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Airlines runs into rough weather

CHENNAI Aug. 29. There was a rather bizarre change in the weather on Wednesday afternoon, as bright sunshine gave way to gloomy, dark and dense clouds. Perhaps, that was a sign of things to come for Indian Airlines, and on Thursday, it indeed ran into rough weather!

By the time stumps were drawn at 5.33 p.m. on the second day of the Sahara-Buchi Babu all-India invitation tournament final, here, at the ICL-Guru Nanak ground, the looming clouds had largely disappeared, but a defeat still loomed large over Airlines, with the team, following on 184 behind MAC-TNCA XI's 437, 81 for two in its second essay.

It was a day when the young MAC-TNCA pacemen M.R. Shrinivas (four for 44) and L. Balaji (three for 51) bowled with discipline and consistency on a pitch that offered them little assistance. They were supported well by S. Sriram (three for 70), whose left-arm spin came in handy, even as the specialist spinners failed to make much of an impression.

The Airlines innings concluded in 70.3 overs with the side making just 253, opener Ravneet Ricky's strokeful 73 (104b, 9x4, 1x6) and captain J. Arun Kumar's battling 71 (106b, 5x4), being the only exceptions in what was essentially a tame performance.

Showers in the early hours of Thursday meant play commenced an hour late, and soon Shrinivas, bowling to a nice off-stump line at a lively pace and taking the odd delivery away from the right-hander, struck, getting Munish Sharma (4) caught by Hemang Badani at second slip. He then consumed No. 3 Shafique Khan (0), 'keeper P. Raju coming up with a good, low, diving catch.

Then arrived the best phase of the innings with the dashing Ricky and the enterprising Rashmi Ranjan Parida using their feet and tackling the left-arm spin of R. Ramkumar and D. Dandapani's off-spin positively.

Ramkumar did not use much of his right arm and tended to bowl wide of the stumps, while ideally, for one essentially turning the ball from leg to off, he should have got himself nearer the wickets, while Dandapani operated from close to the stumps, which meant, the classic off-spinner's arc was missing in his bowling. He should have been spinning them into the right-hander from outside the off-stump, inviting the drive. If only the two had swapped their methods!

Ricky and Parida handled the spin duo with ease, and it was only after lunch, when their stand was worth 106 in 23.5 overs, that Sriram produced the breakthrough. Parida unwisely tried to clear long-on and was well caught by Shrinivas near the ropes. Such a stroke was always going to be fraught with danger, since it is that much more difficult to get under Sriram's slightly quicker, lower trajectory for the big hits.

Minutes later Sriram made no mistake at point as Ricky could not keep a square-drive down. Soon Rajat Bhatia's (6) indiscreet stroke off Balaji only resulted in Shrinivas, running to his back, holding a fine catch at wide mid-on. Airlines had lost three key middle-order wickets for just 15 runs in 28 balls.

Just when Arun Kumar, whose off-side strokeplay was attractive, and wicket-keeper batsman Pradeep Chawla (24) had provided Airlines a glimmer of hope, adding 75 in 20 overs, the latter jumped out to Sriram to give Raju a regulation stumping.

The lower order batsmen departed in quick succession, and when Arun Kumar, who earned a reprieve at 29 when substitute Vasudeva Das put him down at point off Dandapani, was the ninth man dismissed, castled by a full length delivery from Shrinivas, the match in terms of a contest was all but over.

After tailender Sonu Sharma, who batted both right and left-handed in an over from Sriram, lost his off-stump, beaten for pace by Shrinivas, MAC-TNCA skipper S. Sharath decided to enforce the follow-on. In 18 subsequent overs of play, Airlines lost two more wickets. The team's decision to pack the side with batsmen had backfired.

The scores (final): MAC-TNCA XI 437 vs Indian Airlines 253 in 70.3 overs (Ravneet Ricky 73, Rashmi Ranjan Parida 38, J. Arun Kumar 71, M.R. Shrinivas four for 44, L. Balaji three for 51, S. Sriram three for 70) and 81 for two in 18 overs (Ravneet Ricky 26, Rashmi Ranjan Parida 30 batting).

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