Yash Rathod scored his fourth first-class century in just his 11th match, making a steady 135 to lead last season’s runners-up to a solid total of 326 on the opening day of their Group B Ranji Trophy third-round fixture against Uttarakhand on Saturday.

The 24-year-old middle-order batter halted the slide after the two-time Ranji champions, who elected to bat, were reduced to 64/3 in the opening session.

Rathod and Danish Malewar (56) guided the side to 181 with a 117-run partnership before the latter was dismissed by Uttarakhand’s veteran left-arm spinner Swapnil Singh.

Malewar’s dismissal once again saw Vidarbha go into a slide with none of their batters able to apply themselves on a pitch that assisted spinners.

However, Rathod was in a different zone from the time he came to the crease.

Despite the Uttarakhand spinners continually challenging his patience, Rathod remained composed as wickets fell at regular intervals. He hit 16 boundaries.

Rathod’s 195-ball stay ended when he became the ninth batter out clean bowled by off-spinner Avneesh Sudha.

Uttarakhand left-arm spinner Mayank Mishra emerged the most successful bowler taking three wickets for 72 runs, while Avneesh and Swapnil took two wickets each.

Earlier, Uttarakhand pacers Abhay Negi and Devendra Bora put Vidarbha in a spot of bother by grabbing two quick wickets.

But the century partnership between Rathod and Malewar put Vidarbha back on track, with the latter applying loads of caution and scoring 56 valuable runs off 116 balls with the help of five boundaries.

Brief scores: In Dehradun: Vidarbha 326 all out in 88 overs (Dhruv Shorey 35, Danish Malewar 56, Yash Rathod 135; Mayank Mishra 3/72, Avneesh Sudha 2/35, Swapnil Singh 2/70) vs Uttarakhand.

In Visakhapatnam: Andhra 295 for 6 in 80 overs (Shaik Rasheed 69, Hanuma Vihari 66, Srikar Bharat 65; Rishi Dhawan 2/65, Divesh Sharma 2/40) vs Himachal Pradesh .

In Jaipur: Gujarat 285 for 7 in 85 overs (Priyank Panchal 110, Aarya Desai 86, Umang Kumar 41; Arafat Khan 3/39, Kukna Ajay Singh 3/92) vs Rajasthan .

In Hyderabad: Hyderabad 290 for 1 in 90 overs (Tanmay Agarwal batting 152, Abhirath Reddy 68, Rohit Rayudu batting 62) vs Puducherry.