Himachal bowlers leave Kerala reeling at 196-8

Despite Sanju Samson hitting an unbeaten century, Kerala were struggling at 196 for eight on the opening day of their Group C Ranji Trophy match against Himachal Pradesh in Himachal.

At stumps, Samson was not out on 100 and giving him company at the other end was Prasanth Parameswaran on 13.

Besides Samson scoring a century, only two other batsmen in Abhishek Hegde (26) and Sachin Baby (19) could reach the double-figure mark even as Himachal Pradesh bowlers wreaked havoc.

Rishi Dhawan was the pick of the bowlers for Himachal with figures of three for 56. Vikramjeet Malik (2 for 43) and Gurvinder Singh (2 for 47) chipped in with two wickets apiece.

Opting to bat, Kerala could never recover from a disastrous start. And it was the lone batsman in Samson, who held on to his ground even as wickets kept falling at the other end.

Towards the end of day one, Samson managed to find an able support in Parameswaran and the duo put up 51 runs together for the unbroken ninth wicket to provide some stability to the visitors.

Brief Scores:
Kerala: 196 for eight in 73.4 overs (Sanju Samson batting 100; Rishi Dhawan 3/56, Vikramjeet Malik 2/43)

Jharkhand bundle out Jammu and Kashmir for 195

In another Group C match at Jammu, Jharkhand bowled out Jammu and Kashmir for 195 before ending the opening day of their four-day Ranji Trophy match at 81 for one at the Gandhi Memorial Science College Ground.

Jharkhand trail J&K by 114 runs with nine wickets in hand, with Rameez Nemat (batting 42) and Rahul Shukla, yet to open his account, at the crease.

Shankar Rao (3/50) and Shahbaz Nadeem (3/50), who plays for Delhi Daredevils in IPL, took three wickets each, while Sunny Gupta claimed two for 37 to put Jharkhand on top against the hosts.

Hardeep Singh was the top-scorer for J&K with an unbeaten 49, while Adil Rishi also contributed with a solid 41.

Replying to J&K's modest first innings total, Jharkhand openers Manish Vardhan and Rameez Nemat gave their team a fine start.

It would have been a perfect day for the visitors had Vardhan not fallen for a well-made 31 in the second last ball of the day.

Brief Scores:
J&K: 195 all out in 56.5 overs (Hardeep Singh not out 49,  Adil Rishi 41; Shankar Rao 3/50, Shahbaz Nadeem 3/50)
Jharkhand: 81 for one in 29 overs (Rameez Nemat batting 42, Manish Vardhan 31; Parvez Rassol 1/14).

Bad weather plays spoilsport, TN 66/2 against Odisha

Tamil Nadu ended the first day on 66 for the loss of two wickets against Odisha as only 31 overs of play was possible in the Ranji Trophy Group B match because of wet ground conditions in Cuttuck.

The majority of the opening day's play in the four-day game was lost due to wet conditions after rain delayed the start of the match.

The star-studded batting line-up of the visitor's had to toil hard for runs and it was evident from the pace of scoring of openers Abhibnav Mukund and Murali Vijay, who putting on 37 runs for the first wicket off 20.2 overs in 108 minutes.

Vijay managed only 15 in a cautious effort before he was caught by Rakesh Mohanty off Alok Mangaraj. S Badrinath was the other Tamil Nadu batsmen to get out for 11, bowled by Basant Mohanty.

Mukund was unbeaten on 21 at stumps and giving him company was Baba Aparijith on three.

For Odisha, Basant Mohanty (1/26) and Mangaraj (1/21) picked up one wicket each.

Brief scores:
Tamil Nadu: 66 for 2 in 31 overs (Abhinav Mukund batting 21, Murali Vijay 15; Basanta Mohanty 1/26, Alok Mangaraj 1/21).