The Hindu : Elite-A ends campaign on a high

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Monday, Apr 07, 2003

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Sport - Cricket

Elite-A ends campaign on a high

By Our Sports Reporter

Elite-B's Arjun Yadav about to be stumped by Elite-A's Deep Dasgupta while Sarandeep Singh watches on in the Duleep Trophy match which concluded in Bangalore on Sunday. Elite-A won by seven wickets.

BANGALORE April 5. Elite-A finished its Duleep Trophy league engagements on a high with a seven-wicket victory over Elite-B at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Sunday.

However it was no stroll in the park as initially the Elite-B tail and later its bowlers left enough road blocks to choke Elite-A's march towards victory until Sanjay Bangar's calm influence provided the defining moment. Sanjay's unbeaten 36 helped Elite-A notch its second-innings victory target of 78 after Elite-B mustered a second innings score of 220.

Earlier after a 95-minute delayed start, Elite-B, resuming its second innings at 64 for four on the fourth and final day, lost wickets at regular intervals. Captain M.S.K. Prasad's leading edge was snapped up by left-arm seamer Irfan Pathan while Arjun Yadav's attempt to ruffle Sarandeep Singh only helped Deep Dasgupta effect a lucky stumping as the ball ricocheted off the wicket-keeper's gloves and disturbed the stumps.

The lower order however displayed tenacity as southpaws Gyanendra Pandey (47) and Sairaj Bahutule (49) stemmed the pavilion-bound tide. Pandey tucked into his runs past backward point and later drove Irfan past the ropes. However the glide undid him as he guided Sarandeep into Sriram's hands at first slip.

The 143-run first innings deficit was erased as Bahutule and Ramesh Powar shared a 91-run eighth-wicket partnership. Bahutule played the waiting game while Powar (35) mixed the dour bat with the long handle to pocket handy runs. The innings petered out after Bahutule snicked spinner Rahul Kanwat and with Elite-A captain Reetinder Singh Sodhi effecting a smart catch in his follow-through to dismiss Harvinder Singh, the Elite-B innings closed at 220 in 79 overs.

Needing 78 runs for an outright victory, Elite-A suffered early setbacks as Gautam Gambhir slashed hard at Avishkar Salvi while S. Sriram was pouched at short-covers. Sodhi drove Salvi for an emphatic boundary but mistimed a sweep off leg-spinner Bahutule and it was left to opener Sanjay Bangar and Venugopal Rao to guide Elite-A towards victory. Bangar whipped Powar for four over mid-wicket and helped Elite-A ease past the final hurdle in 24.4 overs.

Elite-A bagged eight points and finished its league engagements with 17 points from four matches while Elite-B drew a blank and has ten points from three matches. Elite-B will clash with Plate A at Chennai from April 10 to 13.

The scores:

Elite-B — 1st innings: 219

Elite-A — 1st innings: 362 for eight decl.

Elite-B — 2nd innings: Amit Pagnis c & b Sarandeep Singh 0, Wasim Jaffer c Venugopal Rao b Irfan Pathan (Jr) 5, Vinayak Mane b Reetinder Singh Sodhi 22, A.T. Rayudu c Vinay Kumar b Sarandeep Singh 0, Arjun Yadav st Deep Dasgupta b Sarandeep Singh 25, M.S.K. Prasad c & b Irfan Pathan 16, Gyanendra Pandey c Sriram b Sarandeep Singh 47, Sairaj Bahutule c Debang Gandhi b R. Kanwat 49, Ramesh Powar lbw R. Kanwat 35, Harvinder Singh c & b R.S. Sodhi 1, Avishkar Salvi (not out) 1, Extras (b-13, lb-2, nb-4) 19, Total 220 (in 79 overs).

Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-23, 3-23, 4-34, 5-71, 6-98, 7-126, 8-217, 9-218.

Elite-A bowling: Irfan Pathan (Jr) 17-4-42-2 (nb-1), Sanjay Bangar 6-3-14-0 (nb-1), Sarandeep Singh 23-9-48-4, R.S. Sodhi 9-3-17-2, R. Kanwat 15-1-39-2, Sriram 8-1-41-0 (nb-2), Y. Venugopal Rao 1-0-4-0

Elite-A - 2nd innings: Gautam Gambhir c (sub) Amit Uniyal b Avishkar Salvi 5, Sanjay Bangar (not out) 36, S. Sriram c Arjun Yadav b Harvinder Singh 0, R.S. Sodhi c Amit Pagnis b Sairaj Bahutule 15, Y. Venugopal Rao (not out) 11, Extras (b-4, lb-3, nb-3, w-1) 11, Total 78 (for three in 24.4 overs).

Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-19, 3-49.

Elite-B bowling: Avishkar Salvi 9-2-21-1, Harvinder Singh 9-0-24-1 (nb-2, w-1), Sairaj Bahutule 6-1-17-1, Ramesh Powar 0.4-0-9-0 (nb-1).

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