by Wills Trophy Quarter Finals
Maharashtra v Bengal
Pune, 1 November 1995
Bengal makes light of Maharashtra`s challenge
PV Vaidyanathan
Contrary to expectations, the Wills Trophy cricket match proved
one-sided here today as Bengal trounced Maharashtra by eight
wickets with more than five overs remaining. In the semi-final to
be played on November 3 here, Bengal will meet Board President`s
XI.
The toss proved a crucial factor. Utpal Chatterjee, the Ben- gal
skipper, won the toss and put the opponent in on a pitch that had
moisture. The Bengal seamer Arindam Sarkar, who provided the ear-
ly breakthroughs, vindicated Utpal`s decision. His stump to
stump medium-pace bowling fetched him four wickets.
Maharashtra never really recovered from the two early blows. The
run-out dismissals of Shantanu Sugwekar and Surendra Bhave, in
the 29th and 30th overs of the innings, proved too much for
Maharashtra which carried a big tail in this match.
Santosh Jedhe, promoted as opener, failed to live up to expec-
tations. His attempted pull of Sarkar ended in a tame catch to
mid-off. Kinikar played across to be castled by Sarkar.
Bhave and skipper Sugwekar added 55 for the third wicket when
disaster struck the home side. Sugwekar was beaten by Chetan
Sharma`s throw from mid-on. Bhave (48) who gave enough signs of
anchoring the innings, got himself run out following a bad mix-up
with newman Abhijit Kale. While going for a second run, he was
beaten at the non-striker`s end by a smart throw in by Devang
Gandhi. Arindam Sarkar claimed Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Subash
Ranjane off successive deliveries to hasten the end of the home
teams innings.
With openers Ajay Verma and Devang Gandhi putting on 43 from 11
overs Bengal had gained enough ground in the match. With the
Maharashtra bowlers creating no impression, neither restricting
the runs nor capable of taking wickets, the post lunch session
was devoid of competitive cricket. Medium-pacer Inamdar dismissed
Devang Gandhi with his first delivery. The lone bright spot for
Maharashtra was when the tall and gangling Kinikar dived at for-
ward short-leg and scooped a catch to signal the dismissal of
Arun Lal (34 from as many balls) who turned off-spinner
Hrishikesh Kanitkar around.
Ajay Verma and left-handed Saurav Ganguly added 104 for the un-
finished third wicket in a mere 22.5 overs. Ajay Verma, who
showed patience to launch aggression on the loose deliveries,
made an unbeaten 82 (180 minutes, 127 balls, nine 4s). He cut the
ball hard and also swung the spinners merrily on the leg-side.
Saurav Ganguly, as graceful as ever, stepped on the ac-
celerator in his wonted style. Saurav, who reached his 50 with a
6 over long-off Santosh Jedhe, the off-spinner, also hit seven 4s
in his 85-ball essay. Saurav`s seventh boundary an on-drive off
left-arm spinner Chitale-proved the winning hit.
====> Scorecard
Toss: Bengal
Result: Bengal won by 8 wickets.
Umpires:
MAHARASHTRA innings
S Jedhe c Gandhi b Sarkar 2
S Bhave run out 48
Hemant Kinikar b Sarkar 19
S Sugvekar run out 22
A Kale c Gandhi b Ganguly 24
Hrishikesh Kanitkar c Arun Lal b Sarkar 24
S Ranjane b Sarkar 0
P Chitale b Vaidya 17
S Kondhalkar c Mukherjee b Chatterjee 16
S Inamdar b Vaidya 10
M Kulkarni not out 4
Extras (lb 11, w 2, nb 4) 17
TOTAL (all out, 49 overs) 203
FoW: 1-4, 22-43, 3-8, 4-99, 5-150,
6-150, 7-152, 8-170, 9-189, 10-203
Bowling O M R W
Vaidya 10 0 31 2
Sarkar 10 2 32 4
Chetan Sharma 5 0 28 0
Ganguly 10 1 37 1
Chatterjee 8 0 37 1
Mukherjee 6 0 27 0
BENGAL innings
A Verma not out 82
D Gandhi c & b Inamdar 21
Arun Lal c Kinikar b Hrishikesh Kanitkar 34
S Ganguly not out 61
Extras (lb 5, w 2, nb 1) 8
TOTAL (2 wickets, 44.3 overs) 206
FoW: 1-43, 2-102.
Bowling O M R W
Ranjane 6 1 26 0
Kulkarni 5 1 17 0
Inamdar 10 0 41 1
Sugvekar 2 0 16 0
Chitale 5.3 0 33 0
Hrishikesh Kanitkar 7 0 25 1
Jedhe 9 0 43 0
Source :: The Hindu