Sport - Cricket

Bangar, Rawat save Railways

NEW DELHI: Skipper Sanjay Bangar’s single-minded approach and Mahesh Rawat’s dogged effort helped Railways snatch a creditable draw from the jaws of defeat in its Ranji Trophy Super League tie against Uttar Pradesh at the Karnail Singh Stadium here on Tuesday.

After the visitor set a challenging target of 297 on the fourth and final day, Railways soon found itself in a spot. Young medium-pacer Bhuveneshwar Kumar claimed his second first-class five wicket haul, and his best so far, to leave Railways tottering at 33 for six.

There were signs of revival after the arrival of Murali Kartik. He added 44 for the seventh wicket with Bangar before spooning a Piyush Chawla delivery to Bhuveneshwar at mid-on.

The batting collapse forced Mahesh Rawat, who was unwell, to join Bangar in the middle and this turned the complexion of the game. The Railways captain held fort even as the wicketkeeper-batsman kept the scoreboard ticking.

Bangar’s unbeaten 70 (265b, 9x4) was a testimony to his phenomenal patience and cool temperament. Rawat (80, 127b, 14x4), on the other hand, played some classy shots and also showed his strength to fight against all odds. It took a brilliant catch by Suresh Raina at short cover to end Rawat’s stay.

Bangar and Rawat’s valuable stand worth 112 off 240 balls gave the home team the belief that it could save the match. Tailender Anureet Singh bravely survived 40 deliveries to ensure one crucial point for his side.

Railways has 10 points from four ties while Uttar Pradesh, which garnered three points, has 14 from five.

Meanwhile, Kartik and R.P. Singh were fined 50 per cent of their match fees. Kartik was penalised for showing dissent after being given out by the umpire on Monday. R.P. Singh was slapped the fine for throwing the ball dangerously.

The scores:

Uttar Pradesh — 1st innings: 346.

Railways — 1st innings: 200.

Uttar Pradesh — 2nd innings: Tanmay Srivastava c & b Bangar 62, Shivakant Shukla b Anureet 8, Suresh Raina b Anureet 17, Mohd. Kaif c Rawle b Parida 4, Parvinder Singh b Parida 8, Bhuveneshwar Kumar b Bangar 12, P. Chawla (not out) 3; Extras (b-26, lb-7, nb-1, wd-2): 36; Total (for six wkts. decl. in 55.3 overs): 150.

Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-84, 3-95, 4-110, 5-144, 6-150.

Railways bowling: Anureet 16-3-51-2, Bangar 8.3-2-27-2, Kartik 13-6-19-0, Sanyal 5-0-13-0, Parida 13-8-7-2.

Railways — 2nd innings: Milind Tamhane lbw b Bhuveneshwar 1, Sanjay Bangar (not out) 70, Karan Sharma c Amir b Bhuveneshwar 0, H. Rawle lbw b Bhuvneshwar 1, Sanjib Sanyal c Amir Khan b Bhuveneshwar 2, Yere Goud c Amir Khan b R.P. Singh 0, Raja Ali c Amir Khan b Bhuveneshwar 7, Murali Kartik c Bhuveneshwar b Chawla 30, Mahesh Rawat c Raina b R.P. Singh 80, Anureet Singh (not out) 16; Extras (lb-5, nb-3): 8; Total (for eight wkts. in 87 overs): 215.

Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-15, 3-17, 4-19, 5-20, 6-33, 7-77, 8-189.

Uttar Pradesh bowling: R.P. Singh 24-6-77-2, Bhuveneshwar 21-10-35-5, Praveen 13-4-34-0, Chawla 17-4-41-1, Praveen Gupta 9-2-13-0, Kaif 3-0-10-0.

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