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A round-up of the action from the second day of the fifth round of matches from the Ranji Trophy Elite League 2011-12

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Dec-2011Group ASanjay Bangar and Krishnakant Upadhyay skittled Uttar Pradesh out for a shocking 79 – the eighth lowest score in Ranji history – to put Railways in charge at the Mohan Meakins Cricket Stadium in Ghaziabad. No. 4 batsman Prashant Gupta top-scored with 30, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar managed 14, but no other batsman reached double-figures in UP’s abject effort.The story of the day was the performance of Upadhyay, a former Uttar Pradesh Under-22 player who moved to Delhi once he failed to secure a berth in the senior squad. Even with Railways, he did not feature in their first three matches this season. But, against Punjab in the previous round, he picked up a match haul of ten wickets. And on Wednesday, on a seaming pitch, he rocked the UP batting to finish with 4 for 37, while Bangar cleaned up the tail to grab 5 for 20 – the eighth five-for of his career.Tanmay Srivastava endured a horror day, following up his first-innings effort of 2 with a second-innings duck as UP were forced to follow on, Upadhyay removing him both times. It capped a memorable day for the seamer, who started his handiwork with the bat in the morning, making an unbeaten 31 from No. 10 to steer Railways to 374.”Uttar Pradesh is one of the big teams in domestic cricket and able to do well against them is special. I played Under-22 cricket for UP but wasn’t picked for the senior team. I am really happy I did well against them,” Upadhyay said, summing up his day.Mayank Sidhana and Amitoze Singh cracked maiden centuries on the second day to take the ton-count to four, as Punjab continued to boss Rajasthan at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. The defending champions continued to have a poor season, with the frailties of their bowling line-up exposed yet again in the Elite League. Karan Goel first indulged himself to move from the overnight 116 to 167 before falling to part-timer Vineet Saxena. Uday Kaul and Mandeep Singh fluffed the chance to capitalise on a flat track as Punjab slipped to 401 for 5, but Sidhana and Amitoze were about to shut the door on Rajasthan. The pair made their tons in contrasting styles, with Amitoze slamming 103 off just 97 balls – his first ton in his fifth first-class innings, to go along with three fifties in his debut season. Sidhana was more conventional, consuming 198 balls for 122, though he struck 17 fours and a six to match Amitoze’s boundary count. Punjab declared three short of 600, and nipped out Saxena’s wicket cheaply to leave Rajasthan facing a difficult third day.Aakash Chopra was lucky to get away when he was dropped by Mandeep Singh at second slip, depriving Manpreet Gony of a wicket in his first over. Punjab are optimistic of snatching a second outright vicory of the season. “There is no reason why I should be pessimistic even after we scored 597,” Punjab coach Vikram Rathour said.Karnataka found their voice on the second day at the East Coast Railway Sports Association in Bhubaneshwar, as they reduced Orissa to 211 for 7 in reply to their 278. Karnataka lost CM Gautam for 63 in the day’s first over, throwing a spanner in their works as they looked for 300. Basant Mohanty and Biplab Samantray finished with three wickets apiece, while Sunil Raju steered Karnataka to their final score. Orissa made a solid start, with the openers adding 55, before Stuart Binny and Santhebennur Akshay sliced through the top order. Samantray resisted with 65, but wickets fell in a clutch around him. Abhilash Mallick and Govind Podder were on the throes of building a resistance, when the former became Binny’s third victim. Podder remained unbeaten on 34, and will need to carry on for his side to get the lead. His 97-run combine for the fifth wicket, the highest in the match so far, with Abhilash Mallick has kept Orissa in the contest. With the second new ball due in four overs, a well-fought game can still be expected.Mumbai were made to toil for the second day running by Saurashtra in Rajkot. For more on that match, click here.Group BThe Motibagh Stadium in Vadodara witnessed a day of swinging fortunes as Baroda snatched the first-innings lead despite succumbing for a mere 203 early on the second day against Gujarat. Resuming at 192 for 7, Baroda’s tail had no answer to opening bowler Ishwar Choudhary, who picked up all the three remaining wickets to finish with a five-for. Baroda’s bowlers, however, came out undeterred to roll their opponents over for 169. Priyank Panchal and Pratharesh Parmar were the only batsmen to go past 30, as Sankalp Vohra and Firdaush Baksh made rapid incisions. Vohra finished with figures of 4 for 24 to give his side the lead, before Baroda’s openers survived seven watchful overs to ensure they held all the aces at stumps. Their chances of making the quarter-finals remain alive.Tamil Nadu continued their resurgence from the first day to finish with 391, before reducing Bengal to 84 for 2 at Eden Gardens. K Vasudevadas and Ramaswamy Prasanna extended their association to 160, before Prasanna fell in the 14th over of the day’s play, for 67. Vasudevadas was lucky on 74 when he was dropped by wicketkeeper Shreevats Goswami off the bowling of Sourav Ganguly. He went on to complete his second first-class century before falling to Ranadeb Bose.TN captain L Balaji continued Bengal’s torment with a dogged, unbeaten 49, and the tail rallied around him to ensure 77 runs were scored after Vasudevadas’ exit. Bengal then made careful progress in their first innings, but lost Arindam Das and Abhishek Jhunjhunwala along the way. Trailing by 308 runs, Bengal are one batsman short with Rahul Banerjee, yet to take field, after he got hit on his abdomen, fielding close to the bat. The morning session would be crucial going by the first two days: seven of the twelve wickets have fallen in the first two hours of play.Delhi snatched a two-run first-innings lead against Madhya Pradesh, and went on to extend the advantage to 240, with three second wickets remaining, as the Group B fixture at the Emerald High School Ground in Indore headed for an early finish. Twenty-seven wickets have fallen over two days, but Delhi assumed complete control on the manic second day. Resuming at 86 for 6, MP were on course for the lead thanks to a 43-run seventh-wicket stand between Amit Sharma and Jalaj Saxena. New-ball operator Parvinder Awana revived Delhi by trapping Saxena in front for a 29-ball 31, with MP still 29 runs adrift. Awana backed that up by running out TP Sudhindra before Ashish Nehra removed Sharma with MP still 15 behind. The last pair inched within striking distance, but Awana removed No. 11 Asif Ali for a nine-ball duck to stop MP just short. Sudhindra then made early inroads for MP to suggest the second innings would be as bowler-dominated as the first, but Mithun Manhas resisted with a stroke-filled 97 off 134 balls that took the game away. Yogesh Nagar contributed a stodgy, unbeaten 35, and will look to extend the lead on the third day. MP are currently third in the table with eight points, two behind toppers Delhi, but have a game in hand.

