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Hell in Eden as Bengal crash

The demons held sway for the second day running on Tuesday at the Eden Gardens, Calcutta. Well almost ... till Bombay opener Wasim Jaffer put to a halt to the genocide with a defiant unbeaten 64 that put the visitors well and truly on course for a victory in their Group A Ranji Trophy Super League tie.

A victory, which looked highly unlikely when Bengal bowled out Bombay for a paltry 182 in their first innings, reallocated to the realms of reality as Bombay fought back to bundle out the hosts for a meager 117 and take a crucial 67 run lead.

At draw of stumps on Tuesday, the second day of the four-day match, Bombay were 102 for one, 169 runs ahead.

Making the most of the 65-run lead, Bombay began consolidating in their second innings, right from the word go. Opener Wasim Jaffer, in particular, was quite a treat for the handful of spectators. His shots through mid-on and cover had the stamp of authority and class and it will take Bengal more than a miracle to restrict Bombay to a sub-250 total.

Jaffer struck 12 sweetly timed hits to the fence in his chanceless 97-ball stay at the crease and put on 64 runs for the first wicket with Amol Rane (22).

Earlier Bengal failed to capitalise on Bombay low score as paceman Abey Kuruvilla struck twice in quick succession to send back both the overnight batsmen -- Devang Gandhi and Vishal Yadav. Nilesh Kulkarni, Rajesh Pawar and Ramesh Powar then took two wickets apice as none of the Bengal players offered even the slightest resistance with just Bengal skipper Utpal Chatterjee (27), Srikant Kalyani (11) and Rohan Gavaskar (23) making it to double figures.

The writing was very much there on the wall at the end of the first day itself, with Bengal tottering at 21 for 2 in reply to Bombay's first innings total of 182 and the hosts failed to recover from those two early blows.

The Bengal skipper is however still hopeful of earning three points in the match "if the Bengal batsmen manage to spend a day and-a-half in the middle in the second innings."

Scoreboard

Bombay (1st innings): 182

Bengal (1st innings; overnight 21 for 2): Nikhil Haldipur c Kambli b Kuruvilla 2, D Dasgupta c Muzumdar b Kulkarni 10, Debang Gandhi lbw Kuruvilla 8, V Yadav c Pawar b Kuruvilla 5, Rohan Gavaskar c Rane b Powar 23, Srikant Kalyani c Rane b Pawar 11, Syed Saba Karim b Powar 6, Utpal Chatterjee st Rane b Kulkarni 27, Laxmi Ratan Shukla c Pagnis b Pawar 7, S Lahiri run out 8, A Masood not out 2.

Extras (b-1, lb-4, nb-2, w-1) 8. Total (all out, 65.4 overs) 117.

Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-17, 3-27, 4-30, 5-51, 6-64, 7-85, 8-100, 9-108.

Bowling: Abey Kuruvilla 9-3-12-3; Santosh Saxena 5-0-13-0; Nilesh Kulkarni 14-8-24-2; Rajesh Pawar 21-7-40-2, Ramesh Powar 16.4-7-23-2.

Bombay (2nd innings): Amol Rane c&b Vishal Yadav 22, Wasim Jaffer batting 64, Amit Pagnis batting 10.

Extras (b-4, lb-1, wb-1) 6. Total (for 1 in 34 overs) 102.

Fall of wicket: 1-64.

Bowling: L R Shukla 3-0-14-0; A Masood 2-0-5-0 (wb-1); V Yadav 7-3-11-1; U Chatterjee 12-2-40-0; S Lahiri 7-1-19-0; D Gandhi 3-1-8-0.

BANGALORE: A rich haul of six wickets by skipper Venkatesh Prasad and then a valiant century by J Arunkumar (127) brought about a complete reversal in the fortunes in the Group A Ranji Trophy Super League encounter at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, between Karnataka, who need an outright win to enhance their chances of qualifying for the next round, and Delhi.

The visitors, who finished the first day at a dominant 308 for 5, lost their last five wickets in a crash and were bowled out for 342. The hosts, riding on Arunkumar's ton, were 254 for six at draw of stumps on Tuesday with a very realistic chance of taking at least the first innings points.

