Ranji round-up: Sehwag sizzles with unbeaten ton on green top at Lahli

Lahli: Veteran opener Virender Sehwag is making most of his hard-earned form as he blended caution with aggression during an attractive unbeaten knock of 147 to take Delhi to a respectable 278 for 7 at stumps against Haryana in the Ranji Trophy Group B match.

On a seamer-friendly track where Delhi were reduced to 41 for 4 in less than 20 overs with Joginder Sharma (3/39) making full use of the helpful conditions, Sehwag first defended but then cut loose en route his 41st first-class hundred in Rajat Bhatia's (72) company.

This is Sehwag's second successive first-class century this season after having scored 105 against Gujarat at the Feroz Shah Kotla in the last game.

The senior duo added 186 runs in 44.5 overs for the fifth wicket as they not only bailed Delhi out but also took them to a score where they can seriously think of recording their fourth successive outright win.

Sehwag's 147 came off 178 balls with 17 boundaries and a big six down the ground against medium pacer Himanshu Rana's bowling.

Bhatia played the ideal second fiddle as he faced 146 balls to hit seven fours and two sixes off spinner Jayant Yadav.

Coming in at No. 4, Sehwag first played his part in a recovery act as he didn't take any undue risk during his first 30 runs apart from punishing the occasional loose delivery.

In fact, it was Bhatia, who was initially giving the Haryana bowlers charge after Joginder's inspiring first spell brought about the end of Unmukt Chand (5), Varun Sood (1) and seasoned campaigner Mithun Manhas (0).

Skipper Gautam Gambhir (21) did all the hardwork playing out the first hour before an umpiring howler from A Nand Kishore brought about his end when he was adjudged caught behind when it seemed that he didn't get an inside edge to a Mohit Sharma delivery.

It was 41 for four, when Bhatia joined hands with Sehwag and they quietly took the score to 61 for four at lunch.

In the post-lunch session, Sehwag started opening up as he took the attack to seam quartet of Harshal Patel, Mohit, Kuldeep Hooda and Joginder.

Once he reached 50, he started hitting the flat batted shots, and out came the square cuts and back cuts.

It was one such back cut that was pierced between gully and point that brought about his century with the Delhi dressing room giving him a standing ovation.

He did hit a few lofted shots and some flat batted shots off Patel and Joginder but whenever a good delivery was bowled, he was prepared to let it go.

There were a couple of  dropped chances, one which was a dolly for Patel fielding at mid-off off Joginder's bowling but one can't deny that Sehwag was ready to cut down on his customary flamboyance in order to bat as long as possible.

Brief scores: Delhi 1st Innings 278/7 (Virender Sehwag 147 not out, Rajat Bhatia 72, Joginder Sharma 3/39) vs Haryana.

Yadav's century helps Mumbai dominate Day 1 vs MP

Mumbai: Captain Suryakumar Yadav struck a superb century, his sixth in first-class cricket and second of the season, while young opener Akhil Herwadkar missed his ton by just three runs as Mumbai dominated Madhya Pradesh on Day 1 of the four-day Group A Ranji Trophy match on Monday.

Yadav, 24, took full advantage of a pedestrian MP bowling attack to stroke his way to 135 off 145 balls, after openers Aditya Tare (37) and left-handed Herwadkar (97) laid a good foundation of 93 runs, to help Mumbai end the opening day at a commanding 375 for four in 87 overs.

The only batsman to fail was No. 3 Shreyas Iyer who came into the game after scoring a brilliant century against Bengal at Kolkata as the home batsmen made merry against a toothless attack after being asked to bat first at the Wankhede Stadium.

After the dismissals in quick succession of Tare and Iyer, Herwadkar got involved in a breezy third wicket stand of 104 in 117 balls with his captain who struck 22 fours and a six during his 215-minute stay at the crease.

After Herwadkar was lured out of his crease and stumped after striking 15 fours and a six in 151-ball knock, Yadav and Siddhesh Lad stitched a fourth wicket stand of 130 in 179 balls to frustrate MP.

The partnership ended when Yadav was castled attempting a heave to leg off Harpreet Singh who was the eighth bowler used by MP skipper Devendra Bundela to break the stand.

Lad, batting on 69 studded with 11 fours, and youngster Sarfraz Khan (20 off 29 balls) continued to plunder the tired MP attack to add 42 runs for the unfinished fifth wicket before stumps were drawn.

For MP, Puneet Datey claimed 2 for 62, his wickets being those of Tare and Iyer in the space of six balls. Left-arm spinner Ankit Sharma (1 for 41) and Harpreet Singh (1 for 21) got the other two wickets that fell.

