Sehwag, Badani power seniors to a splendid victory

Virender Sehwag and Hemang Badani scripted a brilliant five-wicket win for the India Seniors against India 'B' in Bangalore on Friday to bring their team back into contention in the N K P Salve Challenger series cricket tournament.

Sehwag hit a masterly 125 off only 93 balls and was involved in a 191-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Badani, who scored 77, as India Seniors overtook the 288 of India 'B' in just 39.5 overs.

Coming together when their side was precariously placed at 37 for three, Sehwag and Badani, who had performed well in the first match against India 'A' also, plundered runs at will to put their team on the victory path. Their effort negated the commendable knock of Dinesh Mongia who earlier in the day had hit a magnificent 131 to enable a handsome total for India 'B'.

With this win, India Seniors, who had lost to India 'A' by two wickets in the first match of the tournament on Thursday, kept their chances of qualifying for the final.

The finalists would be decided only after Saturday's clash between India 'A' and India 'B', which is a do-or-die battle for the latter.

The seniors had a poor start to their chase with skipper Sourav Ganguly once again failing with the bat.

Ganguly, who was out for two in Thursday's match, could manage only one on Friday before giving a catch to wicketkeeper Pankaj Dharmani off left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra.

The other opener Shiv Sunder Das (9) and Sunil Joshi (5), who was sent up the order to accelerate the scoring, were also out in quick succession to leave their team at 37 for three.

Sehwag and Badani then got down to score at an explosive pace, making a mockery of the asking run rate which started at 6.14 and was steadily climbing until they came together.

India Seniors had been penalised three overs for their slow bowling rate and were required to chase the target in 47 overs, but that was left totally meaningless in the end.

The duo brought up their 50-run partnership in just 26 balls, 100 in 62 balls and 150 in 105 balls as the asking rate came crashing down to just 3.85 in the last 20 overs.

The highlight of their association was the fine understanding between the two and their excellent running between the wickets.

India 'B' team's fielding, like their opponents earlier in the day, was disappointing and left much to be desired.

Sehwag reached his century in style smashing Sridharan Sriram for a boundary in an over in which he took 20 runs, including three fours and a six.

Sriram never bowled again in the innings. Sehwag finally fell to Sanjay Pandey when he gave a catch to Dharmani. His innings was studded with 17 fours and two sixes.

Badani was caught by Amit Bhandari off Anil Kumble after his 65-ball knock that included seven fours and a six.

Jacob Martin, who remained unbeaten on 28, and Sanjay Bangar (8 not out) then took their team past the victory target.

Earlier, Mongia staked his claim for a return to the national squad with a sterling knock that placed India 'B' in a strong position. Mongia, whose 131 came off just 118 balls and included ten fours and a six, added 136 runs for the second wicket with Mohammad Kaif, another cricketer awaiting a recall to the Indian team.

Kaif contributed a handsome 61 with the help of five fours and a six as he took the score to 148 in the company of Mongia after his team had lost opener Sriram (5) when the total was just 12.

Mongia was the fourth batsman out when he holed out to Shiv Sunder Das in the deep in the 42nd over but not before placing his side in a comfortable position at 229.

Vijay Bhardwaj (24) and Pankaj Dharmani (27) then chipped in with useful contributions down the order to give the finishing touches to the score.

For India Seniors, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh claimed two wickets, while Tinu Yohannan, Ganguly and Virender Sehwag took one wicket each.

Mail Cricket Editor