Haryana bowlers produced a disciplined performance to restrict hosts Delhi to 184 for eight at stumps, on the first day of their Group A Ranji Trophy encounter as India discards Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir yet again failed to post a big score.
Put into bat on a seamer-friendly Roshanara track, Sehwag (3), Gambhir (29), Unmukt Chand (1) and Mithun Manhas (9) were all back in the pavilion before lunch to trigger a collapse from which Delhi couldn't fully recover.
Although Rajat Bhatia (39) and Vaibhav Rawal (25) added 59 runs for the fifth wicket, Haryana's five-man seam attack maintained the pressure throughout the day by not giving away easy runs.
For Haryana, left-arm seamer Sanjay Badhwar (4/56 in 19 overs) was the pick of the bowlers while senior pro Joginder Sharma (2/32 in 17.2 overs) also troubled the batsmen with seam and swing.
Punit Bisht scored a quickfire 33 with six fours and a six but didn't last long.
All eyes were on Sehwag and Gambhir but both of them looked horribly out of touch as Joginder troubled them on a track that had good carry as well as movement after pitching.
After Unmukt was dismissed trying to hit a cover drive off Badhwar, Sehwag walked out there in the middle in the very second over.
The duo batted together for 10 overs but didn't for once were able to dominate the bowling.
After playing 29 balls for his three runs, Sehwag edged an away-going delivery from Joginder to Nitin Saini behind the stumps. Sehwag now has 63 runs in five innings in Ranji Trophy and his dreams of an India comeback is getting bleaker by the day.
Gambhir's only confident stroke was a tuck off his hips to square leg boundary off Ashish Hooda's bowling.
However, Badhwar got one delivery to hold its line as Delhi skipper tried a defensive push and was played on in the process.
The 48 for three, soon became 55 for four as Delhi's most consistent batsman Mithun Manhas got a beauty from Joginder.
The ball moved a shade after pitching and Manhas nicked it straight to Saini.
It was Bhatia and young Rawal, who then tried to steady the ship without taking much risk. Bhatia hit couple of good-looking cover drives while Rawal also defended well at the other end. The 50 partnership came off 143 deliveries.
Bhatia, who scored 39 off 98 deliveries with four boundaries finally got out when he edged a wide delivery from medium pacer Sachin Rana to give Saini his third catch of the day.
Rawal, who resisted for more than two and half hours, was dismissed when he edged one from Badhwar to Rana in the second slip. Bisht's breezy knock also ended with a poor shot while Ishant Sharma also didn't last long.
Brief Scores:
Delhi 1st Innings 184/8 in 84 overs (Rajat Bhatia 39, Punit Bisht 33, Sanjay Badhwar 4/56, Joginder Sharma 2/32).
Rajasthan dominate opening day against Railways
Jaipur: Rajasthan had Railways on the mat as they rode on Pankaj Singh's three-wicket haul to reduce the visitors to 223 for seven on the opening day of their Group B Ranji Trophy match.
Shivakant Shukla (54) and Nitin Bhille (60) were the only batsmen to make significant contributions as Railways crumbled in face of a disciplined collective effort by the home bowlers.
At stumps, wicketkeeper Mahesh Rawat (27) and Anureet Singh (4) were holding fort for the visiting side.
Railways were dealt an early blow when opener V Cheluvaraj became Pankaj's first victim after making just five runs.
But the Railways settled down after that with Shukla and Bhille combining to add 117 runs for the second wicket. While Shukla's knock came off 168 deliveries, Bhille was equally patient in his 177-ball stint at the crease.
Bhille was the first to go when Deepak Chahar had him caught by Robin Bist. Bhille struck seven fours during the course of his stay at the crease.
Shukla departed in the next over, trapped LBW by Pankaj after a knock which was studded with eight hits to the fence.
None of the batsmen who came after them could emulate their patience with Amit Paunikar (26) and skipper Murali Kartik (30) being the only notable exceptions.
For Rajasthan, Pankaj wrapped the day with impressive figures of three for 69 in 24 overs.
