Badani, Shewag script remarkable India Seniors triumph

Hemang Badani scored a brilliant unbeaten 104 before his home crowd to turn possible defeat into glorious victory in the final of the Hero Honda NKP Salve Challenger Series at the floodlit MA Chidambaram stadium on Thursday.

Replying to India A's imposing total of 311 for six in 50 overs, India Seniors were in a hopeless position at 96 for five in the 18th over. But then Virender Shewag joined Badani and the two changed the complexion of the game with some great running between wickets and a lot of innovative strokeplay. They added 168 runs off 24.4 overs to have the crowd on their feet before some fine work by RS Sodhi in the field had Shewag just short of the crease. Shewag made 94 off 95 balls with nine fours and two sixes.

Sunil Joshi joined Badani and the two left handers hastened the pace. Badani kept his appointment with his century and he and Joshi saw India Seniors through to a remarkable victory with 1.5 overs to spare. Fittingly, Badani got the winning run to cap a great tournament for him. In the two earlier games he scored 64 not out and 70. In all, the 24-year-old Chennai born left hander faced only 87 balls hitting six fours and three sixes. Joshi, for his unbeaten 22 faced only 18 balls hitting a six and a four.

Earlier, Ajit Agarkar removed openers SS Das and Vikram Rathour with 33 runs on the board. Skipper Sourav Ganguly scored a bright 34 off 24 balls. But then in quick succession, Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Yuvraj Singh left putting India Seniors in a precarious position at 96 for five. Then came the grand recovery.

Earlier, India A after a slow start, hit 153 runs in the last 20 overs to end up with a challenging score.

Batting first on an extremely hot and humid afternoon, India A struggled to score runs and after 15 overs, were 69/2. The two wickets to fall caused some confusion and controversy, both of them caught by Rathour off Srinath who bowled with a lot of fire and bounce on a dead Chepauk pitch.

Sriram was the first batsman to be dismissed for just four in the third over. Sriram stood his ground as Rathour had taken the catch low down and close to the ground. The third umpire SC Gupta took a long look at the TV replays before adjudging him caught behind.

Ramesh played some awesome drives off Zaheer and Srinath and was looking like getting back to his best. In the 11th over of the innings, Srinath got one ball to move away from Ramesh and there was a muffled appeal by the bowler and close in fielders. The events that followed might be crucial to Ramesh's career.

Ramesh (26 with 4 fours) was given out caught behind. A visibly upset Ramesh did himself no favour by standing his ground for a long time and gesticulated at both the umpires that the ball had hit his pads. He kept on talking to the umpires and walked off the ground when nobody would listen to him. His miserable run with the bat continues with the third failure of the series that could well ruin his chances of a place in the national side. To add to his misery, all this happened right in front of the selectors and the coach, who might not be pleased by his indiscipline on the field.

Dravid and Hrishikesh Kanitkar added 99 runs for the third wicket off 18 overs to put the innings back on track. And the impetus was maintained with Dravid and Jacob Martin putting together 101 runs for the fourth wicket off 15.5 overs.

Dravid and Kanitkar played some sensible cricket, playing the ball into the vacant spaces and building up the innings. Dravid who was hampered by cramps moved along with the help of a runner, Sriram.

Kanitkar was easily the more aggressive of the two batsmen, striking eight boundaries in his innings. He did not hesitate in stepping out of his crease and lofting the ball on either side of the wicket, whenever the ball was given some air.

Kanitkar was finally caught by Yuvraj Singh in the covers off the bowling of Shewag for 56. He faced 69 balls in his stay at the crease.

Dravid who looked good for a big hundred, despite being visibly in discomfort with cramps, was dismissed after making 88 runs off 105 balls. He struck five boundaries in his stylish effort at the crease. When Javagal Srinath came in to bowl his second spell, Dravid played one of the most stunning cover drives of the series. He stood there and whacked it through the covers, striking it clean on the rise. Nobody moved an inch as the ball sped into the fence like a bullet.

Dravid was dismissed going for the big shot, caught by Yuvraj at the second attempt in the 45th over off the bowling of Nehra. Jacob Martin and Dravid then came together. Martin was a revelation today, striking the ball as clean as a whistle to all parts of the ground. He made 61 runs off 58 balls with the help of eight boundaries before being run out by a throw from SS Das to Rathour.

Towards the end of the innings Agit Agarkar and RS Sodhi played explosively to carry the total past 300. Agarkar made 27 runs off a mere 15 balls, striking a six and two boundaries, all off Ashish Nehra. Sodhi remained unbeaten on 22 off 13 balls with a six and a four. Saurav Ganguly who bowled the last over did a wonderful job, giving away just six singles.