Jaffer's 50th first class ton rescues Mumbai

Wasim Jaffer scored a milestone 50th century in first class cricket to rescue Mumbai on Day 1 on the Ranji Trophy Group A match against Vidarbha, at the Wankhede stadium, in Mumbai, on Thursday.

He was unbeaten on 133 as Mumbai ended the day on 254 for 8 in 89 overs.

Playing his 216th first class match, the 35-year-old former India opener batted through the day, and hit 13 fours and a six during his 261-ball knock.

India’s batting legends Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar jointly hold the record for most centuries in first class cricket with 81 tons to their names.

Jaffer, who played 31 Tests for India, said he was delighted that his milestone ton came when his team needed it the most.

“It was important for somebody to stay out in the middle and score some runs, so it feels good. It feels nice to have scored 50 centuries,” he said.

Ajinkya Rahane, who is in India’s Test and ODI squad for the forthcoming tour of South Africa, perished cheaply, dismissed by Sandeep Singh for one.

Mumbai’s middle order batsmen Abhishek Nayar (27), Siddhesh Lad (27) and Aditya Tare (17) were guilty of throwing their wickets away after getting starts.

Reflecting on Mumbai’s poor showing, senior pro Jaffer said some of the batsmen played bad shots and threw their wickets away.

“There were a few bad shots. They (the batsmen) must have realised it, but they will learn with time. The wicket wasn't doing a lot after the first session and we needed to build partnerships,” he said.

Vidarbha’s South Africa-bound pacer Umesh Yadav failed to make an impression with the ball and went wicketless in 19 overs, for 69 runs.

 “They bowled well; the first session was very trying. The ball was seaming around, so we needed to hang around. We knew that after the first session the wicket would get easy and that is what happened. Umesh bowled all right; he didn't bowl badly, but, unluckily, didn't pick any wicket,” Jaffer added.

Scorecard

Mumbai (1st innings):

Kaustubh Pawar c Wakhare b Sandeep Singh 3

Wasim Jaffer batting 133

Ajinkya Rahane c Badani b Sandeep Singh 1

Siddhesh Lad c Fazal b Sandeep Singh 20

Abhishek Nayar b Wakhare 27

Aditya Tare lbw Wakhare 17

Suryakumar Yadav c Yadav b Jangid 5

Shardul Thakur c sub (Urvesh Patel) b Jangid 26

Zaheer Khan b Jangid 6

Vishal Dabholkar batting 0

Extras: (b-8, lb-7, w-1) 16

Total: (for 8 wkts, 89 overs, 393 mins) 254

Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-10, 3-39, 4-103, 5-141, 6-161, 7-219, 8-227

Bowling: Sandeep Singh 19-8-29-3, Umesh Yadav 19-2-69-0, Shrikant Wagh 16-3-28-0 (1w), Ravi Jangid 18-2-48-3, Akshay Wakhare 17-0-65-2.

Vikram takes five-for as Punjab bowl out Haryana for 163

Rohtak: Medium pacer VRV Singh wreaked havoc with a five-wicket haul as Punjab bundled out Haryana for a mere 163 on Day 1 of their Ranji Trophy Group A match at the Bansi Lal cricket stadium.

However, Punjab could not make the most of the good showing as they lost three wickets for 50 runs in reply by the end of the day.

Experienced left-hander Uday Kaul (9) and night-watchman Sandeep Sharma (0) will resume Punjab’s innings on Friday.

Haryana's decision to bat backfired as India discard Vikarm (VRV) and his pace colleague Sandeep Sharma shared eight wickets between them to bowl out the hosts for a mere 163.

It was Sandeep who rattled the top-order and then Vikram polished off the middle and lower order.

For Haryana, opener Avi Barot (65) scored a half-century, but their middle-order crumbled in the face of some disciplined bowling.

It was a decent if not superb start for Haryana, as Barot and Abhimanyu Khod (21) added 48 runs for the first wicket before latter was run-out. One-down Sunny Singh was out first ball, caught behind off Sandeep.