Tamil Nadu entered the Ranji Trophy final for the first time in eight years after gaining a massive first-innings lead against Mumbai, setting up a summit clash with defending champions Rajasthan

The Report Nagraj Gollapudi at the Wankhede Stadium13-Jan-2012
ScorecardThe Mumbai dressing-room was a sombre place during the final day’s play•FotocorpTamil Nadu entered the Ranji Trophy final for the first time in eight years after gaining a massive first-innings lead against Mumbai, setting up a summit clash with defending champions Rajasthan. The visitors declared mid-way into the second session on the final day, after the lead had crossed the 500-run mark – more than enough to bring curtains down on Mumbai’s season. In reply Mumbai survived some anxious moments, losing both their openers inside seven overs, before both teams agreed to call off the match before the start of the mandatory overs.That Tamil Nadu had assured themselves of a final spot was known last evening, today’s play a mere formality. Mumbai, on their part, had only the proverbial pride to play for. Balwinder Sandhu, playing only his third first-class match, led the way for Mumbai with his second five-for in the match. Sadly, Sandhu was the only man who showed the fighting spirit. That Mumbai were in complete disarray was confirmed when they struggled to bat out a total of 44 overs (29 plus 15 mandatory) once Tamil Nadu had declared.After the pair of Kaustubh Pawar and Onkar Gurav had failed to lay a platform in the first innings, Mumbai changed their opening combination, with Abhishek Nayar – who is not a regular opener – walking out to open with Pawar. For the second successive time Pawar failed to impress, as he played away from his body to an outswinger from J Kaushik. S Badrinath, at second slip, completed an easy catch. Kaushik shared the new ball with Yo Mahesh after L Balaji cooled his heels in the dressing-room. Balaji later said he wanted to give the youngsters the chance to lead the attack and they did not disappoint.Nayar threw caution to the winds as he raced into the 20s, playing some powerful drives. But Nayar’s strokes lacked conviction – his retort, seemingly, was driven more by disappointment. Soon enough, it brought his downfall. When Kaushik pitched short into his ribs, Nayar swivelled immediately to pull. He had rushed into the shot, failed to time it well and ended up skying a high catch that was pouched safely by Sunny Gupta at midwicket.Tamil Nadu were now toying with Mumbai’s batsmen. With twelve overs remaining after the tea break prior to the mandatory overs, the visitors bowled slow bowlers from both ends – left-arm spin of Aushik Srinivas and part-time of spin of M Vijay. It was also a smart ploy to tempt someone like Suryakumar Yadav, who might have turned heads with attacking batting this season, yet has disappointed by his failure to adapt to the situation.Having moved swiftly to 33, Yadav jumped out of the crease to launch Srinivas out of the ground. He had failed to reach to the pitch of the ball, and ended up offering another easy catch. There were only six overs before the start of the mandatory overs at that point. Both Nayar and Yadav, Mumbai’s best batsmen this season, floundered today and played with abandon when the situation demanded them to be more responsible.Strangely it was a day that started and ended on the same casual note. Vijay, the overnight centurion, had all the time and the right conditions to make a big century. He had picked up easy runs in the first ten overs of the day, against the old ball. But in the second over after Mumbai opted for the new ball, Vijay swung his bat wildly against an away-going delivery from Sandhu, which had pitched back of length. It was a bad swing and miss. Next ball Sandhu smartly kept the length fuller, but shaped it outwards again. Vijay once again