The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Unbeaten century by Raja Ali

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Sunday, Jan 02, 2005

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Unbeaten century by Raja Ali

By Our Sports Reporter

BANGALORE, JAN. 1. Raja Ali's unbeaten 100 helped Railways go past Karnataka's 194 in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match at the IAF Ground here on Saturday. The southpaw whipped the day's last delivery bowled by debutant left-arm spinner C. Raghavendra to fine leg for a single and posted his hundred that helped the visitor score 256 for four at stumps on the second day.

Earlier in the morning, the Karnataka first innings folded up in 2.1 overs and the Railways' opening duo of skipper Sanjay Bangar and Amit Pagnis soon added 43 runs. Bangar however was castled by Vinay Kumar and with N.C. Aiyappa scalping Amit Pagnis and T.P. Singh.

After the initial hiccups Railways was soon back in the hunt as the hard-hitting J.P. Yadav (54) and Raja Ali (100 n.o., 176b, 14 x 4) added 72 runs for the fourth wicket.

J.P. Yadav drove and cut the errant bowlers while Raja Ali drove the seamers and often used the sweep to counter Sunil Joshi's guiles. However Yadav's penchant to rush his shots undid him as he pulled N.C. Aiyappa straight to Rahul Dravid at short mid-wicket.

Karnataka's joy was however short-lived as next man, Yere Goud, dropped anchor and shared an unfinished 100-run fifth-wicket partnership with Raja Ali.

As the day progressed, Raja Ali's cover drives and whips past square leg kept the scoreboard ticking while Yere Goud offered a dour blade (25 n.o., 131b). Raja Ali also enjoyed his luck on 49 as Sudhindra Shinde dropped him at short mid-wicket off Vinay Kumar.

Raja Ali held his nerve and ensured that Railways had won the initial battle for first innings honours.

The scores

Karnataka — Ist innings: R. Uthappa lbw Harvinder Singh 6, B. Rowland b K. Parida 25, S. Somasundar c S. Joshi b J.P. Yadav 6, R. Dravid c S. Bangar b K. Parida 41, S. Shinde c K. Parida b Madan 26, T. Naidu c S. Joshi b J.P. Yadav 9, S. Joshi c Raja Ali b J.P. Yadav 35, D. Ganesh c S. Bangar b Madan Yadav 1, C. Raghavendra c A. Pagnis b Parida 9, R. Vinay Kumar c A. Pagnis b Harvinder 11, N.C. Aiyappa (not out) 0. Extras: 25 (b-3, lb-4, nb-17, w-1). Total: 194 (all out in 92.1overs).

Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-24, 3-93, 4-106, 5-123, 6-142, 7-143, 8-154, 9-186.

Railways bowling: Harvinder 22-8-34-2 (nb-4), J.P. Yadav 19.1-12-21-3 (nb-5, w-1), Bangar 15-7-34-0 (nb-4 (8)), Madan Yadav 13-2-31-2, Parida 23-4-67-3.

Railways — Ist innings: A. Pagnis lbw b Aiyappa 36, S. Bangar b Vinay Kumar 8, T.P. Singh b Aiyappa 15, J.P. Yadav c Dravid b Aiyappa 54, Raja Ali (batting) 100, Yere Goud (batting) 25. Extras: 18 (b-3, lb-1, nb-14). Total: 256 (for four in 85 overs).

Fall of wickets: 1-43, 2-59, 3-84, 4-156.

Karnataka bowling: Dodda Ganesh 16-4-66-0 (nb-11), Vinay Kumar 18-3-40-1 (nb-3), Aiyappa 17-5-55-3, Sunil Joshi 26-6-64-0, Raghavendra 8-0-27-0.

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