Karthik bludgeons Karnataka, Maiden ton for Aparajith as TN pile up 538/4

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Dinesh Karthik and B. Aparajith gave themselves early Diwali gifts by stroking masterful centuries against Karnataka on the second day of their Group B Ranji Trophy match at the MAC Stadium here on Saturday.

The hosts continued to dominate and declared their innings after recording their highest total – 538/4 against Karnataka. In reply, the visitors were 26 for no loss in 10 overs when stumps were drawn with Robin Uthappa (18) and K.B. Pawan (5) at the crease.

Karthik, in particular, was in a punishing mood after coming in at the fall of S. Badrinath. In an unbeaten innings that lasted a little more than four hours, Karthik smashed a quickfire 154 (182b, 14x4, 4x6). A solid platform set by the top-order gave Karthik the licence to attack and the dapper batsman did not disappoint.

Stepping out at will to belt the spinners, Karthik showed a special liking to Sunil Raju as three of his four huge sixes came at the off-spinner’s expense. However, Raju was unlucky not to have Karthik stumped when the batsman was on 86. Barring that blip, Karthik’s knock was flawless.

After being stuck on 97 for 15 deliveries Karthik took a single before dancing down the track to loft Raju to the extra-cover boundary to notch up his 17th first-class hundred.

Earlier, overnight batsman Badrinath departed when he was smartly caught by Pawan at forward short-leg for 72 (188b, 5x4, 1x6), but Aparajith went on to complete his maiden first-class century (112, 255b, 11x4, 1x6). Resuming on 85, the 18-year-old took a while before reaching the landmark with a streaky boundary. The youngster’s 346-minute vigil at the crease ended when he was stumped by Gautam off left-arm spinner K.P. Appanna.

Meanwhile, left-hander R. Prasanna garnered a workmanlike 74 (165b, 4x4, 1x6) and added an unbroken 200-run fifth-wicket stand with Karthik in 48.3 overs.

Scoreboard

Tamil Nadu 1st innings ((O/n 260/2): B. Aparajith st Gautam b Appanna 112, S. Badrinath c Pawan b Raju 72, D. Karthik (not out) 154, R. Prasanna (not out) 74. Extras: (b18, lb4, nb2, w1) 25

Total (for 4 wkts, 168 overs, decl.) 538

FoW: 1-106, 2-110, 3-287, 4-338

Bowling: Vinay Kumar 15-6-38-0, A. Mithun 19-4-47-0, K.P. Appanna 40-1-136-1, S. Binny 13-2-49-0, S. Raju 45-6-148-2, A. Verma 29-3-79-0, Ganesh S. 3-1-4-1, K.B. Pawan 4-0-15-0

Karnataka 1st innings: K.B. Pawan (batting) 5, R. Uthappa (batting) 18. Extras: (nb3) 3

Total (for no loss in 10 overs) 26

Bowling: L. Balaji 2-1-1-0, Kaushik 1-0-4-0, Mohammad 1-1-0-0, B. Aparajith 2-0-8-0, Ashwin 3-0-12-0, Rangarajan 1-0-1-0