Report

Mongia saves the day for Baroda

Mumbai failed to deliver the knock out punch to Baroda, as Baroda managed to hold out Mumbai to a Draw in the West Zone Ranji match at MIG, Bandra on Tuesday

Waleed Hussain

26-Dec-2000

Mumbai failed to deliver the knock out punch to Baroda, as Baroda managed to hold out Mumbai to a Draw in the West Zone Ranji match at MIG, Bandra on Tuesday. Baroda ended the day at 360 for nine off 112 overs chasing a target of 464. The hosts took away five points and the visitors fought hard for their three.

Mumbai began the day needing nine wickets for an outright victory and Baroda needed to survive 90 overs. The latter doing the same on a match saving innings by stumper Mongia. Nayan Mongia proved the hero of the day battling for 203 minutes for his unbeaten 41 runs. He played 117 balls with seven hits to the fence. Mongia and Valmik Buch added 48 runs off 12.3 overs for a crucial eighth wicket partnership. Buch lost his nerve in the 107th over and called for a non existing single, Mongia sent him back but it was too late as an accurate throw from Paras Mhambrey caught him short of his ground.

Zaheer Khan joined Mongia at the fall of Buch's wicket. He hung around for 3.4 overs and looked to save the game. Mumbai bowlers toiled the whole day but were unable top get the break throughs. The turning point of the match was provided by Sachin Tendulkar who bowled the second last over of the day. He cleaned out Zaheer on the first ball, turning the tables around for Mumbai. It became a question of getting one wicket for Mumbai and surviving eleven balls for Baroda. Last man Sukhbir Singh held his nerve and Mongia saw the last over through to guide Baroda to a draw.

Earlier in the day, Baroda resuming on 75 for one at the start on play on the last day were comfortably placed at 249 for five off 79 overs at the tea interval. Opener Connor Williams played a patient and sensible innings. He scored 81 off 193 balls. One drop Himanshu Jadhav was the other steady contributor to the Baroda score card.

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Vidarbha claim five points in draw against Rajasthan

The Central Zone Under-22 clash between Rajasthan and Vidarbha at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground in Nagpur limped to a draw on Christmas, the third and final day of the match

Anand Vasu

25-Dec-2000

The Central Zone Under-22 clash between Rajasthan and Vidarbha at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground in Nagpur limped to a draw on Christmas, the third and final day of the match. By virtue of having secured the first innings lead, Vidarbha claimed five points to Rajasthan's three.

On the opening day (Saturday), Vidarbha captain AS Naidu won the toss and put the visitors in to bat. For Rajasthan, National Cricket Academy ward Nikhil Doru and captain AS Jain posted a fifty run partnership for the first wicket before the skipper fell. The best partnership however, was 146 for the fourth wicket, between Siddharth Joshi and S Bhatia. While Bhatia helped himself to a 106-ball 71 including 10 boundaries, it was Joshi who proved to be a thorn in Vidarbha's flesh. He went on to notch up a fine 126 (216 balls, 17 fours, 1 six) and propelled Rajasthan to 380 all out.

In response, Vidarbha managed to play out the remaining time and take the first innings lead. Amit Deshpande with a patient 92 (181 balls, 12 boundaries) led the Vidarbha effort. Useful contributions from Rahul Jadhav (58) and Harshal Shitoot (78) saw Vidarbha make 397 off 134.4 overs before being all out. With 1.4 mandatory overs being completed on the final day when the last Vidarbha wicket fell, play was called off.

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UP, MP in high scoring draw

A high scoring Central Zone under-22 league match between Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh ended in a draw at Kanpur on Sunday

Partab Ramchand

25-Dec-2000

A high scoring Central Zone under-22 league match between Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh ended in a draw at Kanpur on Sunday. With not even the first innings being completed, the teams got three points each.

Put in to bat on the opening day (Friday), UP scored 397 off 102.4 overs. The total represented quite a recovery for at one stage they were 57 for four. Skipper P Singh and wicketkeeper J Anwar initiated the recovery process by adding 130 runs off 35 overs. Singh was out at this stage for 71. He faced 125 balls and hit ten of them to the ropes. The recovery process received further impetus with Anwar and M Tripathi adding 151 runs for the sixth wicket off 30.3 overs. Anwar, who had come in the 21st over, finally left in the 85th over for 117. In a stay of four hours, Anwar faced 186 balls and hit eleven fours. Tripathi who also got a century was eighth out at 379. For his 105, he faced 128 balls hitting 13 of them to the fence. Upadhyay (4 for 88) and Panchal (3 for 78) were the successful bowlers.

