TN batters hold firm on Day 1

Dec. 24: Delhi committed a tactical blunder at the start and Tamil Nadu ensured that they would pay for it dearly, moving into a position of strength on Day One of their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal at the Palam ground here on Thursday.
Home skipper Rajat Bhatia won the toss and put the opposition in. The Tamil Nadu batting made full use of the opportunity, ending the day at 278/4.
In another match, it wasn’t Karnataka’s best performance of the season, but lacklustre batting by Punjab made sure Rahul Dravid’s decision to give the visitors the first strike was spot on.
On a track that had plenty of bounce, Punjab struggled to 292/9 at stumps on Day One at Mysore.
Brief Scores: Tamil Nadu 278/4 (Arun Karthik 78, Abhinav Mukund 73; Vikas Mishra 2/60) vs Delhi.
Punjab 292/9 (Kaul 68, Bhalla 62 batting; Joshi 4/62, Vinay Kumar 3/92) vs Karnataka.
PTI adds: Spinners Arlen Konwar (5/79) and Sairaj Bahutule (3/41) shared eight wickets among them as Assam shot out Uttar Pradesh for 213 in their first innings in Guwahati.
In Rohtak, Ajinkya Rahane (116 batting) and Ajit Agarkar (78) saved Mumbai the blushes with a 174-run partnership as the visitors reached a respectable 238/5 against Haryana.