On the eve of the festival of lights, the lack of sufficient brightness hurt Tamil Nadu. The sound of early Diwali fireworks could be heard inside the stadium but silence ruled for the most part in the middle.
On a final day of darkness and cloud cover, only 34 overs could be completed — eight in the morning and 26 after lunch — as Tripura managed to salvage a point from its Ranji trophy Group C duel at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium.
With a lead of 99, the host declared overnight at 357 for four. And when the frustrated Tamil Nadu cricketers walked out for the last time owing to bad light on Tuesday, Tripura was 91 for three.
Tamil Nadu moved in for the kill, but with as many as 147 overs lost on day three and four, forcing an outright win was always going to be tough.
The hosts had to settle for three points (it has four from two matches), while Tripura (two from two) took one.
In the morning, left-arm spinner Rahil Shah removed openers Bishal Ghosh, held at slip by B. Indrajith, and Udiyan Bose, caught smartly by R. Ashwin at mid-wicket.
Given the nature of light, only the spinners bowled.
When play resumed at 1.13 p.m., off-spinner Washington Sundar turned one in from just outside off to have Rajesh Banik (19) snapped up by Kaushik Gandhi at short-leg.
Tamil Nadu could have put Tripura under more pressure earlier but Banik (on two) was grassed by Abhinav Mukund at slip off Ashwin.
Then, with mid-wicket left vacant to lay a trap, the nimble-footed Smit Patel (35 not out) successfully took up the challenge of lofting left-arm spinners Rahil and Sai Kishore against the spin.
The experienced Yashpal Singh (11 not out) made subtle but effective adjustments to his back-lift as he combated the spinners.
Being covered and deprived of sunlight, the pitch did not deteriorate. To extract turn and bounce on this track, a spinner had to use flight, and someone like Sai Kishore will learn from more games.
Ashwin bowled without luck.
“He is bowling well. It’s only a matter of time before he picks more wickets,” said Tamil Nadu coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar.
Tamil Nadu has a hard road ahead for qualification: it takes on Mumbai and Odisha, both away, and then Baroda and Madhya Pradesh at home.
“It’s going to be tough but if we play to our potential, we should be through,” Kanitkar said.
Tamil Nadu will now need to approach each game as a knock-out match.
M. Vijay will be fit for the next game against Mumbai, but the side awaits word on paceman T. Natarajan’s recovery.
The scores:
Tripura — 1st innings: 258
Tamil Nadu — 1st innings: 357 for four declared.
Tripura — 2nd innings: Bishal Ghosh c Indrajith b Rahil 3, Udiyan Bose c Ashwin b Rahil 12, Rajesh Banik c Kaushik Gandhi b Washington 19, Smit Patel (not out) 35, Yashpal Singh (not out) 11, Extras (b-9, lb-2) 11; Total (for three wkts in 34 overs) 91 .
Fall of wkts: 1-14, 2-21, 3-62.
Tamil Nadu bowling: Rahil Shah 12-2-30-2, R. Ashwin 11-1-24-0, Sai Kishore 5-1-19-0, Washington Sundar 6-3-7-1 .
