In-form Sarfaraz notches up his 17th first-class century

Sarfaraz Khan and Siddhesh Lad compiled superlative hundreds to power table-toppers Mumbai to a commanding 332 for 4 on Day 1 of their Ranji Trophy match against hosts Hyderabad on Thursday.

Sarfaraz notched up his 17th first-class hundred and his first of the 2025-26 Ranji season, scoring 142 not out off 164 balls which was studded with 11 hits to the fence and five maximums.

Amandeep Khare and Anustup Majumdar are the only two batters who have amassed more Ranji tons than Sarfaraz since the 2019-20 season.

Lad sent the ball across the ropes 10 times and also had two sixes in his 179-ball knock to score 104, while putting on 249 runs for the fourth wicket after Mumbai was asked to bat first.

At the draw of stumps, Himanshu Singh (0) had joined Sarfaraz in the middle after Rohit Rayudu broke the partnership in the 86th over, trapping Lad in front of the wickets.

Rayudu (2/66) also accounted for opener Akhil Herwadkar (27), while skipper Mohammed Siraj, playing his first Ranji match of the season, picked up the other opener Akash Anand (35) after the two had added 60 runs for the opening wicket.

Sai Yadav also snapped a wicket, dismissing Musheer Khan (11) cheaply.

Mumbai were going strong at 60/0 before they lost three quick wickets to be reduced to 86/3.

Coming out to bat at No. 5, Sarfaraz then joined hands with Lad to script the recovery.

With three wins, Mumbai lead the group with 24 points, while Jammu and Kashmir are placed second with 20 points, followed by Rajasthan (13).

Hyderabad, also at 13 points, will have to win both their remaining matches to keep their hopes alive for a quarterfinal spot.

In another match, Puducherry were bowled out for 233, built mainly around Ajay Rohera's patient 211-ball 94.

Opting to bat, Puducherry struggled to weave a substantial partnership with Rohera anchoring the innings with a superb knock, laced with eight fours.

Jayant Yadav (33), Aman Khan (25) and Paras Ratnaparkhe (20) frittered away their starts as J&K bowlers produced a disciplined effort.

At stumps, Sunil Kumar and Shubham Khajuria were at the crease with J&K yet to open their account.

Sunil Kumar (3/26), Yudhvir Singh (3/55) and Vanshaj Sharma (2/55) shared eight wickets among them.

Brief scores:

Mumbai 332-4 in 87 overs (Sarfaraz Khan 142 not out, Siddhesh Lad 104; Rohit Rayudu 2/66) vs Hyderabad

Puducherry 233 all-out in 86.4 overs (Ajay Rohera 94; Sunil Kumar 3/26) against J&K

Himachal Pradesh 314-4 in 90 overs (Pukhraj Mann 118; Manav Suthar 2/59) vs Rajasthan

Delhi 216 all-out in 67.5 overs (Ayush Doseja 104; Dev Aditya Singh 3/43, Sahban Khan 3/50) vs Chhattisgarh 52-0 in 17 overs (Ayush Pandey 29, Anuj Tiwary 21)

Sudip marks comeback with unbeaten ton

Veteran left-hander Sudip Chatterjee smashed an unbeaten century to power Bengal to 340/4 at stumps against Services in their Group C match at the Bengal Cricket Academy ground in Kalyani. 

Making a comeback from an injury, the southpaw hit 12 fours and one six in his undefeated knock off 226 balls, while skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran scored a fine 81 (152b).

The duo added 151 runs for the opening wicket to put Services in the back-foot after the visitors opted to bowl.

For Sudip it was his 14th first-class hundred. The opening pair were looking without any trouble before a Abhimanyu's innings was cut short by a run out against the run of play.

Making his 100th first class appearance, Anustup Majumdar fell for 27 off 33 balls. Shahbaz Ahmed also departed after a well-made 38.

At stumps on the opening day, Sudip remained unbeaten along with Sumanta Gupta (31 batting) to give the hosts the advantage.

Uttarakhand bowl out Tripura for 266

Veteran left-arm spinner Mayank Mishra and youngster Janmejay Joshi shared seven wickets to bowl hosts Tripura out for 266 as Uttarakhand made a steady start at stumps at Maharaja Bir Bikram College Stadium in Agartala.

