Left-arm spinner Sachin Rathi’s guile was too hot to handle for the Rest of India u-23 batters as Tamil Nadu u-23 bundled out the visiting team for 179 on the first day at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here on Thursday.

By stumps, TN had knocked off 45 of those runs, with S.R. Athish pouncing whenever presented with an opportunity in the last hour.

The foundation for the home side’s dominance was laid by Rathi, whose prized scalp was Angkrish Raghuvanshi.

The opening batter gave a glimpse of his talent after a cautious start, but he was undone by the tweaker as he danced down the track. Moments after raising his half-century with a boundary over deep midwicket in the 26th over, Raghuvanshi was caught short of his crease after the ball turned away from the right-hander.

Barring a 74-run third-wicket partnership between Raghuvanshi and captain Priyanshu Moliya, RoI hardly posed a threat. Rathi, who kept it tight throughout, cleaned up the middle-order and tail.

“I tried to bowl in the right channels. The pitch was good for batting, so I feel my first spell changed the complexion of the game,” said the spinner.

The scores: Rest of India u-23 179 in 71.5 overs (Angkrish Raghuvanshi 51, Priyanshu Moliya 40, Varun Bhuie 41, Sachin Rathi 6/27) vs. Tamil Nadu u-23 45/0 in 11 overs.