UP thrash Baroda, Railways mow Bengal in Ranji semis

Lucknow, Mar 19 (UNI) A responsible unbeaten 99 by allrounder Jyoti Yadav helped Uttar Pradesh pulverise Baroda by 102 runs to set up a title clash for the Ranji Trophy Inter-State One Day Tournament with Railways, who crushed Sourav Gaguly powered Bengal by 101 runs in the other semi-final here today.

With the win, UP, the joint winners of the last edition of the one-day tourney, are just one step away from completing a rare golden double after their maiden Ranji Trophy title triumph last month.

The local favourites set Baroda a victory target of 218 in the stipulated 50 overs at Gomti Nagar stadium.

Jyoti Yadav played a patient knock of 99 not out to help the hosts post a respectable total of 217 for nine. For Baroda, pacer Sankalp Vora claimed five wickets for 34 runs, while seasoned seamer Zaheer Khan ended with two scalps for 34 runs.

Chasing the target, Baroda collapsed like a house of cards for 115 in the 40th over, against some accurate bowling by Shalabh Srivastava (three for 11), Praveen Kumar (two for 28) and spinner Ali Murtaza (two for 25).

In the other semi-final at the KD Singh Babu Stadium, Railways scored a respectable total of 266 for seven in the alloted 50 overs with opener T P Singh (90 not out) and skipper Sunjoy Bangar (44).

Bengal Pacer S S Paul claimed five wickets, while spinner Sourashish Lahiri bagged two.

In reply, despite having a flying start through openers Subhomoy Das and former Team India skipper Sourav ganguly, the Bengal side was bundled out by a disciplined Railway bowling attack for 165 runs in the 39th over.

Bangar, G Shankar Rao, Kulamani Parida and Madan Yadav claimed two wickets each, while former internationals J P Yadav and Harvindar Singh claimed a wicket each.

The two finalists UP and Railways now clash for the crown of the inter-state tourney on Tuesday at the K D Singh Babu Stadium, in the backdrop of UP's facile win over the same rivals in the qualifying round of the same tourney last month in Jaipur.

The semi-final match between Railways and Bengal, which was expected to be a thrilling one, proved to be one-sided, with the Bengal players not putting up their best efforts. Winning the toss and subsequently opting to bat, the Railways piled up a comfortable 266 runs for eight which included a patient and unbeaten 90 run knock by T P Singh comprising six boundaries of 104 balls.

Two dropped catches of Amit Pagnis and J P Yadav, who made 31 and 29 respectively, also added to the woes of the Ranji elite group runners up Bengal.

The eastern state which was banking on former Team India skipper Sourav Ganguly, fell flat, with the stylish southpaw not living up to the team's aspirations. The Railway batsman first plundered 23 runs of four overs bowled by Sourav and then cleaned him up for 22 comprising of four boundaries.

Chasing 267 set by the Railways, the Bengal side started with a bang, as openers S Das and Sourav put on a stand of 62 runs in just 12.5 overs. However, after the departure of both Das and Sourav with team score reading 66, the entire Bengal team collapsed at 165, with only Laxmi Ratan Shukla offering some resistance with 29 runs that included four boundaries.

Later talking to mediapersons Railway skipper Bangar attributed the victory to team effort and added he was confident of beating the hosts in final on Tuesday, on the same ground where UP had last month registered their maiden Elite Group Ranji title triumph.

''We will do with UP what we did with Bengal today. It will be a sweet revenge for us against the hosts who defeated us in the qualifying rounds of this tourney in Jaipur,'' maintained Bangar.

At the Gomti Nagar Stadium, UP, batting first after Baroda won the toss, were at one state tottering for 48 for four, with four of their top batsmen Praveen Kumar, Shivakant Shukla, skipper Suresh Raina and Ravikant Shukla, falling prey to destructive bowling by pacers Sankalp Vora and Zaheer Khan.

Dependable southpaw Jyoti Yadav, however, donned the role of the crisis man, with a patient knock of 99 not out. The lanky all rounder from Allahabad, first put on 64 runs with Anshul Kapoor for the fifth wicket and then followed it up with 58 run partnership for the sixth wicket, with Mohd Saif, the elder sibling of Team India bat Mohd. Kaif.

The stout left hander, however, was unlucky to miss out on a deserving century, as he could not score off the bat on the last ball of the innings which ended on 217 for nine. Jyoti hit seven fours in his 113 ball unbeaten knock.

Left arm pacer, Sankalp Vora was the pick of the Baroda bowlers claiming five wickets for 34 runs. Seasoned left arm seemer Zaheer Khan, attempting a comeback among the Men in Blue, ended up with two wickets also for 34 runs.

Chasing a modest 218 target on a track with erratic bounce, Baroda willow wielders surrendered meekly before a spirited host bowling. Barring Zaheer Khan, with 23 (three boundaries and a six), Ketan Panchal 27 and skipper Jacob Martin with 19, no other Baroda bat could stand against the UP bowlers.

