinted at signs of offering assistance to the spinners, especially from the rough caused by boot marks. When Powar came in to bowl, an hour into the middle session, the ball was 71 overs old. Delhi captain Rajat Bhatia and Gaurav Chabra had done well to handle the short stuff and verbal volleys dished out by Ajit Agarkar and Usman Malvi. Chabra was tested to the hilt by Agarkar who kept bouncing him. The youngster who is in his second season seldom took a step back, slashing hard twice over the slip fielders. He kept his cool amidst all the chatter and it seemed that he, along with Bhatia, had weathered the storm. Powar changed that perception in that period. With the first ball of the second over of his spell he disturbed Bhatia’s stumps who quite extraordinarily went for a slog sweep. In the 72nd over, Delhi skipper Rajat Bhatia tried to sweep Powar and missed the ball to see his stumps disturbed. This was the wicket Mumbai desperately wanted as he looked in sublime touch. The right-hander had hit Iqbal Abdulla for a couple of big sixes. Next batsman Bisht survived only two deliveries.The third one he faced was pitched on length, the batsman tried to defend.The ball turned in sharply to find the gap between bat and pad to hit the stumps. Powar had his two-wicket maiden. And when he had Punit Bisht clean bowled, it was all over for Delhi. Bisht was foxed by a delivery that went through the gap between bat and pad. Parwinder Awana’s show of bravado when he smashed Abdulla for a six was the last note of aggression. Romesh Powar came back in the next over to send back Pradeep Sangwan, who was surprised by the bounce and turn and spooned a catch to short leg. He fell to one that took off after pitching, and the ball ballooned off the Delhi batsman’s gloves into the hands of short-leg. Abdulla then trapped the dangerman, in-form Chabra in front of the wicket. Ishant Sharma battled for a few minutes but had enough of it when he stepped out to Powar only to be foxed by the turn and was stumped. Parwinder Awana’s show of bravado when he smashed Abdulla for a six was the last note of aggression. Last man Parvinder Awana could, at his best, get a thick outside edge, which was caught by Jaffer at second slip, ending the visitors' first innings and prompting celebrations among his teammates. From 188 for 5, Delhi had lost five wickets for just 23 more runs. “The wicket of Bhatia was crucial. My intention was to keep the batsmen in the crease and that plan worked,” Powar later said. Powar power Mumbai's campaign this season had been affected by some insipid bowling. Barring one instance against Himachal Pradesh, they have been unable to bowl out the opposition twice. In the previous match against Haryana in Rohtak, it was Powar who got his team the crucial first innings lead with a fourwicket haul. And here at the Cricket Club of India on Tuesday, Powar continued with that form to bowl a devastating post-lunch spell. It was the first five-wicket haul for any Mumbai bowler this season. Season after season and one superlative performance after another, Ramesh Powar has spoken about how he is content playing for Mumbai. Never once did he reveal his disappointment of not been given a long enough (just two Tests and 31 ODIs) stint with the Indian team. But after picking five Delhi wickets for 47 runs in 15.3 overs in the Ranji Trophy semi-final yesterday, Powar couldn’t hide his resentment at being repeatedly ignored by the selectors. “Maybe this performance in the knock-out stage of the tournament counts.” The emphasis was on words ‘may be’ because as he said that in the past he’s never ever gone public with his disappointment. The turn Powar was getting here was prodigious. “Even I was shocked. I had bowled the first spell from the Club House End but then Ajit suggested that I come from Churchgate End. In the first spell I was trying too many things but I always knew that I had to be patient and it