Ranji Trophy 2010-11: Super League

[ludhianvi]

Dharmani said Mandeep has been released for some tournament and will not play today.

Hmmm...he was playing in the VINOO MANKAD (U-19) tournament and helped his team win against Mumbai in the knockout stage. Recognized a few other players as well from the u19 team as well Netravalkar, Harmmet, Sandeep, Mannan Sharma,etc. Meanwhile Rahul and Unadkat have found a spot in their respective Ranji teams. http://bccicricket.org/cims/web/jsp/FullScoreCard.jsp?matchid=2122

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Kohli's century gives Delhi first-day honours over TN Virat Kohli's second century in as many innings took Delhi to a solid 258 for three at the end of day one of its Ranji Trophy Elite Group ‘A' match against Tamil Nadu here on Wednesday. More... Kohli's century gives Delhi first-day honours Sports Reporter — Photo: K. Pichumani Captain's knock:Skipper Virat Kohli's century put Delhi in a strong position against Tamil Nadu on day one of the Ranji Trophy. Chennai: Virat Kohli's second century in as many innings took Delhi to a solid 258 for three at the end of day one of its Ranji Trophy Elite Group ‘A' match against Tamil Nadu here on Wednesday. Virat Kohli is fast becoming a terror for bowlers on the domestic circuit. The ease and grace with which he unleashes a wide variety of shots force the fielding side to run for cover. On Wednesday, it was the turn of the Tamil Nadu bowlers to be at the receiving end. Kohli's unbeaten 119 helped Delhi amass 258 for three on Day One at the Chepauk. Kohli, coming off a stroke-filled 173 against Bengal, was batting on 119 (219b, 11x4, 3x6) at close of play. He put on 190 for the third wicket with Mithun Manhas (70, 140b, 4x4, 2x6), before the Delhi skipper fell late in the day to the second new ball. Compared to the opening match against Bengal, where he scored 173, the Tamil Nadu attack comprised three frontline spinners. It made little difference to Kohli. His confidence was on show as he unleashed booming drives when the spinners bowled full, and came up with horizontal shots when they were a little short. Interestingly, the spin battery had looked threatening before Kohli came to the crease. Off-spinners R Ashwin and M Prabhu wove an intricate web around the openers Shikhar Dhawan and Chetan Sharma, in particular. They bowled an immaculate line to choke the flow of runs. Dhawan though started off well with his trademark cover drives. But as the seamers gave way to the spinners, Sharma struggled to find the boundaries and rotate the strike. Dhawan (41) too lost his rhythm and was bowled round his legs by Ashwin. Sharma's (11) misery ended soon after as after edging one to the slips. That brought Kohli and Mithun Manhas together and the script changed. Both batsmen showed a positive approach and went for their strokes, forcing Tamil Nadu skipper Dinesh Karthik to pull back the fielders who were hovering around the bat until then. Tamil Nadu fielded three spinners, debutant M. Prabhu replacing the injured Lakshmipathy Balaji. The off-spinner made a promising start to his career, giving away just six runs in a 10-over spell before lunch. Before Prabhu's introduction and his controlled bowling in tandem with fellow offie R. Ashwin, the left-handed Shikhar Dhawan had been dominant, driving, slashing and pulling the inexperienced Sunil Sam for a series of boundaries. Dhawan fell for 41 (77b, 7x4), bowled around his legs trying to sweep Ashwin. His opening partner Chetan Sharma, another leftie, went soon after, nicking Prabhu to slip. Good form Kohli looked in superb touch right from the start, and pulled Ashwin for a big six over midwicket before driving him twice in his next over for fours, once to cover's right and once to his left, on bent knee. Whatever purchase the bowlers found in the morning disappeared after lunch. Later, Kohli revealed that there were a couple of fresh patches of grass on the wicket in the morning that dried out as the day wore on. As Kohli and Manhas grew in confidence, Tamil Nadu's tactics became more defensive. Seven-two and six-three fields predominated, with the spinners bowling into the emerging leg-side roughs. Kohli still managed to find the boundaries regularly, stepping inside the line to drive left-arm spinner Aushik Srinivas inside-out, or going over the top when the length permitted. At the other end, Manhas nearly took his partner's head off with a flat-batted drive down the ground off Aushik. Kohli went past his hundred soon after tea with a wristy on-drive for one. Asked whether there was any specific aspect of his game that he had worked on during his recent run of form (centuries in his last three innings, including an ODI against Australia at Visakhapatnam), he said that he had made a conscious effort to concentrate harder in the 70s and 80s, “the sort of time when you tend to lose focus.” Ganapathy strikes Late in the day, C. Ganapathy revived Tamil Nadu with the wicket of Manhas, trapping him on the shuffle with one that came back in. Delhi suffered another blow soon after, Rajat Bhatia retiring hurt after Ganapathy struck him on the bottom hand with one that reared spitefully off the seam. Tamil Nadu then missed a glorious opportunity to end the day on a high, Aushik dropping Kohli when he was on 112, spilling his skied pull off Ganapathy after running in from long leg.

[Chandan]

Round up, Day One A round-up of the first day's action of various Ranji Trophy Super League matches across the country. Mumbai vs Bengal Rahane hits century as Mumbai dominate Bengal. Ajinkya Rahane started his Ranji season in style hitting his 15th first-class century as defending champions Mumbai scored 287 for four at stumps, on the first day against Bengal at the Eden Gardens. Rahane (110, 189 balls, 15x4), who missed Mumbai's opening encounter against Saurashtra at Rajkot, added 152 runs with skipper Wasim Jaffer (73, 121 balls, 11x4) for the third wicket before Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary (two for 23) bowling his gentle seamers removed them in quick succession. At close of play, Rohit Sharma (37 batting) and all-rounder Abhishek Nayar (13 batting) were at the crease having added 50 runs for the unbroken fifth wicket partnership. Brief Scores: Mumbai 287-4 (A Rahane 110, W Jaffer 73, M Tiwary 2-23) vs Bengal Punjab vs Karnataka Vinay Kumar, Aravind bundle out Punjab for 243 Pacers R Vinay Kumar and Sreenath Aravind helped Karnataka bundle out Punjab for a mere 243 on the opening day of the Group B match at the PCA stadium. Despite Punjab's Uday Kaul scoring a brilliant 94, Vinay Kumar (5 for 61) and Aravind (4 for 63) dominated the day's proceedings to push the hosts on to the backfoot. Brief scores: Punjab: 243 all out in 89.5 overs (Uday Kaul 94, Yuvraj Singh 39, R Vinay Kumar 5-61, Sreenath Aravind 4-63) Delhi vs TamilNadu Kohli cracks unbeaten 119 to guide Delhi to 258-3 vs Tamil Nadu Virat Kohli slammed an unbeaten 119 to help former Champions Delhi reach 258 for three in 88 overs against Tamil Nadu at close on the opening day of their group-A match in Chennai. Electing to bat first, Delhi Captain Mithun Minhas provided a good foil to Kohli in his effort to make a fine 70 (140b, 4 X 4 and 2 X 6) and his stand for the third wicket yielded 190 runs of 53.5 overs. At close, Kholi was batting on 119 (219b, 11x4 and 3x6) and Punit Bisht, who came in after another Delhi dependable batsman Rajat Bhatia retired hurt due to an injury on his right hand sustained while negotiating a raising delivery from M.Prabhu, was on five. Brief scores: Delhi: 258-3 in 88 overs (Shikhar Dhawan [ Images ] 41, Virat Kohli batting 119, Punit Bisht batting 5, C Ganapathy 1-21, R Ashwin 1-75 and M Prabhu 1-34). UP vs Orissa UP crawl to 174-4 on day one against Orissa Captain Mohammad Kaif (51) and Eklavya Dwivedi (83) scored painstaking half centuries as hosts Uttar Pradesh crawled to 174 for four at stumps, on the first day of their Group B match against Orissa, at the Dr Akhilesh Dasgupta Stadium in Lucknow. At stumps, Parvinder Singh on 17 was at the crease along with wicketkeeper-batsman Amir Khan, who is yet to open his account. For the entire 90 overs, UP's average was an unimpressive 1.93. Brief scores: UP: 174-4 (Eklavya Dwivedi 83, Mohd. Kaif 51) vs Orissa Haryana vs Baroda Munaf, Yusuf shine as Baroda take lead vs Haryana Paceman Munaf Patel took four for 34 before Yusuf Pathan (65 not out) hit an aggressive half century as Baroda seized control on the first day of their Group B match against Haryana by taking a 48-run first innings lead. Baroda captain Pinal Shah opted to bowl and Munaf and left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt (three for 25) bundled out Haryana for a paltry 127 in 42.2 overs. Dhruv Singh was the top-scorer for Haryana with 35 as his team folded an hour into the post-lunch session at the Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium in Rohtak. Assam vs Railways Kartik takes four, Assam struggle Left-arm spinner Murali Kartik heavily dented the Assam middle and lower order with important breakthroughs as Railways reduced the visitors to 174 for seven, on the opening day of the Group A match at the Karnail Singh Stadium. The left-arm spinner took four for 31 and struck blows whenever Assam tried to build partnerships. Skipper Amol Mazumdar (44) then did some damage control sharing couple of important partnerships with veteran S Sriram (31) and Deepak Sharma (21) for the third and fourth wicket respectively. Gujarat vs Saurashtra The opening day at Surat was called off due to rain.

