The Hindu : Sport : Yagnik's last-ball six gives Central a dramatic win

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 07, 2006

Sport

Sport

Yagnik's last-ball six gives Central a dramatic win

Rakesh Rao

Sourav Ganguly concedes 14 runs in last over

WINNING BLOW: Central Zone's Dishant Yagnik is delighted after hitting the winning six off Sourav Ganguly. — Photo: Rajeev Bhatt

JAIPUR: A last-ball six off Sourav Ganguly made little-known Rajasthan wicketkeeper Dishant Yagnik an instant hero at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium on Monday.

As the ball soared over extra cover to clear the ropes, this 22-year-old left-hander from Banswara conquered his feeling of disbelief, raised his arms in triumph and hugged last-man Harvinder Singh. After all, the duo had taken 14 runs off Ganguly's final over and scripted Central's thrilling one-wicket victory over East in the Deodhar Trophy league encounter.

"Honestly, I was looking for a boundary in the cover region so that we could force a tie," admitted Yagnik and went on, "but once I struck the ball, I knew it would be a six. Still, I can't believe I did it."

When Shib Sankar Paul completed a fantastic penultimate over that saw the fall of the ninth wicket and addition of just one run to the Central tally, East was well in sight of victory.

When East's skipper Deep Dasgupta handed the ball over to Ganguly, Central's last pair needed 13 to win.

"I had to give the ball to Ganguly since the other pace bowlers had exhausted their quota and also because of his vast experience. He was the right man to bowl at `death' with 12 runs to play with," said Dasgupta.

The last over

Yagnik took three off the first ball. Singles followed off the next three and a couple off the fifth delivery. Off the last ball, Central needed five to win.

Yagnik, who had earlier held four catches including one offered by Ganguly, kept his nerves amidst rising tension and excitement. Next, he made room for the cover-drive and put the finishing touches in great style.

For the record, put in, East made 226 for six in 45 overs after damp patches resulting from Sunday's rain had forced a delay of one-hour and reduction of overs. In reply, Central reached 228 for nine in a dramatic manner.

Even as the Central players rejoiced their lone victory that saw them finish the campaign with three points, the majority of those present at the venue could not help sparing a thought for Ganguly.

A crowd of over 5,000 had cheered him all day despite the fact that he made only 17 and was later hit for 13 runs, including three successive boundaries by Tejinder Pal Singh. Ganguly continued to ride the sympathy wave until that last over turned him from hero to villain.

Ganguly wasted no time in rushing to the hotel. He was later scheduled to leave for Kolkata and return in time for East's concluding league match against North on Thursday.

Yagnik's heroics pushed everything else to the background. Half-centuries from East's Abhishek Jhunjhunwala and Central's Tejinder Pal Singh on a lively track were almost forgotten. Timir Diwakar's four-wicket haul came to nothing as Yagnik found his claim to fame.

The scores:

East Zone: D. Dasgupta c Yagnik b Yadav 15, S. Ganguly c Yagnik b Yadav 17, A. Jhunjhunwala c Yagnik b P. Kumar 66, R. Gavaskar c Yagnik b P. Kumar 10, Rajiv Kumar c Yadav b S. Singh 16, M. Tiwari c Yadav b H. Singh 14, L.R. Shukla (not out) 23, Shib Sagar Singh (not out) 32, Extras (b-6, lb-18, nb-1, w-8) 33. Total (for six wkts, in 45 overs) 226.

Fall of wickets: 1-43, 2-56, 3-72, 4-141, 5-164, 6-179.

Central bowling: Yadav 9-1-29-2, H. Singh 9-1-29-1, Kumar 8-1-48-2, S. Singh 9-0-30-1, M. Acharya 3-0-17-0, A. Ali 7-0-49-0.

Central Zone: J.P. Yadav c Shukla b Bose 6, Shivakant Shukla c Tiwari b Bose 15, T. P. Singh b M. Diwakar 56, Abbas Ali c Dasgupta b Shukla 19, Ravikant Shukla c & b Shukla 17, Jyoti Yadav c Singh b Diwakar 32, D. Bundela c Dasgupta b Diwakar 19, Praveen Kumar c Dasgupta b Diwakar 10, D. Yagnik (not out) 20, M. Acharya (run out) 13, H. Singh (not out) 2, Extras (lb-7, nb-2, w-10) 19. Total (for nine wkts, in 45 overs) 228.

Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-37, 3-90, 4-110, 5-135, 6-176, 7-181, 8-189, 9-214.

East bowling: Paul 9-0-38-0, Bose 9-1-39-2, Ganguly 3-0-28-0, Diwakar 9-0-39-4, Shukla 9-0-41-2, Singh 5-0-24-0, Jhunjhunwala 1-0-12-0.

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