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Ranji Trophy 2004/05 - 5th Round Summary |
- A Review of the 5th
Round of Ranji Trophy 2004/05 by Venkat
The Fifth round of matches
in the Elite League got underway on the 13th of
December.
Here is a review of the matches that took place
on the 13th of December to the 16th of December at various
venues across the country.
Mumbai Vs Gujarat
at Mumbai |
After an imposing win for Mumbai against Bengal
in the last round at Siliguri, it was time for
them to bear the challenge from a team that may
well be termed as a "dark horse" of the season
thus far - Gujarat. It was Gujarat who won the
toss at the Wankhede stadium and chose to bat
first, and were left answering questions from
the bowlers right from the start as they lost
two quick wickets. There was a phase of
resurrection by Test discard and wicketkeeper
Parthiv Patel and Niraj Patel who carried on by
adding some valuable runs. But, apart from those
two, no other Gujarat batsman had any sort of
answers to the mesmerizing spell of bowling by
all rounder Ramesh Powar and that left Gujarat
bowled out for 232. For Mumbai, the openers did
a steady job by adding 99 runs before Vinayak
Mane held out to Nilesh Modi of Makda. But, that
did not stop his partner Wasim Jaffer from being
strict on the bowling. Jaffer made a useful 86,
but the real run-machine for Mumbai was Amol
Mazumdar, who has often saved his team from a
crisis or two this season already. His 131
virtually took the game from Gujarat's grasp as
Mumbai piled on a bulky 467 with useful
contributions from every Mumbai player. With an
innings defeat staring them on their face, it
was time for Gujarat to show what they are made
up of, but unfortunately they just managed 171,
with two key players injured - Parthiv Patel and
Mukund Parmar, and it was the Mumbai skipper who
showed us all what he is made up of, as he
picked yet another fiver to bowl Mumbai to an
innings win. Mumbai have confirmed their
position in the semis yet again, but Gujarat
will have to produce some remarkable
performances if they have to pip Delhi and
Karnataka to contend the semis this year.
Scorecard
Hyderabad Vs
Uttar Pradesh at Hyderabad |
It was the last time that one devoted Hyderabadi
player took the field for his team - and it was
Venkatapathy Raju. But it was left to see what
kind of a farewell would he be treated, as
Hyderabad locked horns with Uttar Pradesh at
home. It was UP who won the toss and chose to
field, and the bowlers did what the captain
ordered from them as they blew away the top
order of Hyderabad for hardly any runs. But a
determined innings by Vinay Kumar and Arjun
Yadav saw to it that Hyderabad were still in the
game and their efforts piled on 246 fighting
runs. For UP, Ashish Zaidi, Shalabh Srivastava
and Praveen Gupta all shared 3 wickets each at a
healthy economy rate. In reply to Hyderabad's
246, UP started off in a similar fashion as the
home team, but a determined century by young
Rizwan Shamshad along with a useful 61 by
veteran Gyanendra Pandey made sure that UP
secure a healthy lead over the hosts, and in
doing so they reached 325. For Hyderabad, NP
Singh was the pick of the bowlers with 4/81. It
seemed as though Hyderabad did not learn from
their first innings as they yet again got to a
bad start, but a repeat performance by Vinay
Kumar, who top scored with 75 and good support
from others made sure that Hyderabad get to a
respectable score of 221, setting UP a target of
142. In their bid to win the game, UP did
nothing right with the bat and collapsed from a
winnable position to lose the game by 22 runs.
For Hyderabad, this win comes as a major boost
as it increases their chances of making it to
the semis, but for UP, there is a lot of work to
do, even if they want to remain in the top
flight of Indian domestic cricket.
Scorecard
Tamil Nadu Vs
Punjab at Chennai |
Punjab have been a side that thoroughly deserve
the impeccable tag this season. Their coach cum
manager Inthikhab Alam has made such a notable
difference, that it was all up to the might of
Tamil Nadu to stop the Punjabi juggernaut. After
skipper Sriram won the toss, he chose to bat and
the story did not unfold as per plans as TN lost
S Vidyut for a nought. But a healthy string of
partnerships between the middle order ensured a
positive fight back by Tamil Nadu. The Punjab
bowlers managed to strike regularly, but were
unable to stop K Vasudevadas and M R Srinivas as
they added a mighty partnership that took Tamil
Nadu to a respectable 244. For Punjab, Vikram
Singh grabbed his maiden fiver with good support
from Amit Uniyal, who grabbed 4. It all looked
as if the ball was in the Punjab court as the
innings began for them, but they manage to fall
into the trap set by a debutant Rajamani Jesuraj
who started his career with a bang as he grabbed
7 wickets. Apart from Ravneet Ricky's effort of
71, hardly any other contribution deserve a
mention here. The Tamil Nadu second innings
started off again with a disaster as veteran
opener Ramesh was knocked over for a 0, but that
in no way stopped Vidyut from flaying the
bowling all over the ground, as he unluckily
missed a century by just a run. Subramaniam
Badrinath carried over his rich vein of form by
making a patient 97, while a century by veteran
Sridharan Sarath, guided TN to a well earned
draw and gave them 2 vital points to progress
onto the next stage.
Scorecard
|
Andhra Vs
Bengal at Vishakhapatnam |
Till now, if there has been a side that has been
performing below their potential, its been
Andhra. But, it was time to justify all the
potential they had when they took on Bengal at
Vishakapatnam. After skipper Rohan Gavaskar won
the toss, he elected to bat and his openers did
not let him and his decision down, as they
batted solidly to add 82 for the first wicket.
