Date:17/11/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/17/stories/2008111759661600.htm

Sport - Cricket

Nilesh cracks unbeaten century

Principal Correspondent

AHMEDABAD: Seasoned campaigner Nilesh Modi cracked an unbeaten century to help Gujarat seize the initiative by electing to bat on the first day as the host scored 235 for one against Hyderabad in the Ranji Trophy super league match at the Sardar Patel Stadium (Motera) here on Sunday.

With openers Priyank Panchal (48, 3x4) and Nilesh Modi (118 batting, 240b, 9x 4) putting on 108 for the first wicket, the Hyderabad bowlers were on the defensive on a pitch which offered little assistance.

Shoddy keeping

Compounding the misery was the shoddy work behind the stumps by Abhinav Kumar.

Medium-pacer M. P. Arjun, bowled his heart out in the post-lunch to test the openers and even had the misfortune of first seeing Panchal awkwardly fend off a lifting delivery just short of Arjun Yadav at slip. In his next over he clean bowled the same batsman off a no-ball.

Even his new-ball partner S.M. Shoaib and first-change bowler Ashwin Yadav looked good during this session but were not given the support in catching behind the stumps.

Breakthrough

It was left to part-time off-spinner Ahmed Quadri to provide the breakthrough when D.B. Ravi Teja brought off a splendid catch at slip to send back Panchal in a typical off-spinner’s dismissal.

That turned out to be the only moment of celebration for Hyderabad. Ashwin also was unlucky as Abhinav Kumar failed to react in time to snatch a fast inside edge off Modi (then on 74).

A miss that has proved costly as the opener came up with the right blend of caution and aggression. His flowing drives on the off-side and the sweep shot played to near perfection were the highlights of his innings.

In the company of southpaw Niraj Patel (60 batting, 157b, 4x4), Modi put on an unbroken 127-run stand for the second wicket which pushed Hyderabad completely on the defensive in the final session.

The scores: Gujarat — 1st innings: Priyank Panchal c Teja b A. Quadri 48, Nilesh Modi (batting) 118, Niraj Patel (batting) 60; Extras (b-3, lb-4, nb-2): 9. Total (for one wicket in 90 overs): 235.

Fall of wicket: 1-108.

Hyderabad bowling: Shoaib 13-3-20-0, Arjun 13-5-28-0, Ashwin 13-3-36-0, Lalith Mohan 22-5-62-0, Quadri 20-0-65-1, Ravi Teja 3-1-4-0, Suman 6-1-13-0.