Published: Oct 08, 2015, 07:10 PM (IST)
Edited: Oct 08, 2015, 07:10 PM (IST)
Indore: Tamil Nadu made a decent start reaching 225 for five in their first innings against hosts Madhya Pradesh at stumps on the opening day of their Group B Ranji Trophy cricket match, here on Thursday. Sent into bat, Tamil Nadu did not have the best of starts as they lost opener K Bharath Shankar (1) early. Tamil Nadu skipper Abhinav Mukund (24) and Baba Aparajith (56) then added 63 tuns for the second wicket before the former departed, caught and bowled by medium pacer Udit Birla (2 for 16). Aparajith scored his runs off 133 balls with the help of six fours but he could not prolong his stay, nicking one to Naman Ojha behind the stumps of the bowling of Ishwar Pandey (2 for 57) at the team score of 100 in 44.1 overs. Check: Ranji Trophy 2015-16: Points Table after first round of games
Senior batsman and wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik (29) followed suit four overs later, handing Pandey his second scalp of the day. Aparajith’s brother Baba Indrajith too got a start, scoring 47 runs off 103 balls with the help of four boundaries and one six before becoming Birla’s second victim of the day, caught by Ojha. At stumps, Ramaswamy Prasanna was unbeaten on 51 which came off 118 balls and J Kousik on 14. For Madhya Pradesh, Pandey and and Birla shared four wickets between them while Puneet Datey (1 for 33) accounted for the other Tamil Nadu batsman. Tamil Nadu will want to ensure they have a big score on board, unlike in the first game where against Baroda it took a brilliant five-wicket haul for Rahil Shah to save the blushes for them.
Brief scores:
Tamil Nadu 225 for 5 (Baba Aparajith 56, Ramaswamy Prasanna 51*; Udit Birla 2 for 16).