was just the matter of one good over.” There were serious doubts of him taking any further part in the season after he suffered a side strain early in the season. He said, “I have been lucky as I thought that I will be out for a long-time. But now I have played the quarter-final, the semis and am fit for the final. I actually used the break to work on the finer points of my action.” Mumbai batting Mumbai then decided not to enforce the follow-on, preferring to add to Delhi’s misery. Left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra did pick up three wickets, but it was too little too late for the visitors. “It’s been a long season and the bowlers are tired, so we will try to bat as long as we can. We would rather not bowl again. We want to be fresh for the final,” Powar said. In 33 overs Sahil Kukreka (71, 92b, 13 x 4) showed the need to use his feet against the spinners Vikas Mishra and Aditya Jain. Eventually he was bowled by an orthodox delivery from Vikas, who picked up three wickets that more or less confirmed that the pitch had truly begun to play tricks. Mishra makes a mark New Delhi While Mumbai off-spinner Ramesh Powar may have hogged the limelight with his five wicket haul - putting his team on the brink of the Ranji Trophy finals — Delhi left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra’s effort of seven wickets in the match so far has been over-shadowed. Mishra though feels that if his side managed to gain the first-innings lead like they did against Tamil Nadu in the quarterfinals, things would have been very different. “It’s hard to be happy when your team is in such a situation. When Rajat Bhatia bhai and (Shikhar) Dhawan were batting, we really had high hopes” Mishra said, speaking to Sportline. For 17-year-old Mishra, playing his debut Ranji Trophy season and having to perform against domestic champions Mumbai hasn’t been an easy task. Coming into the game with a five-wicket haul against Tamil Nadu, Mishra had hoped things would pan out on similar lines, but he soon realized that playing against Mumbai in their backyard is not easy. “I was nervous before the game started but I was hoping to take wickets here. Once we started to bowl, I realised why Mumbai are 38-time Ranji Trophy champions. They are best side in the country and they proved it once again by scoring 500 runs in the first innings,” Mishra said. Mishra’s took four wickets for 89 runs in the first innings, but the left-arm spinner showcased his skills in the second. Once the pitch had become conducive to spinners, Mishra was hard to stop. He constantly pitched his deliveries in right areas, forcing the batsmen to rely on their footwork. On Tuesday, he dismissed Mumbai skipper Wasim Jaffer with a perfectly flighted delivery which landed on middle-stump and turned sharply to take his outside edge, while wicketkeeper Puneet Bisht completed the formalities. While he extracted sharp turn for his second wicket, the resulting mode of dismissal was different. A defending Vinayak Samant had his off-stump uprooted to send the Delhi team into a frenzy. Sahil Kukreja was out in almost identical fashion, to give him his third. “The pitch was assisting me, so I had an advantage,” the lanky spinner added. With Delhi’s regular spinner Chetnya Nanda sitting out due to injury, Delhi skipper Rajat Bhatia says his team had to give the youngster a chance. Bhatia later explained it was better to pick a player who has taken five wickets in the last match, rather than going with somebody coming back from a long lay-off. Powar too, who has been heading Mumbai’s spin department for a about a decade now, feels Mishra will gain more knowledge about the art with experience. “He is just 17 and has a long way to go. He looks good but I think he is bowling a little too quick through the air, which is not helping him. The pitch helped him today, but as he plays more, he will learn to depend on himself,” Powar said.

