The Hindu : Sport : North in command

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Wednesday, Feb 16, 2005

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North in command

By Our Special Correspondent

CASTLED: Ashish Nehra, who bowled a brilliant spell to help North take a firm grip on the Duleep Trophy match against West, knocks back Kiran Powar's stumps.

LUCKNOW, FEB. 15. Ashish Nehra's incisive spell marked the opening day's play as North Zone took a firm grip over West Zone in the Duleep Trophy match here.

The Delhi left-arm seamer rocked West with a dream performance that saw him finish with six wickets. West, electing to bat, was skittled out for 201 as Nehra ran through the opposition by using the conditions most craftily. North ended the day on 114 for the loss of two wickets.

It was not the best pitch to bowl on even though the day witnessed 12 dismissals. "I had to work hard for my wickets. There was little pace and I knew it was always going to be challenging. But I was happy with my rhythm. It has been good this entire season,'' said Nehra.

Some of the deliveries Nehra bowled were unplayable and West was indebted to the diminutive Parthiv Patel for saving the team embarrassment by producing a strokeful innings in the middle order. "I was not trying to prove my fitness. I have no fitness problems but I am happy to have done well on an unhelpful pitch. It helped that I could get some reverse swing,'' said Nehra.

After a first spell that helped him assess the pitch, Nehra changed ends and shattered the opposition with his skills. A well-set Dheeraj Jadhav was flummoxed by the swing and pace — a lethal delivery that crashed into the stumps. The breakthrough for North had, however, come from the hard-working leg-spinner Amit Mishra when he snared a confident Satyajit Parab with a googly.

Nehra bowled six overs in the second spell and added the scalps of Wasim Jaffer, caught down the leg-side off an innocuous ball, and Kiran Powar, who stood bewildered as the ball swung sensationally to leave him in a trance. "He never spotted the ball,'' said West Zone coach Paras Mhambrey.

Among those watching was India coach John Wright, who remarked, "Ashish (Nehra) bowled beautifully.'' Wright is here with two National selectors — Yashpal Sharma and V.B. Chandrasekhar — and had plenty to take notice of.

Parthiv the exception

With Nehra sticking to his wicket-to-wicket line, the West batsmen struggled. Parthiv was a glorious exception as he utilised the scoring opportunities with a flurry of strokes square of the wicket.

When Niraj Patel, looking good, misjudged the line to be castled, the West innings was in a mess but Parthiv and Ramesh Powar contributed the best partnership of the innings — 52 for the sixth — to offer token resistance. The stand was broken when Ramesh Powar was adjudged leg-before.

With West under pressure, Nehra returned to complete the job in style though he conceded a few runs in this spell. Rajesh Pawar, Zaheer Khan and Rakesh Patel also became his victims.

Gagandeep Singh inflicted the final blow when Parthiv Patel attempted a desperate slog. Parthiv's 55 off 90 balls contained six fours while Ramesh Powar hit eight robust boundaries in his 48-ball cameo.

North's response was expectedly strong despite the loss of Virender Sehwag and a flamboyant Gautam Gambhir, who played the wrong line to be bowled after three rousing boundaries.

Sehwag's casual prod ended in a snick and it was left to Aakash Chopra to see the day through with Ravneet Ricky. Chopra, batting aggressively, was unbeaten on 44 off 69 balls with four fours and the lone six of the day.

The scores:

West Zone — 1st innings: D. Jadhav b Nehra 17, S. Parab lbw b Mishra 31, W. Jaffer c Bisla b Nehra 8, Niraj Patel b Gagandeep 21, Kiran Powar b Nehra 0, Parthiv Patel b Gagandeep 55, Ramesh Powar lbw b Bhatia 35, R. Pawar b Nehra 4, Zaheer c Gagandeep b Nehra 12, Rakesh Patel lbw b Nehra 3, S. Trivedi (not out) 0. Extras (b-1, lb-2, nb-12) 15. Total (in 65.1 overs) 201.

Fall of wickets: 1-48, 2-55, 3-58, 4-58, 5-87, 6-139, 7-149, 8-179, 9-190.

North Zone bowling: Nehra 19-4-57-6, Gagandeep 12.1-3-28-2, Mishra 15-3-43-1, Bhatia 13-2-45-1, Sehwag 6-0-25-0.

North Zone — 1st innings: G. Gambhir b Zaheer 13, V. Sehwag c Parthiv b Pawar 33, A. Chopra (batting) 44, R. Ricky (batting) 19. Extras (b-1, nb-4) 5. Total (for two wkts. in 24 overs) 114.

Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-74.

West Zone bowling: Zaheer 8-0-42-1, R. Patel 4-0-42-0, Pawar 6-1-17-1, Ramesh Powar 6-1-12-0.

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