CHENNAI: On an eventful day where 15 wickets fell, Tamil Nadu played the tight moments better and importantly, managed to get vital breakthroughs to bag an overall lead of 74 runs over Jharkhand on Day 2 of the Ranji Trophy match played at Guwahati.
Tamil Nadu, who were overnight on 256 for 7, did not make much impact and were bundled out on Friday morning, after adding just 29 runs. This would have certainly been a cause of concern in the Tamil Nadu dressing room as the target was gettable. But Tamil Nadu, for once, believed in its potential and bundled out Jharkhand for 226.
This was possible mainly due to M Siddharth, who bagged four wickets, and the golden arm of Shahrukh Khan. The hard-hitting batter failed with the bat but his gentle off-spin helped him bag three wickets including that of the dangerous Saurabh Tiwary.
The wicket was not, by any stretch of imagination, unplayable. What was required was patience as the bounce was not consistent. "Yes, one needed to concentrate hard on the surface which had variable bounce. To put runs on the board, one needs to apply and be judicious in their shot selection," said M Venkataramana, head coach of Tamil Nadu.
Everyone expected the Tamil Nadu lower-order to do better and put some runs on the board in their first essay. But that was not to be. Their bowlers did a good job to restrict Jharkhand and take a decent lead.
As long as Jharkhand's Utkarsh Singh (52) and Saurabh Tiwary (58) were there, the possibility of them sailing past Tamil Nadu's total was alive. But this time around, Sandeep Warrier and Shahrukh Khan gave vital breakthroughs.
"We were aware that one or two partnerships would certainly be there. We marked the players and we were waiting for an opportunity to break the partnership between Utkarsh and Saurabh. Sandeep removed Utkarsh by a peach of a delivery and Shahrukh foxed Saurabh with his gentle off spin. In the previous games, we could not break a few partnerships. This time we worked on certain areas and it has come in handy," revealed Venkataramana.
At stumps, Tamil Nadu were 15 for 2 in their second essay with both the openers back in the dressing room. Openers not clicking as a pair has been one of the problems this season for Tamil Nadu. But it has still got depth in its batting and in Shahrukh Khan one of the best finishers in the game.
"Yes, it would have been nice had our openers given us a good start. But, it happens. We have good depth in our batting and we are confident of setting up a stiff target. We are keen to have an outright win and we will fight till the end," signed off Venkataramana.