Out-of-favour India batter Karun Nair continued his fine form with an unbeaten 142 to guide Karnataka 319 for three against Kerala on the opening day of their Elite Group B Ranji Trophy match, in Thiruvananthapuram, on Saturday.
Opting to bat, Karnataka lost openers Aneesh KV (8) and skipper Mayank Agarwal (5) early before Karun and wicketkeeper Krishnan Shrijith (65 off 110) shared 16 runs for the third wicket to stabilise the innings.
Smaran Ravichandran (88 batting off 143 balls) was giving Karun company at stumps..
Karun has hit 14 boundaries and two sixes, while Shrijith smashed 10 fours.
MD Nideesh (1/41), N Basil (1/58) and Baba Aparajith (1/65) were the wicket-takers for Kerala..
In another Group B match in New Chandigarh, Punjab rode on skipper Uday Saharan's 100 off 247 balls to reach 215 for five against Goa.
Besides Saharan, wicket-keeper Salil Arora was unbeaten on 51 off 131 deliveries..
Right arm medium-pacer Deepraj Gaonkar (2/22) picked up two wickets for Goa, while Mohit Redkar (1/41), Vasuki Koushik (1/28) and Arjun Tendulkar (1/58) scalped a wicket apiece.
In Indore, Madhya Pradesh were 64 for one against Chandigarh at stumps after the rest of the proceedings of the day was called of because of inclement weather.
The opening day's play of the other Group B match between Maharashtra and Saurashtra was abandoned due to a wet outfield..
Brief scores:
In Thiruvananthapuram: Karnataka 319 for 3 (Karun Nair 142 not out, Smaran Ravichandran 88 not out, Krishnan Srijith 65; MD Nidheesh 1/41) vs Kerala.
In Indore: Madhya Pradesh 64 for 1 in 27 (Harsh Gawali 32 not out, Himanshu Mantri 28 not out; Jagjit Singh 1/14) vs Chandigarh.
In New Chandigarh: Punjab 215 for 5 (Uday Saharan 100 not out, Salil Arora 51 not out; Deepraj Goankar 2/22) vs Goa.
Sangwan misses out on century
Opener Sanat Sangwan missed out on a well-deserved century by one run as Delhi laboured to 248 for six against Puducherry in a Group D encounter.
Sangwan faced 230 balls for his 99 which had nine boundaries.
Having already scored a double hundred and a half-century in the two previous games, the southpaw was about to reach another triple when he nicked one to keeper Siddhant Addhatrao off medium pacer Abin Matthew (3/47).
IPL star Priyansh Arya made his debut by smashing 40 off just 30 balls which included two sixes -- one over long-on and other over long-off in what was an IPL-like innings.
He had added 64 for the third wicket with Sangwan but was perished trying to attack former India off-spinner Jayant Yadav (2/62).
Jaiswal scores 67
In another Group D game, in Jaipur, international Yashasvi Jaiswal scored 67 off 97 balls but Mumbai's first innings ended on a below-par 254 against Rajasthan.
Mumbai were cruising at one stage with Jaiswal and Musheer Khan (49 off 131 balls) adding 100 for the opening stand but the seasoned middle-order comprising former India skipper Ajinkya Rahane (3), Siddhesh Lad (8) and Sarfaraz Khan (15) flopped badly to hand Rajasthan the advantage at the end of the day's play.
It was medium pacer Ashok Sharma (3/76), who sparked the collapse with the old ball in a brisk spell where all three nicked outgoing deliveries to keeper Kunal Singh Rathore.
At stumps, Rajasthan were 10 for no loss.
Brief scores:
In Delhi: Delhi 248/6 (Sanat Sangwan 99, Sumit Mathur 49 batting, Priyansh Arya 40, Abin Matthew 3/47, Jayant Yadav 2/62) vs Puducherry.
In Jaipur: Mumbai 254 (Yashasvi Jaiswal 67, Musheer Khan 49, Ashok Sharma 3/76, Kukna Ajay Singh 4/64) vs Rajasthan 10/0.
In Nadaun: Himachal Pradesh 293/7 (Akash Vashist 114 batting, Sidhant Purohit 37) vs Hyderabad.
In Raipur: Jammu and Kashmir 195/4 (Shubham Khajuria 78, Kanhaiya Wadhawan 31, Ravi Kiran 3/29) vs Chhattisgarh.
