Tamil Nadu skipper R. Sai Kishore became the third bowler from his state to record 50 wickets in a Ranji Trophy season during the semifinal clash against Mumbai at the BKC Ground on Sunday.
Sai Kishore crossed the feat while registering a five-wicket haul which helped him run through the Mumbai middle-order on Day Two of the semifinal.
Tamil Nadu had suffered a batting collapse on the opening day after the captain’s decision to bat first backfired. Sai Kishore’s decision was lamented by experts and players as Mumbai bundled the visitors for 146. In reply, Mumbai finished at 45 for two overnight, with Sai Kishore trapping opener Bhupen Lalwani leg-before.
The lanky left-arm spinner held one end tight in the opening session, while removing night-watcher Mohit Avasthi stumped off the last delivery in the first over of the day. Sai Kishore then ended his counterpart Ajinkya Rahane’s resistance with a length delivery that jumped up and took the outside-edge to first slip.
Fabulous fifer 👌👌
Captain Sai Kishore has spearheaded Tamil Nadu’s fightback against Mumbai with a splendid spell so far 👏👏
Relive 📽️ his brilliant spell @IDFCFIRSTBank | #RanjiTrophy | #MUMvTN | #SF2
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/9tosMLk9TT pic.twitter.com/zOhv6ZWuNt
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) March 3, 2024
Sai Kishore then completed his five-wicket haul with successive scalps in the 48th over, removing the well-set Musheer Khan (55) stumped before shattering Shams Mulani’s stumps with a vicious delivery that spun in sharply.
Sai Kishore has now picked up at least four wickets in the last four innings, including a nine wickets in the quarterfinal against Saurashtra last week. The 27-year-old is only the third Tamil Nadu spinner after the legendary S. Venkataraghavan (58 in 1972-73) and Aashish Kapoor (50 in 1999-00) to record 50 wickets in a Ranji season. The spell marked Sai Kishore’s 10th First-Class five-for across 39 matches.
He also has six four-wicket hauls and three five-fors in the ongoing Ranji season.
