Its all but over for South

There was a sense of déjà vu with what transpired on the penultimate ball of the 37th over in South Zones second innings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium...

There was a sense of déjà vu with what transpired on the penultimate ball of the 37th over in South Zones second innings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday. Robin Uthappa was looking on top of his game,having taken the opposition bowlers to the cleaners. And then,he stepped out off the bowling of Rajesh Pawar only to hole out to Siddharth Trivedi at mid-off,bringing a promising innings to an end. Then again,throwing away the wicket was something he was accused of doing often during his stint with the Indian team.

Nonetheless,Uthappas 98-ball 94,which included 12 fours and three hits over the fence,did provide some entertainment on the fourth day of the Duleep Trophy final after his team were set an improbable 678 for victory by West. Earlier,Parthiv Patel,who retired hurt on Saturday,returned to the crease and notched up a stroke-filled 131 before Wasim Jaffer declared Wests second-innings at 417-8. At stumps,captain Subramanian Badrinath and Dinesh Karthik were at the crease,with South placed at 232 for three.

Before the rush of blood did him in,Uthappa looked composed and a lot more mature. The Coorg lad attributed it to being given the responsibility of captaining the Karnataka Ranji team this season. As a captain,you have to keep thinking throughout the match,and it has helped me understand my game better, said Uthappa,who led Karnataka into the quarter-finals. He was quick to note that the new-found maturity has borne results in the form of the good run that he has enjoyed with the bat. I have scored almost 946 runs (this season),and am looking forward to the one-dayers now, added Uthappa.

Scoreboard

West Zone 1st innings 459; South Zone 1st innings 199; West Zone 2nd innings (overnight 232/4): P Patel c Uthappa b Ashwin 131,W Jaffer lbw b Sreesanth 15,A Rahane c Karthik b Badrinath 98,C Pujara c & b Suresh 14,B Thaker c Dravid b Sreesanth 22,A Nayar c Badrinath b Jakati 44,K Jadhav c Dravid b Ashwin 16,R Pawar not out 50,R Powar c Vijay b Suresh 7,D Kulkarni not out 8; Extras (b 9,lb 2,w 1) 12; Total (8 wickets decl; 92 overs) 417; FoW: 1-35 (Jaffer,8.1),2-182 (Pujara,40.2),3-196 (Rahane,43.2),4-228 (Thaker,52.2),5-274 (Jadhav,63.3),6-298 (Nayar,70.1),7-383 (Patel,88.1),8-396 (Powar,89.5);Bowling:S Sreesanth 14-2-59-2,R Uthappa 3-0-12-0,R Ashwin 30-4-121-2,S Jakati 17-0-67-1,M Suresh 17-1-93-2,S Badrinath 9-1-38-1,M Vijay 2-0-16-0; South Zone 2nd innings: M Vijay c Patel b Powar 63,R Uthappa c Trivedi b Pawar 94,S Badrinath batting 35,R Dravid b Powar 0,D Karthik batting 27; Extras (b 12,nb 1) 13; Total (3 wickets; 50 overs) 232; FoW: 1-165 (Vijay,35.2),2-167 (Uthappa,36.5) ,3-167 (Dravid,37.4); Bowling: D Kulkarni 8-0-51-0,S Trivedi 10-2-37-0,R Pawar 14-0-74-1,R Powar 16-6-54-2,A Nayar 2-0-4-0.