Ranji trophy: Nischal, Lemtur guide Nagaland to memorable draw against TN
Tamil Nadu, thanks to a double century (201) from young left-hand batter Pradosh Ranjan Paul and 189 from opener Vimal Khumar, had scored a mammoth 512 for 3 declared in their first innings
Ranji Trophy (ANI)
BENGALURU: Nagaland opener Dega Nischal and Imliwati Lemtur probably played the innings of their life, guiding their team to a memorable draw against Tamil Nadu in a Ranji Trophy Group A match here on Tuesday.
The Nagaland pair, however, could not stop the Sai Kishore-led Tamil Nadu from earning three vital points on the basis of first-innings lead, though the NorthEast side managed to thwart an innings defeat, which looked highly probable after upcoming left-am pacer Gurjapneet Singh had reduced them to 3/9 with a hat-trick on day two.
Tamil Nadu, thanks to a double century (201) from young left-hand batter Pradosh Ranjan Paul and 189 from opener Vimal Khumar, had scored a mammoth 512 for 3 declared in their first innings.
But Nagaland’s Nischal (175) and Lemtur (146) batted unflinchingly for nearly two days to give a befitting reply to their opponents as the NorthEast side scored 446 all out in 157.4 overs, leaving no scope for any other outcome other than a draw.
Overnight batters Nischal and Lemtur, who were unbeaten on 161 and 115 respectively on Monday, started from where they had left off as they continued to frustrate Tamil Nadu.
However, Nischal could add just 14 runs to his overnight score before he became the sixth Nagaland batter to be dismissed, by right-arm pacer RS Ambrish.
But, Lemtur continued to frustrate the TN bowlers and was the last man out, adding 31 runs to his overnight score as Nagaland were all out in the 158th over.
Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 1st innings 512/3 decl drew with Nagaland 446 in 157.4 overs (Dega Nischal 175, Yugandhar Singh 67, Imliwati Lemtur 146; Gurjapneet Singh 4/75, DT Chandrasekar 3/69)
