da pinup bet： When the result of a match is inconsequential, it is difficult foreven the most professional of cricketers to give off their best
Anand Vasu27-Sep-2000When the result of a match is inconsequential, it is difficult foreven the most professional of cricketers to give off their best. Thiswas exactly the note on which India A and India C locked horns in thefinal league match of the CricInfo 2000 Tourney in Delhi. Someinterest was infused into the match by the fact that the selectorswere present and the future of several cricketers depended on how theyperformed. India A scored a good win by 16 runs over India C in a lowscoring match.After their performance in the first match, India A had no hesitationin electing to bat when they won the toss. However, things began to gopretty badly for the A side. Purnima Rau, batting at the top of theorder alongside Aarti Vaidya, managed to get going. However AartiVaidya once again fell cheaply, being bowled by Jhulan after makingjust seven.In the company of stumper Reshma Gandhi, Purnima managed to push thescore on to 37 before she too was bowled, this time by Mamta Kishan.The pitch, which has been a source of growing concern for many, playeddead slow and every now and then a ball refused to rise off the turf.After Purnima Rau was dismissed, things went from bad to worse.While Reshma Gandhi looked in good nick and did not give any chances,she found virtually no support at the other end. Smitha Harikrishna,Jaya Sharma, Vaishali Landge, Jaya Sharma and Deepa Kulkarni allfailed to reach double figures. With almost three overs to spare,India A were all out for just 103. Offspinner Bindeshwari Goel with4/17 off her 9.1 overs picked up the last four wickets and returnedthe best figures of the innings.History is littered with cases of small scores posing big problems tochasing sides. Well, today was one of those days. Gulshan and AnjuJain looked positive from the word go. After her unbeaten 53 in theprevious game, Anju Jain looked like the ideal candidate to take thegame away from India A. However a terrible mix up where shouts of”yes! Yes! Wait! No…” left her stranded mid pitch, Anju Jain wasgone before she got off the mark. Gulshan was bowled before shereached double figures and two more run outs accounted for AmritaShinde and Hemlatha Kala. The former batted well to get to 16 but didnot manage to go on.Stumper Arundhati Kirkire made 13 before she slashed at a ball fromPurnima Rau to the waiting hands of Rupanjali Shastri at point.Wickets fell at regular intervals and the beginning of the 34th oversaw India B all but defeated at 58/8. A spunky last wicket partnershipof 29 between Bindeshwari Goel (9 not out) and the youngest member ofthe squad Mamta Kishen (16) raised hopes of the India C team. However,at the end of the day, when the last wicket fell to a run out andIndia C were all out for 87, the experience of Purnima Rau shonethrough. Using every bit of her vast cricket knowledge, she lead theside ably, constantly tinkering with fielding positions and changingthe bowling around.Although India A won this match, the final will not be a cakewalk.India C skipper Anju Jain is not one to take defeat lying down.Tomorrow is a different day, a different match and who knows, it mightthrow up a different result.