Spin dominates once again at the Karnail Stadium as Assam are reduced to 174 for seven A couple of days prior to the start of the Elite division match between Railways and Assam at Delhi's Karnail Singh Stadium,the bamboo machans that housed the two overhead video cameras had to be dug up and moved. The cameras were overlooking a pitch that had fallen out of favour and being moved to cover a pitch that was deemed more conducive to the Railways bowlers-more specifically their captain Murali Kartik's strength - spin. The change seems to have worked for the Railways side as skipper Murali Kartik led the charge in pinning down the Assam batsmen,leaving them seven down for just 174 runs at close of play on Day One. The ball took turn,came on slowly and sometimes bounced unexpectedly on a pitch that displayed cracks even before the start of the match. Kartik bowled nearly a third of all the overs bowled,taking 4 wickets and giving away just forty seven runs off the 30 overs bowled. The left-arm orthodox spinner constantly kept up the pressure on the batsmen,constantly keeping at least two silly points and a slip around the batsman. The strategy paid off with all off his wickets coming through the close in fielders-two bat-pads,a leg before decision and a stumping. "The wicket was definitely helpful for me. The track was slow so I knew it would be difficult for the Assam batsmen to play attacking shots. I usually get a lot of my wickets through the close-in fielders and the nature of today's play only encouraged more of that," Kartik said. "The key word for this game is patience," said Amol Muzumdar captain of the Assam side who top scored a gritty 44 that came off 132 deliveries. "Not only is the wicket slow but the outfield is heavy as well." Muzumdar said that the pitch was such that batsmen needed to play long innings. However,he added that in addition to spending time at the crease,they needed to keep the score board moving as well. "After our last game against Tamil Nadu,I had hoped our batsmen would have carried on once they got starts. They have once again got 20's and 30's but they have not been able to carry on. However we still have Tarjinder Singh. He is a regular batsman and so we are still hoping we can get a decent total on board," he said. At the start of the Assam innings it seemed that seam alone would suffice as Sanjay Bangar and JP Yadav dismissed the Assam openers Dhiraj Jadhav and Parvez Aziz respectively with just 15 runs on the board. A 54-run partnership between two of Assam's professional players Muzumdar and S Sriram stemmed the rot. But the fall of Sriram off the bowling of Kartik just three overs into the second session saw the Railway's bowlers get back in the game. The only weak link in the Railways bowling attack seemed to be Kulamani Parida. The veteran off-spinner who was reported for a suspect action last year bowled with a cleaner looking motion. However he looked a shadow of himself,proving the most expensive- his nine overs costing 37 runs. Brief scores: Assam 1st innings 174 for 7 (Amol Muzumdar 44,Tarjinder Singh 34 n.o,Murali Kartik 4/47)
