The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Central in command

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Thursday, Mar 03, 2005

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Central in command

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MARCH 2. The Bangladesh Cricket Board XI, in a shockingly casual approach, blew away a good platform to showcase its potential in response to a challenging situation set up by the Central Zone in the Duleep Trophy match.

On the second day of the contest at the Karnail Singh Stadium here, Central — resuming at 248 for three — compiled 351 leaving the stage for its bowlers who did a commendable job by sticking to a plan and reducing the BCB XI to 117 for six at close.

Skipper Jai Prakash Yadav, who failed in the morning to justify his batting prowess, baffled the BCB XI youngsters with a nagging line and reverse swing that fetched him three wickets, including the important one of Mohammad Ashraful.

Central Zone had itself to blame for the collapse in the first session when Yadav played a casual drive and Devender Bundela, 83 overnight, pursued a wrong line. When Naman Ojha was run out, the Central appeared to have lost the advantage of a fruitful first day.

Cameo by Kartik

The slide was arrested by Nikhil Doru and Murali Kartik, the latter's cameo containing four fours and a six coming at a most desired phase of the Central innings which folded 15 minutes after lunch. Seamer Talha Jubair produced an excellent spell to finish with four wickets on a helpful pitch but the BCB XI batsmen spoilt his effort in the afternoon.

Harvinder Singh made an early impression when he removed Al Shahriar, whose ambitious drive ended in a superb catch at second slip by Amit Pagnis. At the other end, left-arm Salabh Srivastava trapped Nafees Iqbal, beating him by pace. The BCB XI batsmen adopted an aggressive attitude but it did not work as Aftab Ahmad's drive flew to first slip.

The gifted Mohammad Ashraful promised a lot but failed to enhance his reputation. A flurry of strokes, particularly the pull that he executes with such disdain, showed him in excellent nick but his injudicious shot-selection signalled his downfall when his intended drive was snapped at second slip. Alok Kapali fell soon when he misread the swing.

A sedate Monjural Islam was an exception, but he lacked support. Sagir Hossain was guilty of indiscretion but Monjural stuck it out to survive the day in the company of Abdur Razzak. The day's play was summed up by Yadav who observed, "the pitch is not as bad as has been portrayed. We have better bowlers who could exploit the pitch by sticking to an effective line and length. We are looking forward to taking the first innings lead." The Central skipper also confirmed his team would not enforce the follow-on.

The scores:

Central Zone — 1st innings: S. Bangar lbw b Jubair 11, A. Pagnis lbw b Anwar Hossain 12, D. Bundela b Anwar Hossain 83, Abbas Ali c Razzak b Kapali 122, J.P. Yadav c Sagir Hossain b Jubair 10, N. Ojha (run out) 25, N. Doru (not out) 20, M. Kartik c Shahriar b Jubair 33, Harvinder c Sagir Hossain b Anwar Hossain 4, K. Parida lbw b Anwar Hossain 0, S. Srivastava c Sagir Hossain b Jubair 3. Extras (b-12, lb-7, nb-4, w-5) 28, Total (in 129.3 overs) 351.

Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-24, 3-238, 4-248, 5-262, 6-273, 7-323, 8-332, 9-332.

BCB XI bowling: Najmul Hossain 9-3-25-0, Anwar Hossain 26-10-58-4, Jubair 35.3-4-122-4, Razzak 22-7-53-0, Manjural Hossain 21-6-52-0, Kapali 10-5-14-1, Aftab Ahmad 6-3-8-0.

BCB XI — 1st innings: Al Shahriar c Pagnis b Harvinder 0, Nafees Iqbal lbw b Srivastava 0, Aftab Ahmad c Abbas b Yadav 18, Mohd. Ashraful c Kartik b Yadav 30, A. Kapali lbw b Yadav 12, Monjural Islam (batting) 32, Sagir Hossain st Ojha b Kartik 16, Abdur Razzak (batting) 4. Extras (b-4, nb-1) 5. Total (for six wkts in 48 overs) 117.

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-0, 3-52, 4-61, 5-66, 6-108.

Central Zone bowling: Harvinder 9-3-30-1, Srivastava 8-2-19-1, Yadav 14-7-29-3, Bangar 9-2-23-0, Kartik 5-2-8-1, Parida 3-1-4-0.

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