A round-up of all the Ranji Trophy matches played on Thursday.
Opener Yash Dubey hit an unbeaten 105 to steer Madhya Pradesh to 218 for 2 on the first day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A league game against Kerala in Rajkot on Thursday.
Electing to bat at the Saurashtra Cricket Association ground C, Madhya Pradesh openers Himanshu Mantri (23) and Dubey added 62 runs for the first wicket, before Jalaj Saxena (1/41) dismissed the former.
Kerala pegged MP back by removing in-form batter Shubham Sharma (11), who became left-arm orthodox bowler Sijomon Joseph's (1/54) first victim.
But the fall of wickets did not deter 23-year-old Dubey from playing his shots, as he took the Kerala attack to task. He hammered 15 fours in his 264-ball unbeaten innings.
Dubey, a right-handed batter, then found a perfect ally in seasoned campaigner Rajat Padtidar (75 not out off 183 balls), who played second fiddle.
The duo stitched 130 runs for the unbroken third wicket stand and helped Madhya Pradesh go past the 200-run mark as they made the Kerala bowlers toil hard.
The 28-year-old Indore-born Patidar hammered 13 boundaries even as he played all around the park.
For Kerala, only Jalaj Saxena and Sijomon Joseph were able to pick a wicket each while all others, including right-arm medium pacer M Nidheesh (0/54), had an off-day in the field.
Madhya Pradesh came into the match after defeating Gujarat and Meghalaya in their first two league games.
Brief Scores:
Madhya Pradesh: 218 for 2 (Yash Dubey 105 not out, Rajat Patidar 75 not out; Jalaj Saxena 1/41, Sijomon Joseph 1/54) versus Kerala.
Gujarat: 303 for 3 (Bhargav Merai 103 not out, Het Patel 91 not out; Chirag Khurana 3/63) versus Meghalaya.
Abhimanyu, Anustup give Bengal opening day advantage
Cuttack: Skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran led from the front with 114 as Bengal put up a solid batting display to take the opening day's advantage against Chandigarh in their Ranji Trophy group B match on Thursday.
Needing three points to seal their knockout berth, Bengal sat pretty on 329 for 6 at stumps on day one with veteran Manoj Tiwary batting on 42 in company of Sayan Sekhar Mondal (33 batting) in an unbroken stand of 61 from 86 balls.
Veteran Bengal batter Anustup Majumdar (95 from 149b; 13x4) gave a fine support at the other end as the duo put on a potential match-decisive 193-run partnership to rebuild Bengal innings from being 42 for 2 in the opening hour's play.
Bengal lie on top of the group B table (12 points) with back-to-back wins.
Put in to bat, Bengal had a familiar shaky start with rookie opener Sudip Gharami getting out for a successive zero.
Gharami, who had scores of 14 and 0 in their last match against Hyderabad, was cleaned up by Jagjit Singh Sandhu in the fourth ball of the day.
But the skipper steadied the proceedings, rebuilding their innings with Ritwik Roy Chowdhury who gave a fine support in his resolute display of 12 (44b).
For Chandigarh, Jagjit was their best bowler of the day, returning with 23-7-53-3 as he had Bengal at 42 for 2 before Abhimanyu and Anustup turned the tide in favour of Bengal.
Struggling to convert his starts, Abhimanyu, who had scores of 4 and 79 and 0 and 24, in the previous two matches finally got to his 15th first class century.
The skipper, however, seemed unhappy after getting out for 114.
"I am not at all satisfied. I had the opportunity to score big and take my team to a bigger total, I missed out on that," Abhimanyu said.
"We'll make sure we get a good total on the board. The wicket helped the fast bowlers for an hour and a half, not much help for the spinners."
Abhimanyu slammed 12 fours in his 172-ball knock before becoming Jagjit Singh's second victim as the Chandigarh new ball bowler finally gave a much-needed breakthrough.
