CHENNAI: Riding on left-arm spinner Manishi's 4/49 Jharkhand defeated Tamil Nadu by 44 runs on Day three of the Ranji Trophy Elite D group match played at the Keenan stadium, Jamshedpur on Friday.
Tamil Nadu hopes of a victory rested heavily upon the experienced Vijay Shankar and Ajith Ram to go about the chase. Entering the third day, Tamil Nadu required 97 runs with five wickets in hand to go for maximum points.
Had they applied themselves they could have won as there was a lot of time left. But that was not to be, Ajith Ram fell in the first over of the day to Utkarsh Singh. In the very next over, Vijay Shankar was caught at gully by Ankul Roy with Manishi taking the prized wicket. This double blow and B Indrajith's untimely injury (did not bat) resulted in Tamil Nadu being all out for 189. This was Tamil Nadu's first loss in the league round.
Meanwhile, after Vijay Shankar's dismissal, M Mohammed (35) and Lakshay Jain engaged in a stand worth 44 runs for the eight wicket. The duo tried their best to continue the chase. But lack of experience in going about the task resulted in Jain falling leg before to offie Aditya Singh. Thereafter Mohammed lost the will to fight and was trapped plumb in front by Anukul Roy.
Credit to Jharkhand skipper Ishan Kishan for shuffling his bowlers well. He also set appropriate field using his imagination well and maintained pressure on the Tamil Nadu batters throughout the game. "Delighted with this win. Team work and players upping the tempo when it mattered helped us beat a strong team like Tamil Nadu," said Manishi after the match.
Had Vijay Shankar got going on Saturday morning Jharkhand's task would have been difficult and things would have been different. But Manishi bowled tidy lines to trouble the all-rounder. "We knew that Vijay Shankar can play a long innings. So our plan was to get him out as early as possible. So we decided to bowl tighter lines to him in order to ensure that he does not play shots and luckily it worked," said Manishi. "In the first innings against Tamil Nadu, I bowled a bit quicker and thus was not that successful. But in the second innings of Tamil Nadu I thought with the wicket helping the spinners, I underplayed a bit and the bowler a bit slower, with tighter lines and thus was successful," added the 21-year old.
The main reason for Jharkhand's win was their handsome lead. Utkarsh Singh's 6/30 came in handy for the winning team and his effort was the turning point of the match. Plus the 26-year old's 35 in the second innings was also valuable. "Utkarsh's effort was good and vital for us to take the lead. On a track that was aiding spinners and with small totals, leads are very important. The lead we got was crucial, as it gave us a cushion and in the final bargain put pressure on the opposition," said Manishi.