Jaydev scalps 6,Saurashtra close in on half a dozen

Not very long ago,Jaydev Unadkat was being hailed as the next big thing in Indian cricket.

Not very long ago,Jaydev Unadkat was being hailed as the next big thing in Indian cricket. Tall,lean,and bowling with a high-arm action,the left-arm pacer had caught the attention of senior Indian players,including Sachin Tendulkar and was even selected to the Test squad. After a poor debut in South Africa,he was dumped quickly.

And while there are those who struggle in the anonymity of the Ranji Trophy,Unadkat has shown his willingness to step up a gear or two. The figures of 6 for 87 he recorded against Punjab in their first innings show how well he bowled at the PCA stadium. Indeed each of the Punjab batsmen he dismissed,spoke of the constant menace he posed with his probing line and length and his ability to get prodigious movement both with the new and the old ball. Thanks to his spell,Saurashtra are now on the verge of scoring an outright win over the hosts.

In reply to Saurashtras first innings total of 542,Punjab were bowled out for 278 in 70.3 overs. Jaydev Shah,the Saurashtra skipper had no hesitation in enforcing the follow on a decision that was justified after Punjab lost four wickets for 44. Going into the final day,the home side are still 220 runs adrift from averting an innings defeat.

Resuming from their overnight score of 59/3 all the wickets falling to Unadkat Punjab would have been conscious of the threat he was going to pose. He gave more reason to worry in just the second over of the day trapping Sandeep Sharma lbw for 4. Uday Kaul fell in the next over and at 5/60 Punjab had their backs to the wall.

Mandeep Singh and debutant Amitoze Singh delayed the inevitable with a 121-run partnership for the 7th wicket. Amitoze was dismissed for 64 and Mandeep (85*) ran out of partners,as Unadkat polished off the tail.

Following on,the Punjab batsmens attention was probably on Unadkat. Consequently,they faltered against his new-ball partner Sandip Maniar. Maniar got rid of openers Manan Vohra and Sarul Kanwar for 13 and 1 and then got Mayank Sidhana out for 11. Nightwatchman Sandeep Sharma fell for a duck. Punjabs woes were compounded by the fact that Karan Goel retired hurt after getting hit by a delivery.

Brief scores: Saurashtra 542 vs Punjab 278 (Mandeep 85*,Amitoze 64,J Unadkat 6/87) & 44/4 (Sandeep Maniyar 3/14)