Washington Sundar pulls off the back foot © Sivaraman Kitta
Allrounder Washington Sundar‘s maiden first-class hundred – 156* off 223 balls – underpinned Tamil Nadu‘s dominance against Tripura in Chennai. Opening the batting in the absence of M Vijay – who is suffering from a neck spasm – Sundar struck 14 fours and a six to give his team a 74-run first-innings lead at stumps on the second day.
He first added 162 for the first wicket with his captain Abhinav Mukund before combining with B Indrajith for an unbroken 152-run stand for the third wicket. Abhinav made 76 off 130 balls – his second successive first-class fifty – while Indrajith stayed unbeaten on 73 off 121 balls. Tripura used seven bowlers with only Joydeep Bhattacharjee and Gurinder Singh finding success. The hosts, ultimately, closed the day at 332 for 2 in 81 overs.
Earlier, seamer K Vignesh‘s 4 for 41 helped Tamil Nadu dismiss Tripura for 258 from an overnight 244 for 7. The visitors had lost their last seven wickets for just 55 runs.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Naman Ojha completed his 21st first-class hundred – 180 off 410 balls – to propel Madhya Pradesh to 409 against a depleted Mumbai side in Indore. In reply, Mumbai ended the day at 130 for 1 with opener Jay Bista punching 89 of those in only 96 balls.
Resuming from an overnight 250 for 5, MP lost Ankit Sharma early on the second day, but Ankit Kushwah and Mihir Hirwani made thirty-somethings each to assist Ojha and help take the total past 400. Debutant Akash Parkar was the pick of the bowlers for Mumbai, finishing with 4 for 70.
Kushwah then struck with the ball to have Akhil Herwadkar caught behind for 17, but Bista’s counterattack and Siddhesh Lad’s stickability helped Mumbai trim the deficit to 279.
A 139-run partnership for the eighth wicket between Swapnil Singh and Atit Sheth lifted Baroda from 203 for 7 to an eventual score of 373 against Andhra in Vadodara. Andhra’s batting line-up, which had given Tamil Nadu a scare in the first round, mounted a strong reply with captain Hanuma Vihari and Ricky Bhui scoring unbeaten half-centuries. The two batsmen helped Andhra end the day at 190 for 2.
Sheth followed his 70 not out with the wicket of opener Prasanth Kumar. Left-arm spinner Swapnil, who was the top scorer for Baroda with 88, went wicketless in five overs.
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo