Hyderabad, April 13: The final day's play turned out to be anti-climax. All expectations of a thrilling finish ended tamely as Madhya Pradesh, who had a chance of an outright win (target 236), settled to play it safe. MP, by virtue of their 57-run first innings lead over Hyderabad, made an historic, maiden entry into the Ranji Trophy final. They will now clash with holders Karnataka in Bangalore in the five-day final from April 19.``I never wanted take any chances. I didn't want to fool around with this game,'' said MP skipper Chandrakant Pandit on his decision to call off the play after the eighth mandatory over. MP were then 203-3 and needed just 33 runs for victory in the remaining seven overs. ``In my 19 years playing experience, I have seen the game change in two overs. I wanted to play it safe,'' said a relieved Pandit.
Scoreboard
Hyderabad (1st innings): 282.
Madhya Pradesh (1st innings): 337.
Hyderabad (2nd innings): 292.
Madhya Pradesh (2nd innings): CPSahu b Raju 2, JP Yadav c Vinay b Kanwaljit 83, Harvinder Sodhi lbw Manohar 10, Raja Ali (not out) 44, D Bundela (not out) 54; Extras (b5, lb2, nb2, w1) 10.
Total (for 3 wickets in 84 overs) 203.
Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-83, 3-121.
Bowling: Raju 24-7-62-1, NP Singh 6-1-18-0, Kanwaljit 29.3-8-52-1, R Sridhar 17.3-3-32-0, Manohar 5-1-16-1, Pratap 2-0-16-0.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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