Goan tail, rain frustrate TN

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, NOV. 27. Dark clouds loomed overhead and the scene below was symbolic of the gloomy surroundings, at least for the home team. Tamil Nadu cricketers were waiting patiently on the ground, hoping against hope that play would recommence, long after the umpires and the Goan batsmen had left the field for bad light. Eventually, with disappointment writ large on their faces, they trooped off the playing arena when even that faint expectation vanished.

It indeed was one of those days when little went right for Robin Singh's men, with the Ranji Trophy encounter at the ICL-Guru Nanak ground ending in an unlikely draw, here, on Tuesday.

A sharp spell of rain in the morning left certain areas of the outfield soggy, and when the two umpires finally agreed to a 2.30 p.m. start, following five inspections, Tamil Nadu, which had Goa struggling at 92 for four overnight after gaining a lead on 158, now had only 41 overs to bowl at the opposition.

And then, when the Tamil Nadu bowlers and the fielders responded well to the challenge, reducing Goa to 117 for eight, the Goan tailenders Avinash Aware and Nitin Kalekar successfully appealed against light at 4.30 p.m. when only 4.1 off the 15 mandatory overs had been completed. Messrs. S.P. Biswas and S. Pathak finally decided to call off play at 5.15 p.m.

Tamil Nadu had to be content with five points for the first innings lead after doing all the hard work, while Goa was extremely lucky to pick up three from a match in which it was outplayed for most part.

A small crumb of comfort on an otherwise agonising day for Tamil Nadu came when paceman L. Balaji sent overnight batsman Sayyed Khalid's (5) middle stump flying with a delivery that swung into the right-hander. The lanky bowler has surely made the right kind of start to his Ranji career.

The thinking was right when Aashish Kapoor began the proceedings with Balaji when play got underway in the mid- afternoon. Kiran Powar was the principal stumbling block for Tamil Nadu and it made sense to have an off-spinner bowling at the southpaw.

Powar (57, 116b, 6x4) did not consume much time to complete his half-century, punching Balaji through the covers to reach the minor landmark, but soon succumbed to Kapoor's off- spin, Hemant Kumar making no mistake with the catch at short-leg.

Things turned worse for Goa when paceman M.R. Shrinivas caught Rajesh Naik (4) in front with a sharp off- cutter. It was at this point that Aware joined the burly Avdhut Amonkar, who had rightly discarded his big-hitting ways for a purely defensive role.

Even as five close-in fielders breathed down his neck, Amonkar, ate up 40 deliveries scoring just one run, before the persistent Kapoor, finally got his man, Hemang Badani accepting the catch at silly point.

However, a dour Aware (0 not out, 48b) kept the battle going along with Kalekar, and when the light deteriorated somewhat, the batsmen were quick to cash in on the opportunity.

Tamil Nadu coach Bharat Kumar was of the opinion that had the umpires not insisted on `perfect ground conditions,' play could have started at least an hour earlier. ``It is terribly frustrating,'' he said, summing up his team's feelings.

The scores:

Goa - 1st innings 238

Tamil Nadu - 1st innings 396 for five decl.

Goa - 2nd innings: Vivek Kolambkar c Arasu b Balaji 1; Paresh Miskin lbw b Balaji 12; Kiran Powar c Hemant Kumar b Kapoor 57; Tanveer Jabbar b Balaji 0; Amit Velaskar c Robin Singh b Balaji 23; Sayyed Khalid b Balaji 5; Avdhut Amonkar c Badani b Kapoor 1; Rajesh Naik lbw b M.R. Shrinivas 4; Avinash Aware (not out) 0; Nitin Kalekar (not out) 0; Extras (lb-3, nb-11) 14; Total (for eight wkts. in 62.1 overs) 117.

Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-25, 3-25, 4-89, 5-99, 6-112, 7-114, 8- 117.

Tamil Nadu bowling: L. Balaji 19-6-42-5; M.R. Shrinivas 11-2-25- 1; Aashish Kapoor 20.1-10-32-2; Robin Singh 5-2-11-0; R. Ramkumar 7-5-4-0.

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