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Cricket
By Our Special Correspondent
Delhi's Virender Sehwag starts his walk back to the pavilion as Tamil Nadu bowler M.R. Shrinivas celebrates the dismissal with team-mates, on the second day of the Ranji Trophy semifinals at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground in New Delhi on Saturday.
Cricket was intense indeed as Tamil Nadu kept itself in the game with some good work by the bowlers. Nothing spectacular but steady line and length from the visiting side left the home team staring at the possibility of a first-innings deficit. It will be a significant gain for Tamil Nadu, if it happens tomorrow. Resuming at 252 for five, Tamil Nadu failed to consolidate its position on a pitch, which is increasingly making batting a tough task. The dismissal of Delhi opener Akash Chopra to a ball which stayed low gave enough indications of the uncertain bounce the batsmen are likely to confront over the next three days. Tamil Nadu posted 327 and reduced Delhi to a shaky 127 for four at the end of the second day of the Ranji Trophy semifinal. The prize wicket of Virender Sehwag was just the boost the southern team needed on a day which tested their physical fitness. Overnight batsman Hemang Badani was the first to go, surprised by the extra bounce as he shaped to cut. But Vasanth Sarvanan gifted his wicket away and the Tamil Nadu innings closed quickly, giving Delhi hopes of dominating the contest. Tamil Nadu, however, had better plans. The Tamil Nadu bowlers stuck to their job quite diligently. They bowled to the field and did not relent at any stage as Delhi earned every run on the field. A sound start by Akash Chopra and Gautam Gambhir was on expected lines. Chopra produced a few raspings cuts and Gambhir, too, thrived with some drives before Balaji claimed the latter. Gambhir, after looking in control, played an ugly shot away from the body. Sehwag walked in to loud cheers but returned soon to a deathly silence, playing on, watching his defensive block end in a disaster. He stood helplessly as the ball rolled and hit the stumps. M. R. Sriniwas, who bowled well in tandem with L. Balaji, had given Tamil Nadu the breakthrough it so desired. Soon, skipper S. Suresh rocked the Delhi dressing room when he trapped the stylish and reliable Chopra with one which stayed low. Chopra indicated he had played the ball but it was to make little difference. Tamil Nadu now sensed its chance and off-spinner D. Dandapani chipped in with a floater which consumed Varun Kumar. It was hard to understand the decision to promote Varun ahead of skipper Vijay Dahiya. Even as Tamil Nadu searched for a fifth wicket, Dahiya and Mithun Manhas, a steady batsman with an excellent temperament, saw Delhi through with a sensible approach, setting up another intense day of cricket on Sunday. The scores: Tamil Nadu_1st innings : Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan c Negi b Bhandari 27, S. Ramesh c Bhandari b Gill 82, S. Sriram c Chopra b Sanghvi 33, S. Suresh c Bhandari b Sanghvi 35, Hemang Badani c Sehwag b Sarandeep 63, S. Sharath lbw b Gill 6, Vasanth Saravanan c Manhas b Bhandari 39, M. R. Sriniwas (not out) 17, D. Dandapani c Dahiya b Bhandari 1, P. Raju st Dahiya b Sanghvi 0, L. Balaji c Varun b Negi 1, Extras (b-3, lb-8, nb-10, w-2) 23, Total 327. Fall of wickets: 1-36, 2-101, 3-163, 4-228, 5-244, 6-299, 7-315, 8-317, 9-318. Delhi bowling: Amit Bhandari 29-7-72-3, Sanjay Gill 26-8-53-2, N. S. Negi 18.4-5-55-1, Sarandeep Singh 29-5-74-1, Rahul Sanghvi 13-4-26-3, Virender Sehwag 10-2-27-0, Mithun Manhas 3-0-9-0. Delhi_1st innings: Akash Chopra lbw b Suresh 30, Gautam Gambhir c Raju b Balaji 31, Virender Sehwag b Shrinivas 0, Mithun Manhas (batting) 20, Varun Kumar c Raju b Dandapani 12, Vijay Dahiya (batting) 19, Extras (lb-2, nb-11, w-2) 15, Total (for four wkts.) 127. Fall of wickets: 1-58, 2-59, 3-75, 4-96. Tamil Nadu bowling: L. Balaji 15-5-42-1, M.R. Shrinivas 11-3-27-1, S. Suresh 8-3-21-1, D. Dandapani 12-5-31-1, Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan 3-1-4-0.
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