It was sweet Pongal for Tamil Nadu as it crushed Uttar Pradesh by an innings and 49 runs on the third day of the Ranji Trophy Group A match in Chennai on Thursday. It thus bagged seven points, including a bonus.
Having taken a sizeable lead at the end of the second day, the host looked all set for a win, barring as they say cricket’s glorious uncertainties.
Not allowing the match to slip away, as sometime Tamil Nadu has done, was paramount.
Resuming its innings, the host looked to add more runs to keep Uttar Pradesh out of the match.
Indrajith, missed out on a well deserved century, but his eighth-wicket partnership with Malolan produced 76 runs of 176 balls in 29.2 overs. Indrajith fell to Amit Mishra, the pacer who took all remaining wickets, on 91. Tamil Nadu ended up on 400, a lead of 218, which as later events proved was too much for the visitors.
Tanmay Srivatsav, on whom the visitors batting has depended a lot, fell cheaply and by the 21st over it had lost four batsmen, the score reading 44.
Once again, Tamil Nadu bowlers were on the mark and Uttar Pradesh batsmen, trying to stay positive failed to make a match of it.
Abhinav rotated his bowlers well and all responded brilliantly. Malolan reaped the most-keeping a good line and forcing the batsmen to play — by bagging five.
If not for an entertaining counter-attack by captain Piyush Chawla , who scored 69 off 88 balls with six towering sixes and 2 fours, the innings would have folded much earlier Chawla in the company of Ali Murtuza was particularly severe on Rahil Shah.
In fact, Uttar Pradesh added 43 runs after lunch in just nine overs.
But a big led meant that Abhinav could well afford to buy Chawla’s wicket. Chawla finally fell to Malolan, trying out one shot too many.
SCORECARD
Uttar Pradesh : 1st innings:182.
Tamil Nadu : 1st innings: U. Sushil c Arish Alam b Piyush 4; Abhinav Mukund c Umang Sharma b Murtaza 140; Vijay Shankar st Dwivedi b Arish Alam 17; B. Aparajit c Tanymay b Himanshu 59; Dinesh Karthink c Chawla b Ali Murtuza 19; R. Satish c Arish Alam b Murtuza 11; B. Indrajith c&b Amit Mishra 91; S. Suresh Kumar c Mukul Dagar b Murtuza 3; Malolan Rangarajan lbw b Amit Mishra 36; M. Prabhu c Tanmay Srivatsava b Amit Mishra 0; Rahil Shah (not out) 1;
Extras : (b-10, lb-2, nb-6, w-1) 19. Total (in 134 overs) 400
Fall of wickets : 1-5, 2-52, 3-179), 4-214, 5-234, 6-303, 7-307, 8-383, 9-393.
Uttar Pradesh bowling : R.P. Singh 8.5-3-9-0; Amit Mishra 18.1-7-29-3; Piyush Chawla 32-3-131-1; Ali Murtuza 48-7-138-4; Arish Alam 1-0-1-1; Himanshu Asnora 20-1-65-1; Umang Sharma 6-0-15-0
Uttar Pradesh : 2nd innings
Tanmay Srivatsava c M. Prabhu b Suresh Kumar 7; Akash Verma c Sushil b Vijay Shankar 2; Himanshu Asnora b Suresh Kumar 18; Umang Sharma b Molalan 19; Arish Alam c Sathish b Suresh Kumar 0; Akshdeep Nath lbw b Malolan 9; Eklavya Dwivedi lbw b Suresh Kumar 20; Piyush Chawla c Dinesh Krthink b Malolan 69; Ali Murtuza st. Sushil b Malolan 6; Amit Mishra lbw b Malolan 5; R.P. Singh not 1;
Extras : 11 (b-6 lb-2, penalty 5 (fielder’s throw hits the helmet). Total 169 (in 57.1 overs).
Fall of wickets : 1-5, 2-18, 3-44, 4-44, 5-57, 6-62, 7-116, 8-143, 9-161
Tamil Nadu bowling :
Vijay Shankar 3-1-6-1, Rahil Shah 16-3-70-0, S. Suresh Kumar 21-7-38-4, Malolan Rangarajan 17.1-7-42-5.
Points : Tamil Nadu-7. UP-0.
