PANAJI
For much of the two sessions of play it was all sweat and toil for the Goa bowlers as the overnight batsmen, and centurion Kunal Mahajan, in company of the emerging all-rounder, Raj Bawa grinded the visiting Chandigarh side to safety in the second round Ranji Trophy Elite Group C clash at the Academy ground in Porvorim, on Monday.
Resuming from an overnight 348-5, Kunal Mahajan batting on 109 and Raj Bawa on 64 continued to shore up the challenge with their tenacity, temperament and skill on a wicket that was largely unresponsive to the home attack and barely troubled the batsmen. Mahajan though offered a regulation chance on 134 off Right arm Medium, Lakshay Garg which was grassed by the substitute, Manthan Khutkar positioned at gully. Chandigarh then had 389 on board, were still 229 runs adrift and a wicket lost as early as the 17th over on the final day could have been a defining moment.
With Goa captain Darshan Misal introducing himself into the attack, promising signs of a breakthrough were evident. Early in his first spell of the day, the Slow Left arm Orthodox bowler deceived Raj Bawa on 90 (236b, 11x4,1x6) to edge one to Deepraj Gaonkar in first slip. Though the 21-year-old Bawa missed out on a well-deserved maiden hundred in only his third match at the level, to his credit he played his part admirably well in an invaluable sixth-wicket stand of 203 in 433 balls and spanning 301 minutes with Mahajan. Misal was on top of his game on a wicket that every other bowler found ineffective. Within the space of six runs and fifteen deliveries, Misal scalped another batter, with keeper-batsman, Mayank Sidhu (4) pouched by Gaonkar at first slip as Chandigarh slipped to 409-7. The visitors at this point still required another 60 runs to avoid the prospect of a follow on. While Misal had his act together and found some purchase, his spin twin, Mohit Redkar with his off-breaks was unable to inject the pressure from the other end to hasten a collapse. Misal kept pegging away and trapped Kunal Mahajan in front for a monumental 147 (307b, 20x4, 429 minutes). Chandigarh were further reduced to 428-8 in the 138th over, and lunch was imminent. The visitors went to lunch at 442-8 in 144 overs with Murugan Ashwin on a resolute 17 (36b, 1x6) and Jagjit Singh on 5 (22b, 1x4) frustrating the Goa attack with an unbeaten 14-run stand.
Upon resumption, and just three runs shy of averting the follow on, the visitors lost their ninth wicket with Redkar finally getting his reward on the day when Misal at first slip caught Murugan Ashwin who made a useful 27 (64b, 1x4, 1x6). There was an anti-climax as the push to make the home side bat again seemed like eternity, as even a couple of maidens were played out. Eventually, it was last man, Sandeep Sharma who ran two with a shot towards covers off Redkar as he not only opened his account but ensured that the visitors avert the follow on. The last wicket finally fell on 479 when Sandeep on 2 was taken at gully by Ishaan Gadekar as Misal was rewarded with his fifth 5-fer in Ranji. Jagjit Singh stayed unbeaten on a plucky 29 (79b, 4x4, 1x6).
With a 139 runs lead, Goa came out to bat a second time with 55 minutes to negotiate. The Goa openers, Ishaan Gadekar on 17(24b, 2x4) and Rahul Tripathi on 5 (31b) saw their side to close of play at 25-0 in 9 overs. As the prospect of a result was not possible, and with both the sides taken into consideration, the match was called off by the on field umpires at tea. Goa pocketed three points on the basis of their first innings lead and moved to the fifth position from the bottom of the eight-team Elite Group C table. Meanwhile, Chandigarh took home a point from the draw.
BRIEF SCORE: Goa, 1st innings. 618-7 decl in 160 overs (Suyash Prabhudessai 197, Deepraj Gaonkar 115*; Jagjit Singh 2-79) & 25-0 in 9 overs vs Chandigarh, 1st innings. 479 in 160 overs (Kunal Mahajan 147, Raj Bawa 90, Arslan Khan 84; Darshan Misal 5-110)
