Date:28/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/28/stories/2008122856451400.htm

Sport

Bengal puts TN on the backfoot

K.C. Vijaya Kumar

Ganapathy comes up with his maiden Ranji five for

— Photo: G.P. Sampath Kumar

READY TO SOAR: Tamil Nadu’s C. Ganapathy cannot hide his glee after scalping Bengal’s Ranadeb Bose in the Ranji quarterfinal in Bangalore on Saturday.

Bangalore: Bengal added a twist to the tale as it forced Tamil Nadu to play catch-up in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Saturday.

At close on the second day, Tamil Nadu struggled at 188 for five in reply to Bengal’s 345, 157 runs adrift of the crucial first innings lead.

The day began with Tamil Nadu polishing off Bengal’s last five wickets for just 53 runs with C. Ganapathy completing his maiden five-wicket haul in Ranji Trophy.

Change of script

The script changed after lunch as Tamil Nadu opener M. Vijay slashed to Manoj Tiwary at point and seamer Ranadeb Bose made it a double blow as he trapped S. Badrinath with one that nipped back. At 48 for two, Tamil Nadu’s hopes rested on southpaw Abhinav Mukund (47, 93b, 9x4) and skipper Dinesh Karthik (46, 66b, 10x4).

Abhinav played a few elegant square-drives. But Karthik threatened to trigger a run-out any moment. The duo’s ‘yes-no’ dilemma suffered its fatal moment as Karthik drove rival skipper L.R. Shukla straight to covers and set off for an improbable single and it was too late for Abhinav to recover lost ground.

Karthik falls

The Bengal attack stuck to diligent lines and the fielders displayed a fierce resolve. Karthik fell to a sweep against off-spinner Ritam Kundu and as a diving Tiwary caught the ‘snick’, the Tamil Nadu skipper hinted that the ball had gone off his arm guard.

The damage was done and Tamil Nadu was staring at a tough road ahead, as earlier Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan had fallen to a Sourav Sarkar delivery that moved a shade to elicit the edge.

At close, S. Suresh Kumar and R. Ashwin played some shots to trigger weak applause from the Tamil Nadu ranks.

The scores: Bengal — 1st innings: R. Banerjee (run out) 24, A. Das lbw b Ganapathy 7, W. Saha lbw b Ganapathy 53, M. Tiwary b Balaji 144, L.R. Shukla c D. Karthik b Ashwin 1, D. Chakrabarty c C. Suresh b Ashwin 57, A. Chowdhury (not out) 26, R. Kundu lbw b Ganapathy 7, S. Sarkar c Karthik b Ganapathy 0, A. Dinda b Balaji 9, R. Bose c Ashwin b Ganapathy 0; Extras (b-10, lb-3, nb-4): 17. Total (in 115 overs): 345.

Fall of wickets: 1-20, 2-45, 3-124, 4-131, 5-258, 6-302, 7-320, 8-320, 9-344.

Tamil Nadu bowling: Balaji 27-7-59-2, Amarnath 25-6-65-0, Ganapathy 26-4-59-5, Ashwin 21-0-88-2, C. Suresh 13-2-46-0, S. Suresh Kumar 2-0-10-0, Vidyut 1-0-5-0.

Tamil Nadu — 1st innings: A. Mukund (run out) 47, M. Vijay c Tiwary b Bose 1, S. Badrinath lbw b Bose 18, D. Karthik c Tiwary b Kundu 46, V. Sivaramakrishnan c Saha b Sarkar 4, S. Suresh Kumar (batting) 40, R. Ashwin (batting) 23; Extras (b-1, lb-6, nb-1, w-1): 9. Total (for five wkts., in 57 overs): 188.

Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-48, 3-82, 4-87, 5-147.

Bengal bowling: Bose 15-6-44-2, Dinda 14-4-46-0, Sarkar 14-4-47-1, Shukla 6-2-11-0, Kundu 6-0-32-1, Chowdhury 2-1-1-0.