Ranji Trophy: Kohli century props up Delhi against Tamil Nadu

CHENNAI - Virat Kohli again hit the purple patch with an unbeaten 119 as Delhi ended on 258 for three against Tamil Nadu on the first day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match here Wednesday.

Kohli, who compiled 173 against Bengal last week, batted fluently (3x 6, 11 x 4) to help Delhi recover from 55 for two, adding 190 runs for the third wicket with veteran Mithun Manhas (70).

The Tamil Nadu bowlers toiled for meagre rewards and at best were restrictive especially after raising visions of cutting through the Delhi innings when openers Chetan Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan departed in quick succession.

Once Kohli and Manhas got going, it was Delhi all the way. Kohli, as usual, was at his aggressive best and was not afraid to take charge while Manhas kept his end up with a watchful innings that ended when he was struck on the pads by a delivery from seamer Chandrasekar Ganapathy that kept low.

Soon, Rajat Bhatia retired after being struck on the hand, but there was no further setback for Delhi who built themselves a good platform for a big score on the morrow.

Scoreboard

Delhi (1st innings): Chetan Sharma c Badrinath b Prabhu 11; Shikhar Dhawan b Ashwin 41; Virat Kohli (not out) 119; Mithun Manhas lbw Ganapathy 70; Rajat Bhatia (retd hurt) 1; Puneet Bisht (not out) 5.

Extras (b-1, lb-5): 6

Total (for 3 wkts, 88 overs): 258

Fall of wickets: 1-53; 2-55; 3-245

Bowling: Chandrasekar Ganapathy 13-3-23-1; Sunil Sam 13-2-51-0 (1nb); Ravichandran Ashwin 23-5-75-1; Murthy Prabhu 14-6-34-1; Aushik Srinivas 18-2-53-0 (2nb); Rajagopal Sathish 6-2-9-0; Abhinav Mukund 1-0-5-0.