JAIPUR: Rajasthan badly needed someone to step up after losing four wickets in quick succession in the first hour of the play on day two, and there came 18-year-old Karan Lamba. The cool-headed and confident teenager slammed an unbeaten 122 off 184 balls against Jharkhand in a Group C Ranji Trophy match at the SMS Stadium on Wednesday and became the fourth player from Rajasthan to score a hundred on first-class debut. Before him it was Gagan Khoda (116 runs) in 1991–92, Rajesh Sanghi (108) in 1993-94 and Salman Khan (110 runs) in 2016-17 who scored centuries on debut. En route his ton, Lamba struck 14 boundaries and three sixes.
The centurion stitched important partnerships with No.10 and 11 batters, Rituraj Singh (15 off 52 balls) and Aniket Choudhary (22 off 31 balls) respectively, to put Rajasthan in the pole position with a 195-run lead in the first innings. At stumps, Jharkhand were 66/0.
