VALSAD: Gujarat was struggling at 38 for three at close of second day’s play against Tamil Nadu in the opening match of the Group C of the Ranji Trophy match here on Saturday.

Earlier, Tamil Nadu had a tough start to its innings after losing its opening pair of B Sachin and Sai Sudharasan for single digit scores. The left-arm seamer Arzan Nagwaswalla made the top order of Tamil Nadu collapse before the leg spinner Ravi Bishnoi took the ball in his hand to break the rest of the tail. At Lunch, Tamil Nadu was 71 for five at the end of 30 overs with still 165 runs behind.

The job was left to the tailenders to give Tamil Nadu a decent score to put up a fight against Gujarat. In the end, it was M Mohammed and Sandeep Warrier who came to rescue the team once again after showcasing a scintillating performance with the ball. The duo amazed the Gujarat bowlers with a 116-run partnership which helped the visitor to get a 14-run lead in the first innings. Warrier then had an amazing opening spell to scalp three wickets in the evening session, giving the home side a lot of work to do on day three.

BRIEF SCORES: Gujarat 236 & 38/3 in 13 overs (S Warrier 3/5) vs Tamil Nadu 250 in 67.5 overs (M Mohammed 85, Arzan Nagwaswalla 3/35, Ravi Bishnoi 4/73)