Brief scores: Mumbai 1st inns: 375 for 4 (A Tare 37, A Herwadkar 97, S Yadav 135, S Lad batting 69, S Khan batting 20; P Datey 2 for 62) v Madhya Pradesh.

Devdhar's ton lifts Baroda on Day 1

Lucknow: Kedar Devdhar struck a career-best 146 to propel Baroda to 316 for six against Uttar Pradesh on the opening day of a Group A Ranji Trophy match.

Opting to bat after winning the toss, Devdhar and his opening partner Saurabh Wakaskar (63) shared 145 runs between them in 39.3 overs to ensure a solid start for the visiting team.

Devdhar made his third first-class century off 216 balls with the help of 22 boundaries, while Wakaskar's fifty came off 126 balls during which he struck eight fours and one six.

Skipper Aditya Waghmode also made a notable contribution of 53 off 108 balls before he being run out.

But after the departure of the trio, Baroda witnessed some sort of a batting collapse as Ambati Rayudu (8), Yusuf Pathan (1) and Deepak Hooda (10) all departed in quick succession.

At stumps, Irfan Pathan was not out on 15 while giving him company was wicket-keeper Pinal Shah on 5. 

For UP, leg-spinner Piyush Chawla picked up three wickets giving away 100 runs.

Brief Scores: Baroda 1st inns 316 for six in 90 overs (Kedhar Devdhar 146, Saurabh Wakaskar 63; Piyush Chawla 3/100) vs UP.

Vinay sends J&K crashing for 160

Hubli: Karnataka were 123 for five in their first innings in reply to Jammu and Kashmir's 160 all out on the opening day of a Group A Ranji Trophy match.

Karnataka's decision to bowl first after winning the toss paid rich dividends as they bundled out the visitors in 52.1 overs with skipper R Vinay Kumar registering best figures four for 37 runs.

All-rounder Stuart Binny (3/37) and Abhimanyu Mithun (2/23) gave Vinay Kumar the perfect support from the other end sharing five wickets between them.

For Jammu and Kashmir, captain Parvez Rasool top-scored with a 38-ball 39 during which he hit eight boundaries, while Ian Dev Singh made 31 off 73 deliveries.

In reply, Karnataka witnessed a horrible start to their innings as they lost openers Karun Nair (2) and Mayank Agarwal (3) early.

But Kunal Kapoor (23) and Manish Pandey (33) stabilised the innings with a 53-run third wicket stand before both perished in quick succession.

Karnataka suffered another blow in the form of Binny (1) soon but experienced Robin Uthappa (37 not out) and wicketkeeper CM Gautam ensured there was no further damage for the hosts, who still trail Jammu and Kashmir by 37 runs in the first innings.

Right-arm medium pacer Mohammed Mudhasir (3/29) was the pick of the bowlers for the visitors, while Ram Dayal scalped two wickets giving away 17 runs.

Brief Scores: J&K 1st inns 160 all out in 52.1 overs (Parvez Rasool 39, R Vinay Kumar 4/37) vs Karnataka 1st inns 123 for five in 30 overs (Robin Uthappa 37 not out, Mohammed Mudhasir 3/29).

Karthik misses century but TN recover after poor start

Kolkata: Bengal bowlers once again frittered away the advantage as Dinesh Karthik's swift counter attack saw Tamil Nadu finish the opening day on 208 for five in the Ranji Trophy match.

Pace spearhead Ashok Dinda (3/68) again produced a lion-hearted effort but lacked support from fellow pacers Sourav Sarkar (1/48) and rookie Pritam Chakraborty (0/33).

After Laxmi Ratan Shukla opted to field, Tamil Nadu were reduced to 91 for four, the visitors rode on Karthik's 92 off 131 balls which had 13 hits to the fence.

By the time, he missed out on a well-deserved century by eight runs edging one from Dinda to Shreevats Goswami behind the stumps, he had somewhat scripted a recovery act with a 105-run fifth wicket stand with Ramaswamy Prasanna (35 not out).

At stumps, Rajagopal Sathish (10 not out) was at the crease with Prasanna on a curtailed day with only 66 overs possible due to wet outfield.

For the third successive time, Bengal skipper Laxmi Ratan Shukla won the toss and opted to field but the team was severely let down by their frail bowling line-up which was virtually reduced to one-man attack in Dinda.

The Bengal speedster castled opener K Bharath Shankar (18) and No. 3 Baba Aparajith (26) early on and went on to remove the Karthik to let Bengal finish the opening day with a glint of optimism.

Karthik did all the hard work and brought the team out of the rut in the most effective partnership with Prasanna but a lapse in concentration cost him a second first-class century in three matches.

The former India wicketkeeper built his innings brick by brick with a patient half-century in 74 balls that came immediately after the tea session.

