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Uthappa, Jadeja hog limelight

Nandakumar Marar

— Photo: Vivek Bendre

IN SMASHING FORM: Robin Uthappa lofts Kamlesh Makwana during his 139.

MUMBAI: Ravindra Jadeja (five for 71) nailed three Karnataka batsmen with the arm ball, including skipper Robin Uthappa, as Saurashtra took the first day’s honours in their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal at the Brabourne Stadium here on Friday.

Jadeja foxed two more batsmen with balls that turned and bounced. Rahul Dravid, after a painstaking 26 off 86 balls, was startled by one such vicious delivery and snicked to wicketkeeper Sagar Jogiyani who came up with a reflex catch high to his right.

The leg-spinner emerged Saurashtra’s man of the moment, bowling unchanged for 30 overs to trigger Karnataka’s fall from 86 for two to 220 for seven. Sunil Joshi’s risk-free 23 off 68 balls at No. 8 carried the team to 265 for eight at stumps. The Karnataka all-rounder was unlucky to see umpire Suresh Shastri raise the dreaded finger though he appeared to have got an inside edge off spinner Kamlesh Makwana.

The wicket is shaping into a turner after aiding swing earlier in the day, so skipper Jaydev Shah can afford a smile after opting to field.

Supremely confident

Uthappa rose to the occasion in a tough situation, supremely confident to balls pitched on the leg-stump. His century, a chanceless and entertaining effort, came off just 122 balls with 14 boundaries and a six. Jadeja beat him once at 112 but Jogiyani floored the chance.

Uthappa’s 302-minute innings, in which he faced 200 balls and hit 15 fours and a six, ended when Jadeja won a leg-before appeal.

Dravid began in trademark fashion, getting in line to the swing bowlers and offering the full face of the bat. However, he went into a shell before Jadeja brought an end to his 117-minute vigil at the crease.

Uthappa and Dravid were involved in a third wicket stand worth 90, the captain dominant and his senior partner trying to go with the flow.

The slump

C. Raghu, Thilak Naidu and B. Akhil followed Dravid in quick succession, the first two getting dismissed leg-before and the third missing the line while attempting a sweep.

Jadeja had earlier snapped up a low, diving catch at second slip to send back opener K.B. Pawan off Jayesh Odedra, whose reverse swing and the ability to move the ball in the air kept a check on the run flow.

The scores:

Karnataka — 1st innings: K.B. Pawan c R. Jadeja b Odedra 21, R. Uthappa lbw b R. Jadeja 139, C. Gautam b Odedra 7, R. Dravid c Jogiyani b R. Jadeja 26, C. Raghu lbw b R. Jadeja 0, T. Naidu lbw b R. Jadeja 7, B. Akhil b R. Jadeja 11, S. Joshi lbw b Makwana 23, R. Vinay Kumar (batting) 22, S. Aravind (batting) 0; Extras (lb-3, nb-5, w-1): 9; Total (for eight wkts. in 90 overs): 265.

Fall of wickets: 1-53, 2-86, 3-176, 4-176, 5-186, 6-219, 7-220, 8-260.

Saurashtra bowling: Jobanputra 8-0-42-0, B. Jadeja 18-4-57-0, Odedra 25-7-65-2, R. Jadeja 30-8-71-5, Makwana 9-2-27-1.

Corrections and Clarifications

Another cricket report on a Ranji Trophy quarterfinal, "Uthappa, Jadeja hog limelight" ("Sport", December 27, 2008), described Ravindra Jadeja to be a leg-spinner. He is a slow left arm orthodox bowler.

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