Ranji Trophy | Karun’s hundred props up Vidarbha on day one

Karun en route his 22nd First-Class ton.
| Photo Credit: R.V. MOORTHY

Karun Nair has fully taken to his heart the idiom ‘make hay while the sun shines’ this season. Having smashed records during the Vijay Hazare Trophy, scoring five tons in nine games, the 33-year-old has seamlessly carried the form into First-Class cricket. On Saturday, he scored his second Ranji Trophy century in as many games against Tamil Nadu and the third of the season to guide Vidarbha to a good position on day one of the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal clash at the VCA ground here on Saturday.

At stumps, Vidarbha finished on 264 for six, with Karun unbeaten on 100 (180b, 14×4, 1×6). Electing to bat, the home team did not have the greatest of starts, losing two early wickets to the TN medium-pacers.

Dhruv Shorey hit a few boundaries to get the scoreboard moving before he was caught and bowled by Vijay Shankar, who came up with a diving effort to leave the host in a spot at 44 for three.

Danish Malewar (75, 119b, 13×4) and Karun then steadied the innings, stitching a 98-run partnership for the fourth wicket.

The 21-year-old Danish, playing in his maiden season, put the pressure back on the visitor, hitting Vijay Shankar for three fours in one over. He was compact through the leg-side, whipping anything straight through the midwicket region.

Post lunch, the TN bowlers were guilty of being wavered, and both the batters punished them by finding the fence at will. Danish flicked Vijay Shankar through long-on to reach his half-century in style.

At the other end, Karun appeared solid, playing a chanceless knock and gave no inch to the visitor. The former Karnataka batter was imposing against the tweakers with his nimble footwork.

He started by stepping down to loft Sai Kishore over long-off for a maximum. He later used the conventional sweep effectively against the two left-arm spinners R. Sai Kishore and Ajith Ram. It was his most productive shot, accounting for five of his 14 boundaries as he brought up his 22nd First-Class hundred.

The scores:

Vidarbha — 1st innings: Atharva Taide c Ajith Ram b Mohammed 0, Dhruv Shorey c & b Vijay Shankar 26, Aditya Thakare c Sai Kishore b Sonu Yadav 5, Danish Malewar c Mohammed b Vijay Shankar 75, Karun Nair (batting) 100, Yash Rathod st. Jagadeesan b Mohamed Ali 13, Akshay Wadkar c Jagadeesan b Ajith Ram 24, Harsh Dubey (batting) 19; Extras (nb-1, w-1): 2; Total (for six wkts. in 89 overs): 264.

Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-25, 3-44, 4-142, 5-167, 6-231.

Tamil Nadu bowling: Mohammed 20-6-50-1, Sonu Yadav 17-4-55-1, Vijay Shankar 15-4-50-2, Sai Kishore 16-3-43-0, Ajith Ram 17-3-50-1, Mohamed Ali 4-0-16-1.