Kanitkar hits unbeaten century

By C. Rajshekhar Rao

FARIDABAD, NOV. 13. A friendly turf and a friendlier bowling attack meant it was time to revel.

But Hrishikesh Kanitkar was the only Board President's XI batsman to stretch his stint in the middle against Zimbabwe on the first day of the three-day match at the Nahar Singh Stadium here on Monday.

After calling correctly and electing to bat, Kanitkar batted through almost two sessions to remain unconquered on 118 in a score of 314 for five. The left-hander from Maharashtra has been in and out of the Indian team over the past few years, and would have done his cause some good with this knock.

There were lessons to be learnt for players of both sides, though not new. The Zimbabwe bowlers should realize that they have to keep the ball further up to be effective on such pitches, and the Indian fringe players should know the value of their wickets and of big individual scores.

The day started on a dull note, with Zimbabwe seamers Henry Olonga and Travis Friend not making the batsmen play enough. They bowled either too wide or too short. The new ball was not used well enough, only Ravneet Ricky falling to a medium- pacer, caught at third slip playing away from the body.

The extra pace of Friend and Olonga was only welcome after the initial overs, as was the slow turn and some short- pitched bowling from the leg-spinning combination of Paul Strang and Brian Murphy. Strang, of course, did a better job later in the day, but the Board batsmen were guilty of not showing discretion.

Kanitkar stood out in the event, coming down hard on anything bowled short. A couple of cover drives set him in and later he cut and pulled with ease. Kanitkar's sole blemish was a lofted shot that fell in `no man's land' between mid-on and mid- off, but from then on, he played along the ground.

By close, Kanitkar had faced 190 balls in a 233-minute stay in the middle, having hit 14 fours and a six to long on that took him from 94 to the three-figure mark. Earlier, another left- hander, Hemang Badani had looked set for a big knock, driving and cutting with ease, but was unlucky to get a delivery from Strang that shot through low, just after lunch.

Opener Vijay Dahiya played well square of the wicket on the off side and took some calculated risks, but fell in trying to clear Strang at cover, who took a lovely one-handed catch going back. It was a well-compiled 50 that came with the help of eight 4s, but he should have gone on. Another Delhi batsman, Virender Sehwag played one of his entertaining knocks, but sadly, it also turned out to be another cameo. Driving, cutting and lofting the ball, he began by taking 14 off a Murphy over.

The Board President's XI side decided to have Vijay Bharadwaj, Connor Williams and Iqbal Siddiqui on the bench. Dahiya was made to open and did a good job. For Zimbabwe, Alistair Campbell, Douglas Marilier and Bryan Strang, apart from Heath Streak, are sitting out. Streak's name figured in the team initially, but it was changed at the last minute because of a throat infection and Friend had to come in.

The scores:

Board President's XI - 1st innings: Ravneet Ricky c Madondo b Friend 5, Vijay Dahiya c Grant Flower b Paul Strang 50, Hemang Badani b Paul Strang 35, Hrishikesh Kanitkar (batting) 118, Virender Sehwag c Olonga b Paul Strang 60, Syed Abbas Ali c Paul Strang b Murphy 16, Abhijit Kale (batting) 15. Extras (b-2, lb-3, nb-10) 15. Total (for five wickets) 314.

Fall of wickets: 1-30, 2-88, 3-119, 4- 227, 5-263.

Zimbabwe bowling: Henry Olonga 18-6-47- 0, Travis Friend 10-3-38- 1, Mluleki Nkala 11-2-44-0, Paul Strang 20-4-59-3, Brian Murphy 16-2-75-1, Grant Flower 13-7-46-0.

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