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Cricket
By Vijay Lokapally
Century-maker Yuvraj Singh gets a hug from Akash Chopra. - Photo: V.V. Krishnan
MOHALI, MARCH 6. In one agonising moment - a self-destructive act by Kiran Powar — East Zone conceded precious ground to North Zone on a day of some intense cricket at the PCA Stadium here. Having carried his team on his shoulders with a sterling innings, Powar heaved an innocuous ball to deep midwicket. A mere eight runs separated the teams as North took the first innings lead and then dictated the course, riding on Yuvraj Singh's second century of the contest and a typically solid effort from Akash Chopra, who perished five runs short of a hundred to an unwise shot. Resuming at 287 for eight, East was within striking distance when Powar took a senseless swipe against the most sensible of the North bowlers — Sarandeep Singh. The impact could be seen in the day as North belted the attack to raise visions of an easy acquisition of the trophy. Thanks to the performances by Yuvraj and Chopra, North finished the day at 292 for three, an overall lead of 300 and skipper Dinesh Mongia looking in ominous touch. It was a remarkable development this morning when one shot changed the complexion of the match. A first-innings lead for East would have evoked a different response from North but it capitalised on the gift and raised a strong challenge with Chopra and Yuvraj combining to extend the anguish for East.
Two to tango
Chopra played his familiar role of blunting the attack and guiding the partners through some anxious moment. Gautam Gambhir erred in playing back instead of forward and departed to allow Yuvraj to stride in take immediate command. Yuvraj and Chopra put on 230 runs for the second wicket to try and shut East out of the match. Yuvraj was unstoppable on this day, too. His first-innings century had been constructed under pressure but this one saw the left-hander give himself the freedom to indulge in what he loves most — whacking the ball. Century in each innings of the match for the first time in his career could not have come at a better stage for Yuvraj, who almost missed the match on account of shoulder injury. That he was directed to play worked in his favour and he was glad he made it. "It's great to score two centuries in the same match. I'm happy I played this match. I just wanted to go to the middle and contribute to put the team in a strong situation. I'm glad I could do it," said Yuvraj, who rated it as one of his finest knocks. "There's nothing like hitting a century," said Yuvraj, who was authoritative right through his 176-ball knock that contained 18 fours and one six. He was flawless in his shot selection and committed towards grinding the attack, which lost direction under the onslaught. Chopra may rue his silly on-drive, which ended in a skier and left him just five runs short of a century. He had done the hard work with a very matured effort but his dismissal left him disappointed. His 202-ball essay contained 10 fours and he stood out for his valuable show. At the end of the day, East had itself to blame. If only Powar had not allowed indiscretion to effect his otherwise superb knock. He did not finish the job and North gladly grabbed the chance to take a firm grip on the contest. The scores: North Zone — 1st innings: 330. East Zone — 1st innings: S.S. Das c Yuvraj b Nehra 12, M.S. Dhoni c Chopra b Joginder 21, A. Das b Sarandeep 70, R. Gavaskar lbw b Joginder 1, D. Gandhi c Manhas b Sarandeep 42, K. Powar c Gambhir b Sarandeep 102, L.R. Shukla c Yuvraj b Sarandeep 8, S.S. Lahiri st. Ratra b Sarandeep 6, U. Chatterjee c Yuvraj b Sarandeep 39, D. Mohanty lbw b Gagandeep 2, S.S. Paul (not out) 0; Extras (lb-2, nb-16, w-1) 19; Total: 322. Fall of wickets: 1-34, 2-44, 3-46, 4-139, 5-174, 6-182, 7-200, 8-286, 9-302. North bowling: Nehra 20-7-50-2, Bhandari 20-1-86-0, Joginder 11-0-59-2, Gagandeep 17-3-54-0, Sarandeep 22.5-6-64-5, Mongia 1-0-7-0. North Zone — 2nd innings: A. Chopra c (sub) V. Saravanan b Lahiri 95, G. Gambhir b Lahiri 9, Y. Singh c Dhoni b Paul 148, Dinesh Mongia (batting) 14, Mithun Manhas (batting) 11; Extras (b-4, lb-1, nb-10) 15, Total (for three wkts) 292. Fall of wickets: 1-30, 2-260, 3-278. East bowling: Pal 16-2-81-1, Mohanty 9-2-26-0, Lahiri 28-2-95-2, Chatterjee 15-0-43-0, Powar 3-0-29-0, Gavaskar 2-0-4-0, Gandhi 1-0-9-0.
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