[gaurav92]

Great summary Chandan :nice: Mumbai on a roll, i hope we get the 40th title this year :aha:

[saneindian]

Watched the highlights of Punjab vs Karnataka game on Neo last evening. Never seen so much grass on a wicket in India. Lovely wicket really. Seam, bounce, turn it had everything. And if a batsman was willing to be patient and had a good defence, he will succeed too like Uday Kaul did. A 50 scored here is much better than a 100 on a pata wicket. Wil be interesting to see how Karnataka do when they bat today. Wish we could have more such pitches for domestic matches.

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Kartik has Assam in a spin Picking up wickets at regular intervals was the cornerstone of the Railways' bowling as they reduced Assam to 174 for 7 at the Karnail Singh Stadium on Wednesday. Shubhodeep Chakravarty reports. More... Kartik shines on a drab day Special Correspondent NEW DELHI: Murali Kartik dominated the opening day with a typically dogged show even as Amol Muzumdar put up a defiant show in the afternoon as Assam finished the day at 174 for seven against Railways in the Ranji Trophy super league here on Wednesday. Kartik with the ball and Muzumdar with the bat brought intensity to the contest on a pitch that tested patience and skills. Four wickets was a just reward for Kartik, who bowled with his customary rhythm and a competitive streak that involved him in a verbal exchange with Muzumdar. “The pitch is not easy to bat on and the outfield is heavy,” commented Muzumdar at the end of the day. “The conditions may have conspired against Assam, which elected to bat, but credit to Kartik for sticking to a nagging line. He conceded a few boundaries but never lost his grip on the batsmen. Best phase The early loss of openers, Dheeraj Jadhav and Parvez Aziz, brought Muzumdar together with S. Sriram. It was the best phase of the day as Kartik looked to make a dent but Sriram and Muzumdar used their experience to ensure a healthy lunch at 60 for two. The two, however lost their concentration in the next session and allowed Railways to bounce back. Sriram's 107-ball vigil ended after a tentative forward thrust off Kartik and Muzumdar played an uncharacteristic on-drive to a leg-spinner and was lured into top-edging, much to the delight of M. Suresh, who bowled within his limitations. Deepak Sharma, Tarjinder Singh and Kunal Saikia offered resistance but failed to sustain their efforts against an inspired Kartik, who accounted for all the three wickets in the last session.

