CHENNAI: Abhinav Mukund’s fluent century helped Tamil Nadu take a lead of 160 against Railways on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B clash at MA Chidambaram Stadium. Tamil Nadu were 236/4 in 53 overs when stumps were called for on Sunday. Abhinav’s 30th first-class ton complimented the efforts of spinners R Ashwin and M Siddharth, who took four wickets each to skittle out the visitors for a paltry 76 just before lunch.
On a new surface that had good bounce and turn, one had to be patient and judicious with shot-selection. While Railways batsmen failed to apply themselves, Abhinav mastered the surface to score a hundred in just one session. It came in his 100th Ranji Trophy appearance for Tamil Nadu. “Very happy and pleased to get the hundred,” said the veteran southpaw. “I was positive right from the beginning. Since (L) Suryaprakash, who batted at the other end, was not as experienced as I am, I wanted to lead from the front. There were times when I stepped out to counter their spinners.
Luckily, things worked out.” Abhinav square cut off-spinner Shivendra Singh for a four to third man to reach the three-figure mark. Not known to celebrate his ton in an animated manner, Abhinav jumped and punched his hand in the air to acknowledge the crowd’s cheers. “It is perhaps one of the best hundreds I have made. The ball was coming on to the bat well and I just went with the flow. It was not an unplayable wicket. Happy to contribute for the team.”
Abhinav and Suryaprakash (50) put on 156 for the first wicket. After Suryaprakash fell to Harsh Tyagi, Abhinav too lost his concentration and edged Shivendra to the slip cordon. Dinesh Karthik played an enterprising innings to remain unbeaten on 57. Earlier, opting to bat, Railways top-order caved in against Siddharth and Ashwin. Opening the bowling along with pacer Thangarasu Natarajan, Siddharth showed good control with the new ball.w“Both our spinners bowled intelligently,” remarked Abhinav. “Siddharth is not that experienced bowling with the new ball.
Gripping it is a problem for many, but Siddharth gave a good account of himself.” The left-arm spinner, who rose through the rungs after good outings in Tamil Nadu Premier League, has delivered whenever he has been given chances. “I always keep myself prepared,” said Siddharth. “I knew the surface will help spinners. I just kept it tight and simple. They did not apply themselves. We batted better. As the match progresses, the wicket will wear out and help spinners.”
Brief scores (Day 1) Group A | In Kalyani: Bengal 366/5 (Tiwary 156 n.o, Goswami 95, Majumdar 59; Kiran 2/47) vs Hyderabad. In T’puram: Kerala 90 (Shubam 5/41, Gupta 2/13) vs Rajasthan 173/4 (Bishnoi 67, Kothari 66 n.o; Saxena 4/34). Group B | In Chennai: Railways 76 (Ashwi 4/26, Siddharth 4/32) vs TN 236/4 (Abhinav 100, Karthik 57 n.o, Suryaprakkash 50; Tyagi 2/65). Group C | In Cuttack: Odisha 161 (Senapati 42; Nabi 5/39, Nazir 2/36, Rasool 2/41) vs J&K 38/3. Plate | In Puducherry: Pondicherry 209 (Sagar 79 n.o; Tempol 5/61, Sahani 4/77) vs Arunachal 109/3 (Seth 64 n.o).