But, the first wicket was good enough to open
the floodgates for the Andhra bowlers, and
taking full advantage of the situation, Andhra
bowled Bengal out for a meager 234, with the
only useful contributions coming from inform
opener Arindam Das (59) and Laxmi Ratan Shukla
(57). For Andhra, K Sahabuddin emerged most
successful with 4 wickets and Venugopal Rao
chipped in with 3 wickets too. The Andhra
innings did not begin on a respectable note, and
the flow of the top carried on, as they had no
reply to some good bowling by the Bengal
bowlers. Andhra were bowled out for 188 with
Murtaza Lodhgar impressing again with 4 wickets
for Bengal. But, if anywhere Bengal lost the
plot of the game, it was in their second
innings, as they collapsed to 144 all out thanks
to a brilliant spell of bowling by D
Kalyanakrishna, who grabbed 3 for 20. Now all
that Andhra had to chase was 193, and they did
it in a professional manner by 4 wickets, with Y
Gnaneshwara Rao top scoring with 63. This win
not only jeered up Andhra's spirits, but also
put them in equal contention for a semis spot,
but Bengal have to do something special in that
last game, if they still dream of staying in the
Elite Group of the Ranji Trophy.
Scorecard
|
Railways Vs
Madhya Pradesh at Indore |
It was a game between two sides, that have
failed to make any impact what so ever on the
Ranji Trophy this season. Yes, it was a game
between Railways and Madhya Pradesh at Indore
and with many things up for grabs, this match
was more than a mere Ranji Trophy fixture.
Railways won the toss and batted first and it
all started off well for them with the openers
getting among the runs, and adding a partnership
of 169, with Pagnis making a classy 93. But,
after that partnership, the Railmen lost some
ground and thanks to important contributions by
Raja Ali and Sidharth Joshi later in the order,
Railways managed a sizable score of 373. For MP,
leggie Yogesh Golwalkar toiled hard to bag a
brilliant 8 wicket haul. Madhya Pradesh in reply
looked in no position to dominate the game, as
their scoring was repeatedly checked by the
Railway bowlers. Only Naman Ojha, Devendra
Bundela and Abbas Ali could provide any
resistance to the Railways attack, as they
bowled MP out for 207. For Railways, offie
Kulamani Parida stood out by bagging a five
wicket haul, along with some good support by
Harvinder Singh. Enforcing the follow on,
Railways began their conquest yet again, but
stopped in their tracks by a fine 98 by
Devendrasingh Bundela and 61 by Naman Ojha, as
MP managed 303. Kulamani Parida yet again blew
off the Madhya Pradesh batting with returns of 8
for 68 for Railways. Chasing the target set by
MP, Railways ended the game in a draw by ending
their innings at 82/4. Abbas Ali stuck thrice
for MP, but wasn't good enough to win them the
game. Both these times are now in the battlezone
for survival, and it will be interesting to see
which of these two teams actually survives the
test of time as well as the Elite Group.
Scorecard
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Maharashtra Vs
Assam at Aurangabad |
Just like Railways and MP, here are two teams
from the other group who have failed to make an
impression in the Ranji Trophy this year -
Maharashtra and Assam. But, this was the best
time to show what they were made up of and it
was a case of the winner takes it all in terms
of survival. All in all, a crucial clash. Assam
won the toss and chose to bat first, and it was
not something that the captain was expecting
from his batsmen, but they did not do their job
as they were bowled out for 201. Only Gokul
Sharma, who made 77, had some answers to the
incisive spell of bowling by Iqbal Siddiqui who
took a haul of 5 for 68 along with Kiran Adhav
who took 3 wickets. In reply, the Maharashtrian
batsmen ensured that the Assam bowlers are sent
out for a leather hunt, as they added crucial
partnerships and thanks to a fine century by
Dhruv Mohan, ably supported by Kaushik Aphale
and Iqbal Siddiqui, Maharashtra managed to reach
400, with a lead of 199. Assam were on the verge
of staring defeat on its face, and so they did,
as they got bowled out for 153 in the second
essay thanks to good bowling spells by Kiran
Adhav and Iqbal Siddiqui yet again. Maharashtra
can in no way be discounted of the league just
yet, but for Assam, relegation bells are ringing
louder than ever before.
Scorecard
|
Delhi Vs
Karnataka at Delhi |
Delhi and Karnataka, have
been two of those sides, who have just yet
failed to push top teams. But, as the two
battled each other at Delhi, there was only one
objective in sight - a win. After Delhi won the
toss, they chose to bat on a good wicket and
thanks to a brilliant century by India Under-19
opener Shikhar Dhawan and some good partnerships
along with Abhinav Bali and skipper Ajay Jadeja,
who also notched up an unbeaten ton, Delhi piled
on a mammoth 427 run total. Karnataka started
off in decent fashion, thanks to a good and
steady 88 by opener Robin Uthappa, but lost
their way in the middle. The lower order did
contribute, but not enough to stretch their
total past Delhi's, and in an attempt to do so,
they could only manage 292. For Delhi, C Nanda
picked the most wickets with 4 and rest of the
others chipped in as well. In the second innings
for Delhi, Akash Chopra went out to play in a
style we don't associate with him much, as he
notched up a useful 66 off only 61 balls as
Delhi piled on the runs and agony on the
Karnataka bowlers, as they extended their lead
to 250 runs. With a target to chase on the
fourth day, something as tough as it gets, the
Karnataka batsmen looked in all kinds of
trouble, barring some like Barrington Rowland,
who top scored with 76, as Karnataka played
themselves into a safe draw ahead of their
future fixtures. Its the crunch time of the
season for many teams, especially for Delhi and
Karnataka, who have to show more potency and
willingness to win, if they want to challenge
the best for top honours.
Scorecard
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