Delhi, who resumed at 308 for 5, failed to consolidate, losing the remaining 5 wickets for the addition of only 34 runs with Prasad claiming four of the five wickets in the morning to finish with figures of 6 for 60. The India Test discard also claimed his 100th Ranji scalp when he clean bowled Harinder Choudhary. He is the 11th Karnataka bowler to achieve the feat.

Arunkumar, in fine fettle, executed some neat cover drives on way to his 11th Ranji century, which was brought up with a breathtaking square cut.

Scoreboard

Delhi (1st innings; overnight 308 for 5): A Chopra c Naidu b Vadiaraj 101, A Dani b Prasad 19, G Gambhir run out (Vijay) 73, Akash Malhotra c Naidu b Prasad 1, V Shewag c Naidu b Vadiaraj 49, MA Minhas not out 54, V Dahiya lbw Prasad 19, H Chaudhary b Prasad 1, A Nehra c Vijay b Prasad 4, R Singh c Naidu b Prasad 4, R Mehra c Akhil b Ganesh 0.

Extras (lb-8, nb-9) 17. Total (all out, 99.2 overs) 342.

Fall of wickets: 1-32, 2-172, 3-176, 4-236, 5-280, 6-320, 7-327, 8-331, 9-341.

Bowling: Prasad 25-8-60-6; Ganesh 26.2-3-96-1 (4nb); Umesh 14-0-69-0 (3nb); Vadiaraj 23-7-59-2 (2nb); Akhil 9-2-33-0; Vijay 2-0-17-0.

Karnataka (1st innings): J Arun Kumar c Dahiya b Chaudhary 127, M Beerala c Dahiya b Singh 22, R Barrington c Dahiya b Mehra 4, R Vijay Bharadwaj c Chaudhary b Nehra 14, V Naidu c Dahiya b Nehra 36, A Vijay c Dahiya b Nehra 19, B Akhil batting 8, D Ganesh batting 0.

Extras (lb-5, nb-19) 24. Total (6 wickets, 79 overs) 254.

Fall of wickets: 1-72, 2-77, 3-108, 4-182, 5-234, 6-250.

Bowling: Ashish Nehra 22-6-65-3 (9nb); Robin Singh 17-6-40-1; Akash Malhotra 2-0-13-0 (3nb); Mehra 20-2-71-1 (4nb); Shewag 7-0-26-0 (3nb); Chaudhary 11-3-34-1.

SECUNDERABAD: Visitors Baroda, needing 235 for victory in their Group B Ranji Trophy Super League encounter against Hyderabad, were struggling at 24 for two at draw of stumps on Tuesday, the penultimate day of the match at the Gymkhana grounds.

Baroda, who clinched a narrow 12-run first innings lead, skittled out the hosts for 246 in their second essay. They however lost opening batsman Connor Williams (0) and H Jadhav (1) before close of play thus giving a fillip to the hopes of Hyderabad who need to beat Baroda to stay in contention from the Group and leave the match tantalisingly poised.

Earlier in the morning, Hyderabad, who were bowled out for 204 in their first essay, were bowled out in 76.1 overs, the innings revolving around three valuable partnerships -- 65 runs for the second wicket between VVS Laxman (48) and Vinay Kumar (33); 55 runs for the seventh wicket between Parth Satwalkar (54) and Shivaji Yadav (12); 35 runs for the last wicket between NP Singh (20) and Kanwaljit Singh (15 not out).

However, the hero of the day was 24-year-old Baroda spinner Valmiki Buch, who stole the limelight claiming five Hyderabad wickets for 79. He also claimed his 101st first class wickets when he had Satwalkar caught by Martin.

Scoreboard

Hyderabad (1st innings): 204

Baroda (1st innings): 216

Hyderabad (2nd innings; overnight 4 for no loss): A Nandakishore c Martin b Buch 30, D Vinay Kumar b Swaroop 33, VVS Laxman c Bhoite b Swaroop 48, V Pratap c Mongia b Khan 5, P Satwalkar c Martin b Buch 56, NA Yadav c Martin b Buch 8, R Sheikh c Martin b Buch 0, JS Yadav lbw Patel 10, SLV Raju c Khan b Buch 3, NP Singh b Khan 20, Kanwaljit Singh not out 15.

