TIRUNELVELI: The Group B Ranji Trophy match between Tamil Nadu and Hyderabad at India Cements ground in Sankar Nagar went along expected lines. Both teams settled for a point apiece on Thursday. Resuming play on the final day at 163/2 and chasing 566, Tamil Nadu lost skipper Baba Indrajith (33) to pacer Ravi Kiran for the addition of 15 runs. If Hyderabad were hoping for a capitulation in order to obtain a crucial first-innings lead, wicketkeeper N Jagadeesan extinguished those thoughts with his third first-class century, remaining unbeaten on 131 at the close of play. It was also his personal best.
Jagadeesan’s 201-ball knock consisted of 16 boundaries and three maximums. A popular figure in the dressing room, the 22-year-old was cheered vociferously by his teammates as soon as he reached three figures.Together with the experienced Abhinav Mukund, he stitched together 171 runs for the fourth wicket. While Abhinav played sensible cricket, Jagadeesan was his usual aggressive self, taking the attack to the bowlers.
“I’m very happy with my innings. I tried to be aggressive despite the slowness of the pitch, taking advantage of loose balls. Abhinav and I have been openers during Vijay Hazare Trophy and, it was easy batting with him,” Jagadeesan said.
When the spinners were introduced, they tried to provoke Jagadeesan into playing false shots by bowling a leg-stump line. But the Coimbatore native swept with elan, with most of his boundaries going towards fine leg. “Sweep is my favourite shot. It has always been productive for me. Since they were targeting my legs and they did not have a fielder at fine leg, I kept playing.”
Abhinav was finally dismissed for 178, caught at slip by Tanmay Agarwal while attempting a reverse sweep off Akash Bhandari. The visitors could not make any further inroads as Jagadeesan and B Anirudh Sitaram (21 n.o) kept the rival bowlers at bay, adding 60 runs before both captains decided to call off proceedings with an hour to go.
The result, however, does not suit both teams as the pair now have 2 points from as many games. With the new format of the competition seeing five teams go through from Groups A and B, Tamil Nadu lie 11th while Hyderabad are languishing at 16th.
When Hyderabad skipper Akshath Reddy was asked whether they could have declared earlier in order to force a result, he said, “I believe 154 overs is enough to get an idea as to what sort of pitch we played on. The match could not have gone any other way. It was difficult as a bowling side because we were expecting the ball to turn, but it didn’t. Also, the ball was getting very soft, making it doubly difficult for us.” TN next face Andhra in Ongole.
ayantan@newindianexpress.com
Brief scores
Elite Group A
At Nagpur: Vidarbha 307 & 228 (Ganesh Satish 79, Apoorv Wankhade 51, J Suchith 5/70) drew with Karnataka 378 & 76/6 (Aditya Sarwate 4/24) Pts: Karnataka 3, Vidarbha 1.
Elite Group B
At Tirunelveli: Hyderabad 565/8 dec drew with Tamil Nadu 409/4 (Abhinav Mukund 178, N Jagadeesan 131 n.o). Pts: Hyd 1, TN 1.
At T’puram: Andhra 254 & 115 (Ricky Bhui 32, Jalaj Saxena 8/45) lost to Kerala 328 & 43/1. Pts: Kerala 6, Andhra 0.
Elite Group C
At Bhubaneswar: Odisha 256 & 221 (Shivam Mavi 5/68, Ankit Rajpoot 4/68) lost to Uttar Pradesh 437 & 44/0. Pts: UP 7, Odisha 0.
Plate Group
At Puducherry: Pondicherry 389 & 129/7 (V Marimuthu 47, Gurinder Singh 5/44) drew with Meghalaya 326. Pts: Pondicherry 3, Meghalaya 1.