Having completed his 32nd first-class half-century, Karthik raced to the 90s with some elegant drives all around the park before he was foxed by a Dinda's pace and swing to take an outside edge.

Brief Scores: Tamil Nadu 208/5 in 66 overs (Dinesh Karthik 92, R Prasanna 35 not out; Ashok Dinda 3/68) vs Bengal.

Pranay hits century to lead Rajasthan's recovery

Jaipur: An unbeaten century by opener Pranay Sharma and half-centuries by Ashok Menaria and Rajesh Bishnoi Sr steered Rajasthan to 295 for four against Punjab on day one of their Ranji Trophy Group B match.

At stumps on the opening day, Pranay was unbeaten on 118 off 273 balls studded with 16 fours and a six, and giving him company at the other end was Puneet Yadav on 25.

Earlier, Punjab's move to put Rajasthan in to bat upon winning toss paid off initially as the hosts lost opener Vineet Saxena (0) and one-down batsman Robin Bisht (1) cheaply with the scoreboard reading a miserable 23 for two.

But Pranay, playing his first Ranji match of the season, held forte and in the able company of Menaria (65) consolidated the innings by putting on 102 runs together for the third wicket.

He then added another 130 runs for the fourth wicket with Bishnoi Sr (67) to rally the hosts and in the process completed his reached his maiden hundred.

Star all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, who is being tipped for a slot in the India's World Cup squad for injured all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, bowled just a single over in the day.

Dhawan takes five to put HP on top

Dharamsala: All-rounder Rishi Dhawan picked five wickets as Group C leaders Himachal Pradesh bundled out Kerala for 196 on the opening day.

The hosts took 73.4 overs to bowl out Kerala after opting to field at the the picturesque HPCA Stadium.

Sanju Samson (30), Raiphi Gomez (32) and Basil Thampi (32) were the only ones to offer some resistance but the rest of the batsmen perished cheaply.

It was Dhawan's second five-wicket haul of the season.

Himachal were 11 for no loss at stumps with Ankush Bains (10) and Varun Sharma (1) in the middle.

Brief scores: Kerala 196 (Sanju Samson 30, Raiphi Gomez 32 and Basil Thampi 32; Rishi Dhawan 5/57, Bipul Sharma 3/37) vs HP 11/0.

Hyderabad on top against Tripura

Agartala: Medium pacer Anwar Ahmed took a five-wicket haul to put Hyderabad in a strong position against Tripura at stumps on day one of the Group C Ranji Trophy match.

Anwar's burst helped Hyderabad dismiss Tripura for 184 in 45.1 overs before the visiting team's batsmen made 116 for one at close of play, trailing by 68 runs.

Akshath Reddy was batting on 66 with the help of ten fours while his opening partner Tanmay Agarwal (39) was unlucky to depart three balls before stumps were called.

Brief scores: Tripura 184 (Kaushan Acharjee 55, Manisankar Murasingh 44; Anwar Ahmed 5/53, Chama Milind 3/56) vs Hyderabad 116/1.

Vinay sends J&K crashing for 160

Hubli: Karnataka were 123 for five in their first innings in reply to Jammu and Kashmir's 160 all out on the opening day of a Group A Ranji Trophy match.

Karnataka's decision to bowl first after winning the toss paid rich dividends as they bundled out the visitors in 52.1 overs with skipper R Vinay Kumar registering best figures four for 37 runs.

All-rounder Stuart Binny (3/37) and Abhimanyu Mithun (2/23) gave Vinay Kumar the perfect support from the other end sharing five wickets between them.

For Jammu and Kashmir, captain Parvez Rasool top-scored with a 38-ball 39 during which he hit eight boundaries, while Ian Dev Singh made 31 off 73 deliveries.

In reply, Karnataka witnessed a horrible start to their innings as they lost openers Karun Nair (2) and Mayank Agarwal (3) early.

But Kumal Kapoor (23) and Manish Pandey (33) stabilised the innings with a 53-run third wicket stand before both perished in quick succession.

Karnataka suffered another blow in the form of Binny (1) soon but experienced Robin Uthappa (37 not out) and wicketkeeper CM Gautam ensured there was no further damage for the hosts, who still trail Jammu and Kashmir by 37 runs in the first innings.

Right-arm medium pacer Mohammed Mudhasir (3/29) was the pick of the bowlers for the visitors, while Ram Dayal scalped two wickets giving away 17 runs.

Brief Scores: J&K 1st inns: 160 all out in 52.1 overs (Parvez Rasool 39, R Vinay Kumar 4/37) vs Karnataka 1st inns: 123 for five in 30 overs (Robin Uthappa 37 not out, Mohammed Mudhasir 3/29).