Extras (b-10, lb-5, w-1, nb-2) 18. Total (all out, 76.1 overs) 246.

Fall of wickets: 1-49, 2-114, 3-123, 4-125, 5-142, 6-142, 7-197, 8-211, 9-211.

Bowling: Khan 16.1-4-39-2 (2nb); Patel 19-4-42-1; Buch 21-3-79-5 (1w); Swaroop 14-2-46-2; Arothe 1-0-5-0; Bhoite 5-0-20-0.

Baroda (2nd innings; target: 235): RA Swaroop batting 6, C Williams c Sheikh b Satwalkar 0, H Jadhav c Sheikh b Satwalkar 1, J Martin batting 7.

Extras (b-1, lb-1, nb-8) 10. Total (2 wickets, 15 overs) 24.

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-12.

Bowling: Singh 5-2-7-0 (5nb); Satwalkar 5-0-9-2 (1nb); Raju 2-2-0-0; Kanwaljit Singh 3-0-6-0 (2nb).

KANPUR: The Uttar Pradesh attack suffered the whiplash for the second day on Tuesday with just two wickets to show for their toil as visitors Tamil Nadu took their first innings aggregate to 599 for four by draw of stumps on the second day of the four-day Group C Ranji Trophy Super League encounter at Green Park.

The battle for the Group supremacy turned one-dimensional as Shridharan Sriram struck a career-best 288 (679m, 469b, 38x4) and skipper S Sharath piled on the agony with an unbeaten 128 (216b 20x4) as added 280 runs to their overnight 311 for two.

Sriram, a left-arm spinner who converted to opening with much success, surpassed his previous Ranji best of 214 (versus Andhra Pradesh, 1997-98). Tamil Nadu, atop their group with 21 points against 19 of Uttar Pradesh, brightened their hopes of claiming at least the first innings lead in their quest for a direct semifinal berth.

And as the future gameplan of the visitors seems, Uttar Pradesh are in for more grinding time. The Tamil Nadu team is likely to declare the innings sometime around the lunch on third day. If it happens so, UP will have five sessions either to pick up the gauntlet. Or they will try to play out the remaining time to share the points.

The wicket which is batsmen's paradise, has put the ball in the UP's court now. Both options for the home team are not only risky, they call for both courage and fortitude of the highest order to survive the situation.

Scoreboard

Tamil Nadu (1st innings; overnight 311 for 2): S Sriram c Sriwastava b Raza 288, S Ramesh b Zaidi 6, HK Badani st Mudgal b Raza 62, JR Madanagopal c Saif b Sriwastava 85, S Sharath batting 128, R Bhatia batting 7.

Extras (b-4, lb-6, w-2, nb-11) 23. Total (for 4 wickets, 180 overs) 599.

Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-118, 3-330, 4-561.

Bowling: Zaidi 33-5-108-1 (4nb, 1w); Sriwastava 33-7-88-1 (2nb); Tripathi 15-3-74-0 (4nb); Raza 58-9-172-2 (1w); Pandey 28-4-100-0; Shamshad 12-2-45-0 (1nb); Parvinder Singh 1-0-2-0.

DELHI: Hosts Railways, nine down for 176, were fighting to stave off the ignominy of a follow-on in their Group B Ranji Trophy Super League encounter against Punjab at the Karnail Singh Stadium.

At draw of stumps on Tuesday, day two of the four-day match, Railways -- after bowling out the visitors for 355 -- were still in need of 29 runs to avoid being asked to follow on and their fate depends upon the two unbeaten batsmen who will take strike on the morrow, Kulamani Parida (34) and Murali Kartik (6).

Railways need 205 runs more to make Punjab bat again.

The hosts would have been in a situation much worse had it not been for a patient 64 by Yere Goud and two invaluable partnerships -- 45 runs for the fifth wicket and 49 runs for the ninth wicket.

Navdeep Singh, who had made 42 and added 65 runs for the eight wicket with Sharandeep Singh (44 not out), was the most successful bowler for Punjab taking four for 46.

