Tamil Nadu finally opened their account in this Ranji Trophy, drawing against Madhya Pradesh at Holkar Stadium in their Elite Group A clash on Saturday. With one point from three matches, Tamil Nadu are 16th in combined Elite Groups A and B. The hosts gained three points after taking the first-innings lead, and are 14th.
Resuming from 177/4, Baba Aparajith & Co added 200 more to take the total to 377/7 at stumps. Kaushik Gandhi came to fore to save Tamil Nadu from trouble. After undergoing a lean patch in the last two seasons, the 29-year-old made a gritty 154 off 340, which included 16 fours and five sixes. This was his fourth first-class hundred in 26 matches and first in three years.In the first session, Gandhi and skipper Aparajith put on 71 for the fifth wicket. Aparajith departed for a 77-ball 39 when he was caught behind off an Ishwar Pandey delivery in the 92nd over. His knock comprised of eight fours.
After his departure, K Mukunth, who didn’t open in the second innings after injuring his finger, came in at No 7 to forge a second century stand of the innings. While Gandhi was helped by a few missed chances from keeper Himashu Mantri, Mukunth looked steady in his 119-ball knock.
After falling two short of a half-century in his debut game, against Himachal Pradesh, the 23-year-old scored an unbeaten 52 to ensure Tamil Nadu didn’t collapse like they did in the first innings. Gandhi and Mukunth stitched together 108 for the sixth wicket to help the team cross 300. The visitors were 377/7 at stumps.
For Madhya Pradesh, right-arm pacers Avesh Khan and Kuldeep Sen picked up two wickets apiece.
That Tamil Nadu managed to pull off a draw with an inexperienced line-up after getting bundled out for a mere 149 in the first innings will give them some confidence heading into their next match. Gandhi’s fighting ton, Mukunth’s consistency and N Jagadeesan finding his groove will be some of the takeaways for the southern side. Tamil Nadu next play Uttar Pradesh, who beat Saurashtra on Saturday, in Kanpur from January 3.
Brief scores
Group A
In Delhi: Delhi 284 & 84/3 (Kiran 2/29) bt Hyderabad 69 & 298. Pts: Delhi 6, Hyderabad 0.
In Kolkata: Bengal 289 & 46/0 drew with Andhra 181 (Porel 4/50, Deep 3/36, Mukesh 2/16). Pts: Bengal 3, Andhra 1.
Group B
In Mysuru: Karnataka 166 & 296 (Padikkal 99, Nair 64; Rishi 5/83, Arora 2/68, Dagar 2/34) drew with Himachal 280 & 34/2 (Koushik 2/13). Pts: Karnataka 1, Himachal 3.
In Indore: TN 149 & 377/7 (Gandhi 154, Mukunth 52 n.o; Avesh 2/86, Sen 2/59) drew with MP 333. Pts: TN 1, MP 3.
Group C
In Cuttack: Odisha 253 & 63/0 bt Uttarakhand 117 & 195 (Sharma 50; Suryakant 5/63, Basant 3/76). Pts: Odisha 7, Uttarakhand 0.
Plate
In Kolkata: Mizoram 73 & 113 (Desai 45; Vinay 3/24, Udeshi 3/34, Rohit 2/16) lost to Pondicherry 458/5 decl. Pts: Pondicherry 7, Mizoram 0.