Ranji: Sarfaraz to Mumbai's rescue as Jadeja takes 5

Dharmendrasinh Jadeja destroys Mumbai, taking 5 wickets for 90 runs. 

A summary of the opening day's play in the Elite Group Ranji Trophy matches across the country.

Saurashtra's slow left-arm orthodox bowler Dharmendrasinh Jadeja snared five wickets to leave Mumbai tottering at 249 for 8 on the opening day of their Elite Group B Ranji Trophy match, in Rajkot, on Tuesday.

Had Sarfaraz Khan not rescued Mumbai yet again after a top-order collapse, scoring 78, the 41-times Ranji champions would have been in an even more precarious position in what is a must-win game for them.

Jadeja (5/90) rattled Mumbai’s top-order and among his wickets were Jay Bista (43), Bhupen Lalwani (25), Siddesh Lad (13) and rival skipper Aditya Tare (10).

Opting to bat at the SCA stadium, Mumbai openers Bista and Lalwani (25) failed to convert good starts. The duo put up 62 for the first wicket before Bista was trapped in front of the wicket by Jadeja.

Senior-pro Suryakumar Yadav fell for a first-ball duck after being trapped in front of the wicket by Prerak Mankad, as Mumbai were in a spot of bother at 63 for 2. Soon, it became 74 for 3 after Jadeja removed Lalwani, who gave a sitter to mid-off.

Crisis man Siddhesh Lad (13) had on several occasions in the past taken his team out of the rubble, but failed to do so on Tuesday. He became Jadeja's third's victim after the bowler trapped him in front of the wicket to leave the visitors teetering at 88 for 4.

Then Sarfaraz (78 off 126 balls; 9x4 and 2x6) and all-rounder Shams Mulani (59 not out off 171 balls; 6x4; 2x6) steadied the ship with a 109-run stand for the fifth wicket. They ensured that Mumbai took lunch and tea without losing any further wickets.

Sarfaraz, who guided his team out of trouble in the last two matches, again played a matured and responsible knock. However, after doing all the hard work, he fell for 78, cleaned up by Kamlesh Makwana.

His unbeaten run thus ended in first-class cricket, after amassing 605 runs from three innings.

Aditya Tare (10) was dismissed cheaply as he became Jadeja's fourth victim. Mulani held one end and completed his fourth fifty after tapping Jadeja for a single.

However, Mulani fell short of partners as Vinayak Bhoir (21) and Shashank Attarde (0) also fell in quick succession as Saurashtra took honours on day 1.

For the home side, Jadeja was ably supported by Mankad (2/30) and Makwana (1/46).

Earlier, the Saurashtra Cricket Association felicitated senior speedster Jaydev Unadkat for taking 300 scalps in first-class cricket. Unadkat, however, missed the game due to a niggle.

Brief scores:

At Rajkot: Mumbai 249/8 (Sarfaraz Khan 78; Shams Mulani 59 batting; D Jadeja 5/90) vs Saurashtra.

At Shimoga: Karnataka 233/3 (R Samarth 105; Siddharth KV 62 not out; Gourav Yadav 1-29) vs Madhya Pradesh.

At Baroda: Baroda 174 all out (A Sheth 53, Anureet Singh 25; M Mohammed 7/68) vs Tamil Nadu 135/0 (Abhinav Mukund 73 not out, L Suryapprakash 61 not out).

At New Delhi: (Karnail Singh Stadium): Himachal Pradesh 283 (Nikhil Gangta 72, R Dhawan 70; Pradeep Poojar 4/62) vs Railways.

Kunwar, Himmat lead Delhi's fightback

New Delhi: All-rounder Kunwar Bidhuri and the talented Himmat Singh struck fighting half-centuries to rescue Delhi from a precarious position as the hosts reached 270 for 6 against Gujarat on the first day of their Ranji Trophy Group A encounter.

At one stage Delhi were staring down the barrel at 136 for 5, with only opener Hiten Dalal (69 off 130 balls) looking comfortable against the Gujarat attack.

However, Himmat (56 off 153 balls), who made a comeback to the senior side along with Kunwar (78 batting off 133 balls), rescued Delhi with a 134-run sixth-wicket stand.

Pacer Arzan Nagaswalla (3/54 in 18 overs) was the pick of the Gujarat bowlers while seasoned Axar Patel (1/60 in 18.3 overs) did the most important job of dismissing Himmat off the last ball of the day.

The right-hander, who showed tremendous patience during his 153-ball stay went for a drive but the edge landed in Rujul Bhatt's hands in the slip cordon.

