dindugal
Needing 217 for victory, the home team was bowled out for 145 in 67.5 overs. This was after Test specialist Ravichandran Ashwin helped Tamil Nadu skittle out Himachal for 154 in the second innings. The Ankit Kalsi-led Himachal team picked up six points to bounce back from a defeat against Saurashtra in the season opener.
Resuming at 133 for seven, the away side added 21 runs to the overnight score as R Ashwin bagged four wickets to end with a match haul of nine for 120. K Vignesh (2/19) and R Sai Kishore (2/23) finished with two wickets each. Tamil Nadu suffered an early jolt in the chase as the experienced Abhinav Mukund fell for a first-ball duck to Vaibhav Arora.
Sai Kishore, who was pushed up the order, survived 24 deliveries before nicking one to the slips. This brought together debutant K Mukunth (48, 146 balls, 4 fours) and V Ganga Sridhar Raju (21, 61 balls, 1 four) and the duo showed a lot of patience and kept the HP bowlers at bay.
The pair added 40 runs in a little over 19 overs as the home team pushed forward. After playing with a lot of resolve, Sridhar Raju fell to Vashisht, caught at slip by Prashanth Chopra. Skipper Baba Aparajith (43 not out) was the only batsman other than Mukunth to show fight as the rest of the line-up caved in against the relentless spin bowling.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Narayan Jagadeesan, who has been going through a rough patch, fell for a duck while the promising M Shahrukh Khan made only one. From 121 for five, Tamil Nadu capitulated to be all-out for 145 as Vasisht ran through the lower order. Courtesy its poor showing, Tamil Nadu suffered its second consecutive defeat.
Brief scores: Himachal Pradesh 158 all-out in 71.4 overs and 154 all-out in 52.2 overs (SL Verma 36, Rishi Dhawan 35, R Ashwin 4/55) beat Tamil Nadu 96 all-out and 145 all-out in 67.5 overs (K Mukunth 48, B Aparajith 43 not out, A Vashisht 7/33). Points: Himachal Pradesh: 6, Tamil Nadu: 0.
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Tamil Nadu has upper hand
Sourav Paul (125) played a lone hand as Bengal was bowled out for 270 by Tamil Nadu on the opening day of the Colonel CK Nayudu Under-23 Elite B four-day duel in Kolkata on Thursday.
Brief scores: Bengal 270 all-out in 86.5 overs (Sourav Paul 125, Agniv Pan 52, R Sonu Yadav three for 48, S Mohan Prasath 3/23) vs Tamil Nadu.
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