flashed his blade extravagantly. This time, the outside edge went to Hiken Shah at first slip.After lunch Sandhu moved the ball prodigiously, using both conventional and reverse swing, keeping R Prasanna, the first-innings centurion, vigilant. Circumspect, he went after a straighter delivery outside off stump only to play into the hands of gully, where Pawar dived to his wrong side to claim a brilliant catch.Sandhu snagged his fourth victim when Sunny Gupta needlessly attempted an audacious heave, but lost his leg stump. Sandhu got his maiden ten-wicket match haul when Balaji could do nothing much with a half volley, spooning an easy return catch into the Mumbai seamer’s hands. Sandhu had bowled tirelessly in the second session, bowling thirteen overs on the trot, and persevered to earn the honours. If there was any positive for Mumbai, he was it.

It was initially announced that Chittagong Kings would play Duronto Rajshahi in the first semi-final. After meetings late into the night, however, the BPL announced that Barisal Burners, and not Chittagong, were through

The Preview by Mohammad Isam28-Feb-2012Match FactsFebruary 28, Mirpur
Start time 1400 local (0800 GMT)
Big PictureThe first semi-final of the BPL will have the team that finished first in the league playing the team that finished fourth. Duronto Rajshahi finished first, with 14 points, but until 2.00 am on the morning of the semi-final, it wasn’t clear who finished fourth.Initially, on Sunday, it was announced that Barisal Burners were through to the semis, after their victory against Chittagong Kings, on the basis of net run-rate. At that point, the other two spots were going to be contested between Chittagong, Khulna Royal Bengals and Dhaka Gladiators.On Monday, after Dhaka lost narrowly to Rajshahi and Khulna beat Sylhet Royals, Khulna went to second place with 12 points, leaving Dhaka, Barisal and Chittagong tied on 10 points at the end of the league phase.In the head-to-head results between the teams level on 10 points, Dhaka had beaten Barisal twice and Chittagong once and had a superior net-run rate and qualified for the semi-finals in third place. That now left Chittagong and Barisal in contention for the fourth spot.Chittagong had two wins, against Barisal and Dhaka, while Barisal had only one, against Chittagong. Barisal’s net run-rate, however, was better than that of Chittagong. It was initially announced that Chittagong were in the semi-finals, presumably on the basis of a better head-to-head record in the three-way tie on 10 points, which included Dhaka. At 2.45 am this morning, however, the BPL issued a release which said that Barisal was the fourth semi-finalist, presumably because their head-to-head record with Chittagong – not including Dhaka who had already qualified – was tied and they had a better net run-rate.The upshot of all this confusion was that Rajshahi had ample time to prepare mentally for their knockout clash, while their opponents were left in limbo until the wee hours of the morning.In the spotlightThe hard-hitting Jamaican, Marlon Samuels, will be eager to finish his stint with Rajshahi on a high note as he prepares for his maiden foray into the IPL in April.Barisal will rely heavily on their captain Brad Hodge, who came good in the crucial game against Chittagong with a scintillating 67. He called the tournament fun but will have to take it seriously in the semifinals. Form guide (most recent first)Barisal Burners WLWWL
Duronto Rajshahi WWLWW Head to headBarisal won the first game by 22 runs, while Rajshahi came back with a nine-wicket win in the return leg.Chatter”If we can play well tomorrow and win the semi-final, then I can take stock of how well we played. Our first target was to reach the semi-finals, and our second target now is playing the finals and winning the trophy.”
Edited by George Binoy

