Kanwaljit keeps Hyderabad afloat

By Our Sports Reporter

KANPUR, APRIL 1. Old warhorse Kanwaljit Singh was again at what he does best - bowling long spells and taking wickets by the bagful. The off-spinner finished with a six-wicket haul to keep his team in the match and in the process also became the first Hyderabad player to take 300 wickets in the premiere domestic tournament.

Uttar Pradesh gained a 71-run first innings lead on the third day of the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal, but by close, Hyderabad had removed the deficit by getting to 72 for one.

The possibility of an outright verdict is very much on the cards, as Hyderabad has to take its chances, having conceded the first innings lead.

Kanwaljit's guile, in flight as well as spin, has tortured the best of batsmen, and he gave another good display of his abilities today, on a turf that did not offer much assistance to spin. This has turned out to be another fruitful season for Kanwaljit, who has 52 wickets in his kitty this season.

If Kanwaljit pegged on from one end, the Uttar Pradesh batsmen too did not show much resilience. Mohammad Kaif was castled at his overnight score of 66 by an N.P. Singh delivery that moved in, and Saurabh Shukla nibbled at one from Vanka Pratap that was way outside the off stump, when the strokeplayer seemed to have got going.

Uttar Pradesh was 248 for five at this stage. Captain Gyanendra Pandey, overnight 18, went on to score 47 with the help of seven fours before he was bowled by a lovely Kanwaljit delivery that came in with the arm from around off stump

and took the left-hander's leg stump.

The scores: Hyderabad - 1st innings: 291.

Uttar Pradesh - 1st innings: Mohammad Saif lbw b Vanka Pratap 18, Jyoti Yadav lbw b Kanwaljit 61, Mohammad Kaif b N.P. Singh 66, Rizwan Shamshad b Kanwaljit 27, Gyanendra Pandey b Kanwaljit 47, Saurabh Shukla c Sheikh b Vanka Pratap 16, Pradeep Yadav c Daniel Manohar b Kanwaljit 20, Ashish Winston Zaidi c Raju b Kanwaljit 52, Musi Raza (run out) 4, Ratnesh Mishra c and b Kanwaljit 19, Shalabh Srivastava (not out) 2, Extras (b-8, lb- 9, nb-13) 30, Total 362.

Fall of wickets: 1-69, 2-119, 3-171, 4- 213, 5-248, 6-268, 7-314, 8-330, 9-357.

Hyderabad bowling: N.P. Singh 18-2-86-1, Parth Satwalkar 20-4-65- 0, Daniel Manohar 4-1-13-0, Vanka Pratap 21-10-34-2, Kanwaljit Singh 48.2-16-97-6, Venkatapathy Raju 24-9- 50-0.

Hyderabad - 2nd innings: A. Nandakishore (batting) 35, Daniel Manohar c Raza b Ratnesh Mishra 14, V.V.S. Laxman (batting) 20, Extras (lb-3) 3, Total (for one wicket) 72.

Fall of wicket: 1-29.

Uttar Pradesh bowling: Ashish Winston Zaidi 8-3-12-0, Shalabh Srivastava 7-3-15-0, Ratnesh Mishra 6-1- 20-1, Gyanendra Pandey 5-3-3-0, Musi Raza 4-0-14-0, Mohammad Kaif 1-0-5-0.

Gyanendra Pandey of UP is bowled by Hyderabad's Kanwaljit Singh in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal match.

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