Yashpal`s unbeaten 87 keep Services in hunt against TN

Yashpal Singh made an unbeaten half century to lift Services to 245 for five in their first innings in reply to Tamil Nadu`s 456 for seven declared at the end of third and penultimate day`s play in a Ranji Trophy Group B match on Tuesday.

New Delhi: Yashpal Singh made an unbeaten half century to lift Services to 245 for five in their first innings in reply to Tamil Nadu`s 456 for seven declared at the end of third and penultimate day`s play in a Ranji Trophy Group B match here on Tuesday.

Yashpal played a resolute innings of 87 that came off 168 balls and was studded with 15 hits to the fence to keep Services` in the hunt in the final day of the tie tomorrow. Apart from Yashpal, skipper Soumik Chatterjee scored 47 and Anshul Gupta made 37. At stumps on Day 3, Services still trail Tamil Nadu by 211 runs with five wickets in hand. Resuming at the overnight score 17 for no loss, Services lost opener Pratik Desai for 19. Chatterjee and Gupta added 62 runs for the second wicket before off-spinner Malolan Rangarajan (2/46) accounted for two quick wickets to reduce Services to 98 for three in 43.2 overs. While Gupta was stumped by Dinesh Karthik off Rangarajan, new man in Vishnu Tiwari fell LBW to the off-spinner in his next over. Chatterjee and Yashpal steadied the ship, adding 61 runs for the fourth wicket before the skipper was dismissed three runs short of his half century. Next in, Rajat Paliwal (5) too departed without contributing much. It was then left to Yashpal and wicketkeeper Sarabjit Singh (13 not out) to dig Services out of trouble and the duo managed to keep the hosts in the fray with an unbeaten 54-run sixth wicket partnership. Brief Scores: Tamil Nadu: 456 for seven decl in 167 overs (Baba Badrinath 203, Subramaniam Badrinath 81, Ramaswamy Prasanna 74 not out; Suraj Yadav 2/63). Services: 245 for five in 101 overs (Yashpal Singh 87 not out, Soumik Chatterjee 47; Malolan Rangarajan 2/46).