Ranji Trophy 2010-11: Super League

[Sir john]

guys here are links for live scorecards :icflove: Baoda vs Karnatka Rajasthan vs Tamil Naidu :bigboss:

[cowboysfan]

baroda all out for 153.Karnataka needs to get to 250 to have a good chance.thanks SJ.

[TheWall]

disappointed with repeated failure of karnataka's top order....

[cowboysfan]

they are already 2 down for 30,cannot believe we are going to lose to a depleted baroda side.this is worse than Mumbai's outing against Rajasthan.

[saneindian]

Rajasthan could cause a massive upset here. 290/1. The real giant killers.

[CoverDrive]

BCCI ******* what kind of site do they have. Raj needs to pick up scoring rate and then aim to bowl out TN otherwise if both innings are not completed that TN would go through like in QF (because they have higher points in the League phase) Karnataka batting has been disappointing throughout this season. Why does Manish Pandey bat so much down the order. he needs to come in at 3 or 4. Uthappa is a hit and miss anyway

[Chandan]

Sorry for the delay here. SEMIFINAL, DAY ONE Baroda vs Karnataka Eighteen wickets tumble on day one On an extraordinary Monday, 18 wickets tumbled like feeble twigs in storm as bowlers produced a strong show on the Reliance Stadium pitch that was expected to favour batsmen. Vadodara: Baroda skipper Pinal Shah first watched with happiness as Karnataka innings folded up for 107 in 44.2 overs and then with trepidation the fall of eight of his teammates. The home team ended the opening day on 133 for eight in 43 overs on a seemingly tricky surface at the Reliance Stadium here on Monday. The under-prepared pitch was not at all befitting a Ranji Trophy semifinal. In nearly six and half hours play neither side appeared to be in control of the proceedings, but the home team captain showed sufficient pluck to make an unbeaten 72 and put his side 26 runs ahead with two wickets in hand. This match is now poised for a fourth innings finish. Shah has occupied the crease for two hours and fourteen minutes. Right through the day — from the time K.B. Pawan directed a catch to debutant Aditya Waghmode at gully — it was an intense struggle for the batsmen trying to respond to the low and extra bounce and the alarming turn.. Baroda seamer Murtuja Vahora, spearheading the attack in the absence of Munaf Patel, bagged his first five-wicket haul in the competition and left arm-spinner Bhargav Bhatt, introduced before the first drinks interval of the day, helped himself with three and took his tally to 35 in the season. Baroda would have to profusely thank the guts of their skipper Pinal Shah (72 batting, 134m, 96b, 5x4, 1x6) for the end of the day total that also enabled them to eke out a slender 26-run innings lead. But Shah will have to bat for a longer period on the morrow and extend the lead as much as possible to give Baroda a genuine chance to force a favourable result. Shah was the lone speck of light on a windy day as other batsmen on either side succumbed to a tricky pitch and their own imprudence. A remarkable sequence of events started from the 11th ball of the day when KB Pawan decided to play a fatal steer off Murtuja Vahora — who went on to grab a five-for for the first time in his career — that ended in the hands of Swapnil Singh at gully. Quick succession Thereafter, Sunil Raju, who came in for Ganesh Satish, Robin Uthappa, Amit Verma and Manish Pandey returned to the hut in quick succession as Karnataka innings looked like a wrecked ship at 24 for five. Such has been the frequency of the Karnataka top-order collapse and the rescue efforts of their lower order this season, that few would have been surprised by the happenings of the first hour. Indeed, there was a period when Stuart Binny and CM Gautam milked 42 runs for the sixth wicket, giving indications of another fight back by the late order. The alliance was also a study class in how to bat on an under-prepared pitch as the duo came nicely behind the line and offered full face of the bat to good and bad balls. Just when the partnership was assuming bigger proportions, Vahora returned for his second spell and trapped Binny in front of the wicket. Gautam too did not last long as the wicketkeeper batsman dragged the ball back on to his stumps while attempting to drive a fuller length delivery through the covers. Once Gautam departed, Karnataka innings ended in a jiffy as left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt and debutant offie Aditya Waghmode combined to rip through the tail. But the smiles on the Baroda players’ faces vanished soon as Karnataka bowlers came at them with vengeance. Skipper R Vinay Kumar and his new-ball partner A Mithun rattled the hots with a hostile spell, but none was more impressive than veteran Sunil Joshi. When Karnataka took the field it took only a few overs for the seasoned left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi to be in the thick of action and virtually bowling with the new ball, he reduced Baroda from 22 for no loss to 44 for five. Brute of a delivery Ambati Rayudu received a brute of a delivery from Abhimanyu Mithun to depart