da mrbet： Services toiled for 40 overs to reach 62 for two, replying to Delhi’simposing 467 for five declared, a total mainly powered by captainMithun Manhas’ cracking 140
Staff Reporter02-Nov-2001A captain’s knock puts Delhi in the driver’s seatServices toiled for 40 overs to reach 62 for two, replying to Delhi’simposing 467 for five declared, a total mainly powered by captainMithun Manhas’ cracking 140.Resuming on Day Two at their overnight score of 242 for two, Manhaswas on the offensive right from the beginning and was instrumental inhis team scoring 151 runs off the 36 overs bowled in the firstsession.Services tasted some success in the 14th over of the day when they hadyesterday’s centurion, Akash Chopra (123), caught at silly point by PMadhusudhan Reddy off Arun Sharma, bringing Pradeep Chawla to thewicket. Manhas, who exploited Services’ erratic bowling and shoddyfielding to the full, dispatched glorious shots all over the ground,cracking 20 boundaries and two sixes, sending his rivals scurrying forcover.His 16th boundary, a captivating pull towards the midwicket, fetchedhim his century. Manhas and Chawla (66) added 140 runs in 34 overs,piercing the field at will, before the latter fell, brilliantlystumped by keeper Sarabjeet Singh off Reddy in the 135th over.Delhi plundered 72 runs in 11 overs after lunch before a mistimedManhas shot off Sudhakar Ghag landed straight in the hands of SanjayVerma at cover; the innings was promptly declared.Services began their innings on a sedate note, the runs eluding themas Delhi’s opening bowlers Amit Bandhari and Arun Singh were ontarget, striking line and length straight away. Delhi drew first bloodin the seventh over when keeper Pradeep Chawla lunged to his right tolatch on to an edge from Narendra Pal Singh, who never lookedcomfortable and managed just two off 30 balls.With the Delhi bowlers and agile fielders giving them no room to playshots, Services went into a shell, getting into a defensive mode toensure that did not lose any more wickets. But the hosts struckanother blow in the 25th over when Delhi trump card off-spinnerSarandeep Singh scalped his first wicket, dismissing Jasvir Singh (7).However, Reddy (16*) and Yashpal Singh (30*) joined together and triedto shrug off the impact of the early dismissals, playing some positiveshots. Their unbeaten partnership of 41 imparted a modicum ofstability to the Services innings, and they hold the key to theirteam’s fate in the match, given the huge total amassed by Delhi.Haryana force Jammu & Kashmir to follow onThe young brigade of Haryana’s bowlers ripped through the opposingbatting line-up as Jammu & Kashmir were forced to follow-on during thesecond day of the North Zone Ranji Trophy match at the MaharajaAggarsain Stadium, Rohtak.Replying to Haryana’s first innings total of 410, Jammu & Kashmir werebundled out for a paltry total of 113 in 35.1 overs; they still need282 runs to avoid a humiliating innings defeat.Resuming their innings today at 286 for 3, Haryana’s batsmen carriedthe total to 410. The overnight unbeaten batsman Ishan Ganda addedonly three runs to his personal score today, but Shafiq Kahn went onto record his career-best score of 146, hitting 20 fours. Jammu &Kashmir’s captain, medium-pacer Vijay Sharma, did considerable damageto Haryana’s middle order, taking five wickets.Thereafter, Haryana’s bowlers took complete command of the situation.Skipper Parinder Sharma reposed faith in his new set of bowlers, andeach of them obliged him with wickets. Haryana’s new find Sumit Narwalstruck with his very first ball in Ranji cricket to dismiss RanjtBali. Off-spinner Gaurav Vashishta lagged by one, getting a wicket onthe second ball of his career. The third debutante for Haryana, SVidyut, struck with his leg-spin in his third over to get rid ofSameer Khajuria.The second day’s play belonged largely to the bowlers; on a turningtrack, as many as 18 wickets fell today. Haryana will be looking foran outright win in this match, possibly by an innings.Himachal struggling to avoid follow-onA fine bowling spell by Vineet Sharma (3-55) pushed Himachal Pradeshonto the back-foot, as they ended Day Two still requiring 244 runs,with five wickets in hand, to avoid a follow-on in their North ZoneRanji Trophy match against Punjab at the PCA stadium.Punjab resumed their innings at 330/4, but southpaw Dinesh Mongia(178) departed on the last ball of the first over of the day. Mongiaplayed a casual drive to Sandeep Sharma and scooped an easy catch forParas Dogra to hold at covers. Sandeep Sawal (5) also departed early,with the addition of just nine runs to the total, Ashok Thakur gettinghim out caught behind.Debutant Amit Uniyal joined Pankaj Dharmani and showed his confidencefrom the first ball that he faced. Dharmani himself was looking for agood partner, as he was stroking the ball very well. The duo toyedwith the Himachal attack, adding 155 runs before lunch.Dharmani completed his 12th century, off 146 balls, in fine styleafter lunch, punching the ball off the back foot to the long-on fencefor his 17th four. Uniyal too completed his half-century in style ashe pulled a short ball from Sangram Singh to the mid-wicket fence. Afew overs later, however, Uniyal was walking back to the pavilion,caught and bowled by Sangram Singh for 57.The 170-run seventh wicket partnership adding bulk to Punjab’s score,they declared one hour before tea with the score on 540/9, Dharmaniremaining unbeaten on 119. Chasing a huge total, Himachal openersNischal Gaur and Raja Ali started off fluently as they scored 43 runsin just eight overs. Gaur departed soon, caught at gully off thebowling of Vineet Sharma.Himachal’s most experienced batsman Rajiv Nayyar failed to take up thechallenge posed to his team, mis-hooking a quick delivery from VineetSharma. Raja Ali fell to the same bowler, leaving his side reeling at67/3. Skipper Varinder Sharma departed as well, after scoring 23.Some consolidation occurred between Sangram Singh (27*) and Dogra(29), who added 54 runs for the fifth wicket. Dogra was dismissed oneminute before the close of play, trapped in front of the wicket byleft-arm spinner Babloo Kumar. Himachal ended the day at 147/5.