Vimal, Pradosh slam tons as Tamil Nadu dominate; Solanki shines for Baroda
Vimal Khumar and Pradosh Ranjan Paul struck massive hundreds as Tamil Nadu piled up 399 for two against Nagaland on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match in Dimapur on Saturday.
Coming in for the ailing B Sachin, 24-year-old left-hander Vimal (189) grabbed his opportunity, hammering 28 boundaries during his 224-ball stay. Pradosh remained unbeaten on 156 off 252 balls, laced with 19 fours.
The duo added 307 runs for the second wicket before Vimal fell to Ronit More (1/33) in the 76th over, with Jonathan taking the catch.
At stumps, Pradosh was batting alongside Andre Siddharth C (30).
Debutant wicketkeeper-batter S R Athish (14) was the other wicket to fall, dismissed by Odilemba Kichu (1/69). None of the Nagaland bowlers made much impact as Tamil Nadu, who lost their season opener to Jharkhand in Coimbatore, pushed for maximum points.
Rated highly by senior pro R Ashwin, Vimal fell a few runs short of converting his maiden first-class ton into a double after a lapse in concentration.
In Vizianagaram, Vishnu Solanki was left stranded on 99 as he guided Baroda to 230 for six at stumps on a rain-hit opening day against Andhra Pradesh.
Solanki hit 12 fours and two sixes during his unbeaten 183-ball stay after walking in with Baroda struggling at 53 for three. His partnership with skipper Atit Sheth (65 not out) rescued the side from 76 for six.
For Andhra, debutant seamer K Saiteja claimed four wickets, while spinner T Vijay took the remaining two. Baroda had earlier beaten Odisha by seven wickets.
In Nagpur, openers Shikhar Mohan (60) and Sharandeep Singh (46) produced a solid start as Jharkhand reached 119 without loss in 38 overs against Jharkhand.
Shikhar struck five fours, while Sharandeep hit four boundaries at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium. Both teams are coming off innings victories in their previous matches — Vidarbha defeating Nagaland by an innings and 179 runs, and Jharkhand beating Tamil Nadu by an innings and 114 runs.
In Kanpur, half-centuries from Sandeep Pattnaik (53), Govinda Poddar (64), Sambit S Baral (59 not out) and Rajesh Mohanty (48) helped Odisha post 243 in 77.1 overs after opting to bat against Uttar Pradesh.
For the hosts, Shivam Sharma (3/65), Shivam Mavi (2/46), Vipraj Nigam (2/39), Prashant Veer (2/1) and Kunal Tyagi (1/29) shared the wickets.
Brief Scores:
Tamil Nadu 1st innings:
399 for 2 in 90 overs (Vimal Khumar 189, Pradosh Ranjan Paul 156 not out; Ronit More 1/33) vs Nagaland.
Baroda 1st innings: 230 for 6 in 79 overs (Vishnu Solanki 99 not out; Kavuri Saiteja 4/28) vs Andhra
Vidarbha 1st innings: 119 for 0 in 38 overs (Shikhar Mohan 60 not out, Sharandeep Singh 46 not out) vs Jharkhand.
Odisha 1st innings: 243allout in 77.1 overs (Govinda Poddar 64, Sambit S Baral 59 not out; Shivam Sharma 3/65) vs UP.
Sangwan, Dhull throw it away post half-centuries as Delhi score 306/4
Openers Sanat Sangwan, Arpit Rana and vice-captain Yash Dhull scored contrasting fifties but failed to convert into hundreds as Delhi ended the opening day's play against Himachal Pradesh on 306 for 4 in a Ranji Trophy group D clash in New Delhi.
While last match's double centurion Sangwan (79 off 170 balls) was once again at his dogged best, his opening partner Arpit (64 off 110 balls), fighting for his place in the side, struck his maiden half century in the first session itself.
The best innings of the day was played by Dhull (61 off 66 balls) who hit as many as 11 attractive boundaries before Arpit Guleria got him with one pitched up delivery that moved a shade kissing the outside edge of his bat.
At stumps, the stockily built Ayush Doseja (51 batting) was set and looks good for a big one on a track that had little to offer for the bowlers. He looked solid in defence and assured while using his feet against slow bowlers.