[Chandan]

No thorns in Karnataka path as Mithun routs UP In the end, all the Uttar Pradesh men put together couldn’t even match Rahul Dravid’s individual tally! That simple fact encapsulated Tuesday’s play at the Chinnaswamy stadium as Karnataka secured their place in the final of the Ranji Trophy for the first time since 1998-99. With tyro A Mithun (4/51) maintaining his stranglehold over the Uttar Pradesh batsmen, Karnataka opened up a massive 367-run first-innings lead, rendering Wednesday’s play all but meaningless. Led by speedster A Mithun, the Karnataka bowlers once again sparkled to ensure Karnataka’s passage to the final of the Ranji Trophy where they will possibly take on Mumbai. The Karnataka bowling lived up to the call of the skipper as early inroads were made by Mithun. After taking the massive lead, Karnataka decided not to enforce the follow-on, more as reward for the brilliant work by the bowlers who strove hard and succeeded on the flat Chinnaswamy stadium wicket. UP were skittled out for 208, a run short of Rahul Dravid’s unbeaten 209 and 218 runs short of avoiding the follow-on. On a tight leash Any hopes the visitors might have had, despite being 11 for two, of making a match of it disappeared within 22 deliveries and as many minutes of the start of play. In the day’s third over, Mithun elicited a half-hearted waft from Tanmay Srivatsava that merely succeeded in deflecting the ball on to the stumps; seven deliveries later, Vinay got one to jag back considerably and catch Parvinder Singh palpably in front. Resuming at 11 for two on the third day, Uttar Pradesh slumped to 13 for four in a span of 22 deliveries. Through their morning spells both Mithun (6-3-9-1) and Vinay (7-2-12-1) kept Uttar Pradesh skipper Mohammad Kaif (30) and his partner Rohit Prakash (55, 163b, 7x4) under a tight leash. The twin blows reduced Uttar Pradesh to 13 for four, and an embarrassing rout appeared nigh with Mithun and Vinay having their tails up. An initially fortuitous Rohit Prakash and a more composed Mohd Kaif prevented total humiliation with an 88-run (152m, 247b) fifth-wicket association, though no one was under any illusion that it was nothing if not a losing battle. However, the pair crafted a dogged 88-run fifth-wicket partnership. Mithun’s bouncers were menacing and Kaif’s lone moment of relief was when he pulled the speedster past the ropes. The Kaif-Prakash partnership was just beginning to assume nuisance value when Dravid turned to his battering ram a little after lunch, and Mithun obliged immediately when he had Kaif playing on a fullish delivery. Joshi’s persistence landed him Prakash’s wicket as Robin Uthappa took a smart catch at silly point off the leading edge and Mithun then forced a clueless Amir Khan to put up a catch to short leg off a lifter. Mithun though had the last laugh as he thudded one into Kaif’s feeble bat and exulted as the ball rolled back to hit the stumps. Tail wags The tail wagged for a while through Piyush Chawla (36) and Praveen Kumar (58 not out, 60b, 4x4, 5x6), who pounded Sunil Joshi, but, Uttar Pradesh never recovered from its top-order collapse. Piyush Chawla and Praveen Kumar threw their bats around and the latter struck some lusty blows as he completed a half-century and angrily pointed the bat handle towards the specialist batsmen in the dressing room. Some merit in his frustration, but this was more a battle won by Karnataka rather than lost by UP. No follow on Uttar Pradesh were sent crashing to 208 all out – Dravid had made an unbeaten 209 on Monday – as Mithun scythed through them like a hot knife through butter. With an eye on keeping the bowlers as fresh as possible ahead of the title clash against Mumbai beginning on Monday, Dravid opted not to enforce the follow on. Leggie Piyush Chawla cashed in on the increasingly pronounced uneven bounce to snaffle three for five in 16 deliveries so that Karnataka finished the penultimate day on 43 for three, ahead by 410. However, the host can sit secure with the knowledge of having sealed a berth in the final after bowling out Uttar Pradesh for 208 to gain a crucial 367-run first innings lead. The wicket which played flat all though Karnataka’s first innings with the bounce getting lower and lower seemed to have been infused with some life whenever Mithun came on to bow. The well-built paceman generated enough pace and his short pitched stuff had the UP batsmen in all kinds of trouble. The UP batsmen did not show the gumption required to stand up to the pace of Mithun. With just a day left and Karnataka having seven wickets in hand, UP’s hopes at another shot at the national title has been extended. By any yardstick of imagination, this UP team cannot dream of pulling out a Bunny from their bags. Karnataka’s second innings, more an inconsequential one in terms of the result, saw Piyush Chawla hitting the right line to claim a wicket in each of his second, third and fourth overs after Karnataka were sailing along at 34 for no loss. Star of the day Mithun was the undisputed star of the day, making the ball talk even on the docile track. Uttar Pradesh had had a taste of the Mithun medicine two months back in Meerut when, on debut, he took 11 wickets to set up Karnataka’s 185-run conquest. Uttar Pradesh would have expected themselves to be better prepared this time around, but Mithun again blasted through them with a combination of great pace and not insignificant bounce. If anything, the placidity of the Chinnaswamy strip became his ally because the bounce he generated was just enough for the batsmen to have to play the ball which, needless to say, they didn’t do too well. It was by no means Mithun all the way, but there is no denying that he had a mesmeric effect on the Uttar Pradesh batsmen that did R Vinay Kumar, S Arvind and Sunil Joshi’s cause no harm at all. While Mithun has hogged much of the bowling limelight this season, Vinay has been the most successful bowler in the country. Parvinder’s stick extended his tally to a nation-high 39, just reward for perseverance, commitment and no little skill. Mithun has 38 after his heroics on Tuesday while left-arm medium-pacer Arvind, who accounted for two late wickets, has 25. How’s that for incisiveness?! Pace trio gets it right once again His four-wicket haul on Tuesday boosted A Mithun’s tally in his maiden first-class season to 38, just one behind team-mate R Vinay Kumar’s country-high 39. With S Arvind’s left-arm swing fetching him 25, Karnataka’s pace trio has an enviable 102 wickets this season between them. “It’s a total team effort,” said Vinay, at 25 already the senior fast bowler in the team. “Whatever I have learnt from my seniors like Venky (Prasad), I am passing on to these two younger guys. There is healthy competition amongst us, and that augurs well for Karnataka.” Arvind added, “It feels great to be a part of this unit. I have learnt a lot from bowling alongside Vinay, and it feels terrific that between us, we have more than 100 wickets this Ranji season.” Mithun didn’t want to reflect on the fact that he is just one behind Vinay’s tally this year. “I am just focusing on the task at hand,” said the 20-year-old, then pointed out that Rahul Dravid’s advice had stood him in good stead in the semifinal against Uttar Pradesh. “Dravid sir told me to focus on bowling in the right areas to take wickets. He asked me to use the bouncers in the right way, at the right time,” Mithun noted. “I am happy that I could take four wickets on this wicket. “From the far end, there was good bounce. Then, some balls were keeping low which created hesitation in the minds of the batsmen. This is a wicket which suits my bowling because I hit the deck very hard.” Mithun said he had been unaffected by the pressures of bowling in a Ranji semifinal in his first season. “There was no pressure as such of playing in the semifinal. Also, we had posted a big total, and that really helped in settle whatever nerves there might have been.” Of his four wickets, Mithun said he enjoyed Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s scalp, trapped leg before late on Monday evening, the most. “That ball was a good one, the plan I had in my mind was executed well.” Pandey, Mithun now await Mumbai An 11-year wait will end on Wednesday when Karnataka will officially secure their entry into the final of the Ranji Trophy. They will take on the current champions, Mumbai, on home turf. Though six-time former champions Karnataka’s performance this year has been most impressive, as opposed to Mumbai’s lacklustre run so far, Mumbai can never be underestimated: they have won Ranji Trophy no less than 38 times and beaten Karnataka in three of the four finals. Next Monday, Karnataka will lock horns with Mumbai either at the Chinnaswamy stadium here or in Mysore, with their confidence high and their self-belief supreme. After all, Karnataka have been the most dominant team this season, the infusion of young blood working wonders and the availability of Rahul Dravid at key moments an unquantifiable plus. The former Indian skipper is unlikely to figure in the title clash, and while Karnataka will miss his rich experience and unquestioned expertise, they have already shown that even without their inspirational captain, they can be more than a handful. The dynamic duo of Manish Pandey with the bat and first-season wonder Abhimanyu Mithun with the ball have taken the country by storm. Pandey has upwards of 700 runs, including three exceptional centuries in trying circumstances, while the express Mithun has finally given Karnataka the luxury of fighting fire with fire – his 38 wickets a wonderful tribute to his skills given that he has often had to bowl on unresponsive tracks. No less impressive has been R Vinay Kumar, the tireless medium-pacer who leads all-comers this season with 39 wickets. Pandey, though, has been in a league of his own, the brightest jewel in a young batting line-up well served by K B Pawan, Ganesh Satish and Amit Verma. Against a team adept at playing big matches with intelligence, Karnataka will need to be on top of their game. Mumbai have done just enough to give themselves a chance to defend the title won last year.

[urbestfriend]

Bring it on Mumbai :mi: , we'll fight fire with fire :brc:

[gaurav92]

^ As we predicted :winky:

[maverickingrass]

why do our top teams play so dull crcicket. as much as fans of both the finalists might enjoy but they cannot get away from the fact that both of them squandared the chance to win outright.mumbai is specially pathetic with just 1 outright win out of a total of 8 or 9 games. as indian fans we should be expecting more aggresive cricketers coming our way . if teams cannot impose folow on after being 300 odd ahead then god know what would force them to do so. i was watching the mumbai game on neo with former mumbai captain milind rege as the comentator.not a single word came from him, deriding mumbai's ultra defensve tactics. had some other team taken such a defensive approach all the mumbai press would have come howling.....rege rather felt happy with the knowledge that mumbai wld not have to field for long in second innings...