The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Munaf Patel rocks Railways

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 06, 2006

Sport

Sport - Cricket

Munaf Patel rocks Railways

Special Correspondent

Maharashtra takes first innings lead

NEW DELHI : Munaf Patel's incisive spell spelt doom for Railways as Maharashtra grabbed the first innings lead on the penultimate day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group league match at the Karnail Singh Stadium here on Thursday.

Patel rocked Railways with a haul of six for 50 as the home team, resuming at 43 for no loss, slipped to an ignominious 140 all out with its batsmen once again letting the side down.

At close, Maharashtra was sitting pretty at 91 for three, with defending champion Railways in danger of being relegated barring a miracle on the final day. With an overall lead of 188 runs, Maharashtra can look forward to collect two points from this match and boost its tally to six against Railways' four with one more round left.

Lack of application

"Batting has been our main weakness this season," bemoaned Railways coach Vinod Sharma, as he watched the team disintegrate against the accurate Patel. The gangling Maharashtra fast bowler came good for his team at a crucial stage as Railways showed utter lack of application.

The early dismissals of openers Amit Pagnis and Sanjay Bangar put the middle order under severe pressure and the run out of Vineet Saxena hastened Railways' slide. Jai Prakash Yadav failed to play the saviour's role and Yere Goud's form continued to desert him, much to the chagrin of the Railways camp.

To Patel's credit, he improved when it mattered and jolted the opposition with his speed and accuracy.

The scores:

Maharashtra — 1st innings: 237.

Railways — 1st innings: A. Pagnis c Aphale b Patel 36, S. Bangar b Patel 21, V. Saxena (run out) 19, J.P. Yadav c Burkul b Bahutule 7, R. Ali c Satbhai b Patel 7, Y.K. Goud lbw b Patel 9, S. Khanolkar (not out) 20, S. Wankhede c Satbhai b Patel 2, H. Singh b Patel 0, K. Parida (run out) 5, M. Yadav st. Satbhai b Bahutule 0. Extras (b-2, lb-3, nb-9) 14. Total (in 71.4 overs) 140.

Fall of wickets: 1-52, 2-62, 3-88, 4-89, 5-96, 6-113, 7-124, 8-126, 9-136.

Maharashtra bowling: Patel 27-8-50-6, Burkul 18-7-39-0, R. Jadhav 4-1-11-0, Bahutule 18.4-8-29-2, Pawar 4-2-6-0.

Maharashtra — 2nd innings: D. Jadhav st. Wankhede b Parida 26, S. Satbhai lbw b J.P. Yadav 4, H. Kanitkar b M. Yadav 22, A. Kale (batting) 32, S. Bahutule (batting) 1. Extras (b-3, nb-3) 6. Total (for three wkts in 47 overs) 91.

Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-55, 3-63.

Railways bowling: H. Singh 10-3-15-0, J. P. Yadav 5-1-8-1, Bangar 4-3-4-0, M. Yadav 18-4-39-1, Parida 10-4-22-1.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport