Ranji Trophy: Andre Siddarth’s ton salvages the day for Tamil Nadu
This was the 18-year-old Siddarth’s maiden First Class century in his sixth match (seven innings)
DTNEXT Bureau
C Andre Siddarth
CHENNAI: A resilient century from C Andre Siddarth helped Tamil Nadu salvage pride against Chandigarh on the first day of Group D of Ranji Trophy in Salem on Thursday. Siddarth top-scored for the host with a gritty 106 (143b, 10x4, 3x6).
Asked to bat first, the Sai Kishore-led side was bowled out for 301 in the day’s final over. Right-arm offspinner Vishu Kashyap was the pick of the bowlers, taking five for 79, while Nishunk Birla (2/61) and Jagjit Singh (2/73) shared four wickets between them.
This was the 18-year-old Siddarth’s maiden First Class century in his sixth match (seven innings). His previous best of 94 came against Assam in Guwahati. Wicket-keeping batter N Jagadeesan contributed 63 (92b, 9x4) in what was his 50th First Class match. In the ongoing season, Jagadeesan has scored two hundreds and four half-centuries in six games.
TN had a good opening wicket association of 101 between Mohamed Ali 40 (64b, 5x4) and Jagadeesan. The seasoned Baba Indrajith chipped in with a valuable innings of 49 (103b, 3x4). Pradosh Ranjan Paul (14) and Vijay Shankar (1) got out cheaply, leaving TN in a spot of bother at 126 for four. Together with Indrajith, Siddarth added 121 runs for the fifth wicket to steady TN’s innings. Tamil Nadu’s lower order failed to come up with substantial contributions with skipper Sai Kishore getting out for 10, while Boopathi Kumar was dismissed for 9. Both TN and Chandigarh occupy the first two spots in Group D with an identical 19 points from five games, with TN taking the first spot by virtue of a superior net run rate.
Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 301 in 89.1 overs (C Andre Siddarth 106, N Jagadeesan 63, B Indrajith 49, M Ali 40, V Kashyap 5/79)