from the scene before Shah (96 balls, 5x4s, 1x6) showed semblance of defiance with support from the lower order. The veteran left-arm spinner (4-46) used the bounce and sharp turn on the aisle to keep the Baroda batsmen guessing. The dismissal of Swapnil was a perfect example of Joshi’s ability to put doubts in the minds of batsmen by mixing up his deliveries. Operating from the pavilion end, Joshi set up the Baroda under-22 player with a few deliveries that spun viciously across him before offering a straighter one. Sensing a chance to get some runs, Swapnil made room and played a cut but the anticipated width wasn’t there as all he could manage was a feeble edge to Gautam behind the stumps. At 44 for five, Baroda was in serious danger of even falling short of Karnataka’s total, but Shah stitched together successive stands of 37 and 31 in the company of Sankalp Vohra and Waghmode as Baroda inched past the visitors total. But the game still remains on an even keel. Mukesh Narula and Sanath Kumar, coaches of the rival teams, blamed the poor shot selection of some of the players. “The pitch cannot get any worse from hereon. I did not expect the pitch to behave this way. Pinal (Shah) showed common sense and I think if we get another 50 odd runs, we will have the advantage,” said the Baroda coach. The visiting team felt that it was not lucky with appeals against Shah twice. Karnataka also could not use off-spinner Sunil Raju (called for chucking two years ago) after he had bowled an over. “The umpires cautioned the skipper and he was not used again. Raju has played under-22 tournaments and he was not called by any of the umpires,” said Sanath Kumar. Match Refree Manu Nayyar said that the umpires have the right to caution. “After seeing the footage, they will mark the delivery they deem was breaching the law,” Nayyar said. Sunil Raju cautioned for chucking A combination of their batsmen’s flop show and umpire Sudhir Asnani expressing his reservations about off-spinner Sunil Raju’s action made the opening day of Karnataka’s semifinal clash against Baroda a torrid one at the Reliance Stadium here on Monday. Introduced well into the post-lunch session, Raju bowled just one over (1-0-6-0) before the umpire cautioned him about the action after a delivery that kicked up from the good-length position, also forcing the Karnataka camp to take him out of the attack. Now, it will be tough for them to bring Raju, who was once included in the suspected action list, back into attack on the morrow after getting warned once for suspected illegal action. “Umpires have the right to caution about suspect action, and they did that today as well. They will examine the footage at the end of the day, and will point out to the bowler about the delivery that breached the law,” match referee Manu Nayyar said. Karnataka coach Sanath Kumar said, “Yes, the umpires have cautioned him. But there were numerous deliveries in this match that kicked up to trouble the batsmen.” That their batsmen failed to negotiate a tricky pitch too added to the woes of Karnataka. “The pitch is a funny one. It has played some tricks today, but our batsmen too needed to show little more patience to tame the pitch. It wasn’t an impossible task as Baroda’s Pinal Shah showed while notching up a fifty,” Sanath said. Baroda coach Mukesh Narula too agreed to Sanath’s view point. “Pinal batted brilliantly today and showed the necessary application to bat on this wicket. The pitch indeed is a tough one to bat, but if you stay there you can make runs on this wicket. If we had one more fifty in our innings then we would have gained a certain upper hand in this match. Now, whoever bat better in the second innings will emerge the winner,” Narula said. Rajasthan vs Tamil Nadu Aakash Chopra sizzles DISCIPLINED KNOCK:Aakash Chopra came up with a patient unbeaten century as Rajasthan took the first day's honours. JAIPUR: Their hands stayed in their pockets, initially from the numbing cold and later in admiration of the batsmen, as the Tamil Nadu players landed themselves in a tricky situation against Rajasthan on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy semifinals at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium here on Monday. Aakash Chopra's workmanlike century and his gritty opening partnership of 181 with Vineet Saxena saw the home team finish at 236 for one with Tamil Nadu ruing its decision to bowl first. “It was not an easy pitch to bat on. They bowled well,” said Chopra, who was unbeaten on 115. “We were driven by past results on this pitch,” lamented Tamil Nadu skipper Dinesh Karthik. The fact was Chopra batted as is his wont, grinding the attack, while Tamil Nadu was guilty of early generosity in conditions that begged to be exploited. Spraying the ball The seamers sprayed the ball, hardly making the batsmen play, and came to grief when the day ended with Rajasthan smiling all the way. Picking four seamers confirmed Tamil Nadu's game plan. But Chopra is a wily fox, experienced in handling such situations. He played the waiting game to perfection and Saxena was an ideal partner, blocking