Opener Devdutt Padikkal continued his red-hot form, slamming an unbeaten 151, his third Ranji Trophy hundred this season, as Karnataka reached 288 for 5 on the opening day of their Group C match against Tamil Nadu in Chennai on Friday. (More Cricket News)
Electing to bat, the visitors lost skipper Mayank Agarwal (20) early, with just 35 runs on the board.
Agarwal was making his comeback as he missed the last game against Railways after accidentally consuming some liquid on-board a flight that caused a burning sensation in his mouth and throat.
Padikkal then joined forces with opener Ravikumar Samarth (57), constructing a 132-run partnership for the second wicket and taking their side to a position of strength.
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The stand was broken after Ajith Ram knocked over Samarth.
While Karnataka lost the third wicket at 226, Padikkal went strong, clearing the long-on boundary quite regularly to bring up his sixth First-Class ton.
Hardik Raj, unbeaten on 35, is giving company to Padikkal at stumps.
For TN, spinner R Sai Kishore has bagged three wickets so far.
In another tie in Chandigarh, skipper Manan Vohra's fine knock of 134 acted as a cover in an otherwise toiling day for Chandigarh against Tripura.
Opting to bat, the hosts were off to a rocky start, losing four wickets for just 34 runs.
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However, Vohra and Ankit Kaushik (76) came up with a critical partnership of 169 runs for the fifth wicket to rescue them.
Eventually, Parvez Sultan broke the stand at 213 trapping Kaushik leg-before, followed by Manisankar Murasingh getting rid of Vohra 30 runs later.
Chandigarh finished the day on 282 for six, and for the visitors, Murasingh grabbed two wickets.
In Surat's Group C contest, Railways also had a rough day, finishing at 293 for nine against Goa, with opener Suraj Ahuja (81) and skipper Upendra Yadav (91) being the top scorers. Railways were 165 for six at one stage.
For Goa, Deepraj Gaonkar starred with a three-for.
Meanwhile, in Mohali, Gujarat finished the day on 250 for eight.
The opening pair of Priyank Panchal (77) and Aditya Patel (58) assembled a 145-run stand before Siddarth Kaul cleaned up the latter.
Thereon, the visitors kept losing wickets and ended the day on a shaky note.
Kaul and left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh grabbed three wickets each for the hosts.
Brief scores:
In Chennai: Karnataka 288/5 (Devdutt Padikkal 151 batting; Sai Kishore 3/94) vs Tamil Nadu.
In Chandigarh: Chandigarh 282/6 (Manan Vohra 134; Manisankar Murasingh 2/42) vs Tripura.
In Surat: Railways 293/9 (Upendra Yadav 91; Deepraj Gaonkar 3/26) vs Goa.
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In Mohali: Gujarat 250/8 (Priyank Panchal 77, Aditya Patel 58; Siddarth Kaul 3/64) vs Punjab.
