A march past at Eden

Jharkhand versus Saurashtra ends in 52.4 overs with both sides bowled out

A 50-OVER-A-SIDE match finished in 52.4 overs, two innings combined. Jharkhand folded for 125 in 27.3 overs batting first, but still managed to win the game by 42 runs because Saurashtra were 83 all out in 25.1 overs. The Vijay Hazare Trophy Group D fixture at Eden Gardens on Wednesday witnessed only one half-century - Jharkhand opener Ishan Kishan scored 53 - and just six double figures score overall. A seemingly unhappy MS Dhoni checked in at the curator’s corner after the match.

A fairly lengthy conversation ensued, although Eden curator Sujan Mukherjee shot down the confrontational angle. But we would come to that later.

The pitch looked a little damp with uneven bounce. Dhoni took a blow on the thumb, when Saurashtra medium pacer Shaurya Sanandia - he took five wickets made one climb up awkwardly off a length. Varun Aaron responded with a snorter that bruised Saurashtra opener Harvik Desai’s knuckles. Jaskaran Singh castled Sheldon Jackson with a grubber. “Pura bekar ki wicket (rubbish pitch),” remarked one senior Jharkhand player before heading towards the team bus.

Jharkhand coach Rajiv Kumar described the Eden surface as “a poor advertisement for limited-overs cricket”. A member of the Saurashtra team management expressed displeasure, saying: “Batsmen were always at bowlers’ mercy here and survival had been down to luck. The pitch had too much grass and was also a bit damp,”

The same pitch was used for Tuesday’s game between Karnataka and Saurashtra, which was a low-scoring affair as well. Karnataka won by 73 runs after posting a modest 201. But the deck didn’t look treacherous.

Mukherjee made an honest confession after Wednesday’s match, saying even he wasn’t happy with the pitch. “It was one of those days. Yes, I wasn’t satisfied with the pitch. It had a little bit of extra moisture. The way we have been preparing Eden Gardens pitches this season, it’s necessary to retain some grass. But (extra) moisture was the problem. We have been preparing very good pitches throughout the season. It’s just a one-off case I think,” he told The Indian Express.

But did Dhoni give him a piece of his mind? “Not at all. I know him from the Under-19 level. Our relationship is not confrontational,” Mukherjee replied.

It is learnt that covers were put on the pitch after watering it last evening. So the surface moisture couldn’t evaporate. On Wednesday, the top soil became sun-baked alright, but the moisture underneath remained, causing inconsistency in bounce.

A paltry total notwithstanding, Dhoni knew it could be winnable. He just unleashed Aaron from one end, who bowled 10 overs unchanged, returning with four for 20. Aaron’s pace and hostility proved to be a little too much for the Saurashtra batsmen. The fast bowler started off with three slips, a leg gully and a forward short leg. The bouncer to Desai was a psychological blow and the uncertainty trickled down to his team mates. Saurashtra surrendered.

Rahul Shukla also benefited from the pressure created at Aaron’s end, bagging four scalps for 32 runs. The seamers just had to hit the right areas, which they did consistently. The pitch did the rest. Spinners got only two overs in the match; one to Saurashtra’s Dharmendra Jadeja and another to Jharkhand’s Shahbaz Nadeem. They just put fillers.

Jharkhand 125 all out in 27.3 overs (Ishan Kishan 53, MS Dhoni 23; S Sanandia 5/47, K Patel 4/39) beat Saurashtra 83 all out in 25.1 overs (V Aaron 4/20, R Shukla 4/32) by 42 runs

BRIEF SCORES:

PTI As soon as the match got over MS Dhoni (right), unhappy with the pitch, had a brief chat with the curator.