The first round of Ranji trophy got over a day before and in 13 matches that were played only 3 resulted in a result. Tamil Nadu defeated Assam in the super league while Rajasthan and Jharkhand playing in the Plate league won their games against Hyderabad and Tripura respectively. Only one team in the Super league registered a victory and that is TN against a weak opponent, Assam. Mumbai, Bengal and Gujarat settled for first innings lead points in the super league. Not a great start to the premier domestic competition, though the first session of the competition promised much with about 47 wickets falling across 13 matches. Deepak Chahar packed Hyderabad for the lowest total in Ranji in that session. Incidentally Hyderabad also holds the record for the highest Ranji score (900 odd). Nice pair to have ;).
What does this season promise? More draws? I think so, if the first round is any indication. I am disappointed with Mumbai's refusal to try for a outright win when they could have enforced follow-on against Saurashtra with 204 runs lead and 60+ overs more to bowl. Jaffer may not have seen any on the pitch but then nothing wrong in trying on a last day (4th day) pitch. Instead he chose for some batting practice and notched up his second hundred of the match. It represents the mindset of many Ranji captains or rather team management. But not Gujarat though. They pressed for a victory and asked Railways to follow-on with a lead of 158 runs (150 is the lead required for enforcing the follow-on). Teams seem happy with first innings lead points rather than pressing for a win unless it is crucial for survival. May be pitches should improve and become more result oriented. Given the fact that these are 4 day matches, may be heavy roller should be abandoned for Ranji matches. But whatever aid they may be for results, approach of teams have to change. They should go all out for a win.
On the individual performances front, Jaffer has begun the season on a good note (hundreds in each innings of the first match). Surely few double and even a triple are waiting down the line. He is such a phenomenal scorer in Ranji that it is a shame that he failed to command a place in the Indian test side. Another interest is the return of ICL rebels. Sriram (who played for TN prior to joining ICL) scored a century for Assam against TN in a losing cause, while Rayudu scored a double hundred that helped his team avoid defeat against Orissa and win a point. Hemang Badani scored a useful 65 for Haryana against Himachal Pradesh. In total there were 16 centuries from 15 batsmen in the first round in both leagues.
On the bowling front, Deepak Chahar hogged the limelight with his 8 for 10 in ten overs that bundled out Hyderabad for 21. He followed it up with a 4 fer in the second innings. Though it is in plate league, Hyderabad is a decent opposition that got relegated to Plate league last year. It's the team that VVS plays for in Ranji. I would have loved see Chahar against Laxman. In the super league B.Mohanty (Orissa), Budhwer (Haryana) and Praveen Kumar (UP) took a 5 fers. They all along with L.Balaji lead the table with 6 wickets each.
Karnataka, last season's runner up, will be opening their campaign only in the second round of matches starting on Nov 10. Last season Dravid played, led and scored in most of the matches for them. It will be interesting to see how they fare without him. Uthappa, Mithun and Vinay will be tracked by cricket followers. Won't mind if there is another Chahar out there somewhere.
Chahar's performance is something to look at. This lad has enormous swing (both ways) and a decent pace. His stock has already gone up with reports of IPL teams lining up for him with cheques in hand. Nothing could be disastrous than that for the young talent. I just hope and wish he keeps his focus firmly on longer versions of the game and plays it hard for one or two seasons. If he does that everything, not the least money and fame, will come to him. More than money, the pressure of T20 that too in IPL could spoil his bowling. Many may not agree but T20 did a huge damage to Ishant's bowling.
Not sure how this post has come out. This is a hastily written up post. I will work out a framework for covering Ranji matches from next round onwards. Hoping for lot of fireworks and more results in the next round. By the way, just in case you want to about teams I support , it is Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Delhi, in that order. The team that I like to see lose is Mumbai. Nothing personal just that they are the Australia (not the current one ;)) of Indian domestic competition. They have been too good for decades now and hence have upset the underdog supporter in me. They may win yet another Ranji this season, but then I am hoping against it.
