A total of 19 wickets fell on the opening day of the tie between Baroda and Tamil Nadu here today. At stumps, hosts Baroda were in deep trouble at 64 for nine, still 88 adrift of Tamil Nadu’s first innings total of 152, at the Moti Bag Ground which was hosting a first class fixture for the first time in seven years.Choosing to bat, the visitors struggled against medium pacer Rakesh Patel who bowled superbly on a helpful pitch, taking a hat-trick on the way to return figures of 7 for 43.Tamil Nadu rallied from a sorry-reading 93 for eight mainly through the efforts of C Hemanth Kumar, who remained unbeaten on 52.However, Baroda’s reply was equally pathetic. The hosts were tottering at 30 for 7 before rallying to 58 through a 28-run eighth wicket stand between Rajesh Pawar and Patel before losing two more wickets before close. Tamil Nadu bowler R Jesuraj picked up five scalps and was given good support by M R Shrinivas (3 for 38).
