Ranji Trophy | Sonu, Ajith duo shine as Tamil Nadu registers crucial win

Tamil Nadu's quick victory over Railways in Ranji Trophy match leaves everyone stunned in just 20 minutes.

There was no time to blink. Nobody would have expected the fourth day’s proceedings to end in just 20 minutes.

But that is what transpired at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday (November 16, 2024) as Tamil Nadu needed just 22 deliveries to get five Railways wickets and claim an innings and 25-run victory in a Ranji Trophy Group-D encounter.

Everything R. Sonu Yadav (four for 50) and S. Ajith Ram (four for 30) touched turned to gold as the Railways batters walked back one after the other in disbelief.

While the left-arm spinner got all three of his wickets for the day through a variety of catches by slip-fielder Shahrukh Khan, Sonu’s modus of operandi was bowling straight to the timber and letting the red-cherry do the rest.

The first domino to fall was Mohammad Saif as Shahrukh stayed low and dove to his right and converted a half-chance into a dismissal. The next one was a regulation catch of Shivam Chaudhary’s edge. However, Shahrukh had to run almost 20 yards to pocket the ball that Akash Pandey miscued after misjudging the turn.

Sonu sent Yuvraj Singh’s and Kunal Yadav’s stumps packing in just four balls as TN took home seven points for the innings win.

The stars of the day were just processing what had happened when they spoke to The Hindu after the day’s play.