The Hindu : Sport : Central clinches Duleep Trophy

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Friday, Mar 11, 2005

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Central clinches Duleep Trophy

By Vijay Lokapally

TRIUMPHANT LOT: The Central Zone team which won the Duleep Trophy. — Photo: R.V. Moorthy

NAGPUR, MARCH 10. Central Zone clinched the Duleep Trophy with a convincing nine-wicket win over North Zone. The contest was over at the stroke of lunch on the third day at the VCA Stadium here, with Sanjay Bangar and Mohammad Kaif finishing the job with a flurry of shots.

Bangar was in excellent touch and ended the game in style, while Kaif provided the thrust even as North gave up the fight early in the day.

"It was not easy. We had plenty of hard work and commitment. I think the key factor was our fielding. The fielders backed the bowlers and it was most essential on this kind of pitch where you had to apply a lot. I thought it was a good sporting pitch," said Kaif.

The ease with which Central achieved the target must have shocked the North bowlers. Strokes flowed fluently from the blade of Bangar, who was aggressive from the word go.

His unbeaten 62 came off 108 balls with eight fours and two sixes — both off leg-spinner Amit Mishra.

"We missed a few players here but there is no excuse. Central played better than us and deserved to win the title. Not that we lacked motivation, but we didn't grab the chances that came our way," said North skipper Dinesh Mongia.

Poor standard

Former Test batsman K. Jayantilal, who was watching the match, was shocked at the poor standard of cricket.

"I can't believe this is a Duleep Trophy final. The youngsters are just not prepared to apply themselves and seem to be in a hurry to play their shots," said Jayantilal, working with the Vidarbha team as a coach.

Bangar and Kaif carried the team to its destination with a rousing partnership after Naman Ojha perished to a casual shot in the slips.

"We just had to play the ball on merit," stressed Kaif. Playing the dominant role, Bangar came up with a flawless effort that should keep him in good stead for the Ranji Trophy semifinal against Hyderabad from March 18.

"The difference was in shot selection. Our batsmen didn't apply and there were some very poor shots in the second innings," said Mongia.

"Unless you work hard, you can't achieve the desired results in domestic cricket. I won't say there was anything wrong with the pitch," he added.

In a splendid gesture, Kaif played out a maiden over off Mishra in order to allow Bangar hit the winning run. The genial Bangar responded with a silken on-drive off R. S. Sodhi to bring the curtain down on a match which tested the second string of Indian cricket on an ideal pitch.

Umpires V. N. Kulkarni and Alok Bhattacharjee did an efficient job and controlled the game well.

The scores:

North Zone — 1st innings: 104.

Central Zone — 1st innings: 133.

North Zone — 2nd innings: 169.

Central Zone — 2nd innings: Sanjay Bangar (not out) 62, Naman Ojha c Manhas b Gagandeep 26, Mohammad Kaif (not out) 48; Extras (lb-1, nb-5): 6; Total (for one wkt. in 33.1 overs) 142.

Fall of wicket: 1-52.

North Zone bowling: Gagandeep 10-2-25-1, Bhandari 3-0-16-0, Joginder 7-1-24-0, Mishra 8-1-37-0, Sodhi 5.1-0-39-0.

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