An interesting day lies ahead as Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh explore possibilities of earning full points from their Ranji Trophy Super League match here.
At the end of the penultimate day, Tamil Nadu, 73 runs in arrears, was 199 for five with S. Badrinath (41) and V. Yomahesh (1) at the crease.
Fails to cash in
Himachal Pradesh failed to capitalise on the platform built by Vineet Indulkar and Bhavin Thakkar on Wednesday and could add a mere 75 runs on Thursday morning.
The discipline that the bowlers showed on the first morning and the application the batsmen displayed on the second day was missing as Himachal Pradesh batted without purpose. Mukesh Sharma, 68 overnight, added 10 more before he was held smartly at short covers by K.B. Arun Karthik.
It was a good comeback by Tamil Nadu after conceding ground to Himachal Pradesh on the second day. The determination was evident in the tight line that the seamers adopted in the morning and Himachal Pradesh paid for its complacency. Yomahesh was the pick of the Tamil Nadu bowlers with three wickets, while off-spinner R. Ashwin was rewarded for his perseverance with two wickets.
Brilliant knock
Tamil Nadu’s second innings was rocked by the hard-working Vikramjeet Malik, who took three wickets but S. Anirudha rose to the occasion with a brilliant 72. He struck the ball clean and effortlessly.
Anirudha was quick to get into position and find the gaps as no bowler made an impression on the strokeplayer. He played himself in and took on the Himachal Pradesh attack with some positive play before he was out for 72 off 116 balls with nine fours.
Later, a confident Badrinath (96b, 4x4, 1x6) arrested the Tamil Nadu slide.
The scores:
Tamil Nadu — 1st innings: 293 for eight decl.
Himachal Pradesh — 1st innings: B. Thakkar lbw b Balaji 83, Sangram b Balaji 17, P. Dogra c Yomahesh b Mukund 22, V. Indulkar lbw b Ganapathy 71, Mukesh c Arun Karthik b Ganapathy 78, Kuldeep c D. Karthik b Yomahesh 31, A. Mannu c Balaji b Ashwin 20, R. Dhawan c D. Karthik b Yomahesh 5, V. Malik c D. Karthik b Yomahesh 8, Mohinder c Anirudha b Ashwin 0, Jitender (not out) 0; Extras (b-19, lb-5, nb-3, w-4): 31. Total (in 113.1 overs): 366.
Fall of wickets: 1-49, 2-84, 3-155, 4-290, 5-318, 6-342, 7-358, 8-366, 9-366.
Tamil Nadu bowling: Balaji 29-4-88-2, Ganapathy 26-8-58-2, Yomahesh 22.1-6-58-3, Aushik 12-2-51-0, Mukund 3-0-10-1, Ashwin 19-1-60-2, Suresh Kumar 2-0-17-0.
Tamil Nadu — 2nd innings: S. Anirudha c Dogra b Malik 72, A. Mukund c Mannu b Malik 27, K.B. Arun Karthik lbw b Dhawan 23, S. Badrinath (batting) 41, D. Karthik b Malik 0, S. Suresh Kumar c Mannu b Mohinder 14, V. Yomahesh (batting) 1; Extras (b-12, lb-4, nb-2, w-3): 21. Total (for five wkts. in 58 overs): 199.
Fall of wickets: 1-63, 2-122, 3-155, 4-155, 5-198.
Himachal Pradesh bowling: Malik 15-3-37-3, Jitender 12-1-44-0, Kuldeep 9-2-30-0, Mohinder 15-3-47-1, Sangram 2-0-7-0, Dhawan 4-0-17-1, Mukesh 1-0-1-0.
