Ranji Trophy: Saurashtra takes honours on Day 1

While the result of the game would not affect Saurashtra, as it has qualified for the knockouts already, it would have a bearing on Tamil Nadu’s prospects as nothing short of a win would help the side. For Tamil Nadu, the experienced Abhinav Mukund (86) and N Jagadeesan (61 not out) scored fifties.

Jagadeesan’s knock ensured that the visitor reached the 250-run mark.

Tamil Nadu openers Mukund (86 off 112 balls) and L Suryaprakash (10) added 49 runs for the first wicket, before Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (1-72) removed the latter at the SCA Stadium in Khandheri.

One-down M Kaushik Gandhi (17) also failed toconvert his start even as left-handed Mukund continued his good form and notched up his 50 in 67 balls.

However, Tamil Nadu slipped to 132/4 from 102/2, as Undakat (3-25) took two quick wickets. First the left-arm pacer trapped V Ganga Sridhar (13) in front of the wicket and then removed a well-set Mukund in a similar fashion to put Tamil Nadu in a spot of bother.

Then skipper Baba Aparajith (20) and wicket-keeper Jagadeesan tried to rally the Tamil Nadu innings with their 42 run stand for the fifth wicket. But as the two were looking good, Chirag Jani (2-44) broke the stand sending Aparajith back to the pavilion. Tamil Nadu took tea at 181/5. After tea, Unadkat took his third wicket, as Tamil Nadu was reeling at 181/6.

Then Jagadeesan played a responsible knock and he first got able support from R Sai Kishore (27).

Jagadeesan and M Mohammed (1) were at the crease when stumps were drawn. Meanwhile, at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai,Sarfaraz Khan and Aakarshit Gomel hammered hundreds to take Mumbai to a commanding 352/4 against Madhya Pradesh.

Brief scores: In Tamil Nadu 250/7 (Abhinav Mukund 86; N Jagadeesan 61 not out; Jaydev Undakat 3-25) vs Saurashtra.

In Mumbai: Mumbai 352/4 (Sarfaraz Khan 169 not out, Aakarshit Gomel 122; Kuldeep Sen 3-67) vs Madhya Pradesh.

In Bengaluru: Baroda 85/10 (A A Pathan 45; K Gowtham 3/25, Abhimanyu Mithun 3/26) vs Karnataka 165/7 (Karun Nair 47; Soyeb Sopariya 3-40). Karnataka leads by 80 runs