Railways on threshold of Ranji title

At the end of the day’s play as Yere Goud walked back unbeaten on 96, his team stood up to honour his batsmanship that had virtually wo...

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At the end of the day’s play as Yere Goud walked back unbeaten on 96, his team stood up to honour his batsmanship that had virtually won them their second Ranji Trophy title in recent times.

‘‘Well done, Yerebhai,’’ the Railways players shouted for the batsman who stood four runs short of a century. He might have missed a personal milestone today but more importantly he had pushed Punjab out of the contest. As Railways finished at 362/8, gaining an overall lead of 409 runs, the hosts dreaming of claiming Ranji title lay shattered.

Punjab skipper Pankaj Dharmani — in all the confidence that he could muster — had said on Friday that they were looking towards a target of around 350 in the fourth innings. Railways are 59 runs ahead of that already and whatever gets added further, will only make the game more one-sided.

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Dharmani, however, refused to believe that his players had already given up hope. ‘‘We were in the same positive frame of mind,’’ he said, but the dropped catches and the misfieldings didn’t quite substantiat the claims.

Meanwhile, Punjab coach Intikab Alam seemed more realistic about the situation. ‘‘We tried hard, so there are no regrets. They (Railways) did a good job and probably deserve their share of glory,’’ he said.

And Yere was only too happy to agree. ‘‘There was an air of confidence. We (the team) stood well together … believed in ourselves. There was pressure, no doubt, but we finally saw our way through.’’

Railways can now look forward to all those little dreams that could come true with the title. A better gym, maybe a proper ground to practice or at least a proper bed instead of the dormitories they camp in during the entire season. Sunday’s victory could well unfold a better future for Bangar and his men.

Plate Final

Haryana
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342 & 312 (Sunny Singh 118, Chetan Sharma 45; Ghag 3/74, Sharma 3/97) vs Services 191 (AK Mohanty 40; J Sharma 5/67, Rana 3/42) & 76/3 (Narender Singh 26).