Sport

Dinesh Karthik in dazzling form

S. Dinakar

DRIVING FORCE: India Red's top-scorer Robin Uthappa drives to the fence in the match against India.

Chennai: Dinesh Karthik's 68-ball 85 was an amalgam of flair and substance. He innovated, disrupting the rhythm of the bowlers. And did so without appearing to chance his arm.

Openers Robin Uthappa (92, 99b, 6 x 4, 3 x 6) and Gautam Gambhir (74, 93b, 8 x 4) impressed as well, but the dashing Karthik produced the effort of the innings for India Red, which raced to 317 for four against India Green in the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy here on Tuesday.

The quick-footed wicket-keeper batsman struck eight boundaries and two sixes, driving with panache on both sides of the wicket, and even gliding paceman Lakshmipathy Balaji for a six over the wicket-keeper's head.

Earlier, openers Uthapppa and Gambhir added 177, before the former retired hurt on 81 with a strained muscle. He subsequently returned with a runner, before being dismissed by Balaji. The paceman sent back Karthik in the same over, 'keeper Parthiv Patel pouching a diving catch.

Left-right combination

For the third match running, the team winning the toss opted to bat. Gambhir and Uthappa do hold promise, even if the former is guilty of frittering away opportunities at the international level. The left-right combination never quite allowed the India Green attack to settle down.

The left-handed Gambhir looks much the better player, whenever he bats straighter than squarer. In this competition he has made a concious effort to play closer to his body.

Uthappa is a crisp shot-maker who has worked on his technique. He appeared comfortable off either foot, picking his runs with sweetly timed drives and flicks. Rohit Sharma provided glimpses of his promise during his brief stay.

The India Green attack, battered and bruised in the first game, sported a different new ball combination with Praveen Kumar sharing the new ball with Aashish Nehra; Lakshmipathy Balaji was introduced as first change.

Nehra (his first spell read 4-0-30-0) struggled with his length, but Praveen Kumar, taken apart by Sachin Tendulkar in Monday's match, operated much better, switching his line to the right-left pair, and beating the outside edge more than once.

He could have consumed Gambhir when the southpaw was on nine, however, 'keeper Parthiv Patel could not quite latch on to the chance. Gambhir cashed in on the lapse.

Balaji, brought in as first change, sent down a reasonable first spell of 6-0-26-0, keeping the batsmen under check, although he is still searching for the incisiveness of old. In the days ahead, the lanky Balaji will seek to achieve the kind of bounce that had catapulted him to the Indian team.

There is some assistance for the pacemen in the Chepauk pitch, provided the paceman puts in the extra effort. Balaji, finding his way back from a career-threatening back injury, would stretch himself more once he gains more confidence in his fitness levels.

Sourav Ganguly was once again the most economical of the Green bowlers, bowling his seamers wicket-to-wicket and giving little away.

Coming on in the 14th over — the power play overs were taken straightaway by Green — Ganguly, creditably, did not concede a boundary in his first six overs (6-0-26-0). Nehra bowled a touch better subsequently, without quite appearing penetrative. The first 20 overs fetched Red 106 runs.

Piyush fails to impress

Piyush Chawla had Gambhir miscuing a shot to Suresh Raina's hands at mid-wicket, but the leg-spinner failed to impress. The logic of playing a budding spinner like Piyush Chawla in the abbreviated form of the game is questionable. The leggie is still unable to turn his leg-spinners sufficiently. He does have a useful googly, but this delivery would lose its surprise value without a potent ball spinning away from the right-hander. Also, he would be tempted to rely more on the wrong 'un in the one-dayers since the delivery coming into the batsmen is more difficult to score off in this form of the game. His leg-spinner, thus, is in danger of not being developed.

The scores:

India Red: R. Uthappa c Kaif b Balaji 92; G. Gambhir c Raina b Chawla 74; D. Karthik c P. Patel b Balaji 85; R. Sharma c Minhas b P. Kumar 26; T.P. Singh (not out) 3; R. Powar (not out) 9; Extras (lb-6, nb-3, w-19) 28; Total (for four wkts) 317.

Fall of wickets: 1-177, 2-254, 3-303, 4-306.

India Green bowling: Nehra 10-0-64-0; P. Kumar 10-0-65-1; Balaji 10-0-68-2; Ganguly 9-0-43-0; Chawla 10-0-67-1; Badani 1-0-4-0.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu