T. Natarajan bent his back and was rewarded with four wickets on Friday in what was a far more productive day on the field for Tamil Nadu even as Uttar Pradesh racked up 524 runs in its first innings, built largely around Samarth Singh’s 187 with handy contributions from others.
Tamil Nadu was 34 for one at stumps in its chase with Abhinav Mukund on 18 and Kaushik Gandhi yet to open his account.
The left-arm seamer from Salem had done the hard work, including nine maiden overs to concede a measly 23 runs in his 18 overs, on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy game as well but had little to show for it.
The miserly show continued but this time with wickets to accompany as two wickets in as many balls, including that of the free-stroking Samarth, ensured a brake to Uttar Pradesh scoring.
Having made an impression in the TNPL recently, Natarajan proved his impressive performance against Railways in the previous game was no fluke.
After Sarfaraz Khan nicked one to Dinesh Karthik trying to cut K. Vignesh, Natarajan swung the ball to find the outside edge from Samarth, who tried a defensive shot. Next ball, Mohammad Saif was caught by B. Indrajith at first slip, becoming the third wicket to fall with the score stagnant on 338.
More aggressiveUttar Pradesh started the day with much more aggression as the ball kept low and there was little support for the bowlers. Overnight batsmen Samarth and Umang Sharma scored quickly. Sharma missed out on his half-century, caught behind off Aswin Crist on 46, Samarth and Sarfaraz kept the scoreboard ticking as Uttar Pradesh scored 104 runs in 17 overs to cross the 300-run mark.
Once the hard-hitting Sarfaraz was gone, captain Eklavya Dwivedi took charge, smashing the ball twice over the sightscreen and once over midwicket and five fours on either side behind the stumps for a 72-run partnership with Kuldeep Yadav.
The lower order got crucial runs as well, Saurabh Kumar scoring a 54-ball 51, as Uttar Pradesh went past 500 for the first time this season.
The scores:
Uttar Pradesh — 1st innings: Tanmay Srivastava c B. Indrajith b Washington Sundar 53, Samarth Singh c Dinesh Karthik b Natarajan 187, Umang Sharma c Karthik b Crist 46, Sarfaraz Khan c Dinesh Karthik b Vignesh 40, Eklavya Dwivedi lbw b Natarajan 60, Mohammad Saif c B. Indrajith b Natarajan 0, Kuldeep Yadav run out 29, Saurabh Kumar run out 51, Imtiaz Ahmed (not out) 37, Ankit Rajpoot run out 0, Dhruv Pratap Singh b Natarajan 0; Extras (b-9, lb-4, nb-1, w-7): 21; Total (in 158 overs): 524.
Fall of wickets: 1-109, 2-257, 3-338, 4-338, 5-338, 6-410, 7-447, 8-514, 9-522.
Tamil Nadu bowling: Aswin Crist 33-13-82-1, T. Natarajan 33-12-83-4, Rahil Shah 34-9-115-0, K. Vignesh 31-10-80-1, Malolan Rangarajan 15-0-91-0, M.S. Washington Sundar 11-1-55-1, Abhinav Mukund 1-0-5-0.
Tamil Nadu — 1st innings: Washington Sundar c Umang Sharma b Saurabh Kumar 10, Abhinav Mukund (batting) 18, Kaushik Gandhi (batting) 0; Extras (b-1, lb-5): 6; Total (for one wkt. in 15 overs): 34.
Fall of wicket: 1–34.
Uttar Pradesh bowling: Ankit Rajpoot 5-2-13-0, D.P. Singh 5-2-6-0, Kuldeep Yadav 1-0-1-0, Imtiaz Ahmed 2-1-8-0, Saurabh Kumar 2-2-0-1.
