Ranji Roundup: Ishant shines for Delhi on Day 1

New Delhi: Skipper Ishant Sharma shone with the ball with three wickets while debutant Kulwant Khejroliya impressed with his pace as Delhi restricted Assam to 224 for seven at stumps on the first day of their Ranji Trophy Group A match.

Ishant, leading Delhi for the first time, registered impressive figures of three for 31 and he also marshalled his resources well on a benign Kotla track that didn't have much to offer.

Another impressive performance came from left-arm pacer Khejroliya (1/46 in 18 overs), who produced decent pace to trouble the batsmen.

It was sheer pace that sent Assam skipper Gokul Sharma's (51 off 172 balls) stumps cartwheeling. Kulwant was hitting the deck hard and getting deliveries to rear up awkwardly where some of the others couldn't get it above knee roll at times.

India 'A' bowler Navdeep Saini (1/34) was sharp during the first spell when he removed opener Rishav Das (14) with an in-cutter.

Ishant looked rusty in his first spell but then got into a decent rhythm in his second spell as he got Shib Sankar Roy (11) to edge one to Unmukt Chand in the slip cordon.

The India speedster's second victim was Tarjinder Singh (16) who was trapped plumb in front in post lunch session.

Off-spinner Pulkit Narang (1/39 in 23 overs) trapped Wasiqur Rahaman leg before leaving Assam reeling at 115 for five.

It was Gokul and Sarupam Purkayastha (57 batting), who added 58 runs for the sixth wicket to salvage some pride.

Sarupam then added another 51 runs with Abu Nechim Ahmed (27), who was cleaned up by the Delhi skipper in the last over.

Brief Scores:

Assam 224/7 (Gokul Sharma 51, Sarupam Purkayastha 57 not out, Ishant Sharma 3/31) vs Delhi.

Railways vs Uttar Pradesh:

Railways: 182 all out in 76 overs (Ashish Yadav 53, Nitin Bhille 42; Ankit Rajpoot 3/30, Zeeshan Ansari 3/78).

Hyderabad vs Maharashtra: No play due to rain.

Bhatt's four-wicket haul sends TN crashing

Chennai: Andhra Pradesh bowlers restricted a formidable Tamil Nadu to a modest 176 on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy Group C encounter at the M A Chidambaram Stadium.

Middle-order batsman Baba Aparajith was the top-scorer with a patient knock of 51, while the others capitulated in the face of disciplined bowling from the visitors on what seemed to be a good wicket.

Left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt took four wickets and was instrumental in putting the brakes on the home line-up, along with left-arm medium-pacer Prithvi Raj Yarra, who took three wickets.

The big guns in the Tamil Nadu line-up --- M Vijay and skipper Abhinav Mukund -- failed to get going after the winning the toss and electing to bat.

Vijay, out of the India Test side since the series against Australia earlier this year, pottered around for 21 balls before slashing a ball from B Ayyappa to be caught for just 4.

The left-handed Mukund followed a few deliveries later for 11 as Tamil Nadu lost two wickets at the score of 15.

M Kaushik Gandhi, who scored heavily in the previous season and Baba Indrajith added 26 runs in a confident manner before the latter became the first of Bhatt's victims.

This was followed by a 32-run stand between Gandhi and Aparajith, which was broken by Shoaib Mohammed Khan.

Ravichandran Ashwin walked in at No. 6 with the team in a spot of bother at 73 for four, but was castled by Ayyappa for nine as Tamil Nadu slipped further.

With half the side gone for 88, the former Ranji champions handed the advantage to the underdogs.

Aparajith and the talented young all-rounder Washington Sundar attempted some repair work but the promising partnership ended when the latter was dismissed by Prithvi Raj for 14.

Tamil Nadu then lost three wickets in the space of three runs as Bhatt captured two more wickets with the hosts in danger of being bowled out for less than 150.

Attacking wicketkeeper-batsman N Jagadeesan, who made a ton on debut last year, disappointed by falling for a duck.