In reply, Uttarakhand reached 7 for no loss in three overs at stumps, still trailing by 259 runs.

The 35-year-old Mishra returned impressive figures of 4/59, while 24-year-old new-ball bowler Joshi, playing his maiden season, chipped in with 3/48 to contribute to Uttarakhand's disciplined effort.

The game turned soon after the drinks break when Mishra provided the breakthrough, triggering a collapse. Wickets fell at regular intervals thereafter as the Mishra–Joshi duo tightened the screws and shared seven scalps between them.

Sridam Paul held the innings together with a patient 123-ball 75 knock, striking seven fours and a six, but lacked support from the middle order.

Lower down the order, Swapnil Singh struck a counter-attacking unbeaten 60 off 74 balls, hitting nine fours and two sixes, to push Tripura past the 250-mark.

Brief scores:

Bengal 340/4; 86 overs (Sudip Chatterjee 140 batting, Abhimanyu Easwaran 81) vs Services.

Tripura 266; 82.5 overs (Sridam Paul 75, Swapnil Singh 60 not out; Mayank Mishra 4/59, Janmejay Joshi 3/48). Uttarakhand 7 for no loss; 3 overs.
In Guwahati: Assam 187/6; 86 overs (Sibsankar Roy 38; Aman Kumar 2/31, Anshul Kamboj 2/37, Tanmay Baloda 2/45) vs Haryana.

Gujarat 175; 55.4 overs (Jaymeet Patel 57; Bhargav Merai 3/26, Zubair Ali 3/36). Railways 78/2; 26 overs (Vivek Singh 34 batting, Ravi Singh 31 batting).

Sharandeep's unbeaten century props up Jharkhand 

Young opener Sharandeep Singh struck only his second first-class hundred as Jharkhand reached a strong 279 for one against Uttar Pradesh in their Group A fixture in Lucknow.

Sharandeep was batting on 128 off 269 balls when the stumps were drawn at the end of opening day's play at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium.

Giving Sharandeep company was Aryaman Sen on 64 off 126 balls, as Jharkhand ended the day with the nose ahead after 86 overs had been bowled.

Sharandeep's opening partner, Shikhar Mohan batted well for a neat 78 off 123 balls after the visitors were asked to bat first by UP skipper Aryan Juyal.

Jharkhand, who are placed third in the points table to UP's fourth, began on a fine note with the duo of Sharandeep and Shikar looking in good nick.

The right-left combination of Sharandeep and Shikhar rotated the strike and also found the boundaries without much difficulty to put pressure on the UP bowlers.

Sharandeep and Shikhar added 147 runs for the first wicket before the former stitched together another partnership of 132 runs for the second wicket to consolidate Jharkhand's fine start.

Vidarbha lead the group with 25 points, whereas Andhra with 22 points are at the second spot. Jharkhand have 18 points, and UP are at the fourth position with 17 points.

Only an outright win can keep UP's hopes alive for a knockout berth.

The hosts are missing the services of Rinku Singh, who is on national duty in the ongoing T20I series against New Zealand. The southpaw has scored 341 runs this season and his two centuries in the back-to-back matches helped Uttar Pradesh gain a vital first innings lead in those matches.

Besides Rinku, the other notable name missing from the match is Dhruv Jurel.

Brief scores:

Jharkhand 279/1 in 86 overs (Sharandeep Singh batting 128, Shikhar Mohan 78, Aryaman Sen batting 64) vs Uttar Pradesh.

Nagaland 206 all out in 57 overs (Chetan Bist 37, Ronit More not out 37, Dega Nischal 33; Atit Sheth 3/31) vs Baroda 139/1 in 31 overs.

Tamil Nadu 291/7 in 83 overs (Pradosh Ranjan Paul 78C Andre Siddarth 56, Nidhish Rajagopal batting 54, Athish SR 50) vs Odisha.

Vidarbha 267/7 in 81 overs (Yash Rathod 104; K S Narasimha Raju 4/51) vs Andhra.