New Delhi, Dec 25 (Inditop.com) Delhi were left struggling at 69/2 having lost both their reputed openers after Srikkanth Anirudha’s maiden century pushed Tamil Nadu’s first innings score to 463 on the second day of the Ranji Trophy quarterfinals at Palam ground here Friday.
Tamil Nadu, resuming at 278 for four, recovered from the early loss of Ravichandran Ashwin in the morning as Anirudha (113) and Chandrasekar Ganapthy (41) added 99 runs for the sixth wicket. Delhi teenage left arm spinner Vikas Mishra (5-112) got his career’s maiden five wicket haul in only his second Ranji Trophy match.
Delhi openers, Aakash Chopra and Shikhar Dhawan, both returning after missing the last three matches, added 30 runs before Ashwin trapped Chopra leg before for 10. Dhawan (17) got a life when he was dropped by Tamil Nadu skipper Murali Vijay, but followed soon after when left arm seamer Rangaraj Sutheesh knocked off his off-stump.
Aditya Jain and experienced middle order bat Mithun Manhas, both were at 16, when the stumps were drawn, with three overs lost due to bad light. The third day will be crucial for Delhi whose batsmen need to dug their heels for any chance of making the semi-finals.
The Tamil Nadu batting on the second day centered around Anirudha’s century. Anirudha, son of chief selector Krisnamachari Srikkanth, brought up his century minutes before lunch and threw his bat in elation as he drove Aditya Jain straight to the boundary. His hundred came in 170 balls with 11 fours and Tamil Nadu went for lunch at 382 for five.
Delhi, like on first day, fought back post luncheon break. Anirudha, at 112 was given a life when Ankur Julka muffed a catch at gully off Sumit Narwal. But the 22-year-old departed in the next over holing out a catch to Delhi skipper Rajat Bhatia off Mishra. His 202 balls innings had 13 fours.
Aniruddha’s wicket triggered a collapse and Tamil Nadu lost the next three wickets for 15 runs. Ganapathy was bowled by Mishra before left-arm seamer Pradeep Sangwan dismissed Umashankar Sushil and Sutheesh off successive deliveries.
Lakshmipathy Balaji (42) produced some late fireworks before Awana, ended his entertaining 60 balls innings that had six fours and a six over the square leg off Sangwan.
Anirudha was happy to score his maiden century.
“It was a satisfying knock. I was getting out in the 70s and 80s so its good to get my maiden century here. I play fast and attacking cricket. I came in the middle order so I had to be patient. The wicket was low and slow, but its still a good batting track.”
“We are in a strong position. But Delhi have a good batting line-up and we still have a task at hand.”
Asked whether he spoke to his father who came to watch the match, Anirudha said: “Not really. He congratulated me. I will have a longer chat with him tonight.”