CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu made heavy weather of a simple target and lost to Andhra by eight runs on the final day of their Elite Group B Ranji Trophy match played at SNR College Grounds, Coimbatore on Friday. For Andhra, the hero was right-arm off-break bowler Shoaib Md Khan, who picked up six wickets for 69 runs. His patience and fighting skills ensured Andhra bagged six points.
Tamil Nadu's chase of 203 runs had a lot of ups and downs. But with Washington Sundar (65) looking solid and Ajith Ram (6 off 30 balls) lending good support at the other end, they had a golden chance of an outright win. But that was not to be. Washington mistimed a bouncer from KV Sasikanth and was held in the deep fine leg. This paved the way for Andhra's creditable win.
''Very happy to contribute to my team's win. We decided to fight till the end and this paid rich dividends. Till Washington was there, the game could have gone either way. Once we got him out, we picked the last wicket quickly and won the game,'' said an elated Shoaib, who was adjudged man of the match.
Shoaib, who plays in the TNCA First Division league for Nelson SC, seemed to have benefitted a lot from his Chennai league experience. ''Definitely, the Chennai league experience came in handy. The TNCA league is one the best in the country and it grooms a player. Playing in Chennai, I learnt how to bowl on different wickets and in different conditions. The league also helped me bowl long spells against quality batters and this in turn improved my bowling,'' he said.
''Playing in Chennai helped me bowl well today. I knew what to bowl to which batter. Plus having played league for a while, I got to know about the strengths and weaknesses of the players,'' added the genial offie.
With the depth in its ranks, the target, in minimum of 64 overs, was certainly achievable for the hosts. But chasing a small target can be tricky at times and Tamil Nadu learnt it the hard way. First Sai Sudharsan gave a good start, later B Indrajith and Washington Sundar had a good stand, but the lower middle order failed to click.
Vijay Shankar, who underwent rehab after surgery looked in bad need of match practice. Pradosh Ranjan Paul, who is a top-order batter, was pencilled into the squad for an injured Shahrukh Khan but looked out of place.
''We had our moments and our batters kept scoring some vital runs. Indrajith played well and had a good stand with Washy. Washy looked solid till the last. He looked like finishing it off for us. Bad luck he got out. It was a learning experience for me as it was a close game,'' said Sai Sudharsan. Earlier in the morning, Andhra's second innings folded for 250 with Ricky Bhui making 76. Sai Kishore bagged a fifer. Tamil Nadu will meet Delhi at Delhi in their third-round match.