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Ranji Trophy Super League 2009-10 Round-One
By Chetan Narula
Group A
Gujarat (270 and 301 for 6 dec) beat Orissa (192 and 220) by 159 runs at Ahmedabad
Gujarat opened their campaign with a big win at home although it didn’t come easy for them. Having won the toss and elected to bat first, they were shot out for 270 only in the first innings. Skipper and wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel, still aspiring for an India slot, scored 83. A concentrated effort from the Gujarat bowlers however meant that they were able to restrict Orissa for only 192 and take a first innings lead of 78 runs to garner the points. Scoring 301 for 6 declared in the second innings as Niraj Patel scored a ton in the opening game of the season, Gujarat set the visitors a target of 380 runs. It was going always going to be an imposing task for Orissa and three wickets apiece for right-arm fast bowler Mehul Patel and legspinner Salil Yadav handed the home side a convincing win.
Punjab (259 and 311 for 7) drew with Mumbai (471 for 9 dec) at Chandigarh
Hosting the defending champions in their first game itself was never going to be easy especially as Mumbai boasted Indian spearhead Zaheer Khan alongside Ajit Agarkar in attack. The duo shared eight wickets between them, four apiece, as Punjab batting first were bowled out for 259. Opener Ravi Inder Singh was the lone fighter with 104 at the top of the order. In reply, opener Sahil Kukreja got 90 along with Omkar Khanvilkar who made 87 as Mumbai were jolted early on. The finishing touches were provided by India discard spinner Ramesh Powar who scored a rallying 125 not out to take the champions to 471 for 9 declared. Ravi Inder got a half century in the second innings as well but it were the fifties from Uday Kaul and debutant Gaurav Gambhir that helped Punjab hang in for a point, battling out the final day against Zaheer, Agarkar and Powar who had earlier reduced them to 164 for 5.
Hyderabad (328 and 189) drew with Himachal Pradesh (350 and 136 for 8) at Hyderabad
Hosting promoted side Himachal Pradesh, Hyderabad probably took them a bit lightly as they were reduced to 31 for 3 and 74 for 4 on the first day. 73 from Abhinav Kumar and 71 from MP Arjun however rescued them to 328 in the first innings. The visitors didn’t commit any such mistakes when their turn to bat came and reached 350 thanks mainly to 123 from number three bat Paras Dogra and a half century from keeper Ajay Mannu, thus guaranteeing themselves points for the first innings lead. Left arm medium pacer Ashok Thakur then picked 5 for 22 to bowl out Hyderabad for 189 leaving his team just 168 to get to win the match outright. But Pragyan Ojha's 5 for 52 could only scare them as the visitors held on for a draw.
Railways (327 and 178 for 2) drew with Tamil Nadu (337) at Delhi
Sanjay Bangar started the season in belligerent fashion, scoring 163 not out for Railways as they took on strong contenders Tamil Nadu in their opening game. He is however known to be the lone hand for the team as the rest once again failed to rally around him and they collapsed to 327 all out. In reply, India hopeful S Badrinath stroked a century and egged on by 65 from Murali Karthik and 47 from Arun Karthik, Tamil Nadu just about managed to take the first innings lead by just ten runs. Murali Kartik took 4 for 100. That turned out to be crucial as Railways played out the remaining time to get a draw.
Group B
Karnataka (405 and 311 for 5 dec) beat Uttar Pradesh (279 and 252) by 185 run at Meerut
After grabbing eye balls with a century in IPL-II, Manish Pander re-affirmed that he is the next big thing as he scored his maiden First-Class ton (194) on debut for Karnataka. For support he had Rahul Dravid who got into the groove for the Sri Lanka Test series with a sedate 97, taking the score to 405. A second debutant then got into the act for Karnataka then as Abhimanyu Mithun took 6 for 86 to send Uttar Pradesh crashing to 279 all out. He wasn’t finished with them though. After the visitors finished their second innings at 311 for 5, setting an improbable 438 to win, Mithun emulated emulated Javagal Srinath's feat from 1989-90, taking a hat-trick on first-class debut. He sent back Piyush Chawla, Amir Khan and RP Singh as he took five wickets to bowl Karnataka to a 185 run win.
Bengal (325 and 175 for 3) beat Maharashtra (179 and 319) by seven wickets at Poona
Newly promoted Bengal batted first against Maharashtra and made a strong start with ICL-returned Abhishek Jhunjhunwala (95) and Manoj Tiwary (88) combining well to take their team’s score to 325. But Bengal’s firepower lies in their seam attack and Ranadeb Bose picked up his first wicket haul of the season in the first innings itself; his 5 for 67 bowling Maharastra out for 179. Following on, the cornered hosts battled to 319 as Bose took his second five wicket haul of the game, this time 5 for 57. Half centuries from Wridhiman Saha and Deep Dasgupta helped Bengal chase down 174 easily.
Delhi (591) drew with Baroda (326 and 233 for 4) at Vadodara
After the disappointments of last season, both teams faced tough opponents in each other in their first game. Delhi made a strong statement in their only innings of the game, scoring 591 runs, as opener Shikhir Dhawan began the season with a double ton (224). He had fruitful partnerships with Gaurav Chabra, Rajat Bhatia, Mayank Tehlan and Yogesh Nagar, all of them scoring half centuries. Rakesh Solanki and Pinal Shah scored half centuries for Baroda in the first innings as fast bowler Sumit Narwal took five wickets. Made to follow on, Baroda then scored 233 for 4 in their second innings to earn a draw with Azhar Bilakhia got 91, aided by a second half century in the game from Solanki.
© Cricket World 2009