Bengal dominate; Rawat leads Uttarakhand fightback
Sudip Gharami, promoted to open in place of the injured Sudip Chatterjee, made the most of the opportunity with a composed unbeaten 70, guiding Bengal to a commanding 171 for one against hosts Tripura in Group C in Agartala.
Sakir Habib Gandhi stood firm with an equally impressive 82 not out off 187 balls, studded with 11 boundaries.
The pair added 167 runs for the unbroken second wicket to put Bengal firmly in control before bad light curtailed play to just 60 overs.
Tripura players took the field wearing black armbands to mourn the passing of former captain Rajesh Banik, who died in a road accident on Friday night.
With regular captain Abhimanyu Easwaran on India A duty for the South Africa A four-day game in Bengaluru, wicketkeeper-batter Abhishek Porel is leading Bengal.
In Delhi, wicketkeeper-batter Saurabh Rawat struck a gritty unbeaten half-century, while all-rounder Jagadeesha Suchith provided valuable support with 44 not out as Uttarakhand recovered from early trouble to reach 213 for six against Services.
Opting to bat, Uttarakhand slipped to 117 for six inside 50 overs, undone by left-arm spinner Vikas Yadav's fine spell of 4/46.
In Guwahati, only nine overs were possible due to persistent rain, with Railways reaching 39 without loss after Assam opted to bowl first.
In Ahmedabad, the opening day's play between Gujarat and Haryana was washed out without a ball being bowled.
Brief scores:
In Agartala: Bengal 171/1 (Sudip Gharami 70 batting, Habib Gandhi 82 batting) vs Tripura.
In Delhi: Uttarakhand 213/6 (Saurabh Rawat 52 batting, J Suchith 44 batting; Vikas Yadav 4/46, Arjun Sharma 2/69) vs Services.
In Guwahati: Railways 39 for no loss vs Assam.
Paul guides TN to 252/4
Pradosh Ranjan Paul continued his fine run with the bat, scoring yet another century as Tamil Nadu reached 252 for 4 at stumps in their Elite Group A match against Vidarbha in Coimbatore.
Paul, who struck a career-best double hundred against Nagaland in the previous game, compiled a fluent 113 featuring 13 boundaries, while Baba Indrajith was unbeaten on 94 at close of play, seven runs short of his hundred.
Paul added 179 runs for the fourth wicket with Indrajith after Tamil Nadu elected to bat first on winning the toss.
The hosts were in early trouble at 18 for 2, with openers Vimal Kumar (2) and Athish SR (3) dismissed cheaply by NachiketBhute and Praful Hinge respectively.
Paul then joined hands with Andrew Siddarth C to steady the innings before the latter fell to Akshay Karnewar in the 30th over. The left-hander later forged a strong partnership with Indrajith to guide Tamil Nadu to safety.
At stumps, Shahrukh Khan was batting alongside Indrajith after Bhute trapped Paul leg-before in the 87th over.
In Cuttack, half-centuries from Abhishek Reddy (76) and Srikar Bharat (93) helped Andhra post 222 for 3 against Odisha.
Opting to bat, openers Reddy and Bharat shared a 140-run partnership to give Andhra a solid start before Badal Biswal (1/52) broke the stand, with Rajesh Mohanty taking the catch to dismiss Bharat.
Sambit S Baral (2/32) then struck twice in successive deliveries of the 55th over, removing Reddy and trapping skipper Ricky Bhui in front to leave Andhra at 186 for 3.
At stumps, Shaik Rasheed (25) and Kirdant Karan Shinde (16) were at the crease.
In Ranchi, play was curtailed due to bad light, with Nagaland reducing Jharkhand to 91 for 2 in 31 overs.
Opener Shikhar Mohan (42) and Virat Singh (16) were unbeaten at stumps, while Sharandeep Singh (22) and Kumar Suraj (9) were the two wickets to fall.
At the BCA Stadium in Vadodara, no play was possible due to a wet outfield.
Brief scores:
In Coimbatore: Tamil Nadu 252 for 4 (Pradosh Ranjan Paul 113, Baba Indrajith 94 batting; Nachiket Bhute 2/43) vs Vidarbha.
In Cuttack: Andhra 222 for 3 (Srikar Bharat 93, Abhishek Reddy 76; Sambit S Baral 2/32) vs Odisha.
In Ranchi: Jharkhand 91 for 2 (Shikhar Mohan 42 batting; Saurav S Kumar 1/15) vs Nagaland.
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