Rahul Dalal (18) had sort of stabilised the innings with Barot but Sandeep struck again, having him leg before. Barot too fell, becoming the first victim of Vikram. And in no time, the hosts were 113 for four.

After that only two batsmen -- stumper Nitin Saini (29) and Jayant Yadav (11) -- got into double-digit scores and their innings fell like a deck of cards.

Haryana lost their last six wickets for the addition of 50 runs.

Punjab lost openers Jiwanjot Singh (8) and R Inder Singh (22) along with skipper Mandeep Singh (2) as Haryana fought their way back in the match.

Brief scores:  Haryana 163 all out in 50.1 overs (A Barot 65, Nitin Saini 29; Vikram Singh 5-38, Sandeep Sharma 3-61).

Punjab 50 for 3 in 19 overs (R Inder Singh 22; S Budhwar 1-2).

Mukund shines for TN with unbeaten ton

Chennai: Abhinav Mukund scored a fine unbeaten century as Tamil Nadu were well-placed on 268 for 2 on the opening day of their Group B Ranji Trophy match against Saurashtra.

At close of play, at the MA Chidambaram stadium, Mukund was batting on 103, having faced 230 balls and hitting 10 boundaries. Giving the 23-year-old company was Baba Aparajith, on 40 off 66 balls. Aparajith hit two fours and as many sixes.

Murali Vijay (62) and Subramaniam Badrinath (56) were the other contributors for the hosts, who are looking to bag full points.

Vijay got useful batting practice ahead of the Indian team's tour of South Africa. He smashed nine fours and two sixes during his 93-ball knock, while Badrinath found the fence nine times and cleared it once.

Tamil Nadu scored at a healthy pace considering that the day ended with 10 overs left to be bowled, due to bad light.

Sent in to bat, Tamil Nadu were off to a solid start, with openers Mukund and Vijay sharing 97 runs for the first wicket.

Vijay was the first to get out as he was stumped by Sagar Jogiyani off the bowling of Chirag Jani.

It was followed by another 93-run stand for the second wicket between Mukund and Badrinath before the latter was dismissed by Aarpit Vasavada.

There was no success for Saurashtra after that as the duo of Mukund and Aparajith was associated in an unbroken 78 runs for the third wicket, enabling the hosts take the honours on the first day.

Jani and Vasavada were the wicket-takers for the visiting side.

Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 268-2 in 80 overs (Mukund not out 103, Vijay 62, Badrinath 56, Aparijith not out 40).

Arindam Das scores unbeaten hundred for Bengal

New Delhi: Veteran opener Arindam Das scored an unbeaten century as Bengal put up a decent 242 for 3 at stumps on the first day of their fifth round Ranji Trophy match against the Services at the Air Force ground, in Palam.

Arindam batted through the day to remain unconquered on 139. He a shared a 129-run opening stand with left-hander Rohan Banerjee, who scored a sedate 42.

Arindam faced 260 balls during the day in which he hit 11 fours and a big six of offie Koteshwar Rao.

The opening stand lasted nearly 55 overs before a freak run-out ended Banerjee's stay at the wicket. He faced 169 balls and hit four boundaries.

The day belonged to Arindam, who batted with a lot of caution.

He was patient to wait for the loose deliveries. A couple of cover drives off Irfan Khan and a straight drive off Suraj Yadav were the stand out shots. The 100 came off 186 balls with a deft late cut off Irfan to deep third-man boundary.

This is his second century of the season and 10th of his career. Once he reached the hundred, Arindam asked the scoreboard operator to take off his scores.

"I just got out after scoring 100 in the match against Madhya Pradesh. It was a kind of superstition that I would get out. I am happy with the score. We need to get to 450 at least. The pitch is getting lower and slower and there will be a bit more turn," Arindam told reporters after the end of day's play.

Subhamoy Das (23) supported Arindam well for a 70-run stand but got out to a rank long hop from leg spinner Prateek Desai. He tried to pull the ball and it trickled down to the stumps.

