Traditional battle set for further twist

Gautam Gambhir showed what application is all about. Yet again in the match, the Delhi left-handed opening batsman proved to be the only sav...

Gautam Gambhir showed what application is all about. Yet again in the match, the Delhi left-handed opening batsman proved to be the only saving grace, contributing nearly half the team’s total while his colleagues fell to poor shots.

The Delhi-Mumbai Elite Group A Ranji Trophy game at the end of the penultimate day was evenly poised, though the pendulum had seemingly swung a bit in favour of Mumbai. After gaining a 40-run first innings lead, the visitors had the home team struggling in their second essay at 223-9.

Only 183 runs in front with the last wicket remaining, the odds are heavily loaded against Delhi unless one of their bowlers (read spinners) come out with a ‘dream spell’ on the final day to skittle out Mumbai.

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Unlike on the first day, when the ball turned and jumped, there was no excuse for the Delhi batsmen today. All their batsmen, including centurion Gambhir, fell because of their own mistakes. Despite some poor fielding in the air by Mumbai (Gambhir had a reprieve at 71 when Thakkar dropped an easy catch off Powar as the batsman went for a reverse sweep), spinners Kulkarni (4-76) and Bahutule (3-76) maintained a tight line. In the morning, Mumbai added 56 runs in 20.4 overs, Bhavin Thakkar (71 n.o: 2×4, 282m) making 38 of those. Sarandeep (5-107) and Sanghvi (4-72) shared the spoils.

Brief scores: Delhi: 199 and 223-9 (G Gambhir 105, A Jadeja 31, A Chopra 28, Kulkarni 4-76, Bahutule 3-76)

Mumbai: 239 (B Thakkar 71 n.o, V Mane 52, V Samant 29, W Jaffer 24, Sarandeep 5-107, Sanghvi 4-72)

Bengal follow on

Mandya: Karnataka shot out Bengal for 228 to secure a lead of 183 and force the visitors to follow on in Elite Group B match.

Brief scores: Karnataka: 411

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Bengal: 228 (Laxmi Ratan Shukla 86, Sanjib Sanyal 43, Doda Ganesh 4-54, Sunil Joshi 3-49) and 17-1.

Andhra crush Baroda

Vadodara: The speedsters did the trick for Andhra who scored an impressive seven-wicket win over Baroda in their Elite ‘A’ match.

Shabuddin, Kalyan Krishna and R V ch Prasad captured nine of the 10 second innings Baroda wickets that fell as the hosts were bundled out for 105 in their second innings.

AP team manager Meherbaba said it was the result of the shrewd gameplan worked out on the eve of the match that won the game. “After seeing the nature of the pitch, we decided to bowl first after winning of the toss and succeeded in restricting Baroda to a modest total of 216 runs in their first innings,” Meherbaba said.

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The visitors struggled too on a bouncy pitch but managed to gain a slender 14-run first innings lead. “They are all young players with enthusiasm and expected to do well in the remaining matches,” Meherbaba said of his players.

Brief scores: Baroda: 216 and 105. Andhra: 230 and 92-3. Points: Andhra: 4; Baroda: 0

Railways trail

Palakkad: Hemant Kumar cracked a strokeful century to help Kerala take 26-run first innings lead against Railways in their Elite Group A match.

Railways were 181-3 in their second essay with Sanjay Bangar (69) and J P Yadav (20) at the crease.

Brief scores: Railways: 295 and 181-3 (S Bangar batting 69)

Kerala: 321 (Hemant Kumar 131, Sree Kumar Nair 69, Suresh Kumar 56)