Middle-order batsman Ankit Bawne cracked an unbeaten half-century to help Maharashtra reach 212 in their first innings against Karnataka on the opening day of their Group A Ranji Trophy match here today.
Bawne blasted eight boundaries and five sixes in his 209-ball innings but none of the batsmen could give him company for long. Swapnil Gugale (30) and Vishant More (25) were the other top scorers for Maharashtra.
For Karnataka, S Aravind (3/35), A Mithun (2/49) and R Vinay Kumar (2/44), H S Sharath (2/56) and S Gopal (1/18) were the wicket-takers.
Karnataka then returned to score 50 for one in 19 overs. At the draw of stumps, Mayank Agarwal (25) and Robin Uthappa (1) were at the crease at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium.
Put into bat, Maharashtra made a good start with openers Gugale and Sangram Atitkar (19) brining up the fifty but just then they lost both the openers in a space of three balls to be reduced to 50 for two in 13.1 overs.
Gugale was removed by Gopal in the fifth ball of 13th over, while in the first ball of next over by Aravind, Atitkar was caught by Pandey.
Next two batsmen -- Chirag Khurana (10) and Rahul Tripathi (2) -- too were dismissed cheaply, before Bawne took the reins in his hands. He tried to build a partnership but Kedar Jadhav (11) was soon dismissed by Sharath as Maharashtra lost half their side in 32.1 overs.
Bawne and Vishant More (25) then added 39 before the latter was dismissed by Vinay Kumar. Bawne then single-handedly took Maharastra across the 200-mark, adding 33 and 56 with Nikit Dhumal (1) and Bharatkumar Solanki (7) for the ninth and 10th wicket respectively.
Brief Score:
Maharashtra 1st innings: 212 allout in 62.4 overs (A Bawne 87; S Aravind 3/35)
Karnataka 1st innings: 50/1 in 19 overs (M Agarwal 25; S Mundhe 1/17).
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