An unbeaten 150 by Kaushik Gandhi helped Tamil Nadu take a crucial 90-run first innings lead over Gujarat on the third day of their Ranji Trophy Group A match here.
At stumps, Tamil Nadu were sitting pretty at 397 for four against Gujarat's first innings total of 307 all out, with Vijay Shankar batting on 35, giving company to the centurion.
Resuming at 154 for two on day three, Gandhi, who was batting on 43, and B Indrajith stitched 116 runs together for third wicket.
Indrajith lost his wicket when the score was 270 in 115.2 overs, still trailing Gujarat by 37 runs.
Gandhi played out the morning session rather cautiously, ensuring Tamil Nadu did not lose any wicket early on.
The star batsman added just 30 runs to his overnight score of 43 not out, with 73 runs off 277 balls at lunch. At the stroke of tea, Gandhi reached his century off 351 balls.
On the other hand, soon after the lunch break, Indrajith reached his half-century by scoring 53 off 128 balls.
Indrajith lost his wicket to right-arm medium pacer C T Gaja for 66 off 162 balls.
Dinesh Karthik failed to make a huge impact, which he is known for, as he got out for 18 that included three hits to the fence. Tamil Nadu were then 300 for four at tea.
Both Gandhi and Shankar pushed the total further and put on an unbroken 97 runs for the fifth wicket.
The Gujarat's bowling was disappointing as Jaspreet Bumrah and Axar Patel went wicket-less. Panchal and Gaja were the only wicket-takers for the day.
Brief scores:
Gujarat: 307
Tamil Nadu: 397 for four in 156 overs (Kaushik Gandhi 150 batting, B Indrajith 66).
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
