On a day dominated by the bowlers, Tamil Nadu bowled out Saurashtra for 203 in 77 overs in their first innings on the opening day of Elite ‘D’ First Round Ranji Trophy cricket match at Coimbatore on Friday.
At close, Tamil Nadu were zero no loss in two overs.
The only bright spot in Saurashtra’s innings was an unbeaten maiden half century by middle order batsman Arpit Vasavada (62, 149 balls, 5×4) as the home team bowlers led by debutant and right
arm medium pacer Sonu Yadav, another pacer M Mohammed and skipper and left arm spinner Sai Kishore struck at regular intervals, claiming three wickets each.
Opting to bat first, Saurashtra lost opener Harvik Desai for nought. Other batsmen, including the experienced Cheteswar Pujara, who scored 16 in 41 balls, got starts, but failed to build on.
From 50 for one in 16.4 overs, Saurshtra slipped to 88 for five in 31 overs, before a brief 43-run
stand between southpaw Arpit Vasavada and Prerak Mankad (20, 38 balls 2×4) in 12.5 overs
lent some respectability.
After losing two quick wickets, including that of Mankad, Arpit, who compiled his first half century in first class cricket, added 42 for the eighth wicket with skipper Jaydev Unadkat (21, 49 balls, 3×4) in 17.4 overs.
Arpit ploughed a lone furrow and remained unbeaten till the end as wickets tumbled at the other end.
Brief scores :
Saurashtra : 203 in 77 overs (Chiraj Jani 32, Arpit Vasavada 62 not out, R. Sonu Yadav three for 30, M. Mohammed three for 38, R.Sai Kishore three for 54) vs Tamil Nadu : zero for no loss in two overs.