Super League Points table http://www.cricinfo.com/ranjisuperleague2010/engine/current/series/465376.html?view=pointstable
Super league Most Runs list http://stats.cricinfo.com/ranjisuperleague2010/engine/records/batting/most_runs_career.html?id=5961;type=tournament
Super League Most Wickets list http://stats.cricinfo.com/ranjisuperleague2010/engine/records/bowling/most_wickets_career.html?id=5961;type=tournament
Plate League Points table http://www.cricinfo.com/ranjiplateleague2010/engine/current/series/465378.html?view=pointstable
Plate league Most Runs list http://stats.cricinfo.com/ranjiplateleague2010/engine/records/batting/most_runs_career.html?id=5962;type=tournament
Plate league Most wickets list http://stats.cricinfo.com/ranjiplateleague2010/engine/records/bowling/most_wickets_career.html?id=5962;type=tournament
Saturday, November 6, 2010
First round of Ranji Trophy matches - A summary
Posted by Balajhi
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Karsan Ghavri
Posted by Soulberry
In a recent conversation with Samir Chopra of Eye on Cricket, Karsan Ghavri's name cropped up from my side. That triggered a few memories - pleasant ones - in me. I thought I'd reord them in this journal before they are completely erased.
Karsan Ghavri was a southpaw. He blasted with the bat as an elegant lefty and bowled left-handed too. It was Ghavri's bowling which brought him into the aforesaid conversation. He could bowl everything - from left arm medium pace swing, equipped with a mean faster one when he was younger, to slow left arm orthodox. He wasn't very tall, but had broad shoulders, wide chest and a huge heart beating in it for his team. There is one curious fact about Karsan Ghavri: he partnered young Kapil Dev in about 27 Test matches in an opening combination and together they never once allowed a century partnership to happen. Now how's that for an effective opening combo? Also, he was the first Indian left arm pacer to pick up 100 Test wickets. But I'm getting ahead of myself here.
Before Kapil Dev launched himself from an Indian cricketing outpost, the philosophy of Indian bowling attack revolved, for some reason, around spin. There was a tendency to reduce opening bowlers to mere ball shine-removers. Rarely were pacers given a complete chance to express themselves with the complete range of skills at their command, especially in Tests played at home. Yet the tribe didn't die out - they simmered like hot embers in the domestic set up and a few of them flared occasionally on the international stage when the wind was just right. It was in such a scenario that Karsan Ghavri played his cricket. Mohinder Amarnath and Madan Lal were his regular partners in the Indian team before Kapil arrived. However, it was mostly musical chairs for the pacers, with spinners claiming first right to bowling slots. So when batting needed to be strengthened, out went a pacer and Amarnath or even Gavaskar doubled up as shine-removers for the odd over or two before spin set in. Those were peculiar times when spinners even opened the bowling for India with a bright red shiny cherry. Today, such a one-eyed philosophy of attack would be considered outrageous...even foolish.
Ghavri's bowling was complimentary to Kapil's, and often the spinners. He may not have picked up international wickets by the bushels but he had a mean faster one...usually a deceptive bouncer...with which he used to rein in the best of the adventurous batsmen who fancied an advance towards him down the pitch. He could swing the ball both ways and when the conditions were favourable, he'd be more dangerous. His career is one where the couple of wickets he'd pick up would be key wickets and at just the right time. Who can forget the role he played in the Melbourne Test in 80-81, which India won to square a Test series in Australia for the first time. His performance in that Test was overshadowed by more spoken about events such as, the Gavaskar Walk upto the boundary line and Kapil Dev's steamrolling of the Aussies despite being in fever. In that match, when Australia needed a mere 143 runs to win, Ghavri came up with twin strikes of John Dyson and Greg Chappell. It need not be emphasized that Greg Chappell was the best batsman of that line-up and Dyson could be a stodgy customer. Kapil Dev then finished up the rest for an Australian total of 83 and a series levelling victory for India.
His other asset was his batting. Not only could he drop anchor usefully to partner in a rearguard action, he could also step on it if required. With Syed Kirmani he formed a doughty lower order unwilling to quit easily. Talking about his batting takes me back to a 1977 Ranji match between Bombay and Delhi at Ferozeshah Kotla which I had the opportunity to watch.
Joga Rao was a good friend of my father. Bombay were coming to Delhi to play a Ranji match. He was due to comment for AIR. Those were the days when the copuntry's best participated in Ranji trophy and took great pride in performing well for their teams. Of course, I understand times have changed and perhaps it may be difficult for newer generations to recapture the excitement cricket enthusiasts used to feel during the Ranji season or understand the same. Ranji matches were fiercely competitive, well attended...I have seen laathis used by securitymen at Kotla during Ranji matches and even minor stampedes when the gates were thrown open for the day. Being a member of a cricket club perhaps was also responsible in bringing the Ranji experience closer to me. There was much discussion on various aspects of all players and collective opportunities were sought for a club excursion to watch the matches. But I also had a cricket loving father and his group of cricket frenzied friends as well. So domestic season was as important as the international one.
