...And Laxman does the rest

By Vijay Lokapally

NAGPUR, OCT. 17. Baroda was flattened by a sensational exhibition of strokeplay by V.V.S. Laxman as he guided Rest of India to a thumping victory which enabled the side retain its hold on the Irani Cup.

A few hundred cricket lovers at the VCA Stadium here were fortunate to witness an innings which belonged to the high standards of quality batsmanship that Laxman has come to attain in the last few years. Rest won by six wickets and the contest ended in quite an anti-climax.

Much was expected from the Baroda attack which had reduced Rest to 60 for three on the fourth day in trying to scale a target of 273. Laxman and Dinesh Mongia stood in the way of Baroda and when the Hyderabad batsman departed, Rest was a mere ten runs short. He and Mongia had stunned the opposition and made an emphatic statement concerning their potential.

The fourth-wicket partnership of 217 runs between Laxman (148) and Mongia (90 not out) was clearly the best phase of this match. The approach was very well-planned as Mongia was happy to play second fiddle to a partner who did nothing wrong this day.

The Baroda bowlers, especially left-arm spinner Valmik Buch, were swept off by Laxman's aggression. There was a distinct effort by Laxman to hit Buch off the firing line. ``There was no conscious effort to hit Buch,'' remarked Laxman but the assault was intentional, no doubt, as he smashed the left-arm spinner to all corners. Laxman just did not allow Buch to settle down and the Baroda spinner looked frustrated as he changed ends and even adopted negative tactics to check the flurry of boundaries that erupted from Laxman's end. Mongia did not mind pushing and prodding, looking very inconvincing in the first hour but he managed to regain his touch once Laxman rattled the opposition with some audacious strokes.

By repeatedly stepping out to whip the bowlers, Laxman succeeded in sending a message to the Baroda skipper that it was going to be one herculean task trying to contain his intentions to get on with the job. ``I like to play positive and I was glad I got some runs. I had not played for nearly three months and was keen to get a big innings before the South African series. Nothing special about my tactics but I was happy with the way things went in this match,'' said Laxman who had hit 167 against Mumbai in the Irani Cup last year.

Twenty-four fours and two sixes adorned Laxman's dazzling innings and it was a performance in keeping with his reputation. His wide range of strokes increased Baroda's woes and some of his shots would have evoked appreciation from his opponents too. One particular pull was absolutely stunning as the ball flashed past the two men on the fence.

Rest began in an attacking fashion with Laxman not leaving any scoring opportunity go by. The first session saw Rest plunder 138 runs and it was this phase which decisively swung the match in its favour. Baroda ran out of ideas as Laxman picked gaps at will and Mongia too joined in the act with a few lofted shots which scattered the field.

Mongia's innings may have paled in comparison but his contribution was acknowledged by Laxman. ``Dinesh batted very sensibly and his contribution was very significant. He made handsome contributions and I thought his century in the first innings actually laid the foundation for our victory. I would say it was a splendid team effort by us,'' said Laxman.

For his unbeaten 90 in the second innings (12 fours) and 125 in the first, Mongia was adjudged the `man of the match' but Laxman's outstanding knock was the feature of Rest's victory, the task being accomplished 53 minutes after lunch on the final day.

The scores:

Baroda - 1st innings: 318.

Rest of India - 1st innings: 333.

Baroda - 2nd innings: 285.

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 c R. Patel b Buch 148, Dinesh Mongia (not out) 90, Ajay Ratra (not out) 3, Extras 5 (lb- 1, nb-4), Total (for four wkts.) 273.

Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-6, 3-46, 4-263.

Baroda bowling: Rakesh Patel 16-4-33-1, Irfan Pathan (Sr.) 5-1-15-1, Valmik Buch 26-5-128-1, Irfan Pathan (Jr.) 11-2-34-1, Umang Patel 16.2-5-52-0, Tushar Arothe 3-0-10-0.

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