Backing up intent with execution, Tamil Nadu made the most of the home advantage to bowl Uttar Pradesh out for 182, and went to stumps at 52 for two on the first day of the Ranji Trophy Group A match here on Tuesday.
As anticipated by captain Abhinav Mukund, it was the spinners who took the bulk of the load. After Uttar Pradesh opted to bat, the innings saw Vijay Shankar, the lone medium-pacer in the side, send down all of seven overs — all of them maidens, with the prize wicket of Tanmay Srivastava to boot.
Left-arm spinner Rahil Shah picked up five wickets for 63 from his 26 overs.
The Tamil Nadu bowlers were on the mark right from the word go, and were rewarded in the fourth over when Srivastava attempted a flick which only saw the ball balloon up off a leading edge, and bowler Vijay Shankar gladly accepted the offering. The medium-pacer’s first spell read 4-4-0-1.
Arish Alam was the mainstay of the UP innings, making a gritty 47. He finally fell to Suresh Kumar, with Aparajith holding on to an easy catch at short-cover.
Akash Verma and Himanshu Asnora stitched a 35-run partnership for the second wicket, which helped UP settle its nerves after Srivastava’s early fall.
Tamil Nadu, however, kept chipping away, and Verma was soon caught by Indrajith off Prabhu. After Verma’s departure came a brief, but spirited resistance from Umang Sharma and Alam.
Both tried to break the shackles with decisive stroke-play, and their fourth-wicket stand produced 45 runs, which included Umang’s six off Shah.
After Alam fell, Tamil Nadu did not let the lower order do too much.
The hosts had some early jitters when Piyush Chawla, bringing himself on in the eighth over, got one to turn and jump to have U. Sushil caught at slip by Alam.
Abhinav and Vijay Shankar then seemed to have got on top of the situation when the latter had a rush of blood and stepped out in an attempt to hoist off-spinner Alam, only to miss the line and get stumped.
The bowlers have done their job, and it is now up to the Tamil Nadu batsmen to bat the visitors out of the game.
The scores: Uttar Pradesh — 1st innings: Akash Verma c Indrajith b Prabhu 16, Tanmay Srivatsava c & b Vijay Shankar 0, Himanshu Asnora c Sathish b Malolan 21, Umang Sharma c Satish b Shah 27, Arish Alam c Aparajith b Suresh Kumar 47, Akshdeep Nath c Abhinav b Shah 0, Eklavya Dwivedi c Sushil b Shah 19, Piyush Chawla b Shah 22, Ali Murtaza (not out) 13, Amit Mishra c Satish b Shah 1, R.P. Singh c Indrajith b Malolan 2, Extras (b-6, lb-6, nb-2) 14; Total (in 74.4 overs) 182.
Fall of wickets: 0-1, 2-36, 3-44, 4-89, 5-89, 6-123, 7-159, 8-167, 9-169.
Tamil Nadu bowling: Rahil Shah 26-5-63-5; Vijay Shankar 7-7-0-1; M. Prabhu 13-0-47-1; R. Malolan 20.4-8-39-2; Suresh Kumar 8-0-21-1.
Tamil Nadu — 1st innings: U. Sushil c Alam b Chawla 4, Abhinav Mukund (batting) 26, Vijay Shankar st Dwivedi b Alam 17, B. Aparajit (batting) 1, Extras (b-4, nb-1) 5; Total (in 23 overs for two wickets) 53.
Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-52.
Uttar Pradesh bowling: R.P. Singh 6-2-8-0, Amit Mishra 3-2-1-0; Piyush Chawla 7-0-31-1, Ali Murtaza 6-2-8-0; Arish Alam 1-0-1-1.