Scoreboard

Punjab (1st innings; overnight 246 for 7): V Rathour c Goud b Rawat 3, Ravneet Ricky c Wankhade b Parida 97, Yuvraj Singh b Devendra Singh 54, Pankaj Dharmani c sub (C Jha) b Devendra Singh 0, Dinesh Mongia st Wankhade b Parida 34, Sanjay Kumar lbw Parida 1, H Jagnu c Wankhade b Kartik 30, Sharandeep Singh not out 44, Navdeep Singh lbw Parida 42, Harbhajan Singh b Parida 6, Gagandeep Singh c Wankhade b Parida 10.

Extras (b-20, lb-9, w-1, nb-4) 34. Total (all out, 118.2 overs) 355.

Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-93, 3-93, 4-158, 5-164, 6-216, 7-246, 8-311, 9-333.

Bowling: Hussain 20-6-46-0 (2nb); Rawat 11-3-43-1; Kartik 15-7-26-1; Parida 36.2-10-84-6; Balaji Rao 23-1-83-0 (2nb, 1w); Devendra Singh 13-1-44-2.

Railways (1st innings): Balaji Rao b Gagandeep 6, Sanjay Bangar c Mongia b Navdeep 8, Vishal Sharma lbw Navdeep 2, Abhay Sharma c Dharmani b Gagandeep 11, Yere Goud c Harbhajan b Navdeep 64, Prahlad Rawat c Dharmani b Sarandeep 18, Devender Singh st Jugnu b Harbhajan 14, Sudhir Wankhede lbw Navdeep 1, Zakir Hussain c Navdeep b Harbhajan 1, Kulamani Parida batting 34, Murali Kartik batting 6.

Extras 11. Total ( for 9 wickets, 63 overs) 176.

Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-14, 3-29, 4-42, 5-87, 6-116, 7-117, 8-118, 9-164.

Bowling: Gagandeep Singh 12-5-31-2; Ravneet Ricky 1-0-5-0; Navdeep Singh 21-4-46-4; Harbhajan Singh 17-3-58-2; Sarandeep Singh 12-3-28-1.

PARADIP: A seven-wicket haul by left-arm spinner Sonu Sharma (7 for 32, 26.3 overs) helped Haryana take a 41-run first innings lead over Orissa in the Group C Ranji Trophy Super League encounter at the Gopabandhu Stadium,

The visitors, who were bowled out for a paltry 206 but fought back to take three hosts wickets for 17 by draw of stumps on the opening day, bowled out Orissa for 165 and were 93 for 3 -- 134 runs ahead -- at close of play on Tuesday.

Scoreboard

Haryana (1st innings): 206

Orissa (1st innings; overnight 17 for 3): S S Das c Parender Sharma b Jain 4, P Das c Ohlan b Ghyas 6, RR Parida c Ohlan b Jain 39, D Mohanty lbw Sonu Sharma 0, Sanjay Raul b Sonu Sharma 51, P Mullick lbw Sonu Sharma 19, P Jai Chandra lbw Sonu Sharma 0, RR Das b Sonu Sharma 8, Y Mohanty lbw Sonu Sharma 15, Sanjay Satpathy c Jitender Singh b Sonu Sharma 8, J Das not out 2.

Extras (lb-3, nb-10) 13. Total (all out, 63.3 overs) 165.

Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-12, 3-17, 4-82, 5-115, 6-115, 7-133, 8-138, 9-157.

Bowling: Jain 10-2-37-2 (2nb); Ghyas 10-0-49-1 (7nb); Sonu Sharma 26.3-14-32-7; Jain 16-5-40-0 (1nb); Dalal 1-0-4-0.

Haryana (2nd innings): Padamjeet Singh c sub (A Barik) b Jai Chandra 1, Jitender Singh lbw Satpathy 40, Parender Sharma b Satpathy 11, Jasvir Singh batting 32, I Gainda batting 4.

Extras (lb-4, nb-1) 5. Total (3 wickets, 35 overs) 93.

Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-46, 3-77.

Bowling: Debasish Mohanty 9-4-17-0; Jai Chandra 2-0-13-1 (1nb); J Das 9-2-28-0; Satpathy 12-3-29-2; Raul 3-2-2-0.

Yesterday's summary