There was some needle between Bishan Bedi and Sunny bhai before this Ranji encounter. At least the media was leading everyone to believe so. There were murmurs about some Indian players and their likely Kerry Packer interests. By some quirk of media reporting, Sunnybhai was cast in the role of a potential mutineer and Bedi was said to be leading the traditionalists. Another media angle, a more muted one, suggested that both Sunny and Bedi were contemplating. One doesn't know what the truth of the matter is, but Sunnybhai wasn't one to let down his country and neither was Bedi. But that's how the media was painting things to be.
Normally, Delhi-Bombay encounters always key up the players and supporters. Under the prevailing rumors and in the light of the upcoming India tour of Australia, Delhi was waiting to give a 'warm reception' to Sunnybhai. The media had done just enough whispering to allow the impression to gain ground that Sunny bhai was on the verge. Another thing, Sunny was still remembered for his Prudential Cup '75 innings.
So when Bedi came on early and bottled him up quickly, nearly all hell broke loose at Kotla. On lithe sardar with a black turban near me was ready at the staricase leading from the ground to the pavilion, ready with some Punjabi fun topoke at Snny as he'd walk up the stairs. Sure enough, that's ow it happened and to the surprise of of all of us, Sunn bhai, instead of ignoring the provocation, stopped and turned dangerously to face the the surdy boy, with a dare to say things on his face. Naurally, surdyboy there leapt back with alacrity. I did say he was lithe. So that was an indicator of the level of interest, competitiveness and involvement of eveybody. It's another matter that Sunny again was dismissed cheaply by Bedi in the second innings and there wasn't so much fuss then.
Delhi itself foundered against Ghavri, Madan Lal fighting to inch Delhi as close to Bombay as possible. Shouts of Maddipa! Maddipa! rang around the Kotla whenever he scored a run and bhangra would break out whenever he boundaried. Maddipa scored 41 valuable runs with Surinder Khanna, the Delhi and India keeper, and the portly Rakesh Shukla, the veteran Delhi leggie who also played one Test for India and was an able batsman as well.
Ranji Trophy had great presence back then and full houses were quite frequent on all days of play. India players took great pride and enjoyed playing for their teams. Especially when teams such as Karnataka, Bombay, Tamil Nadu or any of the Zones were visiting, the crowds would be following on and off the ground, transistor radios to their ears.
Earlier, Surinder Amarnath and Chetan Chauhan had laid the foundation for a total but Hari Gidwani (who later migrated to Bihar and Bengal I think), Jimmy Amarnath, Venkat Sunderam (the long-serving Delhi opener) couldn't quite contribute. It was actually Vinay Lamba, Delhi's middle order batting all rounder who began the fightback, but he too fell after a start.
Coming back to Ghavri, he took six Delhi wickets, constantly pegging Delhi back with critically timed wickets with his wickedish left-arm pace, but Madan 'Maddipa' Lal had still brought Delhi to within 26 runs of Bombay's 317. It was stirring stuff and the crowd was in good, uncynical spirits again. The match was on even keel again after Delhi appeared to have let it slip following Bombay's first innings dismissal for a struggling total. Maddipa had taken three and Bedi, four. Delhi needed to do one better than they did in the first innings and bowl Bombay out to win the match. Batting fourth on the pitch against the likes of Shivalkar would be hellish anyway.
Delhi's spinners struck - between them, Bedi, Chauhan and Shukla snared all but one Bombay wicket. Suresh Luthra snared the one that got away with his medium pace. Bombay were pretty down at one time, regularly losing wickets to be five down for just about a hundred-odd runs. The stands were ecstatic, anticipatory...Delhi were on top. In stepped Karsan Ghavri at six-down, with only a limpid Bombay tail to follow - and he batted!
If there is any innings I reember of anyone, it is this Karsan Ghavri knock. Not just because I had to take swift evasive ation whenone of his sixes thudded into the chair behind me through a trajectory which might have gone dead centre of my face, but because it as singlehanded commandeering of the innings with brilliant farming of the strike. His 70-80 odd came next to no time and I guess his partners didn't score five together! Bombay were living again!
