A round-up of Day 1 of the Ranji Trophy group matches played on Thursday.
Mumbai: The much-vaunted Mumbai batting line-up came a cropper on a lively track against the Baroda pace bowling duo of Atit Sheth and Lukman Meriwala as the hosts were shot out for a paltry 171 on day one of their 500th Ranji Trophy game.
In reply, Baroda made 63 for one in 26 overs in their first innings in the Group C match at the Wankhede Stadium.
It was a combination of impressive swing and seam bowling from right-arm Atit (5 for 50) and left-arm Meriwala (5 for 52), aided by poor shots attempted by the Mumbai batsmen that sent the home team to the doom.
For Mumbai skipper Aditya Tare, who opened the innings, stood tall in making 50 before being bowled off the inside edge by Atit.
Inserted in, Mumbai plunged deep into trouble to be five for 2 by the third over, with Atit sending back in-form opener Prithvi Shaw and Ajinkya Rahane for ducks, and the hosts never fully recovered from these early setbacks.
Shaw was bowled through the gate, while Rahane edged a drive to rival captain Deepak Hooda at first slip.
Tare was fifth out just before lunch, taken with the hosts and 41-time champions tottering at 103 for five. The wicketkeeper-batsman stayed at the wicket for 143 minutes, played diligently in contrast to some of his team-mates when facing 82 balls and struck 8 fours.
Mumbai lost three more wickets to be 131 for eight after lunch before a 40-run stand between Dhawal Kulkarni (17) and Vijay Gohil (16) revived the innings for a brief while before both were dismissed at the same score as Mumbai were shot out at the stroke of tea.
Among the batsmen who disappointed and was dismissed before lunch was Shreyas Iyer, fresh after playing in the T20 International series against New Zealand, as he played a few reckless shots in his innings of 28. He was dropped by wicketkeeper Mitesh Patel on 5 and then nearly edged to the slip cordon on 22 before chasing a wide ball moving further away to be caught at second slip.
Atit, a former India Under-19 player who has a ten-wicket haul to his credit against Bengal at Lahli last season before this game, did the early damage in his eighth first class match, while Meriwala cut through the middle and later ensured that the tail did not wag for too long.
He used the short ball to good effect to send back Shardul Thakur and Gohil.
Baroda, who began their reply after tea, played out 11 overs and advanced to 25 before they lost opener Nur Ahmed Pathan for 14, caught by Tare behind the stumps off left-arm pacer Roystan Dias.
Mumbai could have sent back the other opener Aditya Waghmode too cheaply for seven but Iyer dropped a two-handed diving catch at third slip off Dias with the score on 22.
Solanki played some attacking shots to remain unbeaten on 32, with six fours, along with a sedate Aditya Waghmode (15) as Baroda were 108 runs behind Mumbai going into day two.
Brief scores:
Mumbai 171 all out (Aditya Tare 50; Atit Sheth 5 for 50, Lukman Meriwala 5 for 52). Baroda 63 for 1 (Aditya Waghmode 15 not out, Vishnu Solanki 32; Roystan Dias 1 for 15).
Vijay slams ton to lift TN on Day 1
Cuttack: Opener Murali Vijay warmed up in style for the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka as he slammed a century against Odisha on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy Group C match.
Vijay hit 140 to help Tamil Nadu reach 292 for three at stumps on Day 1.
Electing to bat, the visitors lost skipper Abhinav Mukund (12), who was run-out following a mix-up with Vijay.
However, the Test opener was involved in two century partnerships, first with wicket-keeper N Jagadeesan (88) and Baba Indrajith (41 not out), which put Tamil Nadu in the driver's seat.
After a cautious start, Vijay came into his own, playing a series of beautiful shots and reached his hundred in a hurry from the mid-80s with a huge six.
It was Jagadeesan, pushed up the order in place of the dropped No.3 M Kaushik Gandhi, who set the tone with some enterprising stroke play.
He didn't miss out on opportunities to score and crunched some boundaries while Vijay played himself in.
The partnership between Vijay and Jagadeesan yielded 145 runs before the latter fell to Odisha captain Govind Poddar, 12 short of a ton.
Vijay took over after Jagadeesan's exit and dominated a 118-run stand with Indrajith.
A streak of aggression took him to a century from the 80s as he looked to step up the run-rate.
He hit three fours and a six in the space of two overs as Tamil Nadu appeared to gain the initiative against the rival attack on a docile pitch.
He fell late in the day, caught and bowled by Suryakanth Pradhan, who was the host team's best bowler, bagging 1 for 48 from 16 overs.
Indrajith (41) and all-rounder Vijay Shankar (eight) were at the crease when stumps were drawn.
Brief Scores:
Tamil Nadu 292 for 3 in 90 overs (Murali Vijay 140, N Jagadeesan 88) vs Odisha.
At Agartala: Andhra 252 for 2 in 89.6 overs (D B Prashanth Kumar 120 not out, G Hanuma Vihari 62) vs Tripura.
Fazal, Ramaswamy put Vidarbha in command
Kalyani (WB): Centuries by openers Faiz Fazal and Sanjay Ramaswamy took Vidarbha to a commanding 285 for one against Bengal on Day 1 of their Ranji Trophy group D fixture on Thursday.
