Ranji Trophy 2023-24: Jagadeesan slams ton as Tamil Nadu dominates Chandigarh on opening day

Chandigarh batters showed poor application and played loose shots to be bundled out for 111 before Tamil Nadu finished on 221 for one.

Tamil Nadus N. Jagadeesan (left) celebrates after reaching his century against Chandigarh in Ranji Trophy match held in Coimbatore on Friday. | Photo Credit: M PERIASAMY/THE HINDU

Pacer Sandeep Warrier and left-arm spinner R. Sai Kishore led the way for Tamil Nadu with three wickets each before N. Jagadeesan slammed his second consecutive ton of the season as the host dominated proceedings on day one of its Ranji Trophy clash against Chandigarh at the Sri Ramakrishna College ground on Friday.

After electing to bat, the Chandigarh batters showed poor application and played loose shots to be bundled out for 111. Later, Jagadeesan (108 batting, 130b, 8x4, 2x6) and Pradosh Ranjan Paul (87 n.o., 93b, 12x4, 1x6) pressed home the advantage with an unbroken 176-run stand for the second wicket as TN ended the day on 221 for one.

In the morning, the visitors’ top-order struggled against the probing spell from Warrier, and Kuldeep Sen. Warrier kicked things off when he had Harnoor Singh caught behind, surprising the batter with extra bounce and skipper Manan Vohra two balls later, nicking one to the keeper. At the other end, Mohammed Arslan Khan tried to cut a rising delivery from Kuldeep Sen similarly and gave a simple catch in the slip cordon.

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When Warrier had Raj Angad Bawa hit one to gully, Chandigarh was in trouble at 65 for five. Kunal Mahajan and Mayank Sidhu then steadied things, taking their side to 100 for five at lunch.

However, a direct hit at the non-striker’s end from Ajith Ram found Mahajan short of his crease. The spinners quickly cleaned up the tail as Chandigarh lost its last five wickets for just seven runs.

Jagadeesan, the double-centurion in the previous game, continued from where he left off last week and feasted on some poor bowling. When given width, the opener unleashed his cut shots and milked the attack for runs with ease. Pradosh, at the other end, was even more severe, employing his flicks and powerful drives down the ground as TN got into the lead in just the 22nd over, scoring at a brisk rate.

With a healthy 110-run lead in hand, the home team will look to bat big on day two and set up another innings win.

SCORECARD

Scoreboard: Chandigarh (1st innings): Mohd. Arslan Khan c Pradosh b Kuldeep 18, Harnoor Singh c Jagadeesan b Warrier 24, Manan Vohra c Jagadeesan b Warrier 0, Kunal Mahajan (run out) 28, Ankit Kaushik c Jagadeesan b Sai Kishore 0, Rajangad Bawa c Pradosh b Sandeep 10, Mayank Sidhu c Indrajith b Sai Kishore 14, Gurinder Singh (not out) 2, Arpit Singh c Sachin b Ajith Ram 0, M. Ashwin c Vijay Shankar b Sai Kishore 4, Hartejassvi Kapoor c Pradosh b Ajith Ram 1, Extras (b-8, nb-1, w-1): 10; Total (in 47 overs): 111

Fall of wickets: 1-32, 2-32, 3-48, 4-54, 5-65, 6-104, 7-104, 8-105, 9-110

TN Bowling: Warrier 10-3-28-3, Kuldeep 8-1-34-1, Sai Kishore 17-7-31-3, Ajith Ram 11-8-6-2, Pradosh 1-0-4-0.

Tamil Nadu (1st innings): B.Sachin c Sidhu b Bawa 16, N. Jagadeesan (batting) 108, Pradosh Ranjan Paul (batting) 87, Extras (b-2, lb-3, w-3, nb-2): 10

Total (for one wicket in 41 overs): 221

Chandigarh bowling: Hartejassvi 10-0-51-0, Bawa 10-0-34-1, Gurinder 10-0-59-0, Arpit 3-0-18-0, Ashwin 6-0-40-0, Mahajan 2-0-14-0.

Toss: Chandigarh