Vidyuth fires away as Tamil Nadu take honours

Vidyuth Sivaramakrishnan had a memorable outing on the final day of Tamil Nadu's South Zone Ranji Trophy match against Hyderabad at the National Fuel Complex ground. TN predictably closed out five first innings points to move to the top of the zonal table with 18 points from three games while Hyderabad are now third with 14 points.

Resuming at 268/5, Hyderabad were dismissed for 380 to concede a 186 run first innings lead to the visitors. The only productive association was the seventh wicket stand of 55 between Anirudh Singh and wicket keeper M Srinivas. After having gone unrewarded on Friday, left arm spinner Vidyuth polished off the last four wickets including the important scalp of one-drop Anirudh Singh, who was last out for a courageous 90 (215 balls, 15 fours).

With almost two full sessions remaining in a game that was now purely academic, Tamil Nadu played around with their batting order. Opening the innings, Sadagopan Mahesh struck nine boundaries in his 41 but that was only the precursor to a more uninhibited display of hitting from Vidyuth. Coming in at No.5 at the fall of Mahesh, the 19-year-old southpaw belted 82 off 68 balls, sending nine deliveries to the pickets and three over them. Tamil Nadu closed at 205/5 in 46 overs, seam bowler NP Singh claiming three of the victims. Kanwaljit Singh's 100th Ranji Trophy match was a disappointing venture for the 42-yearold veteran who did not have a bowl in the second innings after taking just a solitary wicket in the first.