The Hindu : Nehra and Sanghvi put South on the mat

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Wednesday, Mar 13, 2002

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Sport - Cricket

Nehra and Sanghvi put South on the mat
By Our Sports Reporter

CARTWHEELING: Ashish Nehra of North Zone knocks back the middle stump of South Zone's R.V.Ch. Prasad on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy match at Faridabad on Tuesday.

FARIDABAD, MARCH 12. The sad expression on the faces of the South Zone members said it all. For a side, which chose to bat first, South not only frittered away the advantage by getting bowled out for 168 but also conceded a huge psychological advantage as North Zone responded with 96 for one on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy at the Nahar Singh Stadium here on Tuesday.

If South Zone finds itself in a precarious position, it was mainly due to a fiery spell by Ashish Nehra, who finished with a five-wicket haul. The left-armer, who has struggled with his form and fitness after the South African tour last year, gave ample signs of getting into rhythm with a fine performance today.

Nehra, who bowled 21 overs in five spells, troubled the South Zone batsmen with his nagging line. He also benefitted from Rahul Sanghvi's disciplined effort from the other end. The left-arm spinner managed four wickets.

Nehra's final spell, in which he scalped four batsmen, was a treat to watch. After getting rid of S. Ramesh off the fourth delivery of the match, the lanky bowler from Delhi came up with a fantastic effort.

Bowling with a short run-up, he surprised the opposition with his yorkers and a delivery, which held its line, when the bowler went around the stumps. Nehra dismissed S. Sharath off the first ball the left-hander faced with a yorker.

South Zone, which lost Ramesh, S. Sriram and Hemang Badani in the first hour, looked like staging a comeback through one-drop Vinay Kumar (50, 134 minutes) and Vijay Bharadwaj (64, 147 minutes).

But once Nehra got rid of Vinay Kumar, off a delivery which came slow off the pitch, it marked a collapse as South Zone lost the last seven wickets for mere 52 runs.

After Vinay Kumar was caught at mid-off by Sanghvi, Sharath was stunned by a deadly yorker. Nehra also picked up the wickets of R.V.Ch. Prasad and Suresh Kumar for a fine outing.

Sanghvi, who complemented Nehra with his probing line, was rewarded for pitching the ball up. He also gained from the fact that his deliveries kicked on a couple of occasions.

For South Zone, Andhra's Vinay Kumar grafted well and was patient enough to wait for the loose deliveries. His knock included five boundaries. Bharadwaj played more fluently and was severe on anything short.

He punished Sanghvi and debutant left-armer spinner Vishal Bhatia whenever the duo erred in length. He collected eight boundaries. Just when he was looking set, the Karnataka batsman made a costly error in reading Sanghvi, who came in as a replacement for leg-spinner Amit Mishra. In an attempt to cut, Bharadwaj played too close to the stumps and his toe of the bat hit the off stump.

In reply, North strengthened its position through Vikram Rathour (39 not out) and Yuveraj Singh (18 not out). Rathour, who joined the team last night as Gautam Gambhir's replacement, was in fine touch. His square driving stood out during his stay at the wicket.

The scores:

South Zone - 1st innings: S. Sriram c V. Dahiya b Vineet Sharma 10, S. Ramesh c Dahiya b Nehra 0, Vinay Kumar c Sanghvi b Nehra 50, H. Badani c Sangram Singh b Sanghvi 4, V. Bharadwaj (hit wicket) b Sanghvi 64, S. Sharath b Nehra 0, M.S.K. Prasad c Vineet Sharma b Sanghvi 5, R.V.Ch. Prasad b Nehra 1, K.S. Shahabuddin c & b Sanghvi 6, Suresh Kumar b Nehra 0, Venkatesh Prasad (not out) 4. Extras (b-11, lb-1, w-1, nb-11) 24. Total 168.

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-18, 3-38, 4-116, 5-116, 6-147, 7-148, 8-155, 9-156.

North Zone bowling: Ashish Nehra 21-5-46-5, Vineet Sharma 14-5-38-1, Vishal Bhatia 8-3-20-0, Rahul Sanghvi 15.3-1-47-4, Mithun Manhas 1-0-5-0.

North Zone - 1st innings: Akash Chopra b Suresh 37, Vikram Rathour (batting) 39, Yuveraj Singh (batting) 18. Extras (b-1, lb-1) 2. Total (for one wkt) 96.

Fall of wicket: 1-68.

South Zone bowling: V. Prasad 12-4-35-0, Shahabuddin 5-0-30-0, R.V.Ch Prasad 2-1-5-0, Suresh Kumar 6-2-17-1, Bharadwaj 3-1-7-0.

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