Rahul, Aditya's tons have Karnataka, TN in commanding positions

Margao, Nov 20 (UNI) A fine unbeaten century, which was studded with 9 hits to the fence, by L Rahul guided formidable Karnataka pile up 281 for 8 in 110 overs against Andhra Pradesh at close of play on the opening day of their three-day South Zone Under-15 Polly Umrigar Trophy cricket tournament at the Fatorda ground today.

Karnataka, after winning the toss, opted to bat and made a good start with Mohd Munnar (70, 9x4) and Karun Nair (66, 11x4) adding 126 runs for the first wicket.

Later, unbeaten Rahul kept the score board moving and at the end of 110 overs at the close of play, Karnataka scored 281, losing eight wickets with L Rahul (100 off 178 balls) and Bharat Kondaji (zero) at the crease.

P Raghav Preetan (3/39) and S K Bhasha (3/111) were the most succesful bowlers for Andhra Pradesh.

In the second match played at Arlem ground, A scintillating 106 by Aditya Ganesh and his two fruitful partnerships -- first of 75 runs with R Vivek (27) for third wicket and 65 runs for the 5th wicket with unbeaten R Rohit (69) -- enabled Tamil Nadu amass 277 for 6 in 100 overs against hosts Goa at the close of the first day's play.

Tamil Nadu, after winning the toss, elected to bat and had no problems in negotiating the host's attack, and continued to keep the scoreboard moving. Unbeaten R Rohit (69) and R Ashish Kumar (38) added another 75 runs for the seventh wicket.

Aditya Ganesh's 106 was laced with ten hits to the fence and a six and came off 209 balls in a stay of 244 minutes. Rohit's 69 included six fours and came off 194 balls and in 168 minutes.

Goa's Rudresh Asgaokar claimed two wickets giving away 45 runs.

Damodar Pockle, Reagan Pinto, Darshan Misal and Mahadev Gawas claimed one wicket each.

In the third match of the day played at the MCC grounds, Hyderabad, after bundling out Kerala for a paltry 134 in 64.2 overs, were 95 for 1 in 35 overs at the close of play with B Sandeep (not out 44) and A Akash (not out 26) at the crease.

Scores in brief: Karnataka: 281 for 8 in 110 overs (L Rahul not out 100, Mohd Munnar 70, Karun Nair 66, Aman Raj 17. P Raghav Preetam 3/39, S K Bhasha 3/111) versus Andhra Pradesh.

Tamil Nadu: 277 for 6 in 100 overs (Aditya Ganesh 106, R Rohit not out 69, R Pradeep Kumar 14, R Vivek 27, R Ashish Kumar not out 38.

Rudresh Asgaokar 2/45) versus Goa.

Kerala: 134 all out in 64.4 overs (Rohit R 25, Jitin Ramchandran 27, C A Mathew 16, Abhishek Mohan 36. S Ali 4/48, Venkatesh Raja 3/30, Rahul Runnaut 3/13) versus Hyderabad: 95 for 1 in 35 overs (B Sandeep not out 44, A Akash not out 26).

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