Ranji Trophy: Harpreet hundred keeps Tamil Nadu at bay

Chhattisgarh rode skipper Harpreet Singh Bhatia's (149 n.o., 11x4, 2x6) fighting innings to keep Tamil Nadu at bay on Day 3 of their Ranji Trophy clash at the Nehru Stadium in Guwahati on Saturday. On a truncated day when only 66.2 overs were possible, Harpreet held Chhattisgarh's innings together as they were 261-8 at stumps. Giving Harpreet company at the other end was Veer Pratap Singh on 3.The standout bowler for Tamil Nadu, who declared their first innings on 470-9, was left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore (4-48).
Wet patches on the outfield due to overnight rains delayed the third day's start by three hours. Once play commenced, Sai Kishore struck as he dismissed Chhattisgarh No. 7 Shashank Singh (2) to leave them in trouble at 118 for 6. The wicket taking turn and becoming slower didn't seem to bother Harpreet as he got down to repairing Chhattisgarh's innings. His 322-ball unfinished innings was an exhibition on how to bat in a crisis situation. The southpaw kept the scoreboard ticking with singles and twos, but never left a loose delivery go unpunished. In the company of Ajay Mandal (35), Harpreet added 83 runs for 8th wicket that saw his side cross the 200-run mark. Harpreet raised his 14th First-Class hundred with a boundary off off-spinner B Aparajith.
Tamil Nadu hit back with the wickets of Ajay and No. 9 Shahbaz Hussain (0), but Harpreet's presence calmed the nerves of the Chhattisgarh team dugout. The post-tea session saw Harpreet, in the company of No. 10. Veer Pratap Singh, take the majority of the strike and keep his side afloat. On 139, Harpreet was dropped by M Shahrukh Khan at mid-on region in the bowling of Aparajith in what appeared to be a tough chance.
Despite all the hard work the Tamil Nadu bowlers did to get rid of the Chhattisgarh top-order, they failed to knock off the tail. Chhattisgarh, who trail Tamil Nadu by 209 runs in the first innings, will want Harpreet to keep up his good work on Day 4 of the clash as well.
Scoreboard: Tamil Nadu 1st innings 470-9 declared. Chhattisgarh 1st innings (O/N 105-5): Harpreet Singh Bhatia batting 149, Amandeep Khare c Indrajith b Sai Kishore 23, Sumit Ruikar lbw b Siddharth 0, Shashank Singh c Suryapprakash b Sai Kishore 2, Ajay Mandal c Jagadeesan b Aparajith 35, Mohammed Hussain lbw b Sai Kishore 0, Veer Pratap Singh batting 3; Extras (b-23): 23; Total (for eight wickets in 114 overs): 261; FoW: 1-14, 2-24, 3-40, 4-98, 5-99, 6-118, 7-201, 8-208; Bowling: Warrier 12-2-45-0, Siddharth 26-10-55-2, Sai Kishore 33-12-48-4, Mohammed 8-5-10-1, Aparajith 26-9-54-1, Vijay Shankar 3-1-9-0, Shahrukh 5-0-13-0, Kaushik 1-0-4-0.