Khurasiya-Patil snatch an Unbelievable Victory for MP Time Travel
   Date :12-May-2020

Amay Khurasiya Sandeep Pa
 Amay Khurasiya Sandeep Patil
 
 
By Anupam Soni :
 
THE Twenty20 format of cricket was some 14 years in the womb of future when Madhya Pradesh, led by mercurial India star Sandeep Patil, chased a target of 218 in 22.3 overs losing three wickets in a four-day match. The Vidarbha versus MP Ranji Trophy Central Zone League game played at VCA Civil Lines ground in November-December 1991-92 was an interesting match that saw a lot of records rewritten from both sides.
 

Sameer Gujar _1 &nbs 
 
 
Sameer Gujar (L) scored Vidarbha’s second double hundred and was involved in a record partnership with Usman Ghani who scored his maiden First-Class ton.
 
 
 
All-rounder Praveen Hinganikar was leading Vidarbha for the first time. He won the toss and started off well though he lost his opening partner Aniruddha Kane for nought. Hinganikar went on to top the score chart with a well compiled 74. But Vidarbha were in a spot of bother and at one stage were tottering at 66-6. With tail — Hemant Wasu (31), Prashant Vaidya (35) and Pritam Gandhe (20) contributing, the team managed 190 with MP’s right-arm seamer Devashish Nilosey picking five wickets. Slow left-arm orthodox Sunil Lahore snared four wickets. MP’s reply was solid. After a reasonably good start, Vidarbha offie Pritam Gandhe removed both MP openers Amitabh Vijayvirgia (40) and Kirti Patel (25) but number four Prashant Dwivedi (114) and number three Amay Khurasiya (99) added 138 runs for the third wicket.
 
The left-handed Khurasiya, who also played 12 ODIs for India, became the only Indian batsmen to score 99 in both innings of a First-Class match. With Patil going hammer and tongs at the other end, the southpaw was left stranded one short of hundred as MP chased the target in second innings. In MP’s first innings, Vidarbha pacer Prashant Vaidya (4-130) and Gandhe (3-140) bowled almost 40 overs each on a track that offered nothing to the bowlers.
 
Vaidya’s new ball partner Harvinder Singh scalped two while stylish left-arm spinner Hemant Wasu chipped in with one wicket as the team amassed 476 in 126 overs. The hosts had a poor start again. Openers Kane (5) and Hinganikar (10) were back in the hut with scoreboard showing 16. Sameer Gujar (221; 322b, 502m, 29x4) and Usman Ghani (140; 199b, 204m, 24x4) joined forces when the team was 92-4. Both the batsmen played best innings of their lives adding 253 for the 5th wicket (then the second best partnership for Vidarbha). Gujar became just the second Vidarbha batsman after Suhas Phadkar to hit a double ton in First-Class cricket while Ghani scored his maiden hundred. Vaidya (29), Gandhe (25) and Madan Kaore (24) chipped in as the hosts replied with 503 all out in 131.5 overs. In final session of fourth and final day of the match, Madhya Pradesh required 218 runs in 25 overs.
 
“We wanted to try for a win. Sandy bhai proposed and I was the first one to second it as we believed in winning the game. He wanted to win the match outright. We were lucky that we could get those runs. In the last few overs, murder of the bowling happened. Sandy bhai was simply fantastic,” said Khurasiya while talking to ‘The Hitavada’. MP openers added 36 runs but within two runs, Vaidya removed both of them. One-down Khurasiya (99*; 62b, 7x4, 3x6) and all-rounder Nilosey (32), promoted as pinch-hitter, took the score to 131. After part-timer Ghani had Nilosey caught by Vaidya, Patil arrived at the crease with the team needing 87 more runs. Patil, who had hammered England pacer Bob Willis for six fours in an over at Old Trafford in 1982, changed the complexion of the game with an enterprising Khurasiya. “On first ball of Vaidya over, Khurasiya took a single and then Patil exploded. He hit five consecutive fours. I was standing at square leg and one of the shots just sailed over me and I thought ‘how could one hit like that’. In the next over he hammered me for three sixes. One of the shots was so big that the ball landed in the adjacent Bishop Cotton School ground (the gallery was not that big those days). He showed us that he was still the same feared Sandeep Patil,” offie Pritam Gandhe recalled the mauling. That was and still is the only occasion an Indian batsman making 99 on both the innings of a FC match.
 
