Jaffer’s up for the job with fine knock

Jaffer and Dasgupta, both claimants for the second opener’s slot to partner Shiv Sunder Das, made up for their failures of the first innings and added 101 for the second wicket to ensure their team did not suffer a collapse for the second time in the match.

Jaffer was out in the final session of play for a well-made 62 while Dasgupta remained unbeaten on 54. Ajay Ratra was the other not out batsman on 29.

The Indians, who had fallen 287 runs short of Busta XI’s 437 in the first innings, got an early scare when Das was out for nought off the fourth ball of the innings. But Jaffer and Dasgupta applied themselves well and batted comfortably.

Jaffer, a specialist opening batsman who was expected to bring an end to experimentations at the top of the order, staked his claim with a patient 156-ball knock that contained seven hits to the fence. He was finally dismissed by Gareth Breese when the batsman holed out to Darren Ganga.

Scoreboard

Busta XI (1st Innings): 437

Indians (1st Innings): SS Das c Breese b Jeremy 13; W Jaffer lbw Collins 0; Deep Dasgupta b Ramnaraine 7; D Mongia c Powell b Breese 67; S Bangar run out 1; V V S Laxman b Ramnaraine 4; A Ratra lbw Powell 0; A Kumble c Hinds b Ramnaraine 11; Sarandeep Singh c Morton b Breese 32; Harbhajan Singh c Powell b Ramnaraine 0; T Youhanan not out 0; Extras: (lb-4, nb-11) 15

Total: 150

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-20, 3-20, 4-40, 5-46, 6-51, 7-72, 8-122, 9-123

Bowling: Collins 15-2-46-1, Powell 11-2-16-1, Jeremy 10-2-16-1, Ramnaraine 23-7-49-4, Breese 9.1-2-19-2

Indians (2nd Innings): SS Das lbw Collins 0; W Jaffer c Ganga b Breese 62; Deep Dasgupta not out 54; A Ratra not out 29; Extras: (nb-12, w-1) 13;

Total: (For 2 wkts) 158

Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-103

Bowling: Collins 4-0-12-1, Powell 14-4-32-0, R Hinds 7-2-10-0, Ramnarine 10-2-19-0, Jeremy 5-0-18-0, W Hinds 2-0-6-0, Breese 16-5-41-1, Morton 5-0-20-0.