The Hindu : Tamil Nadu takes first innings lead

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 17, 2003

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Sport - Cricket

Tamil Nadu takes first innings lead

By Our Staff Reporter

VISAKHAPATNAM SEPT. 16. R. Prasanna helped Tamil Nadu gain the crucial first-innings lead over Karnataka in the P. Ramachandra Rao Trophy round-robin match which ended in a draw at the MCV Stadium here on Tuesday.

The first-innings lead ensured Tamil Nadu's place at the top of the points table after the end of three rounds of matches, with a tally of 18 points. It will play Andhra and Kerala later.

Goa and Kerala forced draws against Hyderabad and Andhra respectively in the other matches. Goa not only earned its first points, three points from the draw, in the tournament but also denied Hyderabad a chance of staging a comeback in the tournament. Hyderabad now has 11 points from three matches.

Kerala batsmen nullified Andhra's good first innings advantage by playing with their head down in the second innings. Full eight points from the match would have put Andhra on top of the table. It has 16 points so far.Karnataka and Kerala have 13 points each.

At the MCV Stadium, Tamil Nadu, resuming at 67 for five in reply to Karnataka's first innings total of 180 runs, lost two more wickets as the score reached 100 runs. However, Prasanna (70, 6x2, 4x5) and G. Vignesh (61, 6x2, 4x5) came together to play a crucial. They put on 83 runs for the eighth wicket which overhauled the Karnataka total and Prasanna further added 53 runs for the next wicket with M.P. Rajesh (12). Tamil Nadu scored 244 runs in its first innings.

Karnataka's Keerti Bhat claimed three wickets while Afan Shariff and Vinay Kumar picked up two wickets each. Karnataka was 51 for two in its second innings when the match ended in a draw.

Goa, resuming at 37 for no loss against the imposing Hyderabad's first innings total of 431 for seven declared, scored 258 with Swapnil Asnodkar (65) leading the scorers at the Zinc Stadium. Sagun Kamat (45, 4x6), Sahil Dhuri (34) and Ganesh Telekar and Robin D'Souza (24 each) ensured that Goa did not follow on. A.T. Rayudu was the most successful Hyderabad bowler, with four wickets. Ojha picked up three.

Andhra which gained 152-run lead over Kerala at the Ukku Stadium, found the rival batsmen not allowing any advantage to it in the second innings. With an overnight score of 46 for one, Kerala finished the last day at 201 for seven. Vipin Lal remained not out on 62 (6x1, 4x3) while N.J. John (40), C.N. Thejas (26, 4x4), R. Sujit (23, 4x3) and Abhishek Hegde (23) providing him good support. The tournament resumes on Thursday after a day's rest.

The scores:

Karnataka 180 and 51 for two in 35.1 overs drew with Tamil Nadu 244 in 77.3 overs (R. Prasanna 70, G. Vignesh 61, Keerti Bhat three for 43).

Hyderabad 431 for seven decl. drew with Goa 258 in 75.3 overs (Swapnil Asnodkar 65, Sagun Kamat 45, Sahil Dhuri 34, A.T. Rayudu four for 67, Pragyan Ojha three for 74).

Andhra 236 for three decl. Kerala 84 and 201 for seven in 125.4 overs (N. Vipin Lal 62 n.o., N.J. John 40, C.N. Thejas 26).

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