Left-hander Nidhish S. Rajagopal (90, 144b, 10x4, 1x6) helped TNCA XI get to 344 for nine versus Kerala on day two of the TNCA Buchi Babu Memorial All India invitational cricket tournament at the India Cement Company ground here on Wednesday.
Opener K.T.A. Madhava Prasad (72, 164b, 5x4, 1x6) and skipper M. Shahrukh Khan (60, 48b, 8x4, 2x6) also contributed as TNCA XI claimed a 126-run first-innings in the Group-D encounter.
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Shahrukh Khan’s typical breezy innings meant 79 runs were accumulated off just 96 balls for the third wicket between him and Madhava Prasad. On a second-day wicket that still offered carry for the pacers, Shahrukh Khan was severe on the short balls - with two sixes coming off the pull shot.
Nidhish was involved in a 69-run fourth-wicket stand with Madhava Prasad and a 78-run seventh-wicket partnership with Jhathavedh Subramanyan (25, 95b, 2x4).
After the day’s play, Nidhish said that the wicket had begun deteriorating during the course of the innings. There’s a pronounced rough patch around the left-hander’s fifth stump, around the good length mark at the pavilion end that the spinners will look to try and exploit. Kerala has five left-handers in its batting line-up.
“Our spinners will come in handy. To bat last on this wicket, will be tricky,” said Nidhish.
Missing out on hitting a hundred, he said: “When you play in such a good tournament and you miss out playing a big innings, it’s obviously disappointing. You want to hit good first-inning hundreds for your team. So, yes, obviously, a bit sad that I missed out. But it’s a fairly long tournament.”
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