and blocking, and then feasting on the bad ball. The conditions demanded discipline and skills and Chopra had them in abundance. Not the one to be tempted into reaching out wildly to a seventh-stump half-volley, he relished the contest. Tamil Nadu pegged away outside off to contain the run-rate. But, Chopra was equally unwavering. He is adept at leaving the ball and his form rubbed on to Saxena too. It was only their first century partnership of the season but beautifully timed and crafted. Flawless exhibition Chopra picked his bowler to attack and was firm with his drives and the trademark square-drive, executed by leaning onto the ball. It was a flawless exhibition of his commitment to the job. “I'm happy to have scored when it matters,” said Chopra on his third century of the season. His 252-ball knock contained 13 fours. Saxena knock, which came off 204 balls with nine fours and a six, was faultless except for a catch that he offered when on 47 off S. Suresh Kumar but C. Ganapathy made a hash of it running back from mid-off. Tamil Nadu's fielding was an eyesore as runs were conceded from ill-timed slides. It enabled Rajasthan enjoy its cricket on a day when even the warm sun failed to attract spectators to the venue. The failure to win the toss was hardly a setback for the home team, which prospered on the strength of basics of batting — play according to the merit of the ball. It needed a clever off-spinner from Suresh to end Saxena's vigil. He played the cover-drive early and the ball snaked in, slow and curling, to hit the stumps. It was the delivery of the day, a classic off-spinner, but it was a trifle late. Hrishikesh Kanitkar walked in, assumed control without losing time, but retired at 28, hit on the toe. Comfort was around in Chopra's presence. “Would love to carry on,” Chopra said. Tamil Nadu, following intense introspection, will have a job on its hands on Tuesday. Opening stand was the key for Rajasthan - Chopra Solidity against pace during an 181-run opening partnership and positive batting against spin to up the scoring rate helped Rajasthan gain the advantage on the opening day of the semi-final, Aakash Chopra, their opener, has said. Chopra batted determinedly to make an unbeaten 115 in conditions that offered plenty of assistance to the Tamil Nadu bowlers, and was well supported by Vineet Saxena as Rajasthan finished the day on 236 for 1. "We were not surprised when we were put in to bat, but we applied ourselves well," Chopra told ESPNcricinfo. "We had a huge opening partnership and that really deflates the opposition. Once we got settled in, we tried to just continue for as long as possible." In overcast conditions at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, with moisture on the pitch, there was swing and movement on offer for Tamil Nadu's four-pronged pace attack. "L Balaji bowled very well, he bowled in the right areas consistently. So did C Ganapathy to start with. They bowled tightly and in the right areas, and both were quite effective. It's just that they couldn't really get a breakthrough and that's what put us on the front foot. But there wasn't a dull moment when the fast bowlers were on. "And it wasn't just the movement. The ball wasn't really coming on to the bat and it got better once the day progressed." The good bounce in the pitch as well as the movement on offer meant Chopra had to be very conservative in his shot selection. He left a number of balls bowled in the channel outside off. "When the bounce is good and the ball is carrying to the keeper, you need to be very sure about where your off stump is. That's what happens when you are batting well." The seamers shared 59 overs today and conceded runs at just above two an over. The circumspect approach against the seamers had to be compensated with a bit of aggression against the slow bowlers. The Rajasthan openers targeted Suresh Kumar, who went for 81 in 21 overs. "On a track like this, you need to score runs against the spinners. That's because the fast bowlers are not going to give you anything. There wasn't much in the track for the spinners today. So that was the reason why we tried to up the ante against their only offspinner, and were successful." Chopra praised his opening partner Saxena, whose 72 followed up a decisive century against Mumbai in the quarter-final. "He's batted well throughout this season. He is someone who provides solidity at the top, his batting suits the longer format of the game, he'll leave the ball, he knows his strengths and he sticks to them." Rajasthan qualified for the semi-final based on a first-innings lead against Mumbai, and Chopra said batting big was the way to go in the ongoing contest. "We need to be very cautious to start with, the second new ball is only a few overs old. We'll need to see off the first hour, or hour-and-a-half. We need to bat for as long as possible and put them under pressure." Rajasthan captain Hrishikesh Kanitkar sustained an injury when he was struck on the pads off an inside edge and had to retire hurt, but Chopra was confident he would be able to bat on the second day.

