Y Venugopal Rao hit a patient century to take Andhra Pradesh to a position of strength at the end of the first day's play in their Ranji Trophy league match against Hyderabad at Secunderabad.

Winning the toss, Andhra Pradesh skipper MSK Prasad had no hesitation in opting to bat first. He and his opening partner, however, were dismissed, along with number three batsman GN Srinivas, with only 21 runs on the board. Further down the line, at 50/4, Andhra Pradesh looked in serious danger of being bowled out in a hurry.

Venugopal Rao and IG Srinivas then put on an unbeaten 182 runs for the fifth wicket. Batting with caution and eschewing unnecessary risk, the pair constructed a steady partnership. At stumps, Venugopal Rao was on 106 off 269 balls, with 15 fours, while IG Srinivas hit 12 fours in his 203-ball knock of 91. Andhra Pradesh, then, found themselves at 232/4, a good position considering their disastrous start.

Truncated first day for Tamil Nadu-Kerala Ranji tie

Bad outfield and pitch conditions delayed the start of play until 3:45 p.m. in the Ranji Trophy league match between Tamil Nadu and Kerala at Chennai.

With a total of 255 minutes of play lost in the day, Tamil Nadu finally got a crack at the visitors after four inspections at 10:30 a.m., noon, 2:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. Winning the toss, Tamil Nadu had opted to bowl first, hoping that their seamers would be able to take advantage of the cloudy conditions and dicey pitch.

Kerala made it through to the close of play for the loss of only one wicket. Opener MP Sorab was dismissed after having made a brisk 21, but V Girilal and C Sanju took Kerala to 44/1 before play ended.

Goa devastated on Day One

Karnataka rocked Goa to bring a hurried end to their first innings on the first day of their Ranji Trophy league match at Bangalore on Tuesday.

Winning the toss, Karnataka skipper J Arunkumar opted to field first, hoping that his seamers could take advantage of helpful conditions to bundle out a weak Goan batting line-up early. The bowlers did not disappoint. Venkatesh Prasad, Dodda Ganesh, and NSC Aiyappa took three wickets each, between them bowling Goa out for a miserable 80.

Karnataka then rubbed salt into the wound, racking up 146/1 by the close of play on Day One. Skipper Arunkumar was unbeaten on 77 off 116 balls, striking 15 fours in his innings. Barrington Rowland gave him good support, making 36 off 73.

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