Seasoned Pankaj Singh bowled his heart out for little reward. Mohammed Siraj was finally rewarded for sticking to a fuller line, with the slip cordon holding on to catches. And Shahbaz Nadeem’s consistent bowling continued his dream run with left-arm this season.
Still, contrasting fifties from Gujarat’s Priyank Panchal and Chirag Gandhi ensured Rest of India will have to put on the highest total of the match while batting in the fourth innings if it is to retain the Irani Cup.
At the end of the third day’s play at the Brabourne stadium, Gujarat, after earning a healthy 132-run lead in the first innings, was placed at 227 for eight.
If Gandhi can repeat the first innings heroics and help Gujarat set a 400-plus target, then the RoI batsmen will be put under tremendous pressure to achieve it.
A disciplined RoI bowling — aided by a couple of dubious decision by umpire Virender Sharma — continued to strike at regular intervals ever since the RoI first innings wounded up 14 minutes into Sunday’s play. Still, Panchal’s stout innings and Gandhi’s courageous knock helped Gujarat continue to retain a stronghold on the game.
Panchal, having piled on 1300-plus runs at the top of the order during Gujarat’s maiden Ranji triumph, saw through Pankaj’s early burst which saw the lanky bowler getting rid of Samit Gohel cheaply for the second time in three days. With Singh and Siraj running at full steam, Panchal preferred to play the patient game, opening up his shoulders only after he had crossed the fifty.
When Panchal and skipper Parthiv Patel were at the crease, RoI were in danger of hunting down a huge target. However, thanks to umpire Sharma’s error of judgment, Patel had to return after being adjudged caught at forward short-leg when the bat appeared to be nowhere close to the ball, RoI had a sniff.
And the RoI bowlers did put Gujarat under pressure, picking three wickets for 20 runs, including Patel’s, to put Gujarat in a slight spot of bother.
However, Gandhi, the only centurion of the match so far who injured his finger while taking catches before the start of play, continued his silken touch despite having three stitches to his finger.
With Nadeem striking at regular intervals, thanks to his clever variation in pace and length, Gandhi had to ensure he kept the scoreboard flowing.
He ensured that he remained unbeaten at stumps after taking the lead past 350.
The scores:
Gujarat — first innings: 358
Rest of India — first innings: Akhil Herwadkar c Raval b H. Patel 48, Abhinav Mukund c Gohel b Gaja 8, Cheteshwar Pujara c P. Patel b Chaudhary 86, Karun Nair c P. Patel b Gaja 28, Manoj Tiwary lbw Thadani 12, Wriddhiman Saha lbw Thadani 0, Kuldeep Yadav lbw H. Patel 5, Shahbaz Nadeem c Gaja b H. Patel 0, Siddharth Kaul c P. Patel b Gaja 0, Pankaj Singh (not out) 9, Mohammed Siraj c Juneja b Gaja 26. Extras (b-4) 4; Total (all out, 75 overs) 226
Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-89, 3-136, 4-166, 5-170, 6-191, 7-191, 8-191, 9-192.
Gujarat bowling: Chintan Gaja 19-4-60-4, Mohit Thadani 15-3-48-2, Ishwar Chaudhary 14-5-28-1, Hardik Patel 26-5-79-3, Karan Patel 1-0-7-0.
Gujarat — second innings: Samit Gohel c Mukund b Singh 1, Priyank Panchal c Saha b Kaul 73, Dhruv Raval c Tiwary b Siraj 23, Parthiv Patel c Herwadkar b Nadeem 32, Manprit Juneja c Saha b Siraj 12, Chirag Gandhi (batting) 55, Karan Patel b Nadeem 15, Mohit Thadani c Tiwary b Nadeem 11, Chintan Gaja b Nadeem 2, Hardik Patel (batting) 0. Extras (lb-3) 3; Total (for eight wkts, 79 overs) 227.
Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-42, 3-127, 4-133, 5-147, 6-184, 7-212, 8-220.
Rest of India bowling: Pankaj Singh 18-4-43-1, Siddharth Kaul 18-5-66-1, Mohammed Siraj 15-4-39-2, Shahbaz Nadeem 23-5-53-4, Kuldeep Yadav 5-0-23-0 .
