Musheer, Lad tons rescue Mumbai
Opener Musheer Khan (112) and veteran Siddhesh Lad (100 not out) hit centuries to rally Mumbai to 289/5 on Day 1 of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group D match against Himachal Pradesh, in Mumbai, on Saturday.
Mumbai were struggling on 73/4 after another failure from Team India hopeful Sarfaraz Khan, who was trapped leg before by seamer Vaibhav Arora for 16.
Mumbai strugged after a few early wickets as Ayush Mhatre was bowled by Vipin Sharma for nine in the second over. Captain Ajinkya Rahane also failed with the bat, caught off pacer Arpit Guleria for 2.
Guleria also accounted for Himanshu Singh, who was bowled for a first ball duck before Sarfaraz also perished cheaply.
However, Musheer and Lad struck a fine stand with former hitting 14 boundaries in his 162 ball knock and the latter had 12 fours and six during his undefeated 207-ball stay at the crease.
Lad was unbeaten on 100 at stumps on the opening day, with Akash Anand on 26 at the other end.
Brief Scores
At New Delhi: Delhi 211 in 69 overs (Ayush Doseja 65, Ayush Badoni 64, Sumit Mathur 55 no, Auqib Nabi 5/35). Jammu and Kashmir 1st Innings 31/3 in 13 overs (Simarjeet Singh 3/14)
At Mumbai: Mumbai 1st Innings 289/5 in 88 overs (Musheer Khan 112, Siddhesh Lad 100 batting, Arpit Guleria 2/56) vs HP.
At Raipur: Chattisgarh 1st Innings 201/4 in 86 overs (Sanjeet Desai 69, Amandeep Khare 41, Puneet Datey 2/37) vs Puducherry.
At Hyderabad: Hyderabad 1st Innings 295/7 in 89 overs (Rahul Radesh 85 not out, Aniket Chaudhary 2/35) vs Rajasthan.
Simarjeet leads Delhi's fightback!
Pacer Simarjeet Singh bowled a sharp opening spell to reduce Jammu and Kashmir to 31/3 after Delhi were bowled out 211 on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group D match, in New Delhi, on Saturday.
Simarjeet got the new ball to move as he first dismissed Shubham Khajuria, who was caught by Ayush Doseja and then removed Qamran Iqbal, who was caught in the slips.
Nightwatchman Sunil Kumar was bowled by an incoming delivery as Delhi after a forgettable batting effort smelt blood during the final hour of the day at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
With the new ball only 13 overs old, Simarjeet and fellow pacer Money Grewal will like to exploit the underlying moisture on Day 2, which is a regular feature at Kotla during winters.
And that was precisely the reason, why Delhi's opening duo of Arpit Rana (0) and Sanat Sangwan (12) were all at sea against Auqib Nabi (5/35) and Sunil Kumar (1/29), who got some swing and seam movement.
Rana dabbed at a delivery from Nabi and was caught by IPL specialist Abdul Samad in the slips. Yash Dhull (1) was slightly unlucky as the delivery from Sunil had deviated enough and didn't take the outside edge of his bat but he was given out.
Sangwan was done by left-arm spinner Vanshaj Sharma, whose ball stopped as the left-hander wanted to whip it but the uppish drive was taken at mid-wicket.
Skipper Ayush Badoni (64 off 82 balls) and his namesake Ayush Doseja (65 off 143 balls) added 104 for the fourth wicket after Delhi's top three were blown away for just 14 runs inside the first 10 overs.
The stockily-built left-hander Doseja added another 68 with all-rounder Sumit Mathur (55 not out) but at 182/4, Delhi lost their next six wickets for just 27 runs as seamer Nabi (5/35) continued his fine form with his third five-wicket haul of the season.
As many as five Delhi batters failed to disturb the scorers as Delhi had nothing to show save the two stands but both Badoni and Doseja were guilty of not converting their half-centuries into three-figure mark.
In case of Mathur, he was stranded at the other end despite looking in good touch.
Majumdar's century puts Bengal on top
A gritty century from Anustup Majumdar and a fluent half-century by Shahbaz Ahmed rescued Bengal from early trouble and helped them reach a strong 273/5 against Railways on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group match, in Surat, on Friday.
