There was no time to blink. Nobody would have expected the fourth day’s proceedings to end in just 20 minutes.
But that is what transpired at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday as Tamil Nadu needed just 22 deliveries to get five Railways wickets and claim an innings and 25-run victory in a Ranji Trophy Group-D encounter here.
Everything R. Sonu Yadav (four for 50) and S. Ajith Ram (four for 30) touched turned to gold as the Railways batters walked back one after the other in disbelief.
While the left-arm spinner got all three of his wickets for the day through a variety of catches by slip-fielder Shahrukh Khan, Sonu’s modus operandi was bowling straight at the timber and letting the red-cherry do the rest.
The first domino to fall was Mohammad Saif as Shahrukh stayed low and dove to his right and converted a half-chance into a dismissal. The next one was a regulation catch of Shivam Chaudhary’s outside edge. For Akash Pandey’s miscue after misjudging the turn, Shahrukh, however, had to run almost 20 yards to pocket the ball.
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Sonu sent Yuvraj Singh and Kunal Yadav’s stumps packing in just four balls as TN took home seven points for the innings win.
The stars of the day, Sonu and Ajith Ram were elated with the how the day transpired when they spoke to Sportstar.
“To get five wickets in 3.4 overs is not at all easy. We took those and happy that that miracle happened,” Sonu said.
Ajith Ram added, “Our goal was to restrict them and make sure we had to chase less than a 100. But once we got the first wicket, everything went down so quickly.”
The leader of the pack, N. Jagadeesan, was a happy man after getting a crucial win. “These are things that just happen only once in a while and credit to the way Sonu and Ajith Ram bowled”.
The scores:
Railways — 1st innings: 229
Tamil Nadu — 1st innings: 438
Railways — 2nd innings: Pratham Singh b Gurjapneet 0, Vivek Singh c Jagadeesan b Sonu 63, S.A. Ahuja b Lakshay 36, Mohammad Saif c Shahrukh b Ajith Ram 52, Upendra Yadav b Sonu 1, B.H. Merai c Andre b Ajith Ram 1, Shivam Chaudhary c Shahrukh b Ajith Ram 15, Yuvraj Singh b Sonu 2, Akash Pandey c Shahrukh b Ajith Ram 10, Himanshu Sangwan (not out) 0, Kunal Yadav b Sonu 0; Extras: (b-4): 4; Total (in 48.4 overs): 184
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-65, 3-135, 4-145, 5-150, 6-169, 7-174, 8-184, 9-184
Tamil Nadu bowling: Gurjapneet 8-2-21-1, Sonu 13.4-1-50-4, Pranav 2-0-15-0, Ajith Ram 12-1-30-4, Lakshay 7-0-47-1, Mohamed Ali 6-1-17-0
PoM: S. Mohamed Ali