After a forgettable day with the bat on Saturday, Tamil Nadu got back into the game on Day 3 of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B game against Uttar Pradesh in Kanpur.
The visitors came close to gaining the first-innings lead on Sunday after their batting failed miserably. After getting bowled out for 180, the bowling attack, led by T Natarajan, did well to keep the match alive as Uttar Pradesh ended the day at 170/9.
The left-arm pacer struck in his very second over, removing opener Almas Shaukat for a duck — the first of his three wickets on Sunday. None of the top-order batsmen survived as Uttar Pradesh found themselves reeling at 51/5 after 25 overs. After having sent half of the batsmen back in the hut, Tamil Nadu bowlers were made to toil for the next 27 overs.
Two 23-year-olds, Mohammad Saif and wicketkeeper-batsman Upendra Yadav, steadied the ship for Uttar Pradesh. The duo shared a 91-run partnership for the sixth wicket which helped the team cross 100. All-rounder Saif — who came into the match after notching up 165 and 80 in the first two matches — continued his good form. He made a 145-ball 77 to bring up his ninth first-class fifty in 22 matches. His knock consisted of seven fours and a six. On the other hand, Yadav hung on, played second fiddle to hit a patient 36 off 117. He hit five fours and a six.
However, once left-arm spinner M Siddharth bowled Yadav in the 59th over, Saif ran out of partners. Natarajan soon dismissed Zeeshan Ansari (0) and Saif in consecutive overs in the final session. From 140/5, Uttar Pradesh lost four wickets for the next 30. Rajpoot remained unbeaten on 0.
For Tamil Nadu, left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore accounted for two wickets, while K Vignesh and Baba Aparajith picked up one wicket apiece.
Earlier, from their overnight score of 165/6, the Vijay Shankar-led side could add only 25 as they lost the last four wickets in seven overs. K Mukunth was dismissed off his very second delivery for one. Sai Kishore made an unbeaten 14 off 24 as Tamil Nadu were bundled out inside 200. For Uttar Pradesh, left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar ended with 5/44 while skipper Ankit Rajpoot scalped 4/60.
Heading into the final day, Tamil Nadu will be keen to bowl out Rajpoot & Co and gain first-innings lead. With chances of qualifying for the knockouts look bleak, Vijay & Co will be targeting those three points before they head back home for their next two matches.
Brief scores
Group A: In Mohali: Punjab 313 & 44/4 (Simranjeet 2/21) vs Delhi 339 (Shorey 96, Rana 92; Arshdeep 3/73, Markande 3/77, Baltej 2/74). In Jaipur: Rajasthan 151 & 243/8 (Menaria 79; Bishnoi 49; Stephen 3/78, Sasikanth 2/57) vs Andhra 257.
In Hyderabad: Kerala 164 & 204/7 (Prem 44, Vinod 44; Siraj 2/45, Hassan 2/48, Saaketh 2/35) vs Hyderabad 228 (Sumanth 111 n.o; Warrier 5/68, Thampi 3/48, Chandran 2/36).
Group B: In Kanpur: TN 180 (Saurabh 5/44, Rajpoot 4/60) vs Uttar Pradesh 170/9 (Saif 77; Natarajan 3/23, Sai Kishore 2/38). In Mumbai: Mumbai 194 & 149/9 (Sarfaraz 71 n.o; Prateek 4/11, Mithun 3/62, Koushik 2/23) lost to Karnataka 218 & 129/5 (Padikkal 50; Shashank 4/52). Pts: Karnataka 6, Mumbai 0.
Group C In Agartala: Tripura 288/6 dec (Milind 105 n.o, Singha 65; Rajesh 3/78) vs Odisha 5/0.
Plate: In Mangaldai: Meghalaya 65 & 63 (Vinay 5/27, Ashith 5/5) lost to Pondicherry 80 & 49/5 (Negi 3/15, Sanjay 2/31). Pts: Pondicherry 6, Meghalaya 0.