The 200-odd Bombay scored second with the 26 run lead from the first was formidable runs when you consider that Shivalkar (as good or better than Bedi) would be bowling to Delhi in the fourth innings. Covering of the pitch wasn't yet the norm those days and wear and tear made itself felt in the match. Delhi had a solid line-up, but it hadn't clicked....and on top of it, Ghavri was on a high.
Just two blows more Ghavri struck - Chetan Chauhan and Maddipa - Delhi's two Test class players and in-form batsmen, dismissed or a single each by Karsan Devjibhai.
Padmakar Shivalkar feasted on the rest and Delhi was minced meat on theirown skewer and roasted to perfection over coals of anguish.
If I remember Karsan Ghavri for anything, it is this match. It was the highest quality of cricket played and so thoroughly competitive that you could be forgiven to think it was an international match of the calibre of India-Australia or India-Pakitan. Such was the glory of Ranji Trophy at one time and such was Karsan Ghavri.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Ranji Trophy Super league second round matches
Posted by Balajhi
TN vs Karnataka - Group B
The battle of the south zone begin today at Chinnaswamy stadium Bangalore. Both teams failed to make any impression at the national level in the past 2 seasons. While Karnataka's strength was dented by retirements and players on national duty, TN suffered due to ICL. TN almost pushed Maharashtra to defeat while Karnataka managed to draw despite a second innings collapse (scorecard). They also conceded first innings lead to Railways. But unlike Group A, where Mumbai and Delhi registered good wins, none of the Group B contenders registered a win in the first round of super league round robin matches.
Coming to today's match, TN put up yet another good show on day 1 after winning the toss. The triple centurion at Nashik, Abinav Munkund, fell cheaply to Vinay kumar scoring just 8 runs. TN was tottering at 51 for three after losing Mukund, Badrinath for 7 and DK for 7. But the other opener Arun Karthik, who made is debut to replace Murali Vijay, scored 149 and shared a 246 runs stand with Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan who remains unbeaten at 115. At the end day's play TN is in a good position having scored 325 for the loss 4 wickets. They however can't relax and a lot depends on Vidyut and SS Kumar. They must carry on and eye a totall 500 to be gain in dominancy in the match.
Arun Karthik is 22 and looks like an aggressive batsmen. His century came in jsut 115 balls and his 149 took only 189 deliveries. Remember he is making a debut. Vidyut is doing a good job for TN. He is more consistent nowadays. IPL outing must have helped him. Surely IPL has some benefits and the notable one is Amit Mishra.
It seems DK has forgotten how to bat. His poor form continues. Badrinath's return must bolster TN batting, though he failed today. Long journey from Nagpur and getting dropped from the ODI side, that too replaced by his under study, must have impacted him.
L.Balaji has to come good for TN to win matches, not only here but in this season.
Sunil Joshi's distinction
The veteran Sunil Joshi has joined the 8 member elite club of 400+ wicket takers in Ranji trophy. Congratulations to him for the 400th and the long service. DK is his 400th wicket while current CoS, Kris Srikkanth, was his first wicket.
Top 10 wicket takers in Ranji Trophy
1. Rajinder Goel 637
2. S Venkataraghavan 530
3. Narendra Hirwani 441
4. Bhagwat Chandrasekhar 437
5. VV Kumar 418
6. Bishan Bedi 402
7. Utpal Chatterjee 401
8. Sunil Joshi 400
9. Erapalli Prasanna 370
10. Venkatapathy Raju 367
Day 1 - Scorecard
Update - Day 2
TN ended the first innings at 531 and Karnataka were 82 for 1 at close of stumps. TN's left arm spinner Suresh picked up the lone wicket that of Chipli, who left the armer strike him plumb. Karnatak now faces a tough task of matching 531, with their skipper down with the viral fever and on drips. Balaji and Yomahesh must cash in early morning dew at Chinnaswamy stadium.
Day 2 - Scorecard
Update - Day 3
TN gained the upper hand by restricting Karnataka to 267 and gaining a big first innings lead of 264. Karnataka, following on, are 48 for no loss at the end of day 3. L.Balajhi picked up 3 wickets, Suresh 4 and Ashwin picked up 3 for TN in Karnataka's first innings. Only Raghu with a 76 managed a fifty for Karnataka. Robin Uthappa was out to a first ball duck, lbw B. Ashwin.
