Published: Mar 17, 2017, 07:45 AM (IST)
Edited: Mar 17, 2017, 09:10 AM (IST)
As the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2016-17 enters its end stages, Jharkhand and Bengal will fight it out for a spot in the final for the second semi-final. Tamil Nadu have already sealed a comfortable victory against Baroda to become the first finalist. Bengal were involved in the last-over thriller against Maharashtra to seal their place in the semis whereas Jharkhand eased past Vidarbha by 6 wickets to book their position. Coming into the second semi-final all eyes will be set on MS Dhoni who is at the helm for Jharkhand. Both sides have had a contrasting group stage as Bengal topped their group whereas Jharkhand qualified based on better net run rate.
Let us see some of the key clashes that can take place in the second semi-final between these two teams:
Sreevats Goswami vs Varun Aaron: Goswami has looked in a classic touch this season. He has timed the ball well and looked confident opening the innings. Moreover, he is just coming from a classy 74 against Maharashtra in the quarterfinal game.
Aaron in the other hand was a little erratic against Vidarbha initially. But he strengthened his line in his latter spells. Other than this, Aaron has been instrumental in getting wickets at regular intervals for Jharkhand and has posed serious threats for the opening batsmen again and again.
Manoj Tiwari vs Shahbaz Nadeem: Manoj Tiwari is an excellent player of spin. He has the ability to negate the spinners walking down the wicket against them. Moreover, once he gets settled down, he has the knack of scoring runs freely against the spinner using sweep and reverse sweep. It is because of this technique that Tiwary has been the lynchpin for Bengal over the years.
Nadeem has led the spin department for Jharkhand exceptionally well. He has deceived the batsmen using flight and has the knack of bowling quicker ones which pose serious threats to the batsmen. Moreover, he is a street-smart bowler and can apply breaks to the opposition scoring with the wily spin.
MS Dhoni vs Pragyan Ojha: This is probably the best clash that should be witnessed in this second semi-final. Dhoni and Ojha have both played with each other at international level with Ojha playing under Dhoni numerous times. Hence both know each other’s weakness very well along with the positive points, Hence it will be interesting to see how Ojha plans to counter the Dhoni threat in the middle overs as the former Indian skipper has the hang of going against the spinners taking them to cleaners.
Ishan Kishan vs Ashok Dinda: Ishan Kishan has been one of the most consistent players in domestic cricket this season. Right from Ranji Trophy till the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy, Kishan has scored runs in abundance. Opening the innings he has been spot on since the first over middling the ball right from the start.
Dinda on the other hand, with his accurate bowling, has posed serious issues to the opening batsmen. He has the ability to dart block holes deliveries since the very first over. Moreover, he has varied his pace a lot this season and has been an exceptional bowling leader for Bengal. He looked fickle in the quarter-final game against Maharashtra, but going by his reputation, Dinda knows how to bounce back well to take wickets.
