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Powar power boosts Bombay

A brilliant all-round show by Bombay's Ramesh Powar, playing in just his second Ranji match, and the proceedings in Bangalore, where defending champions Karnataka took the first innings lead against Delhi, saw Bengal's hopes of qualifying for the next round, vanish in thin air.

At the Eden Gardens on Wednesday, in the Group A Ranji Trophy Super League, all-rounder Powar made mincemeat of a pedestrian Bengal attack making a belligerent 92, and then struck thrice in the hosts' second essay, thereby quashing all possibilities of the hosts staging a comeback in the match. And if Bengal still harboured any hopes, the proceedings at Bangalore put paid to them.

Karnataka, who took the first-innings lead against Delhi, are assured of five points which will take their tally to 16. Bengal, meanwhile, are certain to draw a blank against Bombay and thereby remain where they are -- at 13.

The visitors, who aggregated 315 in their second essay -- thus setting Bengal 381 for victory, had the hosts on the mat, four down for 67 at draw of stumps on the penultimate day -- Deep Dasgupta, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Devang Gandhi and Srikant Kalyani all back in the pavilion -- and it seems like curtains for Bengal so far as their Ranji Trophy campaign this season is concerned.

And as the hero of the day Powar, the 22-year-old from the Ramakant Achrekar and Shardashram stable, said: "It should be all over by tea time, on Thursday."

Scoreboard

Bombay (Ist innings): 182 all out.

Bengal (Ist innings): 117 all out.

Bombay (2nd innings): (overnight 102 for one). A Rane c & b Yadav 22, W Jaffer b Yadav 73, A Pagnis c Gavaskar b Shukla 20, A Muzumdar st Karim b Lahiri 12, V Kambli c Gavaskar b Yadav 0, J Paranjpe c Kalyani b Lahiri 34, R Powar c Chatterjee b Masood 92, R Pawar c Karim b Shukla 30, A Kuruvilla lbw Masood 1, N Kulkarni n.o. 11, S Saxena c Gandhi b Yadav 13.

Extras (b 5, lb 1, w 1) 7. Total (all out in 98.2 overs) 315.

Fall of wickets: 1-64, 2-118, 3-122, 4-128, 5-162, 6-171, 7-275, 8-290, 9-295.

Bowling: L R Shukla 21-10-52-2, A Masood 8-1-32-2, V Yadav 27.2-8-70-4, U. Chatterjee 22-3-80-0, S Lahiri 14-1-56-2, D Gandhii 6-1-19-0.

Bengal (2nd innings): D Dasgupta lbw Powar 6, L R Shukla c & b Powar 33, D Gandhi lbw Powar 14, S Kalyani lbw Pawar 0, S Karim batting 7, R Gavaskar batting 7.

Total (for 4 wkts in 25 overs) 67.

Fall of wickets: 1/35, 2/52, 3/53, 4/53.

Bowling: A Kuruvilla 6-3-14-0, S Saxena 1-0-10-0, R Pawar 10-2-28-1, R Powar 8-2-15-3.

BANGALORE: Defending champions Karnataka, with a slender 17-run first innings' cushion, were in a commanding position having reduced Delhi to 182 for seven in their second innings, by draw of stumps on Wednesday, on the third day of the four-day Group A Ranji Trophy Super League encounter at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

A victory seems well within the hosts's grasp on the morrow as Delhi are ahead by just 165 runs and have only three wickets in hand.

Earlier, overnight 254 for six, the home team saw the tail wag merrily in the morning as it added 105 runs and snatched the crucial lead. This was made possible by a gritty 59 by B Akhil who added 53 runs for the seventh wicket with Dodda Ganesh (23).

Akhil was also involved in a 38-run partnership for the eighth wicket with skipper Venkatesh Prasad (12).

Scoreboard

Delhi (Ist innings) 342.

