CHENNAI: Riding on KTA Madhava Prasad's mammoth 174 runs (366b, 22x4) and Kiran Karthikeyan's valuable 73, Tamil Nadu U23 managed to bag a lead of 283 runs over Rest of India U-23 on the third day at the MA Chidambaram stadium here on Saturday. TN U23 were all out for 462 in 136 overs. Rest of India were 195/2 in their second essay when stumps were drawn. RoI's Angkrish Raghuvanshi was batting on 88 runs.
Resuming from the overnight score 368/1, one expected the hosts to put up a score of 500-plus, but that was not to be. Tamil Nadu U23 lost nine wickets for the addition of just 94 runs. However, the morning of day belonged to Madhava Prasad and Kiran as the duo added 145 runs in 46.5 overs for the second wicket.
Madhava Prasad was disappointed to miss a good chance to get a double hundred. 'Disappointed to miss on getting a double ton. I think from the position that we came in to bat today we should have posted a lot of runs. We lost nine wickets in the first session, that is what it feels a bit hard," said Madhava Prasad after the day's play.
"When Athish was batting well at the other end, I just supported him. And then, once he (Athish) got out, I accelerated. As far as playing the short ball initially, the wicket was a bit two paced. The ball was not bouncing in a single way. It is coming up and low. Like, at the start it was bouncing well, and after that the balls were a bit low," he added.
He cherishes the two big stands that he was involved in and insists that he enjoyed his stay. "First wicket partnership, we got 250 runs. What we planned was, me and Athish, we tried to put up a good score because in the first innings they scored just 179. That did mean we will win for sure. So we thought we should put up a good opening partnership, but yeah, we played well, and with God's grace we got a 250-run partnership," said Madhava Prasad.
After he got out, wickets fell in a quick succession. Many wonder what went wrong. The opener said the spinners had helped but felt TN should have batted better. "Obviously there was a little help for their (RoI) spinners in the morning session. But we should have played well. So that is what I feel," he insisted.
Later, Raghuvanshi played better and fought well in their second essay. "The wicket towards the end of the day had a bit of turn, but they played really better in the second innings. We have to give credits to them as well. They mixed the aggressive shots and they grinded very well. So we have to give credit to them as well. But I think we should have got another two wickets," he said.
With the wicket helping spinners, Tamil Nadu U23 side look to go for a win on the final day. "We are in a good position. We were dominating the game. In the morning session we lost nine wickets, and probably we can also do the same to them. I think our spinners can do the job for us," he signed off.
Brief scores: Rest of India 179 in 71.5 overs & 195/2 in 48 ovs (Angkrish Raghuvanshi 88 batting, Ayush Jethwa 58, Digvijay Patil 26 batting) vs Tamil Nadu (U-23) 462 in 136 overs (SR Athish 137, KTA Madhava Prasad 174, Kiran Karthikeyan 73, Emanjot Singh Chahal 7/102, Varun Bhuie 3/114).