The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Rest of India canters to victory

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Thursday, Oct 12, 2006
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Rest of India canters to victory

Nandakumar Marar

WORTHY WINNER: Rest of India packed too many punches for Uttar Pradesh and walked away with the Irani Trophy.

NAGPUR: Dilip Vengsarkar, Chairman of selectors, had planned to sit through the five-day Irani Trophy tie. He didn't have to wait beyond day three morning as Rest of India overhauled the target set by Uttar Pradesh in 68 minutes of play at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium. Gautam Gambhir (64 not out) shone as Rest won by nine wickets.

Chasing a target of 114, Rest coasted to victory for the loss of Robin Uthappa's wicket. The only point of interest in the game was whether U.P.'s new ball bowler Shalabh Srivastava, fighting a lost cause, would make inroads into the Rest batting and overhaul Zaheer Khan's and Laxmipathy Balaji's match haul of six wickets each. But he could not add to his first innings haul of five. Rest skipper and opener Wasim Jaffer did not come out to bat, opting to rest after getting hit by a ball above the thigh on day one.

Stars sorely missed

Vengsarkar was of the view that the presence of international players was vital for making such ties worthwhile. "U.P. has talent but the players have to apply themselves at this level. The presence of (Mohammed) Kaif, (Suresh) Raina or R.P. (Singh) would have brought some self-belief in them though the match outcome may not have been different."

He attributed U.P.'s batting collapse in both innings to the batsmen's inability to tackle SG balls. "The SG balls tend to swing early and with bowlers of the calibre of Zaheer, Balaji and V.R.V. (Singh) operating, batsmen have to play tight. The U.P. batsmen were reaching out for the ball when the need was to watch, adapt and play close to the body," said Vengsarkar.

U.P.'s capitulation in this `Best versus Rest' contest happened when the Irani Trophy was telecast live for the first time by the BCCI, via Nimbus Sports, as part of the game's promotion activity in keeping with the Board's objectives of taking cricket to the masses.

The focus on domestic cricket, at a time when the ICC Champions Trophy is in progress, is a positive move.

The scores:

Uttar Pradesh — 1st innings: 148.

Rest of India — 1st innings: 201.

Uttar Pradesh — 2nd innings: 166.

Rest of India — 2nd innings: W. Jaffer (retired hurt) 25, G. Gambhir (not out) 64, R. Uthappa c Yadav b Praveen 18, V. Rao (not out) 2; Extras (lb-2, nb-4) 6; Total (for one wkt. in 22.3 overs) 115.

Fall of wicket: 1-105.

Uttar Pradesh bowling: Srivastava 9-1-52-0, Praveen 11-1-50-1, Zaidi 2.3-0-11-0.

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