Services
crawl to 313 for 8
NEW
DELHI, Dec 27: C D Thomson made a slow, unbeaten
58 as Services crawled to 313 for eight wickets
in their first innings at close on the severely
truncated second day of their North Zone Ranji
Trophy Cricket tie against Haryana at the
Harbaksh stadium today.
Thick fog ruled
out any play in the morning session and Services,
resuming at their overnight 201 for 5, added just
112 runs losing three more wickets in two
sessions of play.
Thomson and J P
Pandey (20 batting) had added 42 runs for the
eighth wicket when play was halted 20 minutes
beyond scheduled close due to enveloping haze and
poor light.
Thomson, 29
overnight, continued sedately as services,
needing to win this final tie for a superleague
spot at Haryana’s expense, showed no
enterprise.
Haryana bowlers
struck with the second new ball as Vineet Jain
had Amit Nadkarni caught by Jitender Singh at
first slip for 43 (7 x 4) and fellow paceman
Parinder Sharma removed Sanjay Sirsat (12) before
off-spinner Pankaj Thakur trapped Syed Javed (16)
leg before to make it 271 for 8.
But Pandey and
Thomson stay put to push the scorepast the
300-run mark. Thomson was dropped by Shafiq Khan
at silly point playing forward to left-arm
spinner Pradeep Jain while Pandey was caught off
a no ball from Vineet Jain.
Vineet Jain sent
down many short pitched stuff and was guilty of
bowling 16 no balls.
Brief scores:
Services 313 for 8 in 123.2 overs (Sarabjit Singh
65, C D Thomson 58 batting, Amit Nadkarni 43,
Vineet Jain 2/87, Parinder Sharma 2/42, Pradeep
Jain 2/67). (PTI)
India
let Kiwi batsmen off hook
WELLINGTON,
Dec 27:
Indian bowlers once again failed to wipe out the
tail after fighting back to regain initiative as
New Zealand built an 82-run first innings lead
with three wickets in hand at close on the second
day of the second test at the basin reserve here.
Dismissed for a
modest 208 yesterday, India led by leg spinner
Anil Kumble forced their way in the post-lunch
session to leave the Kiwis at 209 for seven at
tea-break. But their inability to drive home the
advantage was exposed as Dion Nash and Daniel
Vettori posted an unbeaten 82-run eighth wicket
stand to pull their team to 290 for seven at
stumps.
Nash, unbeaten on
56, and Vettori, batting on 35, built up what
could emerge a very crucial stand to give New
Zealand the upperhand after the hosts had resumed
at 52 for one.
India, needing to
effect early breakthrough on a wicket which is
showing all signs of assisting spin, began well
by removing both overnight batsmen Matt Horne and
skipper Stephen Fleming to leave the hosts at 132
for three at lunch.
Kumble, who was
the most impressive and returned three for 67,
alongwith the fiery Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh
Prasad captured four wickets after lunch to raise
strong visions of India making up for their poor
batting but looked a tired lot in the final
session to let their rivals move towards their
target of posting a lead of around 120 runs.
Left-hander
Fleming was he first to go, run out to a fine
pick and throw by Ajay Jadeja as the Kiwi skipper
went for a second run on playing Srinath to the
onside. His 42 came off 96 balls and contained
four boundaries.
Kumble then
dismissed Horne (38 - 129 b, 4 x 4) by deceiving
to bowl him off-stump with a googly as the
batsman played back after the opener had survived
two difficult chances when Rahul Dravid at slips
just failed to reach a snick and Jadeja could not
reach an uppish hook.
Horne occupied the
crease for 190 minutes which sapped the energy of
the limited Indian attack.
On resumption,
Srinath greeted the Kiwi batsmen wit hostile
spell. The lanky pacemen even bowled Nathan
Astle, then on 24, off an inside edge only to
find it was off a no ball. He rattled the batsmen
with bouncers, striking Craig McMillan on the
helmet grille and then Parore on his shoulder.
He was finally
rewarded after Saurav Ganguly’s delayed
response to a chance at forward shortleg by
McMillan saw the fielder replaced by Rahul
Dravid. Dravid came up with a fine catch off the
very next ball to remove McMillan (24).
After
Srinath’s nine-over spell (1 for 27), Prasad
and Kumble returned and were rewarded with two
quick wickets, Kumble trapped Adam Parore (2) leg
before and Chris Cairns (3) fell playing Prasad
uppishly to Sachin Tendulkar at mid off.
Kumble then too
the most important wicket from from the far end
when he bowled the well-entrenched Nathan Astle
(56-137 b, 6 x 4, 1 x 6) after he had celebrated
his fifty by carting off-spinner Harbhajan Singh
over long off for a six.
Both Nash and
Vettori confidently took on a tiring Kumble and
Harbhajan Singh, still struggling with his
rhythm. Once vettori smashed the teenager for two
fours, Azhar went in for the second new ball at
233 which did not yield any reward.
SCORECARD:
India 1st innings
208
New Zealand 1st
innings
M D Bell c Mongia
b Prasad 4
M J Horne b Kumble
38
S P Fleming run
out (Jadeja) 42
N J Astle b Kumble
56
C McMillan c
Dravid b Srinath 24
A C Parore lbw
Kumble 2
C L Cairns c
Sachin b Prasad 3
D J Nash not out
56
D L Vettori not
out 35
Extras (lb-17,
b-8, nb-5) 30
Total (for 7
wickets in 112 overs) 290
Fall of wickets:
1-7, 2-79, 3-112, 4-162,
5-172, 6-179,
7-208.
Bowling: Srinath
30-4-81-1,
Prasad 23-6-57-2,
Kumble 37-14-67-3,
Harbhajan
16-3-47-0,
Ganguly 6-0-13-0.
(PTI)
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