by ***hede Stadium, Bombay, 12-16 October 1994
====> Day 1, 12 Oct 94
Manjrekar slams maiden ton; Bombay 311 for 5 outset - N Prabhaker
Sanjay Manjrekar continued from where he had left last season.
The Bombay skipper was in crackling form on Wednesday as he
hammered a stroke-filled 117, his maiden century in the Irani
Trophy cricket championship, on the opening day against Rest of
India at ***hede Stadium.
The Ranji champions lost three wickets for 38 runs in the post
lunch session, the slide which began with the wicket of
Manjrekar, but still managed to finish the day with a healthy
score, thanks to their opener Zubin Bharucha`s dour unbeaten
knock of 98.
The Bombay openers Bharucha and Sunil More were edgy at the
outset. More hung his bat out often to Prashant Vaidya and Bharu-
cha inner-edged Iqbal Siddiqui to be very nearly bowled. Howev-
er, it was the vagaries of the strip which had a say in the fall
of the first wicket.
Bharucha had a life on 35 when wicket-keeper Vijay Yadav went the
wrong way and failed to latch on to the snick off Siddiqui.
Manjrekar was all over the spinners and he smote left-arm
Subramaniam for three successive fours- the last two were swept -
and a six over mid-wicket. He hit 21 boundaries and the six in
his 134-ball knock before another knee-height delivery by Siddi-
qui had him plumb before the wicket. But having been at the
wicket for 161 minutes it was suicidal on Manjrekar`s part to
have gone for a wild pull. The 163-run second wicket partnershlp,
which was threatening to take the Rest bowling apart, was real-
ised in 41.2 overs.
Amol Muzumdar fell cheaply while trying to work Siddiqui on the
leg side only to edge. Sameer Dighe hit a brisk 57 in a 77-run
stand for the fifth wicket with Bharucha. The stocky Bombay
wicket-keeper played the only way he knew - to belt the ball.
====> Day 2, 13 Oct 94
Bharucha carries bat - Pradeep Vijayakar
BOMBAY,October 13. Zubin Bharucha emulated Sunil Gavaskar by
carrying his bat in the Irani trophy match at the ***hede Stadi-
um here today. Thanks to his unbeaten 167 span- ning almost nine
hours, Bombay scored 424 and had Rest of India struggling at 142
for four at the end of the second day`s play.
Bombay were well served by young legspinner Sairaj Bahutule who
captured two wickets and by mediumpacer Abey Kuruvilla who looked
like claiming a wicket every time he came to bowl. This was
creditable considering the slow track.
No praise can be high for the approach of Bharucha. He belongs to
the vanishing breed of batsmen who can put their heads down for
hours on end. Yet he seldom spared the bad ball, which was the
distinct trait of the man whom he joined in the record books.
Gavaskar had scored 157 for Rest of India against Karnataka at
Ahmedabad in 1975.
To his credit, Bharucha kept looking for runs till the end taking
risks and missing out on the record. The record was not destined
to be his as his drive off Sunil Subram- naim was deflected off
the bowler`s hand to the stumps, running out last man Manish Pa-
tel.
Earlier, offspinner Ashish Kapoor had pegged down the Bom bay
batting claiming the wickets of Bahutule, Karanjkar and Mham-
brey. Bahutule was brilliantly caught in the covers by Ajay Mehra
and the other two were caught bat- pad.
The focus was on the prolific Punjab openers when Rest began
their innings. Both were playing inside the line against the new
ball.Rathore was adventurous, playing the hook at first chance,
while Ajay Mehra, the son of for- mer Test opener Vijay Mehra,
defended gracefully.
Mahesh Karanjkar, who got into the side when leftarm spinner San-
jay Patil dropped out because of an attack of haemorrhoids, pro-
videdc the first breakthrough. The unsung offspinner gave the
ball air inspite of being hit over tht top by the tall Rathore.
The batsman was caught at midon trying to repeat the shot.
Then Bahutule took over. He gave a good display of legspin bowl-
ing on a an unhelpful track. He turned one sharply to push Shan-
tanu Sugwekar on the back foot and edge to Manjrekar at slip. He
then baited Praveen Amre into hitting into the vacant midwicket
region only to get a leading edge and a return catch. This was a
significant wicket, for Amre has never failed in the Irani tro-
phy.
Skipper Manjrekar had done well to remove Karanjkar as Amre is
good against spin. He had brought in Kuruvilla, who today bowled
better than he has done for some time. The bowler who created a
sensation in 1991 with nearly 60 wickets, had only 13 last sea-
son. Today he bowled straight and fast, putting his five
kilo heavier frame into his action.
He almost had Amre leg before. A lovely slower delivery which
cut from the leg bowled the well-set Ajay Mehra neck and
crop. New man Rahul Dravid had some testing deliveries before
the close but saw the day out with `keeper Vijay Yadav who was
given a torrid time by Bahutule.
Siddiqui had 4/106 off 30 overs, Kapoor 4/121 off 37, Kuruvilla
has 1/42 off 13, Bahutule had 2/38 off 16.
====> Day 3, 14 Oct 94
Bahutule forces Rest to follow on - Pradeep Vijayakar
Bombay legspinner Sairaj Bahutule came good when it counted at
the ***hede Stadium today. With the eyes of three of the five
national selectors trained on him, Bahutule bowled unchanged for
14 overs as he finished with a haul of seven wickets for 63 to
help Bombay enforce the follow-on againt Rest of India on the
third day of the five- day Irani trophy match. Rest, who were all
out for 193 in reply to Bombay`s 424, were 81 for one at the
close -- still having to clear 150 of the 231-run deficit.
