The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Railways enters final

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Sunday, Dec 30, 2007
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Railways enters final

Special Correspondent

Nagpur: Prashanth Chandran’s mighty heave over forward of square off Sunjay Bangar resembled the spirited effort some of the Kerala players demonstrated against Railways over five days of absorbing cricket in the Ranji Trophy Plate group semifinal here at the Vidarbha Cricket Stadium.

Kerala declared its second innings after Chandran’s big blow and left a tempting target of 246 in 78 overs, but except for a lively spell by Sony Cheruvathur, Kerala’s bowling department did not look the part to force the Railways batsmen to make errors in pursuit of a win. In the end, Railways finished at 124 for two in 64 overs, advanced to the title clash against Gujarat to be played the Brabourne Stadium, Cricket Club of India, Mumbai, from January 5.

Rawle stands tall

Once again Harshad Rawle came to Railways’s rescue with a two-and-a-half-hour confident display after Bangar was adjudged caught at the wicket.

Railways looked vulnerable at 34 for two, but Rawle and opener Siddharth Joshi offered a straight bat, defied a Kerala attack that actually lacked in penetration and ideas on a featherbed of a pitch.

But Cheruvathur can be faulted for not trying out a tricky seamer like Raiphi Gomez. Rawle (52 not out, 133b, 8x4) and Joshi (44 not out, 183b, 7x4) baulked Kerala for the entire middle session and until the start of the mandatory overs, when Cheruvathur realising that he did not have the wherewithal to bring the two batsmen under pressure and to take wickets in a heap, opted, in consultation with the rival team, to close the match. Kerala competed well, but will stay in the Plate group in the next season.

The scores: Kerala — 1st innings: 357.

Railways — 1st innings: 402.

Kerala — 2nd innings: R. Gomez st. Rawat b Bangar 101, A. Sebastian b Bangar 70, S.K. Nair c & b Kartik 24, V.G. Nair c sub (Parida) b Bangar 1, V.A. Jagadeesh (not out) 52, P. Prashant lbw b Kartik 2, S. Cheruvathur b Bangar 1, R. Prem lbw b Bangar 2, S. Anisha c Rawat b Kartik 4, T. Yohanan (run out) 7, P. Chandran (not out) 13, Extras (lb-5, nb-7, w-1): 13, Total (for nine wkts. in 71 overs): 290.

Fall of wickets: 1-165, 2-198, 3-201, 4-223, 5-238, 6-243, 7-249, 8-256, 9-263.

Railways bowling: Harvinder 5-0-48-0, Bangar 30-2-119-5, Kartik 24-3-69-3, Saxena 8-1-30-0, Sanyal 4-0-19-0.

Railways — 2nd innings: S. Joshi (not out) 44, A. Pagnis c & b Cheruvathur 23, S. Bangar c V. Nair b Cheruvathur 0, H. Rawle (not out) 52, Extras (lb-2, nb-3): 5, Total (for two wkts. in 64 overs): 124.

Fall of wickets: 1-34, 2-34.

Kerala bowling: Yohanan 7-1-13-0, Chandran 6-2-21-0, Cheruvathur 11-6-16-2, Anish 16-8-30-0, S.K. Nair 13-5-23-0, Prashanth 8-6-8-0, Prem 2-0-9-0, Jagadeesh 1-0-2-0.

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