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Bangar century helps Railways to a “good start”

Special Correspondent

— Photo: Sandeep Saxena

THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY: Faiz Fazal’s heart would have been in his mouth as Dinesh Karthik took off after the Railways opener offered a chance off R. Ashwin.

NEW DELHI: A 37-year-old gave some lessons in professionalism to a 16-year-old debutant at the Karnail Singh Stadium here on Tuesday. Sanjay Bangar, in crafting his 10th first-class century, was a picture of quality right through as Railways finished the first day of its four-day Ranji Trophy super league match against Tamil Nadu at 242 for four.

It was a stand out show by Bangar on a day when R. Aushik Srinivas made an impression with his slow bowling.

Bangar was flawless, barring an appeal for a catch when he was seven short of a century. Srinivas, confidence personified on a pitch that allowed the spinners to experiment, did his cricket good by sticking to a decent length.

Of course, the pick of the Tamil Nadu bowlers was off-spinner R. Ashwin. The diminutive Srinivas, spotted and promoted by former Test opener and current Tamil Nadu coach W.V. Raman, grew in poise as Ashwin commanded respect at the other end to grab two wickets.

Tricky wicket

“The pitch is not easy to bat on,” confessed Tamil Nadu skipper Dinesh Karthik. It was certainly not the best surface for a season opener but Bangar employed his experience of 16 years in first-class cricket to come up with a disciplined century.

Aiding him was left-handed opener Faiz Fazal. After the early dismissal of V. Cheluveraj, who unerringly found the only fielder in the deep, it was the 80-run partnership between Bangar and Fazal (70, 164b, 11x4) that gave Railways the platform to build its innings on after having elected to bat.

Tamil Nadu was thwarted by a determined Bangar, who played some delightful drives in front and square of the wicket. His footwork gave him the freedom to negate the persistent Ashwin, who at one point, bowled 31 overs uninterrupted.

Bangar’s unbeaten 111 (217 balls, 14x4, 2x6) was a lesson in shot selection and temperament to make the best of a slow pitch.

“Good start,” was Bangar’s modest reaction to his own effort.

The scores:

Railways — 1st innings: Faiz Fazal st D. Karthik b Ashwin 70, V. Cheluveraj c Srinivas b Mukund 13, Sanjay Bangar (batting) 111, T.P. Singh c M. Vijay b Ashwin 4, Yere Goud c Mukund b S. Suresh Kumar 14, Sanjib Sanyal (batting) 6, Extras (b-6, lb-10, nb-3, w-5) 24; Total (for four wickets in 94 overs) 242.

Fall of wickets: 1-55, 2-135, 3-139, 4-215.

Tamil Nadu bowling: L. Balaji 16-5-37-0, R. Jesuraj 18-3-48-0, C. Ganapathy 8-3-18-0, A. Mukund 2-0-4-1, R. Ashwin 31-8-80-2, A. Srinivas 15-5-29-0, S. Suresh Kumar 2-0-6-1.

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