Brief scores:
Railways 1st Innings: 223 for 7 in 83 overs (Shivakant Shukla 54, Nitin Bhille 60, Pankaj Singh 3/69).
Punjab fight back after being bundled out for 172
Mohali: Sixteen wickets fell on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy Group A match between Punjab and Gujarat as the home side fought back in a splendid fashion after being bowled out for 172.
Put into bat, Punjab were bundled out for just 172 in 70.1 overs with opener Jiwanjot Singh being the only batsman who made a substantial contribution with a solid 86 at the PCA Stadium.
Wicket-keeper Uday Kaul (22), Ravi Inder Singh (20) and Mayank Sidhana (16) were the other Punjab batsmen who scored in double digit figures.
Right-arm pacer Jasprit Bumrah led the fine bowling show of Gujarat with a five-wicket haul. Left-arm spinner Rakesh Dhurv grabbed three wickets while Bhavesh Baria and Mehul Patel took a wicket each.
In reply, Gujarat were in a precarious 61 for six from 17 overs at the draw of stumps with Rujul Bhatt and Akshar Patel batting on 11 and 14 respectively.
The Gujarat top order produced a pathetic batting display with only opener Samit Gohel (14) coming up with a double-digit score.
Interestingly, two wickets each fell at the scores of 20, 31 and 36 as Gujarat were reduced to 36 after facing 13 overs.
For Punjab, right-arm pacer Sandeep Sharma (Jr) grabbed three wickets while Siddarth Kaul and Manpreet Singh Gony took a wicket apiece.
Punjab captain Harbhajan Singh did not bowl today while he made just two while batting.
Brief scores:
Punjab 1st innings: 172 all out in 70.1 overs (Jiwanjot Singh 86; Jasprit Bumrah 5/52).
Gujarat 1st innings: 61 for 6 in 17 overs (Akshar Patel 14 batting, Sandeep Sharma (Jr) 3/43).
Shukla smashes 155 as Bengal post 303
Kolkata: Bengal skipper Laxmi Ratan Shukla stood tall amid ruins with an exquisite century to take his team to a modest 303 against group B leaders Saurashtra in their Ranji Trophy match.
Coming into bat at the fall of fourth wicket in his 99th Ranji Trophy match, Shukla ensured that Bengal get to the 300-mark as he counter-attacked Saurashtra with an array of classical drives and aggressive pulls in his 163-ball-155, more than half of what Bengal managed in their first innings before being bundled out in 75.2 overs.
On a grassy Eden strip, half the Bengal side were back in the hut with scoreboard reading 77 for five, but Shukla in company of another veteran Subhomoy Das (42) staged a fantastic recovery adding 138 runs for the sixth wicket.
Such was his dominance that 114 runs came in boundaries and sixes. Shukla hit 23 fours and three sixes.
Having taken a break from his commentary assignment, former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who is also the chairman of Bengal's coaching committee was at the ground when Shukla cantered to a three-figure mark with couple of classical drives. On reaching 150, Shukla acknowledged the applause from
Ganguly especially raising the bat for him.
Coming to the crease when Bengal were reeling at 75/4, Shukla's first hour was all about occupying the crease even as their batting mainstay Wriddhiman Saha (28) got out with an addition of two runs to the total.
Electing to bowl, Saurashtra looked in total command at lunch with Bengal tottering at 84/5 with the new ball bowlers -- Abhishek Bhat (2/66) and Saurya Sanandiya (2/60) -- exploiting the early morning Eden condition to fine effect.
But it was clearly not the day for Saurashtra as Shukla took the attack on the visitors as he repaired the innings run by run posting his halfcentury in 68 deliveries.
His second 50 came in just 48 balls as he stepped on the gas and cantered to 150 in another 32 balls.
Shukla stepped out to Aarpit Vasavada for successive sixes and then a clean pull over midwicket to Chirag Jani took him to 148 as the Bengal skipper made it more special bringing up 150 that came with a boundary.
