Same old story: UP bundle out Maharashtra for 292

On a placid pitch where there was hardly any movement of the ball which came nicely on to the bat,Mohammed Kaif won the toss and put Maharashtra into bat.

The jinx of their first innings pathetic display continued as Maharashtra quickly lost two wickets in the first hour of play. Captain Harshad Khadiwale perished just after making 26. But the stocky Kedar Jadhav and medium built Sangram Atitkar steadied the wobbling Maharashtra ship as they put on a hundred run partnership for the third wicket.

Only in his fourth match,Sangram played like an established batsman driving and defending with consummate ease. He looked comfortable facing the pace and spin of UP’s international stars like R P Singh,Praveen Kumar and Piyush Chawla.

Before lunch,R P Singh and Praveen Kumar looked off colour,but post lunch R P Singh was at his fiery best as he unleashed a flurry of bouncers and short pitched deliveries. Kedar looked ill at ease facing Singh’s onslaught,but it was Sangram who played in copybook style driving,ducking and cutting the pacer with good feet movement.

After spotting the weakness of Kedar in facing the short pitched stuff,R P cornered him with extra pace and had him caught by Suresh Raina off another short-pitched delivery. Atitkar was out LBW,but clearly looked unhappy by the decision. Both Atitkar and Jadhav smashed nine fours apiece.

After Atitkar and Jadhav’s exit,it was the turn of Rohit Motwani and Ganesh Gaikwad to prove their mettle as the duo put on a racy 107 run partnership in little time. Both Motwani and Gaikwad kept the momentum going taking singles with ease and smashing the odd ball to the fence. Gaikwad smacked 11 fours in the innnings highest knock of 63 while Motwani hit eight fours in his 104 ball 57 run knock.

Both of them hardly looked in trouble facing the UP pace battery. Piyush Chawla,the leggie,made no difference as Motwani and Gaikwad continued to plunder the UP attack. Like Atitkar,Motwani also fell LBW but not before stamping his class.

But it was Praveen Kumar,the trusted lieutenant of Indian captain MS Dhoni in ODIs and 20/20s,who ran through the Maharashtra batting.

After his probing morning spell,Kumar announched his return post-lunch session by castling A Bawne with an unplayable delivery. And then Kumar just looked menacing,thwarted only by Gaikwad-Motwani partnership. Satish Tyagi,who looked a shade faster than R P Singh,bowled with lot of heart with without luck.

Chawla meanwhile did not trouble the batsman as the likes of Atitkar,Motwani and Gaikwad found it easy to handle him. Chawla however kept a good line,giving little room to the batters.

Scorecard:
Maharashtra (Ist innings)

H Khadiwale c Amir Khan B B Kumar 26

R Bhosale c Amir Khan B P Kumar 14,

S Atitkar LBW B P Kumar 55

K Jadhav CT S Raina B RP Singh 49

A Bawne b P Kumar 5,

R Motwani LBW P Kumar 57,

Ganesh Gaikwad c SS Shukla B P Chawla 63

D Waghmare b RP Singh 1

K Adhav c RP Singh B P Kumar 7

J Patil b P Kumar 0, Fallah not out 0

Bowling:RP Singh 21/7/50/2,Praveen Kumar 22.2/9/68/6,B Kumar 14/4/491,S Tyagi 9/0/49/0,Piyush Chawla 19/4/51/1,S Raina 3/1/12/0.