Tamil Nadu has a mountain to climb. Lalit Yadav’s onslaught has pushed Vijay Shankar’s men on the backfoot. The side needs batsmen to put their hands up for a fight.
Lalit’s captivating 177 (287b, 17x4, 10x6) and his exceptional ability to bat with the tail took Delhi to a challenging 452 on the second day of the Ranji Trophy contest at the ACA Stadium here on Friday.
Tamil Nadu was 75 for two in reply after an opening stand of 53 between Kaushik Gandhi (37 batting) and L. Suryaprakash (23) promised much.
There is increasing turn for the spinners and the Tamil Nadu batters need to show patience, skill and judicious aggression.
Delhi’s salvo with the new ball was negotiated capably as the openers essayed crisp strokes through covers, but just when the pair looked set for bigger things, Suryaprakash fell to left-arm seamer Kuldip Yadav, edging a delivery angled across to the cordon.
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B. Aparajith departed almost immediately, adjudged caught behind as left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra’s delivery spun away even as he went forward in defence. Aparajith was unhappy with the decision.
Nightwatchman Sai Kishore (11 batting) was there with the impressive Kaushik — he was assured in defence and offence — at stumps.
The day belonged to Lalit. He is light of feet and weighty with his blows. His maiden Ranji hundred was one to remember.
Strong with his horizontal bat strokes, Lalit cut and pulled the pacemen and danced down to the spinners for sixes over long-on, long-off and mid-wicket.
His drives through cover and point caught the eye. And the man with an uncomplicated and free-flowing technique batted with the confidence of a natural.
Lalit added 92 for the ninth wicket with Vikas and 59 for the last wicket with Kuldip. The tailenders were stubborn even as Lalit blazed away. These runs hurt Tamil Nadu.
Tamil Nadu tactics on the field lacked imagination. It was hard to understand the deep set fields for the tailenders. Paceman M. Mohammed, who scalped four, impressed, but, in general, the attack lacked bite.
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