Hosts Tamil Nadu were in a strong position at the end of the first day oftheir three day encounter against Andhra in the State Under 22 tournament
Anand Vasu25-Oct-2000Hosts Tamil Nadu were in a strong position at the end of the first day oftheir three day encounter against Andhra in the State Under 22 tournament.On winning the toss at the Alagappa Chettiar Institute of TechnologyGround, skipper Vasanth Saravanan decided to bat first. All rounder RajatBhatia opening the innings cracked a century and vindicated his skipper’sdecision.After surviving a loud shout for LBW off the very first ball he faced, theMRF and Tamil Nadu all rounder Rajat Bhatia moved from strength tostrength. In the last season, Bhatia played a couple of vital knocks in theRanji Trophy and regained his touch today. In an innings that saw 15boundaries and one hit that sailed past the ropes, Bhatia made 135.Although an unbeaten 59 from Vasanth Saravanan boosted the total, it wasRajat Bhatia who made all the difference. Of an eventual total of 274/3,Rajat Bhatia contributed 135.For the bowlers there was no joy on the day. Ram Mohan, Faiq Ahmed andSrinivas took a wicket each after a hard day’s toil. When the players takethe field tomorrow, Tamil Nadu hold all the aces.