The Hindu : Sport : Good knocks by Badrinath, Badani

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Wednesday, Jan 11, 2006

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Good knocks by Badrinath, Badani

Sports Reporter

Tamil Nadu piles up 261 for two on day one after electing to bat

— Photo: Shaju John

TIMELY KNOCK: S. Badrinath maintained his good form of the season to hit a chanceless century, his first as Tamil Nadu captain, on Tuesday.

Chennai: A patient, chanceless century by skipper S. Badrinath and his unbroken 193-run third-wicket partnership with Hemang Badani helped Tamil Nadu finish strongly on the first day of its seventh-round Ranji Trophy Elite Group `A' match against Delhi at 261 for two.

Needing an outright win and a bonus point to stand a chance of qualifying for the semifinals, the host elected to bat on a slow M.A. Chidambaram Stadium track here on Tuesday.

Aggressive approach

With Tamil Nadu coach Bharat Arun saying on Monday that his team would play positive cricket, the openers began aggressively as 19 came in 21 balls.

But when Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan lobbed a ball that stopped on him to mid-off, Badrinath strode in to begin a phase of accumulation without frills. Left-hander S. Sriram looked well entrenched, though he struggled to find his timing off the front foot.

Delhi's bowling — a mixture of medium-paced trundling from Amit Bhandari and Kuldeep Rawat, and fastish spin from Chetanya Nanda and Y. Sachdeva — was handled with care by both Sriram and Badrinath; the former capitalised when the bowlers shortened their length inadvertently before dragging on a Nanda long hop.

A watchful Badani joined the man he had handed over the reins to, and so began an alliance that held for 371 balls until the umpires called stumps. This pair will look to consolidate during the first hour on Wednesday and kick on to a score that will enable them to bowl Delhi out twice.

In control

Badrinath's technical rigour was evident in his driving through the off-side of either foot. Not for a moment during his 373-minute vigil that consumed 263 balls for 113 and contained 17 boundaries did he lose control. The footwork was precise: right back or a stretch forward, and the concentration exemplary.

The right-hander navigated through the nineties with boundaries — a cut took him to 98, and a square drive brought up the 25-year-old's seventh First Class century, his first as captain.

The lone chance of the day came late when Badani, on 76, played a delivery from Nanda and dragged his back foot. Wicketkeeper Varun Kumar, who had been impeccable till then, failed to effect the stumping.

The talented left-hander remained unbeaten on 91 (263m, 182b, 9x4, 1x6), and both he and Badrinath were clapped all the way back to the pavilion by a team that hasn't had the best of seasons.

The scores: Tamil Nadu — 1st innings: S. Sriram b Nanda 43, S. Vidyut c Manhas b Rawat 6, S. Badrinath (batting) 113, H. Badani (batting) 91; Extras (b-2, lb-3, nb-3) 8. Total (for two wickets, in 90 overs) 261.

Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-68.

Delhi bowling: Bhandari 18-5-53-0, Rawat 10-1-36-1, Bhatia 15-6-19-0, Sachdeva 16-3-68-0, Nanda 28-2-76-1, Jain 3-2-4-0.

Other scores:

Elite group: At Mumbai: Maharashtra 213 in 78.1 overs (Sairaj Bahutule 45 not out, R.P. Verma four for 63) vs. Mumbai 20 for two in nine overs.

At Kolkata: Railways 191 for five in 91 overs (Vineet Saxena 65) vs. Bengal.

At Anantpur: Uttar Pradesh 217 for five in 90 overs (Suresh Raina 42, G.K. Pandey 57 batting) vs. Andhra.

At Vadodara: Baroda 229 in 76.1 overs (Connor Williams 63, Pinal Shah 41, Y.K. Pathan 72, A. Absolem four for 51) vs. Hyderabad 28 for one in 11 overs.

At New Delhi: Services 226 for five in 90 overs (S. Upadhaya 92, Sarabjit Singh 78 batting) vs. Haryana.

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