Bengal lost another wicket in addition of just 11 runs as the 37-year-old Anustup was trapped lbw by Gaurav Gambhir to miss out on his 10th first class century by five runs.
The in-form duo of Abhishek Porel (0) and Shahbaz Ahmed (6), who were instrumental in Bengal's dramatic wins against Baroda and Hyderabad, got out cheaply as Bengal were soon reduced to 268/8.
But the former skipper Tiwary resisted collapse with a solid unbeaten 42 from 80 balls with one six and two fours, while Mondal looked at his fluent best in his 33 from 43 balls (5x4).
"It feels good to score 300-plus runs on the first day, it gives us the advantage, let's us control the game more," Abhimanyu said.
"We did a pretty decent job while batting today, losing a couple of wickets less would have made things even better. How Anustup Majumder played today was very important for us, we stitched a good partnership.
"Manoj Tiwary and Sayan Sekhar Mondal made a crucial partnership that got us closer to the total we expected. It was a decent day for us," the skipper added.
Brief Scores:
At Barabati Stadium: Bengal 329/6; 85 overs (Abhimanyu Easwaran 114, Anustup Majumdar 95, Manoj Tiwary 42 batting, Sayan Sekhar Mondal 33 batting; Jagjit Singh 3/53) vs Chandigarh.
At Vikas Cricket Ground: Hyderabad 197; 55.1 overs (Jaweed Ali 65, Tanay Thyagarajan 51; Atit Sheth 5/53). Baroda 92/2; 27 overs (Pratyush Kumar 30; Ravi Teja 2/27). Baroda trail by 105 runs.
Padikkal's unbeaten 161 carries Karnataka to 293 for 3 vs Pondicherry
Chennai: Devdutt Padikkal slammed his maiden first-class hundred, an unbeaten 161, as Karnataka ended day one of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group C match against Pondicherry at 293 for 3.
Sent in to bat by Pondicherry captain D Rohit, Karnataka were reduced to 39 for 2 in the 19th over, losing opener R Samarth (11) and Karun Nair (6) to Ashith Rajiv (2 for 37).
Padikkal did the rescue act and moved to 47 as Karnataka recovered to 88 for 2 at lunch. The big-hitting batter was in full flow in the second session as he and K V Siddharth (85) put the opposition bowlers to the sword.
It was a toil for the Pondicherry bowlers after medium-pacer Ashith Rajiv struck two early blows to remove the consistent Samarth and Nair.
None of the bowlers could make an impression as the stylish Padikkal and Siddharth got going and took the score to 204 for 2 in 61 overs at tea. Padikkal in the meanwhile had reached his maiden first class ton. His knock so far has come off 277 balls, and included 20 fours and two sixes.
He continued to score and stitched a 223-run stand in 357 balls for the third wicket with Siddharth, which put Karnataka in control.
Skipper Manish Pandey, who replaced Siddharth at the crease, is batting on 21 and has so far added 31 runs with the left-handed Padikkal.
In the group's other match, Jammu & Kashmir were bowled out for 258 against Railways with Qamran Iqbal top-scoring with 83.
For the Railways, captain and leg-spinner Karn Sharma led from the front with 6 for 76.
Brief scores:
Karnataka 293 for three in 90 overs (Devdutt Padikkal 161 batting (277b, 20x4, 2x6), K V Siddharth 85 (168b, 11x4), Manish Pandey 21 batting, Ashith Rajiv two for 37) vs Pondicherry.
Jammu and Kashmir 259 in 87.1 overs (Suryansh Raina 28, Qamran Iqbal 83 (98b, 11x4, 3x6), Abdul Samad 28, Henan Nazir 34, Aquib Nabi 44, Karn Sharma six for 76) vs Railways 0 for no loss in one over.
Ton up Chirag, Jackson take Saurashtra to 343-7 against Goa
Ahmedabad: Chirag Jani hit a superb 140 while Sheldon Jackson smashed an unbeaten 96 as Saurashtra reached 343 for 7 at stumps on day one of their Ranji Trophy group D match against Goa on Thursday.
