Harvinder struck three vital blows

New Delhi: Harvinder Singh powered Railways’ engine yet again, bagging three crucial wickets to break the back of Rest of India on the opening day of the Irani Trophy match here on Sunday.

Right-arm medium-pacer Harvinder first dismissed opener Dheeraj Jadhav (53) to cut short a fine innings before striking two vital blows (Neeraj Patel and Parthiv Patel) in the afternoon session to drive a wedge through the Rest innings.

The young Rest side, having opted for first strike on a placid track, were eventually all out for 223 half an hour before stumps.

Ranji champions Railways were three without loss, with Amit Pagnis (2) and captain Sanjay Bangar (1) at the crease.

Railways also owed their fine day in office to spin duo Kulamani Parida and Murali Kartik. Off-spinner Parida scalped India Test opener Gautam Gambhir before polishing off the tail to finish with four for 61.

Left-arm spinner Kartik did his job by sending back talented duo Suresh Raina and Y. Venugopal Rao.

Railways coach Vinod Sharma was a happy man after play ended on Day I. “All bowlers including JP (Yadav) did an excellent job after we lost the toss,” he remarked.

The coach had a special word for Harvinder, wondering why he doesn’t get national call-ups regularly.

“Harvinder is one of the few well-equipped bowlers in the country capable of excelling on all pitches. I remember his six-wicket haul against Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy last year. If a bowler takes three or four wickets consistently on such docile tracks, he should be in the running for the Indian team,” the coach observed.

Things looked rosy when Gambhir and Jadhav opened the Rest innings.

The two left-handers had little difficulty in negotiating the new ball which was shared by Harvinder and Yadav. The openers put on 82 before Gambhir fell to a rash stroke. Just when he looked set for a big knock, he had a swipe at Parida only to top-edge the sharp turning delivery to Kartik.

Gambhir’s 47 came off 85 balls in 115 minutes, and included five fours.

Kartik then had Raina (17) caught-behind by Sudhir Wankhede as the left-hander played around his hips.

The first signs of Harvinder’s capabilities with the old ball was seen in the fourth over after lunch when he trapped Jadhav leg-before. The Maharashtra batsman faced 140 balls and hit four boundaries in his half-century.

Kartik picked up his second wicket when he had Rao caught by Vineet Saxena for six. Harvinder then had left-handers Neeraj and Parthiv both caught-behind to put Rest of India well and truly on the mat.