The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Rest all set to clinch Irani Trophy

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Wednesday, Oct 11, 2006
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Rest all set to clinch Irani Trophy

Nandakumar Marar

Splendid knock by Badrinath

SPIRITED EFFORT: Shalabh Srivastava's fiery spell was one of the few bright spots for U.P. on a disappointing day. Here, he castles V.R.V. Singh.

NAGPUR: Uttar Pradesh batsmen reduced the Irani Trophy contest to a mismatch by folding up for 166 in the second innings, leaving Rest of India within sight of victory on day two. Wasim Jaffer (25 batting) and Gautam Gambhir (18 batting) reduced the target by 45, leaving just 69 runs to be scored over three days.

There was no devil in the wicket for batsmen with staying powers, as S. Badrinath proved during his unbeaten knock of 80 (107b, 16x4).

Timely knock

Badrinath came good when it mattered, guiding Rest past U.P.'s first innings total. Extending his Monday form (a composed 35, as teammates perished at the other end) the compact batsman lorded over the bowling, stroked and pulled freely and made occupation of the crease look easy. Wasim Jaffer was the only other batsman with time to play shots and looked confident.

The elegant Rest skipper must be cursing the rush of blood on the first day, after seeing Badrinath top-score before running out of partners against a charged-up Shalabh Srivastava (five for 74). Two sharp catches at forward short-leg and runs under his belt on a sporting track will elevate Badrinath's rating in the selectors list.s

U.P. new ball bowler Srivastava, nippy and accurate, sent back L. Balaji and V.R.V. Singh off successive balls to reap a rich first innings haul.

Rest, 53 runs ahead, unleashed its specialist bowlers on the Ranji champion in the second innings.

U.P. was off to a disastrous start with Zaheer removing Praveen Kumar off the first ball. The U.P. opener edged one to Murali Kartik in the slips.

The scores:

Uttar Pradesh — 1st innings: 148.

Rest of India — 1st innings: W. Jaffer c S. Shukla b Praveen 45, G. Gambhir b Praveen 20, R. Uthappa c R. Shukla b Srivastava 8, V. Rao c Khan b Srivastava 0, D. Karthik c S. Shukla b Praveen 11, S. Badrinath (not out) 80, M. Kartik (run out) 5, Zaheer b Srivastava 1, L. Balaji c Rizwan b Srivastava 15, V.R.V. Singh b Srivastava 0, P. Ojha c. S. Shukla b Yadav 3; Extras: (b-1, lb-4, nb-8) 13;Total (in 53.3 overs) 201.

Fall of wickets: 1-64, 2-74, 3-74, 4-74, 5-92, 6-108, 7-116, 8-155, 9-155.

Uttar Pradesh bowling: Zaidi 8-1-36-0, Srivastava 20.3-4-74-5, Praveen 17-4-64-3, Yadav 8-2-22-1.

Uttar Pradesh — 2nd innings: Praveen c M. Kartik b Zaheer 0, S. Shukla c Jaffer b Balaji 33, T. Srivastava (run out) 0, R. Shukla c Karthik b Zaheer 8, R. Shamshad c Karthik b V.R.V. Singh 10, J. Yadav c Uthappa b V.R.V. Singh 38, G. Pandey c Zaheer b M. Kartik 32, A. Khan c M. Kartik b Balaji 26, A. Yadav c Karthik b V.R.V. Singh 0, S. Srivastava (not out) 5, A. Zaidi b V.R.V. Singh 1; Extras (b-1, lb-4, nb-8) 13; Total (in 50.1 overs) 166.

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-4, 3-39, 4-54, 5-55, 6-90, 7-145, 8-159, 9-159.

Rest of India bowling: Zaheer 12-4-34-2, Balaji 13-3-46-2, V.R.V. Singh 14.1-3-40-4, M. Kartik 8-1-38-1, P. Ojha 3-1-6-0.

Rest of India — 2nd innings: W. Jaffer (batting) 25, G. Gambhir (batting) 18; Extras: (lb-2) 2; Total: (for no loss in eight overs) 45.

Uttar Pradesh bowling: Praveen 4-1-18-0, Srivastava 4-0-25-0.

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