Tamil Nadu made to work hard

CHENNAI, DEC. 8. Tailenders T. Kumaran and M.R. Srinivas had to chance their arm to help Tamil Nadu eke out a two-wicket win with three balls to spare in the Subbiah Pillai Trophy cricket tie against Andhra at the IP-CPT ground this evening.

What looked like a comfortable victory for the host turned into a nightmare midway through. When application would have worked wonders, the frontline batsmen displayed arrogance and Tamil Nadu slumped from 102 for two in 28.4 overs to 114 for six in the 39th over. Sharath, who was shaping well along with S. Ramesh in their 60-run partnership for the second wicket, perished to a reckless shot and was caught by Fiaz Ahmed at midwicket off Watekar. It was Watekar who became the chief tormentor for Tamil Nadu with his crafty off-spin.

When Ramesh offered a return catch to Watekar, the alarm bells started to ring. However, a disciplined unbroken 28- run stand for the ninth wicket between Kumaran and Srinivas in seven overs saved the home team from embarrassment.

Andhra deserves praise for fighting tooth and nail despite having only a modest total to defend. Amit Pathak, acknowledged in the Zone as a batsman of character, contributed 80 (162m, 98b, 7x4).

Tamil Nadu has four points from two wins in three matches, while Andhra has lost all its three ties.

The scores:

Andhra: T.S. Prasad lbw b Srinivas 3; Amit Pathak (run out) 80; G.N. Srinivas c Reuben b Aashish 13; Y. Venugopala Rao (run out) 18; Faiz Ahmed c Robin b Ramesh 32; K.S. Shahabuddin st. Reuben b Balaji Rao 1; Noor Mohammad Khan st. Reuben b Balaji Rao 4; H. Watekar b Robin 1; Y.S. Ranganath c Hemant b Robin 8; N. Madhukar c Kumaran b Ramesh 0; V.J.T. Ram Mohan (not out) 0; Extras (b-1, lb-3, w-7) 11; Total (in 49.2 overs) 171.

Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-63, 3-108, 4- 138, 5-144, 6-154, 7-156, 8-170, 9-170.

Tamil Nadu bowling: Srinivas 8-2-29-1; Kumaran 6-1-21-0; Mahesh 6-1-18-0; Aashish 10-1-30-1; Balaji Rao 10-1-37-2; Robin 8.2-0-31-2; Ramesh 1-0-1-2.

Tamil Nadu: J.R. Madanagopal c Ranganath b Madhukar 14; S. Sharath c Fiaz b Watekar 47; S. Ramesh c & b Watekar 24; C. Hemant Kumar (run out) 11; Robin Singh c Ram Mohan b Ranganath 3; Reuben Paul b Shahabuddin 12; S. Mahesh b Watekar 2; Aashish Kapoor lbw b Watekar 19; T. Kumaran (not out) 22; M.R. Srinivas (not out) 10; Extras (b-2, lb-3, w-3) 8; Total (for eight wkts. in 49.3 overs) 172.

Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-84, 3-102, 4- 102, 5-106, 6-114, 7-129, 8-144.

Andhra bowling: Madhukar 8.3-1-31-1; Shahabuddin 10-1-36-1; Venugopala Rao 6-2-18-0; Ranganath 10-1-31-1; Watekar 10-0-27-4; Ram Mohan 5-0-24-0.

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