The Hindu : Tamil Nadu enters final

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 19, 2004

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Sport - Cricket

Tamil Nadu enters final

By Our Sports Reporter

Badrinath stumped by Wankhede

CHENNAI, MARCH 18. Tamil Nadu's inability to bat out the concluding day of the five-day Ranji Trophy semifinal against Railways at the Chidambaram Stadium here on Thursday reflected poorly on its strong batting line-up, considering that a draw was a foregone conclusion.

Left-handed opener Sadagopan Ramesh missed a century by three runs (97, 286m, 226b, 11x4) in the second innings, as the host qualified for the final of the National championship on the basis of the first innings lead it secured overnight.

Tamil Nadu will meet Mumbai in the final, to be played here between March 26 and 30. The teams have set up a title clash for the second consecutive season and fifth overall. Resuming at 128 for two, the home side finished at 306, about an hour after lunch, for an overall lead of 445. The best phase was the third-wicket stand of 65 between Ramesh (57 overnight) and S. Badrinath.

In reply, Railways was 117 for five when play was called off after the eighth mandatory over. Mediumpacer Ganapathy scythed through the top-order, as the visiting side was reduced to 15 for four before southpaw Raja Ali and Siddarth Verma steadied the rocking boat with a 64-run stand.

Syed Kirmani, Chairman of the National Selection Committee who witnessed a good part of the five days, was impressed with the individual efforts of players, especially centurions S. Sriram, Dinesh Kaarthick and J.P. Yadav. "Their performances will be discussed during the committee's meeting," he said.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu's coach B. Arun was busy drawing a schedule for his boys. "The coming week is crucial. The final is what we had worked towards, and now we stand at the threshold of what I hope is a season of triumph. We missed it last year. I think we are better-prepared this time around," said the former Test cricketer, who was a member of S. Vasudevan's team, which won the coveted crown in 1988.

Arun described the forthcoming battle as a clash between equals. "It is going to boil down to the mind."

The scores:

Tamil Nadu — 1st innings: 481.

Railways — 1st innings: 342.

Tamil Nadu — 2nd innings: S. Suresh b Harvinder 25, S. Ramesh st. Wankhede b M. Yadav 97, S. Sriram c Wankhede b Goud 38, S. Badrinath st. Wankhede b M. Yadav 26, K.S. Vasudeva Das c Wankhede b Parida 16, S. Vidyut c Kanolkar b Parida 4, K. Dinesh Kaarthick c T.P. Singh b Parida 48, R. Ramkumar c Kanolkar b M. Yadav 19, S. Sharath st Wankhede b M. Yadav 2, C. Ganapathy (not out) 12, D. Tamilkumaran b Parida 9. Extras (b-6, lb-1, nb-3) 10. Total: 306.

Fall of wickets: 1-40, 2-108, 3-173, 4-193, 5-198, 6-224, 7-269, 8-277, 9-291.

Railways bowling: Harvinder Singh 11-2-40-1, J.P. Yadav 7-1-16-0, M. Yadav 39-8-117-4, Parida 25.4-5-65-4, Bangar 7-2-7-0, Goud 13-0-37-1, Kanolkar 4-0-17-0.

Railways — 2nd innings: S. Kanolkar c Kaarthick b Ganapathy 7, S. Bangar c Kaarthick b Ganapathy 0, R. Ali lbw b Badrinath 36, Y. Goud b Ganapathy 0, J.P. Yadav lbw b Tamilkumaran 5, S. Verma (not out) 39, T.P. Singh (not out) 24. Extras (b-4, nb-2) 6. Total (for five wkts.) 117.

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-10, 3-10, 4-15, 5-79.

Tamil Nadu bowling: C. Ganapathy 9-2-20-3, D. Tamilkumaran 5-3-11-1, S. Badrinath 8-2-43-1, Vasudeva Das 4-0-39-0.

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