Wriddhiman Saha (21) got a raw deal when he was adjudged leg before to a delivery from Irfan that pitched well outside off-stump.

Sandeep Patil, the chairman of the national selection committee, was present at the ground but left before Saha was out at the fag end of the day.

In the morning, before the start of the match, Bengal captain Laxmi Ratan Shukla was felicitated by Cricket Association of Bengal treasurer Biswarup Dey on becoming the first cricketer from the state to complete 100 Ranji Trophy matches.

Shukla was presented a decorated pagdi along with a shawl and an autographed bat by his Bengal teammates.

Brief scores: Bengal 242 for 3 in 90 overs (Arindam Das 139 batting, Rohan Banerjee 42; Irfan Khan 1-57, Prateek Desai 1-27) vs Services.

Mithun bags six wkts as Karnataka shoot out Odisha for 226

Cuttack: Karnataka had Odisha on the mat as they rode on Abhimanyu Mithun's six-wicket haul to bundle the hosts out for a meagre 226 before finishing Day 1 on 22 for no loss, in their Group A Ranji Trophy match.

Abhilash Mallick (98) was the lone batsman to make a significant contribution, besides putting on important partnerships with the tail-enders, even as Odisha crumbled in face of disciplined bowling by Karnataka.

While Mithun finished with impressive figures of six for 52, Abrar Kazi (2-38) chipped in with two. Sreenath Aravind (1-54) and HS Sharath (1-58) claimed a wicket each.

Put in to bat, Odisha could never settle down and lost wickets at regular intervals. They were reeling at 66 for 7 at one stage.

But just when it seemed that Odisha's innings would fold for less than 100 runs, Mallick came to the team's rescue.

He played with a lot of responsibility, putting on two important 50-plus partnerships with the tail-enders.

He single-handedly bailed the team out of trouble, scoring a brilliant 98 off 122 balls, laced with 16 fours and a six. He spent 158 minutes in the middle.

He also put on a 54-run stand for the eighth wicket with Alok Sahoo (14), followed by another crucial 52 runs with Basant Mohanty (19 not out) for the ninth wicket.

Mohanty then coupled with last man, Suryakant Pradhan (34) to put on 54 runs together for the 10th wicket and ensure the team cross the 200-run mark.

At stumps, Karnataka openers Robin Uthappa (6 not out) and Mayank Agarwal (11 not out) were at the crease.

Brief scores: Odisha 226 all out in 71.1 overs (Abhilash Mallick 98, Suryakant Pradhan 34; Abhimanyu Mithun 6/52).

Karnataka 22 for no loss in 4 overs (Mayank Agarwal batting 11). 

Nemat, Tiwary fifties prop Jharkhand

Jamshedpur: Rameez Nemat and Saurabh Tiwary scored fifties as Jharkhand put up 194 for 5 at the end of the first day's play in their Ranji Trophy Group A match against Gujarat.

While Nemat hit 78 off 246 balls, studded with 12 boundaries, Tiwary scored an unbeaten 75 off 213 deliveries, including seven fours and a six.

Jharkhand were dealt early blows after they elected to bat, as opener Bhavin Thakkar (14) and one-down batsman Ishank Jaggi (1) were dismissed cheaply.

But Nemat, other opener, in the able company of Tiwary consolidated the innings.

The duo put on a solid 135-run stand for the third wicket before Nemat was out.

His dismissal triggered a mini collapse as Jharkhand lost two more wickets in quick succession and were left struggling at the end of the opening day's play.

For Gujarat, Jasprit Bumrah claimed two for 51, while Akshar Patel (1-26) and Rakesh Dhurv (1-50) took a wicket each.

Brief scores: Jharkhand 194 for 5 in 89.3 overs (Rameez Nemat 78, Saurabh Tiwary batting 75; Jasprit Bumrah 2-51) vs Gujarat. 

Image: Wasim Jaffer