CHENNAI: Madhya Pradesh’s Jalaj Saxena thrived on the generosity of TN fielders to post a punishing century (120 batting; 251b, 8x4, 1x6) and in the process, enabled the visitors to post a modest 250 for 4 in 87 overs against Tamil Nadu on the first day of the Ranji Trophy Group A match at the MA Chidambaram stadium on Sunday.
Tamil Nadu stuck with the same formula of three spinners and a seamer that succeeded against Jammu and Kashmir. Opting to bat on a fresh track, MP went for an aggressive approach, firstly to get over their UP debacle and secondly to counter the spin-threat on a spinner-friendly track. It worked for a while. After Sanjay Mishra fell cheaply, Saxena and Harpreet Singh (65) went after the TN attack. Harpreet, who generally bats down the order, was sent at No 3 and he delivered. He was aggressive against spinners, especially against Malolan Rangarajan, who was carted all around the park.
Rahil Shah alone offered some threat, as he extracted spin and bounce. But TN fielders didn’t quite complement him. “The wicket was a turner, but a bit slow. Had we picked those catches (Jalaj dropped on 32) we could have got a couple of wickets more. But then it happens. Harpreet’s promotion in the order worked for them, but in the second session we bounced back with Malolan bowling effectively,’’ observed TN skipper R Prasanna.
Harpreet finally perished attempting an ambitious drive off Malolan, but by then the second-wicket partnership had yielded 130 runs. His dismissal triggered a mini-collapse as MP lost two wickets in quick succession. Mohnish Mishra was caught by debutant K Bharath Shankar at square leg off Malolan’s quicker one. The hosts then got the prized scalp of Naman Ojha, who mistimed a pull to Rahil at mid-on off Aushik Srinivas. “We came back in the second session. Malaolan, who did not get his rhythm in the morning, bowled brilliantly after lunch. Aushik too was good,’’ reflected Prasanna.
But that was the last breakthrough they managed as Saxena and Devendra Bundela held forth till stumps. Saxena, who notched up his ninth First Class hundred, was pleased with the day’s effort: “It was a spinner-friendly wicket. All the three TN spinners bowled well. One needed to concentrate hard. I am happy we have put some runs on the board.
“We need to bat as much possible on Monday and put a fighting score.’’ Prasanna, meanwhile, believes the first hour of Monday will be crucial. “The first hour will be crucial on Monday. I we get one or two wickets in that period it will be good. Overall, we will look to restrict them to 320-350,’’ he said.
Scoreboard
Madhya Pradesh (1st Innings)S Mishra ct B Shankar b R Shah 16, J Saxena (not out) 120, HS Bhatia ct R Shah b M Rangarajan 65, M Mishra ct B Shankar b M Rangarajan 8, N Ojha ct R Shah b A Srinivas 13, D Bundela (not out) 21, Extras (nb 3, b 4) 7, Total (4 wickets; 87 overs) 250. Fall of wickets: 1-43, 2-173, 3-195, 4-215. Bowling: L Balaji 10-6-12-0, R Prasanna 4-1-10-0, R Shah 21-2-88-1, A Srinivas 22-10-49-1, M Rangarajan 28-3-81-2, B Aparajith 2-0-6-0.