At a time when Bengal are struggling in batting in absence of Manoj Tiwary, the seniormost Bengal player showed the way to do it With his defiant innings.
The innings clearly lifted the spirit in Bengal who attacked Saurashtra with a seven-man slip cordon in the only over bowled by the home side.
For a team which has India's Test No 3 Cheteshwar Pujara in their ranks, Bengal's score may not pose any threat but it will definitely give the home side an edge in the first session on the second day.
Brief scores:
Bengal 1st Innings 303 in 75.2 overs (Laxmi Ratan Shukla 155, Subhamoy Das 42; Chirag Jani 3/62, Sandip Maniar 3/68, Abhishek Bhat 2/66, Saurya Sanadiya 2/60).
Saurashtra 1st Innings 0/0 in 1 over.
Prasanna scores ton for Tamil Nadu
Meerut: Ramaswamy Prasanna scored an unbeaten century as Tamil Nadu overcame early jitters to reach 258 for seven at the end of the opening day's play in their Group B Ranji Trophy match against Uttar Pradesh.
Prasanna, who hit 11 boundaries and a six during his unbeaten 104-run knock off 207 balls, stitched 107 runs for the fifth wicket with Baba Aparajith (60) after Tamil Nadu were reduced to 20 for four in the first hour of the match at the Bhamashah Stadium.
He later joined hands with A Aswin Crist to put on another crucial unbeaten 79-run stand for the eighth wicket.
At stumps, Aswin Crist was batting on 54 not out with Prasanna holding fort at the other end.
Electing to bat, the visitors got off to a disastrous start, losing both their opening batsmen -- Abhinav Mukund (0) and Murali Vijay (0) -- for a duck each. S Badrinath (4) and Dinesh Karthik (5) were also quick to join the openers in the dressing room.
It was Aparajith and Prasanna who steadied the boat before the former got out for a well-made 60 that came of 152 balls with the help of four boundaries.
Aparajith's dismissal triggered a mini collapse and TN once again found themselves struggling at 179 for seven.
But Aswin Crist provided a great support to Prasanna and the two made sure that the visitors do not lose any more wicket by the end of the day's play.
For Uttar Pradesh, Amit Mishra (2/27), RP Singh (2/59) and Imtiaz Ahmed (2/63) claimed two wickets each.
Brief scores:
Tamil Nadu 1st innings: 258 for seven in 90 overs (Ramaswamy Prasanna batting 104, Baba Aparajith 60, Amit Mishra 2/27).
Fazal ton guides Vidarbha to 244-2 against Karnataka
Nagpur: Opener Faiz Fazal scored an unbeaten century as Vidarbha reached 244 for two in their first innings against Karnataka at stumps on the opening day of the Group A Ranji Trophy match.
Fazal hit an unfinished 259-ball 139, studded with 21 fours and he was ably supported by skipper Shalabh Shrivastava, who scored a patient 75 off 221 balls with the help of nine hits to the fence.
The duo were standing tall at the crease at the draw of stumps on the opening day at the Vidarbha Cricket Assoctaion stadium at Jamtha here.
Electing to bat, Vidarbha suffered a big blow early on when they lost opener Akshay Kolhar in the third ball of the innings. He was caught by Manish Pandey off Abhimanyu Mithun's delivery.
Wicket-keeper Amol Ubarhande (18) and Fazal then tried to steady the innings and stitched together 62 runs before the former was sent packing by Abrar Kazi in the 22nd over.
However, Vidarbha took complete control of the match after that wicket as Fazal and new man Shrivastava put together 181 runs for the third wicket to put their team in a commanding position.
Mithun and Abrar Kazi were the only bowlers to get a wicket.
Brief score:
Vidarbha 1st innings: 244 for two in 90 overs (F Fazal 139; A Kazi 1/39)
Assam in command against Tripura
Agartala: Assam produced a fine pace bowling display to take the upperhand over hosts Tripura at the end of opening day's play in a Group C Ranji Trophy match.
