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Sunday, Jan 14, 2007
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Tamil Nadu stays in Super League

Special Correspondent

Y. Pathan scalps six but Sathish saves the blushes

— Photo: S.R. Raghunathan

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: C. Ganapathy (left) and R. Ashwin are overjoyed after Tamil Nadu's narrow win.

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu squeaked past Baroda by two wickets after off-spinner Yousuf Pathan gave the home side a scare in the final round Ranji Trophy Super League match here at the ICL-Guru Nanak College ground.

On a dramatic Saturday, Tamil Nadu almost contrived to lose after being in control for two of the preceding three days. Yousuf Pathan spread panic, utilising his six-foot-two-inch frame to extract precipitous bounce from a willing track, and snaffled six.

In the event, R. Sathish's crucial, run-a-ball 33 saved Tamil Nadu — chasing 113 for a win to stay in the Super League — from a humiliating defeat.

Calming things down

Sathish took 17 from the 28th over, bowled by Yousuf Pathan, to calm a nervous dressing room. He struck a glorious six to seemingly shift momentum. But S. Badrinath, who had added 37 vital runs with Sathish for the fifth wicket, pulled Yousuf fatally to Irfan.

Sathish was adjudged leg-before seven runs later, and when Vidyuth and Sharath fell at the same score, 108, Tamil Nadu was in serious danger of relegation. But, Ashwin played sensibly, and Ganapathy delivered the winning blow when the field was brought in.

There were murmurs in the Tamil Nadu camp about the umpiring — the quality of umpiring at the domestic level in most cases leaves much to be desired. That said, umpires are often soft targets for players seeking to hide their own failures.

Raman introspects

"Today reflected how our season has gone," said Tamil Nadu coach W.V. Raman. "We were in control, and then lost our way. It's been a disappointing season and probably doesn't reflect the ability in the side. But, Tamil Nadu cricket has coasted too much on ability, which hasn't translated into performances in the middle."

Raman said opener M. Vijay, off-spinner R. Ashwin, and top-order batsman R. Prasanna were the positives that emerged this season.

Raman didn't mince words when asked if the side will miss the experience of players who might not be around next season for various reasons. "To me experience is something that delivers when you need it most," he said. "Where was that experience today? I don't think we will miss much."

The scores:

Baroda — 1st innings: 263

Tamil Nadu — 1st innings: 342

Baroda — 2nd innings: 191

Tamil Nadu — 2nd innings: D. Karthik lbw b I. Pathan 4, M. Vijay c Jadhav b Y. Pathan 23, R. Prasanna c Bhoite b Y. Pathan 14, S. Badrinath c I. Pathan b Y. Pathan 22, H. Badani c Jadhav b Y. Pathan 2, R. Sathish lbw b Y. Pathan 33, S. Sharath c Martin b Bhoite 0, S. Vidyuth lbw b Y. Pathan 0, R. Ashwin (not out) 3, C. Ganapathy (not out) 5, Extras (b-4, lb-6) 10; Total (for eight wkts. in 34.2 overs): 116.

Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-37, 3-56, 4-64, 5-101, 6-108, 7-108, 8-108.

Baroda bowling: I. Pathan 9-0-32-1, R. Patel 6-3-6-0, Y. Pathan 15-2-47-6, R. Pawar 3.2-0-21-0, A. Bhoite 1-1-0-1.

Other scores:

Super League:

At Nasik: Mumbai 515 for eight decl. bt Maharashtra 190 and 171 in 62.1 overs (Y.V. Takawale 52, S. Sriram 52, N. Kulkarni six for 43).

At Rajkot: Karnataka 570 and 249 for three (B.M. Rowland 100 not out, C. Raghu 66, V.S.T. Naidu 44) drew with Saurashtra 354 in 74.2 overs (K.M. Vaghela 101, S.D. Jogiyani 80, C.A. Pujara 62).

At Kolkata: Rajasthan 193 and 328 in 110.3 overs (N.S. Doru 103, R.B. Jhalani 62) lost to Bengal 583 for six decl.

Plate league:

Assam 235 and 120 in 65.4 overs (P. Aziz 50, D.S. Mohanty four for 43) lost to Orissa 233 and 125 for three (S.S. Das 43, N. Behera 45).

At Dharamsala: Railways 229 and 259 for eight in 79 overs (S. Sanyal 106) vs. Himachal Pradesh 362 (Sandeep Sharma 161, Mukesh Sharma 51 not out).

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