Rajasthan in no hurry on Day 1
VADODARA: Having the home advantage, Baroda were expected to put their best foot forward in the Ranji Trophy final against Rajasthan on Tuesday. But the home team, it seems, made a strategic error by opting to bowl first after winning the toss.
Though early morning dew does make Motibaug wicket friendly for the seamers in the first hour, Baroda had negated it by getting all grass shaved off.
The wicket hardly offered any movement to pacers and Rajasthan batsmen took advantage of the conditions and laboured to 198 for three on Day 1.
The visitors started on a cautious note as openers Aakash Chopra and Vineet Saxena scored at snail's pace against an inexperienced bowling attack. Despite the ball not doing much Chopra and Saxena took no chances as Rajasthan scored only 15 runs in first 10 overs. Left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt got the first wicket when he trapped Chopra leg before in the 36th over of the day. Chopra scored 34 runs in 111 balls, a rare failure for him this season.
Saxena fell soon after, given run out in a controversial decision in the 39th over. Rajasthan skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Robin Bist then steadied the ship and stitched together a partnership of 117 runs in 286 balls for the third wicket.
Kanitkar, who has gathered 469 runs from six matches this season, played yet another graceful knock of 61 to put his team in a comfortable position. Bist (56 runs, 156 balls) and Vivek Yadav (4 runs, 14 balls) were batting when stumps were drawn.
Scoreboard: Rajasthan (Ist innings): A Chopra lbw B Bhatt 34, V Saxena run out (Bhatt) 31, H Kanitkar c Williams b Waghmare 61, R Bist batting 56, V Yadav batting 4. Extras (b 4, lb 7, w 1): 12; Total (for three in 90 overs): 198; Fall of wicket: 1-67, 2-73, 3-190;
Bowling: M Vahora 19-4-51-0, S Vohra 20-8-33-0, B Bhatt 23-8-48-1, A Karambelkar 7-4-7-0, S Singh 12-2-30-0, A Waghmode 9-2-18-1.
Though early morning dew does make Motibaug wicket friendly for the seamers in the first hour, Baroda had negated it by getting all grass shaved off.
The wicket hardly offered any movement to pacers and Rajasthan batsmen took advantage of the conditions and laboured to 198 for three on Day 1.
The visitors started on a cautious note as openers Aakash Chopra and Vineet Saxena scored at snail's pace against an inexperienced bowling attack. Despite the ball not doing much Chopra and Saxena took no chances as Rajasthan scored only 15 runs in first 10 overs. Left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt got the first wicket when he trapped Chopra leg before in the 36th over of the day. Chopra scored 34 runs in 111 balls, a rare failure for him this season.
Saxena fell soon after, given run out in a controversial decision in the 39th over. Rajasthan skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Robin Bist then steadied the ship and stitched together a partnership of 117 runs in 286 balls for the third wicket.
Kanitkar, who has gathered 469 runs from six matches this season, played yet another graceful knock of 61 to put his team in a comfortable position. Bist (56 runs, 156 balls) and Vivek Yadav (4 runs, 14 balls) were batting when stumps were drawn.
Scoreboard: Rajasthan (Ist innings): A Chopra lbw B Bhatt 34, V Saxena run out (Bhatt) 31, H Kanitkar c Williams b Waghmare 61, R Bist batting 56, V Yadav batting 4. Extras (b 4, lb 7, w 1): 12; Total (for three in 90 overs): 198; Fall of wicket: 1-67, 2-73, 3-190;
Bowling: M Vahora 19-4-51-0, S Vohra 20-8-33-0, B Bhatt 23-8-48-1, A Karambelkar 7-4-7-0, S Singh 12-2-30-0, A Waghmode 9-2-18-1.
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