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Focussed Dwivedi impresses on debut as UP forced to crawl by Orissa It rarely happens that one doesn't feel the pressure of playing a debut match. This was proved in the case of Eklavya Dwivedi, who stood tall for Uttar Pradesh with a half-century. Sharad Deep reports. More... Focussed Dwivedi impresses on debut Orisa pacers succeeded in keeping a check on Uttar Pradesh batsmen on the first day of their Ranji Trophy tie at Lucknow. The slow wicket and a heavy outfield at Akhilesh Das Stadium helped Orissa in following their gameplan of not allowing the hosts to score easily. UP were at 174 for four at stumps. However, UP had a reason to cheer about as debutant Eklavya Dwivedi compensated for talented batsman Digvijay Singh’s absence in a big way by scoring a cautious 83. Digvijay and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have been sent to Mumbai to strengthen the UP team in its crucial under-22 match. Orissa medium pacer Debasis Mohanty bowled with good vision to ensure the departure of Shivakant Shukla (1) in the fifth over with just 5 runs on board. Fellow opener Tanmay Srivastava (13) became a victim of a Biplab Samantray delivery in the seventeenth over. With the scoreboard reading 28 for two, UP resorted to a very safe approach. Skipper Mohammad Kaif (51) and Eklavya Dwivedi (83) contributed 113 runs through their third wicket partnership. The partnership resulted from 329 balls and lasted for 201 minutes and only 12 boundaries were scored during this period. It rarely happens that one doesn't feel the pressure of playing a debut match. This was proved in the case of Eklavya Dwivedi, who stood tall for Uttar Pradesh with a half-century. Certainly, no one had expected such a start from the young wicketkeeper-batsman, known for his faulty batting technique. But, Dwivedi used a soft hand, ducked the bouncers and did not try anything unusual against Orissa on Day One of the Elite Group B tie. While allowing few opportunities to the rival bowlers, Dwivedi carried his bat at a time when scoring was tough due to a heavy outfield at the Dr Akhilesh Das Gupta Stadium and the ball came to the bat at a less than average pace. This coupled with some steady bowling by pacers Debashish Mohanty, Basanta Mohanty, Alok Sahoo and Biplab Samantaray, did not allow the batsmen to free their arms at any time. Dwivedi's 83 off 250 balls, with the help of nine hits to the fence, guided the former champions to 174/4. The knock also saved UP the blushes after they had lost two quick wickets for just 28. He along with skipper Mohd Kaif batted cautiously and took the side to 57/2 at lunch in 35 overs. The fact that UP, who have reached Ranji Trophy finals thrice in the last five years and have won it once, lacked in taking initiative and did not exhibit aggression in their game could be gauged from the fact the team was at 57 for two in 35 overs at lunch and at 128 for two in 68 overs at tea-break. Both skipper Kaif and youngster Eklavya became victims of pacer Alok Sahoo. Dwivedi was lucky to have been dropped by wicketkeeper Subhrajit Sahoo of a Debasis Mohanty ball when he was at 1 and UP at 7. Interestingly, it was Subhrajit who finally took the catch of an Alok Sahoo delivery in the 89th over but by that time the 22-year-old had provided UP the much needed stability. Eklavya’s 83 came off 250 balls and featured nine boundaries. Earlier, Kaif who completed his half-century in style