Ranji Trophy 2015-16: Railways caught short as Tamil Nadu take control

Railways bowled out Tamil Nadu for 328. (Source: Express photo by Praveen Khanna)

THE ball barely moved a centimeter in the post lunch session. It was coming nicely on to the bat, and the variable bounce was not difficult to negotiate. Tamil Nadu, a bowler short due to spinner Rahil Shah’s back spasms, had long spells in operation but nothing worked for the visitors during that period of play.

Railways middle-order batsman Arindam Ghosh injected stability into the innings with opener Cheluvaraj after the disastrous start. The duo frustrated the visitors with a cautious, but solid, approach. No assistance for bowlers further helped their cause.

With the game entering a monotonous phase in the final session, Tamil Nadu, under fading light, cooked a ‘short’ plan. The quicks started pitching it short and brought the variable bounce into play. One delivery would kick up, while the other, from the same spot, would brush the ducking batsman’s shoulder. It happened in the 49th over of the Railways innings when seamer Vijay Shankar put in the extra effort.

The delivery rose sharply and Cheluvaraj was happy to let it go to the keeper. Next ball, pitching in the similar area, didn’t rise and hit the opener, who was ducking, on the shoulder. Abhinav Mukund-led unit got excited with the ball hitting the body, in line of the stumps and that low, but the umpire wasn’t interested. Similar drill was followed by Aswin Crist and J Kousik. Cheluvaraj and Ghosh fought it out before the latter fell for the trap ball. After series of short deliveries, Kousik bowled one at a good-length, giving the batsman enough room to cut or shoulder arms.

Ghosh did none as he presented a dolly Baba Indrajith in the gully. Indrajith made no mistake and Railways lost a wicket after a 43-over battle in the middle.

Ghosh’s wicket led to another Railways collapse, similar to what they did against Gujarat in their last Ranji contest.

Skipper Mahesh Rawat, Ashish Yadav, Anureet Singh came and left in a hurry. From 124/3, the hosts were reduced to 126/7 in the space of just 14 deliveries. Kousik did a clean-up after Crist added another to his tally when Rawat edged his misdirected delivery to Dinesh Karthik behind the stumps.

Lively Crist

Crist was lively with the new ball. The seamer bowled in a good channel, and bent his back to extract that extra bounce from this strip. He first removed opener Saurabh and then picked the wicket of Faiz Ahmad in the same over to reduce Railways to 12/2.

While Saurabh was bowled after the ball, after hitting the pads, rolled to the stumps, Faiz was out for a duck after Kousik, standing at backward-point, took a blinder. Crist bowled one short and gave enough width for the batsman to free his arms. Faiz did what the delivery asked for but Kousik, on the jump, held on to the ball which was travelling. R Jonathan was the next man in but he could fight the fire for only seven deliveries.

Railways, however, did a fine job with the ball early in the day — allowing Tamil Nadu to add only 40 runs to their overnight score. In the morning, Anureet picked two wickets to complete his five-wicket haul. The fifth one was of Indrajith, who pulled a half-tracker straight to fine-leg fielder, moments after scoring his 150. After bundling out Tamil Nadu for 328, Railways batsmen failed to apply themselves and didn’t get partnerships going. With follow-on total still 49 runs away, hosts need a miracle to avoid a defeat.

Brief Scores: Railways 129/7 (Cheluvaraj 63 not out; Crist 4/42, Kousik 3/7). TN 328 (Indrajith 151; Anureet 5/104)