Chennai: Tamil Nadu spinners sparkled on a turning wicket as the hosts bowled out Baroda for 162 on the opening day of their Group B Ranji Trophy match at the M.A.
Chidambaram Stadium here on Friday. Playing his first match of the season, left-arm spinner Rahil Shah (4/49) plotted the visitors’ downfall, while the performance of offie Malolan Rangarajan (3/55) and another leftarm spinner Aushik Srinivas (3/20) tormented Baroda batsmen.
Tamil Nadu were five for no loss when bad light ended play at 4.30pm. Yusuf Pathan won a good toss on a strip in which a fourth innings chase could be a nightmare, but his batsmen including the skipper himself failed to apply themselves. The sole purpose of the 14 overs shared by pacers L.
Balaji and Aswin Crist seemed creating some rough for their spin trio. Rahil was introduced as early as in the 11th over and he was quick to pounce on the conditions.
He bowled faster through the air to complement his height advantage and it also helped him extract bounce. Rahil provided early tonic for TN by dismissing Saurabh Wakaskar for six.
Wakaskar’s attempt to clear the mid-wicket fielder Arun Karthick proved too ambitious. Once Malolan joined Rahil at the other end it became a one-way traffic.
Baroda were reduced to 37 for two when Aditya Waghmode (4) missed the flight of a Malolan delivery to be brilliantly stumped by Dinesh Karthik. Rahil’s first spell that read 9-6-4-1 including 31
consecutive dot balls was testimony to his disciplined line which had the visitors pinned to the mat. Right after lunch (63/2), Dinesh missed an easy stumping but Abhimanyu Chauhan’s luck didn’t last long as he was trapped by Rahil as Baroda were left tottering at 67 for three.
Opener Dhiren Mistry, on the other hand, cashed in on an array of reprieves to score a crucial 68 in 154 balls. Dinesh was again guilty of dropping Mistry twice behind the stumps before R.
Prasanna snapped him up at short-leg off Malolan. After surviving a vociferous caught-behind appeal, Yusuf hoisted Rahil over a sight screen for a big six and the all rounder looked solid in the middle. Tamil Nadu might call Yusuf 's lbw dismissal to Malolan poetic justice after a clear inside edge. From 133 for six, TN hardly broke a sweat in polishing off the tail.
Earlier, S. Badrinath, who is down with a bout of fever, was ruled out of the contest.
DC/ C Santhosh Kumar
The turning wicket prepared for the Tamil Nadu-Baroda clash presented a great opportunity for Rahil Shah to make a comeback into the Ranji side and the TN left-arm spinner grabbed it with both hands.
The 28-year-old whose career best figures of 4/49 helped the home side bundle out Baroda for 162 on Friday said he was raring to go since the minute coach W.V. Raman gave an indication that he would be part of the playing XI.
“I was just waiting for a chance,” said Rahil, who made his first-class debut in 2011 and played just one more game (January 2013) since then.
Though the pitch was assisting the spinners, Rahil said he was nervous all along. “I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel any pressure. The wicket was on the slower side and the plan was to keep it stump-to-stump. I wanted to stick to my strengths which are line and length. I did just that and it helped the team, so I am happy to have played a part,” added Rahil, one of the highest wicket-takers in the 2013 TNCA first division league.
Rahil said the wickets of Abhimanyu Chauhan (lbw) and Kedar Devdhar (caught at slip) gave him a lot of satisfaction. “The one which I forced Kedar to edge to the slip had a bit of bounce and it was good to look at,” added Rahil who bowled in tandem with off-spinner Malolan Rangarajan (3/55).
Rahil predicted that the wicket would slower as the match progressed. “It should be fine on day two, but it might break up a little more on the last two days. It will be great to have a sizeable score in our first innings. But, we have to wait for the bowlers to make mistakes,” said Rahil adding that a 150-run lead would give TN a good chance to go for an outright win.
