Tamil Nadu revels in 'satisfying victory'

The Tamil Nadu camp was all smiles after defeating a strong Karnataka side within two days in Visakhapatnam.

Published : Dec 24, 2016 21:49 IST , Visakhapatnam

K. Vignesh (left)..."I concentrated on moving the ball."
K. Vignesh (left)..."I concentrated on moving the ball."
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K. Vignesh (left)..."I concentrated on moving the ball."

There was joy and celebration in the Tamil Nadu camp after the victory over Karnataka here on Saturday. Skipper Abhinav Mukund, suffering from sore throat and fever, was smiling nevertheless. “It is a very satisfying victory. The pacemen bowled very well. [All] in all, it was a good team effort.”

>Report: Tamil Nadu wins in two days

Abhinav, who did not come out to open in the second innings too, took treatment from a local clinic. “I should be all right for the semifinal,” he said.

Only the three Tamil Nadu specialist pacemen Aswin Crist, K. Vignesh and T. Natarajan bowled in the Karnataka second innings. Abhinav was pleased with their long, persistent spells. “As an opening batsman, I have been at the receiving end of such spells from the opposition seamers in the past. It’s so nice to see our pacemen doing the same now.”

Tamil Nadu coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar said, “The emphasis has been on collective effort. I have tried to be very fair to everybody in selection. If someone is dropped, there has to be a reason for him to be dropped and he should be satisfied with the reasoning. It builds confidence in the side.”

Pleasant surprise

Kanitkar admitted he did not expect the match to end in two days. “There was help for the pacemen but I expected the match to go further. The pacemen bowled at the right length for this wicket.”

The Tamil Nadu coach said he had his first look at paceman Vignesh during the pre-season camp. “He made an impression straightaway with the natural rhythm and flow in his bowling and the ability to hit the length.”

Vignesh said, “I concentrated on moving the ball. There was help from this pitch. There was bounce as well.” The young seamer, in his debut Ranji season, said, “I have enjoyed bowling in such wickets at different venues this season. It has been a learning experience.”

Karnataka captain Vinay Kumar said, “It was not a good toss to lose. We would have loved to bowl first. The toss made a big difference. Had we bowled first, we could have contained them. The result could have been different.”

Despite totals of 88 and 150 in the match, Vinay Kumar was not willing to blame his batsmen. “It was not an easy pitch to bat on,” he said. He added, “The two run-outs in the second innings hurt us.”

Meanwhile, Karun Nair, though under some pain, is making a recovery from an abdominal strain.

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