Irani Trophy, Day 2 Report

By Amit S - 19 Sep '03
September 19 2003

Mumbai take the honors on Day 2 of the Irani Trophy 5-day match against Rest of India, with spinner Ramesh Powar and fast bowler Ajit Agarkar bowling exceedingly well to restrict the batsmen on a helpful pitch.

On a hot and humid day on a green top in Chennai for the 2nd day of the Irani Trophy match, Mumbai, continuing on their overnight score of 272/9, were able to reach a respectable score of 297 due to a good last wicket stand of 32 between Robin Morris and Avishkar Salvi. Robin Morris, was looking for the big shots as he hit 29 runs, before he got out, caught at midoff off Balaji, trying to go for a big hit. Avishkar Salvi was blocking deliveries at the other end as he remained not out on 0. Zaheer Khan bowled several yorkers, but to no avail.

Rest of India were off to a shaky start in their innings as they lost Virender Shewag early on for 16, after he had hit 3 gutsy boundaries off Avishkar Salvi with the square cut. For Mumbai, Ajit Agarkar was unplayable as he bowled a tight line and length to keep the batsmen quiet and his first 4 overs were all maidens clearly showing that there was something in it for the pacers. The track also assisted spinners, as Sairaj Bahutule got some turn early up in his innings and troubled Rahul Dravid in his very 1st over.

Sanjay Bangar, who was struggling earlier on in his innings, scoring 4 runs off his first 60 deliveries, finally found his form as he stepped out and hit Sairaj Bahutule over long-on for a 6 and followed it up with a boundary off his next over. Nevertheless, good bowling by Mumbai prevented Rest of India from scoring freely, and restricted them to only 62/1 in 24 overs at lunch.

After lunch, with as many as 9 wickets in hand, the Rest of India batsmen batted with much better technique and with no wickets falling for quite sometime, Mumbai went a bit on the defensive. Sachin Tendulkar then led from the front as he took a stunning catch off Ramesh Powar to dismiss Rahul Dravid for 41. Robin Morris, who was wayward in his earlier spell, took the 3rd wicket to fall as he had Sanjay Bangar caught in the slips. After this wicket, Robin Morris was also able to improve his line and length. With 2 quick wickets, Mumbai captain Sachin Tendulkar decided to attack with many close-in fielders. With this change, Ramesh Powar was able to strike again and he dismissed Saurav Ganguly, ROI captain, for a 4 ball duck to leave Rest of India struggling at 90/4 with Yuvraj Singh and VVS Laxman at the crease.

Yuvraj started off aggressively as he scored 3 boundaries and raced off to a 17-ball 14 at the drinks break, with ROI at 105/4. After the drinks break, ROI continued to struggle with the Mumbai bowlers bowling a tight line and length, not allowing the batsmen to score. The batsmen came under pressure, and a frustrated VVS Laxman was finally dismissed by Ajit Agarkar, caught at gully for a slow 53 ball 5. The pressure clearly showed on Yuvraj Singh as well, who was out last ball before tea to leave Rest of India at 125/6.

After tea, the wickets continued to fall and despite a gritty 27 from young Indian wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel, ROI collapsed to 159/9, with only the last 2 batsmen, Zaheer Khan and Laxmipathy Balaji at the crease. These two shared a sensational last wicket stand of 43 runs for Rest of India, similar to what Mumbai had done earlier. Zaheer hit shots all around the field and made 14, was ably supported by Laxmipathy Balaji who made 12. The last wicket partnership took Rest of India to 202 and reduced the deficit to just 95, when they were at one stage looking to concede a lead of over 130. Zaheer was out caught at gully, trying to go for a big hit. He only edged it and the ball went high in the air. Ramesh Powar was the hero for Mumbai, as he took 4 wickets with his excellent offspin bowling and flighting the ball well.

Mumbai got 4 overs to play out at the end of the day and they played well enough to finish the day at 11/0, with a lead of 106, clearly in the drivers seat. The highlight of this innings was a glorious cover drive by Vinayak Mane, which he hit off Zaheer Khan.