Ranji Trophy: Lad impresses as Delhi restrict Mumbai

Promising Mumbai batsman Siddhesh Lad impressed with a knock of 74 before Delhi fought back with a couple of late wickets to keep the hosts to 252 for six on the first day of their Group A Ranji Trophy match in Mumbai.

The experienced Wasim Jaffer made 61 while Asitya Tare scored 53 at the Bandra Kurla Complex.

For the visitors, Ashish Nehra and Parvinder Awana were the two most impressive bowlers, picking up two wickets each after Mumbai opted to bat.

At stumps, Hiken Shah and Balwinder Sandhu were batting on 13 and seven, respectively.

Mumbai were off to a bad start as they lost opener Kaustabh Pawar with just 10 runs on the board, veteran left-arm pacer Nehra being the successful bowler.

A 94-run partnership for the second wicket ensued between wicketkeeper-batsman Tare and Jaffer before the latter was sent back by Awana with the scoreboard reading 104/2 in the 39th over.

Jaffer's innings was laced 12 fours and a six and he faced 95 balls.

Tare got out to Manan Sharma after spending a good 279 minutes in the middle, during which he found the fence six times.

The 21-year-old Lal continued to tackle the Delhi bowlers and by the time he became the sixth man to get out, Lad had struck nine fours having faced 137 balls and spent 194 minutes at the crease.

All-rounder Abhishek Yadav (12) could not do much while the talented Suryakumar Yaday (20) got out after getting a start.

Brief scores:

Mumbai 1st innings: 252 for six in 6 in 88 overs (Siddhesh Lad 74, Wasim Jaffer 61, Aditya Tare 53; Ashish Nehra 2/16). 

 

Karnataka struggling after good start against Gujarat

Bangalore: Karnataka squandered a good start by their openers to hand the initiative to Gujarat as they were struggling at 226 for seven at the end of the opening day of their Group A Ranji Trophy match at Chinnaswamy stadium.

A solid 80-run opening stand between Mayank Agarwal (42) and Lokesh Rahul (34) had given the hosts a good platform to consolidate but Karnataka lost six wickets in the last two sessions to squander the initiative.

Kunal Kapoor played his part at number three with a crucial 57 to give some respectability to the Karnataka total.

Gujarat captain Parthiv Patel did not have any hesitation in putting Karnataka into bat, hoping to capitalise on the morning conditions. But Mayank and Rahul kept the Gujarat bowlers at bay before the former fell to Rakesh Dhruv for 42 runs in 88 balls with seven hits to the fence.

Kapoor held on firmly in company of Rahul to carry Karnataka to 93 for one at lunch.

However, Rahul fell soon after the lunch for 34, which he made in 108 balls with six hits to the fence. Thereafter, Karnataka lost wickets at regular intervals and did not have any partnership going.

Left-arm spinner Akshar Patel and pacer Mehul Patel took vital wickets of Rahul and dangerous Manish Pandey (8) while Dhruv and Jasprit Bumrah dismissed Chidambaram Gautam (8) and Stuart Binny (4) at the fag end of second session to bring Gujarat back into the game.

In the post-tea session, pacer Mehul Patel first sent Kapoor packing after he scored 57 off 149 balls with the help of seven boundaries.

Bumrah once again came into the party and removed home side captain Vinay Kumar, caught behind by Parthiv for 22 to break the 44-run stand for the seventh wicket with Ganesh Satish.

Mehul, Bumrah and Dhruv finished the day with two wickets apiece while Akshar took one wicket.

At stumps, Satish was batting on 36 and Abhimanyu Mithun on three.

 

Jadhav, Khadiwale slam tons to power Maharashtra to 337/4

Hyderabad: Kedar Jadhav and Harshad Khadiwale slammed a century each to take Maharashtra to a commanding 337 for four at the end of the opening day's play in their Group C Ranji Trophy match against Hyderabad.

At stumps, Maharashtra were in total control with Jadhav still unbeaten on 175 and giving him company at the other end was Rohit Motwani on 15.

While Jadhav's unbeaten knock came off 231 balls laced with 24 fours and a six, Khadiwale decorated his 107-run innings with 15 fours and a six. It came off 194 balls during his 266-minute stay at the crease.

Jadhav and Khadiwale also put on a solid 206 runs together for the third wicket.

Electing to bat, Maharashtra lost opener Chirag Khurana (19) and one-down batsman Vijay Zol (4) cheaply to be reeling at 32 for two.

But Khadiwale joined hands with Jadhav to not just bail the visitors out of trouble but also take an upper hand by the end of the day's play.

Brief scores:

Maharashtra 1st innings: 337 for four in 90 overs (Kedar Jadhav batting 175, Harshad Khadiwale 107; M Ravi Kiran 2/58) vs Hyderabad.

 

Mali takes 8/45 as Railways bundle out Baroda for 176

Vadodara: Medium pacer Ranjitkumar Mali produced a dream spell that saw him take eight wickets for 45 runs, as Railways bundled out Baroda for 176 in their Group B Ranji Trophy match.

