An unbeaten 98 from Abhinav Mukund helped Tamil Nadu surmount a challenge in its second innings against Railways on the second day of its Group A fixture at the Lohnu ground here. Having conceded a lead of 52 in the first innings, it reached 161 for 1 at stumps.
Tamil Nadu took seven wickets in the morning session to tilt the contest in its favour after having been bowled out for 121 on the first day.
It consolidated its position with a purposelful batting effort. After Manjeet Chaudhary got the breakthrough for the Railways by dismissing Washington Sundar, Abhinav and Kaushik Gandhi, who was batting on 41 at close, provided a strong platform for Tamil Nadu with a 124-run partnership for the second wicket.
Abhinav struck 10 fours in his 177-ball essay and was alert to play the late cut at the fag end of the day, as play was extended for about an hour, to catch up with the bowling rate. Once the sun went behind the hills, the light changed dramatically, and the batsmen were happy to retire for the day.
While Kaushik capitalised on a dropped chance early in his innings by wicketkeeper Mahesh Rawat off the nippy bowling of Deepak Bansal, Railways were happy to keep the flow of runs in check rather than probe the batsmen.
The morning mist and moisture aided the bowlers. And Railways lost seven wickets in the session to fine bowling by T. Natarajan, K. Vignesh and Malolan Rangarajan.
With two more days to go, Tamil Nadu holds the key, as it has revealed its strong batting ability after having been dismissed for 121 in the first innings.
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