Gujarat pacers, led by left-arm seamer Arzan Nagwaswalla (four for 34) along with skipper Chintan Gaja (three for 34) and Priyajitsing Jadeja, bowled their side to a thumping 111-run win over Tamil Nadu on the final day of the first-round Ranji Trophy clash in Valsad on Monday.
The trio produced a disciplined bowling performance with their impeccable control over line and length to share nine wickets. The seamers bowled to their field with a tight line outside off-stump and got the ball swinging almost through the day, even with the old ball, choking the run-flow.
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Chasing 299 for victory, the visitors’ batters - some with international and India A experience - were found wanting against the moving ball and surrendered meekly to be bowled out for 187.
Gaja gave the hosts an early strike when he had Sai Sudharsan trapped leg-before. Baba Indrajith and R. Sai Kishore then steadied things, surviving a testing phase before the first drinks interval, scoring only 18 runs in 15 overs. Having done the hard work, the duo scored freely in the last hour before Lunch.
Indrajith and the TN skipper took on Ravi Bishnoi to find the boundaries easily and got the side into a good position. But in the final over before Lunch, Indrajith tried to fend for a delivery outside off-stump away from his body and gave a simple catch to slip, undoing all the hard work.
Ranji Trophy Round 1, Day 4 Highlights
Post Lunch, Gujarat steadily chipped away, with Nagwaswalla trapping Sai Kishore in front while Gaja had Vijay Shankar, who poked outside the off-stump, caught behind.
Even as Pradosh Ranjan Paul showed it was still a good pitch to bat on by being assured of his off-stump and leaving well, the rest of the TN batters could not offer a fight, with no batter even getting a half-century. Once N. Jagadeesan dragged one onto his stumps while trying to pull Priyajitsing before Tea, the writing was on the wall.
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