[Report] IND RANJI: Tamil Nadu v Hyderabad, 10-13 Dec 1995

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Date-stamped : 14 Dec95 - 10:32
Ranji Trophy South Zone League 1995-96.
Tamil Nadu v Hyderabad.
Chepauk, Madras.
10,11,12,13 December 1995.

====> Day 1, 10 Dec 95
Ramesh`s knock lone brightspot for Tamil Nadu

An absorbing day`s contest between ball and bat at Chepauk on
Sunday saw Tamil Nadu make 207 for six agaist Hyderabad on the
opening day. Playing his first Ranji Trophy cricket match, colle-
gian S. Ramesh made 59, the lone bright spot for the home team on
a cloudy, overcast day.

In conditions not all that ideal for batting, Tamil Nadu
which was off a to a fine start through its debutant openers T.
Karunamurthy and S. Ramesh, slumped in the middle before recover-
ing partially through its sixth wicket pair of K. Srinath and
J. Gokulakrishnan. An hour`s play was lost consequent to
morning`s showers and fading light in the evening.

Karunamurthy and left-handed S. Ramesh put on 59 in an im-
pressive manner before the home side was to surrender the initia-
tive. Karunamurthy, who made 36 with a few authentic drives on
the off side, perished in off spinner Kanwaljit Singh`s first
over. Driving with his head up the batsman holed out to covers
where Vanka Pratap made no mistake.

Left-handed S. Sharath was dismissed, at the stroke of lunch
time, mistiming a hook to be caught behind. Robin Singh, who
seemed to be in a hurry, was run out, beaten by a smart pick and
throw by the bowler, Kanwaljit Singh. The fall of three wickets
in the space of 12 overs gave Hyderabad considerable advantage.

Disciplined knock

Ramesh, a little tentative at the start, settled down to play
in a disciplined manner. He could not take much liberties
against the off spin of Kanwaljit who gave very little away. Ten
4s, distributed on either side of the wicket, and a hooked 6 off
Iqbal Siddiqui, who loved to dig the ball, featured Ramesh`s
226-minute, 159 ball esaay.

A little before tea, in a momentary lapse of concentration,
Ramesh took his eye off a lifting ball from Siddiqui. The resul-
tant high catch was smartly taken by `keeper Youraj Singh running
behind. Earlier, left-arm spinner R. Sridhar got rid of D. Vasu
who was caught at silly point.

The pitch aided spin, albeit slowly. The experienced K. Sri-
nath, who was a regular player for Karnataka till two years ago,
and J. Gokulakrishnan showed flourish to add 58 in even time.
Kanwaljit was not too keen to bring his medium-pacers back in the
attack under fading light lest play be stopped. Both Srinath and
Gokulakrishnan (30 batting, 58 balls, four 4s) showed enough en-
terprise against the spinners. The stand ended when Sridhar
bowled Srinath round his legs, the batsman having shuffled far
too across. Srinath made 43 (107 minutes, 101 balls, five 4s) in
his first innings for Tamil Nadu.

Source :: The Hindu
<END> Contributed by The Management (cricinfo@*ogi.edu)

====> Day 2, 11 Dec 95
Hyderabad consolidates its position

After restricting Tamil Nadu to 245, Hyderabad consolidated its
position further by making 149 for three here on Monday. If
Hy- derabad is in an advantageous position to gain the vital lead
it requires only 97 runs with seven wickets in hand in the
South Zone Ranji Trophy cricket match, the credit for this should
go in large measures to M. V. Sridhar who remained unbeaten on
67, on the second day.

Relying on his experience and efficiency on a slow wicket,
Sridhar batted in his characteristic style. The second wicket
stand of 96 between Sridhar and opener A. Nandakishore went a
long way in Hyderabad making sufficient inroads into the proceed-
ings.

It was day of Sridhars at Chepauk for, in the morning,
Hyderabad`s left arm spinner R. Sridhar struck thrice more to end
up with five for 48 as Tamil Nadu added 44 runs to its overnight
score of 201 for six.

Left arm medium pacer Devanand, one of the three debutants in
the Tamil Nadu line up, gained a breakthrough in the early
stages when he had debutant Kiran Kumar who was smartly held by
J. Gokulakrishnan at third slip.

For the next 160 minutes or so no wicket fell as Sridhar and Nan-
dakishore took charge of the situation. Their approach might
have hardly pleased the spectators. But every run scored was in-
valuable for a side that carries a lengthy tail. Devanand,
the most impressive Tamil Nadu bowler, was unlucky not to
have claimed Nandakishore who edged and got away as D. Vasu,
the second slip, could not latch on to a catch.

Nandakishore, playing only his third match, passed his 50, his
second successive half century against Tamil Nadu he had made 59
in the one day match on Saturday. The stodgy measures of Nan-
dakishore (56, 183 minutes, 138 balls, four 4s) ended when his
mistimed drive against the leg spin of W. D. Balaji Rao ended in
a catch to Srinath at second slip.

Lefthanded Arvind Shetty was held in the slips off Srinath, the
off spinner. In the last 70 minutes Sridhar and Vanka Pratap were
all caution against an attack that was steady but lacked in
penetration.

Vanka Pratap, when on six, escaped from being run out when
bowler Sunil Subramaniam failed to collect a throw from Gokulak-
rishnan at point.

Sridhar who has made 14 hundreds in the National champion-
ship, (67 batting, 261 minutes, 219 balls, eight 4s) will be
looking to score his maiden hundred against Tamil Nadu on Tues-
day.

