The Hindu : Arun Kumar hits unbeaten century

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 22, 2003

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Sport - Cricket

Arun Kumar hits unbeaten century

By Our Sports Reporter

Plate-B skipper J. Arun Kumar, who scored an unbeaten 165, cuts Plate-A leg-spinner Y. Golwalkar, as wicket-keeper Thilak Naidu watches, in the Duleep Trophy match at Bangalore on Friday.

BANGALORE March 21. J. Arun Kumar's bat proved larger than a barn door. The Plate B skipper scored an unbeaten 165 and anchored his side to 316 for three against Plate A in the Duleep Trophy match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Friday. At the second day's close, Plate B struck a dominant note and secured an unfinished 69-run first innings lead over Plate A.

A placid track and off-colour Plate A bowlers were the perfect appetiser to stoke J. Arun Kumar (165 n.o., 273b, 27x4, 2x6) and Vijay Bharadwaj's (91) hunger for runs. And the duo obliged with a 204-run third-wicket partnership that eased Plate B past Plate A's first innings score of 247.

The post-lunch run feast was however a distant prospect as the groundstaff battled hard to dry the pitch earlier in the morning. Overnight rains and the resultant damp conditions caused a delayed start after lunch and when seamer Dodda Ganesh ran in hard from the BEML End with Plate B resuming at the overnight 54 for no loss, openers Arun Kumar and Sujith Somasundar were understandably tentative. And Somasundar paid a price as he checked his drive off Ganesh and found the fielder at short covers.

Ganesh's shouts of delight had a repeat as Amay Khurasiya failed to withdraw his bat and snicked one to wicket-keeper Thilak Naidu. The score was 80 for two and the stage was set for Arun Kumar and Vijay Bharadwaj to paper over the cracks. And they did it with finesse while the Plate A bowlers including Sunil Joshi failed to stem the flow of runs.

Arun Kumar found an ally in the rival bowlers as they erred in their length and helped him to shift gears with his cuts and pulls. He sailed past his hundred hoisting Joshi and soon blitzed past the 150-mark, depositing Joshi's half-volley in the square-leg picket. A heated exchange with Dodda Ganesh seemed to affect Arun Kumar's concentration but with Vijay Bharadwaj lending a calm presence at the non-striker's end, the Plate B skipper recovered his composure and let his bat do the talking.

His partner Bharadwaj drove the seamers and used his feet against the spinners to leave the fielders patrolling covers clueless and tired. The India discard who is grappling to retrieve his form that once made him a prolific scorer in domestic cricket, survived a scare as Deepak Chougule grassed him at silly point off Joshi. Bharadwaj, then on 46, edged close to a well-deserved century but lured disaster sweeping against Joshi and spooning one to Barrington running in from short fine-leg. However the Plate B caravan rolled on as Arun Kumar's blade painted a canvas rich with powerful strokes.

The scores:

Plate A - Ist innings: 247.

Plate B - Ist innings: J. Arun Kumar (batting) 165, Sujith Somasundar c H. Kanitkar b Dodda Ganesh 32, Amay Khurasiya c Thilak Naidu b Dodda Ganesh 5, Vijay Bharadwaj c Barrington Rowland b Sunil Joshi 91, D. Bundela (batting) 15. Extras (lb-2, nb-6) 8. Total: 316 (for three wkts).

Fall of wickets: 1-64, 2-80, 3-284.

Plate A bowling: Dodda Ganesh 18-3-86-2 ; Jobanputra 17-5-77-0; Ranjit Khirid 6-0-22-0, Sunil Joshi 29-9-73-1, Y. Golwalkar 10-2-35-0; Hrishikesh Kanitkar 5-1-20-0; Barrington Rowland 1-0-1-0.

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