Ranji Trophy: Delhi hold upper hand against Tamil Nadu

CHENNAI - Delhi seized the initiative and held the upper hand as they pegged Tamil Nadu to 122 for five at stumps on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match here Thursday.

Tamil Nadu, who did well in the morning by dismissing Delhi (overnight 258 for three) for 318, were themselves in deep trouble after losing wickets at regular intervals as the 17-year-old left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra picked up three for 22.

The hosts were off to a poor start, losing in-form opener Abhinav Mukund in the very second over. Later, Tamil Nadu suffered a mini collapse as Mishra struck.

Standing tall amidst the ruins was the experienced Subramaniam Badrinath who was unbeaten on 45 at stumps and much of Tamil Nadu hopes on the morrow rest on the former captain.

Badrinath and night watchman Chandrasekar Ganapathy (14 not out) added 40 runs for the sixth wickets to guide Tamil Nadu from a precarious 82 for five to 122 at close.

Earlier, centurion Virat Kohli’s dismissal brought about a swift end to the Delhi innings as off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin came away with five wickets. In a spell of 8.1 overs, Ashwin grabbed four wickets as Delhi collapsed from 295 for three to 318 all out.

Score-Board:

Delhi (1st Innings) Overnight 258 for 3: Chetan Sharma c Badrinath b Prabhu 11; Shikhar Dhawan b Ashwin 41; Virat Kholi c Satish b Ashwin 139; Mithun Minhas lbw Ganapathy 70; Rajat Bhatia (retd hurt) 1; Punit Bisht c Srinivas b Ashwin 8; Yogesh Nagar c Mukund b Sathish 0; Manoj Chauhan (not out) 14; Parvinder Awana lbw Ashwin 3; Vikas Mishra b Sam 2; Pawan Suyal c A Karthik b Ashwin 2. Extras (b-9, lb-9, nb-3, w-6): 27. Total: (for 9 wickets, 116.1 overs): 318

Fall of wickets: 1-53, 2-55, 3-245, 4-295, 5-296, 6-296, 7-310, 8-315, 9-318.

Bowling: Chandrasekar Ganapathy 19-6-25-1, Sunil Sam 21-2-70-1, Ravichandran Ashwin 31.1-7-94-5, Murthy Prabhu 14-6-34-1, Aushik Srinivas 18-2-53-0, Rajagopal Sathish 12-3-19-1, Abhinav Mukund 1-0-5-0.

Tamil Nadu (1st Innings): Abhinav Mukund c and b Suyal 2; Srikkanth Anirudha c Sharma b Mishra 28; KB Arun Karthik c Bisht b Awana 18; Subramaniam Badrinath (batting) 45; Dinesh Karthik c Tehlan b Mishra 6; Rajagopal Sathish b Mishra 2; Chandrasekar Ganapathy (batting) 14. Extras (b-3, nb-4): 7. Total (for 5 wkts, 54 overs): 122.

Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-48, 3-50, 4-60, 5-82.

Bowling: Parvinder Awana 10-2-28-1, Pawan Suyal 10-3-28-1, Vikas Mishra 19-7-22-3, Virat Kohli 1-0-3-0, Manoj Chauhan 9-3-28-0, Yogesh Nagar 3-1-7-0, Mithun Minhas 2-1-3-0.