Karnataka has to bat the whole day tomorrow. TN has to make the morning dew work for them. Hope Balaji shines in the second innings too. There was a time when teams batted a whole day comfortably to draw match. But the advent bang, bang cricket resulted in more attacking play, more mistakes and less tenacity among batsmen today. It will be interesting to see how Karnataka fares tomorrow.
Final update
The match has ended in a draw with Karnataka scoring 269 runs for the loss 4 wickets. R.Ashwin picked up 3 wickets for TN. Karnataka was bit shaky at 181 for 4 with 30+ overs to go but Raghu and Pandey batted valiantly to earn a draw and a point. TN's batting looks good for the season but the bowling is short on delivery.
Scorecard
Elsewhere in the Ranji
Group A
Mumbai piled 486 with Wasim Jaffer scoring 192. Gujarat tottering at 77 for six at the close of play on day 2. D Kulkarni picked up 4 for Mumbai. Parmer picked up 6 for Gujarat. Gujarat thrashed Saurashtra in the first match and now suffering at hands of the big boy.
Final Update
Mumbai cleans up Gujarat for 44 in the second innings. All Mumbai bowlers share the spoils. Seems like a professional performance by them.
Scorecard
Saurashtra's top order failed yet again to provide a good start and lost 3 wickets for 27 and almost repeated their performance against Gujarat last week. But not this time said the resolute Pujara. They were 100 for 4 when R Jadeja joined Pujara. These two together put up a grand show against Orissa and remained unbeaten after adding 520 runs together. Saurashtra declared at 620 for 4 with Pujara scoring his 3 triple of the season and first in this Ranji season. R Jadeja scored a double. Orissa have made a quite beginning. They are 42 for 0 at close of play.
Update
Sourashtra has made Orissa follow on. Orissa is 4 for 0 at stumps with a whole day and 314 runs to match. Looks like Sourashtra will register a big win. They sufferred a huge loss in the hands of Gujarat in the first match. Today it was Gujarat's turn at the hands of Mumbai while Sourashtra looking to decimate Orissa.
Final update
Sourashtra wrapped up the match against Orissa. A confidence boosting win after the first match loss to Gujarat. Saurashtra trailing by 318 runs were bowled out for 234 with Jadeja, the first innings double centurion, picking up 5 wickets.
Scorecard
Delhi has some worries against Hyderabad. Hyd were all out for 334 with SA Pai scoring 130. Sangwan led the wickets tally for Delhi with 4 wickets. In reply Delhi are 124 for 3 with both openers Chopra and Dhawan back in the pavilion. Ashwin Yadav picked up 2 wickets. No idea about who he is though his name suggests that he could be the another son of the famous Shivlal Yadav playing for Hyderabad. Arjun Yadav continuing to lead Hyderabad with a first class average of around 28 with bat.
Update
Delhi surrendered the first innings lead to Hyderbad. They were all out for 284 with Ashwin Yadav picking up 6 for 52. Who is he? Offie form Shivlal's stable?
At close of play Hyderabad were 31 for no loss and has a lead of 81. But for some sterling performance by Delhi bowlers, this match is heading into a draw. It's going to be second draw for Delhi this season. With Mumbai, Punjab winning and Sourashtra looking to wrap it up tomorrow, Delhi has to lift itself in the coming matchs
Final Update
As expected the match ended in a draw. Hyd scored 230 for the loss of 3 wickets. Mithun Manhas picked up all three for Delhi while Ravi Teja scored 113 and remained not out for Hyderabad.
Scorecard
Punjab are in a strong position after taking a 129 run lead against Rajasthan in the first innings. Rajasthan likely to perform worse than their first innings (133 ao) and are in shamble at 57 for 6 at the of day 2. Gony and Gagandeep stared with ball taking 4 wickets each in the first innings. In the second innings Kakkar picked up 3 so far for Punjab. Now Greg is really having some problem with his presence, irrespective of the team is working for.
Final update
Punjab has wrapped up the match against Rajasthan pretty comfortably. They needed just 41 to win the match and scored them for the loss of one wicket. It was a team performance.
Scorecard
Group B
UP vs Baroda is almost even stevens with UP having just its nose ahead. Praveen Kumar for UP and Irfan for Baroda picked up fivers.
