CHENNAI, Jan 22 (PTI): Rajasthan are all set to retain the Ranji Trophy after ensuring a huge lead against hosts Tamil Nadu at stumps, on the fourth day of the final, here today.
Dinesh Karthik�s valiant effort wasn�t matched by other Tamil Nadu batsmen as the hosts were all-out for 295 thereby conceding a lead of 326 runs.
The defending champions didn�t enforce follow-on and were 21 for no loss at stumps with their lead swelling to 347.
The final day�s play has now been rendered inconsequential as the match as a contest is already over.
Kudos to Hrishikesh Kanitkar who has now successfully lead the team to successive national titles. It�s a story that will be discussed in the cricketing fraternity for years to come. The team may not consist of best of talents but they have a dedicated bunch of cricketers who have made all the pundits who had termed their last season�s triumph as fluke, eat a humble pie.
SCORECARD
Rajasthan 1st innings: 621
Tamil Nadu 1st innings: (overnight 66/3) A Mukund lbw b R Singh 0, M Vijay c P Yadav b R Singh 15, S Badrinath lbw b P Singh 6, D Karthik b Mathur 150, K Vasudevadas c G Singh b R Singh 25, R Prasanna run out 44, Sunny Gupta st Yagnik b G Singh 6, VY Mahesh lbw b P Singh 0, L Balaji lbw b R Singh 29, J Kaushik c P Singh b Mathur 6, R Aushik Srinivas not out 2. Extras: (B-3, LB-8, WD-1) 12. Total: (all out in 102.4 overs) 295. Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-12, 3-24, 4-71, 5-147, 6-164, 7-167, 8-227, 9-292. Bowling: Pankaj Singh 25-7-58-2, R Singh 26-5-76-4, S Mathur 25.4-8-53-2, G Singh 26-5-97-1.
Rajasthan 2nd innings: A Chopra batting 10, V Saxena batting 10. Extras: (NB-1) 1. Total: (For no loss in 7 overs) 21. Bowling: J Kaushik 3-1-12-0, Y Mahesh 3-1-8-0, R Aushik Srinivas 1-0-1-0.