Opting to field after winning the toss, Railways rode on the 25-year-old Mali, who hails from Tezpur in Assam, to run through the Baroda line-up in their first innings.

This is Mali's best figures in first-class cricket, having made his debut in 2008.

At stumps on the first day, Railways were 24 for one in 16 overs. For Baroda, Aditya Waghmode made 33 while Yusuf Pathan and Murtuja Vahora contributed 32 each at the Moti Bagh Stadium.

Brief scores:

Baroda 1st innings: 176 all out in 69 overs (Aditya Waghmode 33; Ranjitkumar Mali 8/45).

 

Jackson saves Saurashtra with ton on day one

Rajkot: Sheldon Jackson struck an unbeaten century and shared a 138-run partnership with Sagar Jogiyani as Saurashtra overcame early jolts to reach 235 for four against Uttar Pradesh in their Ranji Trophy Group B match.

After electing to bat, the hosts were struggling at 55 for three when Jackson joined Jogiyani at the crease and the two batsmen lifted their team out of trouble.

Jackson was batting on 102 off 184 balls while Jogiyani was scalped by leg-spinner Piyush Chawla after making 74 off 237 balls.

Giving Jackson company was Aarpit Vasavada on 17.

Saurashtra lost both the openers inside seven overs. Paceman Imtiaz Ahmed had Bhushan Chauhan caught behind for a duck while Chirag Pathak (4) was trapped by India discard paceman RP Singh.

Jogiyani and skipper Jaydev Shah added 41 runs for the third wicket and looked like rebuilding the innings but Chawla foiled their plans by removing Shah.

However, it was a long drawn battle for UP bowlers after that as Jogiyani and Jackson steadily built the innings.

Jogiyani hit 12 fours in his sedate knock while Jackson hit 14 fours and a six.

They batted together for 50 overs to ensure that momentum is withdrawn from the rivals. Chawla broke the stand when he had Jogiyani caught by Mukul Dagar.

Brief Scores:

Saurashtra 1st innings: 235 for 4 in 90 overs (Sheldon Jackson 102 batting, Sagar Jogiyani 74; Piyush Chawla 2/61).

 

Odisha recover to 226/3 on 1st day against Vidarbha

Nagpur: Niranjan Behera struck a solid unbeaten 90 as Odisha recovered from early struggle to post 226 for three on the opening day of their Group A Ranji Trophy match against Vidarbha.

Behera, who hit 11 boundaries in 228-ball stay at the crease, stitched 150 runs for the third wicket with Govind Podder (74) after Gujarat were reduced to 26 for two in the first hour at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium at Jamtha.

Openers Girija Rout and Natraj Behera could contribute just 15 and seven respectively after Odisha captain Biplab Samantray won the toss and opted to bat.

At stumps after 90 overs on the first day, Samantray was giving company to Niranjan on 31. The duo has so far made 50 runs for the unbroken fourth wicket.

Samantray had faced 100 balls so far from which he hit three boundaries.

For Vidarbha, Amol Jungade took two wickets while his pace-mate Shrikant Wagh got a wicket.

Brief Scores:

Odisha 1st Innings: 226 for 3 from 90 overs (Niranjan Behera 90 batting, Govind Podder 74; Amol Jungade 2/28).

 

Pailwal, Desai strike fifties in Services fight against UP

New Delhi: Rajat Paliwal came up with a fighting unbeaten half-century and combined well with lower-order batsmen to take Services to 275 for six against Rajasthan in their Ranji Trophy Group B match.

Paliwal was batting on 71 and Suraj Yadav on 23 when stumps were drawn for the day. They added quick 39 runs in 6.3 overs in their seventh-wicket unfinished stand.

Among the top-order batsmen, only opener Pratik Desai (65) put up some fight against the former champions.

Paliwal got a good support from Vishnu Tiwari (45) and their 106-run stand stabilised the innings of hosts, who were struggling at 130 for five.

Their stand ended when Rituraj Singh castled Tiwari, who hit two fours in his 103-ball knock.

Fast bowler Pankaj Singh (3/74) rocked Services top order with his three-wicket burst after his pace colleague Aniket Choudhary drew the first blood for Rajasthan.

Left-arm paceman Choudhary had Services skipper Soumik Chatterjee (11) caught behind after they decided to bowl at Palam Ground.

Pankaj then sent back Anshul Gupta (1) and wicket-keeper Nakul Verma (29).

The other opener Pratik Deai was batting solid from the other end but was eventually trapped by Pankaj. His 65 came off 123 balls with six boundaries.

Choudhary had his second victim when he trapped Yashpal Singh (5).

However, the hosts batted well after that.

Brief Scores:

Services: 275 for six in 90 overs (Rajat Paliwal 71 batting, Pratik Desai 65; Pankaj Singh 3/74, Aniket Choudhary 2/39). 

Image: Wasim Jaffer

Photograph: Mark Nolan/Getty Images