If there was a penalty for indifferent shots, the Tamil Nadu team management would have filled up its coffers on Friday. Rocked by the Punjab seamers on a lively pitch, Tamil Nadu, put in, finished the opening day of the Ranji Trophy match at 213 for nine, self-inflicting much of the damage.
The lack of discipline in the batting ranks saw Tamil Nadu suffer on a day when Vijay Shankar displayed exemplary commitment to the team’s cause. Arriving barely six hours before the start of the match, Shankar crafted a brilliant 71 off 122 balls with seven fours before falling to an indiscreet stroke — holing out to mid-off.
“The shot was on,” insisted Shankar, who had applied himself well until that moment when he took on Manpreet Gony with the new ball. “It was a different pitch with the old and new ball. I was enjoying the sound of the bat when playing the old ball but I concentrated on holding my end. It was a good challenge out there. The shot was on, but the ball stopped a bit,” said Shankar.
Quick to adapt
Shankar extended his good form of the New Zealand tour where he progressed as a batsman.
“The New Zealand bowlers bounced the ball a lot but I loved the challenge. I am glad I did really well there,” said Shankar, who adapted to the conditions here in quick time to rescue Tamil Nadu from a precarious situation.
Patience was the key on this pitch where technique was also paramount for survival. Shankar, Dinesh Karthik and B. Aparajith battled it out to save Tamil Nadu more embarrassment.
Shankar, Karthik and Shahrukh Khan, however, would rue the strokes that cost them the wicket.
For Gony, it was a tremendous comeback to the Punjab team after being dropped a year ago despite a decent show against Services. “I was sad when I was dropped after I had taken five wickets in an innings and I am glad I have taken five on my comeback.
‘Still the best’
“I did feel the pressure to perform, but I can claim that I am still the best (in Punjab). I had to prove myself and I am happy I have,” said Gony.
The scores:
Tamil Nadu — 1st innings: N. Jagadeesan lbw b Baltej 19, Abhinav Mukund c Gupta b Gony 5, B. Aparajith b Gony 40, B. Indrajith b Gony 0, Dinesh Karthik b Baltej 26, Vijay Shankar c sub b Gony 71, Shahrukh Khan c Gupta b Sandeep 19, M. Mohammed c Gupta b Gony 27, R. Sai Kishore (batting) 0, K. Vignesh b Gony 0, T. Natarajan (batting) 0; Extras (lb-4, nb-1, w-1): 6, Total (for nine wkts in 84 overs): 213.
Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-31, 3-31, 4-73, 5-111, 6-155, 7-213, 8-213, 9-213.
Punjab bowling: Sandeep Sharma 20-3-51-1, Manpreet Gony 18-5-55-5, Baltej Singh 20-9-43-3, Abhishek Sharma 15-5-32-0, Mandeep Singh 7-5-9-0, Gurkeerat Singh 3-0-11-0, Anmolpreet Singh 1-0-8-0.
Ranji scores (round six, day one)
Elite: Group A
At New Delhi: Vidarbha 243 for six in 84 overs (Faiz Fazal 53, Akshay Wadkar 48, Mohit Kale 46) vs. Railways; Toss: Vidarbha.
At Surat: Gujarat 216 in 69.4 overs (Priyank Panchal 74) vs. Karnataka 45 for two in 14.5 overs; Toss: Gujarat.
At Nashik: Saurashtra 269 for three in 84 overs (Harvik Desai 55, Snell Patel 84, Vishvarajsinh Jadeja 97) vs. Maharashtra; Toss: Maharashtra.
At Mumbai: Mumbai 439 for eight in 85.5 overs (Siddhesh Lad 130, Shreyas Iyer 178, Shubham Ranjane 42, Bhargav Bhatt four for 68) vs. Baroda; Toss: Baroda.
Group B
At Amtar: Andhra 173 in 54.3 overs (Jyothi Sai Krishna 74, Pankaj Jaiswal five for 50) vs. Himachal Pradesh 51 for one in 21 overs; Toss: Himachal Pradesh.
At Hyderabad: Bengal 99 for two in 38 overs (Abhimanyu Easwaran 57 batting) vs. Hyderabad; Toss: Hyderabad.
At Trivandrum: Kerala 291 for seven in 89.3 overs (Ponnam Rahul 77, Vinoop Sheela Manoharan 77 batting, Jalaj Saxena 68, Shivam Sharma four for 78) vs. Delhi; Toss: Kerala.
At Mohali: Tamil Nadu 213 for nine in 84 overs (B. Aparajith 40, Vijay Shankar 71, Manpreet Singh Gony five for 55) vs. Punjab; Toss: Punjab.
Group C
At Agartala: Tripura 247 for seven in 83 overs (Joydeep Banik 44, N.N. Sen Choudhury 44, Pratyush Singh 98 batting) vs. Goa; Toss: Tripura.
At Bhubaneswar: Rajasthan 135 in 37 overs (Mahipal Lomror 85, Basant Mohanty six for 20) vs. Odisha 78 for four in 39 overs; Toss: Odisha.
At Lahli: Jammu & Kashmir 161 in 47.1 overs vs. Haryana 129 for five in 38.1 overs (Rohit Sharma 41, Umar Nazir four for 43); Toss: Haryana.
At New Delhi: Assam 190 for seven in 87 overs (Gokul Sharma 49, Amit Sinha 51 batting) vs. Services; Toss: Services.
At Lucknow: Jharkhand 278 for six in 86 overs (Ishank Jaggi 76 batting, Ishan Kishan 54, Shahbaz Nadeem 70 batting, Dhruv Pratap Singh four for 76) vs. Uttar Pradesh; Toss: Uttar Pradesh.
Plate
At Shillong: Meghalaya 125 in 52.5 overs (Raj Biswa 56, Ashutosh Aman eight for 51) vs. Bihar 80 for two in 31 overs (Babul Kumar 43 batting); Toss: Meghalaya.
At Jorhat: Sikkim 321 for nine in 88 overs (Ashish Thapa 42, Milind Kumar 139, Bipul Sharma 50) vs. Mizoram; Toss: Mizoram.
At Goalpara: Puducherry 136 in 35.5 overs (Fabid Ahmed 41 n.o., Upadhy Deendyal four for 36) & 28 for two in 12 overs vs. Arunachal Pradesh 82 in 35.5 overs (Fabid Ahmed six for 29); Toss: Arunachal Pradesh.
At Dehradun: Nagaland 207 in 59.4 overs (K.B. Pawan 46, Rongsen Jonathan 69, Deepak Dhapola five for 49) vs. Uttarakhand 73 for two in 23.2 overs (Karanveer Kaushal 48); Toss: Uttarakhand.