Update
UP took a 51 run lead against Baroda. Irfan finished with 6 wickets. In their second essay Baroda has responded well and are 239 for 4. They now have a lead of 188. What will they do? Declare with a lead of 220+ and declare? I think they should. For a draw they will only get 1 as UP took the first innings lead but if they set a sporting target, they may as well pressurise UP and win the match and pocket 6 points. What would Connor Williams do? Go for 6 man. I am looking forward to this result. Interesting 4th day's play on the cards
Final update
The match ended in a draw. Asked to chase 264 UP ended with 151 for 6. They were once 97 for 6 in 30 overs. After that Kaif and Wicket Keeper Amir Khan saved UP valiantly. Kaif scored 45 while Amir scored 7 of some 90 odd balls. Both remained not out. Irfan could manage only 1 wicket in the second innings.
Scorecard
Maharashtra is in a strong position against Andhra Pradesh after surviving the scare given by TN in their first match. AP were all out for 348 while MH are 205 for 1 at stumps on day 2. MH's seamer Fallah took 6 wickets while their opening batsman Khadiwale scored 103 and was the batsman to be dismissed. For AP Whatekar scored 142.
Update
This game is heading for a draw. With an overnight score of 205 for 1, Maharashtra were bundled out for 393. That's pathetic. They not only failed to score big but also consumed lot of overs to ensure a first innings lead. In the end they gained 45 runs lead and AP are 2 with out loss at stumps.
Final Update
The match ended in a draw. Andhra declared at 210 for 5 leaving 10 odd overs for Maharashtra to chase 166.
Scorecard
Monday, November 3, 2008
TN starts in style
Posted by Balajhi
Tamil Nadu opened its campaign at Nashik against Maharashtra. Their openers remain unbeaten at the end first day's play and have together added 377. M.Vijay, on whom I am keeping an eye, has scored his second double century in first class and the other opener Abinav Mukund, a new comer to the TN Ranji side, is on a century now. I hope they build the partnership further and score biggg individually.
TN has been struggling off late to make it past the league round. In fact two years back it had to fight hard to avoid relegation to the plate group. Badrinath was the lone man doing the batting for TN during this period after Badani, Sriram and few others left for ICL riches. Since the arrival of Vijay TN's batting look bit solid. Vijay had a good start to his career in 2006-07 and had an average one in 2007-08. He has had a good start to this season and is in good form. He had a good India A outing against NZ A and came second in the challenger trophy batting charts.
TN's prospects for this seasons rests largely on the shoulders of Vijay with Badrinath carrying the drinks for India seniors. TN's bowling department is emboldened by the return of L.Balaji. It has a very good offie, who missed out most of last season due to injury, in Ashwin.
Other point of interest in TN for Indian cricket fans is DK, the man who rose to the top from the bottom and fell down from there with a big thud, all in one season. Wishing him and his team good luck.
Day 2 - Update
TN declares at 648 for 3. Abinav Mukund makes it biggg (300*) and remains unbeaten while Vijay scored 243. Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan scored 59. DK failed again scoring just 5. A strange coincidence that both DK and his captain on England tour are struggling to find their touch. Balaji picks up the opener Khadiwale as Maharshtra ended the day at 154 for 1 in 44 overs. The pitch seems to be a good one to bat. Though still lot of cricket left in this game, I think this could end in a tame draw unless the pitch cracks and Ashwin has his way.
Day 3 - Update
This match is heading for a tame draw. Maharashtra are 401 for 7 at the end of day 3. TN likely to pick up extra first innings points. AJ Shrikhande, who is just playing his second first class match, saved the day for Maharastra with his big ton (195). Ashwin, the tall offie, has impressive figures of 3 for 68 from 40 overs. TN has to shore up its bowling, otherwise they will have another year of average performance.
Day 4 - Update
Despite TN's efforts on the fourth day KM Jadhav and NS Paradkar saved the day for Maharashtra. After dismissing MH for 457 in the first innings, TN enforced the follow on. TN spinners picked up 3 quick wickets for 55 but J & P scored 90+ each to ensure a draw and point for Maharashtra. Maharashtra scored 250 for six at the close of play. It must be relief for Maharashtra and an opportunity gone for TN. C Suresh, left arm spinner, of TN picked 7 or 205 in the match with a fiver in the first innings.
TN has improve it's performance in coming matches. Badri's presence should help them but Vijay's absence will be felt. Balaji and Yomagesh must deliver for TN enter the knock out phase.
scorecard
