Tamil Nadu amassed a mountainous 549 in the first innings against Maharashtra which then replied with 110 losing just one wicket as the second semifinal of the Ranji Trophy emerged as a test of endurance and tenacity at the Eden Gardens here on Friday.
Making it a trial of nerves on a pitch that mostly remained impassive to the efforts of the bowlers, Tamil Nadu batted for 1000 minutes and 227 overs to post its mammoth total. The concerted effort brought out one century and four half-centuries in an innings that extended over seven sessions in three days.
Dinesh Karthik topped the order of merit in Tamil Nadu’s batting report-card with a cautious 113 and was emulated by the likes of Vijay Shankar (91), R. Prasanna (72), B. Indrajith (69) and Malolan Rangarajan (67 n.o.).
Beginning at the overnight 426 for five, Tamil Nadu lost Indrajith in the fifth over of the day as he nudged at an outgoing delivery of Maharashtra medium-pacer Anupam Sanklecha and was nabbed at first slip by Harshad Khadiwale. The overnight partnership of 107 runs that Indrajith shared with former captain Prasanna was snapped prematurely after adding only five runs.
Sanklecha picked up his third wicket when he got Prasanna out in almost similar fashion six overs later, caught by Khadiwale second slip. The batsman departed adding just eight to his overnight score of 64.
With Tamil Nadu at 444 for seven, Maharashtra hoped for an early end to the innings. But Malolan Rangarajan applied himself well to deny the opponent. Malolan remained unbeaten on 67 (147b, 9x4) and guided the Tamil Nadu tail to pick up another 105 runs before team’s innings folded up an hour and 15 minutes after lunch.
Swapnil Gugale shepherded the Maharashtra reply and stood up against the Tamil Nadu pace attack spearheaded by L. Balaji and Prasanth Parameswaran. The 23-year-old opener showed fine temperament against the two Tamil Nadu pacers, who derived a good amount of swing with the new ball.
Gugale’s unbeaten 54 (100b, 11x4) remained crucial to Maharashtra’s effort especially after his senior partner Khadiwale left early to a brilliant in-swinger from Balaji when the side had only 20 runs on the board.
Gugale and Chirag Khurana (36 batting) stitched up a 90-run undefeated partnership for the second wicket as they kept alive the fight for Maharashtra.
The scores:
Tamil Nadu — 1st innings: Abhinav Mukund c Khurana b Sanklecha 23, M. Vijay c Motwani b Domnic Muthuswami 28, B. Aparajith c Mundhe b Fallah 20, Dinesh Karthik c Motwani b Mundhe 113, Vijay Shankar c Jadhav b Khurana 91, R. Prasanna c Khadiwale b Sanklecha 72, B. Indrajith c Khadiwale b Sanklecha 69, Malolan Rangarajan (not out) 67, Aswin Crist lbw b Fallah 30, L. Balaji c Bawne b Khurana 12, Prasanth Parameswaran (run out) 0; Extras (b-4, lb-20): 24; Total (in 226.4 overs): 549.
Fall of wickets: 1-47, 2-63, 3-90, 4-280, 5-319, 6-431, 7-444, 8-501, 9-538.
Maharashtra bowling: Samad Fallah 53-17-100-2, Anupam Sanklecha 45-13-115-3, Domnic Muthuswami 40-11-85-1, Shrikant Mundhe 47.4-14-109-1, Rahul Tripathi 3-0-7-0, Chirag Khurana 29-9-80-2, Khadiwale 3-0-9-0, Swapnil Gugale 6-1-20-0.
Maharashtra — 1st innings: Swapnil Gugale (batting) 56, Harshad Khadiwale b Balaji 14, Chirag Khurana (batting) 36; Extras (lb-2, nb-2): 4; Total (for one wicket in 32 overs): 110.
Fall of wicket: 1-20.
Tamil Nadu bowling: Prasanth Parameswaran 7-1-31-0, L. Balaji 8-0-35-1, Aswin Crist 9-4-18-0, Vijay Shankar 6-3-14-0, Malolan Rangarajan 2-1-10-0.
