TN wobble after good start

Ranji Trophy Semifinal round-up : Panchal slams unbeaten 144 as Gujarat take command against Jharkhand

 Mumbai picked up four wickets after a third-wicket stand of 110 to keep Tamil Nadu to 261 for six on day one of their Ranji Trophy semifinal here on Sunday.

Baba Indrajith top-scored with 64 for Tamil Nadu, who opted to bat after winning the toss, and Kaushik Gandhi (50) was the other half-centurion for the team.

At stumps, Vijay Shankar (41) and A Aswin Crist (9) were at the crease, and the duo will look to help Tamil Nadu go past 300 on Monday at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium.

Indrajith struck nine boundaries in his 114-ball knock, while Gandhi found the fence eight times and faced 137 deliveries.

Seamer Shardul Thakur and Abhishek Nayar picked up two wickets each, while there was one each for Balwinder Sandhu and Vijay Gohil.

Batting first, Tamil Nadu were off to a sedate start as openers Abhinav Mukund (38) and V Ganga Sridhar Raju (19) put on 45 runs in just under 17 overs.

It was the seasoned Nayar who gave Mumbai their first breakthrough when he had Sridhar Raju, making his first-class debut, caught behind by Aditya Tare.

Skipper Abhinav was dismissed when he was looking good, again caught by Tare off Sandhu’s bowling, and it was then left to the duo of Gandhi and Indrajith to steady the Tamil Nadu innings.

Mumbai staged a fightback of sorts as they took four wickets in a dramatic session after tea, including the important ones of Indrajith, who was caught down the leg side off Shardul, and Gandhi.

Vijay Shankar and Aswin Crist, however, ensured there was no further damage with an unbroken 30-run stand late in the day, but with Mumbai having taken the new ball TN will have their task cut out on the second day.

Gujarat in command

Gujarat opener Priyank Panchal’s dream season in first-class cricket just got better as his unbeaten 144 enabled Gujarat to reach a comfortable 283 for three against Jharkhand on the first day of the semifinal in Nagpur on Sunday.

Panchal and skipper Parthiv Patel’s 62 were the two significant contributions after Gujarat won the toss.

The day certainly belonged to Panchal, who again showed fantastic temperament during his 252-ball undefeated knock that had 21 boundaries.

He blended caution with occasional aggression adding 139 runs for the third wicket with Parthiv, whose 62 had six fours and a six.

Panchal now has scored five centuries in the current season and his accumulated runs in the national championship has swelled to 1264 runs already with a staggering average of 114.90.

Former India ‘A’ and Delhi Daredevils player Manprit Juneja (12) is at the crease alongside Panchal as Gujarat would be looking at a first innings total in excess of 450 to put pressure on Jharkhand. Vikash with 2/48 was the most successful bowler for Jharkhand.

Scoreboard

TAMIL NADU (I Innings): Ganga Sridhar Raju c Tare b Nayar 19, Abhinav Mukund c Tare b Sandhu 38, Kaushik Gandhi c Waghela b Nayar 50, Baba Indrajith c Tare b Thakur 64, Dinesh Karthik lbw Thakur 16, Vijay Shankar (batting) 41, Baba Aparajith c Surya Kumar b Gohil 9, Aswin Crist (batting) 9. Extras (B-4, LB-4, NB-7) 15. Total (for 6 wkts; 90 overs) 261.

Fall of wickets: 1-45, 2-68, 3-178, 4-188, 5-202, 6-231.
Bowling: Shardul Thakur 20-4-64-2, Balwinder Sandhu (jr) 18-5-46-1, Abhishek Nayar 23-6-56-2, Akshay Girap 11-2-34-0, Vijay Gohil 18-3-53-1.

Scoreboard

GUJARAT (I Innings): Samit Gohel c Virat b Vikash 18, Priyank Panchal (batting) 144, Bhargav Merai c †Ishan b Vikash 39, Parthiv Patel lbw Kaushal 62, Manpreet Juneja (batting) 12. Extras (LB-6, W-2) 8. Total (for 3 wkts, 88 overs) 283.
Fall of wickets: 1-62, 2-127, 3-266.

Bowling: Ajay Yadav 13-5-36-0 Vikash Singh 13-5-48-2, Rahul Shukla 18-4-52-0, Shahbaz Nadeem 25-3-73-0, Kaushal Singh 15-2-52-1, Saurabh Tiwary 3-0-13-0, Pratyush Singh 1-0-3-0.