Tamilnadu builds massive lead against Assam

Half centuries from S. Anirudha, S. Badrinath and R. Sathish put Tamil Nadu in a commanding position at the end of day two of its Ranji Trophy Elite Group ‘A' match against Assam here on Tuesday. Starting the day at 21 for no loss in response to Assam's 184, the host was 300 for four when stumps were drawn.  The thrust that took Tamil Nadu to its end-of-day total came from a fourth-wicket partnership of 135 between Badrinath and Sathish. When the two came together five overs after lunch, Tamil Nadu had suffered twin setbacks. Minutes after opener S. Anirudha retired hurt with a cramp on 71, skipper Dinesh Karthik fell cheaply, caught behind after chasing a wide one from seamer Ranjeet Mali. The scoring rate had also taken a dip, thanks to a combination of the heavy outfield and Assam's restrictive tactics, Dhiraj Goswami landing his medium pace wide of off stump to a 7-2 field.  Sathish immediately imposed a sense of urgency upon the innings, standing on tiptoe to crash Mali past point to get off the mark before launching off spinner Arlen Konwar over the long on boundary.  Badrinath also opened up, stepping down the track to Konwar twice in successive deliveries to heave him for a four and a six over midwicket. In the next over, he lifted left-arm spinner Sridharan Sriram just over the reach of mid-on to bring up his 50.

The two carried the total past Assam's by tea, and continued batting positively before Badrinath made the only mistake of his 204-ball knock, trapped in front after missing a sweep off Tarjinder Singh's part-time off spin. Badrinath's 83 contained five fours and two sixes. At stumps, Sathish was batting on 74 (142b, 7x4, 1x6) alongside Anirudha, who was on 87 (172b, 6x4, 2x6). The first session had seen Tamil Nadu lose two wickets before passing the 100 mark. First to go was Abhinav Mukund, caught in the covers off Konwar. The off spinner then removed K.B. Arun Karthik, who stepped down the track and was bowled attempting an on-side flick.  Anirudha survived a chance on 66 when Tarjinder dropped him at deep mid wicket off Konwar. The opener kept the slip cordon on its toes through the course of his knock with his open-faced approach, but was generally secure in defence and easy on the eye in attack.

The scores: Assam — Ist innings: 184.

Tamil Nadu — Ist innings: Abhinav Mukund c Muzumdar b Konwar 22, S. Anirudha (batting) 87, K.B. Arun Karthik b Konwar 15, S. Badrinath lbw b Tarjinder 83, D. Karthik c Saikia b Mali 4, R. Sathish (batting) 74, Extras (b-6, lb-3, nb-4, w-2) 15; Total (for four wickets in 103 overs) 300.

Fall of wickets: 1-52, 2-94, 3-146, 4-281.

Assam bowling: Tarafdar 16-3-42-0, Mali 20-6-64-1, Goswami 14-3-42-0, Konwar 31-5-91-2, Sriram 11-2-38-0, Tarjinder 6-1-13-1, Aziz 2-1-1-0.