Opener Kaustabh Pawar struck an unbeaten 122 as Mumbai amassed 311 for 3 against hosts Orissa in their fourth round Ranji Trophy Elite Group A encounter in Cuttack on Tuesday.
The 21-year-old hit 17 boundaries in an unbeaten 261-ball knock after Mumbai won the toss and elected to bat, at the DRIEMS Ground, Tangi.
The visitors' start to the innings was far from rosy, as they lost opener Akhil Herwadkar (11) early, with the scoreboard reading 20.
Pawar was then joined by the experienced Abhishek Nayar (71) and the duo put on 123 runs for the second wicket before slow left-arm orthodox Dhiraj Singh dismissed the latter, having him caught by wicketkeeper Halhadar Das.
Nayar struck eight fours and a six in his 99-ball stay at the crease.
Pawar also put up a 57-run third-wicket partnership with skipper Wasim Jaffer (35) before Biplab Samantray dismissed him, caught by Halhadar Das.
Pawar and Suryakumar Yadav (69 not out)) then held fort, sharing an unbeaten stand of 111 for the fourth wicket to give solid platform to the Mumbai innings.
Yadav has struck 10 fours and a six en route his unconquered 91-ball innings.
For Orissa, Samantray, Dhiraj and Santosh Jena claimed a wicket each.
Brief Scores: Mumbai 311 for 3 in 90 overs (Kaustabh Pawar 122 not out, Abhishek Nayar 71; Biplab Samantray 1-40, Dhiraj Singh 1-52).
Ishwar Pandey wrecks Gujarat with six-wkt haul
Medium pacer Ishwar Pandey claimed a sensational six-wicket haul as Madhya Pradesh bundled out Gujarat for a paltry 130 before ending Day 1 on 51 for 2 in their Elite Group B match, in Indore.
Pandey took six wickets for 31 runs after Madhya Pradesh decided to bowl at the Emerald High School ground.
Fast bowler TP Sudhindra (3-33) also impressed while bagging three wickets.
Gujarat got off to a decent start, as openers Avi Barot and Priaynk Panchal added 44 runs for the first wicket. But once Sudhindra dismissed Barot, Gujarat's innings fell apart.
Sudhindra scalped both the openers and Pandey polished off the middle and lower order.
Bhavik Thaker, with 38 off 108 balls, was the highest scorer for the Gujarat.
Pandey dismissed skipper Niraj Patel (9), P Parmar (7), J Karia (17), S Yadav (7), M Patel (3) and F Dudhat (2).
Madhya Pradesh's start was disastrous as they lost opener Jalaj Saxena in the first over and were reduced to 11 for 2 when the other opener, Naman Ojha, also departed.
Mohnish Mishra (27) and Devendra Bundela (19) stabilized the innings by adding 40 runs for the undefeated third wicket.
Madhya Pradesh can look forward to the first innings lead with eight wickets in hand.
Brief Scores: Gujarat 130 all out in 66.3 overs; Madhya Pradesh 51-2 in 20.4 overs.
Solanki century rallies Baroda against Delhi
Rakesh Solanki rescued Baroda from a topsy-turvy start with an unbeaten hundred as the visitors took the first day's honours by reaching 273 for three against Delhi in their Elite Group B match in Delhi.
Electing to bowl after winning the toss, Delhi's bowlers struck early when debutant Sunny Sherawat and veteran Ashish Nehra dismissed openers Kedar Devdhar (22) and Aditya Waghmode (1) respectively to leave Baroda struggling at 31 for two after eight overs.
It seemed that Mithun Manhas's decision to field had worked, but Solanki (109) rebuilt the Baroda innings by first stitching together an 88-run third-wicket partnership with Ambati Rayudu (39) before an unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 154 with Pinal Shah (83).
In his 362-minute stay at the wicket, Solanki faced 245 deliveries, striking 15 fours in a patient knock.
He was ably supported by both Rayudu and Shah. While Rayudu's 72-ball knock included eight fours, Shah matched Solanki's fours' count in his 166-ball innings so far.
For Delhi, Nehra got just a wicket in 18 overs, conceding 84 runs. Rajat Bhatia was the most economical Delhi bowler with figures of one for 17 in his 12 overs, which included seven maidens.
In fact, Bhatia got Delhi a crucial breakthrough when he had Rayudu caught by Shikhar Dhawan, with Baroda at 119 for 3, but the hosts failed to capitalise as Solanki and Shah got together to steady the visiting side's innings.
At stumps, Solanki was unbeaten on 109 while Pinal Shah was batting on 83.
Brief Scores: Baroda 273-3 in 85 overs (Rakesh Solanki batting 109, Pinal Shah batting 83; Rajat Bhatia 1-17).
Uthappa runs riot in the rain
A blistering half-century by Robin Uthappa saw Karnataka post 107 for one against Saurashtra on the rain-drenched first day in Elite Group A match at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore.
As many as 235 minutes of play was lost on the truncated day as overnight rains rendered the outfield wet. Bad light, too, played spoilsport, forcing an early draw of stumps.