Chirag slammed 22 fours and two sixes in his 190-ball knock, while Jackson struck six fours and five maximums during his 119-ball unfinished innings after Saurashtra decided to bat first at the Narendra Modi stadium.
Saurashtra lost opener Snell Patel for a duck but Chirag and Harvik Desai (14) steadied the innings with a 75-run stand.
Test discard Cheteshwar Pujara's (28) struggle to convert the starts continued and once again he was back in the pavillion after being trapped in front following a 47-ball stay.
Jackson then joined hands with Chirag and the duo stitched together 102 runs to take Saurashtra close to 250.
Once Chirag was caught by AS Desai off Suyash Prabhudessai's bowling, Arpit Vasavada (12) too couldn't stay long and Saurashtra slipped to 297 for 7 following the wickets of Prerak Mankad (28) and Parth Bhut (0).
At stumps, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (23) was giving company to Jackson.
Lakshay Garg (2/74) and Prabhudessai (2/36) snared two wickets each, while Shrikanth Wagh (1/34), Shubham Ranjane (1/30) and Darshan Misal (1/69) also accounted for one wicket apiece.
In another group D match, Shantanu Mishra scored a responsible 89 to anchor Odisha to 250 for 6 at stumps on the opening day after skipper Subhranshu Senapati won the toss and elected to bat against Mumbai.
Mishra struck 11 hits to the fence in his 213-ball innings. Other batters got starts but failed to capitalise as Mumbai managed to take regular wickets.
For Mumbai, Mohit Avasthi (2/48) and Tanush Kotian (2/65) picked up two wickets each.
Brief Scores:
Saurashtra 1st innings: 343 for 7 in 85 overs (Chirag Jani 140, Sheldon Jackson 96; Suyash Prabhudessai 2/36)
Odisha 1st innings: 250 for 6 in 90 overs (S Mishra 89; Mohit Avasthi 2/48).
Andhra bowls out Uttarakhand for 194, Rajasthan batters falter against Services
Thiruvananthapuram: Pacers Bandaru Ayyappa and Prithvi Raj shared seven wickets between them as table-toppers Uttarakhand were dismissed for 194 in their first innings by Andhra Pradesh in a Ranji Trophy Elite Group E match on Thursday.
Electing to bat after winning the toss, Uttarakhand kept losing wickets at regular intervals and the lack of big partnerships hurt as they collapsed to 194 in 69.1 overs.
Medium-pacers Ayyappa (4 for 37) and Prithvi (3 for 27) did the bulk of the damage, claiming seven wickets between them to trigger the slide.
Skipper Jay Bista, a mainstay of the Uttarakhand batting line-up, was the first to go, caught by Ricky Bhui off Ayyappa for 11.
Though the other opener Kamal Singh (42, 116 balls, 3 fours) battled hard and forged a 46-run partnership for the third wicket with Kunal Chandela (52), the top-scorer, the others failed to make an impact.
Ayyappa and Prithvi Raj kept picking up wickets to stymie the Uttarakhand innings.
Andhra lost opening batter Uppara Girinath (6) in the fifth over but managed to see through the rest of the day without any further losses to finish at 42 for 1.
In the other match of the group, Services gained the upperhand by bundling out Rajasthan for 92 in 45.2 overs and ending the day at 101 for 1 in 42 overs.
Brief scores:
Uttarakhand 194 all out in 69.1 overs (Kunal Chandela 52, Kamal Singh 42, Bandaru Ayyappa 4 for 37, Prithvi Raj 3 for 27) vs Andhra 42 for 1 in 12 overs (C R Gnaneshwar 25 batting).
Rajasthan 92 all out in 45.2 overs (Ashok Menaria 31, Diwesh Pathania 3 for 24, Poonam Poonia 3 for 31) vs Services 101 for 1 in 42 overs (Ravi Chauhan 43 batting, Shamser Yadav 37 batting).
