Kaif to Central8217;s rescue

AURANGABAD, DEC 17: The ground conditions at the Aurangabad District Association Stadium amply reflected the degradation of one of the na...

AURANGABAD, DEC 17: The ground conditions at the Aurangabad District Association Stadium amply reflected the degradation of one of the nation8217;s premier cricket tournament 8212; the Duleep Trophy. A bumpy outfield and a 22-yard strip that threatens an early finish to the five-day encounter was certainly not the platform for a summit clash featuring a sprinkling of hopefuls.

Young Mohammad Kaif, however, overcame the environmental hazards with a tenacious 69 on the opening day of the contest today. The 19-year-old Uttar Pradesh lad walked into a crisis after West Zone medium-pacer Abey Kuruvilla mocked at Gyanendra Pandey8217;s decision to bat first by claiming opener Gagan Khoda 20 and Amay Khurasia 0 off successive deliveries in his first over.

A fortnight ago, Kaif had cracked an unbeaten double hundred which ended Mumbai8217;s Cooch-Behar aspirations and paved UP8217;s march to the final. Later, he came up with useful contributions of 40 and 53 to abett Central8217;s success against North. Today, he reiterated hispotential in front of national selectors Anil Deshpande and Shivlal Yadav.

Yogesh Ghare aided Kaif in Central8217;s fightback. Though the 27-year-old Ghare lacked the confidence of Kaif, he hung to add 67 runs for the fifth wicket. The Vidarbha lad scored 37 in a near two hour tenure.

Skipper Pandey, replacling Ghare, hoisted left-arm spinner Nilesh Kulkarni for two sixes. He added 51 for the sixth wicket.

Pandey batting 34 saw the day day through, after Kaif8217;s departure, in the company of a tentative Manoj Mudgal batting 6.

Kuruvilla perplexed the batsmen with his variations and arrested the run-getting. His second spell of the day read: 9-7-5-0. Both Mhambrey and Kuruvilla bowled well on the newly-laid track that offered copious assistancee.

Scoreboard

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Central Zone 1st innings: Gagan Khoda camp;b Kuruvilla 20 31b, 57m, 4215;4, Jyoti Yadav c Kulkarni b Mhambrey 5 12b, 21m, 1215;4, Jai Prakash Yadav c Jaffer b Kulkarni 36 68b, 99m, 7215;4, Amay Khurasia c Jaffer b Kuruvilla 0 1b, 1m, MohdKaif c Kotak b Mhambrey 69 213b, 269m, 10215;4, 1215;6, Yogesh Ghare st Dighe b Bahutule 37 86b, 116m, 5215;4, 1215;6, Gyanendra Pandey batting 34 110b, 136m, 2215;4, 2215;6, Manoj Mudgal batting 6 30b, 42m, 1215;4. Extras 6lb, 11nb, 1w 18. Total for six wickets in 90 overs, 314 mins: 225

Fall of wickets:1-15, 2-52, 3-52, 4-93, 5-160, 6-211

Bowling:Mhambrey 18-5-36-2 1nb, Siddiqui 14-4-26-0 2nb, 1w, Kuruvilla 20-7-47-2 7nb, Kulkarni 17-5-50-1, Bahutule 10-2-35-1 1nb Kanitkar 11-3-25-0