After batsmen put Tamil Nadu in a strong position, all-round effort from the bowlers pushed Madhya Pradesh into the backfoot as the hosts ended day three at 201 for seven in the Ranji Trophy group B match at the Holkar Stadium in Indore on Saturday.
Tamil Nadu declared their first innings at overnight score of 532 for seven to make use of the early morning conditions. Though Satyam Choudhary and all-rounder Jalej Saxena gave MP a brisk start, pacer Sunil Sam removed Saxena for 21 to give an early break through in the seventh over. Wicket-keeper Naman Ojha walked in next and prevented the TN pacers L Balaji and Sam from making further damage before left-arm spinner Aushik Srinivas bowled Choudhary for 21. And all of a sudden MP were in a spot of bother as new man Mohnish Mishra was caught short of the crease by Vijay Shankar and TN had their tails up with the hosts losing three wickets for 70.
Ojha and skipper Devendra Bundela tried to revive the fortunes for MP but TN bowlers kept the duo guessing with tidy spells. Ojha had his stumps rearranged by Balaji for well made 41 and by the time Aushik Srinivas trapped Udit Birla for 10 MP were facing a follow-on threat with half a side back in the hut for 114. Bundela, though looked unmoved. Rameez Khan contributed a crucial 22 before he edged Balaji to wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik and Aushik Srinivas who bowled a stingy spell removed Salman Baig as tea was taken with MP struggling at 167 for seven.
Post tea, Budela held fort and was virtually unmoved and arrested his team from further trouble as he completed his half-century. At stumps, Bundela remained unbeaten on 64 with Anand Rajan giving him company with 29 to his name.
Scorecard: Tamil Nadu (1st innings) 532-8 decl.
Madhya Pradesh (1st innings): S Choudhary b Aushik Srinivas 21, J Saxena lbw b Sam 21, N Ojha b Balaji 41, M Mishra (run out) 0, D Bundela (not out) 64, U Birla lbw b Aushik Srinivas 10, Rameez Khan c Karthik b Balaji 22, S Baig c Balaji b Aushik Srinivas 4, Anand Rajan (not out) 29, Extras (nb 9) 9, Total (for 7 wickets) 221. FoW: 1-28, 2-64, 3-70, 4-97, 5-114, 6-160, 7-168. Bowling: Sam 17-7-44-1, Balaji 15-6-39-2, Aswin Crist 14-4-54-0, Vijay Shankar 1-0-9-0, Aushik Srinivas 30-12-38-3, Aparajith 5-0-26-0, Mukund 3-0-11-0.
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