Group D: Harshit celebrates maiden Test call-up with four-wicket haul vs Assam
Harshit Rana celebrated his maiden Test team call-up by rattling Assam with a fiery opening spell but keeper-batter Sumit Ghadigaonkar's unbeaten 120 took the visitors to a respectable 264 for 6 at stumps on the opening day of a group D Ranji Trophy match on Saturday.
The fifth wicket stand between right-hander Ghadigaonkar and seasoned Sib Shankar Roy (59) yielded 164 runs before Rana (4/62 in 15 overs) came for his final spell to break the stand but Delhi were guilty of extremely slow over-rate with 76 overs being sent during the day.
It was largely due to another inexplicable decision by the chief selector-head coach pair of Gursharan Singh and Sarandeep Singh of fielding four pacers but only Rana with his bounce and movement along with debutant Money Grewal (1/42 in 13 overs) stood out. Himanshu Chauhan (0/47) and left-armer Siddhant Sharma (0/36) didn't cause any trouble for the two in-form Assam batters.
However, the highlight of the day was Rana, who bowled at brisk pace to get rid of opener Subham Mandal (0) and Abhishek Thakuri (0) in a space of three deliveries in his third over.
While Rishav Das (33) and Denish Das (18) added 51 for the third wicket, Grewal got his first wicket at first-class level, Rana got his third to quickly reduce Assam to 59 for 4.
But Ghadigaonkar and Roy counter-attacked the Delhi bowlers once the initial help was no longer there and the Mumbaikar in fact hit the India international for a couple of sixes. In all he hit 15 fours and three sixes but once left-arm spinner Sumit Mathur (1/64 off 20 overs) removed Roy caught by Sanat Sangwan, Rana quickly disposed off veteran Sarupam Purkayastha to get his fourth victim.
However on the second day, Delhi will need to speed up things if they plan to enforce a result having lost the first innings lead against Tamil Nadu at home in the last game.
Brief Scores:
In Delhi: Assam 1st Innings 264/6 in 76 overs (Sumit Ghadigaonkar 120 batting, Harshit Rana 4/62) vs Delhi.
In Coimbatore: Chattisgarh 1st Innings 293/2 in 90 overs (Aayush Pandey 124, Anuj Tiwary 68 batting, Sanjeet Desai 52 batting, Ajith Ram 1/73) vs Tamil Nadu.
In Rajkot: Railways 1st Innings 234 in 73.2 overs (Vivek Singh 65, Yuvraj Singh 67, Yuvrajsinh Dodiya 3/63).
Shedge's 99 takes Mumbai to 248/6 against Tripura; Baroda bowl out Odisha for 193
Suryansh Shedge missed a well-deserved hundred, scoring 99 runs as defending champions Mumbai reached 248 for six in their first innings against Tripura on the opening day of their Group A Ranji Trophy match in Agartala.
The 21-year-old Shedge hit 10 fours and four sixes in his 93-ball innings, emerging as the top scorer for Mumbai after they won the toss and opted to bat at the Maharaja Bir Bikram College Stadium.
At stumps, Shams Mulani (38) and Himanshu Veer Singh (5) remained at the crease.
Placed fourth in the points table, Mumbai -- coming off a victory against Maharashtra in their previous match -- got off to a shaky start, losing two quick wickets: opener Ayush Mhatre (4) and Siddhant Addhatrao (5). They were struggling at 13 for 2.
Opener Angkrish Raghuvanshi (28) and skipper Ajinkya Rahane (35) formed a 54-run partnership, but their successive dismissals reduced Mumbai to 87 for 4.
Shedge then shifted the momentum, adding 70 runs with Siddhesh Lad (29) and another 85 with Mulani.
For Tripura, Manisankar Murasingh (2/75) and Abhijit K Sarkar (2/30) each took two wickets, while Parvez Sultan claimed one.
At Ay Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara, table-toppers Baroda skittled out Odisha for 193 in 65 overs, riding on a five-wicket haul from spinner Mahesh Pithiya.
Pithiya, whose bowling action resembles that of R. Ashwin and who worked closely with the Australian team during the last edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, was in fine form, jolting Odisha's middle and lower order with his off-spin, taking five wickets for 61 runs in his 22 overs.
Biplab Samantray was the top scorer for Odisha with a 132-ball 58, while Shantanu Mishra added 23 and Aasirwad Swain hit 37.
At stumps, Baroda, who have won both their matches so far, reached 50 for one in 22 overs, with Shivalik Sharma (28) and Shashwat Rawat (17) remaining unbeaten at the crease.
At Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium in Srinagar, Shubham Khajuria (55) and Auqib Nabi (5/29) shone bright as Jammu and Kashmir bundled out Services for a paltry 71 and then reached 183 for 7 on the opening day.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai: 248 for six in 60 overs (Suryansh Shedge 99; Abhijit K Sarkar 2/30) vs Tripura.
Odisha: 193 all out in 65 overs (Biplab Samantray 58; Mahesh Pithiya 5/61) vs Baroda 50 for 1 in 22 overs (Shivalik Sharma 28 not out; Govinda Poddar 1/15).
Jammu & Kashmir 183 for 7 in 54.1 overs (Shubham Khajuria 55; Varun Choudhary 22/3) vs Services 71 allout in 25.1 overs (Nitin Tanwar 18; Auqib Nabi 5/29)
Meghalaya 274 for 8 in 86 overs (Balchander Anirudh 140 not out; Rajneesh Gurbani 3/43) vs Maharashtra.
Yash Rathod scores ton as Vidarbha score 326 against Uttarakhand
Yash Rathod scored his fourth first-class century in just his 11th match, making a steady 135 to lead last season's runners-up to a solid total of 326 on the opening day of their Group B Ranji Trophy third-round fixture against Uttarakhand in Dehradun.