Tripura fights back with Murasingh's fifer against Punjab
New Delhi: Medium pacer Manisankar Murasingh picked up a five-wicket haul as Tripura bounced back after being shot out for 127 to reduce Punjab to 79 for seven at stumps on day one of their Ranji Trophy Group F match on Thursday.
Murasingh was the wrecker-in-chief, registering impressive figures of 9.3-2-25-5 as Punjab ended the day 48 runs behind with three wickets in hand.
Murasingh took two wickets in successive deliveries before the close of play to remain in contention for a hat-trick.
Earlier, Tripura skipper KB Pawan top-scored with a fighting 59 off 128 balls before Punjab bowlers wrecked havoc, dismissing their opponents inside 55 overs after opting to field.
Punjab new ball bowler Baltej Singh returned with 5 for 33, while Siddharth Kaul and Vinay Choudhary took two wickets each.
In reply, Punjab batters could not withstand Murasingh's fiery spell who dismissed Prabhismaran Singh with his fifth ball.
Anmolpreet Singh (29 from 53 balls) put up some fight in a 44-run partnership with Mandeep Singh but Murasingh was on a roll as he took three wickets in two overs to trigger the collapse.
Brief Scores:
At Arun Jaitley Stadium: Tripura 127; 54.4 overs (KB Pawan 59; Baltej Singh 5/33, Vinay Choudhary 2/22, Siddharth Kaul 2/50). Punjab 79/7; 26.3 overs (Anmolpreet Singh 29, Mandeep Singh 18; Manisankar Murasingh 5/25).
Palam A ground: Haryana 269/4; 90 overs (Himanshu Rana 129, Nishant Sindhu 69 batting) vs Himachal Pradesh.
Bawane's unbeaten ton powers Maharashtra to 298/4 against UP
Sultanpur (Haryana): Skipper Ankit Bawane's responsible 114 not out powered Maharashtra to 298 for 4 on the first day of their last Ranji Trophy Elite Group G league game against Uttar Pradesh here on Thursday.
Electing to bat at the Gurugram cricket ground, Maharashtra lost openers Pawan Shah (19), who was cleaned up by right-arm medium pacer Ankit Rajppot (1/59), and Avdhoot Dandekar (20) cheaply.
Maharashtra were struggling at 70 for 2 then.
But experienced campaigner Rahul Tripathi, who was in search of runs, made a crucial 56, hammering nine boundaries and a six in the process.
He first added 48 runs with Dandekar and then shared a 41-run stand with skipper Bawane before lobbing off a return catch to rival skipper and off-spinner Karan Sharma (1/77).
Then Bawane, who paced his innings well, found an able partner in Naushad Shaikh (53 off 83 balls), as they frustrated the UP bowlers.
Bawane struck 18 fours in his 211-ball knock, while Shaikh also hit seven boundaries, as the duo forged a 99-run stand for the fourth wicket.
But when it looked like the duo would score big, Shaikh fell to Jasmer Dhankhar (1/49) at Maharashtra's score of 210.
Bawane and Azim Kazi (33 not out off 73 balls; 4x4) then shared an unbroken 88-run stand as they took the Uttar Pradesh bowlers to task. Courtesy their partnership, Maharashtra inched closer to the 300-run mark.
For UP, Rajpoot, Shivam Sharma, Dhankar and Karan Sharma took a wicket each.
Brief Scores:
Maharashtra: 298 for 4 (Ankit Bawane 114 not out, Rahul Tripathi 56; Jasmer Dhankhar 1/49, Ankit Rajpoot 1/59) versus Uttar Pradesh.
