Opener Dhiraj Jadhav hit a brilliant unbeaten century (124) as Maharashtra reached a healthy 285 for three against Madhya Pradesh on the first day of the Ranji Trophy Plate championship final in Pune on Friday.
Electing to bat, the hosts lost an early wicket when Niranjan Godbole (6) was caught by wicketkeeper Naman Ojha off Shantanu Pitre with the score reading 14.
But Jadhav and captain Hrishikesh Kanitkar (55) batted their team to a position of strength, hammering the bowling attack to add 124 runs for the second wicket.
After Kanitkar's dismissal with the score on 138, Jadhav continued the good work and completed his century. His knock included 17 boundaries.
Kaushik Aphale also chipped in with an useful knock of 49 (8x4) before being castled by leg-spinner Narendra Hirwani.
Jadhav and Dhruv Mohan (36) were at the crease at the draw of stumps.
For Madhya Pradesh, Shantanu Pitre (2/48) and Narendra Hirwani (1/72) were the successful bowlers.
Scoreboard:
Maharashtra first innings:
D Jadhav not out 124
N Godbole c Ojha b Pitre 6
H Kanitkar lbw Pitre 55
K Aphale b N Hirwani 49
D Mohan not out 36
Extras: (b-4, lb-2, nb-8, wb-1) 15
Total: (for 3 wickets in 90 overs) 285
Fall of wickets: 1/14, 2/138, 3/218.
To bat: R Khirid, K Khadkikar, S Satbhai, I Siddiqui, K Adhav, S Nair.
Bowling: S Pandey 19-3-61-0, S Pitre 14-4-48-2, D Bundela 5-0-19-0, M Pasha 6-1-18-0, N Hirwani 23-2-72-1, S Abbas Ali 5-2-11-0, Y Golwalkar 18-3-50-0.
Madhya Pradesh: D Bundela, M Pasha, N Ojha, Sachin Dholpure, S Abbas Ali, N Patwardhan, Rahul Bakshi, Y Golwalkar, S Pandey, N Hirwani, Shantanu Pitre.
