The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Flawless century by Abbas Ali

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Wednesday, Mar 02, 2005

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Sport - Cricket

Flawless century by Abbas Ali

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MARCH 1. Abbas Ali complied a convincing century against Bangladesh Cricket Board XI on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy match here on Tuesday.

His flawless innings of 122 and some purposeful batting by Devendra Bundela (83) enabled Central to finish the opening day at 248 for three.

Among the audience at the Karnail Singh Stadium was Abbas' father Gulrez Ali, who played first class cricket for Madhya Pradesh. "I have seen him get centuries before but I thought he applied himself very well today," said a proud Gulrez, who was only passing on the lessons he had learnt from his father, the legendary Mushtaq Ali.

The expectations from Abbas have always been high but recognition in the higher league remained elusive for this attacking left-hander despite some good showing in the last five seasons. This particular innings ought to earn him accolades because the runs were carved in difficult conditions.

Uncertain bounce

The uncertain bounce, with the ball keeping alarmingly low at times, demanded utmost concentration and skill and Abbas possessed both the attributes, much to the chagrin of the BCB XI attack, which was guilty of not exploiting the conditions. The bowlers gave the batsmen too much width and the batsmen were only too happy to grab the offerings.

Central, electing to bat, suffered early jolts when Sanjay Bangar and Amit Pagnis became victims of the low bounce. From this difficult position, Abbas and Bundela added 214 runs for the third wicket. Incidentally Bangar who was hit on the elbow by Jubair had to visit a doctor outside since there was none available at the venue.

The shot selection by Abbas was exemplary and Bundela was equally committed in providing support. There were some classy drives by Abbas and some robust blows too as run-making became an enjoyable task in the afternoon.

In his 205-ball essay, Abbas smashed 20 fours and a six while Bundela, who has faced 238 balls thus far, hit ten fours. The partnership ended in the closing stages when Abbas' ambitious drive was taken wonderfully by a diving Abdur Razzak in the covers. It needed a brilliant catch to end a brilliant innings.

The scores:

Central Zone _1st innings: S. Bangar lbw b Jubair 11, A. Pagnis lbw b Anwar Hossain 12, D. Bundela (batting) 83, Abbas Ali c Razzak b Kapali 122, J. P. Yadav (batting) 10. Extras (b-1, lb-5, nb-4) 10. Total (for three wkts. in 90 overs) 248.

Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-24, 3-238.

BCB XI bowling: Najmul Hossain 9-3-25-0, Anwar Hossain 15-6-40-1, Jubair 23-3-74-1, Abdur Razzak 17-6-39-0, Manjural 16-3-50-0, Kapali 10-5-14-1.

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