Sathish ton puts Tamil Nadu in semis
Rohtak, Dec. 27: Precession in planning and brilliant execution saw Tamil Nadu overcome Haryana on run rate in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinals. R. Sathish could not have timed his maiden Ranji hundred for Tamil Nadu better, the stroke-filled 106 (131b, 178m, 15x4) playing a dominant role in the visitors’ total of 285/6.
Skipper Dinesh Karthik also came back to form with a well compiled 57 (132m, 96b, 8x4). When play was called off due to bad light TN were on a a run rate of 3.60 against the target of 3.27.
Earlier, the sun broke through to usher a 1 pm start. A minimum of 59 overs were scheduled (including mandatory overs) from which TN required a further 199 runs. The start was dreary. Abhinav Mukund, put down by Dhruv Singh at gully, found the same fielder off Sanjay Budhwar in the next over.
K. Shri Vasudevadas was late on the ball to a straight delivery from Joginder Sharma as Haryana made early inroads.
Karthik arrested his poor run of scores with an assured approach. Sathish played the ball late and grew in confidence. The first ten overs produced only 19 runs that pushed TN further back but the experienced duo struck it out well. Sathish broke the shackles with two brilliant drives off Budhwar.
The running was hard and not one loose delivery was spared. The run rate received further boost with a flurry of boundaries from Karthik. Joginder exercised excellent control over line but once the ball grew soft, Amit Mishra was forced to bring himself on in the 48th over.
The first two overs from the leg-spinner went for 13 while Sathish picked Sachin Rana over the inner cordon for two boundaries to get past the required rate for the first time. With the field well spread and Haryana looking lost, Budhwar got one to straighten off the seam to trap Karthik. TN were 10 runs ahead of the target then.
Scores: Haryana 379/6 decl. d/w Tamil Nadu 285/6 (Abhinav Mukund 30, Dinesh Karthik 57, R. Sathish 106; Sanjay Budhwar 3/69).
Haryana cry foul
Haryana coach Ashwani Kumar slammed the run rate rule for the knockout matches. The hosts have reason to be aggrieved as the rule forced them to declare at 379/6. Fog and poor visibility them provided limited scope to bowl out Tamil Nadu or restrict them under a run rate of 3.27. “It’s always easy to sustain momentum for a shorter duration. To score 150 in 30 overs is easier than scoring 300 in 70. The rule is the same for both sides but under this rule the team batting first is under a lot of pressure if weather intervenes,” said Ashwani.
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