Laxman, Azhar punish butter fingered Karnataka

Hyderabad had things their own way on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy semifinal against Karnataka at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore on Tuesday. At close of play, the visitors were sitting pretty at 344/2 after VVS Laxman (163) and Mohd. Azharuddin (103) mercilessly punished Karnataka, with an unbroken 253 run partnership, for an apalling display in the field that saw three catches go down besides several shocking misfields. Laxman's seventh hundred in eight matches this season and the 17th of his Ranji Trophy career also saw him cross the thousand mark for the season.

Combining power with finesse, Laxman played some exquisite square cuts, leaning back and slicing the ball past point. He was also strong off his legs and when the ball was pitched short, he pulled with regal authority. Both batsmen made merry on a wicket which did not give the bowlers as much assistance as was expected.

Both sides went in with three pronged seam attacks, with Hyderabad leaving out middle order bat D Vinay Kumar to accommodate Fiaz Ahmed, the third seamer. The left-right combination of Daniel Manohar and Nandakishore opened the batting but the latter did not last long as he fell to Prasad for 11. There was a hint of outswing as the batsman played defensively and the ball just about carried to Vijay Bharadwaj at second slip who took a low catch to his left.

Laxman started cautiosly, taking 23 balls to get off the mark with a disdainful pull to the square leg boundary off Mansur Ali Khan. Mansur was unlucky when Laxman checked an intended drive and deposited the ball in the no man's land behind the bowler's head. Hyderabad's fifty came up in the 18th over as both batsmen played the bowling with increasing confidence.

Laxman gave Ganesh a pasting with two charming pulls in one over to the square leg and mid wicket boundaries. Sunil Joshi was brought on but although keeping the batsmen on a leash, he did not pose any threat to their well being. Suddenly however for no rhyme or reason, Laxman stepped down the track and tried to hoist Joshi over mid on. He didn't get the intended elevation and the ball went at shoulder height to Rowland Barrington, who dropped it to the universal disbelief of the fielders and the crowd. Laxman was then on 30 and the score at 89/1.

One run later, Prasad struck again as Daniel Manohar presented the blade in a defensive posture and got a tickle through to Thilak Naidu for 39 (95 balls). Prasad didn't have a mid wicket to Azharuddin and he was tempted soon enough to flick one into the gap only to get a leading edge that landed short of gully.

The cup of the woe continued to fill for Karnataka as Akhil at second slip grassed Azhar, then on 16, low down to his right. Akhil's luck did not change when he came on to bowl with Laxman taking three sucessive boundaries in his first over. Azhar had a lapse of concentration just before tea when he flailed at two balls outside off stump from Mansur Ali Khan. Vijay Bharadwaj got a hand to the first but could not hold on as it raced to the fence while the second bisected Bharadwaj and Prasad at first slip just over their heads.

Laxman got a couple of gift boundaries as Mansur Ali Khan let one slip through his legs at mid off and later Mithun Beerala fired in a throw at the bowler's end which Joshi, daydreaming at mid on, failed to collect. Laxman's hundred came when he drove a ball into the ground which bounced over the bowler's head and went down to the long off boundary. The umpires had to caution the Karnataka players shortly after when Mansur Ali Khan had expressed his displeasure over a leg before appeal against Azhar that had been turned down.

Dodda Ganesh was also upto his antics with some uproarious appeals followed by a trot down the wicket to stare at the batsman. But he was put in his place as Azhar ferociously hooked him to the square leg fence to go into his nineties. He finally got to his century off 167 balls with a push past cover and Laxman's 150 followed with a slice between gully and point that raced to the pickets. His career best score of 301 against Bihar should come under threat on the morrow. With the wicket expected to deteriorate later in the game, Karnataka have to pull out all the stops to prevent Hyderabad from batting them out of the match tomorrow.