If the day’s proceedings were compressed into a solitary line, it might well read thus: stoical serenity fronts up to brute force. After Rajasthan’s Pankaj Singh (four for 41), hurling thunderbolts and appealing vociferously, reduced Tamil Nadu to 99 for five on Sunday, the host’s response was admirably free of forced bravado.
One of the rescuers was a familiar figure. R. Prasanna (56 batting, 133b, 8x4, 211m) took under his wing the callow Vijay Shankar (57 batting, 130b, 8x4, 195m).
En route their unbeaten 132-run partnership, Tamil Nadu’s total crept up to 231 for five on day one of the Ranji Trophy Group B match at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium. There was a farcical end to a fine day, though, as the umpires twice halted play owing to bad light — the second adjournment resulting in stumps being drawn — when there was clearly enough sunshine.
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Earlier, when S. Badrinath (50, 102b, 7x4) departed to an off-cutter from Pankaj, a meagre total seemed imminent. But Prasanna, with canny late-cuts and pulls, and Shankar, surviving a strong lbw shout from Pankaj on 0, stepped up to the plate.
“We wanted to bat time,” said Shankar.
Although Tamil Nadu lost K.B. Arun Karthick in the fifth over — Pankaj’s delivery soaring off length to catch the edge — that’s something it might have insured against. The insurance came in the form of Badrinath whose alliance with Abhinav Mukund fetched 75 runs. Ramesh Powar, meanwhile, paraded his wily wares. The stocky off-spinner went on to bowl unchanged for 20 overs. With 30 minutes for lunch, he nailed Abhinav to the crease with a quicker one.
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Pankaj, five minutes before the break, bounced at Aparajith, and the ball tickled the glove on the way to ’keeper Chetan Bist.
Then, K. Dinesh Karthik was undone first ball by a furious in-dipper that rendered his bat irrelevant.
Prasanna’s composed handling of the hat-trick delivery, a decisive back-foot shift to turn the ball to fine-leg, would soon become a familiar sight.
Rajasthan didn’t do itself any favours bowling 12 no-balls (nine from Powar), and dropping Prasanna on 46, gully Ashok Menaria the guilty fielder.
The scores: Tamil Nadu — 1st innings: K.B. Arun Karthick c Chetan Bist b Pankaj 4, Abhinav Mukund lbw b Powar 26, S. Badrinath b Pankaj 50, B. Aparajith c Chetan Bist b Pankaj 8, K. Dinesh Karthik lbw b Pankaj 0, R. Prasanna (batting) 56, Vijay Shankar (batting) 57, Extras (b-8, lb-10, nb-12) 30; Total (for five wkts. in 80 overs) 231.
Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-82, 3-97, 4-97, 5-99.
Rajasthan bowling: Pankaj Singh 16-5-41-4, Aniket Choudhary 16-3-40-0, Arishta Singhavi 16-4-56-0, Ramesh Powar 28-4-67-1, Ashok Menaria 4-1-9-0.