Ishan Kishan starts Ranji campaign with fighting hundred
Jharkhand captain Ishan Kishan lifted his team from a tricky situation with a statement hundred as the visitors reached 307 for six against hosts Tamil Nadu on day one of the Ranji Trophy season in Coimbatore on Wednesday.
Kishan, who has lost his place in the Indian team across formats, was batting on an unbeaten 125 off 183 alongside Sahil Raj (64 batting) at close of play.
Jharkhand were in real danger of being bowled for a sub-200 first-innings total but Kishan and Raj shared an unbroken 150-run stand for the seventh wicket.
Tamil Nadu left-arm pacer Gurjapneet Singh got the early breakthrough for his team before finishing with three wickets on the day. Left-arm spinner DT Chandrasekar, making his Ranji return after a decade, picked up a couple of wickets for the home side.
At the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, defending champions Vidarbha piled on the runs against Nagaland, finishing day one at 302 for three with an unbeaten 148 from opener Aman Mokhade.
Dhruv Shorey made 64 while Yash Rathod was batting on 66 at stumps.
In Kanpur, Andhra opener and wicket-keeper batter KS Bharat began his Ranji campaign with a solid 144 off 244 balls against Uttar Pradesh. His innings included 13 fours. Number three Shaik Rasheed too made a valuable contribution, an unbeaten 94 at close of play.
Brief scores:
Jharkhand 307/6 in 90 overs (Ishan Kishan batting 125, Sahil Raj batting 64; Gurjanpreet Singh 3/51) versus Tamil Nadu.
In Bengaluru: Vidarbha 302/3 in 85 overs (Aman Mokhade batting 148; Saurav Kumar 2/57) versus Nagaland.
In Kanpur: Andhra 289/3 in 85.5 overs (KS Bharat 142, Shaik Rashdee batting 84; Aqib Khan 2/50) versus Uttar Pradesh.
In Cuttack: Odisha 205/5 in 89.5 overs (Rajesh Dhuper batting 76; Atit Seth 2/41) versus Baroda.
Shami strikes late after forgettable start; Bengal bowl out Uttarakhand for 213
Out-of-favour India pacer Mohammed Shami grabbed three wickets in four balls in the fag end of the day to help Bengal bundle out Uttarakhand for 213 on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group C fixture in Kolkata.
In reply, Bengal made a jittery start as captain and India Test hopeful Abhimanyu Easwaran was dismissed in the first ball.
The hosts ended the day at 8 for 1 in five overs, with Sudip Chatterjee (1 batting) and Sudip Kumar Gharami (7 batting) seeing through some anxious moments.
Bengal trail Uttarakhand by 205 runs going into the second day.
Having made his comeback in the Duleep Trophy earlier this season, Shami continued his search for rhythm and consistency after a lean phase marked by injuries and poor form.
The 35-year-old veteran toiled most of the day, bowling 14 overs without reward, looking a shadow of his fiery past.
The leading wicket-taker of the 2023 World Cup struggled for rhythm and sting through his first four spells, before producing a late burst of old magic of reverse swing.
Skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran's move to bring Shami back for a fifth spell proved decisive as Uttarakhand lower-order eighth wicket partnership started counter-attacking to take the team past 200.
The veteran seamer found some reverse swing under fading sunlight and cleaned up the tail in dramatic fashion.
He first knocked over Janmejay Joshi with a sharp in-swinger that uprooted the middle stump before finding a faint edge from Rajan Kumar off the next delivery.
He missed out on a hat-trick, but returned to bowl Devendra Singh Bora in the same over to finish with 3/37 from 14.5 overs.
Those final four balls salvaged an otherwise ordinary day for Shami, who bowled in short, probing bursts but struggled for penetration on a brown, grassless Eden Gardens pitch that offered little movement.
Earlier, even Uttarakhand's tailenders negotiated him comfortably as the Bengal attack searched for inspiration.
It was rookie pace bowling all-rounder Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal (4/54) who impressed the most with his lively pace, late swing and control.
The 25-year-old, who made his debut last season and scored a century in their last Ranji match against Punjab here, removed the top order after Shami and Akash Deep failed to make early inroads despite being handed the new ball.
Ishan Porel (3/40) provided solid support, claiming the crucial wicket of Uttarakhand's top-scorer Bhupen Lalwani, who compiled a patient 71 off 128 balls with nine boundaries before poking one away going delivery in the final session.
Lalwani's dismissal triggered a collapse as Uttarakhand slumped from 179/6 to 213 all out with Shami's late burst.
Shami, who had a leg surgery in 2024, last featured for India during their Champions Trophy triumph earlier in March before enduring a disappointing IPL campaign.
Since then, he has been overlooked for the Test series in England, the Asia Cup, the West Indies Test series and now the upcoming white-ball series in Australia beginning Sunday.
