Karthik, Shankar keep Tamil Nadu steady

Tamil Nadu 192 for 3 (Shankar 56*, Karthik 48*) v Maharashtra
Scorecard

Vijay Shankar continued his good form to help Tamil Nadu to a steady 192 for 3 on the first day against Maharashtra in Kolkata. Giving him company in the second half of the day was Dinesh Karthik, who scored a patient 48* off 156 deliveries.

The unbeaten pair put on 102 runs in 34.3 overs, Shankar, coming off a century and a fifty in the quarter-final, raising his third half-century of the season. Karthik also approached his fifty and is 12 short of the 700 mark in the tournament.

Tamil Nadu got off to a slow start after opting to bat, the opening pair of M Vijay and Abhinav Mukund scoring 47 runs in 25.5 overs, before the partnership was broken by Anupam Sanklecha. Vijay continued his unhurried innings with B Aparajith for their stand of 16 runs in the next 12.3 overs. Dominic Joseph then ended Vijay's innings of nearly three hours by having him caught behind for 28, and Samad Fallah later had Aparajith caught for 20, which brought Karthik and Shankar together. Shankar's innings of 56, which featured seven fours, was the quickest of the day.

Maharashtra used six bowlers but none could pick up more than one wicket. Shankar later said the wicket was slightly two-paced. "There was some grass on the surface, and there was movement throughout the day," he told ESPNCricinfo. "It was difficult to score runs initially, but things got better as the day went on. I just wanted to play time today. They [Maharashtra] will surely take the second new ball in the morning, and we have to bat through the first hour carefully."