For the second match in succession, Tamil Nadu secured a comprehensive victory with a bonus point, defeating Baroda by an innings and 57 runs on the third day of their Group B Ranji Trophy match here on Thursday.
Led by pacer K. Vignesh’s five-wicket haul, Tamil Nadu needed just two sessions to bowl out Baroda for 259, after taking a 316-run lead on the second day.
The victory keeps Tamil Nadu’s slim hopes of qualification alive and it will need another big win in the next match against Saurashtra at Rajkot.
The Motibaug wicket always has something in it for the pacers in the first session and M. Mohammed struck in the third ball of the day, removing opener Ahmadnoor Pathan caught at gully.
Kedar Devdhar and Vikram Solanki did well to survive the next hour before the home team imploded.
Vignesh then turned things around for the visitor with a fiery spell during which he claimed three wickets to peg back Baroda.
He bowled with great intensity, hitting the deck hard and extracting good bounce from the surface. Right from the first over, he was willing to test the batsman with bounce and it paid rich dividends.
The pacer removed Devdhar, caught at slip with the extra bounce, and then had Deepak Hooda mistiming a pull, giving an easy catch to deep square-leg.
He then accounted for Yusuf Pathan, who was brilliantly caught diving forward by Abhinav Mukund at deep point.
At the other end, Sai Kishore bowled Vishnu Solanki and when he had Swapnil Singh caught at silly point, Baroda was reduced to 62/6.
Baroda skipper Krunal Pandya (74) changed gears and went after the bowlers. He first hit Vignesh for two sixes over midwicket before smashing Sai Kishore all over the park for five boundaries across two overs.
In the post-lunch session, Krunal and Atit Sheth (70) continued to play with freedom and slammed quick half-centuries.
Vignesh came back to dismiss Krunal, caught in the deep point region before sending back Anureet Singh caught behind to complete a five-wicket haul.
Mohammed, who set it up for Tamil Nadu with a seven-wicket haul in the first innings, fittingly finished the job with a yorker to remove Sheth.
Scoreboard:
Baroda — 1st innings: 174.
Tamil Nadu — 1st innings: 490/7 decl.
Baroda — 2nd innings: Kedar Devdhar c Aparajith b Vignesh 29, Ahmadnoor Pathan c Suryapprakash b Mohammed 0, Vishnu Solanki b Sai Kishore 17, Deepak Hooda c Mohammed b Vignesh 4, Krunal Pandya c (sub) Siddharth b Vignesh 74, Yusuf Pathan c Abhinav b Vignesh 1, Swapnil Singh c Suryapprakash b Sai Kishore 0, Viraj Bhosale c Vignesh b Aparajith 6, Atit Sheth b Mohammed 70, Anureet Singh c Jagadeesan b Vignesh 13, Babashafi Pathan (not out) 14, Extras (b-12, lb-16, nb-2, w-1): 31; Total (in 63.3 overs): 259.
Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-53, 3-53, 4-57 , 5-61, 6-62, 7-119, 8-192, 9-206.
Tamil Nadu bowling: Tanwar 9-4-29-0, Mohammed 11.3-3-31-2, Sai Kishore 17-4-65-2, Vignesh 16-4-62-5, Aparajith 10-0-44-1.
Tamil Nadu won by an innings and 57 runs.
Points: TN 7(19); Baroda 0 (14).