The Hindu : Goa leads the table

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 10, 2002

Sport

Sport - Cricket

Goa leads the table

By Our Sports Reporter

BANGALORE Dec. 9. Goa leading the points table in cricket is unheard. But it is a statistic that lingers at the half-way stage of the South Zone Subbaiah Pillai Trophy tournament. The diminutive State's new found status should spur the three teams — Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Hyderabad — often considered as the `big three' to make amends when the tournament commences again after Monday's rest day.

The Goan (10 pts) sojourn to the top was aided by the victories against Andhra and Kerala. The loss to Tamil Nadu being the lone sore spot. The Goan batting line-up of Sagun Kamat, Swapnil Asnodkar, Avdhoot Amonkar and Mandar Phadke along with the all-round skills of Sandeep Dhahd has yielded the needed runs though a slump against Tamil Nadu did prove fatal. However Goa needs to beat Hyderabad and Karnataka in the remaining matches and that might well stymie the State's progress towards the victor's podium.

Defending champion Karnataka after the stutter against Hyderabad, recovered lost ground with a 29-run victory over Tamil Nadu. The visitor however remains at the second spot with 10 points and its only its lower net run-rate (0.551) that has helped Goa to be at the top with an NRR of 1.197.

Tamil Nadu has worries at the top of the order with Sadagopan Ramesh yet to find his runs while mainstay S. Sharath has remained lukewarm. Badani has played his cameos well until a run out against Karnataka stalled his progress.

The host bolstered with Kumble's presence and the experience of Venkatesh Prasad, Dodda Ganesh and Sunil Joshi has nine points and needs to win the remaining two matches with bonus points to nurture hopes of retaining the trophy it won in the last two editions. However the batting collapse against Hyderabad after a run-feast against Kerala, remains a cause for worry and Vijay Bharadwaj is still in search of a big knock.

Hyderabad's A.T. Rayudu succumbed to injudicious shots against Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and though he did make amends against Andhra, needs to improve his consistency. Vinay Kumar remains a vital cog in the Hyderabad batting line-up and he has performed well in the recent matches. The bowling with captain and left arm spinner Venkatapathy Raju in its ranks has found its dividends from young left arm spinner Inder Shekar Reddy.

Kerala and Andhra with below par performances languish at the bottom of the pile and will look at their remaining matches as an opportunity to salvage pride. A disturbing trend in the tournament is the bloated sundries list and in a one-day tournament where every run counts, easy runs in the form of no-balls and wides, can prove costly, especially when selection committee chairman Brijesh Patel and fellow-selector Kiran More are keeping a close watch.

Tuesday's matches: Karnataka vs Andhra, Tamil Nadu vs Kerala, Hyderabad vs Goa.

The points tally (read under `played' `won' `lost' `points (includes bonus points)' and `net run-rate'): Goa 3-2-1-10-1.197; Tamil Nadu 3-2-1-10-0.551; Karnataka 3-2-1-9-0.906; Hyderabad 3-2-1-9-0.162; Kerala 3-1-2-4-(-1.672); Andhra 3-0-3-0-(-1.070).

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