Tamil Nadu fail to capitalise on opening stand

Baroda has taken a firm grip on their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal against Tamil Nadu. Shortly before stumps on the second day of the five day game at the Gujarat State Fertilizer Corporation ground in Baroda on Friday, Tamil Nadu were all out for 175 in their first innings in reply to the hosts' total of 324.

Tamil Nadu have only themselves to blame for their precarious position. They failed to build upon a fine 88-run stand between openers Sridharan Sriram and S Badrinath. The left handed Sriram top scored with 51 off 86 balls. Sriram, who is captaining the side in the absence of Robin Singh, hit seven fours.

Sriram fell in the 34th over and thereafter wickets fell at regular intervals. Badrinath was fourth out for a patient 38. He batted 196 minutes, faced 148 balls and hit five fours. Except for S Mahesh (15), no one in the middle order reached double digits. It was not until the last two batsmen came together that there was a semblance of a partnership with MR Shrinivas (23) and T Kumaran (13) adding 35 runs off 17.3 overs.

Baroda's left arm spinner Valmik Buch caused most of the damage. The 25-year-old veteran proved to be quite unplayable as he ripped through the top and the middle order. He removed both Sriram and Badrinath and then dismissed JR Madanagopal, Mahesh, S Vidyut and Reuben Paul. He finished with the excellent figures of 27-10-54-6.

Earlier, Baroda resuming at 285 for eight, did well to get 324. This was largely due to Ajit Bhoite. Fifty overnight, the 24-year-old right hander took his score to 78 off 76 balls before he was ninth out. Bhoite hit nine fours and two sixes and with Buch (20) added 65 runs for the ninth wicket off 12.3 overs. Former India off spinner Aashish Kapoor, who dismissed Bhoite, then had Buch caught by wicketkeeper Reuben Paul to finish with four for 64.