Karnataka (Ist innings): J Arun Kumar c Dahiya b Harinder 127, Mithun Beerala c Dahiya b Robin 22, Rowland Barrington c Dahiya b Rohit 04, Vijay Bharadwaj c Harinder b Nehra 14, Thilak Naidu c Dahiya b Nehra 36, A Vijay c Dahiya b Nehra 19, B Akhil lbw Rohit 59, Dodda Ganesh c Sehwag b Akash Malhotra 23, Venkatesh Prasad c (sub) Sohail b Rohit 12, Santosh Vadeyaraj (run out) 00, G N Umesh n.o. 05.

Extras (b 4, lb 6, w 1, nb 27) 38. Total (in 108.3 overs) 359.

Fall of wickets: 1-72, 2-77, 3-108, 4-182, 5-234, 6-254, 7-303, 8-341, 9-341.

Bowling: Ashish Nehra 30-9-89-3, Robin Singh Jr. 17-6-40-1, Akash Malhotra 6-0-38-1, Rohit Mehra 9.3-3-103-3, Virender Sehwag 10-0-33-0, Harinder Choudhury 16-4-46-1.

Delhi (2nd innings): Akash Chopra b Vadeyaraj 36, Ashu Dani c Arunkumar b Vadeyaraj 52, Gautam Gambhir c Vadeyaraj b Bharadwaj 30, Akash Malhotra c Thilak b Vadeyaraj 20, Virender Sehwag c Akhil b Vadeyaraj 01, Mithun Manhas c Thilak b Prasad 17, Vijay Dahiya c Thilak b Prasad 02, Ashish Nehra batting 11, Harinder Choudhury batting 08.

Extras (lb-2, nb-3) 5. Total (in 59 overs, for seven wkts) 182.

Fall of wickets: 1-81, 2-94, 3-133, 4-134, 5-159, 6-161, 7-164.

Bowling: Venkatesh Prasad 14-5-29-2, Dodda Ganesh 10-2-34-0, G N Umesh 5-0-17-0, Santosh Vadeyaraj 23-5-71-4, A Vijay 3-0-16-0, Vijay Bharadwaj 4-0-13-1.

DELHI: Visitors Punjab romped into the quarter-finals, trouncing Railways by an innings and 64 runs on Wednesday, the penultimate day of the Group B Ranji Trophy Super League match at the Karnail Singh stadium.

Riding on the brilliance of their spinners Sharandeep Singh (5 for 22) and Harbhajan Singh (3 for 37), Punjab bundled out Railways for a paltry 96 in their second innings, an hour into the post-lunch session, after the hosts were forced to follow on, being dismissed for just 195 -- 160 runs behind -- in reply to the visitors' first essay of 355.

None of the Railwaymen, with the exception of Prahlad Rawat (23), offered any resistance to the spirited spin attack and succumbed meekly in just 45 overs -- the inevitable being delayed by a 21-run seventh wicket partnership -- the highest for the innings -- between Rawat and Kulamani Parida. But with the departure of Rawat at the score of 84, the Railways' cause was all but lost.

Punjab thus ended their Super League engagements with 24 points from four matches while Railways finished with 14 points from as many outings.

Scoreboard

Punjab (1st innings) 355

Railways (1st innings; overnight 176 for 9): Balaji Rao b Gagandeep 6, Sanjay Bangar c Mongia b Navdeep 8, Vishal Sharma lbw Navdeep 2, Abhay Sharma ct Dharmani b Gagandeep 11, Yere Goud c Harbhajan b Navdeep 64, Prahlad Rawat c Dharmani b Sharandeep 18, D Singh st Jugnu b Harbhajan 14, S Wankhede lbw Navdeep 1, Zakir Hussain c Navdeep b Harbhajan 1, Kulamani Parida not out 35, Murali Kartik st Jugnu b Harbhajan 24.

Extras (b-3, lb-5, w-2, nb-1) 11. Total (for 9 wickets, 63 overs) 195.

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

Bowling: Gagandeep 12-5-31-2; Ravneet Ricky 1-0-5-0, Navdeep Singh 24-5-59-4; Harbhajan 20.1-4-64-3; Sharandeep 12-3-28-1.

