Kaif makes an authoritative century

By Vijay Lokapally

NAGPUR, JAN. 5. Mohammad Kaif stepped on to the field and passed part of his pain to the opposition as Central Zone stretched its stay almost to the last session on the second day of the Duleep Trophy league match here. Compiling a first innings total of 536 before being all out half-an-hour before tea, Central grabbed two West wickets for 94, raising visions of an intense tussle on Saturday.

Having retired last evening at 46 due to a stiff neck, the young Uttar Pradesh batsman returned to the crease to produce a valuable unbeaten century which did Kaif's reputation a lot of good since his runs came in quite an authoritative manner.

It could be an intense battle for the first-innings lead even though West lost the in form Hrishikesh Kanitkar cheaply.

It could be engrossing also for the fact that Narendra Hirwani is beginning to work his craft with the ball. Not that the conditions are loaded in favour of the bowlers but there was no doubt that batting was going to become increasingly demanding keeping in mind the pressure that the West will encounter when it resumes batting.

After Central resumed at 342 for three this morning, Jai Prakash Yadav, 158 overnight, fell short of a double century when he was yorked by Zaheer Khan. A good innings needed a good ball to end, but Yadav had done his bit wonderfully in his majestic essay of 177 off 291 balls with 25 fours and one six.

If West entertained hopes of restricting Central, the hopes evaporated when Rahul Kanwat, Abhay Sharma and Kaif got together to cane the attack. The West bowlers wasted the new ball by spraying it short even though Zaheer, who was repeatedly cut and pulled by Yadav, managed a breakthrough by getting the Bhopal batsman and celebrated as if it was an act which had decided the course of the match. Too late it was since Central continued to bat positively and the runs flowed smoothly.

Kanwat played some outstanding drives square of the wicket while Abhay gave glimpse of his potential by dealing with the opposition firmly. The shot of the day came from Abhay's willow when the Railway batsman left the field dazed as he caressed the ball to the cover fence, the sweet sound of the stroke marking the stylish drive. Zaheer peppered Abhay with bouncers but they were ill-directed and in any case hardly the weapon that could have rattled the batsman.

Raja Ali was the first batsman to depart, run out from a direct hit by Abhijit Kale. Yadav followed and when Kanwat drove an innocuous ball to the covers, Central appeared to have lost the momentum and the advantage. But Kaif and Abhay came together to defy the West bowlers and it proved a crucial stage in the team's domination this afternoon.

Abhay prospered through a wide range of shots, the drive and the sweep being the most productive. He looked good for a much longer stay when he was foxed by a googly. His 98-ball knock contained seven fours. At the other end, Kaif continued to grow in strength and he paced his knock well, realising the need of stepping up once he was joined by K. Parida. The effortless on-drives from Kaif's bat were handsome strokes even as he marvelled in playing the pull with disdain, picking the short ball very early. Kaif's was a near-flawless performance off 203 balls with 16 fours. The one chance he offered came at 79 in a team score of 468 when Zaheer failed to latch on the return catch on his left as the batsman punched tentatively.

Parida chipped in with a quick essay which included six and a four but West wrapped up Shalabh Srivastava and Hirwani, forcing an early tea.

Jaffer, a picture of confidence

In the last session, the honours lay with Central despite the attractive batting by Wasim Jaffer, the Mumbai opener who made his Test debut against the South Africans at home. Central made a grand start when Baroda left-hand strokeplayer Connor Williams dragged the ball on to the stumps and Kanitkar was ruled leg- before, a good decision by umpire K.G. Laxmi Nayaran. At the other end, Mr. V.N. Kulkarni too tackled the excessive appealing competently with Hirwani and Abhay once quickly apologising for a silly shout.

Jaffer was a picture of confidence after an initial struggle and played some exciting drives on either side. A few edges from his bat might have created a scare in the West dressing room but he survived to carry the fight to the next day in the company of a solid looking Jacob Martin. Jaffer, in his 99-ball knock, has so far hit nine fours while Jacob's essay contained three hits to the boundary.

The scores:

Central-1st innings: J.P. Yadav b Zaheer 177, Amit Pagnis c Patel b Kanitkar 62, Amay Khurasiya b Kanitkar 1, Mohammad Kaif (not out) 119, Gagan Khoda lbw b Zaheer 4, Raja Ali (run out) 58, Rahul Kanwat c Jaffer b Bahutule 28, Abhay Sharma b Bahutule 45, K. Parida c Zaheer b Buch 20, Shalabh Srivastava c Zaheer b Bahutule 1, Narendra Hirwani c and b Buch 2, Extras (b-1, lb-6, nb-12) 19, Total (all out in 155 overs) 536.

Fall of wickets: 1-131, 2-134, 3-244, 4-350, 5-372, 6- 415, 7- 472, 8-513, 9-529.

West bowling: Zaheer Khan 31-6-125-2, Iqbal Siddiqui 29-8-106-0, Valmik Buch 36-4-115-2, Hrishikesh Kanitkar 16-0-82-2, Sairaj Bahutule 41-7-94-3, Abhijit Kale 2-0-7-0.

West-1st innings: Connor Williams b Shalabh 0, Wasim Jaffer (batting) 52, Hrishikesh Kanitkar lbw b Kanwat 14, Jacob Martin (batting) 25, Extras (b-1, nb-2) 3, Total (for two wkts in 28 overs) 94.

Fall of wkts: 1-0, 2-37.

Central bowling: Shalabh Srivastava 8-1- 29-1, Jai Prakash Yadav 5-2-8-0, Rahul Kanwat 4-0-20-1, Narendra Hirwani 6-0-19-0, K. Parida 5-0-17-0.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : West Indies fights back
Next     : Dinesh Mongia, Sehwag add to South's misery