M. Mohammed’s seven-wicket haul, followed by a solid, unbeaten opening-wicket partnership between Abhinav Mukund and L. Suryapprakash, helped Tamil Nadu seize the initiative against Baroda on the first day at the Motibaug Cricket Ground here on Tuesday.
After TN won a crucial toss, Mohammed made full use of the conditions as he ran through the Baroda line-up, bundling out the home team for 174.
Abhinav (73 bating) and Suryapprakash (61 batting) then played some free-flowing strokes — the two hit 26 boundaries between them — to take TN to 135 for no loss at stumps. Abhinav, needing 34 runs to reach a milestone — 10,000 runs in First Class cricket — crossed it in style with a boundary off Anureet Singh.
Inducing errors
Mohammed kept it simple, bowling a full length and letting the batsmen make errors. Kedar Devdhar was the first to go when he was foxed by a short-pitched delivery, the top-edge landing in the mid-wicket fielder’s hands.
The medium-pacer was hit for four boundaries by the other opener Ahmadnoor Pathan. However, Mohammed had the last word, forcing the batsmen to edge to slip.
Abhishek Tanwar, playing his first match of the season, then struck twice in two overs, dismissing Vishnu Solanki — who was dropped twice, on 0 and 2, by ’keeper N. Jagadeesan — and skipper Krunal Pandya, to reduce Baroda to 50 for four.
Immediate success
In his second spell, Mohammed changed ends and found immediate success with two very good deliveries to dismiss Deepak Hooda and Yusuf Pathan. He had the former leg-before with a sharp inswinger, while Yusuf edged to third slip, the extra bounce taking him by surprise.
Even though wickets kept falling, the Baroda batsmen managed to find the boundaries but none of them capitalised on their starts.
At the stroke of lunch, Mohammed completed his five-wicket haul, having Swapnil Singh caught at slip, leaving Baroda in dire straits at 95 for seven.
TN let the opposition off the hook, after restricting it to 100 for eight, as Atit Sheth (53) went after the tiring medium-pacers. When Mohammed and Tanwar were taken off, Sheth and Anureet punished K. Vignesh who was lacklustre.
In the final session, the TN had the best conditions for batting and the openers produced some stylish cover-drives, scoring at more than four runs per over to cap off a productive day.
The scores:
Baroda — 1st innings: Kedar Devdhar c Sai Kishore b Mohammed 5, Ahmadnoor Pathan c Indrajith b Mohammed 21, Vishnu Solanki c Indrajith b Tanwar 19, Deepak Hooda lbw b Mohammed 4, Krunal Pandya b Tanwar 4, Yusuf Pathan c Suryappprakash b Mohammed 13, Swapnil Singh b Aparajith b Mohammed 19, Viraj Bhosale c Aparajith b Mohammed 11, Atit Sheth c sub b Sai Kishore 53, Anureet Singh b Mohammed 23, Babashafi Pathan (not out) 0; Total (in 51.4 overs): 174.
Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-28, 3-46, 4-50, 5-65, 6-76, 7-95, 8-100, 9-160.
Tamil Nadu bowling: Tanwar 15-4-37-2, Mohammed 18-5-68-7, Vignesh 12-2-55-0, Sai Kishore 6.4-2-14-1.
Tamil Nadu — 1st innings: Abhinav Mukund batting 73, L. Suryapprakash (batting) 61; Extras (lb-1): 1; Total (for no loss in 30 overs): 135.
Baroda bowling: Anureet 7-2-31-0, Sheth 5-1-22-0, Babashafi 7-1 27-0, Solanki 6-0-22-0, Krunal 2-0-14-0, Swapnil 1-0-5-0, Yusuf 3-0-13-0.