For much of the final hour, Bengal struggled to wrap up the tail, with Abhay Negi (28 not out) and Joshi adding valuable lower-order runs before Shami's late spell cleaned up the innings in the 73rd over.
Surprisingly, the wicket looked devoid of grass and carried a dry, brownish tinge, a stark contrast to its greener appearance on the eve of the match.
The Bengal team management's late call to shave off the grass raised a few eyebrows, especially after opting for a four-pronged pace attack featuring the returning Shami, alongside another India pacer Akash Deep to go with Ishan Porel and Jaiswal.
Haryana fight back as 16 wickets tumble in Surat
At the Pithwala Stadium in Surat, as many as 16 wickets fell on a dramatic opening day as Haryana fought back to leave Railways reeling at 93 for six after folding for 171.
Haryana seamer Sumit Kumar took 4/11 in seven overs after Anshul Kamboj drew the first blood by dismissing opener Suraj Ahuja as Railways still trail by 78 runs.
Opting to bat, Haryana's innings revolved around a gritty 52 from Parth Vats and a fighting 22 from Aman Kumar after they were 71/6 in 21.1 overs.
Akash Pandey and Zubair Ali picked up three wickets apiece for Railways, while Kunal Yadav and Himanshu Sangwan took two each.
Brief Scores:
In Kolkata: Uttarakhand 213 in 72.5 overs (Bhupen Lalwani 71, Abhay Negi 28 not out; Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal 4/54, Mohammed Shami 3/37, Ishan Porel 3/40) vs Bengal 8/1 in 5 overs (Sudip Chatterjee 1 batting, Sudip Kumar Gharami 7 batting).
In Surat: Haryana 171; 55.1 overs (Parth Vats 52, Z A Khan 3/42, Akash Pandey 3/27, Kunal Yadav 2/37, Himanshu Sangwan 2/37). Railways 93/6' 32 overs (Pratham Singh 26 batting; Sumit Kumar 4/11).
In Delhi: Services 246/6; 85 overs (Shivam Kumar 72, Ravi Chauhan 50, Nakul Sharma 64 batting) vs Tripura.
In Ahmedabad: Assam 218/6; 90 overs (Pradyun Saikia 70, Riyan Parag 40, Sibsankar Roy 33 batting; Siddharth Desai 3/53) vs Gujarat.
Padikkal, Karun, Smaran fifties carry Karnataka to 295/5 against Saurashtra
Solid fifties by Devdutt Padikkal, Karun Nair and R Smaran helped Karnataka reach 295 for five amid regular strikes by Saurashtra on Day 1 of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match in Rajkot.
Padikkal (96, 141b, 11x4), Nair (73, 126b, 9x4) added 146 runs for the third wicket after left-arm spinner Dharmendra Jadeja (4/100) dismissed opener Nikin Jose and skipper Mayank Agarwal early in the innings.
Smaran was batting on 66 (120b, 4x4, 2x6) at stumps along with veteran Shreyas Gopal.
But once Jose and Agarwal departed with just 26 on the board, Karnataka, who elected to bat first, were tottering at 26 for two, and needed some stability. Padikkal and Nair, who returned to his home state after two seasons with Vidarbha, provided just that.
Padikkal was fluent on the off-side and struck as many as 10 fours through that region, playing some delectable cuts and drives.
Nair, on the other hand, favoured the arc between fine leg and square leg, bringing up five of his nine fours through that space.
There were a couple of dabs to the third man too for boundaries as the third wicket pair rescued Karnataka from a tight spot.
But Jadeja returned to trap Nair in front of the wicket to snap the alliance and the veteran soon went through the defence of Padikkal to reduce the visitors to 195 for four.
The left-hander would have been massively disappointed to play such a reckless pull to get bowled after doing all the hard work.
Saurashtra would have hoped to make a few more dents to pile pressure on Karnataka but Smaran and Shreyas Gopal (38 batting) thwarted those hopes with an unbroken 81-run partnership for the sixth wicket.
As is his wont, Smaran played some delightful shots through the off-side, and a flowing drive off left-arm pacer Chetan Sakariya underlined his touch and class.
He found a sensible companion in Gopal, who summoned his years of experience in the domestic circuit to keep his end going, and the sixth-wicket pair scored at a brisk clip too in the final session.
Brief scores: At Rajkot: Karnataka: 295/5 in 90 overs (Devdutt Padikkal 96, Karun Nair 73, R Smaran 66 batting; Dharmendra Jadeja 4/100).
At Thiruvananthapuram: Maharashtra: 179/7 in 59 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 91, Jalaj Saxena 49; MD Nidheesh 4/42).
At Porvorim: Goa: 291/3 in 86 overs (Abhinav Tejrana 130 batting, Lalit Yadav 80 batting; Vishu 3/86).