Anchoring the innings, Ankit Bawne took Maharashtra to 272 for five at stumps on the first day of the Ranji Trophy 2013-14 final against Karnataka. He was batting on 89 with Sangram Atitkar on 29 at the end of day’s play.
Earlier, Maharashtra elected to bat first at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium at Uppal in Hyderabad and lost Harshad Khadiwale with just 24 runs on board. Karnataka skipper Vinay Kumar trapped the opener leg-before to give his team an early breakthrough. Eight overs later, S Aravind sent back Vijay Zol to leave the Rohit Motwani-led team on 42 for two.
Maharashtra’s in-form batsman Kedar Jadhav then joined the opener in the middle to help stabilize the innings. Both batsmen were scoring at a steady pace as the lunch break neared. However, with the partnership on 48, an Abhimanyu Mithun delivery travelling down the leg-side was caught by CM Gautam behind the stumps spelling the dismissal of Jadhav for 37.
With three wickets lost in the first session of the first day, it was imperative for Maharashtra to see the day through without losing too many wickets. Khurana, who had held up one end through the morning, then took his team to lunch at 95 for three along with Ankit Bawne. The pair continued to rally on in the second session, until Karun Nair ended the partnership. He dismissed Khurana for 64. However, Bawne continued to hold up one end. With his skipper for company, the middle-order batsman saw the team through to the end of the second session taking Maharashtra to tea at 195 for four.
The pair had stitched a 71-run partnership for the fifth wicket, until Motwani edged Mithun to the wicketkeeper and departed for 17. Six overs into the third session, Sangram Atitkar took guard opposite Bawne and ensured that Maharashtra did not lose any more wickets in the final session of the day. Atitkar, who came into the game on the back of a 168-run knock in the semi-final, bided his time at the crease as the duo worked its way through the session. The partnership was unbroken on 57 when play ended on the first day.