Andrew Strauss retains the belief he can return to being a force in Test cricket despite again failing to convert two starts in Galle

Andrew McGlashan29-Mar-2012Andrew Strauss retains the belief he can return to being a force in Test cricket despite again failing to convert two starts in Galle as England slumped to a fourth straight defeat.Strauss contributed 26 and 27 in England’s two innings during their 75-run loss but insisted he feels in good form. He hasn’t scored a Test hundred since Brisbane at the start of the 2010-11 Ashes – now 16 Tests ago – and the pressure has been increased by the manner of his dismissals. In the first innings he tried to sweep a delivery that was too full and in the second whipped Rangana Herath to short midwicket when trying to go over the top.”At the moment it is frustrating me as much as anyone,” he said. “I’m hitting the ball nicely and feel in good form but you’re judged on your performances and I’ve not performed well enough. Hopefully I will put it right next week.”Sometimes it goes with the territory and you go through periods where you can’t kick on for whatever reason and then you get through it, release a barrier and you get some big scores in a row.”Strauss is now 35 but strongly resisted suggestions that time was catching up with his batting. “If you keep getting to 30 then I don’t think it is a terminal decline, unless you’re very unfit, which I don’t think is the case with me,” he said. “My job in the side is to score runs and I haven’t done that as much as I would have liked over the last 12 months or so, but I want to put it right next week.”He has only been dropped once during his Test career and that was when he missed the previous tour of Sri Lanka in 2007, having failed to recover from a difficult 2006-07 Ashes series. This time his position comes with the added weight of the captaincy but, understandably midway through a series, talk of his future was off the agenda.”Questions about my position are just not something I’m going to answer in the middle of the series. My focus is very much on winning the next game and it would be wrong to think of anything else.”Collectively, too, England continue to struggle and have posted 300 just once in four Tests this year. Again it was the first innings that proved really costly, slumping to 192 and conceding a 125-run lead to Sri Lanka. Strauss wanted to offer up something positive after Jonathan Trott’s second-innings hundred gave the team hope, but it wasn’t an easy task.”It is hard to say we’re making progress having lost four in a row,” he said. “I think individually people’s gameplans against spin have come on but we haven’t showed it out in the middle. If you want to win Test matches you need to get runs on the board and we haven’t done that. In the fourth innings you can understand the odd dismissal but we had less of an excuse in our first innings.”Another potential headache is an injury to Stuart Broad who was suffering from a tight right calf on the fourth day. He was clearly limping during his brief second innings but England are waiting to do a further assessment.Broad entered the Test having picked up an injury to his left ankle slipping on the boundary rope before the first warm-up match. He was passed as fully fit for the match but was slightly below his best, bowling eight no-balls – one of which cost England the wicket of Prasanna Jayawardene on the third day when Sri Lanka’s lead was a slightly more manageable 292.Edited by Alan Gardner

ESPNcricinfo previews the one-off Twenty20 between South Africa and India at the Wanderers

