da 888casino： Railways stormed into the final of the coveted Ranji Trophychampionship beating Punjab by 5 wickets at the PCA stadium in Mohalion Monday
Staff Reporter09-Apr-2001Railways stormed into the final of the coveted Ranji Trophychampionship beating Punjab by 5 wickets at the PCA stadium in Mohalion Monday. This is the second entry of Railways into the title clashand comes after a gap of 13 years.Resuming at six without loss in pursuit of a target of 199, thevisitors began on a cautious note as they scored only 55 runs in thefirst session in which 36 overs were bowled. This was primarily doneto ensure that the Punjab team did not get an early breakthrough andrun through the Railways innings. The overnight batsmen Amit Pagnisand Sanjay Bangar successfully negotiated the opening spell ofGagandeep and Vineet Sharma.Spin was introduced as early as the 11th over to make use of thebowlers’ footmarks. The opening pair took the score to 47 runs beforePagnis, who struck two elegant boundaries of Sandeep Sawal, offered asimple return catch to the left arm spinner Babloo Kumar, as he triedto play the bowler towards midon.Tejinder Pal Singh who joined Pagnis, struck Sandeep Sawal throughcovers to open his account. A spanking straight drive by Tejinder offMunish Sharma was the shot of the day; none of the fielders budged asthe ball raced to the fence. The partnership between Tejinder andSanjay Bangar tilted the match in favour of Railways but with thescore on 110, Tejinder (34, 4×4) offered a simple catch to substituteDinesh Mongia, who was the lone fielder in the slip cordon.Yere Goud, known for his cool temperament proved to be an able ally toBangar as both of them kept the scoreboard moving by taking singlesand twos. They carried the total to 125 when Bangar needlessly chaseda wide delivery from Gagandeep only to be caught by wicket keeperVikram Rathore for an individual contribution of 47. Skipper AbhaySharma scored a boundary and a towering six off Sandeep Sawal.However, the bowler had the last laugh as he had Sharma caught in theslips by Mongia for 17 at the stroke of tea.At the score of 168, umpire S.Banerjee ruled Yere Goud leg before asthe batsman tried to play a full pitched delivery from Reetinder Sodhihalf cock. The usually dependable Goud had contributed 25 runs off 66balls including four hits to the fence. With 31 runs still requiredfor victory, there was a slight flutter in the Railways camp.But Raza Ali had other ideas, striking six boundaries in the course ofan unbeaten 32, with his winning shot coming off Sandeep Sawal.Shreyas Khanolkar remain unbeaten on 12 as Railways clinched the issuejust four balls before the mandatory overs were to begin. For PunjabGagandeep, Sodhi, Vineet Sharma, Babloo Kumar and Sandeep Sawalclaimed one wicket each.