Much good cricket in Ranji Trophy quarterfinals

The best thing about the Ranji Trophy quarterfinals which concluded on Monday was that there was much good cricket played. Splendid performances, two well contested games, batsmen and bowlers getting equal rewards on good cricketing pitches. Really the two matches were pretty good advertisement for the domestic game.

The home advantage is not always crucial but the fact remains that Tamil Nadu have almost always done well at Chepauk. As such, they seemed to have the edge over Punjab on the eve of the five day game. All the same, it was expected to be a battle royal between two in form teams. On one side were Punjab, North Zone champions who then went on to top group B in the Super League with 24 points. On the other side were the hosts, who had won the South Zone championship and then went on to top group C with 26 points. Both sides missed one important player. Punjab were without the injured Ravneet Ricky while Tamil Nadu were without Robin Singh who had not yet arrived in Chennai from Sharjah.

Tamil Nadu skipper Sridharan Sharath took a calculated gamble in sending Punjab in to bat after winning the toss. But the wicket did have some life in it and Tamil Nadu took the opening round by dismissing their opponents for 258. It was always on the cards that their strong batting line up would see to it that they did not squander away the initial advantage given by the bowlers. And sure enough, Sridharan Sriram led the way with a monumental 165. His fifth century saw the left hander cross 1000 runs for the season. Batting in depth, Tamil Nadu were able to get a huge lead of 203 runs, despite the gallant Harbhajan Singh bowling his heart out to take five wickets for 106 runs.

There was no question of Tamil Nadu allowing Punjab to come back into the game after gaining such a big lead. But Vikram Rathour did try his best to set the hosts a challenging target in the fourth innings. With help from RS Sodhi (89) and Sandeep Sharma (51 not out) he helped his team to get 366 in their second innings. Rathour himself displayed skill and patience in compiling 127. Opening the innings, he was seventh out at 333 in the 105th over after battling it out in the intense heat for 505 minutes. But on a wicket that still remained good even on the fifth afternoon, a target of 164 was always within Tamil Nadu's reach. They did suffer initial hiccups but even at 40 for three there was never really any doubt that Tamil Nadu would reach their target. This they did comfortably with the experienced duo of Sadagopan Ramesh and Sharath steering the hosts home, overcoming the threat posed by danger man Harbhajan Singh.

Tamil Nadu now meet Mumbai in the semifinal at Mumbai from April 11. They have never really fared well against the team from the West Zone, having lost numerous times before registering their first triumph over Mumbai in 1995-96. Mumbai will be at full strength, but so also will Tamil Nadu. Mumbai who topped the West Zone table and then won all their four games in the Super League have an unbeatable look. But Tamil Nadu are also enjoying a good run and everything points out to a well contested game even though it will be hard not to install the hosts as favourities.

If anything, the other quarterfinal was even more evenly contested. On the eve of the match, there seemed to be little to choose between Hyderabad and Uttar Pradesh, with only the home advantage being in the latter's favour. Hyderabad had finished second in the South Zone and then in group B they had finished second to Punjab with 21 points. UP, who had finished third in the Central Zone, were second to Tamil Nadu in group C in the Super League with 22 points. A strokefilled 128 by the in form VVS Laxman helped Hyderabad to get 291 but UP with half centuries from Jyoti Yadav, Md Kaif and AW Zaidi nosed in front by replying with 362. But Hyderabad, adopting an everything to gain and nothing to lose approach hit up 381 for five in 98 overs before declaring their second innings closed. Laxman was again in the forefront this time getting 177 not out. In scoring his sixth century of the season, Laxman set a new Ranji Trophy record.

UP were now left with a target of 311 on a wicket that was seemingly still playing well. They enjoyed the cushion of the first innings lead but it was obvious that Hyderabad would exert tremendous pressure. And it was this pressure to which UP succumbed. After being 104 for one and 163 for three, UP fell to the wiles of Venkatpathi Raju and Kanwaljit Singh. The latter, who had taken six wickets in the first innings, took three more but it was Raju who broke the back of the UP batting by taking six wickets. Ultimately, despite a brave 86 from Md Kaif and a valuable 57 by opener M Saif, UP just failed to last out the final day and were all out for 218 leaving Hyderabad victors by 92 runs. It was a notable triumph for a team displaying the never say die attitude.

Hyderabad next play Karnataka in the semifinal. It should be an interesting game. Hyderabad will be strenghtened with the availability of Md Azharuddin while Karnataka on the other hand will be weakened by the non availaibility of Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid who will be off to England to commence their county engagements. But Karnataka, still be a strong team, will be keen to retain the trophy they have won for the last two years. Incidentally in the South Zone league match at Secundarabad in January, Hyderabad got the first innings lead in a well contested match.