Baroda in position to press for victory

By Vijay Lokapally

NAGPUR, OCT. 16. The National selectors would not be here to watch the Irani Trophy reach its climax on Wednesday. They left this town in batches, having made up their minds, but the teams would have their own agenda to carry out on the final day at the VCA Stadium here tomorrow.

It does not matter if the selectors have left. In V.V.S. Laxman and Dinesh Mongia, Rest of India boasts of a potential match- winning pair even if the target remains stiff.

The task set by Baroda was quite challenging as Rest was faced with a target of 273 to win after Baroda compiled 285 in its second innings. At close, Rest was 60 for three on a pitch which is likely to play a significant part in the last day's play.

If Baroda stood a good chance to force a win, it had to thank its stars. Umpires V.K. Ramaswamy and Suhas Phadkar, having had a good match until the Rest second innings, showed lapses of concentration which saw Akash Chopra, Vinayak Mane and Hrishikesh Kanitkar all being given out without having nicked the ball.

Of course, it was only the advantage of television replays which gave a different picture of the close decisions. Phadkar adjudged Chopra and Kanitkar caught behind, while Ramaswamy ruled Mane out. The batsmen, understandably, made no effort to hide their disappointment but then the effort could not have changed the course of the match.

They were all lethal balls as the batsmen stood baffled by the bounce and the late movement. It must have been tough for the umpires to make the decisions in the last session of the day but it pushed Rest on the defensive. It would have been worse for Rest had Satyajit Parab not grassed an offering from Laxman. The batsman was on 12 when he pulled left-arm spinner Valmik Buch but Parab failed to pouch the catch at midwicket. Laxman once again appeared to be a man in a hurry and possibly trying to make a point to the selectors, who were eager to test his fitness.

Laxman, one gathered, will have to undergo a fitness test before qualifying for selection for the Test series in South Africa. The chairman of the selection committee, Mr. Chandu Borde, was not convinced he was fully fit. The fitness test would possibly be conducted in Mumbai to judge the recovery of seamers Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan. The selectors are also awaiting news from S. Ramesh. ``We are in the dark because he hasn't submitted any fitness certificate for us to consider him,'' said one selector.

There was a touch of desperation as Laxman produced an uncharacteristic knock. A flurry of boundaries suggested an aggressive approach, but Laxman was quick to recover his composure after being let off by Parab. For Rest, the dismissal of Kanitkar was a blow for the Maharashtra left-hander was stroking the ball with confidence and was in command when he got a harsh decision.

Earlier, Baroda, resuming at 124 for two, lost wickets regularly and managed to resist only through Himanshu Jadhav and Irfan Pathan (Jr). The breakthrough was made by Mane who picked a superb catch in the covers to get rid of Nayan Mongia and a reckless cut away from the body saw Rishikesh Parab succumb to a harmless ball. When Tushar Arothe edged the ball to gully, the Baroda team appeared to have thrown the game away.

Some disciplined batting by Jadhav, who had looked compact in the first innings too, enabled Baroda gather some useful runs with Pathan (Jr) contributing a priceless 32 with four 4s. For Rest, once again off-spinner Sarandeep Singh stood out, while left-arm spinner Rahul Sanghvi grabbed two wickets to hasten the end for Baroda. The final wicket went to Tinu Yohannan, who broke the leg stump into two, drawing instant appreciation from the selectors for his attitude.

With the two-paced pitch offering assistance to the bowlers, the contest was poised to enter an exciting phase. The Baroda camp was optimistic but also aware that Laxman and Mongia possess the potential to pull it off.

The scores:

Baroda - 1st innings: 318.

Rest of India - 1st innings: 331.

Baroda - 2nd innings: Satyajit Parab c & b Yohannan 3, Connor Williams c Ratra b Sarandeep 83, Nayan Mongia c Mane b Sarandeep 52, Rishikesh Parab c Ratra b Kanitkar 15, Tushar Arothe c Kanitkar b Mohanty 22, Himanshu Jadhav lbw b Mohanty 42, Umang Patel c & b Sarandeep 6, Rakesh Patel lbw b Sanghvi 6, Valmik Buch c Chopra b Sanghvi 2, Irfan Pathan (Jr) b Yohannan 32, Irfan Pathan (Sr) (not out) 0. Extras (b-5, lb-3, nb-14) 22. Total 285.

Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-124, 3-156, 4- 184, 5-192, 6-199, 7-224, 8-229, 9-269.

Rest of India bowling: Debasis Mohanty 17-5-57-2, Tinu Yohannan 19.4-2-70-2, Rahul Sanghvi 25-8-62-2, Sarandeep Singh 36-14-75-3, Hrishikesh Kanitkar 8-2-13-1.

Rest of India - 2nd innings: Akash Chopra c Mongia b R. Patel 4, Vinayak Mane c Mongia b Pathan (Sr) 2, Hrishikesh Kanitkar c Mongia b Pathan (Jr) 21, V.V.S. Laxman (batting) 26, Dinesh Mongia (batting) 6. Extras (nb-1) 1. Total (for three wkts) 60.

Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-6, 3-46.

Baroda bowling: Rakesh Patel 7-1-17-1, Irfan Pathan (Sr) 5-1-15- 1, Valmik Buch 7-3-18-0, Irfan Pathan (Jr) 5-1-10-1.

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