Not so smooth a journey for Railways

By G. Viswanath

VADODARA, APRIL 22. The hour of reckoning is upon the finalists of the Ranji Trophy. Whichever team goes on to win the coveted golden urn would have really sweated it out on the first session on the fifth day of the championship match.

Railways, which has never won the trophy is only a hundred odd runs shy of the fourth innings target of 223. It has already felt the pressure of chasing this target and lost four top-order batsmen, but this is a final which is far from over to make the home team the firm favourite and inscribe its name on the urn in golden letters for the fifth time.

The first two hours play on the final day has the potential to develop into a cliffhanger. The venue for a match of such importance as the National championship may not have enough space to accommodate a big crowd, but there should be still a larger turnout than it was on Sunday just to egg on the home team which staged a splendid recovery on the third day and has given itself as much a chance as Railways to finish the seven-month season on a winning note.

Butter-fingers let Baroda down

Baroda might have been in a stronger position at stumps on the fourth day, had it not spilled about half a dozen catches in the course of the 32 overs it bowled after being dismissed for 373 in the second innings before tea. Often such lapses turn the course of the match, but the Baroda's spinners - Ajit Bhoite and Valmik Buch - grabbed two wickets each in the 21 overs they bowled on a fast-deteriorating pitch.

Surely, Bhoite would rue over the catch he dropped of his own bowling of Sudhir Wankhede. It was the second `life' for Wankhede who was first reprieved by substitute Umang Patel off Zaheer Khan. The result of these lapses was a 22-run partnership between Yere Goud and Wankhede, who appeared determined to carry on the battle into the fifth day.

An absorbing tussle was on the cards on the fourth day, what with Satyajit Parab making a weighty score when Baroda was behind by 151 runs. He completed his fourth century within fifteen minutes after the start of play on Sunday and afterwards proceeded to make his highest in first class cricket. Baroda's intention was to commit itself to score at three runs an over which was actually possible playing normal cricket on a wearing pitch.

Martin was somewhat cautious on Saturday evening. But Baroda counted on him to take the lead from Parab and play a captain's knock. The right-hander was selective in playing his shots and was sure when he made them against the Railways attack which depended largely on the left-arm spin of Tejinderpal Singh and Murali Kartik. With Kulamani Parida not making sufficient recovery from his hand injury, Abhay Sharma did not look beyond his four specialist bowlers, two of whom were Harvinder Singh, who was picked in the 26 probables for the Zimbabwe tour and Sanjay Bangar, who missed the bus.

Parab, Martin carry on

The overnight pair of Parab and Martin continued their good work, with the latter even hooking the seamers. The two catches Parab gave when he was on 109 and 121 were difficult for Pagnis (at cover) and Shreyas Khanolkar (at backward point), but they must be still put down as clear chances. The first hour produced 52 runs in 18 overs and Baroda was pleased that everything was going its way in the first session. Abhay Sharma put an end to the 116- run stand between Parab (141, 392m, 263b, 15x4s) and Martin when he effected a smart stumping with the former having just lifted his back leg over the crease. Thereafter it was Martin who held the innings together with the lower order batsmen. Tushar Arothe began with two brilliant extra-cover drives off Tejinderpal and hit two more fours before his promising innings was cut short by a good catch held at long-off by Bangar, who immediately picked up his first wicket. The second new ball which came into play after the 100th over turned out to be lucky for Railways. In fact, it hastened the end of Baroda's second innings, with Sharma involved in five dismissals.

Martin, who was rather unlucky not to find a place in the 26 probables never wavered in his concentration and commitment to a specific task. His experience kept him in good stead after the dismissal of Parab. In the end, he was unbeaten on 87, the second best effort from a Baroda batsman. When Goud held Rakesh Patel off Kartik, Railways was left a fourth innings score of 223 in a minimum of 122 overs.

Pressure straightaway told on Railways when Pagnis in an effort to make the most of the new ball, pulled Irfan Pathan, but Bhoite dropped the dipping catch at square leg. Thereafter, Pagnis hit a few cracking shots off Khan and Bhoite, but he eventually fell to the off-spinner, who held him off his own bowling. Railways lost three more wickets. Bangar missed the line of a delivery from Buch that held its line after pitching. Then Tejinderpal who could have been out in the first three balls he faced from Buch, hit Bhoite straight to Khan at long-off. But the catch that gave Baroda the edge was that of Connor Williams who held a flier at short gully of the Railways captain.

There was a lot of celebration around when Railways kept losing wickets after Pagnis and Bangar put on 40 for the first wicket. There was excessive appealing too by the Baroda fielders, Buch in particular. Buch, built in ample measure, will be crucial to Baroda's chances on Monday morning. He has played the match- winner's role before and is keen to do it once more when pressure will be mounting on both the teams.

The final has been short of the spectacular so far, but Yere Goud might just about make it so for Railways. He has already become the highest scorer in Ranji Trophy this season. Or will Buch and Bhoite will clinch the title and make it a memorable day for Baroda? It is the tight situation of the match that will make the events on the last day a fascinating one.

The scores:

Baroda - 1st innings: 243

Railways - 1st innings: 394

Baroda - 2nd innings: Connor Williams c Bangar b Tejinderpal 41, Satyajit Parab st Sharma b Tejinderpal 141, Nayan Mongia c Harvinder b Kartik 9, Jacob Martin (not out) 87, Tushar Arothe c Bangar b Tejinderpal 21, Himanshu Jadhav c Sharma b Bangar 1, Ajit Bhoite c Sharma b Bangar 14, Valmik Buch c Kartik b Harvinder 0, Irfan Pathan (jr) c Sharma b Bangar 6, Zaheer Khan c Sharma b Tejinderpal 19, Rakesh Patel c Goud b Kartik 0, Extras (b-9, lb-3, nb-14, w-2) 28, Total (in 124 overs) 373.

Fall of wickets: 1-102, 2-143, 3-259, 4- 299, 5-302, 6-324, 7- 325, 8-342, 9-370.

Railways bowling: Harvinder 25-3-83-1, Bangar 34-10-94-3, Kartik 36-4-82-2, Khanolkar 2-0-20-0, Tejinderpal 27-0-82-4.

Railways - 2nd innings: A. Pagnis c & b Bhoite 31, Sanjay Bangar b Buch 7, Tejinderpal Singh c Khan b Bhoite 5, Yere Goud (batting) 17, Abhay Sharma c Williams b Buch 17, Sudhir Wankhede (batting) 11, Extras (lb-1, nb-2) 3; Total (for four wkts. in 32 overs) 91.

Fall of wickets: 1-40, 2-44, 3-48, 4-69.

Baroda bowling: Khan 9-0-27-0, Pathan (jr) 2-0-13-0, Buch 12-4-26-2, Bhoite 9-1-24-2.

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