In the remaining time, MP batted for 160 overs to score 339 for eight. Opener Sunil Tomar (41) and M Pasha (61) added 89 runs for the second wicket and thereafter valuable contributions from Sunil Dholpure (36), Siddarth Kapoor (54) and Yogesh Golwalkar (53 not out) kept them in the hunt for the first innings lead. But they batted too slowly and at the end were 58 runs short with only two wickets in hand.

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Majumdar, Patel give Gujarat winning chance

Opening bowlers Hitesh Majumdar and Lalit Patel gave Gujarat a winning chance at stumps on the third day of their West Zone Ranji Trophy league match against Saurashtra at Surat on Sunday

Partab Ramchand

25-Dec-2000

Opening bowlers Hitesh Majumdar and Lalit Patel gave Gujarat a winning chance at stumps on the third day of their West Zone Ranji Trophy league match against Saurashtra at Surat on Sunday. After gaining a lead of 54 runs on the first innings, Gujarat grabbed nine Saurashtra wickets for 244 runs at close. Saurashtra are now 190 ahead with one wicket in hand.

In the morning, Gujarat resuming at 243 for five were all out for 276 runs. Hitesh Parsana did the most to restrict their lead, taking three of the wickets to fall to finish with four for 56. Niraj Odedra took three for 49.

When Saurashtra batted a second time, Majumder and Patel got among the wickets quickly. Saurashtra were down in the dumps at 97 for six before a seventh wicket partnership of 87 runs between Hitesh Parsana and Manoj Parmar saw them leap to a better position. Parasana, following his fine bowling performance, hit 53 in a stay of 2-1/2 hours. He faced 122 balls and hit six fours and a six. Parmar, who top scored with 65 also batted 2-1/2 hours. He faced 110 balls and hit eight fours. Majumdar registered his career best figures while ending the day with six wickets for 67. Patel took three for 64, the two sharing all the wickets that fell.

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Assam beat Bihar by an innings

It took Assam only 8.3 overs at the Tinsukia District Sports Association ground on Sunday to wrap up their East Zone Ranji Trophy league match against Bihar on Sunday by an innings and 10 runs

Partab Ramchand

25-Dec-2000

It took Assam only 8.3 overs at the Tinsukia District Sports Association ground on Sunday to wrap up their East Zone Ranji Trophy league match against Bihar on Sunday by an innings and 10 runs. The victory came early on the third day of the four day match.

Bihar, who were 156 runs in arrears on the first innings, were 122 for eight when play resumed. Tarique ur Rahman, Bihar's last bastion of strength, who started the day on 49, was out for the top score of 62. He faced 99 balls and hit eight fours and a six. Medium pacer Gautam Dutta, who caused the early damage in the innings, fittingly brought the match to a close by taking the last wicket. He finished with five for 42. Sukhwinder Singh, who dismissed Rahman, took four for 45. Assam got eight points and Bihar none.

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Baroda in search of draw on final day against Mumbai

Waleed Hussain

25-Dec-2000

Mumbai were bowled out for 255 in 78.2 overs shortly after the tea interval in the second innings of the West Zone Ranji trophy match at MIG, Bandra, Mumbai against Baroda on Monday.Mumbai set Baroda a target of 464 runs to win the match. Baroda were 75 for one off 22 overs when stumps were drawn on the third day. Earlier in the day, Mumbai resumed the innings at 32 for one lost regular wickets and were in a spot of bother at 117 for five off 44 overs at the lunch interval. With Sachin Tendulkar back in the pavilion for five runs, Baroda medium pacers Rakesh Patel and Zaheer Khan had their tails up. They were kept at bay by a gritty innings from Amol Muzumdar (81) and stumper Sameer Dighe (52). The duo added 91 runs for the sixth wicket off 30.2 overs.

Allrounder Ramesh Powar gave the crowd their money's worth with a swash buckling innings. He scored 36 off 24 balls, hitting seven of them to the fence and one over it. Rakesh Patel was the wrecker-in-chief for Baroda as he bagged a five wicket haul that included the prized wicket of Sachin Tendulkar. Patel had figures of five for 84. Zaheer Khan bagged the solitary wicket of Robin Morris. He bowled 24 overs giving away 57 runs.

Baroda needed an improbable 464 for victory. Ajit Agarkar picked up the only wicket to fall on the day and returned figures of 17 for one. Connor Williams was unbeaten on 26 off 65 balls with five hits to the fence he had with him Himanshu Jadhav batting on 11 off 31 balls with two boundaries to his credit. Baroda still need 389 to win in 90 overs on the last day.

