New Delhi, (UNI) Karun Nair’s assured 95 set the tone for Karnataka’s strong fightback on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy clash against Chandigarh in Hubballi, anchoring the hosts’ recovery from a shaky 64/3 to a commanding 294/5 by Stumps today.
His partnership with the in-form Ravichandran Smaran, who remained unbeaten on 110, underlined Karnataka’s dominance and helped seize early control of the contest.
In Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu also staged an impressive recovery, rising from 71/4 to 282/5 as Baba Indrajith (128*) and C Andre Siddarth (121) forged a 211-run stand for the fifth wicket to reshape the innings.
A superb 144-run opening partnership in Chandigarh between Arshin Kulkarni (133) and Prithvi Shaw (74) powered Maharashtra to 275/5 against Punjab before regular strikes pulled back the momentum.
Jharkhand’s Sharandeep Singh stood tall in Jamshedpur with a fighting 115, guiding the hosts to 259/6 against Andhra despite wickets falling at the other end. KV Sasikanth finished with three wickets.
In Dehradun, Gujarat closed the day at 318/7, built around Abhishek Desai’s 99 and Jaymeet Patel’s 100, with a crucial 139-run stand between Jaymeet and Kshitij Patel (59*) lifting the side after a mid-innings slump.
At the Wankhede, Mumbai’s top order dominated proceedings against Puducherry. Musheer Khan (84), Akhil Herwadkar (86) and Siddhesh Lad (80*) combined to take Mumbai to a strong 317/3 at Stumps.
Chhattisgarh rode on Anuj Tiwary’s career-best 162 in Nadaun to post 319/3 against Himachal Pradesh, supported by Aayush Pandey (59) and Sanjeet Desai (76*).
A double-century stand between Sachin Yadav (130) and Kunal Singh Rathore (102) powered Rajasthan to 263/4 against Delhi in Rajsamand.
In Bhubaneswar, Odisha recovered from 34/4 to reach 243/7, thanks to Anil Parida’s unbeaten 98 and Biplab Samantray’s 92 in a crucial 179-run partnership against Nagaland.
Saurashtra ended the day at 317/4 in Rajkot with Prerak Mankad unbeaten on 88, Arpit Vasavada contributing 81, and Jay Gohil registering a half-century against Goa.
Kerala’s late revival in Indore saw them finish at 246/7 after being reduced to 105/6, courtesy of Baba Aparajith’s unbeaten 81 and Abijith Praveen’s 60.
**Top bowling performances**
In Rohtak, Amit Shukla produced the day’s standout spell, reducing Haryana to 20/5 with sensational figures of 6-5-1-5 after Rahul Rathee’s four-wicket haul restricted Services to 205.
Ninad Rathva’s five-wicket haul bowled out Vidarbha for 169 in Nagpur, with Baroda replying at 70/2.
In Valsad, Railways dismissed Tripura for 136 through Raj Choudhary’s four-wicket effort before reaching 149/2, aided by unbeaten knocks from Kush Marathe (73*) and Mohammad Saif (66*).
A 16-wicket day in Jammu saw Hyderabad bowled out J&K for 170, with Tanay Thyagarajan and Kartikeya Kak taking three each, before slipping to 88/6 as Auqib Nabi struck thrice.
Assam ended the day at 194/8 in Kalyani, with Swarupam Purkayastha scoring 62 while Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Kaif shared the wickets for Bengal.
