NEW DELHI: Young Delhi all-rounder Pranshu Vijayaran put up a gutsy show before twins Aparajith and Indrajith were dismissed in identical fashion by speedster Harshit Rana as Tamil Nadu reached 214 for five at stumps on day two in a Ranji Trophy game here on Wednesday.
Vijayaran, playing his second first-class game, smashed spinners Washington Sundar (0/36 in 11 overs) and R Sai Kishore (0/32 in 4 overs) to score 58 off 79 balls to take Delhi to a respectable first-innings score of 303.
He (1/14 in 8 overs) then bowled on a good channel and got the dangerous N Jagadeesan (34) caught behind but it was Harshit (3/73 in 16 overs), who tirelessly dug it in short and induced identical miscued pull shots from Aparajith (57) and Indrajith (71), both caught at mid-wicket.
Tamil Nadu, however, batted with a lot of positive intent right from the start as Sai Sudharshan (25) hit six fours in a jiffy during the pre-lunch session before left-arm seamer Kuldip Yadav (1/50 in 10 overs) got one to move away, getting a nick.
Aparajith and Indrajith added 86 runs with consummate ease as they kept the run rate over 4 runs per over.
Left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra (0/56 in 12 overs) was once again ineffective as he bowled to a defensive field which allowed Baba brothers to rotate the strike with ease.
However, credit must be given to big-bodied youngster Harshit, who learnt from his erratic first spell and started digging it in short, trying to take advantage of the two-paced track.
"I was ready to concede a few boundaries but the plan was to keep on bowling the short ball and allow the brothers to play their shots and wait for a mistake," Harshit, who has been coached by former India seamer Amit Bhandari, told reporters after the day's play.
Both Aparajith and Indrajith committed to the short ball early but it didn't come to them at the pace that they expected and hence there was no power in both strokes.
Another man who would be very disappointed is Washington Sundar, who was dismissed by an ordinary delivery drifting down the leg side and his tickle ended in keeper Anuj Rawat's gloves.
While Tamil Nadu need 90 runs with seasoned Vijay Shankar (14 batting) at the crease alongside Pradosh Ranjan Paul (2 batting), skipper Indrajith conceded that the five fours and three sixes hit by Pranshu in the morning hurt them.
"Yes, we gave 40 runs too many. In the morning, I was forced to bowl with spinners as we were running short on over rate.
At this point, I am not even thinking about outright win and want to ensure first innings lead first," Indrajith said.
Suryakumar's 95 helps Mumbai reach 230 against Saurashtra
In Mumbai, India's white-ball star Suryakumar Yadav smashed 95 off 107 balls to take Mumbai to 230 all out in response to Saurashtra's first innings total of 289.
Mumbai lost the first-innings lead but bounced back to reduce Saurashtra to 120 for six in their second innings.
Mumbai left-arm spinner Shams Mulani once again did the bulk of the damage with four wickets.
Going into day four, Saurashtra lead Mumbai by 179 runs and would be looking to add another 50 runs at least to make a match out of it on a turning track.
The 2020 Ranji champions will be relying a lot on left-arm spinner Dharmendra Singh Jadeja and young office Yuvrajsingh Dodiya, who took four wickets in the first innings.
Brief Scores: Delhi 1st Innings 303 in 97.1 overs (Dhruv Shorey 66, Jonty Sidhu 57, Pranshu Vijayaran 58, L Vignesh 4/50).
Tamil Nadu 214/5 in 54 overs (Baba Indrajith 71, Baba Aparajith 57, Harshit Rana 3/73).
In Mumbai: Saurashtra 1st Innings 289 in 79.1 overs and 120/6 in 32 overs (Prerak Mankad batting 25, Dharemendrasingh Jadeja batting 24; Shams Mulani 4/50) vs Mumbai 1st Innings 230 all out in 63.3 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 95, Sarfaraz Khan 75; Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 4/70, Yuvrajsinh Dodiya 4/43).
In Hyderabad: Assam 1st Innings 205 in 56.4 overs and 182/6 in 39 overs.
Hyderabad 1st Innings 208 all out in 66.5 overs (Rohit Rayudu 60; Riyan Parag 4/48, Mukhtar Hussain 3/62).
In Vizianagaram: Maharashtra 1st Innings 200 and 89/1 in 27 overs (Ruturaj Gaekwad 51 batting) vs Andhra 211 all out in 79 overs (Hanuma Vihari 49, Karan Shine 52; P C Dadhe 3/56).