da fazobetai： Oil and Natural Gas Corporation pipped New Zealand Cricket Academy atthe post in their MRF-Buchi Babu tournament semifinal at the MAChidambaram Stadium in Chepauk today
da fezbet： Sankhya Krishnan30-Aug-2000Oil and Natural Gas Corporation pipped New Zealand Cricket Academy atthe post in their MRF-Buchi Babu tournament semifinal at the MAChidambaram Stadium in Chepauk today. Chasing NZCA’s first inningstotal of 329, ONGC looked to be home and dry at 310/6 but leg spinnerAaron Redmond led a fierce counterattack, grabbing three wickets inthree overs to leave the oilmen on the verge of elimination at 318/9.That they finally made it was due to a generous slice of luck, threechances offered by the last wicket pair just eluding the fieldsmen.ONGC closed at 344 and the game was called off at tea by which timeNZCA had blasted 50 from six overs, losing three wickets in thebargain.Resuming at their overnight score of 171/4, ONGC lost Rizwan Shamshad(47) in the ninth over of the day, after the addition of 18 runs.Rahul Sanghvi joined Mithun Minhas and over the next two and a halfhours they resuscitated the cause with some adventurous play. Minhasgave left arm spinner Bruce Martin some rough treatment, hitting himfor a six and a four straight down the ground. Sanghvi was playing agood foil to Minhas, now and then playing a pull shot with flourishthat thudded into the pickets. The partnership had swelled to 71 whenMinhas (43) was enticed into slashing a short of length delivery fromChris Martin to James Marshall at gully. The batsman was rooted to thecrease in palpable disappointment.It was anybody’s call now with ONGC needing another 69 to seize thelead but Sanghvi and Mohammed Saif managed to whittle down therequirement to 47 by lunch and the oilmen appeared to hold thewhiphand as both teams adjourned for refreshments. Although Jacob Oramwas officially leading the NZCA and was on the field, wicketkeeperMartin Sigley had taken over the skipper’s duties in midstream. Sigleypersisted with the double spin attack after lunch and for a while itlooked to have misfired. Soon enough, Saif square drove Bruce Martinthrough the covers for back to back boundaries to herald the 300.At 310, Redmond won a bat-pad decision against Sanghvi, although thebatsman was clearly miffed at the verdict, gesticulating in annoyance.In the same over, the visitors appealed for another catch againstSandeep Dogra by the same fielder, Michael Papps, but this time a waryumpire Murali turned it down. Dogra however didn’t last much longer;in trying to cut Redmond he got an edge which travelled to JamesMarshall at slip off the wicketkeeper’s gloves. Feroze Ghyas was inand out in the same over, going for an ambitious drive which waspouched by Lou Vincent at short gully.It was Redmond’s fifth wicket, leaving ONGC twelve runs short and thegame had undergone one more somersault. Saif lived dangerously, edgingBruce Martin just wide of the lone slip for a couple. The scoremounted to 325/9 when Redmond began what transpired to be the decisiveover. Saif took a single off the first ball to expose last man AmitBhandari who heaved the next delivery high into the onside and, as itturned out, into no man’s land at square leg. Several figuresincluding the wicketkeeper scurried in the direction of the ball butwere foiled by the effects of gravity. At 327, Redmond was called fora wide. The batsman, Saif chanced his arm off the next ball, drivinguppishly through the covers. The fielder thrust one arm up in adespairing attempt but failed to make contact. The ball found its wayto the boundary. It was all over for the NZCA.Saif and Bhandari hit a six each to celebrate the occasion before theinnings came to a halt at 344 in the 110th over. The New Zealandersstarted their second knock in a frenzy of activity. Bhandari’s firstover went for 15 and he promptly disappeared into the comfortingreaches of the dressing room. Ghyas was slapped around for 22 in twoovers. Sanghvi had the intriguing analysis of 2-0-3-3 as NZCA reached50/3 at tea when the contest was consigned to the pages of history.
