Spinners claimed fifteen wickets to help Tamil Nadu bowl out Railways for 246 and 114 and win by an innings and 129 runs on day three of the third-round Group-C match in the Ranji Trophy at the Sri Ramakrishna College of Arts and Science ground on Sunday.
Pratham Singh (92, 94b, 10x4, 4x6) was the first wicket to fall on the day. He charged at pacer Sandeep Warrier only to nick behind to keeper N. Jagadeesan. Nishant Kushwah (36, 95b, 5x4), the other well-set batter, nicked his square cut off left-arm spinner Sai Kishore to the keeper. Pratham and Nishant added 117 runs for the third-wicket stand.
Railways then lost three wickets in 17 balls to be reduced from 218 for four to 220 for seven.
Left-arm spinner Ajith Ram, who’d been bowling from the near end, switched to the far end in the 64th over. In his second over after the switch, he dismissed Railways skipper Upendra Yadav, caught and bowled. The batter tried to tap the ball towards the mid-on region, probably for a single, but ended up with a leading edge.
Off-spinner Mohamed Ali struck twice in the same over. The 19-year-old debutant had left-hander Mohammad Saif nick behind a ball that had extra bounce. Two balls after Saif fell, Karn Sharma was bowled for a duck.
In the penultimate over before lunch, Yuvraj Singh was stumped by Jagadeesan off Sai Kishore. The ball spun just enough to beat the outside edge of the right-hander, who was drawn forward just enough for the keeper to quickly whip the bails off. At lunch, Railways had slumped to 236 for 8.
After the break, Sai Kishore claimed his third wicket (three for 72) when he had Sahab Yuvraj Singh caught by a diving Mohamed Ali at short extra cover. In the next over, Ajith Ram (two for 46) had Kunal Yadav sky one to M. Mohammed at mid-off.
Sai Kishore (four for 43) and Ajith Ram (four for 40) combined again to hand Railways a drubbing in its second innings where opener Shivam Chaudhary was absent hurt by a back spasm.
The scores:
Tamil Nadu - 1st innings: 489.
Railways - 1st innings: Shivam Chaudhary b Warrier 16, Vivek Singh b Warrier 11, Pratham Singh c Jagadeesan b Warrier 92, Nishant Kushwah c Jagadeesan b Sai Kishore 36, Mohammad Saif c Jagadeesan b Ali 28, Upendra Yadav c & b Ajith 21, Sahab Yuvraj Singh c Ali b Sai Kishore 7, Karn Sharma b Ali 0, Yuvraj Singh st Jagadeesan b Sai Kishore 2, Akash Pandey (not out) 8, Kunal Yadav c Mohammed b Ajith 2; Extras (b-16, lb-6, nb-1): 23; Total (in 79.4 overs): 246.
Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-35, 3-152, 4-160, 5-218, 6-220, 7-220, 8-236, 9-237.
Tamil Nadu bowling: Warrier 14-3-61-3, Sai Kishore 28-6-72-3, M. Mohammed 3-1-12-0, Ajith Ram 21.4-9-46-2, S. Mohamed Ali 13-6-33-2.
Railways - 2nd innings: Nishant Kushwah c Jagadeesan b Warrier 1, Vivek Singh lbw Sai Kishore 12, Pratham Singh st (sub) Lokeshwar b Sai Kishore 29, Mohammad Saif b Ajith 28, Upendra Yadav b Ajith 8, Sahab Yuvraj Singh (not out) 22, Karn Sharma c & b Ajith 4, Yuvraj Singh c & b Ajith 0, Akash Pandey c Ali b Sai Kishore 0, Kunal Yadav c Sachin b Sai Kishore 1, Shivam Chaudhary absent hurt 0; Extras (b-8, lb-1): 9; Total (all out in 44 overs): 114.
Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-20, 3-59, 4-71, 5-89, 6-101, 7-101, 8-102, 9-114.
Tamil Nadu bowling: Warrier 5-4-4-1, Mohamed Ali 6-2-9-0, M. Mohammed 4-2-9-0, Sai Kishore 16-2-43-4, Ajith Ram 13-3-40-4.
