The Hindu : Sport : Parthiv, Modi bat well

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Parthiv, Modi bat well

Special Correspondent

— Photo: Vivek Bendre

GOOD BATTING: Gujarat opener Nilesh Modi, who scored an unbeaten 66 on Sunday.

MUMBAI: Gujarat’s efforts to build on its bowlers’ efforts hasn’t paid off as yet in the Ranji Trophy Plate final.

Opener Nilesh Modi (66 batting, 193b) will need solid support from the middle-order after the team reached 140 for two at stumps on day two, still 120 short of Indian Railways’ first innings score.

Captain Parthiv Patel, equipped to play an influential knock, got out two overs before close, choosing the wrong line against a Santosh Saxena express delivery.

Railways, boosted by Harshad Rawle’s 110 (281b, 17 x 4) and a hard-hitting 30 (60b) from tailender Saxena, totalled 260.

Mohnish Parmar, the off-spinner finished with four wickets, while Parthiv, apart from two stumpings, had a hand in four other dismissals.

Authoritative

The confidence appeared to have rubbed off Parthiv’s batting, who walked out to the crease at number three. He stamped his authority on the bowling from the outset after Sanjay Bangar had removed opener Rajesh Tabiar.

The Gujarat skipper on-drove Bangar to the fence, then exploded into strokes against off-spinner Kulamani Parida. He made room for a cut past point off Parida, followed by two on-driven boundaries off the same bowler.

When Saxena got one to swing away and the snick flew over slips, the left-hander responded with a well-timed cover drive off the fast bowler. Parthiv’s 50 came up in 94 balls, while Nilesh’s took 123 balls. The Railways bowlers looked set for a long haul, the way both ran hard for singles, apart from 16 boundary hits between the two.

Gujarat’s runs dried up after the batsmen opted for caution when the fast bowlers came on and 66 overs have yielded only 140, leaving the five-day final wide open.

The scores:

Indian Railways — 1st innings: S. Bangar c Parthiv b Makda 26, S. Joshi c Timil b Trivedi 0, K. Sharma c Timil b Trivedi 8, H. Rawle c Parthiv b Singh 110, S. Sanyal lbw Parmar 16, M. Rawat c Parthiv b Singh 24, R. Ali c Parthiv b Parmar 17, M. Kartik st. Parthiv b Parmar 1, Harvinder Singh b Parmar 14, Santosh Saxena st. Parthiv b Timil 30, K. Parida (not out) 0, Extras (b-2, lb-6, w-3, nb-3) 14. Total (in 111.3 overs) 260.

Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-18, 3-67, 4-106, 5-142, 6-180, 7-182, 8-210, 9-254

Gujarat bowling: Trivedi 28-13-60-2, Makda 23-7-59-1, Amit Singh 19-6-34-2, Timil 13.3-5-36-1, Parmar 28-7-63-4.

Gujarat — 1st innings: N. Modi (batting) 66, R. Tabiar c Rawat b Bangar 14, Parthiv b Saxena 52, M. Parmar (batting) 0, Extras (nb-8) 8, Total (for two wkts. in 66 overs) 140.

Fall of wickets: 1-53, 2-140.

Indian Railways bowling: Harvinder 12-5-24-0, Bangar 19-7-22-1, Sanyal 5-1-15-0, Saxena 13-5-22-1, Kartik 11-2-32-0, Parida 6-1-25-0.

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