Opting to field, Assam rode on the exploits of its pace trio of skipper Abu Nechim Ahmed (3/37), Arup Das (4/34) and Pritam Das (3/49) to bundle out a listless Tripura for 136 in 55 overs.
Middle-order batsman Abhijit Dey was the lone bright spot for Tripura, scoring a fine 54 off 131 balls which was decorated with 10 hits to the fence.
At stumps, Assam were 85 for one in 32 overs in their first innings in reply to Tripura's dismal total.
Dheeraj Jadhav was batting on 40 off 87 balls and giving him company was Sibsankar Roy on 15.
Opener Pallav Kumar Das (19) was the lone wicket to fall for Assam, clean bowled by medium pacer Rana Dutta.
Assam trail Tripura by 51 runs with nine wickets in hand.
Brief scores:
Tripura 1st innings: 136 all out in 55 overs (Abhijit Dey 54; Arup Das 4/34, Abu Nechim Ahmed 3/37, Pritam Das 3/49).
Himachal dismiss Hyderabad for 237
Dharmasala: Seam bowler Rishi Dhawan returned with a five wicket haul to lead a disciplined bowling attack as Himachal Pradesh dismissed Hyderabad for 237 in their first innings on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy Group C match.
Skipper Dhawan led from the front with figures of 28-7-75-5, while his pace partner V S Malik took two wickets at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium here. Waqar Ahmed (1/52), Akshay Chauhan (1/25) and Bipul Sharma (1/14) accounted for one wicket each.
For Hyderabad, Tirumalasetti Suman was the top-scorer with a 92-ball 65, while Ravi Teja (39), GH Vihari (31) and BP Sandeep (34) -- all got good starts but could not capitalise on their innings.
Asked to take the first strike, Hyderabad lost their first wicket in skipper Akshath Reddy (5) when he was caught by Maneik Mohil in the 10th over.
Suman and Teja then took the team from 28 for one to 100 when the former was dismissed by Chauhan.
Teja was the next to return to the pavilion after Malik had him caught by Bali in the 39th over, while Vihari and Sandeep then added 46 but Dhawan accounted for the former in the 57th over.
The Himachal skipper came back again to strike twice in the 61st over, dismissing Sandeep and H Ahmed (0) to completely break their back.
Alfred Absolem (22) and Pragyan Ojha then added 44 for the ninth wicket to take Hyderabad across the 200-mark.
Brief score:
Hyderabad 1st innings: 237 all out in 82.3 overs (T Suman 65; R Dhawan 5/75).
Khadiwale, Jadhav hit centuries, Maharashtra 360/3 against Goa
Pune: Opener Harshad Khadiwale struck a fine unbeaten century and shared a 178-run partnership with Kedar Jadhav to guide Maharashtra to 360 for three against Goa on the opening day of their Group C Ranji Trophy match.
Electing to field after winning the toss, Maharashtra rode on Khadiwale's patient 147 and Jadhav's attacking 114-ball 106 to take the upper hand in their first innings.
While Khadiwale's unfinished knock was studded with 18 fours and one six during which he faced 254 balls, Jadhav's innings was laced with 13 fours and two sixes.
Khadiwale and Ankit Bawne (36 batting) were at the crease when stumps were drawn for the day.
For Goa, Amit Yadav picked up two wickets for 77 runs while Saurabh Bandekar chipped in with a wicket.
Maharashtra lost opener Vijay Zol early when he was castled by Bandekar for 20.
Next man-in, Sangram Atitkar and Khadiwale combined well and stitched together a 71-run stand for the second wicket before the former was sent packing by Yadav for 39.
However, Maharashtra took complete control of the match as Khadiwale and new man Jadhav put together 178 runs for the third wicket to guide their team to a commanding position.
Yadav broke the stand in the 71st over when he had Jadhav caught behind by Keenan Vaz.
Brief score:
Maharashtra 360 for 3 in 90 overs (Harshad Khadiwale 147 batting, Kedhar Jadhav 106; Amit Yadav 2/77).
Image: Virender Sehwag
Photograph: Morne de Klerk/Getty Images
