da fazobetai： The match between India A and India B at the Motera stadium in Ahmedabadon the 12th of February began in frenetic fashion
Anand Vasu12-Feb-2000The match between India A and India B at the Motera stadium in Ahmedabadon the 12th of February began in frenetic fashion. On winning the toss,captain of the India A side Mohammed Azharuddin elected to bat. Thewicket continued to play true and was once again a batsman’s paradise.The score of 295 that India A notched up proved to be well beyond thereach of India B.J Arunkumar and Sanjay Bangar began very positively, carting the bowlingall over the park. Debashish Mohanty came in for some serious punishmentas Bangar smashed him for four boundaries in an over.Howerver, Arunkumar could not sustain the attack and was caught behind offthe bowling of Ganesh. Azharuddin then walked out to the middle and tookover the trail blazing. Azhar was especially severe against anything thatafforded him width and smashed the ball effortlessly through the off sideon more than one occasion. Sharath joined Azhar at the crease at the fallof Bangar’s wicket. Bangar’s innings of 46 included a flurry ofboundaries, but in the end was a slow knock.Sharath notched up yet another decent score in characteristic fashion ashe made full use of a good batting track. He was excessively comfortableoff the back foot and treated the bowlers with disdain. His 42 included 2fours and a six.Virendra Shewag had a bit of a dash, but was undone by a big turner fromMohammed Kaif after he had made just 21.Niraj Patel came to the wicket and played a gem of an innings. Theyoungster has shown remarkably good temperament thus far. For the bestpart of his innings Patel pushed the ball into the gaps and picked up saferuns. When the ball was there for the big shot, Patel lost no time inplanting his foot down the wicket and stroking the ball over the infield.Easily the best knock of the India A innings, Patel made an unbeaten 70off just 62 balls.Nayan Mongia proved to be a good foil for the young Patel and helped himself to 24 runs off 22 balls at the end of the innings.India A finished with a huge score of 295/5 off their 50 overs.Chasing a large score like 295 is not an easy task under any circumstances.The fact that the India B side was stacked with inexperienced cricketersdid not help their cause.India B chose to open the innings with Reetinder Singh Sodhi and NikhilHaldipur. Sodhi and Haldipur were clearly overawed by the task at hand andwent about the business of scoring runs with extreme caution. The slowstart that the openers gave the India B side made things difficult forMohammed Kaif who came in at the fall of Haldipur’s wicket.Following up on a good 90, Kaif once again got close to the century mark.In the company of Ajay Jadeja, Kaif stroked the ball around the park andplayed yet another solid innings. By the time Jadeja and Kaif gotcomfortable at the wicket, the required rate had climbed to unmanagablelevels. Kaif was dismissed on 93 and Jadeja on 79 and the rest of thebatting could do precious little as the last five wickets fell for apaltry 17 runs.India A won the encounter by 40 runs and will take on India Seniors in thefinal tomorrow. It is a shame that a side packed with talented youngsterscould not make the finals. However, Sodhi and Kaif will take heart fromthe fact that they have been picked as part of the Board President’sXI squad for the match against South Africa. In all, it was a game thatwas won and lost in the first 50 overs. 296 proved to be too large an askof the India B team.