Day 1: Devinder, Abhey rescue Railways

PATIALA, 14 February : The cream of the Railways batting dug themselves a hole before Abhey Sharma and Devinder Singh came to the rescue with a fighting partnership, as the hosts scored 222 for 8 against Maharashtra by close of play, at the DCW Sports Stadium here.

After winning the toss, Railways decided to bat first on a firm pitch. The first hour of play was fruitful for the visitors as medium-pacers Iqbal Siddiqui (5 for 54) and Sachin Nair (3 for 64) had Railmen reeling at a desperate 58 for five before Abhey Sharma (79 off 203 balls, with nine fours) and Devinder Singh (75 batting, off 220 balls with ten fours) provided some stability with a useful 113-run sixth wicket pertnership.

The hosts were on the mat in the pre-lunch session itself was due to some indiscreet strokeplay with none of the top-order batsmen moving their feet and attempting drives away from the body. In the process they nicked the ball to keeper Sanjay Khandalkar who excelled with some fine glovework taking four catches.

Day 2: Kale props up Maharashtra

Railways hopes of taking the vital first innings lead slowly evaporated as Maharashtra cruised comfortably to 216 for 3 in reply to the hosts first innings score of 270 at close of play today. After being precariously placed at 37 for 2, Abhijit Kale emerged the saviour with a century of great flourish as he guided his team towards a first innings lead and consequently five important points.

Abhijit Kale showed flawless technique and admirable courage in his 290 minute vigil at the crease during which he was involved in a crucial 125-run stand for the third wicket with S.Sugwekar. Not only was Kale confidence personified, but he also showed tremendous understanding of the situation even as he played some beautiful shots, particularly square of the wicket to steady the floundering Maharashtra innings.

Hosts medium-pacer Zakir Hussain and Sanjay Banger used the new ball intelligently and had both the openers, skipper Surendra Bhave and Hemant Kinikar, fishing outside the off stump. With only 5 runs on the board, Hussain flummoxed Bhave with a late outswinger only to see the ball kissing the outside edge of the bat to land safely in keeper Abhey Sharma's Gloves.

Maharashtra were gasping at 37 for 2 when an overconfident Hemant Kinikar tried to square cut a short ball from Sanjay Banger but found his rasping and uppishly executed cut being superbly held by Prahlad Rawat at backward point in a reflex action catch. With two wickets down and not too many runs on the board the Railways delight soon turned into despair as a diving Prahlad Rawat saw the ball popping out of his hands at third slip when Sugwekar tried drive a Hussain outswinger.

This lapse proved costly as Sugwekar and Kale put their heads down to pull the visitors out of the woods with a big stand.

Earlier resuming from its over-night 222 for 8 the Railways tail failed to wag as first Balaji Rao took off for a non-existent run and then Manu Swami squared up to an Iqbal Siddique bouncer to present Kale with a fine catch at gully. Devinder Singh ran out of partners and found himself hopelessly stranded on 93.

Day 3: Maharashtra in command

Railways had a long and hard day in the middle as the Maharashtra batsmen rattled up an imposing 442 for 8 declared, taking a 172 runs first innings lead on the penultimate day of the match.

At the draw of stumps the hosts were fighting with their backs to wall being 47 for the loss of southpaw opener Asif Murtaza's wickets in their second essay, still needing 125 runs more to make Maharashtra bat again.

Abhijit Kale (151 off 331 balls, 20x4, 1x6, 425 minutes) who looked ominous yesterday, continued in the same spirit today playing a few scorching cover drives till a momentary lapse in concentration saw the batsman attempting a square cut. The ball dipped in late to take the outside edge of the bat en route to keeper Abhey Sharma. At the other end Siddarth Godbole's skill to work the spinners saw him compile a neat 87.

Increasingly insipid for most part of the day, the Railmen never strove hard enough to keep the interest in the match on an even keel as the visitors plundered runs at will. Barring a moment of brilliance produced by Asif Murtaza who dived, stopped, picked up and threw the ball in a flash to the non-strikers end to errase Godbole's 290 minutes stay, the fielding was sometimes lethargic and sometimes even awful.

There were a couple of edges and mishits when the batsmen were slogging it out in an attempt to make some quick runs but none went to the fielders.

Day 4: Railways, Maharashtra settle for draw

Railways rode on the resilience of Sanjay Bangar to salvage a draw against Maharashtra in the second Ranji Trophy super league match here today.

The qualities of Sanjay Bangar, who batted like a champ for a rejuvenated looking Railways side, were on severe test throughout the day. The youngster showed correct technique, immense maturity and remained focussed for every one of his 391 minutes stay even as he warded off an intimidating spell bowling by seamers Iqbal Sidduqui and sachin Nair in the pre lunch session- a session in which the Maharashtra bowlers needed a couple of wickets the most.

Sanjay Bangar's (131 off 306 balls, 15x4, 2x6) shot selection was perfect although there were a few nervous errors in the nineties en-route to the rookies sixth first class century. Bangar's innings was his way of underlining the importance of this game, which, had it been lost outrightly, might have meant the end of the road for the Railmen in this year's super league. Now with three points from this match added to the three snatched against Orissa in their previous tie, it has at least been ensured that Railways are on the right track for their remaining two fixtures against Tamil Nadu and Delhi.

The pitch even on the last day, did nothing for the bowlers except to severly test their resolve as Bangar and Rawat never choked under sustained pressure. True, the visitors were in with a semblance of a chance for an outright victory, but that was till their skipper Surendra Bhave grassed a simple catch at first slip in the over after lunch when Rawat tried to square cut Siddiqui off a delivery which was neither short nor wide. Rawat survived and Railways survived as he combined with Bangar, not only to put on 111 runs for the fourth wicket, but also nip in the bud whatever hopes the visitors might have nurtured for a outright victory at that stage.

The Railways played for survival in the first session,tried to consolidate their gains in the second one and in the last session the match had little importance except for the statisticians and record books.