Tamil Nadu inch closer to knock-out stage with thumping win against Chandigarh

Salem (Tamil Nadu), Jan 26 (PTI) A dominant Tamil Nadu kept one foot on the knock-out door with a commanding 209 run victory over Chandigarh in a group D match of the Ranji Trophy here on Sunday. Left-arm spinners Ajith Ram (4/89 in 19 overs) and R Sai Kishore (4/62 in 21 overs) shared bulk of spoils as Chandigarh were shot out for 193 in pursuit of an improbable 403 on the final day. Veteran Manan Vohra carried his bat through with an unbeaten 100 but eight of his batters failed to reach double digits.

Tamil Nadu now have 25 points from six games. In their final group match against Jharkhand in Jamshedpur, they will need at least one point to secure their qualification for the next stage of the National First-Class Championship.

Group D has presented some intriguing possibilities with an open-ended points table. Despite the defeat, Chandigarh remains in contention with 19 points and a final game against Chattisgarh in Raipur where they need to win outright (25) or with a bonus point (26) to remain in contention for knock-out stages.

In case they get a first innings lead (22 points), it could be curtains for them considering the quality of opposition in the last round for Tamil Nadu and Saurashtra.

Saurashtra, which beat Delhi in just one and half days are currently third in the table with 18 points and have the best chance of getting another seven on an under-prepared track at Rajkot where they will get Assam as an opposition.

In a situation where Tamil Nadu lose their match outright and Saurashtra win with bonus points, both will be on 25 points. It will then be decided on NRR as both TN and Saurashtra have two bonus point victories in league stages.

As far as Delhi (14 points) and Railways (17 points) are concerned, they both need bonus points in theory but that might not be enough in the end.

Brief Scores

In Salem:

Tamil Nadu 301 and 305/5. Chandigarh 204 and (target 403) 193 (Manan Vohra 100, Ajith Ram 4/89, R Sai Kishore 4/62). TN won by 209 runs. Points: TN 6. Chandigarh 0.

In Guwahati:

Railways 250 and 124/5 (B Vivek Singh 52). Assam 216 ( Kunal Yadav 5/65, Himanshu Sangwan 4/59).

Match Drawn. Points: Railways 3. Assam 1.

In Jamshedpur:

Chattisgarh 230 and 250 (Anuj Tiwary 66, Ashutosh Singh 64, Vikash Singh 4/30).

Jharkhand 376 and (target 105) 105/2 (Kumar Suraj 59 not out). Jharkhand won by 8 wickets.

Points: Jharkhand 6. Chattisgarh 0.