Williams makes the most of Rest's largesse

By Vijay Lokapally

NAGPUR, OCT. 13. Two cricketers, one a diligent run-accumulator and the other a robust quick bowler, made their way into the notebooks of the National selectors at the end of the first day of the Irani Trophy here on Saturday.

As Baroda, propelled by an unbeaten but chancy century by Connor Williams, finished the day at 265 for six, leaving Rest of India rueing some very poor fielding, neither camp could lay claims to any early superiority in this five-day contest at the VCA Stadium.

Cricket may not have been engaging this day but there was reason to believe that in Tinu Yohannan, there was a ray of hope of India's attack being bolstered by a youngster who possesses the potential to develop into a fast bowler.

Reprieved on six occasions, Williams' 11th first-class century gave Baroda the strength to prevent the opposition from dictating terms from the first session. Rest of India, electing to field, gave a shoddy display of catching all through the day with skipper V.V.S. Laxman setting the trend by grassing Williams at second slip off Yohannan with the batsman on a mere six.

Williams was dropped again at 14, 28, 46, 47 and 105 with Yohannan and Debasis Mohanty suffering twice each and Sarandeep Singh once. To Williams' credit, he did not allow the blemishes to affect his resolve to just hang on there. ``I was playing for the team and not myself,'' said the 26-year-old Baroda skipper, who is in the selectors' shortlist of openers for this season, Vinayak Mane being the other.

Rest of India was one bowler short after the promising Uttar Pradesh left-arm seamer Salabh Srivastava left the field with a groin pain. ``It was a blow,'' said Laxman. The selectors too were disappointed because they were keen to watch this gangling seamer, who has modelled his action on Wasim Akram.

The Rest bowling was given the required thrust by Yohannan, who was nippy and commanded respect. He may have conceded a few boundaries in his anxiety to fire the batsmen out but he did push them on the backfoot on quite a few occasions and induced edges galore. Batsmen repeatedly being hurried spoke for this 21-year- old son of former Asian long jump champion T.C. Yohannan. Williams has been around for some seasons now but Yohannan was just arriving on the big stage and he did not waste time in establishing his credentials. Not many wickets adorned his analysis at the end of the day but his aggressive attitude and spirit to fight made a big impression on the selectors. Indian cricket would do well with such talent, remarked one of them.

The left-handed Williams managed to battle the entire day even as partners deserted him frequently. Satyajit Parab was the first to be foxed by Mohanty's seaming ball to be caught bat- pad at short-leg and then Sarandeep's spin induced an edge from a confident Nayan Mongia who had struck the Punjab off-spinner for a lively on-driven six.

Just two wickets in the first session was not a fair indication of Rest's bowling as Yohannan worked up a tidy pace on an unresponsive pitch. Soon after lunch, Baroda lost Hrishikesh Parab when the steady Mohanty dropped the return catch but deflected the ball onto the stumps to catch the non-striker out of the crease. Tushar Arothe promised to bat long but became Yohannan's victim when he misread the pace and bounce and ended up clumsily top-edging the ball.

Rest seemed in control at this stage but a fifth- wicket stand of 124 runs between Williams and Himanshu Jadhav rescued Baroda. The batsmen played within their limitations even though Williams produced some delightful strokes in front of the wicket, especially against the spinners. It was Baroda's best phase as it garnered 106 runs in the second session.

Rest now looked up to Sarandeep, who bowled with lot of guile. The off-spinner tossed the ball up and bowled to an attacking field most of the day and trapped Jadhav with a beauty - a drifter which the batsman nicked behind. Jadhav's innings included four 4s and two 6s.

Baroda needed to bat cautiously but Umang Patel succumbed to indiscretion, losing his balance and knocking the stumps even as he completed a pull off Sarandeep. A sense of dejection overcame Williams even though he ought to have rejoiced in his committed batting this day. He was pained by the lack of support from the other end but he lived to carry the fight. His 307-ball essay thus far included fifteen 4s and one 6.

Even as the selectors deserved a pat for giving Yohannan a break, they were certainly harsh in preferring Hrishikesh Kanitkar to Yere Goud when finalising the eleven this morning. The sight of Yohannan pounding in with lot of energy even at the fag end of the day was quite pleasing. Not many from his breed love to test the batsmen in the last hour or so. But Yohannan is an exception and that is why he will be worth keeping track of this season. As would be Williams, the saviour for Baroda today.

The scores:

Baroda - 1st innings: Satyajit Parab c Chopra b Mohanty 7, Connor Williams (batting) 133, Nayan Mongia c Laxman b Sarandeep 31, Hrishikesh Parab (run out) 1, Tushar Arothe c Ratra b Yohannan 18, Himanshu Jadhav c Ratra b Sarandeep 43, Umang Patel (hit wkt) b Sarandeep 0, Rakesh Patel (batting) 2. Extras (b-2, lb-6, nb- 22) 30. Total (for six wkts) 265.

Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-92, 3-96, 4- 131, 5-255, 6-259.

Rest of India bowling: Debasis Mohanty 23-2-54-1, Tinu Yohannan 21-5-75-1, Sarandeep Singh 30.1-7-70-3, Salabh Srivastava 4.5-0- 12-0, Rahul Sanghvi 11-1-46-0.

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