The day started with southpaw Arpit attacking the HP bowlers even as Sangwan played his natural defensive game.
Arpit, whose previous best first class score is 28, was severe on KKR bowler Vaibhav Arora and Guleria with a flurry of boundaries.
Once he was dismissed, Dhull was ultra aggressive as he played a ramp shot at will along with back cuts, square cuts and some delectable cover drives.
In fact, after he hit four boundaries in quick time, HP skipper Ankush Bains spread the field and even kept fielder at long on.
During that phase even Sangwan used his feet to get a few easy boundaries off left-arm spinners.
Left-arm spinner Mukul Negi and Akssh Vasisht were trying to bowl the leg stump line with a 5-3 leg side field.
Finally when Dhull was dismissed, skipper Ayush Badoni (15) was guilty of playing a loose shot away from his body to a short of length delivery from Arora offering a regulation catch at first slip.
However once Badoni was gone, Sangwan was dismissed in a freak manner.
A delivery from seamer Divesh Sharma was dug in short but it hardly took off as Sangwan ducked with his bat held awkwardly. The nick was taken by Bains but Doseja and Sumit Mathur saw off the last 75 minutes without any further damage adding 71 runs for the fifth wicket.
Brief Scores:
Delhi 306/4 (Arpit Rana 64, Sanat Sangwan 79, Yash Dhull 61, Ayush Doseja 51 batting; Divesh Sharma 2/42) vs HP.
Services' Arjun, Jangra record first-ever twin hat-tricks in one innings in Ranji Trophy history
Services bowlers Arjun Sharma and Mohit Jangra recorded the first-ever instance of two bowlers taking hat-tricks in the history of the Ranji Trophy in their Elite Group C match against Assam in Tinsukia, Assam.
On a day where a whopping 25 wickets fell, Assam still have a lead of 51 runs in the second innings reaching 56 for five in their second essay at the Tinsukia District Sports Association Ground.
Assam were bowled out for 103 with Jangra returning 4-2-5-3 and Arjun taking 5/46 in his 6.1 overs and in reply, the home team struck hard as they bundled Services for 108 with a slender lead of five runs.
India player Riyan Parag led the charge for Assam as he claimed 5/25 in his 10 overs and Rahul Singh took 4/44 to help their side bounce back in the contest strongly.
However, Assam did not have a successful time with the bat in their second essay as they slipped to 56 for five by the time the stumps were drawn, leading by 51 runs in the second innings with Sumit Ghadigaonkar (17 not out) and Sibsankar Roy at the crease.
Arjun began with getting Parag caught by Mohit Ahlawat for 36 on the third ball of the 12th over of Assam's first innings and on the following two deliveries, he dismissed Ghadigaonkar and Roy to complete his hat-trick.
The innings came to a rapid close for Assam who had slipped to 5/2 and then 45/5, when Jangra got into action to end Pradyun Saikia's (52) resistance, getting him caught by Rajat Paliwal on the final ball of the 15th over.
He returned in the 17th over to dismiss Mukhtar Hussain (1) and Bhargab Lakhar (0) on the first two deliveries as Assam were shot out for 103 in only 17.2 overs.
In another Group C match, half-centuries from Sudeep Gharami (56), Abhishek Porel (51) and Sumanta Gupta's unbeaten 58 took Bengal to 244 for seven in 72 overs against Gujarat at the Eden Gardens.
The hosts had slipped from 75 for one to 95 for four at one stage but fought hard till the end of the day's play to have a respectable score on the board. For Gujarat, Siddharth Desai took 3/55.
At Ramnagar, visitors Railways were bolstered by Mohammad Saif's strokeful 99 not out as they closed the day's play reaching 233 for four.
Saif hammered six sixes and four boundaries to make 99 not out from 166 balls. He was accompanied by Bhargav Merai, who was batting on 44 not out for which he consumed 145 deliveries and hit three fours.
In Lahli, as many as 18 wickets fell on the opening day between Himachal Pradesh and visitors Tripura as the hosts were ahead by 29 runs in the first innings, reaching 155 for eight.
Tripura clambered to a mere 126 in their 48.1 overs with India batter Hanuma Vihari (33) and Swapnil Singh's 44 being the only knocks of notice. Nikhil Kashyap took 4/34 and Parth Vats claimed 3/14 from his seven overs to cause the damage to the visitors.
