Ruturaj Gaikwad continued his blazing red-hot form with a classy century, guiding Maharashtra to a solid 313 all out against Chandigarh on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group B encounter on Saturday.

After early blows that saw Prithvi Shaw (8) and Siddesh Veer (7) depart cheaply, Gaikwad took charge with trademark fluency, crafting 116 off 163 balls — a knock laced with 15 boundaries.

The skipper found strong support from Saurabh Nawale (66) and young gun Arshin Kulkarni (50 off 55), as Maharashtra recovered through a key 152-run stand for the fifth wicket between Gaikwad and Nawale.

Left-arm spinner Raman Bishnoi broke the partnership, striking twice in quick succession to remove Nawale and Jalaj Saxena, while medium pacers Jagjit Singh (3/79) and Abhishek Saini (3/55) kept Cha

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