Railways (2nd innings): Vishal Sharma c Harbhajan b Dinesh Mongia 9, Sanjay Bangar lbw Harbhajan 3, Abhay Sharma b Sharandeep 15, Yere Goud c Rathore b Navdeep 3, Prahlad Rawat c Jugnu b Sharandeep 23, D Singh c Sanjay b Sharandeep 0, S Wankhede c D Mongia b Harbhajan 11, Kulamani Parida c D Mongia b Harbhajan 13, M Kartik c Sanjay b Sharandeep 6, Zakir Hussain c Sanjay b Sharandeep 1, Balaji Rao not out 0.

Extras (b-8, lb-1, w-1, nb-2) 12. Total (for 9 wickets, 63 overs) 96.

Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-27, 3-34, 4-46, 5-46, 6-63, 7-84, 8-94, 9-95.

Bowling: Gagandeep 7-3-8-0; Dinesh Mongia 5-2-10-1; Navdeep Singh 9-4-10-1; Harbhajan 14-3-37-3; Sharandeep 10-5-22-5.

SECUNDERBAD: Hosts Hyderabad scored a dramatic 71-run win over Baroda in the Group B Ranji Trophy Super League on Wednesday, to claim eight full points, swelling their tally to 21 and marching into quarterfinals alongwith Punjab.

On the last day of the four-day tie at the Gymkhana grounds, Baroda, who were struggling with their overnight total of 24 for two, needed to score 211 runs for victory. But luck was surely not on their side as the Hyderabad strike bowlers -- medium pacer Parth Satwalkar (four for 43), skipper and left-arm spinner Venkatapathi Raju (three for 43) and veteran offie Kanwaljit Singh (three for 49) -- sealed the fate of the match, bundling out the visitors for a paltry 163 in 77.5 overs, 13 minutes before tea, giving Hyderabad a 71-run outright win.

Scoreboard

Hyderabad (Ist innings): 204.

Baroda (Ist innings): 216.

Hyderabad (2nd innings): 246.

Baroda (2nd innings): R A Swaroop lbw V P Raju 7, Connor Williams c Sheik Riazuddin b Parth Satwalkar 0, H Jadav c Sheik Riazuddin b Parth Satwalkar 1, Jacob Martin lbw Parth Satwalkar 30, Tushar Arothe c Vanka Pratap b Kanwaljit Singh 12, Atul Bedade c Shivaji Yadav b Kanwaljit Singh 22, Nayan Mongia lbw V P Raju 34, Ajit Bhoete c V V S Laxman b Parth Satwalkar 3, Rakesh Patel b Kanwaljit Singh 9, Valmiki Buch c Nanda Kishore b V P Raju 3, Zaheer Khan not out 20.

Extras (b 11, lb 3, nb 8) 22. Total (all out in 77.5 overs) 163.

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-12, 3-26, 4-66, 5-70, 6-102, 7-110, 8-121, 9-136.

Bowling: Narender Pal Singh 13-5-16-0, Parth Satwalka 21-7-41-4, Venkatapathi Raju 16.5-7-43-3, Kanwaljit Singh 27-9-49-3.

KANPUR: Hosts Uttar Pradesh were hanging by the precipice but Tamil Nadu skipper Sridharan Sharath did not give one last shove, not enforcing the following despite a mammoth 468 run first innings lead. His kindness may prove a boon for the hosts.

On the third day of the Ranji Trophy Super League match at the Green Park, Sharath's double century, the second of the innings, lifted the visitors to a daunting 696 before they declared their innings closed for the loss of five wickets.

The UP batsmen put up a pathetic display on the placid Green Park pitch and were all out for only 228, conceding a massive 468 runs lead. Unlike his teammates, most of whom threw their wickets away, Saurabh Shukla made the most of the easy wicket and scored his first century of the season.

Sharath did not enforce the follow-on and in whatever play was possible before the close, Tamil Nadu lost Aashish Kapoor for one to Ashish Winston Zaidi. Off his very first ball, the UP's medium-pacer knocked down Kapoor's stumps. At the other end was Sridharan Sriram who made 288 in the first innings was yet to open his account.

