da luck： An invaluable unbeaten 155 (258 balls, 20 fours) by Sridharan Sriramtook Tamil Nadu to the imposing position of 346/5 at the end of thesecond day of their Ranji Trophy quarter final against Punjab at theMA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai today
Sankhya Krishnan31-Mar-2000An invaluable unbeaten 155 (258 balls, 20 fours) by Sridharan Sriramtook Tamil Nadu to the imposing position of 346/5 at the end of thesecond day of their Ranji Trophy quarter final against Punjab at theMA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai today. Sriram’s fifth century of theseason also took his Ranji tally past the thousand mark this season inhis seventh match. Resuming at 40/0, Tamil Nadu made 306 runs in the90 overs bowled during the day.After Sadagopan Ramesh had fallen to RP Singh in the third over of theday without adding to his overnight score of 18, Sriram and HemangBadani added 150 for the second wicket to virtually shut out Punjab onthe first innings. Badani was let off on 13, when he pulled SandeepSharma and the ensuing top edge went through the glove tips of aleaping wicket keeper Harminder Jugnu.But the other more critical life was when Sriram, then on 38, droppedthe ball down the wicket, set off, and was sent back by Badani. Thebowler, Sodhi, in a remarkable display of athleticism, swooped downand underarmed the ball onto the stumps as the batsman dived back in,but umpire Ranade was not impressed. Badani made 70 from 147 ballsbefore he guided off spinner Sharandeep Singh staight into the handsof captain Vikram Rathour at slip. His knock comprised of eleven hitsto the fence, with his favourite stroke being the front foot drive onthe rise through the covers.But the most fascinating contest was between Harbhajan and Sriram. ThePunjab offie crowded Sriram with two slips and a gully and tried toentice him to hit against the spin into the vacant area on the onside. Sriram played and missed the sweep shot more than once and hewas also drawn towards one that turned and bounced outside off, whichjust went wide of second slip. He learnt his lesson and then preferredto get to the pitch of the ball aand smother the spin rather than waitfor it. When Sriram went up to 99, the field was brought up, but hecalmly drove Sodhi through the covers for a couple to bring up thelandmark of f 163 balls and with 12 fours.Sriram added another 55 for the third wicket with Madanagopal followedby a fourth wicket stand of 79 with his skipper S Sharath. The latterwas caught at first slip by Rathour off Harbahajan for 30 after whichhe put on an unseemly show of dissent, gesturing his hand at theumpire in frustration. Aashish Kapoor was run out for 5 in going for aneedlessly cheeky single late in the day. Nightwatchman T Kumaran waskeeping Sharath company when stumps were drawn, as Tamil Nadu go intothe third day leading by 88 on the first innings.