For the hosts Shalabah Srivastava claimed three wickets for 11 runs, Praveen Kumar and Ali Murtaza with two wickets each and Ratnesh Mishra and Shivakant Shukla finished with a wicket each.

Following is the scoreboard of the Ranji Trophy One-day semi-final match played between Railways and Bengal here at the K D Singh Babu stadium:

Railways won the toss the elected to bat first:

Railways: Sanjay Bangar C Sanjib Sanyal b Sourasish Lahiri - 44 Amit Pagnis c&b S S Paul - 31 T P Singh not out - 90 J P Yadav run out - 29 Shresh Khanolkar c Gavaskar b S Sanyal - 23 Raja Ali b Sourasish lahiri - 00 Rahul Dev lbw b S S Paul - 05 J Shanker Rao c S Das b S S Paul - 09 Harvinder Singh run out - 05 K Parida not out - 00 Extras (bye-04, leg bye-08, wide-13,no ball-05) - 30 Total - 266 for loss of eight wickets in 50 overs Fall of wicket: 1/83, 2/93, 3/157,4/212, 5/220.6 /232, 7/256, 8/264 Bowling figures: S S Paul 10-0-44-3 R Bose 10-0-51-0 Sanjib Sanjal 08-0-42-1 Sourasish Lahiri 10-0-45-2 Laxmi Ratan Shukla 02-0-12-0 Saurav Ganguly 04-0-23-0 Manoj Tiwari 04-0-21-0 Abhishek Juhnjunwala 02-0-16-0 Bengal innings: Subhomoy Das LBW b J P Yadav - 39 Sourav Ganguly b Harvinder - 22 A Jhunjhunwala c T P Singh b Madan Yadav - 07 Sourasish Lahiri c Yere Goud b Bangar - 06 Manoj Tiwari b Madan yadav - 07 Rohan Gavaskar c Rahul Dev b Bangar - 10 Laxmi Ratan Shukla c T P Singh b G Shankar Rao- 29 Deep Dasgupta b K Parida - 10 Sanjib Sanyal not out - 13 S S Paul c Harvinder b K Parida - 06 Ranadep Bose c T P Singh b G Sankar Rao - 00 Extras: ( Leg bye- 06, wide -08, no ball- 02) - 16 Total: 165 runs all out in 38.4 overs Fall of wickets: 1/62, 2/66, 3/82, 4/82, 5/95, 6/107, 7/141, 8/149 9/163,10/165 Bowling figures: J P Yadav 08-0-34-1 Harvinder Singh 07-0-40-1 Madan Yadav 07-0-29-2 Sanjay Bangar 04-0-08-2 G Shankar Rao 7.4-0-33-2 Kulmani Parida 05-0-15-2 Result: Railways won by 101 runs.

The following is the scorecard of the other semi-final played between UP and Baroda at Gomti Nagar Stadium.

UttarPradesh Praveen Kumar b Sankalp Vora 10 Shivakant Shukla b Sanakalp Vora 13 Suresh Raina c Williams b Vora 04 Ravikant Shukla b Zaheer Khan 09 Jyoti Yadav not out 99 Anshul Kapoor run out 26 Md Saif c D Salvi b Bhoite 18 Amir Khan c Bhoite b Zaheer 13 Ali Murtaza b Vora 04 Salabh Srivastava c Salvi b Vora 00 Avinash Yadav not out 00 Extras (B 4, LB 12, NB 1, W 4) 21 Total (for nine wickets in 50 overs)217 Fall of wickets 1/24, 2/35, 3/38, 4/48, 5/112, 6/170, 7/198, 8/214, 9/214.

Bowling analysis Zaheer Khan 10-2-34-2 Sankalp Vora 10-1-34-5 Yusuf Pathan 05-0-26-0 Ketan Panchal 08-0-40-0 Ajit Bhoite 10-1-40-1 Vishwanath Parmar 07-0-26-0 Baroda C Williams c Ravikant b Praveen 07 Rishikesh Parab c Avinash b Shalabh 00 Pinal Shah c Raina b Shalabh 01 J Martin b Ratnesh(Sup Sub) 19 D Salvi lbw b Praveen 00 Yusuf Pathan lbw B Shalabh 01 Ajit Bhoite run out (Avinash) 02 Ketgan Panchal c Amir b Shivakant 27 Zaheer Khan lbw Ali Murtaza 23 V Parmar lbw B Murtaza 00 S Vora Not Out 10 Extras (LB 11, W 7, NB 7) 25 Total (all out in 39.5 overs) 115 FOW 1/1, 2/6, 3/21, 4/25, 5/31, 6/35, 7/44, 8/80, 9/89, 10/115.

Bowling Analysis Salabh Srivastva 07-1-11-3 Praveen Kumar 10-1-28-2 Ratnesh Misra 05-0-18-1 Avinash yadav 07-1-16-0 Ali Murtaza 07-3-25-2 S Raina 03-1-5-0 Shivakant Shukla 0.5-0-1-1 Uttar Pradcesh won by 102 runs UNI TEAM ARS DH KP1908