The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Vidyut puts Tamil Nadu in driver's seat

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Tuesday, Nov 09, 2004

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Vidyut puts Tamil Nadu in driver's seat

By Our Sports Reporter

SWEEPING SUCCESS: Tamil Nadu's Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan plays a sweep off Hyderabad's Venkatapathy Raju in Chennai on Monday.

CHENNAI, NOV. 8. Opener Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan's unbeaten 97 put Tamil Nadu in a commanding position at the end of the second day's play in the Ranji Trophy Elite B encounter against Hyderabad at the M.A. Chidambaram stadium on Monday. Tamil Nadu finished at 183 for the loss of Sadagopan Ramesh's wicket, a lead of 20.

On a dead-slow track, Hyderabad bowled without imagination for the most part and only some quick wickets in the morning session on Tuesday can inject some drama into the game. The visiting side, which began at 83 for five, was dismissed five minutes before lunch for 163. Left-arm spinner R. Ramkumar finished with six wickets.

The Tamil Nadu openers began confidently in the post-lunch session as they systematically pushed, punched and pummelled the ball. Hyderabad captain Venkatapathi Raju used four bowlers to no avail before bringing himself on in the 21st over. Ramesh took a single off the first ball, then watched as Vidyut helped himself to 12 runs including a four and a six. But in Raju's next over Ramesh was adjudged leg-before. The unhappy batsman seemed to indicate that the ball was edged on to the pad.

That was the only Tamil Nadu wicket to fall as Vidyut and No. 3 S. Badrinath (56 batting, 111b, 1x6, 6x4) figured in an unbroken stand of 106 for the second wicket.

Strange mix

The strange thing about Vidyut's innings was that after the assault on Raju, the next boundary came only after the left-hander faced 84 more deliveries. Badrinath initially looked a little susceptible to the flighted ball as he poked around tentatively. For more than half-a-session, both batsmen seemed suspended in a state of transcendental bliss. That had a soporific effect on the opposition as well; off-spinner Shivaji Yadav and left-arm spinner Inder Sekhar Reddy rarely looked threatening. Bowling changes made no difference.

Then in a sudden burst of controlled aggression, Badrinath moved from 40 to 50 by lofting Raju for a boundary and following that up with a stylish six, straight down the ground, off the next delivery.

That finally displaced the inertia. A Vidyut single brought the scores level and the opener moved into the nineties with a classy drive for four off Daniel Manohar.

Too defensive

Earlier, the Hyderabad lower order added 80 runs to the overnight total. Though 163 is a low first innings score, Tamil Nadu was guilty of letting things drift in the morning and should have dismissed the opposition sooner. Instead of attacking, Hemang Badani chose to position five fielders near the boundary almost right up to the end of the Hyderabad innings.

Raju (25 not out) finished as the top-scorer for his side. His effort included a near casual flick for six, over long-on. Reddy was dismissed off Ramkumar after Badrinath ran some 20 yards to take a lovely catch.

The Hyderabad innings finally ended when N.P. Singh was caught behind off paceman M.R. Shrinivas. Dinesh Kaarthick, the Tamil Nadu and India 'keeper, has shown great commitment in playing the Ranji opener soon after the Mumbai Test.

The scores:

Hyderabad — 1st innings: Daniel Manohar c Badani b Shrinivas 0; Nand Kishore c & b Ramkumar 20; D. Vinay Kumar c Suresh b Ramkumar 17; A.T. Rayudu (run out) 13; Arjun Yadav c Kaarthick b Ramkumar 20; Anirudh Singh lbw b Shrinivas 24; Ibrahim Khalil lbw b Shrinivas 5; Shivaji Yadav c Badani b Ramkumar 20; V. Raju (not out) 25; Inder Sekhar Reddy c Badrinath b Ramkumar 12; N.P. Singh c Kaarthick b Shrinivas 3; Extras (lb-2, nb-2) 4; Total 163.

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-26, 3-51, 4-58, 5-78, 6-93, 7-113, 8-113, 9-152.

Tamil Nadu bowling: Shrinivas 15.2-6-33-3, Suresh 13-5-34-0, Ramkumar 31-10-57-6, Raghuram 9-4-18-0, Badrinath 3-0-15-0, Vidyut 3-0-4-0.

Tamil Nadu — 1st innings: Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan (batting) 97; S. Ramesh lbw b Raju 29; S. Badrinath (batting) 56; Extras (b-1) 1; Total (for one wkt.) 183.

Fall of wicket: 1-77.

Hyderabad bowling: Singh 10-4-16-0, Manohar 4-0-21-0, Yadav 21-2-61-0, Reddy 13.5-2-40-0, Raju 11-2-44-1.

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