Tamil Nadu survived a scare before securing the first innings lead on the third day of its Ranji Trophy Elite Group ‘B' match against Haryana here at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium.
Resuming on its overnight score of 169 for one, the host slumped to 258 for six before lunch on Saturday. But Abhinav Mukund, who again exhibited admirable concentration, and Sunny Gupta, who played an impressive innings under pressure, rescued Tamil Nadu. The pair raised 90 for the seventh wicket, equalling Haryana's score of 348 before Gupta departed.
Crucial partnership
It was a crucial partnership, for the threat of a Haryana ambush appeared very real. Leg-spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Amit Mishra created pressure: bowling to well-set attacking fields, they threatened the stumps.
Chahal took three of the five wickets to fall in the first session – Kaushik Gandhi and Shri Vasudevadas were caught close-in and B. Aparajith was trapped in front of his stumps – but Mishra deserves credit for contributing significantly to the bowling partnership.
With medium-pacer Amit Vashisht having Dinesh Karthik caught at short extra-cover, Haryana was rid of a batsman with the potential to take charge of the situation.
Gupta (37, 89b, 6x4) was patient, but he didn't allow himself to be dictated to. When he found the ball in his striking zone, he made the bowlers pay. This helped relieve some of the pressure on Abhinav.
The left-handed opener, who made 110 on the second day, continued in much the same manner.
Apart from a tough stumping chance in the 190s and a couple of edges that went through the vacant slip cordon, Abhinav was impregnable. His 204 spanned eight hours and 46 minutes over two days. In all, he hit 19 fours and two sixes in his 386-ball innings.
Gupta's first knock for Tamil Nadu — the 23-year-old has played 22 first class games for Jharkhand — ended when he was caught by Sachin Rana off Rahul Dewan's part-time off-spin. But he had done his job splendidly.
V. Yomahesh, batting at number nine, contributed an unbeaten 30, as the lead increased to 55 before the innings ended.
Rana finished with three wickets, including that of Abhinav, adjudged leg-before-wicket.
The scores:
Haryana — 1st innings: 348
Tamil Nadu — 1st innings: Abhinav Mukund lbw b Rana 204, M. Vijay c Tehlan b Mishra 33, M. Kaushik Gandhi c Khod b Chahal 16, Dinesh Karthik c Rana b Vashisht 4, K. Shri Vasudevadas c Tehlan b Chahal 18, B. Aparajith lbw b Yuzvendra Chahal 1, R. Prasanna (run out) 6, Sunny Gupta c Rana b Dewan 37, V. Yomahesh (not out) 30, L. Balaji c Chahal b Rana 6, R. Aushik Srinivas b Rana 1; Extras (b-27, lb-10, nb-8, w-2) 47. Total (in 147 overs): 403.
Fall of wickets: 1-84, 2-183, 3-210, 4-247, 5-249, 6-258, 7-348, 8-367, 9-383, 10-403.
Haryana bowling: Sachin Rana 23-7-47-3, Amit Vashisht 14-3-44-1, Dhruv Singh 15-3-44-0, Yuzvendra Chahal 36-9-73-3, Amit Mishra 42-5-111-1, Nitin Saini 11-0-30-0, Rahul Dewan 6-1-17-1.
