Ranadeb Bose has a swinging time

LEICESTER, Aug 3: As the erratic third arm of the Indian pace attack entertained himself and an enthusiastic crowd at the Leicester cricket ground here on Friday, Ranadeb Bose quietly raised his own hopes and chances for the third and final Test at the Oval.
The towering Bose, who looks like Jason Gillespie with long flowing hair and a headband but is actually a fan of Jim Morrison, bowled a disciplined spell of gentle seam and swing to prise out five for 51.
It helped the team restrict Sri Lanka A to 266; he was helped by a four-wicket haul from Ramesh Powar. The Indian XI were 25 for one at close, with Wasim Jaffer and Gautam Gambhir at the crease.
But Bose's wicket-taking antics were clearly not worrying Sree Santh; he was among the first to step into the balcony and applaud him as he led the team out of the field.
Bose, the country's leading wicket-taker last season, was probably glad to see Rahul Dravid lose the toss one more time. But he took a little time to settle down on a perfectly bright and sunny day for batting. With two left-handed batsmen at the crease it was always going to be difficult for him, anyway.
When a couple of over-pitched deliveries were dispatched to the boundary, he quickly made amends, pulling back his length. From the other end, Ishant Sharma extracted some pace but couldn't yield the breakthrough. Ramesh Powar, when he was introduced in the 10th over, took care of it.
Powar, who might be hoping to break into the team ahead of Anil Kumble, was as flighty as ever. He tossed the ball up and managed some turn too; he eventually picked up four but was the most expensive too. Kumble didn't pick up a single wicket but it's unlikely that the spin-question has been settled.
Interestingly, MS Dhoni, who was relieved from wicketkeeping duties, got to bowl three overs too. Even Yuvraj Singh got to ball three overs of left-arm spin. But the day really belonged to Bose: in the immediate sessions on either side of the lunch break, he picked up three wickets.
Bowling from a height, swinging the ball way and getting some bounce too, he had the impressive figures of 6-2-7-3. In fact, after lunch, they read 4-1-3-2. It was only when captain Thilan Samaraveera - who top-scored with 75 - rallied his tail around him that he suddenly looked expensive again.
Earlier, Test discard Michael Vandort scored 52. Dilruwan Perara (34) and Kaushal Lokuarachchi (35) chipped in with a few useful runs too.
SCOREBOARD
Sri Lanka A(1st innings): M Vandort c Gambhir b Bose 52, M Udawatte b Powar 20, M Perera c Laxman b Bose 34, B Warnapura c Karthik b Bose 3, T Samaraweera c Karthik b Powar 75, J Silva c & b Sharma 4, K Lokuarachchi lbw b Bose 35, K Prasad not out 23, H Herath lbw b Powar 0, A Ganegama b Powar 0, A Welegedara c Karthik b Bose 1. Total (76.2 overs): 266.
Extras (b4, lb12, w2, nb1): 19.
FoWs: 1-32, 2-105, 3-111, 4-122, 5-146, 6-208, 7-259, 8-259, 9-261, 10-266.
Bowling: Bose 18.2-4-51-5, Sharma 17-5-57-1, Powar 24-2-85-4, Kumble 11-1-36-0, Dhoni 3-0-13-0, Yuvraj 3-1-8-0.
India (1st innings): D Karthik c Silva b Prasad 11, W Jaffer batting 7, G Gambhir batting 3. Total (1 wkt; 11 overs): 25.
Extras (lb2, nb2): 4. FoWs: 1-20.
Bowling: A Ganegama 5-3-5-0, A Welegedara 3-1-15-0, D Prasad 2-0-3-1; M Perera 1-1-0-0.