CHENNAI: Struggling to post a win, Tamil Nadu scored a resounding one against Railways in the sixth-round Ranji Trophy Group B game. It was all over in two days, as riding some fine bowling from spinners R Sai Kishore and R Ashwin, the home team trounced the visitors by an innings and 164 runs to earn seven points including a bonus. Not that this win brings their campaign back on track, but 12 points from six matches looks a lot better than five from five.
After being bowled out for 76 in the first innings and seeing Tamil Nadu make 330, Railways were all out for 90 in the second essay, which lasted 36.4 overs. After medium-pacer T Natarajan took the first two wickets, Sai Kishore and Ashwin took over.
“It was an all-round effort and a creditable win. Our spinners bowled brilliantly. This is one of the games where we executed all our plans perfectly,’’ said D Vasu, coach of Tamil Nadu.
The pitch for the previous game had left a lot to be desired and drawn criticism. For the Railways match, it was a different surface. “It was a good one with bounce, turn and movement. We need to play more on such surfaces. Wickets that produce results is the need of the hour to sustain interest in first-class cricket. Contest between the bat and ball is a must,’’ insisted Vasu.
Sai Kishore, who did not get a wicket in the first innings, was in his element. “I didn’t worry as I didn’t bowl much in the first innings. Today I just stuck to the basics, bowled in the right areas to test the batsman. I kept it simple with subtle variations,” said the lanky left-armer. Did the pitch help his cause?
“We were playing on a red-soil wicket after a long time. It had bounce and carry as we saw Natarajan get good purchase. As the day went by, it helped the spinners. We bowled better and that is why we won the game,’’ added Sai.
The Railways top-order was at sea against some quality spin bowling. They went into a shell and caved in under pressure. The only way to counter Ashwin and Sai was to step out and play, which they could not. “We made a conscious effort to bowl at the right speed so as to not allow them to step out. We stifled their stroke play and it worked for us,’’ said Sai.
In the morning, the Tamil Nadu innings folded with the addition of 94 runs to their overnight tally of 236. B Indrajith made 58. He used his feet well against spinners Avinash Yadav, Shivendra Singh and Harsh Tyagi. He was sound in defence and chose the right deliveries to attack.
Abhinav, Dinesh felicitated
Abhinav Mukund and Dinesh Karthik were presented mementos by TNCA president Rupa Gurunath after the match for completing 100 matches in Ranji Trophy for Tamil Nadu.
Brief scores (Day 2)
Group A
In Kalyani: Bengal 635/7 decl (Tiwary 303 n.o, Nandi 65 n.o, Majumdar 59; Ravi Kiran 3/74) vs Hyderabad 83/5 (Akash 3/46).
In T’puram: Kerala 90 & 82 (Shubham 6/48) lost to Rajasthan 268 (Kothari 92; Jalaj 7/77). Pts: Kerala 0, Rajasthan 7.
Group B
In Chennai: Railways 76 & 90 (Sai Kishore 5/16, Ashwin 3/36) lost to TN 330 (Karthik 58, Indrajith 58; Tyagi 5/98, Avinash 3/107). Pts: TN 7, Railways 0.
Group C
In Cuttack: Odisha 161 & 136/7 vs J&K 124 (Basant 4/42, Debabrata 3/12).
Plate
In Puducherry: Pondicherry 209 & 264/7 (Dogra 61; Tempol 5/75) vs Arunachal 192 (Seth 67, Dalal 51; Vinay Kumar 6/51).