Late rally by Kartik, Ganesh bolster Indian Airlines

Indian Airlines skipper Vijay Dahiya won the toss in their semifinal encounter against the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in the MRF Buchi Babu Invitation tournament on Monday. On a flat wicket at the IIT Chemplast Ground, Indian Airlines were saved the blushes by Murali Kartik and Dodda Ganesh and their 95-run ninth wicket stand that saw Indian Airlines reach 267 just two balls short of 88 overs.

Earlier in the day, Karnataka's J Arunkumar and youngster Manish Sharma failed to get the Airlines team off to a good start. Playing slowly from the beginning, Airlines were one down with just 21 runs on the board. Rakesh Patel was the wrecker-in-chief in the morning session. He scalped Arunkumar and then removed Laxman off the very next ball. VVS Laxman will be disappointed with his first ball duck. The stylish Hyderabadi batsman favours batting in the middle order. Having gotten the chance at number three, all he could do was snick the ball through to the wicketkeeper. Rohit Jhalani was not one to miss out on a key wicket like Laxman, and snared the chance.

Shafiq Khan, who slammed a ton in the last game he played, also succumbed quickly, without even opening his account. Mrithyunjay Tripathi, one of the heroes of India's Under-19 World Cup triumph in Sri Lanka, had Shafiq Khan caught by Dhruv. The last thing Indian Airlines needed was a run out - and this was exactly what they got. Manish Sharma (20) was caught short off his ground by a handy bit of fielding from Yuvraj Singh.

At 27/4, the Indian Airlines team was in deep, deep trouble. A fighting half century from Ravneet Ricky managed to give the innings some semblance of dignity. When he was dismissed just three runs short of his half century by left arm spinner Rakesh Dhruv, there was more trouble for Indian Airlines. A few quick wickets later they were 157/8 and looking down the barrel.

The fall of the eighth wicket brought India caps Murali Kartik and Dodda Ganesh together. Both have played for India but without getting a long run so they had a lot to play for. No one had more to play for on the day than Murali Kartik. Not long ago, he was expelled from the NCA on disciplinary grounds. The director of the NCA, Hanumant Singh has also made it amply clear since, that they would not reconsider their decision. Every sweep Kartik played, every straight drive smarted of this expulsion.

Sparing no bowler, the Railways southpaw put the attack to the sword. With the wicket doing nothing whatsoever for the bowlers, all Mohammed Kaif could do was rotate the bowling around and hope that a wicket would fall. By the time it did, it was too late. Kartik had slammed his way to an unbeaten 62 that included one majestic hit that cleared the ropes. Ganesh was not one to be left behind. Although he was careful with anything pitched in the right spot, he was severe on anything that was not. When all rounder Reetinder Singh Sodhi banged the ball short at Ganesh, the day's story was told. The Karnataka seamer leaned back and clouted the ball well over the ropes on the leg side. The Indian Airlines batsmen let out a whoop of joy from the confines of the pavilion. However, in all honesty, they should have still been out in the middle grinding an inexperienced attack into a docile pitch.

Tripathi was handed a brand new ball in the 82nd over of the day. The young mediumpacer responded to his captain's call in fine fashion, breaking up the ninth wicket partnership that had made life so hard for the NCA. Ganesh was out playing one shot too many, but had already scored an invaluable 42.

The last man in, Vineet Jain was shielded well by Murali Kartik. However, no one can be shielded endlessly. After surviving 16 balls at the crease, Jain found the 17th too hot to handle. Succumbing to temptation, he attempted a stroke across the line to a straight ball and was trapped plumb in front. The final score of the Indian Airlines team was 267 and at 157/8 they might not have thought they would get quite so many.

With an awkward five overs to face, Sridharan Sriram and Shiv Sunder Das walked out to the middle. Neither appeared to be playing for stumps. Ganesh sent down a couple of nippy overs that were left well alone at one end. From the other end however, three bowlers got an over apiece. Vineet Jain managed to send down an over for just two runs. The other two - Indian bowlers at that - were not as lucky. Murali Kartik sent down an over of bad deliveries. He was lucky to be hit away for just two boundaries. Nikhil Chopra, sending down the last over of the day to Sriram could not entice the youngster from Chennai into making a mistake.

At the end of a long day's play, NCA were 17/0. Tomorrow holds the key, and if the NCA batsmen are organised and sensible, they should be on the way to reserving a spot in the final.