Vidarbha pay for being slow
| Date :27-Oct-2020 |
Vidarbha all-rounders Amol Jungade (left) and Akshay Wakhare added a record 166 runs for the ninth wicket. By Anupam Soni :
With better run rate, Hyderabad pip Vidarbha in the Plate semi-finals
THERE are some queer rules in place in the glorious game of uncertainties. In longer format of the game where temperament levels of the players are to be tested and the teams are supposed to bat time, it seems no less than ridiculous that the outcome has to be decided on the (faster) scoring rate. For being a tad slow, Vidarbha lost their Ranji Trophy Plate League semi-final to Hyderabad at VCA Civil Lines ground in December 2011.
The rule of run-rate came into play only because first innings of both the teams were not completed even after fighting it out for four days with no weather intervention. Vidarbha made 531 all out in 191.1 overs at 2.77 while the visitors were marginally better scoring 486-8 in 166 overs with a run rate of 2.92. In fact, when the seventh Hyderabad wicket fell, the team’s run rate was 2.76. The next pair managed to take it past that of Vidarbha (2.78) before the unbeaten duo of P Naidu (29*; 28b, 4x4, 1x6) and A Lalith Mohan (17*; 19b, 3x4) cut loose to finally raise it to 2.92. The hosts, who were unbeaten in the league phase and topped the Plate League, were left one bowler short as skipper and professional player Sairaj Bahutule could not bowl during the entire Hyderabad innings due to an injury.
Usman Ghani
The skipper, who had led well throughout the season, was not even on the field and that also hurt the team badly. Vidarbha had emerged as best team in the league. They beat Himachal Pradesh by three wickets and drew rest four. They took first innings lead against Kerala (Vidarbha 572/7d & 3/0; Kerala 431), Services (Vidarbha 508/6d; Services 240 & (f/o) 194/7) and Tripura (Tripura 281 & 433/8d; Vidarbha 368 & 17/0). Vidarbha conceded first innings lead to Andhra (Vidarbha 382; Andhra 402/8). Incidentally, in their last league match against Andhra at the YS Raja Reddy Stadium in Cuddapah, after full four days’ play, first innings of both the teams were also not completed. During fag end of the final session, some big hitting by number eight and nine KS Shahabuddin (46; 42b, 2x4, 2x6) and D Siva Kumar (10*; 10b) helped the team take a slender lead.
Vidarbha did not learn a lesson from that previous match. In the semi-final, Vidarbha opted to bat first. Hyderabad seamers P Naidu and left-armer Anwar Ahmed picked one each and the hosts were 26-2 in the ninth over. Opener Shiv Sunder Das (64; 157b, 12x4), Shalabh Shrivastava (83; 165b, 14x4) and Hemang Badani (40; 73b, 7x4) played well but by the time all of them were out, the scoreboard read 205-5. Ranjit Paradkar and Bahutule saw off the opening day adding unbeaten 20 runs. Paradkar (75; 193b, 8x4), who was in ominous form that season, hit another fifty. Bahutule (17; 81b, 1x4) and Shrikant Wagh (19; 30b, 3x4) also got starts. When Paradkar was eighth out at 342, Hyderabad openers might have had those butterflies in the stomach when they walk to open the innings. But the all-rounder duo of Amol Jungade (115; 241b, 11x4, 2x6) and Akshay Wakhare (72; 180b, 7x4) had other ideas.
They stitched a record partnership of 166 runs for the ninth wicket. In the process, both the batsmen registered their best scores in First-Class cricket on third day morning. Sandeep Singh remained not out hitting a four and a six as the hosts ended at 531. “Actually hum khud hi phans gaye thay first innings main. We were some 205-5. Later, Amol and I had a good partnership. Captain asked us to hang on and play as much as we can. Their bowlers were also tired and we batted for a long time to take the team to a very respectable total,” recalled Vidarbha all-rounder Akshay Wakhare, who, along with Jungade, made his personal top score in First-Class cricket. Hyderabad openers Akshath Reddy (15) and skipper DB Ravi Teja (39) started cautiously before Jungade and Singh struck getting rid of Reddy and T Suman respectively within five runs. That brought a completely out-of-form N Arjun Yadav, son of India spinner Shivlal Yadav, to the crease.
He started tentatively but made most of a life when in single digit, to score 128 runs occupying the crease for over six hours. He, along with BP Sandeep (79), took the team to 216-3 in 76 overs by end of the penultimate day. On final day, the hosts needed seven wickets while the visitors needed 316 more runs to take the first innings lead. Both could not achieve those targets. After Sandeep and Yadav’s dismissals in that order, Syed Quadri (99) and Ibrahim Khaleel (49) frustrated Vidarbha bowlers. There was a brief period when Vidarbha, who got better of both of them five runs apart, looked like finishing it off. But the tail wagged and when the stipulated 90 overs for the day were bowled, Hyderabad were 486-8 in 166 overs. The run rate came into picture and Vidarbha were found to be marginally slow. “The wicket was very slow. Even on the last day, there was no assistance from the pitch.
I bowled more than 50 overs but I did not have support from the other end (as other leading spinner Bahutule was injured). Sandy (Sandeep Singh) also bowled his heart out but credit to Hyderabad batsmen, particularly the tailenders, that they took advantage of the situation,” Wakhare said. The then coach Usman Ghani felt a dropped chance and an injured skipper were main reasons for the loss. “Dropping Arjun (Yadav) proved costly. He was on 6-7 when he was let off on the bowling of Wakhare. He was totally out of form that season but made most of the chance and that made difference in the end. Also, we did not have our skipper on the field. We clearly missed a leader and a bowler. His leg-spin would have been of much use. Our bowlers tried hard but the flat surface offered nothing to them. However, we had a great season and the team graduated to the Elite Group. Vidarbha went on to improve from there on,” said Ghani.