Young all-rounder Pranshu Vijayaran’s fine batting was followed by Delhi pacer Harshit Rana’s bowling as Delhi bounced back against Tamil Nadu in their Ranji Trophy Group B match here on Wednesday. Pranshu, playing his second first-class match, batting at number eight scored a 79-ball 58 as Delhi posted a respectable first innings score of 303. After this, Pranshu sent the in-form N Jagadishan (34) to the pavilion, showing amazing bowling.
Harshit took three wickets for 73 runs in 16 overs as Delhi bowled out Tamil Nadu for 214 for five in their first innings at the end of the day’s play. Harshit had both the Tamil Nadu baba brothers Aparajit (57) and Indrajit (71) caught at midwicket trying to play a pull shot. Sai Sudarshan (25) got Tamil Nadu off to a brisk start before lunch hitting six fours but left-arm seamer Kuldeep Yadav (1/50) had him caught by wicketkeeper Anuj Rawat.
Aparajit and Indrajeet shared an 86-run partnership for the third wicket. Left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra (56 runs without a wicket in 12 overs) failed to make an impact but Harshit got Delhi back by sending both of them to the pavilion. Washington Sundar became Harshit’s third victim. He scored two runs. “I was ready to go for a few boundaries but the plan was to bowl the short ball and wait for both the brothers (Aparajit and Indrajeet) to make mistakes by giving them chances to play shots,” Harshit said after the day’s play.
Tamil Nadu’s team is still behind by 89 runs. At the end of the day’s play, Vijay Shankar was playing for 14 while Pradosh Ranjan Paul scored two runs. In Mumbai, India’s limited-overs star Suryakumar Yadav scored 95 off 107 balls as Mumbai were bundled out for 230 in reply to Saurashtra’s first innings total of 289. Mumbai, however, tried to make a comeback in the second innings by scoring Saurashtra at 120 for six. Left-arm spinner Shams Mulani took four wickets for 50 runs.
Saurashtra have a total lead of 179 runs with four wickets remaining. Hyderabad scored 208 in the first innings to take a three-run lead against Assam at their home ground, riding on Rohit Rayudu’s 60. For Assam, Riyan Parag took four for 48 while Mukhtar Hussain took three for 62. In response, Assam scored 182 runs for six wickets in the second innings, due to which the match has come to an exciting turn.
In another Group B match at Vijayanagar, Karan Shine (52) and Hanuma Vihari (49) batted brilliantly as Andhra scored 211 in the first innings against Maharashtra to take an 11-run lead. Maharashtra, however, batted better in the second innings and scored 89 runs for one wicket with an unbeaten half-century from Ruturaj Gaikwad (51 not out).
