March 13: Vinod Kambli may be forgiven if he believes the selectors are deaf. His knocks -- both cricketing and on the selection committee's doors --are getting noisier by the day. Yet, there is no hint of acceptance by the five wise men.Kambli's last three visits at the Wankhede Stadium have yielded him scores of 237 not out vs Saurashtra, 207 not out vs Railways and 48 vs Orissa. The 25-year-old Mumbai left-hander sustained that form against a more meaningful attack to score an unbeaten 142 (175b, 259m, 14x4, 1x6) today.
Riding on the Mumbai skipper's form, the defending champions managed to steal a march over former champions Karnataka on Day One of the season's feature event of the Ranji Trophy Super League.
The Mumbai dominance was also aided by useful contributions from two other left-handers opener Amit Pagnis and all-rounder Mandar Phadke. While Pagnis' 72 (98b, 134m, 12x4) smothered the initial tremor triggered by paceman David Johnson, Phadke's unbeaten 70 (105b, 137m, 7x4, 1x6) gave furtherimpetus to the Mumbai total.
After being in the wilderness for two years, Phadke (24) justified the faith bestowed upon him by joining hands in an impressive 151-run unfinished association for the sixth wicket with Kambli.
Karnataka opted to field after winning the toss. An indisposed Dodda Ganesh taking the field only compounded their problems on a track offering assistance to the seamers. More agony was in store when Ganesh had to seek medical assistance after bowling just five overs.
The 25-year-old medium-pacer's further participation in the match hangs in balance as he has been admitted to the Jaslok Hospital and will be under a observation for 24 hours.
``The doctors suspect he is suffering from jaundice. But a clearer picture will emerge only tomorrow,'' said Mumbai Cricket Association joint secretary Ratnakar Shetty.
According to Karnataka coach Beerala Raghunath, Ganesh, who joined the squad only last evening, was keen on playing despite not being fully fit.
Ganesh's absence took thesting out of the Karnataka attack, leaving Johnson to take the charge. Though he was successful in claiming opener Sunil More (14) and Sulakshan Kulkarni (8), he undid the good work by spraying the ball.
Pagnis feasted on Johnson's errors to spank him for six boundaries. The 19-year-old youngster, however, stretched his enthusiasm a bit far and paid the price. Despite being caught at fine-leg off a Johnson no-ball when on 67, he repeated the hook shot and fell to the same combination of Johnson-Fazal Khaleel.
Pagnis' exit brought in Amol Muzumdar (41: 95b, 102b, 5x4). Despite suffering from indigestion, Muzumdar hung on gamely to lay the foundation of a fightback, realising a 95-run stand with Kambli.
After Muzumdar departed, trying to cut left-arm spinner Anand Katti, Phadke joined hands with Kambli for the most productive association.
With none of the bowlers testing the batsmen, Karnataka ended up receiving a left-handed compliment. While Kambli went on to raise his 17th Ranji hundred (122b, 180m,10x4, 1x6), Phadke bettered his earlier high of 45 scored against Saurashtra in his debut season (1995-96).
Kambli's solitary flaw came on 119 (in a total of 324) when, in trying to loft left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi over long-off, he was lucky to find K Sriram drop a sitter.
Kambli is determined to make Karnataka pay for that lapse. ``We'll be looking for a big score tomorrow,'' he said at the end of the day's play.
SCOREBOARD
Mumbai (1st innings):
Amit Pagnis c Khaleel b Johnson 72, Sunil More c Bharadwaj b Johnson 10, Sulakshan Kulkarni c Johnson b Somasunder 8, Rajesh Sutar c Ananth b Johnson 14, Vinod Kambli batting 142, Amol Muzumdar c Shiraguppi b Katti 41, Mandar Phadke batting 70;
Extras (lb1, nb6, w1):
8. Total (for five wickets in 90 overs; 373 minutes): 365
To bat:
Paras Mhambrey, Abey Kuruvilla, Nilesh Kulkarni and Santosh Saxena.
Fall of wickets:
1-27, 2-67, 3-103, 4-119, 5-214.
Bowling: Johnson 15-0-102-3 (nb6), Ganesh5-0-24-0, Somasunder 6-1-19-1, Joshi 28-4-81-0, Ananth 16-0-70-0, Katti 12-1-43-1, Bharadwaj 8-0-25-0
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
