Rahane scores ton on County debut; 3rd Indian after Chawla, Vijay to do so!

On Wednesday, Indian Test team vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane became only the third Indian to score a ton on County debut but got out just at the stroke tea on Day 3 of the County Championship Division One match between Hampshire and Nottinghamshire at Newport.

Rahane scored 119 off 197 balls and smashed 14 boundaries to give his team a lead of 337-run, as Hampshire reached 266 for 3 from 69.1 overs in the second innings at tea. This was his 30th first-class hundred.

Rahane in the first innings managed only 10 runs as Hampshire got bowled out for 310. Nottinghamshire in reply scored 239. However, in the second innings, he got to his ton off 179 deliveries and added 257-run stand for the third wicket with Sam Northeast, who was unbeaten on 131 at tea.

Rahane replaced the South African batsman Aiden Markram in the Hampshire squad as the latter made it to the national team.

Now, Rahane is only the third person to achieve this feat on debut after Piyush Chawla’s brilliant 102* off 86 balls for Sussex in 2009 and Murali Vijay’s 100 off 181 balls for Essex in 2018.

Apart from Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravichandran Ashwin will also be playing in the Division One of the Championship for Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire respectively.

CENTURY: A phenomenal knock from @ajinkyarahane88! 💯👏

What an effort it’s been on debut, his century coming off 179 balls with 12 fours – 219-2 (290 ahead).

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— Hampshire Cricket (@hantscricket) May 22, 2019