A determined Dighe leads from the front

By Nandakumar Marar

MUMBAI, FEB. 22. Sameer Dighe was almost an embarrassment for Sachin Tendulkar against Australia last year. The short, compact wicket- keeper-batsman, flown in as replacement for an injured M.S.K. Prasad after Tendulkar (India's skipper then) showed faith in him, failed to do his part in front and behind the wicket and did not turn out to be the revelation he was made out to be.

Dighe, considered not worthy to be India material since then, proved at the Cricket Club of India that Tendulkar's strong faith in his abilities, disregarding the claims of the selectors' choice Nayan Mongia, was not misplaced.

Walking in to bat at the fall of Vinod Kambli's wicket and with Mumbai tottering at 57 for four, before lunch, on day one of the three-day tour match against Australia, the compact wicket-keeper-bat exploded into action.

By the time he walked back to the pavilion to resounding applause, Dighe had won the first round of battle against the visiting Aussies, looking to gearing up facing quality opposition before the Mumbai Test. The Mumbai skipper's breathtaking 84 (178b, 14 x 4) and two timely partnerships with Sairaj Bahutule and Ramesh Powar turned the match on its head.

By stumps, the home team had swelled its first innings total to 328 runs off 94 overs, losing nine wickets in the process. A creditable score for a day of batting against any international side.

Dighe put on 117 for the seventh wicket with Bahutule (51, 108b, 6 x 4) and then inspired Ramesh Powar (65 not out, 67b, 13 x 4) to an eighth-wicket stand yielding 63 valuable runs, as the anxiety in the Mumbai dressing room at lunch (78-4) turned to relief by tea (196-5) and delight at close (328-9.

Powar has not finished with the Aussies yet and after streaking to a coveted half-century off 49 balls, with ten cleanly hit boundaries, looks confident and competent enough for more. Keeping him company is last man Nilesh Kulkarni (14).

In the other corner are the Australian bowlers, reeling from the assault by the same provincial side which defeated them in the 1998 tour opener. Glenn McGrath commanded respect for his tight line and ability to make deliveries fly past the batsman's helmets early in the innings, but the rest of the Aussie bowling, including the one and only Shane Warne, got a mauling it would like to forget.

The lanky paceman's first spell read 14-6-19-2 before power- hitting by the Mumbai lower-order distorted it to 19-6-46-3 at stumps. The manner in which even part-time batsmen like Bahutule and Powar went after the bowling will make Steve Waugh wonder whether the Mumbai Test may produce another leather-hunt, taking into account the depth in the Indian batting.

Warne conceded 57 in the initial 14-over spell and then was reduced to appealing in vain as the second spell lasting five more overs cost 24 more. With the first-day's bowling figure of 19-4-81-1 and confidence shattered, the Mumbai batsmen, inspired by Dighe's belligerent batting, may have scored a vital psychological point for India by putting the Aussies to rethink their attacking options for the Test match.

The ease with which the Mumbai skipper cut and drove against the rest of the attack - seamer Damien Fleming and spin bowler Colin Miller being the specialists who got slaughtered when Bahutule and Powar joined the run feast - is an indication of the lack of punch in this Aussie bowling on unhelpful tracks.

Dighe's 50 came off 88 balls (nine fours), Bahutule's half- century came off 97 balls (six fours) while Powar's strong- arm methods fetched him 10 boundaries enroute to his half- century. Earlier in the morning, Paranjpe, drafted into the Mumbai side following Tendulkar's withdrawal, proved that atleast a little bit of the maestro's temperament had rubbed off on him, handling the Aussie attack with patience to survive 70 balls for an unbeaten 27 runs, laced with six well-timed hits to the fence, including an effortless cover drive off Miller which would have done Tendulkar proud.

He proved to be the only stayer on a track which provided assistance to McGrath, but the demon was in the Mumbai batsmen's minds. Opener Wasim Jaffer (16) and Vinayak Mane (19) paid for their impatience. The former snicked McGrath into the slips where Mark Waugh's positioning and anticipation showed why he is rated as one of the world's best slip catchers, while the latter lost his wicket when attempting to flick a Hayden deliver but playing early.

Mumbai's best batting hope, Vinod Kambli, walked out to a roar from the CCI crowd, but went back without opening his account, Ponting snapping him up at third slip off Miller who bowled with a longish run-up. The same bowler also sent back Amol Mazumdar (1) as the Aussies shaped up for some target practice against the Mumbai lower-order.

Paranjpe departed in the second over after lunch, giving Warne his only success of the day. Skipper Dighe may have watched in dismay as Damien Fleming in the deep ran back and fell when completing a superb catch to send back Tendulkar's replacement before willing himself to produce the knock of the day, leaving skipper Waugh wondering whether Warne may be an embarrassment on this trip to the land of spin.

The scores:

Mumbai - 1st innings: V. Mane b Hayden 19, W. Jaffer c M. Waugh b McGrath 16, J. Paranjpe c Fleming b Warne 27, A. Mazumdar lbw Miller 1, V. Kambli c Ponting b Miller 0, S. Dighe c Gilchrist b Fleming 84, S. Bahutule lbw Ponting 51, R. Morris c Gilchrist b Ponting 2, Ramesh Powar (batting) 65, P. Mhambrey c Fleming b McGrath 19, N. Kulkarni (batting) 14, extras (b-5, lb-16, nb-9) 30, Total (for nine wickets) 328.

Fall of wickets: 1-27, 2-52, 3-57, 4-57, 5-82, 6-199, 7-202, 8- 265, 9-296.

Australia bowling: G. McGrath 19-6-46-3, D. Fleming 19-4-56-1, C. Miller 21-6-64-1, M. Hayden 7-0-37-1, S. Warne 19-4-81-1, M. Waugh 3-0-13-0, R. Ponting 6-0-10-2.

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