Persistence pays for Solanki

After a bad start,Baroda dig in deep in final two sessions to bully Delhi in their backyard

After a tiring net session on the eve of his teams Ranji Trophy game against Delhi,Baroda middle-order batsman Rakesh Solanki made a long and arduous road trip to Meerut,a place famous for its master bat makers. The diminutive player wanted the blade of his bat chipped by four centimetres so that he could have a relaxed and balanced posture at the crease.

The bat modification worked for Solanki as he hit an unbeaten ton on a pitch that wasnt quite a belter. Walking in in the third over of the game this morning,with the scoreboard reading 5 for 1,Solanki was unbeaten on 109 at stumps. Baroda,at 273/3,were in a commanding position when the umpires called off play five overs before the scheduled end.

Solanki had the perfect partner in skipper Pinal Shah,who mustered 83 with 15 boundaries,the same as his partner,in an unfinished association of 154 runs. The two averted a crisis as Baroda didnt lose any wicket in the final two sessions.

Delhi made the mistake of misreading the pitch,relying on patches of green and opting to field. Moreover,dropped catches didnt help their cause. Solanki benefited the most as he was dropped twice. When on 4,Milind Kumar failed to latch on to the edge that pacer Ashish Nehra had induced. After Solanki reached his half-century,Shikhar Dhawan messed up a catch that flew to him at first slip off the bowling of left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra.

Nehra provided Delhi with an early breakthrough when he packed off Baroda opener Aditya Waghmore for just 1 in his second over. Debutant Sunny Sehrawat,inspired after getting his first-class cap,trapped the other opener Kedhar Devdhar leg before off his fourth delivery.

But the Delhi seamers failed to maintain discipline and that saw Solanki and Ambati Rayudu compiling an 88-run stand,scoring at a run-a-minute. With the moisture drying up and the shine from the ball disappearing,Delhi missed out on a chance to press home the adavantage.

In the first session,Delhi skipper Mithun Manhas used as many as six bowlers. But with the Baroda batsmen hitting 21 boundaries before lunch,it was clear there had been too many loose balls. The home team got lucky when all-rounder Rajat Bhatia once again proved to be the partnership breaker. He accounted for Rayudu,who scored 39 with eight boundaries. Solanki reached his half-century from 69 deliveries with nine boundaries as Baroda raked up 122/3 in two and half hours.

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The pace of the game receded drastically thereafter as Manhas went on the defensive. He spread out the field and asked his bowlers to bowl a restrictive line. Shah and Solanki didnt flinch,playing the waiting game. Solanki went from 50 to 100 in 169 balls and hit just five boundaries.

Nehra gave away 15 boundaries in his 18 overs while Sehrawat was too soft with his pace to trouble the batsmen. Parvinder Awana bowled his heart out without much reward and lacked support form the other end. Left-arm spinner Mishra too failed to trouble the batsmen.

Brief scores: Baroda 273 for 3 Rakesh Solanki batting 109,Pinal Shah batting 83,Ambati Rayadu 39; Ashish Nehra 1/84,Rajat Bhatia 1/17,Sunny Sehrawat 1/54.