When asked whether he rued missing two hundreds in a match, Khuarasiya replied, “I never played for records in my life. A victory was always more important to me. I would feel happy and satisfied if my contribution helped my team win a game. And, moreover, god has given me a unique record that nobody has for not scoring centuries.” After a great comeback, the loss was definitely hurting and Hinganikar, making his debut as a leader was very dejected. “In spite of some superb batting by Gujar and Usman we went on to lose. Their efforts went in vain. I was so upset that I made up my mind to quit captaincy. But our coach TS Naidu stopped me from doing so,” said Hinganikar while interacting from Bangladesh. n
 
 
 
 
Match: Vidarbha vs Madhya Pradesh Ranji Trophy Central Zone League,
1991-92 at VCA Civil Lines Ground, Nagpur.
Result: MP won by seven wickets.
Highlights
n Amay Khurasiya made 99 in both innings. He was the only batsman in First-Class cricket to score 99 in both innings then. Later Wayne James in 1996 made 99 in both innings playing for Metabeleland against Mashonaland in Lonhro Logan Cup at Bulawayo.
n Sameer Gujar scored 221. This was the highest individual score for Vidarbha in an innings for 28 long years. Ganesh Satish bettered it with 237 versus Andhra at Mulapadu in Dec 2019.
n Gujar and Usman Ghani added 253
for 5th wkt partnership. It was then the
second best for Vidarbha. Ghani scored his only FC hundred.
n Devashish Nilosey has only two
five-wkt hauls in FC cricket. Both came in this game. Stats: Dilip Singh Upring
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Hitavada Scoreboard
 
 
 
 
VIDARBHA 1ST INNINGS: A Kane c Patel b Nilosey 0, P Hinganikar c Patel b Nilosey 74, P Pandit lbw b Kapadia 2, S Gujar c Patel b Lahore 2, U Ghani st Patel b Lahore 1, S Phadkar lbw b Nilosey 10, M Kaore b Nilosey 4, H Wasu c Chauhan b Nilosey 31, P Vaidya c Vijayvirgia b Lahore 35, P Gandhe c Nilosey b Lahore 20, H Singh Not Out 2. Extras: (lb 4, w 5) 9. TOTAL: (All out, 60.1 overs) 190. FoW: 1-0, 2-9, 3-26, 4-38, 5-61, 6-66, 7-131, 8-132, 9-164. Bowling: Nilosey 18-4-68-5, Kapadia 12-3-31-1, Lahore 21.1-4-60-4, Chauhan 6-2-11-0, Prabhakar 3-0-16-0. MADHYA PRADESH 1ST INNINGS: A Vijayvirgia c&b Gandhe 40, K Patel c Kane b Gandhe 25, A Khurasiya c&b Gandhe 99, P Dwivedi c Gujar b Vaidya 114, C Singh c Hinganikar b Wasu 21, S Patil c Hinganikar b Vaidya 29, D Nilosey c Kaore b Vaidya 8, R Chauhan c Gandhe b Singh 40, A Prabhakar Not Out 57, S Lahore c Singh b Vaidya 7, D Kapadia b Singh 1. Extras: (b 6, lb 5, w 11, nb 13) 35. TOTAL: (All out, 126 overs) 476. FoW: 1-57, 2-88, 3-226, 4-278, 5-332, 6-356, 7-378, 8-434, 9-469. Bowling: Vaidya 36-5-130-4,Singh 28-1-122-2, Wasu 21-2-65-1, Gandhe 39-8-140-3, Gujar 2-0-8-0. VIDARBHA 2ND INNINGS: A Kane c Patel b Kapadia 5, P Hinganikar c Khurasiya b Nilosey 10, P Pandit c Dwivedi b Nilosey 16, S Gujar run out 221, S Phadkar c Kapadia b Nilosey 5, U Ghani c Patel b Vijayvirgia 140, M Kaore c Nilosey b Prabhakar 24, H Wasu c Patel b Nilosey 6, P Vaidya c Kapadia b Patil 29, P Gandhe lbw b Nilosey 25, H Singh Not Out 3. Extras: (b 2, lb 9, w 1, nb 7) 19. TOTAL: (All out, 131.5 overs) 503. FoW: 1-11, 2-16, 3-83, 4-92, 5-345, 6-359, 7-381, 8-465, 9-480. Bowling: Nilosey 34.5-1-152-5, Kapadia 19-4-62-1, Lahore 21-3-52-0, Chauhan 21-3-83-0, Prabhakar 19-0-90-1, Dwivedi 6-0-22-0, Patil 9-1-24-1, Vijayvirgia 2-1-7-1. MADHYA PRADESH 2ND INNINGS (Target: 218 runs): A Vijayvirgia c Ghani b Vaidya 17, K Patel b Vaidya 20, A Khurasiya Not Out 99, D Nilosey c Vaidya b Ghani 32, S Patil Not Out 40.Extras: (b 1, lb 6, w 2, nb 1) 10. TOTAL: (3 wickets, 22.3 overs) 218. FoW: 1-36, 2-38, 3-131. Bowling: Vaidya 8-0-79-2, Singh 3-0-35-0, Wasu 2.3-0-24-0, Gandhe 5-0-51-0, Ghani 4-0-22-1. n