In the morning, Tamil Nadu`s resistance lasted a little over an
hour. Left arm spinner R. Sridhar, playing his 10th match, ac-
counted for Sunil Subramaniam, M. Sanjay and D. Devanand in
that order to finish with his best figures. Skipper Kanwaljit
Singh claimed J. Gokulakrishnan, smartly stumped by Youraj who
ended up with five dismissals (four catches and a stumping). Left
handed W. D. Balaji Rao, who straight drove Kanwaljit for a six,
remained not out on 18.

Source :: The Hindu
<END> Contributed by The Management (cricinfo@*ogi.edu)

====> Day 3, 12 Dec 95
Sridhar`s century helps Hyderabadtake first innings lead

Medium pacer Robin Singh`s three-wicket haul came too late in the
day. M. V. Sridhar`s 15th Ranji Trophy century his first against
Tamil Nadu and Vanka Pratap`s dour, unbeaten 66, helped Hyderabad
gain the vital lead at Chepauk yesterday.

Trailing by 47 runs, the home side made 59 without loss, T.
Karunamurthy and S. Ramesh tackling the attack with confidence in
the last crucial 70 minutes. Much depends on Tamil Nadu`s ap-
proach if proceedings were to come to life on the last day.

Robin Singh came into the attack at 226 for four, after 112
overs, when Hyderabad needed 20 runs for the lead. Robin Singh
had Papi Reddy caught behind, dismissed R. Sridhar when
Karunamurthy took a good catch at square leg and claimed N. P.
Singh who edged a catch to Gokulakrishnan in the slips. In
between the wicket-taking act, Robin also took a fine catch in
the slips to send Youraj back. Hyderabad`s last seven wickets
could add only 74 runs. But the drama unfolded rather late.

M. V. Sridhar, who once again went about his task in an unruffled
manner, made 104 in 397 minutes off 327 deliveries with twelve
4s. His was the only wicket to fall in the pre-lunch session. The
fourth wicket stand between M. V. Sridhar and Vanka Pratap was
worth 96 runs.

For all the good work that Robin did in the post-lunch ses-
sion, the Tamil Nadu skipper was found wanting when he dropped M.
V. Sridhar, seven short of his personal century, edged left arm
spinner Sunil Subramaniam to the slips. The second new ball, tak-
en at 196 for three after 99 overs, created no impression on M.
V. Sridhar or Vanka Pratap. Gokulakrishnan had M. V. Sridhar
taken behind by Sanjay when the batsman edged an outswinger.

Thereafter Vanka Pratap batted stogidly at one end while
wickets tumbled at the other. Vanka Pratap, who took more than an
hour to move from 39, batted a little under six hours and faced
260 balls. He had two 5s and five 4s in his sedate innings. Robin
Singh, the seventh bowler in the attack, bowled with enough zest
to be rewarded with three wickets.

The home team`s batsmen, Ramesh and Karunamurthy, picked up four
boundaries each as they remained unbeaten on 27 and 32
respectively to put in their team in the lead by 12 runs.

Source :: The Hindu
<END> Contributed by The Management (cricinfo@*ogi.edu)

====> Day 4, 13 Dec 95
Ramesh`s century on debut enlivens final day`s play

Left hander S. Ramesh gave further proof to his promise with a
fine 132 against Hyderabad at Chepauk yesterday. He thus became
only the fifth Tamil Nadu batsman to make a century on debut in
the Ranji Trophy championship. Save for Ramesh`s stroke-filled
innings which was also notable for excellent temperament, the fi-
nal day`s proceedings went in a quiet manner.

Tamil Nadu (59 without loss overnight) declared its second in-
nings at 241 for three, on Ramesh`s dismissal. Left to get 195
in 28 overs (including the 15 mandatory count), Hyderabad made 57
for two when the match was called off after eight mandatory
overs. Hyderabad got two points from the drawn encounter while
Tamil Nadu drew a blank.

Ramesh`s commendable effort followed his first innings knock of
59. With Kanwaljit bowling his off-spinners to a tight line,
runs had to be earned in the morning. Ramesh played watchful
cricket, waited for the loose balls and picked the right gaps for
his boundary hits. Crisp drives in front of the wicket and
fluent square cuts, when the spinners erred in length, featured
Ramesh`s century.

Ramesh and D. Vasu figured in a second wicket stand of 115 runs
after T. Karunamurthy went in the day`s second over, unsuc- cess-
fully fending a bouncer from Iqbal Siddiqui, the ball hitting the
bat handle and the resultant catch was taken behind by Youraj
Singh. Vasu, who had had a low profile in the first three days,
redeemed himself by scoring 53 including a six off left arm
spinner R. Sridhar over long on.

Ramesh reached his century in style square cutting Kanwaljit to
the fence his 13th four to join the select band of Tamil Nadu
batsmen (P. Ramesh, Anthony Adams, Mujibur Rehman and N. Gautam)
who have made a hundred on debut in the national championship.
After completing his century, Ramesh (337 minutes, 241 balls one
6 and fifteen 4s) on drove Kanwaljit over the long on fence, and
quickly raced to 132 before being stumped.

Ramesh, a 20-year-old first year Degree student of Guru
Nanak College, was originally not in the list of 21 probables
called for the camp. But he came into reckoning on the strength
of his two centuries for the State in under-22 matches. He conso-
lidated his case by making an unbeaten 144 against the Combined
Districts in Tirunelveli last month.

When Hyderabad batted the second time, Sunil Subramaniam
claimed the wickets of A. Nandakishore and S. Kiran Kumar in his
second and fourth overs. Nandakishore fell to a return catch
while Kiran Kumar was taken at silly point.

Source :: The Hindu
<END> Contributed by The Management (cricinfo@*ogi.edu)