Baba twins impress: TN needs 90 more runs to take first innings lead

NEW DELHI: Young Delhi all-rounder Pranshu Vijayran put up a gutsy show before twins Baba Aparajith and Indrajith were dismissed in identical fashion by speedster Harshit Rana as Tamil Nadu reached 214 for five at stumps on Day Two of the Ranji Trophy match here on Wednesday.

Vijayran, playing only his second first-class match, attacked spinners Washington Sundar (0/36 off 11 overs) and R Sai Kishore (0/32 off 4 overs) to score 58 off 79 balls (5 fours, 3 sixes) to take Delhi to a respectable first innings score of 303.

Vijayran (1/14 off 8 overs) then bowled on a good channel and dismissed the dangerous Narayan Jagadeesan (34 off 46 balls, 5 fours) caught behind. But, it was Harshit (3/73 off 16 overs) who tirelessly dug it in short and induced identical miscued pull shots from Aparajith (57 off 97 balls, 8 fours) and Indrajith (71 off 94 balls, 9 fours), both caught at mid-wicket.

Tamil Nadu, however, batted with a lot of positive intent right from the start as opener B Sai Sudharsan (25) hit six fours in a jiffy in the pre lunch session before left-arm pacer Kuldip Yadav (1/50) got one to move away, getting a nick. Aparajith and Indrajith added 86 runs for the third wicket with consummate ease as they kept the run rate above four runs per over.

Left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra (0/56 off 12 overs) was ineffective as he bowled to a defensive field, which allowed the Baba brothers to rotate strike. Credit must be given to Harshit, who learnt from his erratic first spell and started digging it in short, trying to take advantage of the two-paced track.

“I was ready to concede a few boundaries but the plan was to keep on bowling the short balls, allow the batters to play their shots and wait for mistakes,” Harshit said.

Both Aparajith and Indrajith committed to the short balls early but they did not come to them at the pace that was expected. Hence, there was no power in their strokes.

With Tamil Nadu needing 90 more runs for the first innings lead with Vijay Shankar (17 batting) at the crease alongside Pradosh Ranjan Paul (3 batting), skipper Indrajith conceded that Vijayran’s attacking batting performance in the morning hurt it.

“Yes, we gave away 40 runs too many. In the morning, I was forced to bowl with spinners as we were running short on over rate. At this point, I am not even thinking about an outright win and we want to ensure the first innings lead first,” Indrajith said.

BRIEF SCORES: Delhi 303 in 97.1 overs (Dhruv Shorey 66, Pranshu Vijayran 58, Jonty Sidhu 57, Lalit Yadav 40, L Vignesh 4/50, Sandeep Warrier 4/106) vs Tamil Nadu 214/5 in 54 overs (Baba Indrajith 71, Baba Aparajith 57, Harshit Rana 3/73)