On the eve of his side’s clash against Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu head coach V. Yo Mahesh wanted his players to be ruthless, especially once they had seized the initiative.
R. Sai Kishore’s men seem to have taken those words seriously, producing a dominant display led by the skipper himself that culminated in a thumping innings and 66-run win over Uttarakhand in under three days here at the MAC Stadium on Tuesday.
Sai Kishore led the charge, scalping six for 34, including a hat-trick, to bundle out Uttarakhand for 113 and help his side pocket seven points.
The left-arm spinner, who crossed 250 First Class wickets in the first innings, finished with a match haul of 10 for 74, his career-best performance.
Uttarakhand resumed its second essay at nine for one, needing 170 more runs to make the host bat again. Earlier, TN had secured a 179-run lead on day two. thanks to Pradosh Ranjan Paul’s 136.
In the first hour, Dega Nischal and skipper Kunal Chandela started positively, finding a few boundaries.
However, it was the other left-arm spinner S. Ajith Ram (four for 33) who provided the breakthrough when he removed the overnight batters in successive overs.
Sai Kishore then took over, bowling J. Suchith. Avneesh Sudha was caught at silly point off Ajith Ram at the stroke of lunch as the visitor slumped to 91 for five.
From there, it seemed only a matter of time, but even the home team would not have expected the speed at which they got the job done.
In the fourth over after lunch, Lakshya Raichandani was bowled around his legs as he tried to sweep Sai Kishore.
The 29-year-old then etched his name in the record books, becoming the eighth TN bowler to take a hat-trick in the Ranji Trophy when he had Saurabh Rawat and Aditya Rawat caught at slip and by the wicketkeeper, respectively, helping TN clinch its first win of the season.
The scores: Uttarakhand — 1st innings: 134.
Tamil Nadu — 1st innings: R. Vimal Khumar c Saurabh b Bora 0, N. Jagadeesan b Sudha 37, Pradosh Ranjan Paul lbw b Mishra 136, B. Indrajith lbw b Mishra 77, Andre Siddarth b Mishra 18, Nidhish Rajagopal b Avneesh 12, R. Sai Kishore c & b Mishra 3, J. Hemchudeshan b Avneesh 0, S. Ajith Ram lbw b Mishra 3, Gurjapneet Singh b Raichandani b Avneesh 7, Saravana Kumar (not out) 6; Extras (b-12, nb-2 ): 14; Total (in 109 overs): 313.
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-64, 3-235, 4-257, 5-282, 6-295, 7-296, 8-298, 9-307.
Uttarakhand bowling: Bora 16-3-37-1, Joshi 9-1-35-0, Aditya 7-1-27-0, Mishra 37-5-118-5, Avneesh 20-6-34-4, Suchith 19-5-44-0, Raichandani 1-0-6-0.
Uttarakhand — 2nd innings: Aarav Mahajan c Indrajith b Sai Kishore 0, Dega Nischal c Andre b Ajith Ram 25, Kunal Chandela lbw b Ajith Ram 16, J. Suchith b Sai Kishore 14, Avneesh Sudha c Andre b Ajith Ram 18, Lakshya Raichandani b Sai Kishore 19, Mayank Mishra c Jagadeesan b Ajith Ram 12, Saurabh Rawat c Indrajith b Sai Kishore 0, Aditya Rawat c Jagadeesan b Sai Kishore 0, Devendra Bora c Pradosh b Sai Kishore 0, Janmejay Joshi (not out) 0; Extras (b-9): 9; Total (in 45.4 overs): 113.
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-39, 3-42, 4-71, 5-91, 6-103, 7-103, 8-103, 9-107.
Tamil Nadu bowling: 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.
Points: TN 7 (8); Uttarakhand 0 (3).