CHENNAI: There goes a famous adage that “Cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties’’. True to its nature, Tamil Nadu, who were in control on Friday, lost the momentum on day three in the Ranji Trophy clash against Chhattisgarh.
With a session lost due to a wet outfield, Chhattisgarh used the window to come back and frustrate the Vijay Shankar-led side. Chhattisgarh captain Harpreet Singh played a sensible innings to remain unbeaten on 149, guiding his team to a defiant 261 for 8 in 114 overs.
“We were unlucky to lose a session. Had the match begun on time we could have made in-roads as our bowlers could have exploited the conditions better. The delayed start enabled Chhattisgarh to play a bit freely as there were no early morning pressure pangs,’’ said M Venkataramana, head coach of Tamil Nadu.
Harpreet looked solid and played with purpose. He egged the lower-order to give their best and put up a good fight. That Tamil Nadu bowlers were only good in patches didn’t help the Southern state. Although Sai Kishore removed overnight batsman Shashank Singh early in the afternoon, Harpreet and Ajay Mandal frustrated Tamil Nadu with their stubborn stand.
Select scores
Group A: Gujarat 388 & 128/5 in 38.4 ovs vs Kerala 439 in 107.3 ovs (Vishnu 113; Desai 5/132). Group B: Bengal 242 & 201 in 79.0 ovs (Shahbaz 51; Varma 3/13) vs Hyderabad 205 & 4/1 in 0.4 ovs. Group C: Karnataka 302 & 298/3 d in 71.0 ovs (Karun 72) vs Jammu & Kashmir 93 & 189/4 in 57.5 ovs; Pondicherry 342 in 107.1 ovs Railways 525/9 in 151.4 ovs (Ghosh 100, Saif 99). Group D: Mumbai 163 & 322/7 in 106.0 ovs (Rahane 56) vs Goa 327; Saurashtra 501 vs Odisha 165 & 115/5 55.3 ovs (Shantanu 65; Jadeja 3/48). Group E: Andhra 389 & 9/0 in 4 ovs vs Services 343 in 118.4 ovs (Paliwal 96; Ashish 4/91). Group G: Vidarbha 569/5 d vs Maharashtra 250/4 in 87.5 ovs (Shaik 103, Bawane 87 (batting)). Group H: Tamil Nadu 470/9 d vs Chhattisgarh 261/8 in 114.0 ovs (Harpreet 149; Sai Kishore 4/48); Jharkhand 251 & 288/5 in 76.0 ovs (Nazim 110, Suraj 129 (batting) vs Delhi 224 in 101.2 ovs.
Full story: newindianexpress.com