da 888： The third day of the Ranji Trophy final at the Wankhede stadium endedin much the similar fashion as the second
Anand Vasu21-Apr-2000The third day of the Ranji Trophy final at the Wankhede stadium endedin much the similar fashion as the second. Just overs before thescheduled close of play the batting side was bowled out. However,that’s where the similarity ends. Hyderabad were in deep troubleyesterday and were bowled out for just 195. Mumbai on the other handused the batting conditions superbly.Sameer Dighe and Wasim Jaffer both got starts but could not goon. Dighe in particular was aggressive from the word go. Though he hasnever looked extra special, Dighe has made his share of half centuriesthis season. Alongside him, recent Test cap Wasim Jaffer battedsolidly. He took very few chances and helped himself to a half centurybefore he was snared by veteran spinner Kanwaljit Singh.The wily old fox of Hyderabad cricket had his second scalp when anappeal for LBW was upheld against Sameer Dighe. Dighe had made 46.The pattern of getting starts and not being able to cash in continuedas Jatin Paranjpe made a confident 42 before he fell to the other acespinner in the side Venkatapathy Raju. But with the arrival of SachinTendulkar at the crease the complexion of the game changedcompletely. Cutting and pulling with gay abandon, Tendulkar was inmajestic touch. In the company of first innings centurion VinodKambli, Tendulkar decimated the Hyderabad bowling. If he had battedMumbai to a win against Tamil Nadu in the semifinals, he blastedMumbai to a winning platform today. His innings of 128 came quickerthan a run a ball and included three majestic sixes in addition to 13boundaries.Vinod Kambli’s 105-run partnership with Tendulkar came to an end alittle later than it should have. Flashing hard at a ball from mediumpacer Fiaz Ahmed, Kambli looked back in anxiety as the ball headedstraight for the slips. Luckily for him, neither Raju at second slipnor VVS Laxman at third had made even the slightest movement in thedirection of the ball.Paras Mhambrey (31) played a useful hand once more and even AbeyKuruvilla joined in the action and swatted a couple of boundariesbefore he holed out at long on and the Mumbai innings ended on409. Raju who toiled hard all day for his 28.3 overs had 5/123 to showfor it. The other spinner in the team Kanwaljit Singh ended with fourwickets, leaving just the solitary wicket to the medium pacers.When the Hyderabad team comes out to bat tomorrow they will be lookingat a stiff target of 591. If victory is not something they will chooseto go after, then they have the equally difficult task of survivingtwo full days at the crease. Things are very difficult for theHyderabad team at the moment. Unless they can conjure up somethingreally special, things will only get harder as time goes on.