Sriram hits century

By K.C. Vijaya Kumar

PANAJI, FEB. 3. If life was a matter of signing autographs, South Zone would have won this match. Central Zone remained smug while South's National stars had to contend with fans at the Panjim Gymkhana ground. However, cricket's `glorious uncertainty' phrase rang true here on Saturday as South remained 205 runs adrift of avoiding an innings defeat.

South had a better second outing with a closing score of 204 for four when the Duleep Trophy league encounter's penultimate day became another statistic. And heading the fire- fighting exercise is opener Sriram with a maiden Duleep century. But stumbling blocks remain as South suffered a 409-run first innings deficit after Central declared at 550 for seven.

Khoda's triple century

Earlier, Gagan Khoda notched up his maiden triple century. The Central opener's unbeaten 300 (612m, 467b, 33x4, 6x6) helped Central cruise past 500. Khoda watched Yere Goud holing out to covers but their 217-run fourth-wicket stand had effectively choked South's comeback.

Khoda hastened towards the 300 mark while Devendra Bundela, Rahul Kanwat and Rohit Jhalani hardly troubled the scorers. Central skipper Amay Khurasiya declared the innings immediately after Khoda chipped Raju for the single that gave him the coveted 300 mark. A little sunshine peeped in when Raju hugged Khoda and cricket's `tough-boy' image had a brief fadeout. Raju's three wickets in the first session marked South's lone productive bowling stint in this match.

South suffered the jitters minutes before lunch as Nandakishore snicked and Laxman got castled. A backfoot punch followed by a slash for four at Srivastava's expense hinted at another Laxman run-glut. But silence descended on the South dressing room as seamer J.P. Yadav's first over pierced Laxman's defence. The rescue act fell on opener Sriram and he complied.

On a day when the Goan sun warmed up, the southpaw revealed his talent with a morale boosting knock. He square-drove and cut off- spinner Rahul Kanwat for consecutive 4s, while Vijay Bharadwaj lent able support in a third-wicket stand worth 128 runs.

Late cuts and the short-arm pull became essential factors as Sriram's innings flowered. However, a middle-order slump followed as Bharadwaj (40) played all over a Rahul Kanwat off-break, while Thilak Naidu's batting woes continued.

At close, giving Sriram company was Sunil Joshi who carted Hirwani for a 6, and survived a close call as Jhalani failed to effect a stumping. However, with Hemang Badani nursing a stiff neck and Srinath indiposed with a throat infection, South has a sweaty Sunday on its hands.

The scores:

South Zone - 1st innings: 141.

Central Zone - 1st innings: J.P. Yadav (run out) 8, Gagan Khoda (not out) 300, Amay Khurasiya c V. Bharadwaj b Aashish Kapoor 51, Mohammad Kaif c Thilak Naidu b Aashish Kapoor 69, Yere Goud c Hemang Badani b Venkatapathy Raju 85, Devendra Bundela (run out) 0, Rahul Kanwat b V. Raju 7, Rohit Jhalani c Thilak Naidu b V. Raju 7. Extras (b-4, lb-6, nb-13) 23. Total (for seven wickets decl. in 152 overs): 550.

Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-106, 3-282, 4- 499, 5-499, 6-516, 7-550.

South Zone bowling: Srinath 14-3-47-0, Prasad 27-9-71-0, Aashish Kapoor 31-5-121-2, Sunil Joshi 25-9-84- 0, Venkatapathy Raju 35-3-133-3, Vijay Bharadwaj 11-1-37-0, Hemang Badani 6-0-30-0, V.V.S. Laxman 3-0-17-0.

South Zone - 2nd innings: Nandakishore c Rohit Jhalani b D. Bundela 7, S. Sriram (batting) 102, V.V.S. Laxman b J.P. Yadav 12, Vijay Bharadwaj b Rahul Kanwat 40, Thilak Naidu c R. Jhalani b Rahul Kanwat 5, Sunil Joshi (batting) 18. Extras (b-2, nb-18) 20. Total (for four wickets in 71 overs): 204.

Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-28, 3-156, 4- 180.

Central Zone bowling: Devendra Bundela 12-5-11-1, Shalabh Srivastava 10-1-40-0, J.P. Yadav 7-2-15-1, Murali Karthik 12-2-33-0, Narendra Hirwani 15-3-63-0, Rahul Kanwat 15-2-40-2.

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