Aparajith, who was waging a lonely battle, put on 26 runs with Rahil Shah, but his knock was ended by Bhatt.

The last wicket pair of Shah and K Vignesh added 36 important runs as the latter used the long-handle to good effect while making 25 inclusive of two fours and a six.

Bhatt finished with four for 52, while Prithvi Raja Yarra took 3 for 39 and Ayyappa scalped two wickets.

Brief scores:

Tamil Nadu 176 all out (Baba Aparajith 51, K Vignesh 25 not out, Bhargav Bhatt 4 for 52, Prithvi Raj Yarra 3 for 39) vs Andhra Pradesh 8 for no loss in Chennai.

Madhya Pradesh 268 for 5 in 87.3 overs (Devendra Bundela 99, Shubam Sharma 88 not out, Harpreet Singh Bhatia 32, A Sheth 2 for 51) vs Baroda at Indore.

Tripura vs Odisha - Play on first day washed out at Cuttack.

Pujara out for 35 as Haryana keep Saurashtra in check

Rohtak: Prerak Mankad (68) and Sheldon Jackson (51) scored half-centuries as Saurashtra reached 271 for seven at stumps against Haryana on the opening day of their Group B Ranji Trophy match.

Opting to bat, Saurashtra lost opener Snell Patel (17) early, but the other opening batsman KM Parmar (35) along with India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara (35) put on 55 runs together for the second wicket.

But both Parmar and Pujara got out before the team reached the 100-run mark.

Although Jackson and Mankad played responsible knocks each, Saurashtra kept losing wickets at regular interval with Ashish Hooda returning with figures of four for 59.

Jackson's innings came off 59 balls that included five fours and three sixes, while Mankad took 115 balls for his 68 with the help of five boundaries and a six.

Apart from Mankad and Jackson, Chirag Jani contributed with 45 runs.

Brief scores:

Saurashtra 1st innings: 271/7 in 83.4 overs (Prerak Mankad 68, Sheldon Jackson 51; Ashish Hooda 4/59).

Jharkhand 1st innings: 200/9 in 71 overs (Ishan Kishan 45; Jalaj S Saxena 6/50) vs Kerala.

Rajasthan: 249/4 in 88 overs (Robin Bist 105, Ashok Menaria 69; Mohammed Mudhasir 3/66) vs Jammu and Kashmir.

Chatterjee's hundred lifts Bengal on Day 1

New Delhi: Left-hander Sudeep Chatterjee struck a patient unbeaten hundred as Bengal cruised to 341 for three against Services on a placid track on the first day of their Group D Ranji Trophy encounter.

Vice-captain Chatterjee was unbeaten on 114 and added 153 runs for the third wicket with skipper Manoj Tiwary (69) and another 63 for the unbroken fourth wicket stand with Wriddhiman Saha (32 not out).

Bengal started the day with Abhishek Raman (40) and Abhimanyu Easwaran (65) adding 97 runs for the opening wicket.

Easwaran, who recently hit a hundred in the Duleep Trophy final, hit nine boundaries in his 104-ball knock.     Chatterjee, who has been regularly playing for India 'A', hit 11 boundaries in his 182-ball knock.

Skipper Tiwary was positive in his approach hitting six fours and two sixes in 97 balls. He was severe on leg-spinner Muzaffaruddin Khalid (1/89 in 16 overs) lofting him effortlessly before he was fooled by one that kept straight and low.

Chatterjee played without taking much risk in company of Saha, who looked very comfortable during his 49-ball stay on the day. He hit a four and a six.

Brief Scores:  

Bengal 341/3 (Sudeep Chatterjee 114 not out, Manoj Tiwary 69) vs Services

Other Group D scores

Himachal Pradesh 459/2 (Prashant Chopra 271 not out, Paras Dogra 99 not out) vs Punjab.

Chattisgarh 189/5 (Mohammed Kaif 49 not out, Darshan Misal 2/15) vs Goa.