Date:30/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/30/stories/2008123060711700.htm

Sport - Cricket

U.P. makes it

J.R. Shridharan

VADODARA: Uttar Pradesh made it to the semifinals by virtue of the first innings lead (188 runs) against Gujarat in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal that ended in a draw at Motibaug Stadium here on Monday.

Last year’s runner-up Uttar Pradesh finished its second innings at 375, thus setting an impossible target of 564 for Gujarat to chase in the last two sessions. Gujarat was 106 for three in 47 overs when the match was called off after the third mandatory over.

Gujarat started off in a shaky manner losing opener Priyank Panchal and Niraj Patel to medium pacer Bhuvneshwer Kumar. Parthiv Patel, after facing 38 balls, miscued a pull resulting in a brilliant catch by Bhuvneshwer Kumar at deep fine-leg.

Modi sparkles

However, the man who hogged the limelight was Nilesh Modi of Gujarat, who made a sparkling 57 (148b, 166m, 9x4) in his last first class match. Nilesh, who scored 250 against Hyderabad this season, had become the most-capped Gujarat Ranji player with 80 matches in his 16-year stint, eclipsing the record of Mukund Parmar.

Earlier, resuming at 289 for eight, the U.P. tail wagged merrily. Skipper Kaif’s intention of giving his batsmen some practice proved effective as Praveen Gupta (74, 108b, 153m, 9x4, 3x6) and Amir Khan (56, 194b, 255m, 11x4) put on a 125-run partnership for the ninth wicket. Both batsmen scored their first fifty of the season.

Gujarat’s 21-year-old off-spinner Mohnish Parmar took seven wickets in this match, finishing the Ranji season with an impressive haul of 41 wickets.

The scores:

Uttar Pradesh — 1st innings: 305.

Gujarat — 1st innings: 117.

Uttar Pradesh — 2nd innings: S. Shukla lbw b Makda 4, T. Srivastava b Parmar 67, S. Raina b Makda 31, M. Kaif lbw b Parmar 46, Parvinder Singh c Parthiv b Parmar 22, Bhuvneshwer Kumar c Niraj Patel b Amit Singh 27, P. Chawla c Modi b Parmar 24, Praveen Kumar c Amit Singh b Timil Patel 0, Amir Khan (not out) 56, P. Gupta c Sunny Patel b Niraj Patel 74, I. Ahmed c Sunny Patel b Parmar 12; Extras (b-5, lb-6, w-1): 12. Total (in 146.1 overs): 375.

Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-78, 3-131, 4-162, 5-179, 6-209, 7-210, 8-229, 9-354.

Gujarat bowling: Trivedi 6-4-9-0, Makda 24-8-59-2, Amit Singh 35-14-83-1, Parmar 48.1-14-113-5, Timil Patel 22-6-69-1, Panchal 7-3-15-0, Sunny Patel 1-0-5-0, Niraj Patel 3-0-11-1.

Gujarat — 2nd innings: N. Modi (not out) 57, P. Panchal b Bhuvneshwer 2, N. Patel b Bhuvneshwer 1, P. Patel c Bhuvneshwer b Imtiyaz Ahmed 14, B. Thaker (not out) 31; Extra (nb-1): 1. Total (for three wkts in 47 overs): 106.

Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-10, 3-52.

Uttar Pradesh bowling: Praveen Kumar 9-3-34-0, Bhuvneshwer 9-3-12-2, Ahmed 12-4-27-1, Chawla 12-5-21-0, Praveen Gupta 5-1-12-0.