Spin of coin favours India Cements

By Our Sports Reporter

HYDERABAD, SEPT. 14. India Cements captain S. Suresh called it right when the umpires opted for the spin of coin after rain had played spoilsport in the second session of the semifinal match against Indian Overseas Bank at the Gymkhana Grounds here today.

Electing to bat, India Cements put up a dismal performance. It struggled to post a meagre score of 226 in 50 overs and that too largely because of India star Virender Sehwag's cameo innings of 96 (106 balls, 8x4, 3x6). However, his breathtaking strokeplay was marred by two quick run-outs, the first of a well-set and dangerous looking Rahul Dravid (35, 36 balls, 4x4) and then of R.R. Parida (0), which left India Cements tottering at 81 for four in the 18th over. After this double blow, it never really recovered and lost wickets at regular intervals.

S. Sharath (13) was surprised by the extra bounce from medium- pacer Tinu Yohanan, easily the best bowler on view today, and ended up giving a simple catch to mid-off. Leg-spinner Ananthapadmanabhan, who was earlier mauled by Sehwag, came back strongly in his second spell and induced a return catch from Sunil Oasis (6) and then Vidyuth Sivaramakrishnan snicked one to wicketkeeper Venkatesh during a hostile spell from Yohanan, who bowled a consistent line and length on off-stump.

Opener Sehwag stayed on till the 33rd over, executing some unbelievable strokes all round the wicket. The three sixes - one each off left-arm spinner Sreekumar Nair, off-spinner Subbaiah and Ananthapadmanabhan - were a treat to watch. Strangely, none of his teammates showed the same inclination to stay at the crease and pick the erring bowlers.

Subbaiah bowled an accurate spell and even induced Sehwag to square-cut straight to deep gully leaving India Cements on 166 for seven in the 33rd over. Ananthapadmanabhan was a bit lucky to see Gokulakrishnan being declared leg before. Only a defiant knock by last man Vignesh (25 not out, 20b, 1x4, 1x6) ensured that the total crossed the 200-mark. He put on 37 runs for the last wicket with Raju (9).

Clearly, India Cements was staring at a possible defeat at lunch break. But much to its delight, heavy rain stopped play for 108 minutes after just one over had been bowled in the post-lunch session. When play resumed, IOB was not really keen on continuing as it was not happy with the light and outfield. Surprisingly, like India Cements, the organisers too seemed enthusiastic on resumption of play. IOB reluctantly came out to bat virtually protesting to the umpires against their decision. And in the 2.3 overs that were bowled, during which they lost the wicket of Shivakumar (15), both the openers were seen repeatedly complaining about the bad light. The umpires finally decided that it was unfit for play to continue.

When the spin of coin was opted, Suresh called it right, much to the chagrin of IOB captain Shanmugam, sparking off celebrations in the India Cements camp. No doubt, a lucky entry to the final considering the fact that IOB had a very good batting line-up and only the other day had scored 300-plus against Indian Bank on Tuesday at the same venue.

The final will be played on Sunday at the Gymkhana Grounds between MRF (Chennai) and India Cements.

The scores:

India Cements 226 (Virender Sehwag 96, Rahul Dravid 35, Tinu Yohanan three for 28) bt Indian Overseas Bank 20 for one in 3.3 overs. By spin of coin.

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