NEWS
SCHEDULES
COLUMNS
PREVIOUS TOURS
OTHER SPORTS
STATISTICS
INTERVIEWS
SLIDE SHOW
ARCHIVES

Raju spins Uttar Pradesh to their doom

Riz Ahmed

Eventually, it was the proverbial slip between the cup and the lip for hosts and favourites Uttar Pradesh.

Hyderabad, had but just one way of entering the Ranji Trophy semi-final after being in deficit on first innings -- an outright win. And they did just that, defeating Uttar Pradesh by 92 runs at the Green Park, Kanpur, on Monday to set up clash with defending champions Karnataka for a place in the final.

The hosts, chasing 311 for victory, had to bat out the fifth and final day. But they just couldn't and the defiance ended in the eighth madatory over with Uttar Pradesh managing to post just 218.

And the man behind the dramatic come-from-behind victory for Hyderabad -- their second such triumph after the win over Baroda in the previous match -- was the skipper Venkatpathi Raju.

Bowling on a fifth-day pitch, the dimunitive former Indian left-arm spinner, drawing on all his reserves of experience, led the Uttar Pradesh batsmen to their doom as he took 6 for 57 from 37 overs -- his best performance of the season by far.

The visiting skipper, naturally was a picture of joy. But in his own moment of glory, he was not to forget the contribution of VVS Laxman, the man who hit a century in each innings of the match.

"In Azharuddin's absence it was Laxman who carried the burden of our batting. His knock in the second innings was really crucial. He scored at a fast clip and gave us ample time to put the U.P. batsmen under pressure,'' said Raju, who is confident of Azhar playing the semi-final.

Raju, however, was a satisfied man, not just with his own performance but of the whole team. He said he was disappointed with the total (291) Hyderabad got after winning the toss. That put his team on the backfoot. But, he said, he was confident of his team's ability, especially in the light of the superb come-from-behind victory in the match against Baroda.

And while the Hyderabad dressing room was in joy, gloom had descended on the hosts' camp. So near and yet so far! But then they have none but themselves to blame. Rather than playing positively and going for a win, they turned negative and ultradefensive. And that probably cost them the match.

Uttar Pradesh just could not get a long partnership going, barring the one between Mohammed brothers -- Kaif and Saif -- who batted confidently in the morning session. Till they were at the crease, the match was in UP's pocket. But once they were separated at 104, all was lost as UP lost nine wickets for the addition of just 114 runs.

Much of the damage was done by Raju who twice claimed two wickets in three balls. First, in his ninth over, he sent back Saif (57) and two balls later had Rizwan Shamshad stumped without scoring.

Then in his 22nd over Raju repeated the feat when he accounted for Saurabh Shukla and skipper Gyanendra Pandey.

Karnataka, who would have had to play in the gruelingly hot Kanpur had U.P. won the match, can now gleefully cancel their reservations, and await Hyderabad at Bangalore for the semi-final from April 9.

The other last-four clash between Tamil Nadu and Bombay at the latter's home ground will begin on April 11 after Sachin Tendulkar returns from the Dhaka festival match on April 8.

Scoreboard

Hyderabad (1st innings) 291.

Uttar Pradesh (1st innings) 372.

Hyderabad (2nd innings) 381 for five decl.

Uttar Pradesh (2nd innings): M. Saif c S. Yadav (sub) b Raju 57
J. Yadav b Kanwaljeet 18
M. Kaif c Nand Kishore b Kanwaljeet 86
R. Shamshad st Shaikh b Raju 0
S. Shukla c Shaikh b Raju 27
G. Pandey c Nand Kishore b Raju 0
P. Yadav c S. Yadav (sub) b Raju 2
A. Zaidi c Raju b Kanwaljeet 0
M. Raza lbw Raju 6
R.Mishra not out 3
S. Srivastava c Shaikh b Satwalkar 1.
Extras (5 b, 6 lb, 7 nb) 18. Total (all out, 105 overs) 218.
Fall of wickets: 1-43, 2-104, 3-104, 4-163, 5-163, 6-175, 7-184, 8-205, 9-213.
Bowling: N.P. Singh 12-3-22-0, P. Satwalkar 15-4-35-1, Kanwaljeet Singh 36-8-76-3, V. Raju 37-15-57-6, V. Pratap 4-1-13-0, V. Laxman 1-0-2-0.

A swarm of bees invaded the MA Chidambaram stadium on Monday, the final day of the Tamil Nadu-Punjab Ranji Trophy semi-final, and caused a halt to play as players, umpires, spectators and all scurried to safety. But the momentary disruption just delayed the inevitable.

On resumption, the hosts -- 84 for three, chasing 164 for victory -- got the runs in no time thanks to an unbeaten 127-run stand between left-handers -- Test star Sadagopan Ramesh (77 not out) and skipper Sreedharan Sharat (53 not out) for the third wicket.

This was the second time in the history of Indian cricket that 'disturbed' bees paid back by distrupting the match. A similar incident had happened two decades ago during a Test match in Bangalore.

Chasing an easy target of 164 runs, and resuming at the overnight score of 30 for one, the hosts completed the formalities 85 minutes after lunch.

Tamil Nadu, however, face the litmus test when they confront 35-time champions Bombay in Bombay on April 11.

Scoreboard

Punjab (1st innings): 258.

Tamil Nadu (1st innings): 461.

Punjab (2nd innings): 366.

Tamil Nadu (2nd innings): S. Ramesh not out 77
S. Sriram c Harminder Jugnu b R.P. Singh 11
Hemang K. Badani c Harminder Jugnu b Harbhajan Singh 11
J.R. Madanagopal b Sandeep Sharma 0
S. Sharath not out 53.
Extras (12 nb, 1 lb): 13.
Total (for 3 wkts in 264 minutes): 167.
Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-39, 3-40.
Bowling: Sandeep Sharma 9-2-24-1, Harbhajan Singh 21.2-7-58-1, Reetinder Singh Sodhi 5-2-9-0, Sarandeep Singh 8-0-42-0, Youraj Singh 3-0-12-0