[coffee_rules]

Baroda cricket assoc :finger: A sad day in domestic cricket when pitches are prepared like this. They should be shot.

[CoverDrive]

Kar done and dusted. There will be questions of the pitch but I dont mind - If you have the home advantage you take it. In the Other match we are still not through the first innings. Want a Raj /Baroda final

[saneindian]

Semifinal of the premier domestic competition over in one and a half days. How shameful. And then we wonder why we can't have a proper bench strength. Some of the pithces in the earlier matches had raised hopes that things were improving, but this surely has been a huge let down.

[Sir john]

:WTF: karnatka out from ranji

[Sir john]

chopra scored 139 for rajasthan :clap:

[TheWall]

Hope BCCI will ban the cricket association fro Baroda for the graveyard they prepared..

[Sir john]

Hope BCCI will ban the cricket association fro Baroda for the graveyard they prepared..

not possible niranjan shah from there

[kabira]

^niranjan shah is not with baroda...

[cowboysfan]

i dont care about the pitch,karnatak have better batsmen than baroda and should have been able to outbat them but they didnt.Infact its remarkable that they made it this far because most of the batsmen have had sub par seasons.The first task for Kumble is to get our batting in order.

[jusarrived]

^ agree , something has seriously gone wrong..the same batsmen , most of them in their first season avgd 50+ last year

[Yantra]

Do anyone of you knows where to get the highlights for Ranji matches, I can not find it anywhere, Love to watch some of the boys in action, would like to see how Pankaj Singh and Deepak Chahar are bowling and at what speed, I have seen pankaj at around 130K before in IPL but with the kind of build he has should be able to hit 140K when on song. have you guys seen at what speed these two are bowling? Neo is showing these matches but it seems no body has compiled highlight with them to be stream.

[ludhianvi]

It's all about striking the right balance when preparing the pitch for a 4 day match especially when you want a result. The maches at Baroda have been low scoring ones earlier in the season. The only advantage that Baroda has is by probably having played in similar situations at the Moti Bagh stadium against UP/Punjab earlier in the season. The pitch at the Moti Bagh was quite reddish (clay) and offered assistance to both the pacers and spinners. Not sure about this one. Karnataka probably edges out Baroda with their bowling - atleast on paper. I was a bit surprised to see the Karnataka batsmen fold very easily and that too twice considering their batting depth. Anyhow, I was rooting for Baroda/Rajasthan to go the finals anyways. Now contrast this pitch to the one at Rajasthan - a very placid track. While the Rajasthan batsmen, especially Chopra/Saxena set the tone for the match with a solid opening partnership, this is very much a batsmen friendly track and Rajasthan's strategy is to outbat the opposition like they did against Mumbai. An interesting incident happened when Akash, having gotten to his century, was being congratulated by the umpire, Tim Robinson, and he most likely asked Akash about his stint at the International level. The stumps picked up Aakash saying that he played most of his matches outside of India. Actually, he looked quite good in the innings, very good cover drives, and easily getting the way out of the bouncers by swaying back while keeping his eyes on ball. For TN, the left arm pacer, Ranaraj Suthesh, was impressive at times and has a bit of pace compared to the others. Suresh Kumar, the offie, can be a good LOI bowler.

[fineleg]

Rajasthan 483/5 (175.0 ov) Tamil Nadu won the toss and :hahaha: elected to field :mad: