COIMBATORE: Pradosh Ranjan Paul continued his fine run with the bat, scoring yet another century as Tamil Nadu reached 252 for 4 at stumps on the opening day of its Elite Group A Ranji Trophy match against Vidarbha here on Saturday.

Paul, who struck a career-best double hundred against Nagaland in the previous round, compiled a fluent 113 featuring 13 boundaries, while Baba Indrajith was unbeaten on 94 at close of play, six runs short of his hundred.

Paul added 179 runs for the fourth wicket with Indrajith after Tamil Nadu elected to bat first on winning the toss.

The host was in early trouble at 18 for 2, with openers Vimal Kumar (2) and Athish SR (3) dismissed cheaply by Nachiket Bhute and Praful Hinge respectively.

Paul then joined hands with Andrew Siddarth C to steady the innings before the latter fell to Akshay Karnewar in the 30th over. The left-hander later forged a strong partnership with Indrajith to guide Tamil Nadu to safety.

At stumps, Shahrukh Khan was batting alongside Indrajith after Bhute trapped Paul leg-before in the 87th over.

Brief scores:

Tamil Nadu 252/4 in 88 overs (Pradosh Ranjan Paul 113, Baba Indrajith 94 batting, C Andre Siddarth 33; Nachiket Bhute 2/43) vs Vidarbha