Hard Grind

That's what the Maharashtra batsmen went through as they eked out a 45-run first innings lead to collect three crucial points against Andhra

Suhrid Barua, Pune Mirror, November 13, 2008

Maharashtra may be sedately jumping for 'joy'after garnering 'three' crucial points by virtue of their 45-run first innings lead over Andhra (provided we don't commit hara-kiri and lose the game which looks a remote possibility with one day left on a track that has shown no sign of affording any turn). But not many would disagree that the State team were made to dig deep into their reserves even as they surpassed the first innings score of their opponents.

Mind you, Maharashtra resumed at a formidable overnight score of 205 for one on day three. And the stage was set for the State batsmen to make merry and drive the visitors to despair.
But contrary to what was widely expected by the spectators, the script took a different turn. Andhra bowlers devised a strategy to stifle the flow of runs from the Maharashtra batsmen. Setting a 8-1 field (eight on the off-side and one on the on-side) for most part, they kept repeatedly pitching it wide off the off stump, making it difficult for Maharashtra to keep up the same scoring rate they maintained on day two. Andhra seamers – Kalyankrishna and Vijaykumar kept pegging away outside the off stump, and the Maharashtra batsmen seemed to fall into the defensive field trap set by their opponents, something State coach Shaun Williams acknowledges.

"I think the Andhra bowlers executed their plans near perfectly. Every team, which is pushed on the back foot, would resort to defensive tactics. You don't expect them to pitch it within the stumps and get whacked around. I reckon we allowed them to succeed with their plans as we didn't do anything different to unsettle their rhythm," Williams admits.

From Maharashtra's perspective, the situation demanded someone to stuck in and get a big one and put State in a position from where they can go for a win. But have a look at Rohan (Bhosale), Kedar (Jadhav), Ameya (Shrikhande) and Ankit (Bawne), they all got promising starts but were not able to convert them into big three-figure scores. "We needed someone to notch a big hundred which didn't happen today. Rohan fell early, Kedar, Ameya and Ankit got promising starts but I don't want to be harsh on them as run-making was made 'difficult' by the Andhra bowlers," explains Williams, who was quick to pick out Bawne's knock as a crucial one.

"Ankit played exceedingly well with the lower-order batsmen. His 44 may not look so good in the stats file, but in the context of this match it's an invaluable knock. If he had got out cheaply, who knows, we might have ended up conceding first innings lead. Full marks to him for the way he applied himself," remarked Williams who is now seeing visions of a win. "
A brilliant spell from Fallah in the first session you never know. But let's not be ahead of our ourselves and take one day, one session at a time and hope for the best," he added.