Jaffer chauffeurs West riposté

The West innings resembled their rival’s first innings effort. A steady start and solid knocks at the top of the order have given their run-pursuit a definite shape. Whether they get to the magical figure of 468 (umpires deducted one run from North’s 469 this morning) will depend on how their batsmen or the North bowlers hold their nerve. Having scored 237 for three at close of play, West need 232 runs to take thelead.

The presence of the day’s hero Wasim Jaffer (batting 107) and the temperamental Vinod Kambli in the middle will not be a pleasant thought for North skipper Vikram Rathore. It could have been worse but for a very, very close leg before verdict against skipper Amol Muzumdar in the dying minutes of the day.

Muzumdar’s responsible half century and a 105-run third-wicket stand with Jaffer was taking the match away from North’s grasp. But he made the cardinal sin of not offering a stroke to Reetinder Sodhi off the second new ball. The ball did appear to have straightened but Muzumdar had taken a long stride forward. Umpire VK Ramaswamy wasted no time in putting the dreaded finger up, but it was a courageous decision. Muzumdar hesitated before starting his long walk back.

That presented the North bowlers an opportunity to have a go at Kambli in fading light. Kambli punched the first ball to the cover boundary and a little later, medium-pacer Robin Singh (Jr) was mercilessly pulled over mid-wicket.Warning bells for the North team already!

Jaffer, who got to the well-deserved century with his fifteenth boundary, played on merit. With the ball not coming on as quickly, Jaffer made sure he got on top of it when driving or cutting. A majority of his runs came in the V. It may be naive to attach much significance to runs in domestic cricket, but it is worth mentioning that India’s search for a decent opening batsman is not over yet.

After having toured Pakistan with the India A side last year, Jaffer got lost in the race earlier as his own team, Mumbai, dropped him from Ranji Trophy for some strange reasons. Now that he is back, and making runs with that correct and elegant style of his, Jaffer will approach the remainder of the season with new vigour.

North bowlers, save for the robust Robin (Jr), were unable to make any impact on the batsmen. Robin claimed the wickets of last-match centurions Connor Williams and Abhijit Kale, but his partner Amit Bhandari, fresh from the India A tour of the WestIndies was a disappointment. So were the spinners. Off spinner Nikhil Chopra was restrictive but the left-armer Navdeep Singh did not do anything to justify his selection here. Presumably the side’s strike bowler, Navdeep was bowling to a leg-stump line even before lunch.

scoreboard
NORTH ZONE (Ist innings) 468
WEST ZONE (Ist innings, overnight 8-0)
Wasim Jaffer batting 107
C Williams c Dahiya b Robin (Jr) 21
Abhijit Kale c Sehwag b Robin (Jr) 30
Amol Muzumdar lbw Sodhi 52
Vinod Kambli batting 10
Extras: (nb 12, lb 5) 17
Total: (for three wkts in 93 overs) 237
Fall of wickets: 1-47 Williams), 2-113 (Kale), 3-218 (Muzumdar)
Bowling: Bhandari 23-4-80-0, Robin (Jr) 20-7-35-2, Navdeep 22-7-53-0, Chopra 15-3-26-0, Reetinder 10-3-27-1, Sehwag 3-0-9-0.