with a boundary, fell leg before on the very next ball of Alok Sahoo. It was a dream start for Orissa as Debashish Mohanty swung one back to uproot Shivakant Shukla's (1) stumps off the second ball of his third over. Then, fellow opener Tanmay Srivastava (13) dragged a Samantaray delivery to his off stump in the 17th over. A slump loomed large but Kaif and Dwivedi did not allow further damage and tea was taken at 128/2. Once settled, Dwivedi freed his arms with some hard-hitting punches on the back foot. The only occasion when Dwivedi was tentative was while playing a quick one from Sahoo on the leg. He managed an edge and wicketkeeper Shubrjet Sahoo took a diving catch to his left. Kaif shared the day's honours with a 51, his second half-century this season. Before being adjudged leg before off a slow yorker from Sahoo, Kaif had struck six boundaries in his 160-ball essay and added 113 for the third-wicket with Dwivedi. There was a slight confusion when Parvinder Singh was declared leg-before by umpire Suresh Shastri when he was at 14 of a Basant Mohanty ball but the decision was revoked and Parvinder was called back just on time after umpire Sanjay Hazare seemingly communicated something to his fellow umpire. Youngster Eklavya Dwivedi was beaming with joy at the end of the day. Dwivedi, who hails from Allahabad but has been in Delhi for many years, is a trainee of seasoned coach Tarak Sinha. Eklavya said that he had prepared himself mentally to come up with a big knock today, the only thing was that he was a bit more alert. He defended UP's batting approach saying that the wicket was a slow one and said that Orissa batsmen will face even more problems as the wicket will deteriorate day by day.UP skipper Mohammad Kaif said that Orissa bowlers did their job well and the fact that the “set batsmen—myself and Eklavya— are out so we have to be a bit more cautious.” Orissa captain SS Das confided that he was a happy man at the end of the day. “We intended to stop the flow of runs and we were successful in that. We will be aiming at taking early wickets tomorrow.” Brief Scores: Uttar Pradesh 1st Innings: 174 for four in 90 overs( Eklavya Dwivedi 83, M Kaif 51, Parvinder Singh batting 17, Amir Khan batting 0 ; Alok Sahoo 2 for 40, D Mohanty 1 for 12, B Samantray 1 for 8) vs Orissa. Umpire faces the flak Parvinder's wicket h could have put us in a r y, better position. O R I S S A P L AY E R n : Test umpire Suresh Shastri was in the news for wrong reasons on Wednesday, as a decision during the Uttar Pradesh-Orissa match came in for sharp criticism. Shastri, who became a Test umpire in 2007 and had been criticised by Sachin Tendulkar for a decision against the Mumbai Indians during the 2008 IPL, adjudged UP's Parvinder Singh leg before off Basant Mohanty in the 88th over. t The batsman tried hard to n convince Shastri that the ball r had first hit the bat. Having e failed, he started to walk e towards the pavilion before s Shastri called him back. He f realised his mistake after legh umpire, Sanjay Hazare, confirmed the bat-pad. This left the Orissa fielders fuming. “We did not expect such a mistake from an experienced umpire,“ said a player. “Parvinder's wicket could have put us in a much better position at the end of the day as he went on to play a crucial knock for his side today,“ he added. Both Shastri and Hazare refused to comment. Match referee, Harvinder Singh Sodhi, cited the BCCI's advisory to match officials, for staying silent.

