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Ranji Trophy 2010-11: Super League

Chandan

By Chandan
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Chandan

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FINAL, DAY FOUR Rajasthan in sight of historic title Rashmi Ranjan Parida (batting 78, 246 mts, 191 balls, 10x4s, 1x6) and Ashok Menaria (batting 83, 167 mts, 134 balls, 9x4s, 3x6s) have very nearly secured Rajasthan's maiden Ranji Trophy title. Subdued by a determined and steadfast Murtuja Vahora and Sankalp Vohra with the bat and ball until lunch time on the fourth day, Rajasthan — in front by 234 runs and six wickets in hand — staged a remarkable recovery to take control of the final against Baroda at the Moti Bagh Palace ground here on Friday. Fortune played its part, but Parida, with his sustained performance from the Plate League to the title match, and Menaria showed adequate skill and brutal hitting power to counter attack an incisive bowling that struck three times and threatened to bring Rajasthan to its knees. After playing a vital part in keeping Baroda's first innings deficit to 33, Vohra, sent down a beauty of his first ball to Chopra and then Vahora applied the pressure forcing Vineet Saxena and Kanitkar to the keeper and slip. Called upon to retrieve a grim situation from the twentieth ball of the second innings, Robin Bist and Parida gradually set matters right before Aditya Waghmode at gully managed to take control of a catch that flew of the top half of the bat of Bist. Playing his second first class match, Waghmode juggled with the ball twice before firmly holding the ball that had come of the upper part of his right hand. From 11 for three in the seventh over Rajasthan recovered to 61 for four in the 27th and it may have suffered further blows immediately. Having opened his account with a single and four, left hander Menaria, the former India under-19 captain, offered a sitter, directing Bhargav Bhatt to slip and Connor Williams muffed the chance. In the next over off-spinner Waghmode and the home team suffered when Menaria drove in the direction of Abhjit Karambelkar at cover and a second chance was put down. Rajasthan's score then were 71 and 72. Being the only member of the young Baroda team to have played in a Ranji Trophy final previously, Williams would have been expected to be a calming effect on the rest of his team. Unfortunately, he had allowed the nerves to get to him and, in the process, probably dent his team’s chances of lifting the title after a long gap. Aggressive and fortunate Menaria With Rajasthan tottering in their second innings at 76/4, left-hander Ashok Menaria, batting on six, guided a Bhargav Bhatt delivery, with an opened bat-face, towards the expectant hands of Connor Williams in the slips. It, in fact, seemed straight out of a pre-match slip-fielding drill that the veteran Baroda opener has been a part of on numerous occasions during his 15-year-long first-class career. A fifth wicket at that stage would have exposed the lower-order of the visitors, who by then were ahead only by 99 runs, and handed the hosts a definite stranglehold in the Ranji Trophy final. Unfortunately for Williams and Baroda, the ball agonisingly bounced off his wrist and trickled away. Before a disheartened Williams and the extremely vocal home supporters who thronged the Moti Baug ground could shake off the shock, however, Menaria had been gifted yet another chance to continue his innings with Abhijit Karambelkar, in the middle of a horror debut, dropping a simple catch in the very next over. The former India under-19 captain didn’t require another invitation to thwart any hopes that Baroda had of forging a remarkable turnaround on the fourth day. By stumps Menaria, in the company of the ever-reliable Rashmi Ranjan Parida, had put on an unbeaten partnership of 140 to take Rajasthan, who finished the day with a lead of 234, within touching-distance of their maiden Ranji Trophy title going into the final day. After a forgettable outing as skipper during the under-19 World Cup in early 2010, Menaria had been ruled out of action owing to a groin injury for a number of months. The 20-year-old all-rounder had even gone on to miss the early half of Rajasthan’s remarkable run in the Plate division this season. He had, however, made a glorious comeback into his team’s already successful set-up by scoring back-to-back centuries against Mumbai and Tamil Nadu respectively in the previous two knockout matches. And having thrown his wicket away after a typically aggressive 45 in the first innings, and with the Baroda fielders in a generous mood, Menaria looked intent on not letting this opportunity go to waste. Breaking free Though he was tied down by the accurate Baroda spinners to start with, Menaria decided to break the shackles with not one, but three sixes in the same over off Bhatt. A self-confessed fan of fellow left-hander Yuvraj Singh, many of the youngster’s mannerisms are all-too-reminiscent of his idol. So are a number of the shots he plays. And after exhibiting his prowess of clearing the fence with consummate ease, Menaria too had a simple-enough explanation for his unprecedented aggression. “He had bothered me in similar fashion even in the first innings, landing the ball on the same spot relentlessly. And they also had a fielder back at deep mid-wicket. But the first chance I got to open my shoulders I decided to go for it,” he said after remaining unbeaten on 83. While Menaria bubbled with youthful exuberance, at the other end, the forever-unsung Parida went about grinding the Baroda bowlers into submission with his characteristic hard-nosed batting. The experienced journeyman blunted the hosts’ early excitement after walking out to bat with the score reading 10/3, and finished the day just 22 runs short of a well-deserved century. Baroda employed a semi-defensive field and persisted, but Menaria gathered his wits to lift drive Bhatt for three straight sixes in a single over. and never faltered again on his way to a probable third successive century in the knock out phase. He had struck a century each against Mumbai