Sachin six-fer helps Tamil Nadu U23 bundle out Rest of India for 179

CHENNAI: Riding on left-arm spinner Sachin Rathi’s (6/27), Tamil Nadu U-23 bundled out Rest of India U23 for 179 in 71.5 overs on the first day of the Col CK Nayudu trophy winners (TN U23) vs ROI U-23 match at the MA Chidambaram stadium here on Thursday. In reply, Tamil Nadu were 45 for no loss in 11 overs with SR Athish batting on 35 and Madhava Prasad batting on seven.

Sachin was naturally delighted with his best performance to date for his state. “It feels good to contribute for my team. Pleased with the way I bowled today, the bowl was coming off nicely from my hands and I maintained the pressure to keep getting the wickets,” an elated Sachin told TNIE. “The plan was simple bowl wicket to wicket with slight variations. I also decided to bowl at a good, consistent length and not give the width for their batters to play the shots. Luckily things worked,” he added.

Opting to bat, the visitors had a disastrous star as they lost opener Ayush Jethwa cheaply as he was castled by a parch of a deliver from VP Diran. Soon, Digvijay Patil fell to D Deepesh. From thereon, Angkrish Raghuvanshi (51) and Priyanshu Moliya (40) combined and put up a stubborn partnership worth 74 runs in 112 balls for the third wicket.

Both Angkrish and Priyanshu applied themselves and played to the merit of the ball. After getting to his half-century mark, Angkrish lost his focus and patience. He stepped out to Sachin Rathi but was stumped. After that Molia put up a good fight to make 41. Finally towards the end, Varun Bhuie made a valuable 41 to help RoI cross the 150-run mark.

C Andre Siddarth, captain of the TN U-23 side, shuffled his bowlers well and maintaining the pressure. “Andre led with a positive mind set. His bowling changes were spot on and had good control of the proceedings,” said Sachin who plays for Nelson SC in the Senior Division league of the TNCA. “The wicket is not that dangerous to bat, if one applies we can get runs. Our openers have given a good start and with the depth in our batting we should put up a good total,” he added.

Brief scores: Rest of India 179 in 71.5 ovs (Angkrish Raghuvanshi 51, Priyanshu Moliya 40, Varun Bhuie 41, Sachin Rathi 6/27) vs Tamil Nadu (U-23) 45 for no loss in 11 ovs (SR Athish 35 batting).

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