Runs came at a premium on Tuesday. Sixteen wickets fell at the MAC Stadium on day two, with the Ranji Trophy Elite Group D fixture between Tamil Nadu and Railways hurtling towards an early finish.
After the visitor dismissed the host for 165, taking a 19-run first-innings lead, Sai Kishore & Co. returned the favour, getting nine Railways wickets for 107 runs. At stumps, Bhargav Merai’s men were ahead by 126 runs.
While Railways left-arm tweaker Raj Choudhary (five for 41) and offie Toufik Mondal (four for 48) made full use of the pitch’s aid, Tamil Nadu’s B. Indrajith put on an exhibition of batting against spin.
The No. 4 batter scored 59 patient runs (167b, 1x4) even as his partners made a steady procession back to the dugout. But Indrajith found an able ally in J. Hemchudeshan (26, 56b, 2x4, 1x6), their ninth-wicket stand contributing fifty invaluable runs. Indrajith eventually fell to Raj, signalling the tweaker’s five-for and the end of the Tamil Nadu innings.
Sai Kishore took it upon himself to bring the home side back into the game. And he succeeded, with figures of four for 38. Young off-spinner Hemchudeshan played the supporting act to perfection with the ball as well (15-5-21-3).
Sai Kishore led Tamil Nadu from the front. | Photo Credit: R. Ragu
Zubair Ali Khan, Railways’ first-innings hero, was dropped by Andre Siddarth at short-leg, the ball flying fast towards the close-in fielder. Zubair’s luck, however, ran out when Ajith Ram castled him, making him the left-arm spinner’s 100th First Class victim.
At the other end, opener S. Yuvraj Singh (42, 155b, 2x4) put a hefty price on his wicket, playing well within himself. When Hemchudeshan bowled Yuvraj for his third wicket, the visitor’s scorecard read 100 for nine in 48.3 overs.
With just one Railways wicket left, the target should not be too big for Tamil Nadu. But then again, runs have been hard to come by.
The scores: Railways — 1st innings: 184.
Tamil Nadu — 1st innings: Vimal Khumar b Himanshu 0, N. Jagadeesan b Toufik 30, Pradosh Ranjan Paul c & b Toufik 19, B. Indrajith st. Ravi b Raj 59, Andre Siddarth lbw b Raj 8, S.R. Athish b Raj 0, Sonu Yadav c Goyal b Raj 0, Sai Kishore c Vivek b Toufik 14, Ajith Ram lbw b Toufik 7, J. Hemchudeshan c Goyal b Raj 26, Gurjapneet Singh (not out) 0; Extras (lb-1, w-1): 2; Total (in 63.1 overs): 165.
Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-44, 3-55, 4-71, 5-71, 6-75, 7-98, 8-112, 9-162.
Railways bowling: Himanshu 13-2-32-1, Zubair 4-0-11-0, Yuvraj 1-0-7-0, Raj 19.1-4-41-5, Toufik 19-1-48-4, Pradhyumn 6-0-23-0, Saif 1-0-2-0.
Railways — 2nd innings: S. Yuvraj Singh b Hemchudeshan 42, Vivek Singh b Gurjapneet 3, Eshaan Goyal b Sai Kishore 4, Mohammad Saif lbw b Sai Kishore 8, Bhargav Merai b Sai Kishore 0, Ravi Singh c Vimal b Hemchudeshan 19, Zubair Ali Khan b Ajith Ram 10, Toufik Mondal lbw b Hemchudeshan 11, Raj Choudhary c Jagadeesan b Sai Kishore 0, Pradhyumn Parikh (batting) 2, Himanshu Sangwan (batting) 1; Extras (b-5, lb-2): 7; Total (for nine wkts. in 51 overs): 107.
Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-15, 3-31, 4-31, 5-56, 6-72, 7-85, 8-89, 9-100.
Tamil Nadu bowling: Sai Kishore 17-5-38-4, Gurjapneet 4-0-15-1, Hemchudeshan 15-5-21-3, Ajith Ram 15-3-26-1.