Railways clinch thriller against MP

INDORE: In the end, it was apt that ShailendraGehlot (12-2-20-4) got to hit the winning runs for Railways. The tall pacer could not have asked for a better day than this. First, he bowled a testing spell in favourable conditions to wreck Madhya Pradesh batting line-up and then hit a huge a six off left-arm spinner Ankit Sharma at deep mid-wicket to seal a thrilling one-wicket victory in the opening tie of the Central Zone Vijay Hazare One-day tournament here at Holkar Stadium on Thursday.
The Central Zone champs continued their giant-killing act, much like what they did last year and showed their 2012 performance wasn't a fluke. They bowled MP out for 172 in 45.5 overs and then held their nerves to achieve the target with two balls and one wicket to spare.
The overcast conditions prompted Railways captain Mahesh Rawat to put MP in and his pacers didn't disappoint. Gehlot, especially, bowled a brilliant testing spell and sent back dangerous duo of Naman Ojha and Jalaj Saxena with just 26 on the board. MP recovered well through the fighting third-wicket stand of 62 between Rameez Khan (26, 61b, 2x4) and Anand Singh (45, 70b, 7x4) but once the duo was separated, there was no one to stay with Harpreet Singh Bhatiya. The left-hander kept losing partners at the other end and remained unbeaten on 36 (44b, 3x4). Left-arm spinner Ashish Yadav was the beneficiary of some irresponsible batting by MP's lower middle order and picked up four wickets.
The target of 173 wasn't a daunting one but MP new ball bowlers-Ishwar Pandey and Jai Prakash Yadav-hardly gave an inch to Railways. Yadav tied one end up and Pandey ran through the Railways top order. Opener Shivakant Shukla (52, 73b, 7x4, 1x6) stood tall amongst the ruins. At one stage it looked he will safely take his team home. However, his departure gave MP another lease of life. Allrounder Karan Sharma was done in by brilliant work in the field by Harpreet next ball and the match was wide open once again. Two Mishras-Rakesh (34, 60b, 2x4) and Amit (26, 49b, 4x4)-then kept their cool to add 43 for the eighth wicket. The rush of blood led to the downfall of Amit and when KK Upadhyaya was stumped in the last over with scores were tied, it looked MP will clinch the issue but it was Gehlot's day who smashed a brilliant hit under pressure to open Railways' account.
BRIEF SCORES
MP 172 all out in 45.5 overs (Rameez Khan 26, Anand Singh 45, Harpreet Singh Bhatiya 36*; Shailendra Gehlot 4-20, Ashish Yadav 4-18) lost to Railways: 178-9 in 49.4 overs (Shivakant Shukla 52, Rakesh Mishra 34*, Amit Mishra 26: Ishwar Pandey 4-44, Anand Rajan 2-32, Ankit Sharma 2-35.
SCOREBOARD
MP: Naman Ojha c Rawat b S Gehlot 7, Jalaj Saxena c Rawat b Gehlot 5, Rameez Khan c Shukla b Gehlot 26, Anand Singh lbw Ashish Yadav 45, Udit Birla c Rawat b Gehlot 6, Harpreet Singh Bhatiya not out 36, Murtaza Ali b K Sharma 2, JP Yadav c Rawat b A Mishra 0, Ankit Sharma lbw Ashish Yadav 11, Anand Rajan lbw Ashish Yadav 0, Ishwar Pandey st Rawat b Ashish Yadav 9.
Extras: (lb 13, w 12) 25.
Total (all out, 45.5 overs) 172.
Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-25, 3-87, 4-99, 5-117, 6-121, 7-127, 8-150, 9-150.
Bowling: Shailendra Gehlot 12-4-20-4 (4w), KK Upadhyaya 10-3-18-0, Amit Mishra 8-0-36-1, Rakesh Mishra 8-0-53-0, Karan Sharma 4-0-14-1, Ashish Yadav 3.5-0-18-4.
Railways: Shivakant Shukla c Ojha b J Saxena 52, Amit Paunikar c Ojha b I Pandey 1, Hemant Shah c Ojha b I Pandey 10, Shadab Khan lbw b I Pandey 22, Ashish Yadav run out 11, Mahesh Rawat c A Singh b I Pandey 1, Rakesh Mishra not out 34, Karan Sharma run out 0, Amit Mishra c I Pandey b A Sharma 26, KK Upadhyaya st Ojha b A Sharma 1, Shailendra Gehlot not out 7.
Extras: (lb 3, w 9) 13.
Total (9 wickets, 49.4 overs) 178.
Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-28, 3-67, 4-100, 5-106, 6-114, 7-114, 8-167, 9-170.
Bowling: Ishwar Pandey 12-1-44-4 (3w), JP Yadav 10-2-25-0 (1w), Anand Rajan 10-2-32-2 (4w), Muratza Ali 1-0-7-0, Ankit Sharma 6.4-0-35-2, Rameez Khan 3-0-8-0.