Danish misses ton;Vid on way to lead

 

 

 

VIDARBHA’S middle-order batsman Danish Malewar is making most of his purple patch. Already the top-scorer with over a thousand runs this season in the Cooch Behar Trophy, the batsman made a fine 92 against Tamil Nadu as the hosts inched closer to first innings lead at VCA Stadium in Jamtha on Sunday.

The former champions were 225-5 in 74 overs in reply to TN’s 274 all out made in 103.3 overs. At stumps on Day 2 of the four-day summit clash, skipper Mohammad Faiz (37*; 115b, 5x4) and Dharmendra Thakur (5*; 17b) were holding the fort tightly. In case of a no outright result, the first innings lead will be the deciding factor and Vidarbha batsmen were playing it safely after two of the top-order batsmen fell cheaply.

Zubairoddin (2) had made just two in the opening wicket partnership of 26 with Neel Athaley (65; 109, 8x4) before getting out. Another in-form batter Rohit Binkar (11; 29b, 1x4) also did not last long. Both fell to P Vignesh (20-2-66-2).

Neel and Danish Malewar (92; 118b, 12x4, 1x6) looked comfortable in the middle milking TN bowling. They put on 85 runs from 125 balls for the third wicket CV Achyuth (12-3-42-1) cleaned up the opener. Danish opened up and scored more freely in company of Faiz, who was more selective in his strokes, as they added 63 runs together.

With eight more required for his fifth century of the season, Danish was adjudged lbw to Mohamed Ali (19-7-20-1), who bowled a very tight length and with just about one run per over, was the most economical TN bowler.

Faiz was joined by his deputy Jagjot Singh Sasan (10; 25b, 2x4), who after getting his eyes in, gave Karthick Manikandan (12-1-54-1) a return catch.

Early in the day, the last wicket pair of TN — frustrated Vidarbha bowlers. Akash Devkumar (41; 94, 7x4) and G Govinth (12*; 22b, 1x4) played more than twenty overs to add valuable 47 runs. Dharmendra Thakur (11.3-2-31-1) picked the last wicket. Though Vidarbha bat deep, Faiz and Thakur, who have two tons against his name in the tourney, must ensure that they first take the all-important lead and then swell it to outbat the opponents. Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 274 in 103.3 overs vs Vidarbha 225-5 in 74 overs (D Malewar 92, N Athaley 65, M Faiz 37*; P Vignesh 2-66).