Ranji Trophy: Faiz, Satish hit tons as Vidarbha score 352/3

NAGPUR: Disappointment was written all over Sachin Katariya's face once the red light signaled his departure. The youngster, who made his first class debut on Tuesday, knew it was an opportunity missed.
It was just the kind of wicket a batsman dreams of debuting on. The ball was nicely coming onto the bat; there was hardly any movement in the air or off the wicket.
He could've continued his good form to score another big one this season. However, the dreadful run out early on meant a long day in the pavilion.
On personal front Katariya might have been disappointed but the 19-year-old would have loved the way his teammates Faiz Fazal (107, 179b, 13x4, 1x6) and Ganesh Satish (167, 231b, 16x4, 2x6) batted, matching each others stroke for stroke.
Both of them hit brilliant tons to take Vidarbha to 352-3 on Day 1 of the Ranji Trophy Group 'B' tie. If that wasn't enough, skipper Subramaniam Badrinath (62, 102b, 6x4, 1x6) was holding the fort in company of in-form Shalabh Shrivastava.
The spring in Badrinath's steps was enough to give away which way the coin had spun. He lost the tossed in Lahli, Jaipur and Sambalpur in bowler-friendly conditions and the Vidarbha top order had to grind in seaming conditions.
Not this time. This was their chance to give it back to the opposition and they did it with aplomb. Vidarbha batsmen hardly played any loose shots early on. After the first 15 overs, the pair of Faiz and Satish started dictating terms to Saurashtra bowlers.
Faiz started with a gorgeous on drive in Sudeep Tyagi's first over. The left-hander has always been pleasing to the eyes when he hit his trademark off drives and this was the perfect wicket to execute that.
Satish offered a chance early on when he went for an expansive cover drive to Chirag Jani only to edge behind. Saurashtra stumper Sagar Jogiyani, however, couldn't hold onto regulation chance and his team paid big price for the lapse.
Faiz and Satish had a 217-run second wicket record stand. Faiz was also involved in the previous stand of 203 in company of Ravi Jangid against Punjab in Mohali last year.
Satish was particularly severe on left-arm spinner Dharmendra Jadeja, hitting him through extra cover repeatedly. He scored all round the wicket and showed brilliant footwork against spinners.
Both of his sixes came after he reached his hundred. The feature of their stand was cheeky rotation of strike coupled with classy strokeplay. The duo displayed supreme composure against both pacers and spinners to unfurl an array of gorgeous strokes.
The stand ended when Faiz threw an opportunity to score a big hundred. The opener casually guided Kamlesh Makwana's wide delivery to the lone slip. That, however, didn't stop the flow of runs.
Badrinath made sure that momentum was not lost. He was at his dominant best against spinners and didn't allow them to settle. To be fair to Saurashtra bowlers, there was nothing in the wicket for them.
Besides, the ball wasn't reversing much. Such was the nature of Jamtha wicket that Saurashtra didn't even opt for the second new ball.
Satish's wicket came against the run of play at the fag end of the day when he tried to cut Saurashtra skipper Jaydev Shah only succeeding in edging to Jogiyani who completed the neat catch.