Ranji Trophy – 2019-20 : Pondicherry Vs Arunachal Pradesh (CAP Ground-2)
Pondicherry, 19-22 Jan’20:
The sudden loss of form for the top order of Pondicherry showed it’s ugly face in the Ranji clash against Arunachal Pradesh after being put into bat first at the CAP Ground-2, Pondicherry.
After losing skipper Rohit for 3, the collapse started in an unimaginable way to put the team in a precarious position of 80 for 7 in the 22nd over on the first day. The resurrection took place with Sagr Trivedi and M.Viknesh putting all their efforts to resist the down fall and re-building the innings. The no.4 batsman S.Karthik played a patient knock to score 31 off 42 balls in the company of opener Arun Karthick, who scored 30 off 55 balls and the score board reading 77 for 4, the collapse triggered panic in the dressing room as the team was in a dire strait when they were 80 for 7, from where Sagar Trivedi swung the sword against Arunachal attack to score a lightening 79 off 72 balls with seven fours and a six to take Pondicherry to a reasonable score of 209 all out.
Vinay Kumar delivers when the team needs
Though Arunachal Pradesh was losing wickets at regular intervals, the middle order posed a threat by pushing the score along and was 155 for 7 and at that time Vinay Kumar brought back the team polishing off the tail of Arunachal to return with a rich haul of 6 for 51 and to restrict the opponent to 192.
Top order recovers from loss of form
Beginning the second innings with a slender first innings lead of 17 runs, openers Arun Karthick and S.Karthik took the team to 59 for 1 when the former was out for 36. Skipper Rohit, who was struggling to regain his form, put down his head and started slowly in the company of S.Karthik, who was out for 31. The no.4 batsman Paras Dogra joined and boostd his confidence with his free flow of strokes. Eventually, Rohit found his flow to take the team to safety before he was out for 46 off 72 balls. Paras Dogra scored a brisk 61 off 66 balls with the score reading 181 for 4. However, in the second innings, veteran Vinay Kumar took the turn and led the team to more safety in the company of tail-enders. Vinay Kumar remained unbeaten on 81 off 123 balls in the company of Sagar Trivedi (25) and Ashith (24) to take Pondicherry to 351 in the second innings and to set a target of 369 for Arunachal.
Glass palace crumbles
The confidence gained by Pondicherry bowlers after setting a target of 369 for Arunachal for a win, simply made them run through the opponent’s camp to finish the match with a full session and the fourth day left. After the top three batsmen were removed cheaply by Sagar Trivedi and Ashith and the score was 34 for 3, it was a cyclonic attack by Vinay Kumar to return with figures of 5 for 25 to take his tally to 11 wickets in the match. With a huge target and early loss top order, Arunachal Pradesh could not recover and was all out for 72 in their second innings. Pondicherry won the match by 296 runs and gained 6 points.
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