Sai Kishore hat-trick and six for 34 steer Tamil Nadu to innings and 66-run Ranji Trophy win

R. Sai Kishore took a hat-trick and finished with six for 34 as Tamil Nadu defeated Uttarakhand by an innings and 66 runs in their Ranji Trophy match at the MAC Stadium in Chennai on Tuesday.

On the eve of the clash head coach V. Yo Mahesh had urged his players to be ruthless once they seized the initiative, and Tamil Nadu wrapped up the result in under three days. Sai Kishore crossed 250 First Class wickets in Tamil Nadu’s first innings and ended the match with a career-best match haul of 10 for 74.

Uttarakhand resumed their second innings at nine for one, needing 170 more runs to make the hosts bat again. Dega Nischal and skipper Kunal Chandela began positively, finding a few boundaries in the first hour, but S. Ajith Ram provided the initial breakthroughs by removing the overnight batters in successive overs.

Ajith Ram then trapped J. Suchith and, at the stroke of lunch, Avneesh Sudha was caught at silly point off Ajith Ram as the visitors slipped to 91 for five. In the fourth over after lunch R. Sai Kishore bowled Lakshya Raichandani around the legs as he attempted a sweep and followed with two more — Saurabh Rawat and Aditya Rawat — caught at slip and by the wicketkeeper respectively to complete the hat-trick.

Sai Kishore’s hat-trick made him the eighth Tamil Nadu bowler to register a Ranji Trophy hat-trick. Earlier, Tamil Nadu had built a first-innings total of 313, with Pradosh Ranjan Paul making 136, B. Indrajith 77 and N. Jagadeesan 37; extras were 14 and the innings lasted 109 overs.

Uttarakhand’s first innings was 134. In their second innings they were dismissed for 113 in 45.4 overs: Aarav Mahajan 0, Dega Nischal 25, Kunal Chandela 16, J. Suchith 14, Avneesh Sudha 18, Lakshya Raichandani 19, Mayank Mishra 12, Saurabh Rawat 0, Aditya Rawat 0, Devendra Bora 0, Janmejay Joshi (not out) 0; extras (b-9) 9. Tamil Nadu’s bowling figures in the second innings read: Sai Kishore 16-5-34-6, Gurjapneet Singh 5-1-13-0, Ajith Ram 15.4-2-33-4, Saravana Kumar 3-0-9-0, Hemchudeshan 6-2-15-0.

The victory awarded Tamil Nadu seven points (8) while Uttarakhand remained on zero (3); it was Tamil Nadu’s first win of the season.