Associated Banks books knock-out berth

By Our Sports Reporter

HYDERABAD, SEPT. 5. Associated Banks became the first team to move into the knock-out phase, recording its third straight win beating Mumbai by five wickets, in the Coromandel King Moin-ud- Dowla Gold Cup cricket tournament at the Lal Bahadur Stadium here today.

After a wet pitch delayed the start by an hour, the Mumbai top order was rocked by Madhya Pradesh allrounder Jai Prakash Yadav, who produced a fine spell of seam bowling under overcast conditions. Exploiting the moisture in the pitch and the uncertainty in the minds of the batsmen, Yadav stuck to the off- stump line. He got rid of Vinayak Mane (6), Jatin Paranjpe (0) and Bhavin Thakar (0) to trigger panic in the Mumbai ranks.

At the other end, Narinderpal Singh chipped in with the wicket of Paul Vaithaty (17) to have Mumbai reeling at 24 for four.

However, a 127-run partnership for the fifth wicket in 21.1 overs between Nilesh Patwardhan (64, 103b, 4x4) and Sairaj Bahutule (65, 82b, 5x4, 1x6) kept the bowlers at bay. The duo displayed the right blend of caution and aggression and were helped by Jatin Paranjpe's generosity at slips, as he dropped a couple of simple catches. Even wicketkeeper Tilak Naidu was guilty of missing a stumping of Patwardhan, Sai being the bowler to suffer. At this stage, Mumbai was 148 for five.

During this phase, left-arm spinner R. Sridhar, who proved disappointing, gave too much freedom to the batsmen. Bahutule swung Sridhar over square-leg, easily the pick of the shots in the morning session, as Mumbai finished at 197 for seven.

During Associated Banks' reply, southpaw Daniel Manohar (71, 83b, 7x4, 1x6) was in his element and picked boundaries at will. The manner in which he came down to swing mediumpacer Robin Morris and Swapnil Hazare to the fence was proof of his confidence. When off-spinner Ajiz Sheikh was brought on, he welcomed him with a towering six over mid-off. Just when he looked good for a century, Manohar threw his wicket away, going for an adventurous stroke.

Banks, coasting merrily at 117 for one, slumped to 172 for five due to some indiscreet strokeplay rather than good bowling. Both Birju Pathak (31, 63b, 3x4) and Pankaj Dharmani (31, 42b, 3x4, 1x6) departed when they should have finished things off. An indisposed J.P. Yadav had to come down the order but couldn't achieve much. However, left-hander Krishna Kumar dashed Mumbai's faint hopes by clouting left-arm spinner Nilesh Kulkarni for two huge sixes over long-on. With Tilak Naidu (21 not out) and Krishna Kumar (16 not out) keeping their nerves, Banks reached the target in 41.1 overs.

The scores:

At LB Stadium: Mumbai 197 for seven (Nilesh Patwardhan 64, Sairaj Bahutule 65, J.P. Yadav three for 25) lost to Associated Banks 201 for five in 41.1 overs (Daniel Manohar 71, Birju Pathak 31, Pankaj Dharmani 31).

At HMWSSB: Assam 156 in 45.5 overs (Parag Das 46, Subrajit Saikia 57, Sreekumar Nair three for 29, K.N. Ananthapadmanabhan four for 23) lost to IOB 157 for three (P. Rajkumar 30, Sreekumar Nair 71 not out).

At Gymkhana: Hyderabad 230 (Nanda Kishore 69, Vanka Pratap 57) bt Indian Airlines 165 (J. Arun Kumar 89, Vishnuvardhan three for 27).

At AOC: Districts XI 129 (Solomon 30, C. Raghu six for 20) lost to Canara Bank 132 for six (Raghu 86, Jimmy Babu three for 35).

At RRC: Indian Railways 218 (Amit Pagnis 56, Dheeraj Sharma 50, J.R. Madanagopal four for 52) lost to India Cements 219 for six (Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan 49, S. Sharath 53, R.R. Parida 71 not out, M. Khote three for 34).

At NFC: Vidarbha 203 for nine (Alind Naidu 36, H. Shitoot 48, C. Atram 31) lost to Indian Bank 205 for seven (N.S. Kumaraguru 34, S. Thulasiram 44, K. Shivakumar 59).

At ECIL: DTDC 272 for six (M. Sandeep 100, T.R. Prasad 62, M.S.K. Prasad 61 not out) bt Goa 200 (Vivek Kolambkar 33, Kiran Pawar 30, Sailesh 49 not out).

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