THE wicket might have slowed down, may be there was not much of bounce, may be it was not assisting the spinner too much ... but all that do not allow anybody to take credit away from Tamil Nadu batters who batted out the last day robbing defending champions Vidarbha of full points from their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match that ended in a draw at Sri Ramakrishna College of Arts and Science Ground in Coimbatore on Tuesday. Though Vidarbha had their share of chances in the game, it was some gritty batting, particularly by Baba Indrajith (77*; 189b, 5x4) who stood like an unshakeable piece of rock earning a solitary point for the home side. Starting the final day at 6-0, Vidarbha seamers Praful Hinge (4-60) and Lalit Yadav (1-46) gave the team early breakthroughs. Right-arm seamer Hinge produced a gem to clean up Vimal Khumar for nine on fourth ball of third over of the day with scoreboard reading just 12. One of Vidarbha’s finest fielders Yash Rathod produced a sensational catch at short mid-wicket to get rid of first innings centurion Pradosh Ranjan Paul (14) off the bowling of Yadav. Hinge made it 3-47 taking a diving catch off his own bowling to dismiss Andre Siddarth (11).

 

 

Opener SR Athish (46; 100b, 5x4, 2x6) and Indrajith then started the repair job with a 52-run stand. At the stroke of lunch, Parth Rekhade sent back Athish and at 4-99, it was looking good for the visitors. But Indrajith and new man Shahrukh Khan (40) forged yet another good partnership adding 56 runs before Hinge, who bowled his heart out on an unresponsive track, made one to beat Khan’s bat for his third wicket. Mohammed Ali (25) supported Indrajith well and the pair frustrated Vidarbha bowlers adding another fifty-plus. Hinge recorded his best figures in First-Class cricket by forcing Ali to edge and Akshay Wadkar did the rest.

 

TN skipper Sai Kishore was greeted by a short ball from Hinge that kissed shoulder of his willow and flew over the wicketkeeper and first slip for a four, his only scoring stroke facing 47 balls. With just five overs remaining in the match and no result in sight, both the captains decided to shake hands. Vidarbha got three points from the game and moved to second spot with 13 points below table toppers Jharkhand (15). It might be seen as a case of lost opportunity for three-time Ranji champs, who could have declared on third day evening giving more time to the bowlers. Yet, these are early times in the league and one hopes that Vidarbha, who play next two games at home, bounce back.