Opting to bat first, Bengal found themselves in early trouble against a disciplined Railways attack.
Skipper Sudip Gharami (0) fell early to Adarsh Singh, while Aditya Purohit (6) and Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal (5) also departed cheaply, leaving the visitors reeling at 27/3 inside the first 27 overs.
Wicketkeeper Habib Gandhi (28) attempted to steady the innings but his dismissal to left-arm spinner Kunal Yadav at 61 threatened to undo the brief recovery.
That was when Majumdar, one of Bengal's most seasoned campaigners, rose to the occasion.
The 41-year-old right-hander, known for his ability to anchor long innings, showcased immense composure on a sluggish track to bring up his 18th first-class century.
He remained unbeaten on 103 off 161 balls, an innings decorated with 12 boundaries.
Majumdar found an ideal partner in Shahbaz, who counter-attacked in style. The left-hander mixed aggression with control, playing some delightful strokes en route to a brisk 86 off 106 balls, which included 12 fours and three sixes.
The pair's 134-run partnership for the fifth wicket changed the complexion of the innings, frustrating the Railways bowlers who had dominated the morning session.
Shahbaz, who looked set for a century, fell to Karn Sharma late in the evening, caught at mid-off while attempting to accelerate.
Towards the close, Sumanta Gupta (39 not out off 56 balls) provided excellent support to Majumdar. The duo added an unbroken 78-run stand for the sixth wicket to ensure Bengal ended the day in control.
For Railways, Kunal Yadav was the standout performer, finishing with 3 for 56 from 19 tidy overs.
Adarsh Singh (1/29) and Karn Sharma (1/64) picked up a wicket each, but the rest of the attack struggled to extract any help from the surface.
The first session clearly belonged to Railways, but Majumdar's experience and Shahbaz's fluency swung the momentum in Bengal's favour by stumps.
Bengal will look to push the total beyond 350 on the second day to strengthen their position further.
Brief Scores:
At Surat: Bengal 1st innings: 273/5 in 85 overs (Anustup Majumdar 103 not out, Shahbaz Ahmed 86; Kunal Yadav 3/56).
At Agartala: Tripura 1st innings: 316/4 in 84 overs (Hanuma Vihari 143 not out, Sentu Sarkar 94; Darshan Rajbongshi 2/52) vs Assam.
At Rohtak: Haryana 1st inns: 112 all out (Yuvraj 30; Jagadeesha Suchith 5/27, Mayank Mishra 4/38) vs Uttarakhand 1st inns: 126/2 in 46 overs (Kunal Chandela 37 not out).
At Nadiad: Services 1st innings: 203/8 in 90 overs (Shivam Kumar 37, Rajat Palwal 36; Siddharth Desai 3/55, Vishal Jaiswal 2/61).
Nidheesh sends Saurashtra crashing for 160
Medium-pacer M D Nidheesh's superb six-wicket haul helped Kerala bowl out Saurashtra for a mere 160 and take the upper hand on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group B match, in Mangalapuram, on Saturday.
Right-armer Nidheesh (6/20) wreaked havoc on the Saurashtra batters as the visitors were all out for 160 in 55.2 overs after Kerala won the toss and opted to field.
It was Nidheesh's eighth five-wicket haul in first class cricket.
One-down Jay Gohil top-scored with 84 off 123 balls with the help of 11 fours and two sixes as he contributed more than half of the Saurashtra total.
After bagging Harvik Desai for a duck in the first over, Nidheesh had Chirag Jani for 5 and Arpit Vasavada (0) in back-to-ball deliveries in the seventh over. He missed out on a hat-trick, but left Saurashtra reeling on 7/3.
He then dismissed Prerak Mankad (13) and Ansh Gosai (1) to reduce Saurashtra to 82 for 5 in the 27th over. It was due to the 69-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Gohil and Mankad that took Saurashtra past the 150-run mark.
In reply, Kerala were 82 for 2 in 22 overs at stumps with opener Rohan Kunnummal batting on 59 off 58 balls with the help of nine fours and one six.
For Saurashtra, Hiten Kanbi took both the wickets.
In another Group B match in Pune, Karnataka bounced back to reach 257/5 against Maharashtra at stumps on the opening day after they were 89/3 at one stage.
