Rested for the game after already having qualified for the knock-outs stage, L Vignesh — Tamil Nadu Under-22’s fast bowler - screamed out in Tamil to off-spinner M Prabhu who was fielding at long-off. “What is the pitch behaving like?” Prabhu tugged at his jumper and pointed at the sky and said: “It’s green, fast and has no bounce. Plus there is no sun. Let’s go back home”.

About an hour after the trans-boundary chat and with the Delhi score reading 187/8 in 90 overs, Tamil Nadu looked all prepared to pack their bags earlier than expected, mainly due to RD Ashwin Kumar. The lanky fast bowler was the star for Tamil Nadu, scalping six out of the eight wickets that fell during on Wednesday. The 18-year-old’s bowling figures read 17-5-32-6 at stumps on Day One at the St. Stephen’s ground.

With a cold breeze blowing across the ground and the sun hidden behind a blanket of clouds, the visiting team won the toss and chose to exploit the wicket’s moisture. Delhi skipper Rahul Yadav opened the innings with Abhishek Kapoor and duo amassed 54 runs in 28 overs for the first wicket, before the captain was trapped in front of the stumps by Ashwin.

Delhi posted 100 on the board in the 53rd over, unable to climb to the 2 runs per over mark. Just as Kapoor broke through the shackles with an array of boundaries, he departed on 68, with the team score reading 119/2 in 57 overs.

... contd.