Railways win,by a mile

Record an innings and 94 run victory over hosts Uttar Pradesh; Murali Kartik takes 5 for 27

Railways completed a remarkable turnaround in their fortunes when they recorded an innings and 94-run win over Uttar Pradesh on Thursday. Nitin Bille,Shivakant Shukla,Sanjay Bangar and Murali Kartik were the heroes of the win.

The Sanjay Bangar-led side not only bagged six points but also leap-frogged Punjab into fourth place in Group B with 10 points in the bag. The Railways campaign,which included two big losses against Mumbai and Karnataka was in tatters heading into this round.

Veteran left-arm spinner Murali Kartik returned his second five-for this season taking 5/27 as Railways dismissed UP,following on,for 201 in their second innings.

Kartik bowled just one over in the first innings as Bangar and Upadhyay cleaned up UP. However,he had a much bigger role to play on Thursday.

Overnight batsmen Mohammad Kaif and Bhuvenshwar Kumar saw off the new-ball threat in the morning and looked completely at ease. And,during that period,it looked like that the four-time champions were finally going to put up a tough fight.

Debatable decision

But a debatable decision pegged them back. Kumar,who was content playing the waiting game,was adjudged out lbw to Bangar,though the delivery seemed to be missing the leg-stump. The duo had till then added 56 runs for the second wicket.

Then came the blow that broke UPs resistance. Kaif,who had hit three exquisite square drives off Anureet Singh,edged one off Upadhyay to second slip. At lunch,UP were at 104/3.

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With the seamers failing to make the kind of impact they did on Wednesday when 16 wickets fell Kartik had to play his part. Prashant Awasthis direct hit caught a diving Prashant Gupta short of crease. Kartik then snared his first wicket in the match,inducing an edge from Arish Alam. And moments before tea,he trapped Parvinder Singh plumb in front.

And 13.3 overs later,in the final session of the day,UP had been humbled at home for the second successive time in two years at the Mohan Meakins ground.

Piyush Chawla was Kartiks third victim of the day,falling to a smart catch behind the stumps. Bangar then struck for the second time in the day,when he had Zahid Ali caught at point. Rohit Chowdhary was the last man to fall,snared by Kartik.

The result was a shot in the arm for Railways,who were down and out before this game but will now believe they can make the knock-outs. Uttar Pradesh,on the other hand,have a fight on their hands. They play Mumbai and Karnataka,while Railways play Saurashtra and Orissa at home.

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Uttar Pradesh coach Gyanendra Pandey said the batting let the team down. We didnt bat well at all. Now,we have our backs to the wall. But the good thing is that Raina will be back, he said.

Brief scores: Railways 374 vs UP 79 amp; 201 Prashant Gupta 41,M Kaif 36,Bhuveneshwar Kumar 35; Murali Kartik 5/27