Silver cloud,Dark lining

After back-to-back tons,Unmukt Chand out for a golden duck as Orissa upset Delhi

His attractive stroke-play might have earned him plaudits from around the world during Indias title-winning campaign during the under-19 World Cup in Australia last year. In the course of his boy-to-man transformation,Unmukt Chand was also revealed to be an astute student of the game,with his primary hobby of maintaining a personal diary only enhancing his sagacious image.

The former U-19 skippers last two entries are certain to have been underlined if not marked in bold with an asterix or a footnote to add. After all,few batsmen in T20 history have managed to score centuries on two consecutive days in the shortest format. And that too in the free-spirited manner in which Chand had taken the Kerala and Gujarat bowlers to the cleaners.

Going into Delhis clash against Orissa,the spotlight was firmly stationed not surprisingly over the talented 20-year-old as he looked for an unprecedented hat-trick of centuries. More so as a result of the opposition bowlers poor run going into the contest.

That crickets a great leveller is a cliche oft-used to describe the characteristic fickleness of the sport. And on Thursday at the Emerald High School ground,Chand unfortunately experienced it first-hand.

Walking out to open Delhis innings in the form of his life,Chand lasted all of one delivery,being caught behind by wicket-keeper Subhrajit Sahoo off the bowling of left-arm pacer Suryakant Pradhan. Though Delhis star failed for a change,Orissa ended up discovering their own hero in the form of Pradhan as he bowled his team to a comprehensive seven-wicket win in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Group A clash.

After bringing Chands dream run to a premature end,the 19-year-old from Khurda set about running through the Delhi top-order with an incisive new-ball spell. By the end of his first over,the 19-year-old had sent both Delhi openers packing,bowling Dhruv Shorey with the final delivery.

Pradhan then had Milind Kumar caught behind in his second over,and was on the cusp of a hat-trick when he got Jagrit Anand edging to Sahoo with the first ball of his third over. Though he couldnt quite make it three in three,the youngster,who finished with figures of 4/11,had left Delhi reeling at 18/4.

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The Orissa bowlers kept the pressure on as things just went from bad to worse from thereon for the favourites. And by the 12th over,Delhi were in the pits at 40/7 with the big-hitting Pawan Negi their final hope. The left-hander did provide some resistance,adding 27 along with pacer Sumit Narwal before Delhi were bowled out with a meagre 80 on the board.

Though the Orissa batsmen did find Parwinder Awana to be a handful in the early going,Biplab Samantaray and Govind Podder held their nerve to see their team home with eight balls to spare,handing Delhi their second defeat of the group stage.

KAIF PROVES A POINT

MOHAMMAD Kaif might have found no takers in the Indian Premier League this time around,but the veteran right-hander proved that he still can pack a punch with the bat as he led Uttar Pradesh to a convincing 14-run victory over Karnataka at the Holkar Stadium in Indore.

Kaif,who was part of Royal Challengers Bangalore till last season,smashed four sixes and three fours in a knock of 70 that came in just 54 balls to help Uttar Pradesh post 163/7 in their 20 overs. That too against a quality attack that included India caps,R Vinay Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun,in addition to all-rounder Stuart Binny. The second best-score for UP was Gaurav Tomars 25.

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Praveen Kumar and Pravin Gupta then struck with two wickets each as Karnataka could only muster up 153/8 despite the belligerent efforts of Binny and Lokesh Rahul.

BRIEF SCORES: Delhi 80 all out Suryakant Pradhan 4/11 lost to Orissa 84/3 by seven wickets;

Uttar Pradesh 163/7 Mohammad Kaif 70 bt Karnataka 153/8 Stuart Binny 39,Lokesh Rahul 34 by 14 runs;

Vidarbha 138/5 Amol Ubarhande 55 n.o. lost to Kerala 111/9 Raiphi Gomez 42 n.o. by one wicket VJD method;

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Punjab 168/6 Ravinder Singh 60,Mayank Sidhana 30 bt Bengal 143/8 Sreevats Goswami 33 by 25 runs.