On the opening day of the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy season, M. Mohammed and Sandeep Warrier combined to take nine wickets between them to help Tamil Nadu (TN) restrict Gujarat to 236 in the first innings.
On day two, it was left to the duo to bail TN out with the bat as well from a precarious situation of 119 for eight. Their sensational 116-run stand for the ninth wicket helped the visitor eventually take a 14-run lead at the Sardar Patel Stadium on Saturday.
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Mohammed - who scalped a fifer on Friday - led the way with a scintillating 85 (99b, 11x4, 4x6), filled with powerful strikes down the ground and some eye-catching drives through the off-side. At the other end, Warrier (38) easily got behind the line of the ball against the quicks and looked untroubled.
Mohammed took the bowlers on when peppered with bouncers with clean pull shots that sailed over the leg-side fence. He then went after medium-pacer Ripal Patel, lofting him down the ground and collecting two fours and two sixes, the last of which landed beyond the stadium roof and got him to his half-century in style. From there on, the duo played sensibly to get within two runs of taking the lead before Mohammed was dismissed.
In the first session, the TN top order was found wanting against the Gujarat pacers to be reduced to 18 for four, with batters getting caught behind poking outside the off-stump tentatively.
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Left-arm seamer Arzan Nagwaswalla was particularly impressive, taking three of the first five wickets before leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi scalped four, including that of a well-set Vijay Shankar, bowled through the gate off a googly.
Later in the evening, Warrier shone with the ball again, taking three wickets in his first two overs as the host finished the day on 38 for three, 24 runs ahead, with the match evenly poised at the halfway stage.
Speaking after the day’s play, Gujarat coach Ramesh Powar credited his bowlers for doing well to remove the TN top-order cheaply despite conceding the lead.
“The game is well-balanced and we need to score well tomorrow. We bowled well, but we must also give Mohammed credit as well. He hardly gave any chances. Coming at number nine, he played better than their top-order,” said Powar.
When asked if his bowlers overdid the short-pitched stuff, the former India off-spinner explained, “We did well to get eight wickets. But once the pitch became slow, we had to try something. It might not always work, but our bowlers did well to get them to 120 for eight. In low-scoring games, you can always come back.”
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