Ranji Trophy: Tamil Nadu earn three points from drawn game against UP

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu settled for a first innings lead over Uttar Pradesh in their drawn Ranji Trophy clash at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur on Monday. TN may have pocketed three points for their efforts but the final day wasn't devoid of drama. The Vijay Shankar-led side started the day with a slender 5-run first innings lead after left-arm pacer T Natarajan cleaned up overnight batsman Ankit Rajpoot (2) to bowl out the hosts for 175.
With the wicket deteriorating, TN could only score 154 in their second essay.Left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar (5 for 39) led the show with the ball for the home side. Saurabh, who had figures of 5 for 44 in the first innings, kept a tight leash on the TN batters. Baba Aparajith (53, 6x4), Kaushik Gandhi (22, 2x4) and skipper Vijay Shankar (28, 3x4, 1x6) were the only batsmen to offer resistance against the UP bowlers.
"The wicket was challenging and it was important for us to hang in there. It wasn't easy for any new batsmen to come in and score runs. These three points will give us confidence going into the Mumbai game," Aparajith told TOI.
The 58-run fourth wicket stand between Shankar and Aparajith helped TN stretch the lead past the 100-run mark. However, once the two were dismissed - TN lost their way as the last six wickets fell for 40 runs. With UP set a target of 160 from 33 overs, their openers - Rinku Singh (27, 2x4, 1x6) and Almas Shaukat (14 n.o) - added 41 for the first wicket. But fading light soon brought an early end to the contest. TN got three points for securing the innings lead for the very first time this season. The hosts had to be content with a solitary point. TN will next be taking on Mumbai at home from January 11.
Scoreboard:
Tamil Nadu 1st innings 180.
Uttar Pradesh 1st innings (O/N 170-9): A Rajpoot b Natarajan 2, S Mavi n.o. 1;
Extras: 17 (b5, lb9, nb3);
Total (All out in 71.1 overs): 175;
FoW: 1-0, 2-16, 3-16, 4-23, 5-51, 6-140, 7-164, 8-165, 9-170, 10-175;
Bowling: Natarajan 16.1-6-24-4, Vignesh 10-2-32-1, Sai Kishore 23-7-40-2, Siddharth 14-1-37-1, Aparajith 5-0-22-1, Shankar 3-1-6-0.
TN 2nd Innings: V Ganga Sridhar Raju c Singh b Rajpoot 1, L Suryaprakash lbw b Saurabh 2, K Gandhi c Mohammad Saif b Saurabh Kumar 22, B Aparajith c Yadav b Rajpoot 53, V Shankar c Ansari b Rajpoot 28, N Jagadeesan c Yadav b Saurabh Kumar 4, K Mukunth lbw b Saurabh Kumar 1, R Sai Kishore c Yadav b Singh 17, M Siddharth b Saurabh Kumar 5, K Vignesh c Yadav b Singh 10, T Natarajan n.o. 0;
Extras (b 8, lb 3) 11;
Total (All out in 54.5 overs): 154;
FoW: 1-3, 2-3, 3-56, 4-114, 5-121, 6-121, 7-124, 8-144, 9-144, 10-154;
Bowling: Saurabh Kumar 27-8-39-5, Rajpoot 13-4-39-3, Mohammad Saif 1-0-10-0, Ansari 12-2-44-0, Singh 1.5-0-11-2;
UP 2nd Innings (Target: 160): RK Singh c Jagadeesan b Natarajan 27, Almas Shaukat n.o. 14, Mohammad Saif lbw b Natarajan 0, Saurabh Kumar n.o. 1;
Total (For 2 wickets in 7.4 overs): 42;
FoW: 1-41, 2-41;
Bowling: Sai Kishore 1-0-11-0, Natarajan 3.4-0-13-2, Aparajith 3-0-18-0