The Preview by Kanishkaa Balachandran29-Mar-2012Match factsMarch 30, 2012
Start time 1730 (1530 GMT)This game will mean a lot to Jacques Kallis•Associated PressBig PictureIf you thought India’s away season had ended with the Asia Cup, then you are wrong. There’s one more game, a Twenty20 against South Africa at the Wanderers, shoehorned into the tiny gap between the Asia Cup and the start of the IPL, which starts five days later. It’s the sort of scheduling usually reserved for unofficial charity games. South Africa have just arrived from a full tour of New Zealand. When this game was announced officially earlier this month, the big question was not , but .Cricket South Africa has announced that this will be an annual affair, following last year’s Twenty20 game between the two sides at the Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban. That match was Makhaya Ntini’s farewell game. Tomorrow’s match is dedicated to Jacques Kallis, and the proceeds will go to his scholarship foundation. The game might be for a noble cause, but is anybody aware that it is even happening? National newspapers in India have dedicated vast amounts of column space to the lead-up to the IPL. There’s little mention that the national team has flown to the southern hemisphere again, to play a solitary match. The channel broadcasting the game in India have started a countdown to the game as a bid to aggressively market it in the middle of two ongoing international series.Fans can be forgiven if they say they are fatigued, but MS Dhoni, the India captain, insists his team is not. It is his style to put a positive spin on everything, even when the ship is sinking. His team and the support-staff have clocked so many air miles in the last few months that they probably feel sick at the sight of airport lounges and hotel rooms. A one-off match with little context is the last thing they would have wanted.South Africa have shown some compassion, resting their jet-lagged senior Test players (except Kallis and Lonwabo Tsotsobe). There’s no rest for India’s seniors, bar Sachin Tendulkar (though he doesn’t play T20 internationals). Perhaps this could be seen as a last-ditch attempt to end a horrific season with a win. The IPL franchises have already vented their displeasure about the odd scheduling of this game because the India players are missing from the pre-tournament camps. The hosts are winding down their domestic season so this game hardly disrupts their plans.A year down the line, if you forget this game took place, don’t beat yourself up. In this era of “cricket excess”, it’s hard enough to remember a game which finished yesterday.Form Guide(most recent first)
South Africa WWLWL
India WLLLWIn the spotlightWhen Richard Levi’s name was called out at the IPL auction this year, it did not create a ripple. A blazing century off 45 balls (a record for Twenty20 internationals) in Hamilton made those franchises sit up. He was promptly signed up by Mumbai Indians. This will be most Indian fans’ first chance to see him.India’s bowlers conceded 329 and 289 in their last two one-day internationals. Their generosity peaked in the match against Bangladesh, where they dished out full-tosses by the dozen. That malaise affected Australia recently. Praveen Kumar and Irfan Pathan have shown they can bowl swinging yorkers, though sporadically. Death bowling could be the difference for India.Pitch and conditionsA batting track is expected. The altitude in Johannesburg, though, could test the India players.TeamsThe hosts seem to be approaching the game quite casually. The 13 players did not train, and the captain Johan Botha hadn’t even met the coach Gary Kirsten the day before the game. There were rumours that the uncapped batsman Farhaan Behardian will play.South Africa (probable) 1 Richard Levi, 2 Farhaan Behardian, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 Faf du Plessis, 5 Colin Ingram, 6 Albie Morkel, 7 Dane Vilas/Morne van Wyk (wk), 8 Johan Botha (capt), 9 Wayne Parnell, 10 Rusty Theron, 11 Lonwabo TsotsobeIndia, for whatever logic, picked 15 players for a solitary match. There were no announcements from the India camp. Robin Uthappa, coming off good form for Karnataka in the domestic one-dayers, looks good for a recall. Manoj Tiwary has sat on the bench ever since he scored a one-day century in December. Will his wait end?India (probable) 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Robin Uthappa, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Rohit Sharma, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 MS Dhoni (capt/wk), 8 Irfan Pathan, 9 R Ashwin, 10 Praveen Kumar, 11 Ashok DindaStats and Trivia India are returning to the venue where they played their first ever Twenty20. Albie Morkel is the only survivor for South Africa from that game. India lead the head-to-head in Twenty20s by an overwhelming 4-1. The Wanderers has the highest runs-per-over – 8.23 – among grounds which have hosted a minimum of eight games.Quotes”There are a lot of young players we are trying to groom, and hopefully it will pay dividends in the future. From our point of view there is a lot of talent around, we need to give them the exposure they require.”
.”With the World Twenty20 coming up in October, every T20 game is important and you can learn in every game.”
Johan Botha says preparation for the World Twenty20 will be the focus in the one-off game.Edited by Dustin Silgardo