Ranji trophy: Abhinav Mukund, Badrinath make it count on flat pitch

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Abhinav Mukund (150 (batting, 264b, 22x4, 1x6) and Subramaniam Badrinath 102 (214b, 14x4) registered hundreds for Tamil Nadu against a hapless Gujarat on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy match at the Sardar Patel Stadium here on Tuesday. The visitors finished the day at a commanding 288 for two in 90 overs. Gujarat, on the other hand tried hard but lacked clarity.

Tamil Nadu skipper L. Balaji won the toss and, expectedly, chose to bat on a flat track. Opener Murali Vijay's indifferent form continued as he failed to trouble the scorers. Vijay played for the swing even as medium pacer Ishwar Chaudhary's delivery held its line and struck on his back foot.

The prolific Badrinath, who missed out scoring big against Bengal in the last game after his return from injury, walked in to join with Abhinav. The duo started off cautiously to register the team's first 50 in 14 overs. In a while, Tamil Nadu were taking a satisfying lunch at 120 for one in 38 overs with both batsmen scoring half-centuries.The pair added a record second-wicket partnership against Gujarat 223 runs in 70.5 overs - before Badri failed to misread a slower delivery by Chaudhary.

Badri, in particular, looked in pristine touch as he drove along the carpet on either sides of the wicket. A fearless player of slow bowling, Badri stepped out to the spinners with aplomb. Gujarat's debutant spinner Parth Parikh looked clueless against the Tamil Nadu mainstay. The stylish right-handed batsman recorded his 28th first-class century by steering Ishwar passed gully for a boundary. Meanwhile, the run-feast continued from Abhinav's blade as his hunger for runs seemed insatiable.

The left-hander chalked his 16th first-class century by smashing Parikh for two consecutive boundaries. Abhinav, however, got a reprieve from umpire K. Bharatan early in his innings. The latter ruled out what looked like a certain lbw appeal by Chaudhary.

SCORECARD

Tamil Nadu (1st innings): Abhinav Mukund (batting) 150, M. Vijay lbw b Chaudhary 0, S. Badrinath lbw b Chaudhary 102, D. Karthik (batting) 25. Extras (lb2, w8, nb1) 11. Total (for two wickets in 90 overs) 288.

FoW: 1-1, 2-224.

Bowling: Chaudhary 20-3-61-2; Makda 13-5-48-0; Dudhat 12-2-50-0;Panchal 9-3-14-0; Parikh 29-3-89-0; Karia 7-1-24-0.