It was a case of so near yet so far for Tamil Nadu as it fell short by a small margin from getting an innings victory on the final day of play against Chhattisgarh in the second round Ranji Trophy match here on Sunday.
After taking a 166-run lead, TN enforced the follow-on and managed to get eight wickets in Chhattisgarh’s second innings but ran out of overs in the end and had to be content with for three points.
Earlier, Chhattisgarh resumed at 261 for eight in its first innings and needed another 59 runs to avoid the follow-on. Skipper Harpreet Singh Bhatia (170, 380b, 15x4, 2x6) and Veer Pratap Singh who frustrated the TN bowlers on day three picked up from where they left off in the first hour of play.
The duo added 83-runs for the ninth wicket until Aparajith removed both the players, leg-before wicket.
Immediate success
TN found immediate success in the second innings when left-arm spinner M. Siddharth had opener Akhil Herwadkar caught at short mid-on before Chhattisgarh steadied things till lunch.
After the break, things started to turn in TN’s favour when Aparajith struck twice in quick succession removing Ashutosh Singh caught at short-leg and Ajay Mandal bowled with a delivery turning away from the left-hander.
Sai Kishore then struck from the other end, having Amandeep Khare caught behind. When Siddharth had Sanidhya Hurkat caught bat-pad, Chhattisgarh was struggling at 65 for five with 47 overs to go.
It was once again left to skipper Bhatia (43 n.o.), who, along with Shashank Singh (67), blunted the TN spin attack with sensible batting. Shashank was the aggressor in the 94-run stand, taking on the spinners by hitting six boundaries and five sixes.
Once again, the TN bowlers struggled to get the lower-order despite their lion-hearted effort. The slow nature of the pitch and lack of bounce meant batting was not difficult with edges falling short of slips and the close-in fielders.
Sai Kishore and Aparajith were the most impressive bowlers on the day with the former getting some turn and bounce on odd occasions. Just as the match was heading towards a draw, Sai chipped in with two wickets removing Shashank and Veer Pratap but by then it was too late.
Tamil Nadu – 1st innings: 470/9 decl.
Chhattisgarh – 1st innings: Akhil Herwadkar lbw b Sai Kishore 11, Sanidhya Hurkat lbw b Siddharth 6, Ashutosh Singh c Kaushik b Mohammed 9, Harpreet Singh Bhatia lbw b Aparajith 170, Amandeep Khare c Indrajith b Sai Kishore 23, Sumit Ruikar lbw b Siddharth 0, Shashank Singh c Suryapprakash b Sai Kishore 2, Ajay Mandal c Jagadeesan b Aparajith 35, Mohammed Hussain lbw b Sai Kishore 0, Veer Pratap Singh lbw b Aparajith 25, Ravi Kiran (not out) 0; Extras (b-23): 23; Total (in 133.3 overs): 304.
Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-24, 3-40, 4-98, 5-99, 6-118, 7-201, 8-208, 9-291.
Tamil Nadu bowling: Warrier 18-4-60-0, Siddharth 26-10-55-2, Sai Kishore 41-15-68-4, Mohammed 10-5-17-1, Aparajith 29.3-11-55-3, Vijay Shankar 3-1-9-0, Shahrukh 5-0-13-0, Kaushik 1-0-4-0.
Chhattisgarh – 2nd innings (follow-on): Akhil Herwadkar c Vijay Shankar b Siddharth 1, Sanidhya Hurkat c L Suryapprakash b M Siddharth 25, Ashutosh Singh c Kaushik b Aparajith 16, Ajay Mandal b Aparajith 4, Amandeep Khare c Jagadeesan b Sai Kishore 1, Shashank Singh c Indrajith b Sai Kishore 67, Harpreet Singh Bhatia (not out): 43, Veer Pratap Singh c Suryapprakash b Sai Kishore 0, Mohammed Hussain lbw Siddharth 0, Sumit Ruikar (not out) 4; Extras (b-8, lb-2, w-1): 11; Total (for eight wkts. in 76 overs): 172.
Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-35, 3-45, 4-46, 5-65, 6-159, 7-163, 8-168.
Tamil Nadu bowling: Sandeep Warrier 5-0-19-0, Siddharth 17-6-48-3, Sai Kishore 26-15-44-3, Aparajith 19-7-24-2, Shahrukh Khan 4-2-5-0, Kaushik 5-1-22-0.
Points: TN 3(6); Chhattisgarh 1 (7). Man-of-the-match: B. Aparajith (TN).
