The Hindu : Sport : Bowlers rule the roost on the third day

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Bowlers rule the roost on the third day

Nandakumar Marar

Praveen Kumar returns figures of eight for 68

Chopra and Bhatia scored centuries for Delhi
U.P.’s Suresh Raina lashed 85 off 94 balls

— Photo: Vivek Bendre

INCISIVE SPELL: Uttar Pradesh’s Praveen Kumar appeals successfully for an lbw decision against Amit Bhandari.

MUMBAI: Praveen Kumar (eight for 68) demonstrated that cricket need not be a batsman-dominated sport anymore, provided the administrators provide support with sporting wickets.

Uttar Pradesh restricted Delhi to 290 in the first innings of their Ranji Trophy Elite final on a Wankhede Stadium track offering encouragement for pacemen and attack-minded batsmen.

Delhi’s swing bowlers struck back picking up six Uttar Pradesh wickets for 154.

With two days remaining U.P. has an overall lead of 206. Pradeep Sangwan, bowling left-arm and angling balls away in the corridor outside off stump, is a tough customer for the remaining U.P. batsmen.

Praveen, capable of making the ball talk with swing and seam movement, will return to haunt Delhi again in the second essay.

Meanwhile Gautam Gambhir, Delhi’s main batting hope, is nursing an injured hand.

Chopra, Bhatia excel

On Friday the fast bowlers called the shots, claiming all 12 wickets to fall on day three. Only Aakash Chopra (102, 260 balls) and Rajat Bhatia (139 not out, 219 balls) managed to stem the rot. Bhatia in fact struck 18 fours and four sixes in a classy effort spanning 323 minutes.

U.P.’s Suresh Raina lashed 85 off 94 balls, cashing in on fielding lapses, and could have stayed longer to marshall U.P.’s charge had he displayed more patience and respect for the quick bowlers.

Armed with the new ball in the 81st over, Praveen outwitted Chopra for the first of four leg-before sendoffs, among whom Punit Bisht shouldered arms and was trapped in front.

Tail exposed

Delhi’s tail was exposed, forcing Bhatia to take charge.

Bhuvanesh Kumar got a taste of the all-rounder’s power as he was hit for three boundaries and one six in an over.

Quick runs

U.P., bolstered by a 52-run lead, opted for quick runs. The shock run out of in-form batsman Tanmay Srivastava did not deter Raina.

Lucky to be let off twice he raced to 50 (43 balls) before falling to Sangwan, caught behind by Puneet Bisht.

The Delhi youngster then claimed an important wicket, Mohd Kaif making room for a cut and edging behind.

Amit Bhandari sent back the hard-hitting Ravikant Shukla, while Sumeet Narwal dismissed Piyush Chawla.

The scores:

Uttar Pradesh — 1st innings: 342

Delhi — 1st innings: Gautam Gambhir c Raina b Praveen Kumar 0, Akash Chopra lbw b Praveen 102, Shikhar Dhawan b Praveen 14, Mithun Manhas lbw b Praveen 0, Aditya Jain c Raina b S. Tyagi 8, Rajat Bhatia (not out) 139, Puneet Bisht lbw b Praveen 0, Sumit Narwal b Praveen 5, Chetanya Nanda c Raina b Tyagi 0, Pradeep Sangwan lbw b Praveen 9, Amit Bhandari lbw b Praveen 0; Extras: (lb-7, nb-4, w-2) 13; Total: (in 98.1 overs) 290.

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-15, 3-15, 4-36, 5-232, 6-232, 7-244, 8-247, 9-270

U.P. bowling: Praveen Kumar 32.1-8-68-8, Sudeep Tyagi 24-5-63-2, Bhuvanesh Kumar 15-5-54-0, Piyush Chawla 13-2-57-0, Praveen Gupta 10-2-29-0, Ravikant Shukla 2-0-7-0, Rohit Srivastava 2-0-5-0.

U.P. — 2nd innings: Rohit Srivastava c Bisht b Bhatia 18, Tanmay Srivastava (run out) 1, Suresh Raina c Bisht b Sangwan 85, Mohd Kaif c Bisht b Sangwan 21, Ravikant Shukla c Jain b Bhandari 0, Piyush Chawla c Dharmani b Narwal 4, Bhuvanesh Kumar (batting) 19, Amit Khan (batting) 4; Extras: (nb-2) 2; Total: (in 53 overs, for six wkts) 154.

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-63, 3-123, 4-126, 5-130, 6-130

Delhi bowling: Pradeep Sangwan 15-3-41-2, Sumit Narwal 12-4-48-1, Amit Bhandari 11-2-28-1, Rajat Bhatia 8-3-14-1, Chetanya Nanda 7-1-23-0.

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