Despite an improved batting performance from the Tamil Nadu batsmen in the second innings, twin strikes from Kuldeep Sen late on the third day put Madhya Pradesh with a chance of an outright win here on Friday.
TN ended the day on 177 for four after Madhya Pradesh took a 184-run lead in the Group-B Ranji Trophy match at the Holkar Stadium.
Spraying the new ball
MP resumed at 281 for seven and the TN medium-pacers (T. Natarajan, K. Vignesh and M. Mohammed) yet again bowled poorly, by spraying the new ball all around and giving away easy runs.
The hosts were eventually dismissed for 333 with Sai Kishore taking two wickets and Natarajan removing last man Kuldeep to claim his third five-wicket haul in First Class cricket.
Useful partnership
Needing to score 185 to make Madhya Pradesh bat again, a total TN has not made in its last three innings, N. Jagadeesan (54) and M. Kaushik Gandhi (66 batting) added 106 runs for the second wicket.
Jagadeesan opened the innings after regular opener K. Mukunth hurt his thumb while fielding. It is understood that there is no serious concern and Mukunth will bat on the last day.
The TN wicketkeeper-batsman showed great discipline and was watchful during his knock, which included five hits to the fence.
Crisp strokes
At the other end, Kaushik looked compact and was in control during his unbeaten knock, coming up with some crisp drives. Kaushik began with boundaries off Avesh Khan through cover and mid-off. He also pulled spinner Mihir Hirwani over mid-wicket for a six.
Just after tea, Jagadeesan fell to a well-directed short delivery from Avesh, top-edging a pull.
In the penultimate over of the day, medium-pacer Kuldeep castled Hari Nishanth and then trapped Sai Kishore leg-before with a yorker off the very next ball.
Sai Kishore though might consider himself unlucky as the replays showed it might have missed the leg-stump.
The final day’s play will start 15 minutes earlier and with the new ball available in 13 overs TN has a task on its hand to save the match.
A lot depends on skipper B. Aparajith and Kaushik to bat through the day as the visitors look for first points of the tournament.
The scores:
Tamil Nadu — 1st innings: 149.
Madhya Pradesh —1st innings: Rameez Khan c Kousik b Mohammed 87, Ajay Rohera lbw b Natarajan 0, Anand Singh Bais c Jagadeesan b Vignesh 8, Rajat Patidar c Jagadeesan b Natarajan 13, Yash Dubey lbw b Natarajan 12, Himanshu Mantri lbw b Natarajan 2, Venkatesh Iyer b Vignesh 88, Mihir Hirwani c Aparajith b Sai Kishore 71, Avesh Khan b Sai Kishore 21, Ishwar Pandey (not out) 7, Kuldeep Sen b Natarajan 0; Extras (lb-6, w-3, b-14, nb-1): 24; Total (in 97.3 overs): 333
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-20, 3-41, 4-61, 5-84, 6-196, 7-244, 8-323, 9-332
Tamil Nadu bowling: Natarajan 32.3-6-106-5, Vignesh 23-7-88-2, Mohammed 21-4-50-1, Kousik 8-1-27-0 , Aparajith 3-0-13-0, Sai Kishore 10-2-29-2
Tamil Nadu —2nd innings: N. Jagadeesan c Kuldeep b Avesh 54, V. Ganga Sridhar Raju c Bais b Avesh 15, M. Kaushik Gandhi (batting) 66, C. Hari Nishanth b Kuldeep 23, R. Sai Kishore lbw b Kuldeep 0, B. Aparajith (batting) 0; Extras (w-1, b-4, lb-14): 19; Total (for four wkts. in 67 overs): 177.
Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-125, 3-176, 4-176.
MP bowling: Avesh 16-2-49-2, Pandey 14-3-42-0, Kuldeep 13-3-19-2, Hirwani 17-2-41-0, Venkatesh 6-3-6-0, Rameez 1-0-2-0 .
