Tamil Nadu in sight of crucial win in Ranji
Having secured a healthy lead of 209 runs, the TN bowlers rose to the occasion with a stellar performance reducing Railways to 169 for five, still trailing by 40 runs going into the final day.
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CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu has moved into a position of strength against Railways on the third day of the fifth round of the Elite D Ranji Trophy match in Ahmedabad on Friday.
Having secured a healthy lead of 209 runs, the TN bowlers rose to the occasion with a stellar performance reducing Railways to 169 for five, still trailing by 40 runs going into the final day. In what was a collective effort from the bowling group, Sonu Yadav picked up two for 46, while Gurjapneet Singh (1/21), S Ajith Ram (1/19) and Lakshay Jain (1/47) chipped in with a wicket each. Gurjapneet was the first to strike with a wicket off his first ball, removing the opposing team captain Pratham Singh. Opener Vivek Singh steadied the ship with a gritty 63 (81b, 8x4, 1x6). When stumps were drawn, Mohammad Saif was unbeaten on 52 (85b, 2x4, 2x6).
Earlier, resuming from its overnight score of 324 for six, TN added a further 114 crucial runs to extend its lead to 209. S Mohamed Ali waged a spirited battle going on to score 91 (174b, 10x4, 1x6) and was unlucky to miss out on a deserving hundred when he became the ninth wicket to fall. He strung together useful partnership with Ajith Ram who made 27 (62b, 3x4) as the two put on 80 runs for the seventh wicket. Towards the end, Gurjapneet contributed a useful 24 (41b, 3x4) to raise visions of a crucial win for TN after three consecutive draws.
Brief scores: Railways 229 & 169/5 in 45 overs (V Singh 63, Md. Saif 52 batting) vs Tamil Nadu 438 in 133.3 overs (M Shahrukh Khan 86, Mohamed Ali 91, C Andre Siddarth 78, N Jagadeesan 56, K Yadav 5/133, S Chaudhary 3/77)