Ranji Trophy: Mickil slams maiden ton; Jagadeesan leads TN’s strong reply

Hosts score 395 in their first innings; Tamil Nadu 203/0 on Day Two

Hyderabad: Playing only his third match, Mickil Jaiswal showed maturity and class scoring an unbeaten 137 (193; 18×4, 3×6) to guide Hyderabad to 395 in their first innings on the second day of the the Group B Ranji Trophy match against Tamil Nadu at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, on Wednesday.

However, Tamil Nadu began their reply strongly raking up 203 runs without losing a wicket on the back of a counter-attacking century from in-form N Jagadeesan (116 not out off 95; 16×4, 3×6) and a solid unbeaten 87 (off 115; 11×4) from Sai Sudarsan to end the day on a high. The visitors still trail by 192 runs.

Earlier, hosts, who began the day at 256/5, lost overnight centurion and captain Tanmay Agarwal after adding 55 runs to the team’s total. Tanmay added another 19 runs to his overnight score before pulling Sandeep Warrier to Ranjan Paul at the square leg to be dismissed for 135 (off 271; 16×4, 1×6). He added 124 runs for the sixth wicket with overnight batter Mickil Jaiswal. Hosts lost two more wickets in quick succession with Prateek Reddy and Anikethreddy back in the pavilion without opening their accounts.

While Prateek edged Warrier to wicketkeeper Jagadeesan to give the bowler his fifth wicket, Anikethreddy was adjudged lbw off L Vignesh (4/91). However, the ball was missing the leg-stump.

With losing partners at the other end, Jaiswal upped the scoring rate. He found an able ally in debutant Kartikeya Kak who hung in there. Mickilhit Vignesh hit for a six over his head and then took two off Warrier to reach his three-figure mark in 130 balls. He added 61 runs for the ninth wicket with Kak before the latter was dismissed after his 61-ball vigil. Mickil then went all out with B Punnaiah, the last man at the crease. But Punnaiah edged Vignesh to wicketkeeper (0) as Mickil remained unbeaten.

With a mountain to climb, both Jagadeesan and Sudarshan showed intent from the first over. in Tamil Nadu‘s reply. They milked runs at will, scoring almost six an over. Jagadeesan, who was the aggressor in the partnership, hit Anikethreddy and Tanay Thyagarajan for sixes. He smacked T Ravi Teja through covers to reach his century in just 77 deliveries.