Ranji Trophy 2015: Maharashtra falter against Navdeep Saini’s seam
AHEAD OF Maharashtra’s Ranji Trophy encounter against Delhi at the Feroz Shah Kotla, coach David Andrews claimed poor fielding and a series of dropped catches in previous encounters were the primary reasons for his team’s downward spiral this season.
Anybody who paid a visit to the Kotla this morning to witness the first day’s play, however, would be convinced fielding is the least of Maharashtra’s concerns, for the moment. Instead, an inept batting display which belied gumption and common sense triggered a sensational collapse in the opening morning for Andrew’s men.
On a dry pitch, which was supposed to assist spinners, Maharashtra won the toss and elected to bat.
It was a cool November morning in Delhi — the sun was barely visible and a thin haze had enveloped the Kotla.
Out in the middle, the conditions were nippy and Maharashtra needed a dogged start from their openers. Sadly, the visitors were not going to have any of it. The openers, especially Swapnil Gugale, found the going tough against a disciplined seam bowling attack.
If Pradeep Sangwan was Gautam Gambhir’s strike bowler against Odisha, against Maharashtra, medium pacer Navdeep Saini came to the party today.
Saini did not bowl with a lot of pace. He, however, mixed his lengths cleverly and extracted uneven bounce from the track to good effect.
The 22-year-old started Maharashtra’s slide by castling Gugale’s middle stump with a beautiful inswinger. He then dismissed No.3 Rohit Motwani and Maharashtra’s batting lynchpin Kedar Jadhav in the space of four balls to leave the visitors gasping at 3/8 in the 6th over.
Opener Harshad Khadiwale, meanwhile, played a couple of glorious boundaries to get going.
A classic cover drive off Saini early on was perhaps the standout shot in the first hour. He was involved in a 38-run stand for the fourth wicket with Ankit Bawne, which provided some breather to Maharashtra.
Saini, however, accounted for Khadiwale and Rahul Tripathi in his 6th and 8th overs, respectively, to negate any possibility of a resurgence.
The lower order did not show any purpose or application, and the fact that only three visiting batsmen managed a double-digit score highlighted Maharashtra’s shoddy state of affairs. The visitors finally folded for a paltry 80, a good half hour before lunch. Saini, who bowled 11 overs at a stretch, finished with his best first-class haul of 6/32.
“My plan was to hit consistent lines and exploit the uneven bounce the pitch had to offer,” was how Saini summed up his efforts on Day 1. The medium-pacer, who missed the start of the current Ranji season due to an injury, conceded his captain’s unflinching support had boosted his morale.
Delhi got off to a woeful start, losing openers Gambhir and Unmukt Chand early.
However, a 99-run third-wicket stand between Dhruv Shorey and Nitish Rana provided stability to the innings. The duo did not do anything spectacular.
Instead, they displayed doggedness and an intent to build a partnership — something which Maharashtra lacked.
Southpaw Rana once again impressed, but a big three-figure score continued to elude him. When he was trapped in front by medium pacer Shrikant Munde for 59, Delhi were already ahead by 28 runs.
Brief scores: Maharashtra 80 in 25.4 ovs (N Saini 6/32). Delhi 157/4 in 52 overs (D Shorey 54*, N Rana 59; S Mundhe 2/48).
