After three insipid days of Rajasthan's slow batting build up, there will be zing on the final day of their Ranji Trophy semifinal between Tamil Nadu at the Sawai Man Singh stadium.
Rajasthan seemed to have done enough to enter their first final of the national championship in 25 years when they piled up 552 for seven before declaring their innings to bring the visiting batsmen under pressure.
However, former champions Tamil Nadu appear determined to make a match of it. The seasoned Subramaniam Badrinath is unbeaten on a patient 78 and has tackled a good 20 overs in the company of K. Vasudevadas.
Tamil Nadu were 190 for three at stumps, a good 362 runs behind Rajasthan's first innings total. However, sunshine on Wednesday promised a full quota of 90 overs on the final day, which means Tamil Nadu can sneak through on a better run rate if they score another 273 runs.
The stubborn Vasudevadas and Badrinath will however have to tackle Pankaj Singh and Deepak Chahar on Thursday morning and the two will look to exploit the early morning moisture in the pitch. However, batting is unlikely to be a big ask later in the day.
{{/usCountry}}The stubborn Vasudevadas and Badrinath will however have to tackle Pankaj Singh and Deepak Chahar on Thursday morning and the two will look to exploit the early morning moisture in the pitch. However, batting is unlikely to be a big ask later in the day.
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Ashok Menaria and skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar completed their hundreds before declaring the innings.
TN lost the effervescent KB Arun Karthik early after he got one from Chahar that seamed in and hit his stumps. Pankaj Singh struck for the 40th time this season, catching Abhinav Mukund plumb in front. Rajasthan's joy was doubled when captain Dinesh Karthik, under pressure, played for the turn against Vivek Yadav but the ball went straight and struck his pads.
However, the fourth wicket pair hung on, leaving Tamil Nadu to virtually carry out a one-day chase.
Brief scores:
Rajasthan 1st inn 552/7 d (A. Chopra 139, V. Saxena 72, H. Kanitkar n.o. 100; A. Menaria c Karthik b Ganapathy 106, Ganapathy 2-73);
Tamil Nadu 1st inn 190-3 (S. Badrinath batting 78, P. Singh 1-45, Vivek Yadav 1-37) TN trail by 362 runs with 7 wkts remaining.