Bahutule, with 387 runs and 35 wickets last season for Bombay,
has been pressing his claims as a genuine allrounder. He had
claimed two wickets in 14 overs last evening. Today, he had five
of the remaining six wickets, showing superb control over line
and length. There was a welcome sight of the ball hurrying
through on pitching, which ensured the batsmen had always to ex-
ercise care. Only in the second innings was Bahutule hit, twice
by the tall opener Vikram Rathore, who for second time in the
match, created a good impression.
One expected Bahutule to respond in the true manner of spinners
- buy Rathore`s wicket. But that seems old-fashioned nowadays.
One contributing factor could be the powerful bats they make.
A mistimed shot reaches the boundary and a well-timed shot goes
over.
After Abey Kuruvilla had overnight batsman Vijay Yadav leg be-
fore playing across the line, Ashish Kapoor edged Bahutule to
second slip Sunil More. Sunil Subramaniam gave a return catch.
Obaid Kamal lofted into midoff Kuruvilla`s hands. The well-
entrenched Rahul Dravid, who had hung on for 169 minutes for his
40, cut a delivery turning away from him to be caught by keeper
Sameer Dighe and last man Iqbal Siddiqui edgd to Manjrekar at
slip.
With both Kuruvilla and Bahutule bowling well, skipper
Manjrekar didn`t have to turn to any other bowler except Mham-
brey, who had four overs. Still, it was perplexing why the other
spinner in the side, offspinner Mahesh Karanjkar was not given a
bowl.
When brought on as the fifth bowler in the second in- nings,
Karanjkar, as in the first innings, got the first break-
through. He got one to turn and kick and the well-set Ajay
Mehra(32) was compelled to poke at it and push towards slip where
Manjrkear took a catch at the second attempt. The Bombay skipper
had earlier reacted late to snap up an edge off Rathore in
Karanjkar`s first over.
Rathore played the pull and the lofted shot most eagerly and
there was never a dull moment when he was on stike. He is un-
beaten with 44 with six fours and a six. A real big knock is
needed from the man who scored over 1,000 runs last season if the
Rest are to take the match into the fifth day.
Conditions were overcast for most of the day when only 56
minutes play was possible in the first session though play be-
gan on time. The rains, which lashed the suburbs, spared the Wan-
khede Stadium. A morning drizzle held up play . The Bombay
medium-pacers tried to bowl fast instead of trying to wobble the
ball and it was left to the spinners to get the wickets.
====> Day 4, 15 Oct 94
Rest making a match of it - Pradeep Vijayakar
An unfinished 138-run sixth wicket-stand between Rahul
Dravid(74-133 balls) and Vijay Yadav(82-114 balls), who adopted
the aggressive attitude of opener Vikram Rathore (115), saw Rest
of India bring a dead match back to life on the fourth day of the
five-day Irani trophy encounter at the ***hede Stadium. At the
close, Rest who had trailed by 231 on the first innings had
reached 390 for five to be ahead by 159 runs.
At the day`s end, Rest skipper Praveen Amre put his personal
failures behind him and was contemplating how much pressure he
could pile on Bombay by giving them 60 overs to bat. His counter-
part, Sanjay Manjrekar, was left wondering whether enforcing the
follow-on was the right decision after all. Few Bombay captains
have done that over the last few years when the emphasis has been
to sit tight on the first-innings lead.
Manirekar`s handling of the bowling left much to be desired. He
used Karanjkar, the offspinner, in the morning but ignored him
in the second session. When brought on in the last session,
Karanjkar induced a return catch from Yadav but failed to hold
the hard chance. Yadav was then in his twenties. Yadav and Dravid
[missing] after that as Bombay`s fielding wilted and the bowling
fell away.The new ball had been delayed as Yadav usually takes
heavy toll of it and when it was claimed towards the close, it
made no difference with the batsmen well set.
No praise can be too high for Dravid. He had pottered around in
the first innings for his 40. Today, he began with gusto. He
slammed a six and a four off Karanjkar and in the next over of
Manish Patel hit three fours. This counter-attack brooked no
response from Bombay with the skipper running out of ideas.
An over-reliance on Bahutule and Kuruvilla left the two bowlers
listless for the latter part of the day as the ***hede pitch
went to sleep. Manish Patel, who had induced a catch from Rathore
when he was on two yesterday, did little of note after that. To
his credit,Kuruvilla bowled with great purpose and heart. The
job of softening up Bombay had earlier been well done by Rathore
who slammed 16 fours and two sixes in his 115, and nigh***chman
Obaid Kamal, who overstayed for as long as almost three hours
scoring 69 before Mhambrey had him fourth out. Rathore left,
spooning a drive off Mhambrey to extra cover. Kuruvilla claimed
Sugwekar leg before for six and Bahutule had Amre caught lofting
a catch to Mhambrey at wide midoff for one. Bombay,***ahoop
over these three successes, spent the rest of the day waiting for
luck to smile on them as Dravid and Yadav wielded a punitive
blade to wrest the initiative and set up an interesting final
day.
Thanks :: acme, cric8wala, Rohan, Sadiq, Indian Express
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