The Hindu : North lifts Duleep Trophy

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 09, 2004

Sport

Sport - Cricket

North lifts Duleep Trophy

By Vijay Lokapally

MOHALI, MARCH 8. East Zone flattered to deceive on the final day of the Duleep Trophy that was won by North Zone at the PCA Stadium here on Monday. North, thriving upon a rich haul by off-spinner Mithun Manhas, won by 59 runs to regain the title after three years, thanks mainly to some indiscreet strokeplay by East on a pitch that did not shed its sporting nature at any point.

East resumed the day at 213 for three, still 196 runs away from the target. There was tension on the field when North allowed the game to drift and the appeals became too noisy and too ambitious; skipper Dinesh Mongia too ran out of ideas as Kiran Powar and Sourasish Lahiri built the innings with a sensible approach. Powar seemed to have taken a pledge not to play the ball in the air at all and it worked well for East since the run chase did not demand desperate tactics. Powar had played a poor shot in the first innings that saw East fall eight runs short of the North total and here was his chance to compensate for that error.

With support coming from Lahiri it was obvious for Powar to curb his shots. There was a spot of bother for the batsmen, the `rough' on one end that spelt threat when driving the ball. Powar and Lahiri, during their 64-run stand for the third wicket, were happy to wait for the loose deliveries. A lot of edges flew past the fielders and North, with frustration growing in the ranks, seemed to have lost direction when Lahiri fell to a bat-pad dismissal at silly point. "That was a crucial breakthrough for us,'' recalled Mongia, who held the catch inches off the ground.

Having lost trust in the seamers, Mongia pressed himself into the attack and struck the most important blow when skipper Devang Gandhi's square-cut ended in a catch at the wicket. Gandhi had the potential to take the match away from North but his departure gave the contest a new direction.

North still had to contend with a well-set Powar and a determined Shib Sundar Das, who walked in with a runner. Mongia made a crafty move by entrusting Manhas with the job to exploit the `rough.' There was instant success when Manhas curled one past the defensive stretch of Das. And then came the decisive blow of the day — Powar failing to keep his drive down for Mongia to come up with a splendid catch in front at covers. It was the first shot that an otherwise disciplined Powar attempted in the air. His 97 off 235 balls contained eight 4s but more importantly it raised visions of East's first ever title win in this competition.

East prayed for a handsome contribution from Utpal Chatterjee and Laxmi Ratan Shukla but both fell to desperate shots. There was some resistance from Debasish Mohanty but it was too good to last and a simple catch at covers by Mithun saw the end of the contest an hour after lunch with the hard-working Amit Bhandari picking up three wickets.

"The three wickets by Manhas crushed us,'' said Gandhi. "We didn't bat well enough but I would give North the credit. I think the difference between the teams was Yuvraj Singh,'' he added.

North skipper Dinesh Mongia gave credit to his bowlers and "Yuvraj'' who he thought gave them a good chance against a spirited side.

East manager Karsan Ghavri summed it aptly when he said "we saw some excellent cricket for five days and overall there was not much difference between the teams barring Yuvraj Singh. He made a huge impact.''

This was North's 16th win in Duleep Trophy, one more than the record of 15 titles held by West. "I think we were the better side,'' said Mongia. In the end, North, grabbing the chances better than the opposition, looked the better side and the deserving winner.

The scores:

North Zone_1st innings: 330.

East Zone_1st innings: 322.

North Zone_2nd innings: 400.

East Zone_2nd innings: A. Das lbw b Sarandeep 35, M.S. Dhoni c Yuvraj b Gagandeep 60, K. Powar c Mongia b Manhas 97, R. Gavaskar c Ratra b Bhandari 49, S. Lahiri c Mongia b Sarandeep 27, D. Gandhi c Ratra b Mongia 9, S.S. Das b Manhas 0, L.R. Shukla c Nehra b Bhandari 17, U. Chatterjee c Gagandeep b Manhas 0, D. Mohanty c Manhas b Bhandari 26, S.S. Paul (not out) 0, Extras (b-6, lb-9, nb-14) 29, Total 349.

Fall of wickets: 1-77, 2-116, 3-200, 4-264, 5-284, 6-285, 7-311, 8-313, 9-335.

North bowling: Nehra 15-2-44-0, Bhandari 18.5-1-71-3, Joginder 13-1-60-0, Gagandeep 10-1-44-1, Sarandeep 27-1-71-2, Mongia 13-3-29-1, Manhas 10-3-15-3.

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