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Ranji: TN register easy win over Assam
Chennai: Tamil Nadu started their
Ranji Trophy campaign on a good note as they
registered a comfortable seven-wicket victory
over Assam in their opening Group A Super League
match on the final and fourth day here on
Thursday. Needing just 120 for victory, Tamil
Nadu's march was briefly halted by a sudden rain
when they were on 84 for two in 16.2 overs. But
the play resumed after 33 minutes. Openers
Abhinav Mukund (32) and man-of-the-match
Srikkanth Anirudha (48) gave TN a solid start,
chasing a small total and then R Satish (27 not
out) and S Badrinath (6 not out) drove the team
home in 25.2 overs. In the bowling department,
debutant medium-pacer Sunil Sam scalped four
wickets (17-5-56-4) to contribute to TN's
success. Earlier, resuming on overnight score of
159 for four, Sridharan Sriram scored a superb
121, studded with 15 boundaries, while Tarjinder
Singh missed out on a much-deserved ton by just
one run, to consolidate Assam's innings. The duo
shared a 112-run partnership for the fifth
wicket but could not help the team avoid defeat.
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Sriram after hitting a fine
century got bowled by off-spinner Ashwin as he
stepped out for a heave, while Tarjinder, the
last man out, was visibly tense on 99. He hit
Sunil Sam to mid-wicket for a four to reach 99
but then slashed at the next ball in a bid to
cross the century mark and ended up giving a
straight-forward catch to Anirudha at short
mid-wicket. After left-arm spinner Aushik
Srinivas dismissed wicketkeeper batsman K Saika
for 7, Sam ripped through the tail, claiming the
wickets of Dhiraj Goswami (0), Arlen Konwar (2)
and Ranjeet Mali (0) to bundle out Assam for 281
in their second innings.
