Holders Kartaka face Tamil du in Ranji fil

Mumbai, March 7:  Two of India’s domestic cricket powerhouses will clash in the five-day Ranji Trophy fil in what promises to be an exciting match.

Defending champions Kartaka will be battling it out against their southern rivals Tamil du at the Wankhede Stadium here.

Leading Tamil du will be Abhiv Mukund, who scored 66 not out in the second innings of the semifil against Maharastra. Tamil du made it to the fil riding on a first innings lead.

Tamil du boast of a top class batting order, with several of the key willowers in quite brilliant form of late. The likes of India Test opener Murli Vijay, discarded wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik and the brothers Baba Aparajith and Baba Indrajith are sure to send chill down the opposition bowling ranks.

The Tamil du bowling could sizzle too, with the likes of veteran Lakshmipathy Balaji and Aswin Crist spearheading the department. Crist played a crucial role in the semifil with figures of 4/89 in the 1st innings. Vijay Shankar has the quality to give able support, coming in as the fourth seamer.

The title holders will look to continue their brilliant run just like in the semi-fil where they clinched the contest against Mumbai by 112 runs.

The responsibility of getting a huge total on the score board will once again be vested on the shoulders of Kartaka openers Robin Uthappa and Lokesh Rahul who returned cheaply in the second innings against Mumbai. The flamboyant Manish Pandey too will have a key role, holding the innings together in the middle order.

The Kartaka bowling will once again be spearheaded by R. Viy Kumar, who finished with figures of 6/20 when they bundled out Mumbai for 44 runs in the first innings. Abhimanyu Mithun and Sreeth Aravind will be the other fast bowlers sharing the cherry with Kumar.

Though Kartaka inflicted a heavy defeat of 285 runs when these two sides met in the first match of the tourment, the fil could be a different ball game all together.

Wankhede pitch, known for assisting the bowlers will be tough to bat, especially if the likes of Viy and Balaji utilise it to the full.

But then again both the teams comprise world class batsmen who have been known to battle it out well against good bowling attacks. IANS