City fight back after Vinay’s heroics

Deepankar Sharda

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 27

Pondicherry veteran Vinay Kumar sparkled on a cloudy day at the Sector 16 stadium as he completed his haul of 500 First-Class wickets with a six-for on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Plate Group match against hosts Chandigarh here today.

The former India pacer took 6/36 to dismiss the hosts for 134 runs in their first innings after they were put in to bat by Pondicherry skipper Rohit Damodaren.

Kumar, who had 496 First-Class wickets in 136 matches before today, dismissed Chandigarh’s Bipul Sharma to bag his 500th wicket and join the likes of Kapil Dev (835 First-Class wickets), Zaheer Khan (672), Madan Lal (625), Vijay Hazare (595), Javagal Srinath (533) and Amar Singh (506 wickets) in the 500-plus club.

“There was nothing like going for records, but it’s a proud moment to take 500 wickets in First-Class cricket,” Kumar said after a challenging day’s play that saw the hosts fight back to reduce Pondicherry to 37/4.

“It’s good to be playing a dual role in the team. As a mentor, I always try to share my experience with the teammates and help them overcome pressure, and as a player, I always look to add to my kitty. The wicket is looking excellent to bowl on and all I need is to deliver my best,” Kumar had told reporters on Sunday.

Disastrous outing

It was a disastrous day for the hosts as they were bowled out within 38 overs. Kumar triggered a middle-order collapse with successive wickets and Sagar Udeshi wrapped up the tail.

After getting rid of an in-form Shivam Bhambri (10) in his first spell, Kumar returned to dismiss Raman Bishnoi (41) and Ankit Kaushik (0) on consecutive balls to reduce the hosts to 125/5. He then sent back Bipul Sharma (4), Gurinder Singh (0) and Arpit Singh in one over to ensure that his team had to chase a modest total.

Earlier, opener Arslan Khan made a fighting 42 before he was dismissed by Aravind. Skipper Manan Vohra fell to Udeshi on 12.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Uday Kaul, playing in his 100th First-Class match, remained not out on 19.

Fight back

Defending a low total, the Chandigarh bowlers led by Shresth Nirmohi came out all guns blazing and reduced the visitors to 37/4 before bad light brought an early end to the day’s play.

Nirmohi sent back opener Arun Karthick (7) before dismissing skipper Damodaren (0) and Suresh Kumar in his eighth over to bring the hosts back into the match.

S Karthik was cleaned up by Jagjit Singh Sandhu for 21, while PK Dogra remained not out on 7.