Chennai: Tamilnadu made a poor start on the first day of their Ranji Trophy fifth round encounter against Kerala at MA Chidembaram stadium, Chepauk, here today.
The home side was left tottering at 81 for five at lunch. After having won the toss and deciding to bat first, Kerala bowlers made life difficult for the TN batsmen. Their pace duo of Sandeep Warrier and Basil Thampi struck at regular intervals and made inroads into the TN top-order that never got going in the session.
In the second ball of the match, Sandeep Warrier trapped Abhinav Mukund in front, dismissing him for a nought in his first ball. Warrier soon castled Baba Aparajith, who scored just three runs from the 22 balls he faced.
Within seven balls, opener Kaushik Gandhi was sent back to the pavilion by Basil Thampi who induced an edge that was caught by wicket-keeper Arun Karthik.
With Dinesh Karthik, playing his first Ranji game after a long gap, joining skipper Indrajith at the crease, responsibility fell on the experieced duo to lead Tamilnadu to a good total. But it was not to be as Basil Thampi took his second wicket, dismissing Dinesh Karthik for four with the score at 31/4.
N Jagadeesan soon joined his skipper and the pair then put togrther a partnership of 50 runs. Just when it looked like the pair would go through the first session without losing their wicket, Kerala’s Jalaj Saxena dismissed N Jagadeesan for 21.
Captain Indrajith, will have to do a lot from now on to atleast help TN post a good total on the board.