Promising contest draws to a tame end

MUMBAI, November 20: After two days of keen contest, the concluding day's play at the Brabourne Stadium failed to live upto the expectations...

MUMBAI, November 20: After two days of keen contest, the concluding day’s play at the Brabourne Stadium failed to live upto the expectations. The Board President’s XI batsmen struggled in the second essay while setting West Indies A a target of 236 runs in 47 overs. The tourists suffered early losses in their quest for success and finally settled for a draw.

Much depended on the third-wicket pair of Amol Muzumdar and Amay Khurasia when the home team resumed their innings on 63 for two on Friday morning. For, there wasn’t much batting to follow since Nikhil Haldipur had been sidelined after pulling his hamstring while fielding on Thursday. Muzumdar and Khurasia appeared to provide an ideal platform when Neil McGarrell’s alacrity ended the 81-run association.

Setting off for a quick single, Khurasia (48) failed in his attempt as a direct hit by McGarrell did the damage.

The Madhya Pradesh left-hander’s departure put the brakes on the scoring rate, though Vijay Bharadwaj (11) raised hopes with a couple ofwell-driven boundaries against the spinners. And with Muzumdar (74) dropping anchor for close to four hours, runs were at a premium. This, despite the absence of pace spearhead Reon King, who suffered a side strain yesterday. The spinners, thus, shared the bulk of the load, wheeling away 39 of the 62.5 overs bowled in the second innings before skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar applied the closure.

The West Indians run chase was offset by the loss of three wickets for just 43, before opener Sherwin Campbell and Richard Smith joined hands to stem the rot with a sensible display. Smith, who was the top scorer in the first innings, was more confident of the two in tackling the spinners in his unbeaten 61-ball knock of 51. Campbell (37 not out), who survived a couple of close calls against swing bowler Debashish Mohanty, hung on gamely till both teams decided to call it off after nine mandatory overs.

The West Indies proceed for their second practice match against India Youth to be staged at Pune from November 23before travelling to Bangalore for the first Test’ against India A (November 28-December 1).

The National selectors would be meeting in Pune on November 25 to announce the Indian team for the Bangalore Test’

Scoreboard

Board President’s XI (1st innings): 260

West Indies A (1st innings): 209

Board President’s XI (2nd innings) (overnight 63-2):

Story continues below this ad

Jitender Singh c Semple b Collins 0 (3b, 3m), Amol Muzumdar lbw Collins 74 (177b, 228m, 6×4, 1×5), Hrishikesh Kanitkar c Philip b McGarrell 17 (44b, 56m, 3×4), Amay Khurasia run out 48 (86b, 100m, 3×4, 1×6), Vijay Bharadwaj c McGarrell b Lewis 11 (40b, 60m, 2×4), Harbhajan Singh not out 10 (19b, 25m), Rahul Sanghvi b Collins 7 (10b, 8m, 1×4), Debashish Mohanty c Griffith b Lewis 0 (5b, 11m); Extras (b4, lb3, nb10) 17. Total (for eight wickets declared off 62.5 overs, 253 minutes): 184

Fall of wickets:

1-0, 2-32, 3-115, 4-164, 5-165, 6-165, 7-174, 8-184

Bowling:

Collins 14-3-47-3 (4nb), Semple 10-1-20-0 (1nb), McGarrell23-5-54-1, Lewis 13.5-2-47-3 (5nb), Sarwan 2-0-9-0

West Indies A (2nd innings):Adrian Griffith lbw Mohanty 5 (20b, 35m, 1×4); Sherwin Campbell not out 37 (117b, 157m, 7×4), Keith Semple c Prasad b Sanghvi 11 (24b, 28m, 1×4); Ramnaresh Sarwan c sub (Rajeev Kumar) b Sanghvi 7 (28b, 24m), Richard Smith not out 51 (61b, 67m, 8×4); Extras (lb1, nb5) 6. Total (for three wickets off 41 overs, 156 mins) 117

Fall of wickets:1-14, 2-31, 3-43

Bowling:Mohanty 6-3-10-1 (1nb), Robin Singh 5-1-14-0, Harbhajan 10-3-21-0, Sanghvi 13-3-46-2 (2nb), Kanitkar 5-1-10-0 (2nb), Bharadwaj 2-0-15-0