Birla cements MP stand

NAGPUR: No idea works unless you work on the idea. Rajasthan didn't, Madhya Pradesh did.
It must have been a worrisome deja vu of sorts for Rajasthan. After a disappointing Thursday evening, it was almost an identical Friday twilight for them. As the cheers in the Madhya Pradesh camp became louder, Rajasthan players' faces become longer.
Having got a beating just a day ago, wounds were still afresh in both the camps.Thinking minds huddled and fresh strategies were chalked out. Then came the implementing part of it. Rajasthan did it only till the midway mark though. MP, akin to an obedient student, did what was needed of them till the very end and the result was there to be seen. MP, courtesy Udit Birla's maiden List A hundred, kept their hopes high defeating Rajasthan by four wickets in the Central Zone Vijay Hazare Trophy match at VCA, Civil Lines on Friday.
The Ranji Trophy champions, once again from a position of calling the shots, banged on to a pioneer performer and didn't get up again. With Naman Ojha, Jalaj Saxena and Mohnish Mishra back in the hut following opening bursts from Raman Chahar and Vikrant Yadav, Rajasthan looked good to run through the rest of batsmen. Then came Birla (102*; 125b, 9x4) and the tall lad grounded himself in the middle like a wall. The wall was too tough to break and too long to climb.
Though it wasn't a case of running out of partners for Birla, the sword of a collapse after that 48 all out performance was always hanging above him. It was needed of him to bat through. The 22-year old dropped the anchor nudging for ones and twos mostly with the straight bat at the beginning. It was only after he completed his half century that Birla started playing the shots square of the wicket. With 28 needed in the last five overs, he unleashed himself and stormed his team home.
At the dying moments, though it looked an MP dominated game, Rajasthan were pretty much into it earlier on. Most of the things they did were right. Put into bat, their openers negotiated the early danger; middle order put up a brave fight while the lower middle order used the long hand pretty well. Even after having lunch, the 30-3 scoreboard would have given them smiles. It was, however, Birla's day to have the last laugh.
Scoreboard
Rajasthan: S Chouhan c Ojha b R Khan 34, D Yagnik lbw b J Saxena 17, R Bist c A Sharma b J S Saxena 58, R Parida b A Sharma 10, P Yadav b J Saxena 57, V Deshpande c Ali b J Saxena 0, V Chanwaria st Ojha b A Sharma 3, R Chahar no 14, M Khatri no 14. Extras: (b 1, lb 8, w 7, nb 1) 17. Total: (7 wckts, 50 overs) 224. Fall of wickets: 1-44, 2-61, 3-80, 4-182, 5-182, 6-193, 7-193. Bowling: Sudhindra 9-0-31-0, A Rajan 6-1-30-0, A Singh 5-0-34-0, J Saxena 10-1-40-4, A Sharma 10-1-45-2, R Khan 10-0-35-1.
Madhya Pradesh: N Ojha c P Yadav b V Yadav 9, J Saxena c Chanwaria b Chahar 0, M Mishra c sub (R Singh) b Chahar 8, R Khan run out (V Yadav) 24, U Birla no 102, H Singh c&b Deshpande 33, M Ali run out (Deshpande) 4, A Sharma no 34. Extras: (b 1, w 8, nb 2) 11. Total: (6 wickets, 47.3 overs) 225. Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-11, 3-30, 4-60, 5-138, 6-151. Bowling: Chahar 9-0-39-2, Yadav 8.3-0-46-1, Khatri 10-0-35-0, V Chanwaria 5-0-35-0, G Singh 10-0-44-0, Puneet Yadav 2-0-15-0, V Deshpande 3-0-10-1.