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Orissa hand out sound thrashing to Tripura

Orissa humiliated Tripura by an innings and 156 runs in their East Zone Ranji Trophy encounter at the Maharaja Bir Bikram College Stadium in Agartala on Sunday

Anand Vasu

24-Dec-2000

Orissa humiliated Tripura by an innings and 156 runs in their East Zone Ranji Trophy encounter at the Maharaja Bir Bikram College Stadium in Agartala on Sunday. After being dismissed on the first day for 114, Tripura allowed Orissa to make 378 for four declared, powered mainly by an innings of 178 from Shiv Sunder Das. At the end of the second day, Tripura were 29/1 after 15 overs and in deep trouble.

On Sunday, Orissa needed just 30.4 overs to take the remaining nine Tripura wickets. C Sachdev at number four managed a brisk 56, but was totally unsupported. With eight batsmen failing to make it to double digits, Tripura were all out for a paltry 108. Leg spinner Jagannath Das was the most successful bowler and ended up with 4/28 off his 13.4 overs. This gave visitors Orissa victory by the huge margin of an innings and 156 runs with a day to spare, and eight points from the match.

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Mumbai in strong position against Baroda

Mumbai were in a strong position at stumps on the second day of their West Zone Ranji Trophy league match against Baroda at the MIG ground, Bandra, Mumbai on Sunday

Waleed Hussain

24-Dec-2000

Mumbai were in a strong position at stumps on the second day of their West Zone Ranji Trophy league match against Baroda at the MIG ground, Bandra, Mumbai on Sunday. After they were all out for 410 off 98.1 overs, they dismissed Baroda shortly after tea for 202 off 63.5 overs. Mumbai did not enforce the follow on and in their second innings, were 32 for one off 13 overs at close.

Mumbai resumed at 391 for eight. Ajit Agarkar was the ninth batsman to be dismissed after scoring 75 off 132 balls with eleven hits to the fence. Paras Mhambrey missed out on his half century by eight runs when he edged Rakesh Patel to Satyajit Parab for 42. He batted for 121 minutes, played 91 balls and hit six of them to the fence.

Mumbai's four pronged pace attack never let the Baroda bandwagon ride for long. Mhambery gave the first breakthrough dismissing Satyajit Parab for 14. Himanshu Jadhav soon followed edging an outswinger from Paras to keeper Dighe without troubling the scorers. Connor Williams hung around for 156 minutes scoring 39 off 112 balls with five hits to the fence and one over it. He added 55 runs off 21.2 overs with Jacob Martin, who scored 30 off 74 balls with five hits to the fence.

By tea, Baroda were down in the dumps at 132 for seven off 47 overs. Rakesh Patel stuck around playing a gritty innings of 36 off 69 balls. He hit seven boundaries. Robin Morris bagged four for 27 and was well supported by Agarkar (two for 44) and Mhambrey (two for 59).

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Modi's century helps Gujarat take lead against Saurashtra

Resuming on 218 for 8, Saurashtra added just four runs to their overnight score before being dismissed for 222 by Gujarat on the second day of their West Zone Ranji Trophy encounter at the Lalabhai Contractor Stadium, Surat on Sunday

Anand Vasu

24-Dec-2000

Responding to this modest total, Gujarat had few problems. Although opener Vivek Gandhi was dismissed with just 15 on the board, opener Nilesh Modi took on the challenge and batted splendidly to make a century. Playing patiently, Modi spent just under six hours at the wicket for his 104. Although he only struck 10 boundaries in his innings, he saw Gujarat to 243/5. Well supported by Tejas Varsani (63), Modi ensured that Gujarat took the vital first innings lead.

At the fall of Modi's wicket, stumps were drawn. Although the lead they currently have, 21, is nothing to write home about, Gujarat can post a useful overall lead if they bat sensibly from here on.

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Trouble-prone Zimbabwe reach predictable draw

A fine match for the Canterbury, and a disasterous one for Zimbabwe ended in a tame draw at Jade Stadium today

Matthew Appleby

23-Dec-2000

A fine match for the Canterbury, and a disasterous one for Zimbabwe ended in a tame draw at Jade Stadium today.

Whilst Canterbury captain Gary Stead could congratulate his team on a "superb game", Zimbabwe manager Babu Meman bemoaned the "major disasters" that struck his men.

Zimbabwe began day three on 112/4, but after a rain break of almost an hour disintegrated to career best bowling from policeman Shane Bond and debutant Wade Cornelius. Coach Garry MacDonald commented that he thought Bond was as quick as anyone in New Zealand at present.