Jalaj Saxena’s unbeaten century put Madhya Pradesh in a commanding position on the first day of its clash against Tamil Nadu on Sunday. Madhya Pradesh ended the day at 250 for the loss of four wickets.
Opener Saxena was unbeaten on 120 with skipper Devendra Bundela (21 batting) for company when play was suspended at 4.16 p.m. due to bad light.
“The wicket was turning a lot, and it was difficult to survive. So it was important to play our shots,” said Saxena at the end of the day’s play.
On a new wicket that offered good turn with consistent bounce, the MP top order laid a solid foundation for a big score and put pressure on the hosts.
After electing to bat, the MP openers survived a probing spell from L. Balaji, scoring only 12 runs from the first 10 overs.
However, once the spinners were introduced, the openers started to cut loose and found the fence regularly.
The hosts could have had it better, though, had they grabbed their chances. TN dropped three catches and a run-out opportunity, with Saxena getting lucky twice.
When on 32, he was dropped by Balaji at square leg off left-arm spinner Rahil Shah. Saxena was given another reprieve, when on 95; R. Malolan could not collect a throw from Balaji cleanly at the bowlers end with Saxena short of the crease.
Shah struck the first blow in the 18th over of the day when he snapped up Sanjay Mishra with a delivery that surprised the batsman with extra bounce, and debutant Bharath Shankar held on to a simple catch at silly point.
Saxena and left-hander Harpreet Singh Bhatia then put 130 for the second wicket off just 176 balls. Both batsmen often took the aerial route and cleared the infield with conviction. Bhatia, in particular, used power to the clear the fence.
Bhatia eventually perished caught at deep cover, after a 65 off 87 balls which included four sixes.
Saxena executed the sweep shot to perfection hitting against the turn against left-arm spinners Shah and Aushik Srinivas. TN bowlers fought back in the post-lunch session with three quick wickets but could not make further inroads.
“We would have ideally like to have conceded 50 runs less with more wickets on the board,” said TN coach W.V. Raman.
The scores: Madhya Pradesh: Sanjay Mishra c Bharath Shankar b Shah 16 (56b, 2x4), Jalaj Saxena (batting) 120 (251b, 8x4, 1x6) , Harpreet Singh Bhatia c Shah b Malolan 65 (87b, 3x4, 4x6), Mohnish Mishra c Bharath Shankar b Malolan 8 (24b), Naman Ojha c Shah b Aushik Srinivas 13 (26b, 1x6), Devendra Bundela (batting) 21 (81b, 2x4), Extras (nb-3, b-4) 7; Total (for four wickets in 87 overs) 250.
Fall of wickets: 1-43, 2-173, 3-195, 4-215
TN bowling: L. Balaji 10-6-12-0, R. Prasanna 4-1-10-0, Rahil Shah 21-2-88-1, R. Aushik Srinivas 22-10-49-1, R. Malolan 28-3-81-2, B. Aparajith 2-0-6-0.
Toss: Madhya Pradesh.