The Hindu : Sport : North makes a winning start

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 01, 2006

Sport

Sport

North makes a winning start

Vijay Lokapally

Reetender Sodhi, Shikhar Dhawan lay the foundation

TAKE THAT: Reetender Singh Sodhi, the top scorer for North, sends one to the ropes. — Photo: Sandeep Saxena

INDORE: Central Zone failed to read its home turf and played into the hands of North Zone in the Deodhar Trophy match here on Tuesday.

Set a competitive target of 233, Central made a mess after raising visions of a victory through Tejinder Pal Singh. His dismissal, however, brought North back into the game and skipper Dinesh Mongia made the right moves to stifle any possibility of a Central revival. North won by 14 runs.

Mongia's thoughtful leadership played a key role in the crucial stages when Central closed in with support from a 3000-plus audience.

Tejinder Pal reconstructed the chase which was rocked early by the casual dismissals of Amit Pagnis and Gagan Khoda. In hitting a 6 and eight 4s, TP put his wide range of strokeplay on a fruitful mission but blotted his show with a reckless square-cut, not advisable on a pitch that saw the odd ball stopping.

Reetender Singh Sodhi and Shikhar Dhawan had laid the foundation for North. The decision to bat first almost spelt disaster for North when it lost Gautam Gambhir and Mongia cheaply but Dhawan, curbing his natural instincts to attack, and Sodhi , adapting remarkably to produce an innings marked by maturity, did not allow Central to run away with the contest. Seamers Jai Prakash Yadav and Harvinder Singh bowled superbly to their field and received adequate support from left-arm spinner Murali Kartik.

Mithun Manhas and Joginder Sharma plundered some valuable runs for North in the slog overs. In hindsight this unbeaten partnership of 58 runs, laced with two sixes from Sharma's blade, set up North's tactical triumph over an opposition that failed to apply itself when its opposition appeared to be giving up at one stage. Impatience cost Central dearly.

TP, with North bowlers at his mercy, left the job unfinished but Jai Prakash Yadav, Naman Ojha, Shivakant Shukla and Praveen Kumar displayed poor cricketing sense by opting for the aerial route. Their indiscreet shots propelled Central to a defeat.

TP was guilty of a poor shot when not required while Praveen attempted a predetermined, but an unwise stroke, only to be foxed by leg-spinner Amit Mishra's faster one. Praveen had three sixes in his 25-ball innings.

There was little merit in Abbas Ali trying an expansive drive without reading the off-spin of Gaurav Vashisht, who got the stick but three wickets too. The off-spinner from Haryana stood out for not succumbing to pressure, just as his Statemate Mishra, who finished the contest by inducing Harvinder Singh, leaving Kartik crestfallen at the other end. Mongia led by example, motivating the rest with his nagging line that fetched the left-arm spinner three vital wickets.

This was Central's second defeat in as many matches while North made a winning start. On March 3, Central plays South at Jaipur while North meets West at Udaipur.

The scores:

North Zone: S. Dhawan c Pagnis b Kartik 56, G. Gambhir lbw b Yadav 0, D. Mongia c Ojha b Harvinder 12, R. S. Sodhi c TP Singh b Ali 85, M. Manhas (not out) 27, P. Dharmani c TP Singh b Ali 6, Joginder Sharma (not out) 33, Extras (lb-6, nb-5, w-3) 14. Total: (for five wkts. in 50 overs) 233.

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-26, 3-165, 4-167, 5-175.

Central bowling: JP Yadav 10-1-23-1, Harvinder Singh 8-1-38-1, P. Kumar 9-0-61-0, M. Kartik 10-0-39-1, A. Ali 9-1-48-2, D. Bundela 4-0-18-0.

Central Zone: A. Pagnis c Dhawan b Nabi 1, G. Khoda c Dharmani b G. Singh 2, T.P. Singh c Manhas b Vashisht 61, A. Ali c Gambhir b Vashisht 29, Bundela c Dharmani b Mongia 21, J.P. Yadav c Gagandeep b Mongia 24, N. Ojha c Joginder b Vashisht 4, S. Shukla c Gagandeep b Mongia 17, P. Kumar b Mishra 28, M. Kartik (not out) 12, H. Singh c Mongia b Mishra 3, Extras: (lb-5, nb-8, w-4) 17. Total: (all out in 45.1 overs) 219.

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-5, 3-83, 4-106, 5-140, 6-147, 7-157, 8-198, 9-202.

North bowling: G. Singh 7-0-28-1, Nabi 5-0-25-1, J. Sharma 3-0-14-0, Sodhi 3-0-20-0, Vashisht 9-0-54-3, A. Mishra 8.1-0-36-2, Mongia 10-1-37-3.

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