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Match evenly poised as hosts strike back
Late strikes by Saurashtra put Madhya Pradesh in a fix as both the sides have a realistic chance of gaining the first innings lead in the Ranji Trophy Plate Group semi-final.
Late strikes by Saurashtra put Madhya Pradesh in a fix as both the sides have a realistic chance of gaining the all-important first innings lead in the Ranji Trophy Plate Group semi-final on Thursday.
Chasing Saurashtra's first innings total of 296, Madhya Pradesh were 191 for 5 at stumps on second day of the five-day encounter. Skipper S Abbas Ali and Brajesh Tomar were batting on 32 and 1, respectively. MP still need 96 runs for the first innings lead, with the last recognised batting pair at the crease.
Ali and Amay Khurasiya (80) were going strong till six overs before the close when Saurashtra skipper Jaydev Shah handed over the ball to part-timer Sitanshu Kotak. And Khurasiya, in trying to hit Kotak's first ball -- a dolly -- out of the park, holed out to Sandeep Jobanputra at mid-on.
Khurasiya, during his 122-ball knock, hit 16 sweetly-timed boundaries. However, he was troubled consistently by the Saurashtra pacemen. Had Saurashtra fielders -- Benson Songavkar and Firoz Bambhaniya -- not given Khurasiya life when the southpaw was on 5 and 22 respectively, Saurashtra would have been in the driver's seat by stumps. Khurasiya added 51 with Naman Ojha for the second wicket and then added another 74 with Ali for the fourth wicket.
In the very next over after Khurasiya's dismissal, left-arm paceman Sandeep Jobanputra was rewarded when glovesman Sagar Jogiyani made no mistake in accepting an edge from night-watchman Yogesh Golwalkar (1).
Paceman Sandeep Maniyar bowled with a lot of heart with the new cherry. He consistently pitched the ball up to the batsmen during his two spells -- with a break of only two overs for change of ends -- comprising 20 overs. He earned rich rewards when he earned the first three MP wickets.
Naman Ojha (32) was Maniyar's first victim when Ojha, after playing some handsome drives through the off-side, edged one to Kotak in the first slip. Maniyar then dismissed other opener Sachin Dholpure (32) and Devendra Bundela (0) in successive overs to grasp MP in a spot of bother before Khurasiya and Ali rescued the visitors.
Dholpure dismissal put Maniyar at the top of the highest wicket-takers' list in the Plate Group this season. He overtook Vidarbha's Sandeep Singh who has 29 wickets.
Earlier in the morning, Saurashtra added 70 runs to their overnight score of 226 for 6. Kotak (128), carrying on from his overnight score of 95, completed his maiden century of the season during the course. He was eventually dismissed by MP skipper Ali.
Anand Rajan took 4 for 95 and Sanjay Pandey 2 for 76 as Saurashtra innings was wrapped up 20 minutes before lunch.
SCOREBOARD
Saurashtra (1st innings): Vaghela c Dholpure b Rajan 4, Jogiyani c Dholpure b Rajan 26, Joshi b Pandey 22, Shah run out 4, Kotak c Ojha b Ali 128, Firoz Bambhaniya c Khurasiya b Rajan 17 , Songavkar c Ojha b Rajan 2, Dhruve b Pandey 40, Makwana c Ojha b Sudheendra 1, Jobanputra not out 21, Maniyar run out 0. Extras (lb-15, nb-13, w-3) 31.
Total (in 117.4 overs) 296
Fall of wkts: 1-17 , 2-47, 3-64, 4-66, 5-110, 6-120, 7-243, 8-248, 9-284.
Bowling: Pandey 33-9-76-2, Rajan 29-6-95-4, Sudheendra 25-6-56-1, Bundela 4-4-0-0, Golwalkar 16.4-3-42-0, Abbas Ali 10-3-12-1.
Madhya Pradesh (1st innings): Dholpure c Joshi b Maniyar 32, Ojha c Kotak b Maniyar 32, Khurasiya c Jobanputra b Kotak 80, Bundela c Jogiyani b Maniyar 0, Abbas Ali batting 32, Golwalkar c Jogiyani b Jobanputra 1, Tomar batting 1. Extras (b-5, lb-7, w1) 13.
Total (for 5 wkts) 191
Fall of wkts: 1-55, 2-106, 3-106, 4-182, 5-183.
Bowling: Jobanputra 14-2-51-1, Maniyar 20-7-64-3, Waghela 10-4-29-0, Makwana 10-5-16-0, Dhruve 4-1-16-0, Kotak 2-0-3-1.