This was after he had hit eight fours and a six during his knock.

Kunwar, who scored his maiden half-century, was more attacking of the two, hitting 11 fours and a six.

In the morning, opener Anuj Rawat (4) was trapped leg before by left-arm seamer Rush Kalaria (2/58 in 22 overs) but skipper Dhruv Shorey (28) and Dalal added 73 for the second wicket.

With Delhi looking in control, pacer Nagaswalla dealt a twin blow getting Shorey leg-before and breaching through his deputy Nitish Rana's (0) defence in successive overs.

At 79 for 3, there was another stand of 49 between Dalal, who hit 10 fours and Jonty Sidhu (18). But in the post-lunch session, Nagaswalla got his third wicket as Jonty edged one to Samit Gohel in the slips.

Dalal, who faced 130 balls, suddenly had a rush of blood as he tried to hook an innocuous Kalaria bouncer to be caught by the only man Nagaswalla stationed behind square.

After that Himmat and Kunwar held the innings together and gave Delhi an opportunity to fight and remain in the match.

Brief scores:

At Delhi: Delhi 270/6 (Kunwar Bidhuri 78 batting, Hiten Dalal 69, Himmat Singh 53) vs Gujarat.

At Jaipur: Rajasthan 242 all out (Mahipal Lomror 52, Mukesh Kumar 6/62) vs Bengal 47/1.

At Patiala: Andhra 97 (Siddarth Kaul 5/24, Vinay Choudhary 3/28) and 31/4 (Vinay Choudhary 3/11) vs Punjab 108 (Mandeep Singh 23, Shoaib Mohammed Khan 5/46, S Ashish 5/50).

At Nagpur: Vidarbha 239 for 6 (Wasim Jaffer 57, Ganesh Sathish 58, MD Nidheesh 3/53).

Haryana in command after bowling Assam out for 97

Rohtak: Haryana gained the upper hand on an eventful opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group 'C' match against Assam, taking a 101-run lead after bundling out their opponents for 97 in the first innings.

Haryana finished the day on 198 for 9.

Captain Harshal Patel's decision to bowl after winning the toss paid dividends as he and left-arm spinner Tinu Kundu (5/35) wrecked the Assam batting line-up, making good use of the conditions. Medium-pacer Patel, who has been key for Haryana this season, finished with 4 for 32.

Opener Kunal Saikia (17) and one-down batsman Rishav Das (13) defied the Haryana attack for a while but once Kundu dismissed the latter, Assam kept losing wickets at regular intervals.

The talented Riyan Parag, on whom a lot depended, was leg-before wicket to Kundu for a duck.

Rajjakuddin Ahmed (35 not out) hit six fours and a six in his aggressive 34-ball knock that helped Assam get close to 100.

In reply, Haryana looked in trouble having lost half the side for 65 before a defiant 76-run partnership between Chaitanya Bishnoi (46) and R P Sharma (59) sparked a revival.

Bishnoi was very watchful to begin with but opened up later to play some attractive shots and hit two big sixes.

Later, the skipper Harshal Patel (28) smacked three fours and two sixes to help Haryana extend the lead.

Brief scores:

At Rohtak: Assam 97 all out in 37 overs (Rajjakuddin Ahmed 35 not out; Tinu Kundu 5/35; Harshal Patel 4/32) vs Haryana 198 for 9 in 46.3 overs (R P Sharma 59, Chaitanya Bishnoi 46, Harshal Patel 28; Ranjeet Mali 3/34, Mukthar Hussain 3/38, Siddarth Sarmah 3/65).

At Agartala: J&K 280 for 9 in 89 overs (Jiyaad Nazir Magrey 66, Aquib Nabi 46, Abid Mushtaq 48 batting; M B Mura Singh 4/85) vs Tripura.

At Dehardun: Uttarakhand 83 all out in 23.4 overs (D Negi 21 not out; Raushan Raj 3/27, Diwesh Pathania 3/28) and 10 for no loss in 7 overs vs Services 173 all out in 52.2 overs (Rahul Singh Gahlaut 45, Mumtaz Qadir 37; Mayank Mishra 6/48).

At Pune: Odisha 220 for 5 in 88 overs (Shantanu Mishra 84 batting, Rajesh Dhuper 67 batting, Anurag Sarangi 41) vs Maharashtra.

At Jamshedpur: Chhattisgarh 238 for 4 in 78 overs (Harpreet Singh Bhatia 124 batting, Jiwanjot Singh 52) vs Jharkhand.