Yuvaraj Singh turns the contest around

By Our Sports Reporter

CHENNAI, AUG. 29. ``A wounded tiger is dangerous,'' the National Cricket Academy captain Reetinder Singh Sodi remarked forcefully after his team had taken the vital first innings lead against Indian Airlines in the semifinals of the MRF-Buchi Babu all-India invitation cricket tournament at IIT-Chemplast here on Tuesday.

NCA had made its exit in the first round of the Coromandal Cup in Bangalore, going down to India Pistons, and the members of an outfit bristling with promise were shattered by the reverse... taking days to recover from the setback. The Young Guns thus arrived in Chennai wounded, but extremely dangerous as their hapless opponents have found out.

None more so than the explosive southpaw Yuvaraj Singh, who turned the contest around in an 108-ball 114 after Airlines had made dents in the morning. The silken skills of Mohammed Kaif also came to the fore, the wristy strokemaker falling just two short of the century. The NCA, in pursuit of 267, ended a hugely satisfying second day at 350 for five, the ticket to the final assured with just a day remaining.

In contrast, the last-four duel between the New Zealand Cricket Academy and ONGC at MAC was delicately poised with the latter, which lost the well set Radhey Shyam (66) in the final over before close, finishing at 171 for four, chasing 329. There were no dearth of heroes here too, James Franklin compiling a spirited 115 not out for the visitor, and paceman Amit Bhandari scalping six for 46.

Coming back to the match at IIT-Chemplast, it was certainly a pressure point for the NCA, with the openers departing soon, S. Sriram nicking Dodda Ganesh to 'keeper Vijay Dahiya and S.S. Das, held by Nikhil Chopra in the slip cordon off Vineet Jain. The ball was still new, there was some early juice in the wicket, and a battle was definitely on.

Yuvaraj won it hands down. Looking back, sending this dasher at No 3., was a well thought out move by the NCA coach, the wily Vasu Paranjpe. There was a feeling that Yuvaraj, a restless character, was getting impatient waiting for his opportunity at No. 5, and hence the shift, which apart from providing the Punjab batsman with an early chance, put that much more responsibility on him.

And along with Kaif, picking runs in a quieter but elegant fashion, Yuvaraj destroyed the Airlines attack, (114, 108b, 13x4, 3x6); pulling Ganesh contemptuously to the fence, striking left- arm-spinner Sunil Joshi, straight, out of the park, and almost effortlessly lofting offie Chopra over the ropes in the same direction. There were several other booming strokes from this strong lad, who says, ``my batting reflects my personality.''

The son of former paceman Yograj Sigh, who played one Test for India in the early 80s, Yuvaraj wants to make up for the short Test career of his father. And like his team-mates, he has benefited immensely from the stint at the NCA, where he worked on his footwork, his fielding, and his approach to the game, under the watchful eyes of director Hanumant Singh and Vasu Paranjpe. He has also learnt much about cricket and life from the legendary Bishen Singh Bedi, always on hand to guide him.

Well, Yuvaraj and Kaif put on 168 for the third wicket in 40.5 overs, before, Yuvaraj, unhappy with the caught behind decision off Ganesh, walked back to a rousing reception from his team- mates. ``I wanted a double hundred,'' he revealed later and it's nice to see a youngster hungry for runs.

The agony continued for Airlines though, Kaif and the left-handed Gautam Gambhir, raising 102 in 32 overs. The Delhi- based Gambhir (56, 101b, 6x4) worked the ball cleverly in the open spaces, and looked good for more runs when Chopra trapped him in front with the straighter one.

Kaif (98, 250b, 13x4), conjured some delicate shots, none better than the flick through mid-wicket off Ganesh when on 92, the ball scorching the turf as it sped to the boundary. However, just a whisker away from the three-figure mark, Kaif, needlessly slashed at Ganesh to be held by Murali Karthik at gully. Reetinder Singh had made his way to 29, when bad light cut short the day's play.

At Chepauk, ONGC, fired by Bhandari, grabbed three quick wickets, but was pegged back by the last wicket pair of Franklin and Chris Martin, which raised 52 crucial runs.

It was a fine effort from Franklin (115 not out, 272b, 12x4), which enabled his side to cross the 300-run mark, always a psychological barrier for the side batting second.

Delhi paceman Bhandari was again impressive, ending with figures of 27-10-46-6, a testimony to his commitment and drive under testing conditions.

ONGC was off to a disastrous start, opener Gagan Khoda, taken at forward short-leg by Michael Pappas off paceman Chris Martin, before he had opened his account. Radhey Shyam and Gautam Vadhera retrieved the situation putting on 81 for the second wicket, but just when ONGC seemed to be seizing the initiative, Martin consumed Vadhera (32), caught at gully by James Marshall.

The dangerous Virendra Sehwag was just getting into his groove, when he was scalped by leggie Aaron Redman, Martin gobbling up the catch at point. And then, Radhey Shyam (66, 164b, 8x4, 1x6) was dismissed in the final over, Lou Vincent latching on to the chance at silly point, off Redman. Much rests on the in-form Rizwan Shamshad (32 batting) and Mithun Minhas when the contest resumes on Wednesday.

The scores: Indian Airlines 267 in 87.4 overs v National Cricket Academy 350 for five in 95 overs (Yuvaraj Singh 114, Mohammed Kaif 98, Gautam Gambhir 56, Reetinder Singh Sodhi 29 batting, Dodda Ganesh three for 66), at IIT-Chemplast.

New Zealand CA 329 in 131.2 overs (Aaron Redman 25, Hamish Marshall 100, James Franklin 115 not out, Amit Bhandari six for 46, Rahul Sanghvi four for 122) v ONGC 171 for four in 56.4 overs (Radhey Shyam 66, Gautam Vadhera 32, Rizwan Shamshad 32 batting), at MAC.

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