The delayed start, however, did not subdue Uthappa's aggression as the swashbuckling opener blasted 12 boundaries during his masterly knock of 63-ball 70. He helped Karnataka maintained a healthy run-rate of 5.18 in the first 19 overs.
Uthappa also put up 95 runs for the first wicket with K B Pawan.
A century seemed to be there on the cards for Uthappa, but left-arm seamer Jaydev Unadkat cut short his mid-afternoon mayhem, trapping the right-hander in front of the wickets.
Pawan (batting 28), however, continued with skipper Ganesh Satish (batting 3) to take Karnataka to 107 for one when bad light stopped the first day's play.
Brief Scores: Karnataka 107 for 1 (Robin Uthappa 70, KB Pawan not out 28; Jaydev Unadkat 1-37).
Bengal check Haryana after Rahul Dewan, Sunny tons
Bengal's bowlers fought back after hundreds from Rahul Dewan and Sunny Singh as Haryana finished Day 1 on 258 for 5 in their Elite Group B match in Rohtak.
The 161-run second-wicket stand between Rahul (115) and Sunny (111) gave Haryana a solid platform, but the team's middle-order let the advantage slip and the side slumped from 198 for 2 to 249 for 4.
At stumps, Sachin Rana and skipper Amit Mishra were holding the fort at 5 and 2, respectively with the Sourav Ganguly-led Bengal having a slight advantage.
In fact, barring the two centurions, the rest of the dismissed batsmen failed to touch even the double-figure mark.
Iresh Saxena was the most successful bowler for Bengal, picking two for 63 runs in his 27 overs after Haryana won the toss and elected to bat.
After Nitin Saini (9) was caught behind by Wriddhiman Saha off Shami Ahmed's bowling, it was the combined effort of Rahul and Sunny that brought Haryana back on track.
While Rahul's knock came off 211 deliveries, including 15 fours, Sunny struck four sixes along with 11 boundaries in his 193-ball stay at the crease.
Rahul was the first to depart among the duo when Ashok Dinda had him caught behind by Saha in the 63rd over.
Laxmi Ratan Shukla then rattled Sunny's stumps in the 77th over.
Brief Scores: Haryana 258-5 (Rahul Dewan 115, Sunny Singh 111, Iresh Saxena 2-63).
Parvinder, Alam put UP in command
Unbeaten half centuries by Parvinder Singh (56) and Arish Alam (60) helped Uttar Pradesh end Day 1 on a strong 292 for 4 in the Elite division Group A match against Rajasthan in Jaipur.
India discard Mohammad Kaif had scored 67 and Tanmay Srivastav a 132-ball 50 to set the tone before Parvinder and Alam consolidated the innings at the Sawai Mansingh stadium.
Put in on a wicket that had a bit of grass, the visitors batted positively to make a strong start.
What did not help Rajasthan's cause was that they dropped a few chances to let Uttar Pradesh off the hook at crucial moments.
Except Deepak Chahar, none of the host bowlers could make an impression.
The decision to bowl first was justified initially as Chahar got rid of Eklavya Dwievedi early, but Srivastav and Kaif put on 115 runs to wrest back the advantage.
The visitors suddenly lost a couple of quick wickets to Chahar and Vivek Yadav and were 176 for four, but Parvinder and Alam took advantage of the dropped chances to steer UP to safety.
For Rajasthan, Chahar was the most impressive, picking two for 75, while Yadav finished with two for 93.
Brief Scores: Uttar Pradesh 292-2 (Mohd Kaif 67, Arish Alam 60, Parvinder Singh 56; Vivek Yadav 2-93)
Uday Kaul, Mandeep steady Punjab
Riding on two unbeaten half-centuries by Uday Kaul and Mandeep Singh, Punjab posted 212 for 3 against Railways on the first day of their Elite division Group A match in Mohali.
After a poor start, Kaul (batting 82) and Mandeep (batting 61) not only steadied the boat but also remained unbeaten till the stumps were drawn.
Opting to bowl, Railways' bowlers struck early to get rid of openers Manan Vohra (5) and Ravi Inder Singh (20) cheaply.
Ravi, though, managed to put up a crucial 42-run stand with Karan Goel for the second wicket before he fell to J P Yadav, caught by wicketkeeper Mahesh Rawat.
After Singh's departure, Goel continued in the able company of Kaul and the duo shared a 46-run stand.
Railways' decision to field first, meanwhile, seemed to have worked as they also managed to see off Goel for a 142-ball 36, studded with four boundaries, leaving Punjab at 97 for three.
However, Kaul and Mandeep rebuilt the innings by stitching together an unbeaten 115-run fourth-wicket partnership.
In his 234-minute stay at the wicket, Kaul faced 183 deliveries, striking 11 fours in his patient knock, while Mandeep's 110-ball knock included eight fours.
For Railways, JP Yadav (one for 36), Krishnakant Upadhyay (one for 41) and Anupreet Singh (one for 57) chipped in with a wicket each.
Brief Scores: Punjab 212 for 3 (Uday Kaul batting 82, Mandeep Singh batting 61; JP Yadav 1-36).