Assam: 289 for 6 (Sarupam Purkayastha 113, Riyan Parag 48; Aditya Sarvate 3/64, Rajneesh Gurbani 2/70) versus Vidarbha. PTI NRB
Delhi's poor outing in Ranji continues, Chhattisgarh post 290/4 on Day 1
Guwahati: Virtually out of quarter-final race, Delhi's disappointing campaign in the Ranji Trophy continued as Chhattisgarh posted 290 for four on the opening day of their elite Group H match here on Thursday.
Electing to bat, Chhattisgarh rode on half-centuries from Ajay Mandal (63 off 90 balls), Amandeep Khare (68 not out off 170) and Shashank Singh (75 not out) to pile up a big score in 90 overs and take their side to a strong position in the four-day contest.
Mandal and Singh stitched 147 runs for the unconquered fifth wicket to take Chhattisgarh forward.
Besides, Sanidhya Hurkat (44) and skipper Harpreet Singh (21) also made useful contributions with the bat.
Left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra (2/65) was the pick of the bowlers for Delhi.
Delhi are languishing at the last spot in the four-team Group H with just one point from two games and for the Pradeep Sangwan-led side, the tournament is as good as over and only seven points (including a bonus) in the ongoing match against Chhattisgarh will give them a slim chance in theory.
Chhattisgarh, on the other hand, are leading the group with seven points from two games.
Tamil Nadu post 256 for 7 against Jharkhand
In the second Group H match in Guwahati, Baba Indrajith smashed a quick century, while Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore made 81 as Tamil Nadu ended Day 1 on 256 for seven against Jharkhand.
Indrajith played an aggressive knock, scoring 100 off 132 balls with the help of 11 boundaries and two sixes.
Indrajith and Sai Kishore shared 171 runs for the fifth wicket after Tamil Nadu found themselves in a spot of bother at 32 for four after electing to bat.
Sai Kishore struck 11 fours during his 179-ball knock.
Rahul Shukla (3/57) picked up three wickets for Jharkhand, while Anukul Roy (2/29) accounted for two dismissals.
With six points apiece from two games each, both Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand are still in the reckoning for a quarter-final berth.
Brief Scores:
Chhattisgarh: 290 for 4 in 90 overs (Shashank Singh 75 not out, Amandeep Khare 68 not out, Ajay Mandal 63; Vikas Mishra 2/65) vs Delhi.
Tamil Nadu: 256 for 7 in 72 overs (Baba Indrajith 100, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore 81; Rahul Shukla 3/57) vs Jharkhand.
In-form Mundhe drives Nagaland forward
Kolkata: All-rounder Shrikant Mundhe continued his imperious form with a century as Nagaland posted 276 for 5 on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy plate group match against Mizoram at the Eden Gardens on Thursday.
Fresh from his double century against Arunachal Pradesh in the last match, Mundhe slammed 123 (226 balls; 13x4, 3x6).
Put in to bat, Nagaland lost their opener Sedezhaile Rupero (3) cheaply but Mundhe, who came to bat at No. 3, steadied the ship, stitching crucial partnerships with Yugandhar Singh (49) and Hokaito Zhimomi (71).
With Singh, he stitched 65 runs, and then after the cheap dismissal of skipper Rongsen Jonathan (15), Zhimomi extended a fine helping hand. The duo put together 131 runs for the third wicket.
Nagaland lead the Plate group table with 13 points, three points clear of Manipur after two rounds.
Brief Scores: At Videocon Academy: Arunachal Pradesh 196 from 62.2 overs (Akhilesh Sahani 62; Ashutosh Aman 4/51, Sakibul Gani 3/50). Bihar 76/6 from 26.1 overs (Vikrant Singh 33, Nabam Abo 4/20). Bihar trail by 120 runs.
At Eden Gardens: Nagaland 276 for 5 from 90 overs (Shrikant Mundhe 123, Hokaito Zhimomi 71, Yugandhar Singh 49) vs Mizoram.
At Jadavpur University Second Campus: Sikkim 337 for 7 from 90 overs (Liyan Khan 156 batting, Ankur Malik 63 batting, Palzor Tamang 43) vs Manipur.
