BASIL SYLVESTER PINTO
PANAJI
At stumps on Day 2, Goa were bowled out for 177 in 79.1 overs against Haryana in Round III of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group C at Chaudhry Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium, Lahli on Wednesday.
Resuming at 263/9, the home team added another 13 runs to their first innings score before last man, Ashish Hooda was dismissed at his overnight score of 10 to become Goa pacer Krishna Das’ sixth scalp. Hooda raised a vital 42-run stand for the last-wicket with lower-order bat Harshal Patel, who stayed unbeaten on 30.
Goa in reply, began disastrously. Amogh Desai (4) lost his wicket in the fourth over with only four runs on the board. His opening partner, Sumiran Amonkar laboured to a 65-ball 9 before losing his stick as well with only 37 on the board in the 20th over. This brought the experienced pair of captain Sagun Kamat and Karnataka professional Amit Verma together to do a repair job.
The seasoned batsmen raised an exact 50 for the third wicket before Verma (17) was snared by India discard offie, Jayant Yadav, who left Goa in a spot of bother at 87/3. Kamat found in last-match centurion, Snehal Kauthankar, another ally to forge another 50 plus stand. But Kamat, who looked to shepherd the side out of trouble with a big score, became the fourth Haryana victim at a crucial juncture when the slow left-arm orthodox guiles of batting all-rounder Chaitanya Bishnoi snapped him for a patient 68 (186b, 7x4).
The visitors lost their fifth stick of Kauthankar 25(74b, 4x4) at the same team score of 141. The lower half of Goa capitulated with only Suyash Prabhudessai, on First Class debut (10) and all-rounder Darshan Misal (13)
entering double digits. The spoils of the lower half of Goa batting was shared by Haryana medium pacers Poonish Mehta and Ashish Hooda. While Mehta had the most impressive returns of 4/21, Hooda complemented him well with 3/36.
Speaking to The Goan at the end of day’s play, Goa gaffer Prakash Mayenkar expressed optimism that his side
can still make a fair contest of the match. “Losing batting mainstay Sagun Kamat and Snehal Kauthankar in successive overs at the score of 141 turned the game around,” Mayenkar stated.
He also added that until the two were at the crease, (Kamat-Kauthankar raised 54 runs for the fourth wicket) the game was a keen
affair.
He acknowledged that Kamat succumbed to a soft dismissal while playing on to be the fourth wicket to fall while Kauthankar nicked a fantastic delivery that went away from the off stick to be snaffled at first slip.
“The rest of the batting just fell. It was not that they did not bat well, but the Haryana bowlers used the cooler, windy conditions to
good effect pitching in the right areas to get the desired results. In fact, if you go to see, post tea, and after 3.30 pm, the home side’s batting had similarly collapsed at the time where batsmen have to be extra careful,” he pointed out.
Mayenkar still nursed belief that there could be a result in this game in his side’s favour if not a draw. “We are in a tough situation now (trail by 99 runs after one completed innings each), but we are still in with a chance. It depends on the first session on Thursday. We have to bowl them out within 150 runs and then it could be anybody’s game,” he said.
Brief scores
Haryana 1st inns: 276 (H J Rana 86; Krishna Das 6/75), Goa 1st inns: 177 Sagun Kamat 68; Poonish Mehta 4/21)
