Skipper S Badrinath hit an unbeaten 113 and put on 193 runs for the unfinished third wicket with Hemang Badani (91 not out) as Tamil Nadu ended day 1 on 261 for 2 against Delhi in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group 'A' match in Chennai on Tuesday.

• Ranji Trophy 2005-06

The hosts, electing to bat, started badly, as opener Vidyuth Sivaramakrishnan was caught at mid-off by Mithun Minhas off right-arm medium pacer Kuldip Rawat for just six in the fourth over (19/1).

Badrinath, who came in at the fall of Vidyuth's wicket, tried to steady the innings in the company of the other opener, the left-handed Sriram, but the latter (43, 7x4)) was clean bowled by leg spinner Chetanya Nanda with the score 68.

Badani then gave good company to his captain as they strove to put up a solid total for their bowlers to do the rest in their quest for an outright win and a bonus point to have an outside chance of making the semi-finals.

They two resurrected the innings, scoring 193 runs in 61.5 overs.

Badrinath hit 17 boundaries in his unbeaten ton while Badani has nine and a huge six over mid-on off Chetanya Nanda in his unbeaten 91.

Scorecard

Tamil Nadu (1st innings):
S Sriram b Nanda 43
S Vidyut c Manhas b Rawat 6
S Badrinath not out 113
H Badani not out 91
Extras: (b 2, lb 3, nb 3) 8
Total: (2 wickets, 90 overs) 261

Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-68

Bowling: Bhandari 18 5 53 0, Rawat 10 1 36 1 (2nb), Bhatia 15 6 19 0, Sachdeva 16 3 68 0 (1nb), Nanda 28 2 76 1, Jain 3 2 4 0.