Tamil Nadu's good score despite Ghouse's fine show

Tamil Nadu ended the first day at the good position of 284 for nine inspite of a fine spell by medium pacer Ghouse Baba (6 for 100 off 33 overs) in their KSCA Coca Cola (under-25) Trophy match against Hyderabad at the Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wodayar Sports Complex in Bangalore on Thursday.

Electing to bat, Tamil Nadu made a fine start with openers Ravindra John (33) and S Badrinath (67) putting on 42 runs in 8.4 overs. Ravindra John, who dominated the stand, hitting five fours in his run a ball innings, was then dismissed when he was bowled by Ghouse Baba. This brought in N Lokesh (67) to the crease and in the company of Badrinath, he forged a 131-run partnership for the second wicket in 37 overs. In a 134-minute stay at the centre, Lokesh faced 100 balls and hit nine boundaries.

Then Badrinath was joined by his captain C Hemanth Kumar. But the skipper lasted precisely one delivary. Without troubling the scorers, he fell leg before to Ghouse Baba. Two overs later, new batsman R Satish was caught by A Agarwal in the slips to give Ghouse Baba his fourth wicket of the innings. D Surendra Doss (38) then joined Badrinath to take the score to 190, when Badrinath offered a catch to Srinivas Reddy at short mid-on.

The sixth wicket pair of J Harish (36) and D Surendra Doss (38) however added 53 runs off 25.3 overs. Doss became Ghouse's fifth victim when he offered a catch to Fatima Reddy at mid-on. D Dandapani was the next to go when he was stumped by R Sabarwal off Fatima Reddy with the score on 246. Three balls later P Raju (0) was run out. Ghouse Baba claimed his sixth wicket, that of J Harish, when he had him caught in front of the stumps. At his dismissal, play was called of for the day.