VIJAY SLAMS CENTURY AS TN TAKE CONTROL

Cuttack, Nov. 9: Opener Murali Vijay warmed upin style for the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka by scoring a century to help Tamil Nadu reach 292 for 3 against Odisha on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy Group “C” match here on Thursday.

Electing to bat, the visitors lost skipper Abhinav Mukund (12), who was runout following a mix-up with Vijay. However, the Test opener was involved in two century partnerships, first with wicket-keeper N Jagadeesan (88) and B Indrajith (41 batting), which put Tamil Nadu in the driver’s seat.

After a cautious start, Vijay came into his own, playing a series of beautiful shots and reached his hundred in a hurry from the mid-80s with a huge six.

It was Jagadeesan, pushed up the order in place of a struggling No.3 M Kaushik Gandhi who was dropped, who set the tone, with some enterprising play. He didn’t miss out on an opportunity to score and crunched some boundaries while Vijay played himself in. The partnership between Vijay and Jagadeesan yielded 145 runs before the latter fell to Odisha captain Govind Poddar, 12 short of a ton.

Vijay took over after Jagadeesan’s exit and dominated a 118-run stand with Indrajith. A streak of aggression took him to a century from the 80s as he looked to step up the runrate. He hit three fours and a six in the space of two overs as Tamil Nadu appeared to gain the initiative against the rival attack on a docile pitch.