The 24-year-old middle-order batter halted the slide after the two-time Ranji champions, who elected to bat, were reduced to 64/3 in the opening session.
Rathod and Danish Malewar (56) guided the side to 181 with a 117-run partnership before the latter was dismissed by Uttarakhand's veteran left-arm spinner Swapnil Singh.
Malewar's dismissal once again saw Vidarbha go into a slide with none of their batters able to apply themselves on a pitch that assisted spinners.
However, Rathod was in a different zone from the time he came to the crease.
Despite the Uttarakhand spinners continually challenging his patience, Rathod remained composed as wickets fell at regular intervals. He hit 16 boundaries.
Rathod's 195-ball stay ended when he became the ninth batter out clean bowled by off-spinner Avneesh Sudha.
Uttarakhand left-arm spinner Mayank Mishra emerged the most successful bowler taking three wickets for 72 runs, while Avneesh and Swapnil took two wickets each.
Earlier, Uttarakhand pacers Abhay Negi and Devendra Bora put Vidarbha in a spot of bother by grabbing two quick wickets.
But the century partnership between Rathod and Malewar put Vidarbha back on track, with the latter applying loads of caution and scoring 56 valuable runs off 116 balls with the help of five boundaries.
Brief scores:
In Dehradun: Vidarbha 326 all out in 88 overs (Dhruv Shorey 35, Danish Malewar 56, Yash Rathod 135; Mayank Mishra 3/72, Avneesh Sudha 2/35, Swapnil Singh 2/70) vs Uttarakhand.
In Visakhapatnam: Andhra 295 for 6 in 80 overs (Shaik Rasheed 69, Hanuma Vihari 66, Srikar Bharat 65; Rishi Dhawan 2/65, Divesh Sharma 2/40) vs Himachal Pradesh.
In Jaipur: Gujarat 285 for 7 in 85 overs (Priyank Panchal 110, Aarya Desai 86, Umang Kumar 41; Arafat Khan 3/39, Kukna Ajay Singh 3/92) vs Rajasthan.
In Hyderabad: Hyderabad 290 for 1 in 90 overs (Tanmay Agarwal batting 152, Abhirath Reddy 68, Rohit Rayudu batting 62) vs Puducherry.
Karnataka spinners dominate Bihar; Mavi takes 4/29 on comeback
Karnataka spin twins Shreyas Gopal and Mohsin Khan shared seven wickets as Bihar were bowled out for 143 on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group C match in Patna.
Leg-spinner Gopal delivered impressive figures of 4/28 in 14 overs, while off-spinner Khan returned 3/50 from 16.5 overs, with Bihar's innings wrapping up in 55.5 overs.
Fresh off his maiden call-up for the upcoming South Africa T20I series, pacer Vijaykumar Vyshak (1/29 from 8 overs) made an immediate impact alongside Vauki Koushik (1/21 in 10 overs), each claiming a wicket in their opening overs to give Karnataka a strong start after they elected to bowl.
Bihar opener Sharman Nigrodh provided resistance with a gritty 143-ball 60 (6x4, 2x6) and formed key partnerships before Karnataka spinners took control, leading to Bihar's steady fall of wickets.
The next best contribution for Bihar came from Bipin Saurabh, who scored a brisk 38-ball 31.
Karnataka ended the day at 16 for no loss, trailing by 127 runs.
In Mullanpur, pacer Shivam Mavi marked his comeback from a stress fracture with a strong performance, picking up 4/29 in 13.3 overs as Uttar Pradesh bowled out hosts Punjab for 210.
Mavi, who has represented India in six T20Is, struck in the first over, removing Jaskaranvir Singh Paul for just 4.
Atal Bihari Rai (1/19) dismissed the other opener, Abhay Chaudhary, for 1.
Punjab's Anmolpreet Singh and Pukhraj Mann tried to stabilise the innings with a fifty-run partnership, but Saurav Kumar (2/55) and Shivam Sharma (2/50) disrupted the stand, leading to another collapse.
Mavi later returned to clean up the tail, while Uttar Pradesh reached 8 for no loss at stumps, trailing Punjab by 202 runs.
In Indore, hosts Madhya Pradesh made a solid start with the bat, ending the day at 233/4 against Haryana, thanks to a resilient 235-ball 86 not out from opener Himanshu Mantri.
Mantri anchored the innings with patience, remaining unbeaten at stumps.
Shubham Sharma provided fireworks with an entertaining 44 off 59 balls, striking two sixes and three fours before falling just six runs short of a fifty.
At close, Harpreet Singh supported Mantri with a steady 41 not out off 88 balls.
For Haryana, off-spinner Jayant Yadav, who has represented India in six Tests and two ODIs, was the standout bowler with figures of 2/72. Indian leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal went wicketless, conceding 59 runs in his 15 overs.
Meanwhile, in Kolkata, the opening day of the Bengal-Kerala match at Jadavpur University Salt Lake Campus ground was called off due to a wet outfield following heavy rainfall from Cyclone Dana, which had crossed Bengal the day prior.
Brief Scores
In Patna: Bihar 143; 55.5 overs (Sharman Nigrodh 60; Shreyas Gopal 4/28, Mohsin Khan 3/50). Karnataka 16 for no loss; 3 overs.
In Mullanpur: Punjab 210; 82.3 overs (Pukhraj Mann 61, Sanvir Singh 50; Shivam Mavi 4/29) vs Uttar Pradesh 8 for no loss; 2 overs.
In Indore: Madhya Pradesh 233/4; 87 overs (Himanshu Mantri 86 batting, Shubham Sharma 44, Harpreet Singh 41 batting; Jayant Yadav 2/72 vs Haryana.