Scoreboard

Tamil Nadu (1st innings; overnight 599 for four):

Sridharan Sriram c Srivastava b Raza 288, Sadagopan Ramesh b Zaidi 6, Hemand K Badani st Mudgal b Raza 62, JR Madangopal c Saif b Srivastava 85, Sridharan Sharath run out (Shamshad) 205, Rajat Bhatia not out 22.

Extras (b-5, lb-10, nb-11, w-2) 28. Total (five wickets declared, 193.1 overs) 696.

Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-118, 3-330, 4-560, 5-696. Bowling: AW Zaidi 40-5-159-1, Shalabh Srivastava 33.1-7-88-1, Mritunjay Tripathi 18-3-91-0, Musi Raza 61-9-196-2, Gyandendra Pandey 28-4-100-0, Rizwan Shamshad 12-2-45-0, Parvinder Singh 1-0-2-0.

UP (1st innings): Manoj Mudgal lbw b Gokulkrishnan 6, Jyoti Yadav c Sriram b Mahesh 19, Parvinder Singh c Sriram b Gokulkrishnan 6, Rizwan Shamshad b Gokulkrishnan 5, Saurabh Shukla c Gokulkrishnan b Sriram 102, Md Saif lbw b Mahesh 1, Mritunjay Tripathi c Bhatia b Kapoor 26, Gyanendra Pandey c Badani b Sivaramakrishnan 2, Musi Raza c Sriram b Kapoor 14, AW Zaidi b Sivaramakrishnan 22, Sha labh Srivastava not out 6.

Extras (b-5, lb-3, nb-11) 19. Total (all out in 70 overs) 228.

Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-26, 3-38, 4-42, 5-52, 6-94, 7-112, 8-195, 9-203.

Bowling: S Mahesh 13-6-28-2, DJ Gokulkrishnan 13-5-38-2, Rajat Bhatia 10-4-35-1, Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan 14-3-43-2, Aashish Kapoor 15-4-43-2, Sridharan Sriram 5-0-25-1.

Tamil Nadu (2nd Innings): Aashish Kapoor b Zaidi 1, Sridharan Sriram batting 0.

Total (for one wicket, 1.1 overs) 1.

Fall of wicket: 1-1.

Bowling: Shalabh Srivastava 1-0-1-0, Zaidi 0.1-0-0-1.

PRADIP: Haryana's batsmen progressed slowly to add only 186 runs to their overnight score of 93 for three and stretched their lead to 320 on the penultimate day of the Ranji Trophy Super League match against Orissa on Wednesday, at the Gopabandhu Stadium.

The visitors lost five wickets during the day's play to reach 279 for eight when stumps were drawn at the Gopabandhu Stadium here.

Against accurate Orissa bowling, the Haryana batsmen put up just 75 runs in the pre-lunch session, scored another 65 runs between lunch and tea and added only 46 runs in the post-tea session.

Scoreboard

Haryana (1st innings) 206.

Orissa (1st innings) 165.

Haryana (2nd innings): (overnight 93 for three). Padamjit Singh c (sub) b P. Jayachandra 1, Jitender Singh lbw S. Satpathy 40, Parinder Sharma lbw S. Satpathy 11, Jasveer Singh c S.S. Das b S. Roul 82, Ishan Ganda c S.S. Das b J. Dash 40, Sanjay Dalal lbw P. Mullick 62, Satish Olhan lbw P. Mullick 12, Pradeep Jain lbw D. Mohanty 9, Vineet Jain batting 2, Feroz Ghayas batting 4.

Extras (b 7, lb 6, nb 3) 16. Total (for eight wickets) 279.

Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-46, 3-77, 4-169, 5-201, 6-222, 7-255, 8-273.

Bowling: Debasis Mohanty 22-9-41-1, P. Jayachandra 6-1-21-1, Jagannath Dash 25-9-61-1, Sanjay Satpathy 38-12-90-2, Sanjay Roul 26-8-42-1, Pradeep Das 1-0-1-0, Prabhanjan Mullick 7-1-10-2.

Yesterday's summary