Captain Ishan Kishan played a match-defining knock to rescue Jharkhand from a difficult position, making an unbeaten 125 from 183 deliveries as the touring side made 307 for six against Tamil Nadu on the first day of the Ranji Trophy season here on Wednesday.

Ishan Kishan, Sahil Raj rebuild with an unbeaten 150-run stand

Under review from the Indian side across formats, Kishan demonstrated his skill and flair in domestic colours, leading from the front when Jharkhand was staring at a score of less than 200. Together with base *Sahil Raj (64, 132b)**, the two put on a seventh wicket stand worth 150 runs without losing a wicket, rescuing the innings and having the upper hand at stumps.

For Tamil Nadu, left-arm pacer Gurjapneet Singh opened mark and secured early wickets, ending with 3 wickets for the day while left-arm spinner DT Chandrasekar, after nearly decade’s break from Ranji cricket, also nabbed two important wickets to keep the hosts in with a chance.

Further on, at the Center of Excellence in Bengaluru, defending champions Vidarbha had control of proceedings against Nagaland, after the first day, completed the first day at 302 for three after 89 overs. Opening batsman Aman Mokhade was leading the charge at stumps with fluent and unbeaten 148, with Dhruv Shorey (64) and *Yash Rathod (66)** also in the mix.

Further in a Kanpur, KS Bharat made a distinction as he returned to first class with an inning of 144 runs from 244 balls for Andhra against Uttar Pradesh. He struck 13 fours in his innings and was complimented by Shaik Rasheed at the end of day’s play unscathed at 94 runs, as Andhra ended with benefit of control.

(With PTI Inputs)