Tamil Nadu bowlers impress on day one

TN captain Abhinav Mukund’s decision to bowl first looked to have paid off as its new ball bowlers, particularly K Vignesh, made an immediate impact.

Vignesh was as always parsimonious with the ball besides being his own crafty self taking three for 27 from 19 rewarding overs. His partner M Mohammed, who is making a comeback after a year’s absence, too made an impression finishing with two wickets for 46 runs. 

Offspinner Malolan Rangarajan played his first Ranji match of the season, while the lanky left-arm tweaker R Sai Kishore, who made his debut against Tripura before missing out on the next two matches, was also drafted into the team. But the story of the day was how despite having the opposition on the mat, TN couldn’t drive home the advantage. 

MP’s resistance came from wicket-keeper Ankit Dane who made a defiant 63 (125b, 8x4, 1x6) and southpaw Ankit Sharma who remained unbeaten on 75 (161b, 12x4). The duo frustrated the visitor’s bowlers in the post-lunch session adding a valuable 120 runs for the sixth wicket before offspinner MS Washington Sundar removed the dangerous Dane caught by B Indrajith. 

Just a couple of runs later, Washington again got into the wicket-taking act dismissing tailender Puneet Datey for zero. But in the company of legspinner Mihir Hirwani 16 not out, Ankit made sure no more wickets fell for the day as the pair raised 35 runs for the unbroken eighth wicket.