CHENNAI, Jan 19 (PTI): Openers Aakash Chopra and Vineet Saxena showed loads of patience on a placid strip as Rajasthan walked away with the honours on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy final against Tamil Nadu, here today.
At stumps, Rajasthan opting to bat, were 221 for no loss with Saxena batting on 120 in company of Chopra who scored a dogged 86.
Interestingly, it was same opening pair that has frustrated Tamil Nadu during the semi-finals in Jaipur last year when they added 181 for the first wicket. They have already bettered their earlier effort.
With 22-yard at Chepauk offering nothing much for the bowlers, Rajasthan who boasts of domestic heavyweights like Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Rashmi Ranjan Parida and Robin Bist would certainly look to put up a total in excess of 550.
SCORECARD
Rajasthan 1st innings: Aakash Chopra not out 86, Vineet Saxena not out 120. Extras: (B-5, LB-5, W-2, NB-3) 15. Total: (For no loss in 90 overs) 221. Bowling: L Balaji 13-6-33-0, J Kaushik 18-6-20-0, V Y Mahesh 13-2-42-0, R Aushik Srinivas 30-11-55-0, Sunny Gupta 13-1-40-0, A Mukund 2-0-6-0, K Vasudevadas 1-0-5-0.
