Just as Punjab were putting up a gallant fightback in their secondinnings, Tamil Nadu grabbed two wickets late in the day to placethemselves in a commanding position at stumps on the third day oftheir Ranji Trophy quarter-final at the MA
Partab Ramchand01-Apr-2000Just as Punjab were putting up a gallant fightback in their secondinnings, Tamil Nadu grabbed two wickets late in the day to placethemselves in a commanding position at stumps on the third day oftheir Ranji Trophy quarter-final at the MA Chidambaram stadium inChennai on Saturday.In arrears by 203 runs on the first innings, Punjab’s openers VikramRathour and Reetinder Singh Sodhi put on 126 runs off 40.5 overs. Justwhen it looked like the two would come in unbeaten at stumps, Sodhiwas caught behind by Reuben Paul off Mahesh for 89. Sodhi, the moreaggressive of the two, faced 146 balls and hit ten fours. WicketkeeperH Jagnu, sent in as a night watchman, was run out in the followingover for zero. By that time however the light was bad and play wascalled off with 11.4 overs still to be bowled. Punjab, at 127 for two,still have a lot of work ahead.Early morning showers meant that play started 75 minutes late. Thenfurther rain saw to it that 12 minutes play was lost shortly beforelunch. Tamil Nadu, 346 for five overnight, were all out about an hourafter the break. Sridharan Sriram was finally out for 165, caught byMongia off Harbhajan Singh. He batted 509 minutes, faced 278 balls andhit 12 fours. The off spinner then dismissed Sadagopan Mahesh firstball. But the Tamil Nadu tail wagged. First Rajath Bhatia (24) andReuben Paul (32) added 27 runs for the ninth wicket. This was followedby a last wicket partnership of 47 runs off 13 overs between Paul andJ Gokulakrishnan (21 not out). Harbhajan Singh who bowled very wellwas rewarded with five wickets for 106 runs.Rathour and RS Sodhi brought Punjab back into the game with theircentury first wicket partnership. But the fall of two quick wicketslate in the day saw Tamil Nadu regain the whiphand. Rathour by closehowever was unbeaten with a defiant 37 off 101 balls with four hits tothe ropes. Play was extended by more than a hour and a half to make upthe loss due to the rain. But bad light ultimately halted play at 6.10pm.