In the form of his life, left-handed Fazal hit his third successive century of the season with a sublime 142 (22x4), while Ramaswamy gave fine support at the other end with a patient 117 (14x4).
Ramaswamy was unbeaten, with senior pro Wasim Jaffer (18) for company the crease when bad light stopped play after 83 overs on day one.
Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary's decision to bowl after winning the toss backfired as the Vidarbha openers put up a solid 259-run opening partnership on a frustrating day for the home team bowlers.
Fresh from his 125 and 136 against Chhattisgarh and Services respectively, Fazal carried on from where he left off.
Both Fazal and Ramaswamy anchored the innings and completed their half-centuries in the first session.
The duo then completed their triple-figure milestones on either side of the tea-break with Fazal first to get to the mark in 184 balls, his 14th first-class century.
Ramaswamy took 191 balls for his third first-class century as the duo continued to frustrate Tiwary who himself was made to bowl three overs.
Bengal sorely missed the services of India pacer Mohammed Shami who did not get the Board's clearance, even as the other Test cap Wriddhiman Saha featured in their line-up.
It was only in the 73rd over of the day, Ashok Dinda (1/62) gave the breakthrough when he trapped Fazal.
Brief Scores
In Kalyani: Vidarbha 285/1; 83 overs (Faiz Fazal 142, Sanjay Ramaswamy 117 batting) vs Bengal.
In Dharamsala: Himachal Pradesh 175; 44.2 overs (Pankaj Rao 3/52, Sumit Ruikar 3/20). Chhattisgarh 91/1; 34 overs (Rishabh Tiwari 46 batting, Ashutosh Singh 40 batting).
In Delhi: Services 228/8; 90 overs (Nakul Verma 64, Vikas Yadav 61; Heramb Parab 3/35) vs Goa.
Mayank Agarwal smashes 169 as Delhi bowlers put on mat
Alur (Karnataka): Mayank Agarwal continued his dream run in Ranji Trophy smashing a hapless Delhi bowling attack into submission as hosts Karnataka cruised to 348 for 4 on the first day of the Ranji Trophy group A encounter.
Agarwal, known for his exploits in shorter formats, has been in good form having struck a career-best 304 in the last game against Maharashtra. His two back to back three-figures have come after he bagged a pair against Hyderabad in an earlier match of the season.
On Thursday, he treated the Delhi bowlers with utter disdain, remaining unbeaten on 169 off 235 balls.
Karnataka had the upper-hand throughout the day despite Delhi getting KL Rahul (9) and Karun Nair (15) cheaply.
Agarwal hit 23 boundaries and three huge sixes, treating the two spinners Manan Sharma (0/78 in 16 overs) and Vikas Mishra (0/87 in 24 overs) with little respect.
Rishabh Pant had a rough debut as a captain in a first-class game as his two frontline spinners were collectively taken for 165 runs in their 40 overs.
Agarwal repeatedly used his feet to disturb the line and length of the two slow bowlers as they found little help from the track.
How bad the Delhi bowling was could be gauged from the fact that they conceded 45 boundaries and five sixes in 90 overs -- virtually bowling atleast one boundary delivery per over.
After left-arm seamer Kulwant Khejroliya removed the stylish Rahul early in the innings caught by Mishra, Agarwal and talented Ravikumar Samarth (58) added 112 runs for the second wicket. Nair was deceived by an arm ball from Manan which got Manish Pandey (74) to the crease.
Together, Agarwal and Pandey flayed the Delhi attack adding 136 runs in 32 overs before Delhi's best bowler Navdeep Saini got Pandey to nick one to Pant behind the stumps. The
India international hit nine boundaries and two sixes.
With Stuart Binny (14 batting) for company, Agarwal looks set for another long haul.
Brief Scores
In Alur: Karnataka 348/4 (Mayank Agarwal 169 batting, Manish Pandey 74, Navdeep saini 1/44) vs Delhi
In Guwahati: UP 349 all out (Upendra Yadav 127, Saurabh Kumar 133, Rajjakuddin Ahmed 3/103). Assam 25/0.
In Pune:Maharashtra 249/5 (Ankit Bawne 92, Rohit Motwani 52, Amit Mishra 2/48, Karan Thakur 2/52) vs Railways.
Pujara scores 43rd first-class ton on Day 1
Rajkot: Cheteswar Pujara scored his 43rd first-class hundred and Snell Patell his first, guiding Saurashtra to a comfortable 311 for one at stumps on day one of their Ranji Trophy Group A match against defending champions Gujarat.
Pujara (115) and Patel (156) shared an unbeaten 252-run stand after new recruit Robin Uthappa fell in the 24th over.
It was good match practice for Pujara ahead of the Sri Lanka series that begins with the first Test at the EdenGardens from November 16.
The gritty right-hander faced 188 balls and his effort included 15 fours. Pujara had broken Vijay Merchant's record of most double hundreds in first-class cricket by an Indian after scoring 204 against Jharkhand last week.
Patel too was impressive in his eighth first-class game and played 277 balls in an effort that included 21 boundaries.
Brief scores: Saurashtra 311/1 in 90 overs (Pujara 115 batting, Patel 156 batting; Chawla 1/64).
At Rohtak: Haryana 99/7 in 44 overs against Rajasthan.
At Jamshedpur: J&K 355/6 in 90 overs (Khajuria 101, Bisht 101).
