A half-century from opener Swapnil Gugale (56 not out) helped Maharashtra post 110/1 at stumps on Day 3 of the Ranji Trophy semi-final after Tamil Nadu ended their first innings at 549 at the Eden Gardens here Friday.
Adding on their overnight score of 426/5, Tamil Nadu were were reduced to 444/7, losing both their settled batsmen Ramaswamy Prasanna (72) and Baba Indrajith (69) in quick succession to pacer Anupam Sanklecha.
Malolan Rangarajan (67) then piled on the agony for the Maharashtra bowlers with the help of lower-order bat Aswin Crist (30) to notch up a partnership of 57 runs. Rangarajan remained not out while Crist was picked up by left-arm seamer Samad Fallah.
The tail-enders wagged around a little longer and were eventually bowled out for a formidable 549.
In reply, Maharashtra were jolted at the very beginning of their innings as veteran medium-pacer Lakshmipathy Balaji clean bowled Harshad Khadiwale (14) with the score reading 20/1.
But Chirag Khurana (36) and Gugale with their choice of shot selection and judgement made sure they were not pegged back again, as the latter hit 11 fours en route.
Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 549 all out (Dinesh Karthik 113, Vijay Shankar 91, Ramaswamy Prasanna 72; Anupam Sanklecha 3/115, Chirag Khurana 2/80) vs Maharashtra 110/1 (Swapnil Gugale not out 56, Chirag Khurana 36; Lakshmipathy Balaji 1/35).