However, it wasn't any easy for the home team batters as Himachal Pradesh kept losing wickets regularly to reach 155 for eight, with No 5 Dheeru Singh making 40 before being dismissed by Mura Singh.
Brief scores:
At Tinsukia: Assam 103 in 17.2 overs (Pradyun Saikia 52, Riyan Parag 36; Mohit Jangra 3/5, Pulkit Narang 2/27, Arjun Sharma 5/46) & 56/5 in 21 overs (Sumit Ghadigaonkar 17 not out; Pulkit Narang 2/16, Arjun Sharma 2/12) lead Services 108 in 29.2 overs (Irfan Ali 51 not out; Riyan Parag 5/25, Rahul Singh 4/44) by 51 runs.
At Kolkata: Bengal 244/7 in 72 overs (Sudeep Gharami 56, Abhishek Porel 51, Sumanta Gupta 58 not out; Siddharth Desai 3/55) vs Gujarat.
At Ramnagar: Railways 233/4 in 89 overs (Vivek Singh 44, Mohammad Saif 99 not out, Bhargav Merai 44 not out; Abhay Negi 2/31) vs Uttarakhand.
At Lahli: Tripura 126 in 48.1 overs (Sridam Paul 34, Hanuma Vihari 33, Swapnil Singh 44; Nikhil Kashyap 4/34) trail Himachal Pradesh 155/8 in 39 overs (Dheeru Singh 40, Yashvardhan Dalal 34 not out; Swapnil Singh 5/66) by 29 runs.
Ruturaj Gaikwad ton takes Maharashtra to 313 against Chandigarh
Ruturaj Gaikwad continued his scintillating form with a sublime century as Maharashtra posted 313 before being bowled out against Chandigarh on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group B clash, here in Chandigarh.
Opener Arshin Kulkarni (50 off 55 balls) and Saurabh Nawale (66) also made valuable contributions with half-centuries.
After Maharashtra suffered early setbacks with the dismissals of opener Prithvi Shaw (8) and Siddesh Veer (7), Gaikwad (116 off 163 balls) held the innings together with poise and authority.
He stitched a crucial 152-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Nawale, stabilising the innings before Chandigarh left-arm spinner Raman Bishnoi struck, removing Nawale and Jalaj Saxena in quick succession.
Undeterred, Gaikwad found support in Vicky Ostwal and together they ensured Maharashtra crossed the 300-run mark.
Gaikwad's 163-ball innings was studded with 15 boundaries.
Medium pacers Jagjit Singh and Abhishek Saini shared six wickets between them, while spinners Vishu Kashyap and Bishnoi chipped in with two wickets each to keep Chandigarh competitive.
In Shimoga, hosts Karnataka reached 222 for 5 in 69 overs, with Karun Nair anchoring the innings with an unbeaten 86 against Goa.
Making a return to the side after a two-season hiatus, Nair brought up his half-century for his second in as many games. He combined with Shreyas Gopal (48 not out) to forge an unbroken 94-run partnership that steadied the innings.
In Rajkot, Saurashtra reached 258 for 8 in 82.3 overs against Madhya Pradesh, powered by opener Chirag Jani's patient 82 off 138 balls. India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja fell for 36, which included four boundaries and a six.
Spinner Kumar Kartikeya was the pick of the bowlers for MP, finishing with figures of 4/84 on the opening day.
In New Chandigarh, opener Harnoor Singh scored a patient 126 off 259 balls to take Punjab to 240 for 6 against Kerala.
Brief Scores:
Maharashtra 313 all out in 85.5 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 116; Sauarbh Nawale 66, Arshin kulkarni 50; Abhishek Saini 3/55, Jagjit Singh 3/79) against Chandigarh.
Karnataka 222 for 5 in 69 overs (Karun nair 89 not out; Shreyas Gopal 48 not out; Arjun Tendulkar 3/47) against Goa.
Saurashtra 258 for 8 in 82.3 overs (Chirag Jani 82; Kumar Kartikeya 4/84) against Madhya Pradesh.
Punjab 240 for 6 in 87 overs (Harnoor Singh 126; Nedumankuzhy Basil 2/44) against Kerala.
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