Tripura Keeps TN At Bay

The major talking point at the toss in Tamil Nadu’s second Ranji Trophy match against Tripura was the host’s decision to pack its eleven with seven bowlers.

Not having had its way against Andhra, the pressure was on TN to mend its erroneous ways before a testing away match against its perennial nemesis - Mumbai.  

At the end of day one, Tripura was 244 for seven. With a thick cloud cover and the pitch wrapped under covers in the lead up to the game, TN captain Abhinav Mukund had no second thoughts in inserting Tripura after winning the toss. Tamil Nadu effected three changes to its team by handing a debut to R Sai Kishore, while Dinesh Karthik replaced N Jagadeesan, and all-rounder J Kousik came in for B Aparajith, who is on India A duty. 

It seemed for a while that Abhinav stood vindicated in bowling first when K Vignesh picked a wicket of the first ball with a delivery that slightly lifted after pitching to induce a nick from Bishal Ghosh. Vice-captain Udayan Bose was caught plumb when he offered no shot to a ball that came in from L Vignesh.  

One down batsman Rajesh Banik lived a charmed life when a few air borne shots landed in noman’s zone. He couldn’t make any of those chances count when left-arm spinner Rahil Shah found gap between the bat and pad to rearrange the stumps. 

At 42 for three, it appeared that the match was heading along expected lines of the host reading the riot act to its unfancied visitor, but the fourth wicket pair of Smit Patel and Yashpal Singh put on a stand of defiance during their enterprising partnership of 162 runs.

Captain Abhinav was shorn of ideas and kept shuffling his bowlers in a bid to separate the duo. None of his options, including that of the frontline off-spinner R Ashwin, succeeded in stifling the batsmen let alone threatening to cut short their stay. 

At lunch, the score read 86 for three. Neither of the batsmen was afraid to use the feet against the four-man spin attack and were on the look out for runs rather than hitting the panic mode. 

The 24-year-old Patel was in a punishing mood and clobbered a six each off Ashwin, Rahil and Washington. The post-lunch session was one of frustration for TN as Tripura accumulated 111 runs at close to four runs an over. There was no slackening of aggression from Patel and with a century in his sights, he stepped down and whacked a six over long on off Washington. 

It was the same aggressive intent, however, that saw him tragically get out at the doorstep of a well-deserved century. Aiming to reach the three-figure mark in style, Patel attempted another big hit on 99, but his miscued shot was brilliantly held by Kousik at long on, bringing to an end a masterful knock. 

The experienced Yashpal, battling cramps, took the same fallacious route as Patel in trying to reach his hundred in a blaze of glory. But the result was the same as he was stumped off Ashwin on 96.