Laxman, Badani steady a rocking boat

By S. Dinakar

CHENNAI, FEB. 12. V.V.S. Laxman provided the thrust, and then, after a mid-innings slump, the left-handed Hemang Badani steadied the rocking boat, as India Srs. set India `A' a target of 241 in the first game of the Hero Honda-N.K.P. Salve limited overs Challenger series at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here on Monday.

India Srs. was rather poorly placed at 177 for seven when the aggressive Badani, with Zaheer Khan offering his dogged support, piloted his side to a more competitive score.

Badani, using his feet well against the spinners, struck Rahul Sanghvi over mid-wicket for a six, and then dismissed S. Sriram ruthlessly, clearing the long-on fence. He ran well between the wickets too, adding 55 crucial runs with Zaheer for the eighth wicket, and in the end, remained unbeaten on a scintillating 64 (58b, 2x6, 5x4), enabling India Srs. to finish at 240 for nine in the allotted 50 overs. Laxman's 78 (73b, 8x4) was the other highlight of the innings.

Sourav Ganguly called right but went without scoring, trying to glide a rising delivery from paceman Ajit Agarkar, 'keeper Nayan Mongia accepting the leg-side snick gleefully.

Opener Shiv Sundar Das, compact in his methods, and the elegant V.V.S. Laxman, countered the India `A' new ball attack of Agarkar and Venkatesh Prasad, with some pleasing strokeplay.

There was some early bounce for the bowlers - a short ball from Agarkar climbed high over Mongia before crashing against the fence - but Das and Laxman settled down well.

Laxman pulled and then square drove Agarkar for boundaries and Das did not lag behind, clipping the same bowler delectably off his legs, and following that up with a cover drive off Prasad. The runs were beginning to come thick and fast.

Prasad did win the odd battle, taking the ball away from the right-hander but the bat was clearly dominant in the early phase.

The leg-spin of Balaji Rao and Reetinder Singh Sodhi's medium pace were pressed into service by Rahul Dravid. Both were greeted with strokes from Das and Laxman, the former's back-cut off the leggie standing out.

The little Orissa batsman (46, 66b, 4x4) was looking good for bigger things when a smart piece of fielding from S. Sriram, whose under-arm throw from short cover caught Das short of the crease at the non-striker's end even as Laxman survived a confident leg-before shout off Reetinder.

Wickets then fell at regular intervals. Yuveraj tried to cut left-arm spinner Rahul Sanghvi, only to see Mongia pouch the edge, Vikram Rathour was desperately unlucky to be run out, bowler Balaji Rao getting his hands to a searing drive from Laxman, and the big-hitting Virender Sehwag, lucky to survive when Dravid at slip put down a snick off Balaji Rao, perished in attempting to hit the same bowler over the ropes, Prasad latching on to the skier at long off.

Laxman collected his runs with typically well timed strokes before he was consumed by Agarkar, Hrishikesh Kanitkar holding the uppish drive on second attempt at short cover. The Hyderabad batsman's 78 came off just 73 balls, and comprised eight fours. Agarkar produced a much better second spell, while left-armer Sanghvi was the pick of the spinners.

There were some surprises before the match commenced in the afternoon. Since wicket-keeper batsman Vijay Dahiya had not recovered fully from a finger injury sustained during the camp, Vikram Rathour, the India `B' 'keeper, was shifted to the India Srs. side. Dahiya will now turn out for India `B' in case he is fit for the fray. Paceman Aashish Nehra also was inducted as the 13th man in the India Srs. squad. The Delhi left-armer found a place in the 11 too with Javagal Srinath being rested.

The scores:

India Srs: S.S. Das (run out) 46; S. Ganguly c Mongia b Agarkar 0; V.V.S. Laxman c Kanitkar b Agarkar 78; Yuveraj Singh c Mongia b Sanghvi 10; V. Rathour (run out) 0; V. Sehwag c Prasad b Balaji Rao 9; H. Badani (not out) 64; S. Joshi c Sodhi b Prasad 0; Zaheer Khan b Agarkar 12; D. Mohanty b Reetinder 2; A. Nehra (not out) 1; Extras (b-4, w-4, nb-10) 18; Total (for nine wkts. in 50 overs) 240.

Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-96, 3-121, 4- 121, 5-150, 6-165, 7-177, 8-232, 9-235.

India `A' bowling: Agarkar 10-1-47-3; Prasad 10-1-44-1; Reetinder 6-0-38-1; Balaji Rao 10-0-55-1; Sanghvi 10-0-36-1; Sriram 4-1-16- 0.

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