The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Thrilling finish to the final

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Friday, Apr 15, 2005

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Sport - Cricket

Thrilling finish to the final

Special Correspondent

Mumbai: There was no victor in the BCCI all-India knockout limited overs tournament at the Wankhede Stadium here on Thursday evening. In an absorbing final between Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, Anirudha Srikkanth's throw from mid-off was coolly collected by bowler Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan to whip off the bails and deny Uttar Pradesh the match-clinching one run off the last ball of the match.

Amir Khan, U.P.'s man holding centre-stage, darted to complete the crucial run but was well short of his ground. He became the seventh batsman in the match to be outsmarted by a fielder as the match ended in a tie, both teams scoring 248. The teams shared Rs. 3 lakh.

Losing grip

It was in the last half hour or so that Tamil Nadu lost its grip on the match. The last U.P. pair in Amir Khan and Pravin Gupta batted sensibly after the ninth wicket fell in the 43rd over at 214. U.P. needed seven off the last over. Khan and Gupta ran four singles and a two in five balls taking advantage of the defensive field.

It should have been U.P.'s game, but Hemang Badani deployed his forces inside the ring and luckily, Khan's shot failed to beat Anirudha. It was touch and go for both the teams and Tamil Nadu might have been utterly disappointed had the result gone in U.P.'s favour.

The final began with a solid start provided by Vidyut (41 off 41 balls) and Anirudha (30). But from 78 for no loss Tamil Nadu's innings declined, with R. P. Singh, positioned at third man, effecting a direct hit run out of Vidyut. S. Badrinath's wicket fell soon while a limping Badani (69, 89b, 5x4s) had to depart because his runner Anirudha had left his ground.

The scores: Tamil Nadu: S. Vidyut (run out) 41, K. Anirudha c Ali Hameed b Pravin Kumar 30, S. Badrinath (run out) 4, H. Badani (run out) 69, S. Sharath lbw b Pravin Kumar 14, C. Hemant Kumar c R. Shukla b Gupta 32, D. Kaarthick c A. Khan b Yadav 27, S. Suresh (run out) 5, R. Ramkumar st. A. Khan b Yadav 2, R. Naresh st. A. Khan b Yadav 2, R. Jesuraj (not out) 1; Extras (lb-1, nb-7, w-13) 21; Total (in 48.4 overs) 248.

Fall of wickets: 1-78, 2-87, 3-88, 4-119, 5-195, 6-237, 7-238, 8-243, 9-246

Uttar Pradesh bowling: R.P. Singh 7-0-36-0, Srivastava 7-0-36-0, Pravin Kumar 9-1-41-2, Gupta 9 - 0-60-1, Raina 10-0-47-0, Yadav 6.4-0-27-3.

Uttar Pradesh: Rohit Prakash c Badrinath b Vidyut 57, Pravin Kumar c & b Naresh 8, S. Raina c Badani b Badrinath 48, J. Yadav c Ramkumar b Badrinath 5, R. Shamshad lbw b Naresh 8, R. Shukla (run out) 34 , A. Khan (run out) 31, Ali Hameed (run out) 3, R.P. Singh c Jesuraj b Vidyut 0, S. Srivastava b Ramkumar 10, P. Gupta (not out) 17; Extras (lb-8, nb-9, w-10) 27; Total (in 50 overs) 248.

Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-69, 3-93, 4-113, 5-170, 6-175, 7-18, 8-182, 9-214

Tamil Nadu bowling: Jesuraj 10-2-43-0, Naresh 7-0-39-2, Badrinath 9-0-45-2, Suresh 6-0-39-0,Ramkumar 10-1-34-1, Vidyut 8-0-40-2.

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