in the quarter-final and Tamil Nadu in the semi-final. Bhatt, was unlucky when Williams dropped the catch, but the left arm spinner, who had removed Bist for the second time in the match, was never the same force on a pitch that has assisted the spinners throughout the four days. Both Parida and Menaria extracted heavy penalty when the spinners and seamers erred in length and direction and after the interval decided to play out the day without giving semblance of a chance. Baroda fell apart after tea as Pinal Shah ran out of ideas, giving even Ambati Rayudu a couple of overs. He could not afford to attack much, and in the mood Menaria was in, even the men on the boundary were helpless. Menaria had shown in the first innings how clean a striker he is, and now he pinged the gaps with as much ease. He drove elegantly through extra cover, and flicked powerfully through midwicket for boundaries. Parida, the veteran, stepped back and let Menaria take charge. Menaria had joined Parida when he was on 30, and overtook the senior batsman by stumps, putting his side on course for their first Ranji title.Anticipating a memorable and historic victory the Union Minister and RCA President C.P. Joshi is likely to be here on Saturday. Title glory finally in sight for Parida Orissa have never made it to a Ranji Trophy final. Almost a decade ago, they played Baroda for a place in the final at the GSFC Ground in Vadodara. Rashmi Parida made 94 and 71, but Orissa conceded a massive first-innings lead, and with it the semi-final. It took ten years and a different team for Parida to gain another shot at domestic glory. The opponent hasn't changed, but Parida is now a professional player for Rajasthan, and his twin half-centuries have put them on course for their first Ranji crown at the Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara. Parida was understandably elated at the prospect of being able to win the premier domestic tournament for the first time. "That was the biggest match of my life then. And this is the biggest match now. It is very satisfying to play the final for the first time in my career," Parida said. "Last time, I could not help my team beat Baroda. This is another chance for me. It is a challenge, and I want to do it this time. If I can, it will be memorable for the rest of my life." Rajasthan's batting has been bolstered by the presence of the three professionals - Aakash Chopra, Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Parida - and they have hardly suffered a collapse this season. But they were stuttering today at 11 for 3, then 61 for 4, and all the hard work over nine matches was under danger of coming unstuck. But despite the early departure of Chopra and Kanitkar, Parida's calming presence in the middle was reassuring for Rajasthan. "I have to credit the Baroda bowlers for creating pressure. At that stage, our plan was to play out 10-15 overs and try to build a partnership of 30-40 runs, and then we would be back in the game. I did not add many with Robin Bist, but we tried to play ourselves in and tire out the bowlers." Parida added 50 with Bist, but it was his unbeaten 140-run partnership with former India Under-19 captain Ashok Menaria that took the game away from Baroda. Menaria was the aggressor in the stand, and Parida advised him to play his natural game. "I always like to be aggressive. I was trying to be defensive initially, but that has never been my game, and I was getting a bit bogged down," Menaria said. "But Paddybhai told me that if you feel like going for your shots, just go for them." And Menaria did. His assault on Bhargav Bhatt, whom he hit for three sixes in an over, emphatically swung the momentum in favour of the visitors. Menaria explained that he had planned the charge. "Actually Bhatt was bothering me since long. He was bowling consistently in the right areas, and there were close-in fielders. There was no one on the straight boundary; there was a deep midwicket I think. I thought that if I get it out of the middle of the bat, the ball would clear the ropes anyways. So I decided to hit out. After that the field spread and I was able to take runs easily." There had been ecstatic celebrations in the Rajasthan camp after they had taken the first-innings lead earlier today, but both Parida and Menaria felt the match was not over yet. "The game is still open, and anything can happen on the last day," Menaria said. According to Parida, Rajasthan's plan will be to bat till lunch tomorrow, and take it from there. In their ninth attempt, Rajasthan will hope to finish on the winning side in the final for the first time. Brief scores: Rajasthan 394 and 201 for 4 in 71 overs (Ashok Menaria batting 83, Rashmi Ranjan Parida batting 78; Murtuja Vahora 2/48); Baroda 361 in 137.3 overs (Pinal Shah 77, Jaykishan Kolsawala 64, Aditya Waghmode 52; Deepak Chahar 4/79, Vivek Yadav 4/91)

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CoverDrive Rookie

CoverDrive

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Really a big achievement for Rajasthan to come from the Plate League and winning the trophy. Astonishing stats in the 60's all the finals except 1-2 were between Rajasthan and Mumbai with Mumbai winning all. Good seam bowlers in Pankaj Singh and Deep Chahar were the reason for their success. Deepak Chahar has decent talent - swings it considerably both ways and has a nice action. Menaria looks like another decent talent with the bat.

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rkt.india Grand Master

rkt.india

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Cant believe they allowed that useless Maneria score a hundred ...never looked a top order batsmen in that wc .
he played well and aggressively and he is not a top order batsman..he is an allrounder he bats at 6 or 7 and bowls left arm spin too but now i think he is concentrating more on batting...and u19 is just a step...players improve after that a lot when they play fc...he has scored 3 consecutive in 3 knock out ranji games...against Mumbai, karnataka, and now baroda...do you think its that easy?
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