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Bengal claw back after Rahane's ton In a topsy-turvy first day’s play, Bengal paid the price of dropping Rahane, but bounced back through skipper Tiwary, who accounted for the wickets of the two dangermen. More... Bengal claw back - RANJI TIE vs MUMBAI - Tiwary strikes after Rahane century; Jaffer hits 73 Calcutta: Two late strikes by Manoj Tiwary put Bengal in command after Ajinkya Rahane (110) and Wasim Jaffer (73) threatened to run away with Day One honours in the Mumbai-Bengal Ranji clash here on Wednesday. In a topsy-turvy first day’s play, Bengal paid the price of dropping Rahane, but bounced back through skipper Tiwary, who accounted for the wickets of the two dangermen. At stumps on Wednesday, Mumbai were 287 for 4. Rohit Sharma (37 batting) and Abhishek Nayar (13 batting) will take guard for the visitors on Thursday. Susanth Marathe (11) and Omkar Gurav (38) departed early, but Wasim Jaffer (73) and in-form Ajinkya Rahane (110) guided Mumbai to safety after opting to bat on a slow track. The only blot in Rahane’s innings was in the 14th over when he scooped one to the gully but Bengal debutant Aritam Porel dropped the sitter. Rahane, playing his first match of the 2010 Ranji season, was on 12 with the scoreboard reading 35 for two. Mumbai knew overcoming the early morning blues was the key to the day. It looked a bad omen when Marathe (11) was run out after falling down while taking a cheeky single. Fellow opener Gurav (38) also followed suit inside the first session. Jaffer and Rahane went about resurrecting the innings with immaculate precision. Apart from the one chance squandered by Bengal, there was nothing more they could do to dent Mumbai’s confidence. Mumbai’s Ajinkya Rahane scored 110 yesterday Bengal didn’t help their cause by feeding Jaffer on the leg-stump. Straying on the leg when the ball still had some shine didn’t make things any better for Bengal. Rahane piled the misery at the other end, playing strokes at will. Some exquisite drives, well-timed cuts and occasional pulls rounded up the day for the duo. The two never looked to be under any pressure and constantly kept the run-rate above three. Rahane, who was in sublime touch playing every ball according to its merit, hit 15 boundaries, while Jaffer was equally solid at the other end. Jaffer’s innings was peppered with 11 hits to the fence. Rahane and Wasim Jaffer have always been the bedrock of Mumbai’s batting. So, it wasn’t exactly a throwback when the two combined to orchestrate a Mumbai attack on Wednesday. The duo added 152 runs runs for the third wicket, and Rahane slammed his 15th first class hundred. But just when it seemed the two veterans were on the verge of posting another colossal total, Tiwary struck in consecutive overs after tea. Rohan Banerjee dived full stretch to nab Rahane, while ’keeper Wriddhiman Saha grabbed Jaffer’s nick with a glee. The Bengal skipper was unlucky at the toss, but lady luck soon smiled when Mumbai opener Sushant Marathe was run out in the 10th over. Marathe tapped Laxmi Ratan Shukla, who was bowling his second over, for a single but slipped mid-way. Rohan Banerjee swooped on the ball and clipped the bails straightaway. Though the visitors began rather shakily, Bengal didn’t help their cause with an equally insipid bowling display. Both Ranadeb Bose and Ashok Dinda failed to get any movement off the deck or in the air. Omkar Gurav played himself in gallantly trying to wear the shine off the new ball with Rahane. Dinda chugged in tirelessly and failed to create an alarm, barring an edge off Rahane. Mumbai had just sailed to 35 when Rahane (on 12) sliced at Dinda. The ball flew to debutant Ritam Porel, who failed to latch on to it at gully. Mumbai were uncharacteristically slow to score their runs having managed just 38 in the first 16 overs. But, given Mumbai’s legacy to out-bat their opponents, the ploy to settle down against the hosts seemed appropriate. A change of ends, however, gave Dinda hope when he angled the ball in to Rahane in the 23rd over. After an hour of unproductive trundle, the slip squadron suddenly came to life with a sharp leg before appeal. The only occasion after Dinda’s effort when the hosts came close to dismissing Rahane was in the 38th over. Gurav had flicked Shib Sagar Singh and pushed for a double. Rahane, who was running towards the danger end, had to make a diving attempt to make his ground. Gurav dead-batted the Bengal seamers and grew in confidence even though Dinda hurled a few bouncers at him. But it was off-spinner Sourasish Lahiri who did the trick, finally, for the hosts. Gurav, who was looking solid, pushed at one from the offie that went straight. Arindam Das, fielding at first slip, took an easy offering. Rahane rocked back to unfurl some of his trademark shots through cover. Known for his ground strokes, the Mumbai batsman hit some crisp drives off Bose and Dinda. Shukla, who often banged it short, also took a hitting for his wayward bowling. The Mumbai batsman brought his 50 up after lunch, and, at the stroke of tea, pulled Dinda for four to get to his 100. Rahane, though, was disappointed at not being able to continue till close. “I would have loved to continue, but otherwise it’s okay as the wicket was not easy for batting,” Rahane said. Played natural game: Rahane Calcutta: A century is uplifting when it is scored against tough challenge and not when it comes against incompetence. Ajinkya Rahane, who scored his 15th first class hundred on Wednesday, was not exactly elated, but had a nonchalant look on his face. The Mumbai top-order batsman made full use of the early reprieve and made Bengal pay for it. “I was playing my natural game. Thank God, they dropped me on 12. I took full advantage of it and scored my hundred,” Rahane said at the close of the first day’s play on Wednesday. Rahane had missed Mumbai’s first match against Saurashtra due to injury and was determined to make it count against Bengal. “I was disappointed to miss the first match. I wanted to make up for that. That made me more focused,” he said. The Bengal pacers lacked penetration and barring Ashok Dinda, none of the other seamers got a chance against the Mumbai batsman. The Eden Gardens wicket had a slight tinge of grass on it, but there was no perceptible movement off the deck. Thanks to some toothless bowling, Rahane made his maiden first class outing at the Eden Gardens memorable. “I have played an U-19 match at the Eden before. But this was my first first-class match here,” he said. The Mumbai Indians opener said he considers Sachin Tendulkar his role model and has picked a lot from him. “He (Sachin Tendulkar) might not be with the team always, but is a huge influence on the squad. I have improved following a lot of tips from him,” Rahane said.

[zaheer]

Great summary Chandan :nice: Mumbai on a roll, i hope we get the 40th title this year :aha:

Mumbai on 406/6 Nohit on 84* and Abdullah on 59*

[gaurav92]

Moaaarrrr Zenturies for Mumbaikar's :woot: Oh wait its Nohit :dc: :headshake:

[saneindian]

93, 74* and now this 100* , great start for Rohit Sharma in the domestic season. Kohli, Rahane and Rohit Sharma all 3 have started to pile on the runs in the domestic circuit. Good signs for the future. Yuvraj seems to be falling behind these youngsters now.

[IKnowU]

Moaaarrrr Zenturies for Mumbaikar's :woot: Oh wait its Nohit :dc: :headshake:

:aha: :dc:

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Uday Kaul misses century as Vinay Kumar’s five-for shuts out Punjab From winning the toss to taking five wickets, Karnataka's skipper Vinay Kumar kept adding to Punjab's plight. More... Uday Kaul misses century Special Correspondent MOHALI: From winning the toss to taking five wickets, Karnataka's skipper Vinay Kumar kept adding to Punjab's plight. Left-arm seamer Sreenath Arvind compounded the agony by striking four crucial blows as the host tumbled to 243 on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy superleague match at the PCA Stadium here on Tuesday. It may not be too easy for Karnataka to overhaul Punjab’s first innings total of 243, given that the wicket at the PCA stadium in Mohali has a good bounce and greenish tinge to it. Nevertheless, the visiting skipper, R Vinay Kumar, had every reason to feel good about his — and his team’s — performance on Wednesday. He first won the toss, invited Punjab to bat, and then led from the front, scalping five for 61 to put the last year’s finalists in the driver’s seat. That Punjab went past 200 was largely due to left-hander Uday Kaul’s 94. Before he missed out on what would have been a superb century, Uday showed his team mates — including Yuvraj Singh — how to apply themselves on a seamer-friendly wicket, as he hit 13 fours in his five-hour stay. Apart from Vinay it was the left-arm pacer Sreenath Aravind who rattled Punjab with figures of 4 for 63. Vinay set the ball rolling for Karnataka from the word go, removing Punjab opener Ravi Inder Singh on the second delivery of the very first over. Thereafter, Sarul Kanwar and Kaul added 42 runs for the second wicket but once Sarul was dismissed by Vinay on 26, Punjab pressed the panic button, as they sent tailender Harmeet Singh to try and play out the difficult first session. Singh was bowled off the very first ball and at 42 for 3, and the hosts were looking forward to Yuvraj to step up and take the fight back to the opposition. Yuvraj took time to settle down and even survived until lunch. Slowly but steadily he gained in confidence, hitting six fours but just when he seemed to be getting into his groove, Yuvraj prodded tentatively at an Aravind delivery and edged it to the wicketkeeper. He scored 39, promising a lot but just when it was beginning to matter, his dismissal swung the game back in Karnataka’s favour. And when skipper Pankaj Dharmani fell to Sunil Joshi, Punjab were neck-deep in trouble. In the end, Karan Goel (24) and Manpreet Gony (21) added some useful runs to add some respectability to Punjab’s total. It would have been Karnataka all the way but for Uday Kaul's disciplined 94 in the most demanding conditions. Strangely Punjab coach Bhupinder Singh was pleased. “I think, given our pace attack and if our slip-catching is good tomorrow, don't be surprised if we gain the first innings lead,” said Bhupinder, who oddly decided to send tailender Harmeet Singh ahead of Yuvraj Singh, As it turned out, Vinay bowled Harmeet Singh to be on a hat-trick with Punjab reduced to 42 for three. “I wanted to save Yuvraj for another 8-10 overs. But sadly for us, Yuvraj had to go out immediately after Harmeet's fall,” was how Bhupinder explained his baffling decision to send a tailender ahead of opening batsmen like Karan Goel and Vishwas Bhalla. As anticipated, the green-top pitch and the seamer-friendly conditions combined to make life difficult for the batsmen, especially in the first session. The trio of Vinay, Arvind and Mithun did not allow many liberties. Kaul's chanceless 94 was the only bright spot in Punjab's innings. He was quick to punish the rarely-bowled loose delivery while being patient all through his 288-minute vigil. He cracked 13 boundaries before falling short of what would have been his 10th century in the championship. If Vinay did the early damage by striking thrice in the first 11 overs, Arvind complimented the good work. “I really wanted to get Yuvraj today,” said Arvind who is playing only his 12th Ranji Trophy match. During his 98-ball 39, Yuvraj increasingly gave evidence of his dwindling confidence on a pitch where he was playing for Punjab for the first time since 2004. Though Abhimanyu Mithun went wicketless, the lanky medium pacer kept up the pressure with some disciplined bowling. At 40, Sunil Joshi made his presence felt by sending back 36-year-old and in-form skipper Pankaj Dharmani. 'I just bowled in right areas' Leading the State side for the first time in a Ranji game, R Vinay Kumar showed little signs of pressure as he celebrated his elevation with his 11th first-class five-wicket haul. “It was good toss to win. We wanted to bowl first because there was a bit of grass and the first hour always help seamers”, said Vinay after the match. “We knew our strengths as we had performed well last year too and so we went in with three seamers. All three of us, me, Mithun and Arvind bowled well. Mithun was exceptional, but very unlucky not to get wickets. But in the end he kept the batsmen guessing and we managed to get them all out”, he said. Captaincy, he maintained, didn’t weigh him down. “When I bowl, I always think of myself as a bowler. I do not think of captaincy. Because I could be putting more pressure on myself. It is only when others are bowling I would like to think of the captaincy part and things that need to be done. I just bowled in the right areas and it paid off.” The lack of wickets from Mithun, Vinay said, didn’t put any pressure on him. “Not really, we knew we had to keep a tight line and length. We knew we could get them out if we bowled to our field and it was always going to be difficult for them to force us,” he noted. Vinay paid handsome tribute to his fellow paceman Arvind, who claimed four wickets. “He hardly gets his due,” he remarked of the lanky left-armer. “He bowled very well. Especially when the wicket had eased out in the afternoon, he got the ball to swing and with some sensible bowling he got us the crucial wickets of Yuvi (Yuvraj), Uday (Kaul) and Vishwas Bhalla. Even in the end he was spot on to claim the last wicket”. Brief scores: Punjab: 243 all out in 89.5 overs (Uday Kaul 94, Yuvraj Singh 39, Sarul Kanwar 26, Vinay Kumar 5/61, S Aravind 4/ 63)

[saneindian]

Yusuf Pathan 175* in 224 balls, 18 4s and 8 6s Continues to murder the domestic attacks.

[zaheer]

Yusuf Pathan 175* in 224 balls, 18 4s and 8 6s Continues to murder the domestic attacks.

He is on 175 off 126 balls in 224 minutes

[saneindian]

He is on 175 off 126 balls in 224 minutes

Oh my bad then. Makes this an even better innings. BTW what's the record for the fastest double hundred in domestic cricket? YP is at 181* in 130 balls currently.

[Sid]

Good to see Rohit scoring some runs,

[saneindian]

YP out for 195. Misses out on a well deserved 200. 195 in 138 balls.

[Sid]

Ashwin takes a 5fer :two_thumbs_up: and Kohli scores another 100,gets out for 139 and Delhi is folded for not too many afterwards Kohli seem to be Delhi's only hope ATM

[saneindian]

Uthappa completes his 11th 1st class 100. 102*