Captain and opening batter Mayank Agarwal made 80 off 181 balls while Ravichandran Smaran chipped in with 54 off 84 balls after Karnataka opted to bat.
Karun Nair was dismissed for 4 by Ramakrishna Ghosh. Veteran spinner Jalaj Saxena grabbed three wickets for 80 runs.
Brief Scores:
In Mangalapuram: Saurashtra: 160 all out in 55.2 overs (Jay Gohil 84; MD Nidheesh 6/20) vs Kerala 82 for 2 in 22 overs (Rohan Kunnummal not out 59; Hiten Kanbi 2/26).
In Pune: Karnataka: 257 for 5 in 89 overs (Mayank Agarwal 80, Ravichandran Smaran 54; Jalaj Saxena 3/80) vs Maharashtra.
In Porvorim: Goa: 256 for 8 in 84.5 overs (Suyash Prabhudessai 65; Saransh Jain 4/72) vs Madhya Pradesh.
In Chandigarh: Chandigarh: 173 all out in 51 overs (Nikhil Thakur 63; Ayush Goyal 4/50, Harpreet Brar 3/29) vs Punjab 71 for 3 in 26 overs.
Jharkhand, Vidarbha, UP dominate Day 1
Skipper Ishan Kishan failed to fire but Kumar Kushagra struck a fine unbeaten century as table-toppers Jharkhand reached 327/5 on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group A match against Baroda, in Vadodara, on Saturday.
Kushagra hit 13 fours and three sixes during his 225-ball 133-run knock, while Robin Minz cracked 10 fours and a six in his entertaining 90-ball 79.
The duo added 135 runs for the fifth wicket to put Jharkhand in a commanding position.
Earlier, Virat Singh contributed 46 with three fours and two sixes, while Ishan hit two fours and a maximum before being caught by Shivalik Sharma off Mahesh Pithiya for 28.
For Baroda, Pithiya (2/109) and Rasikh Dar Salam (2/56) picked up two wickets each, while Raj Limbani (1/27) also chipped in.
At Nagpur, Dhruv Shorey showed great discipline on way to an unbeaten 128 to guide Vidarbha to 234/5 in their first innings against Odisha.
Sent in to bat, Shorey was the fulcrum around which Vidarbha's innings revolved as he struck 10 boundaries and a six during his 250-ball stay. Ravikumar Samarth (49) and Yash Rathod (38) also made useful contributions.
Skipper Akshay Wadkar (0) was batting alongside Shorey at close of play at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium.
For Odisha, Rajesh Mohanty (2/34), Tapas Das (1/29) and Jamala Mohapatra (1/44) shared the wickets.
In Kanpur, Madhav Kaushik and Aryan Juyal slammed centuries, while opener Abhishek Goswami scored 55 as Uttar Pradesh produced a commanding batting display to reach 301 for one at stumps against Nagaland at Green Park.
Opting to bat, openers Kaushik and Goswami put on 118 runs before the latter became the only wicket to fall, dismissed by Imliwati Lemtur (1/56) in the 38th over.
Kaushik then joined forces with Juyal in an unbeaten 183-run stand to put the hosts in control. He struck nine fours, while Juyal hit 15 boundaries.
In Visakhapatnam, Prithvi Raj claimed four wickets as Andhra bowled out Tamil Nadu for 182 before reaching 20/1 at stumps in Visakhapatnam.
Abhishek Reddy (3) and Tripurana Vijay (1) were unbeaten at stumps on Day 1 with the hosts aiming for a decisive first innings lead on the second day.
Tamil Nadu were reeling at 103/9 at one stage before P Vidyuth (40) and Sandeep Warrier (29) added valuable runs to take them close to the 200-mark.
Raj (4/46) was well supported by Saurabh Kumar (2/4), Ashwin Hebbar (1/7), Satyanarayana Raju (1/39) and Kavuri Saiteja (1/50)
Brief Scores:
Jharkhand 327 for 5 in 88 overs (Kumar Kushagra 133 not out; Mahesh Pithiya 2/109, Rasikh Dar Salam 2/56) vs Baroda.
Uttar Pradesh 301 for 1 in 90 overs (Madhav Kaushik 120, Aryan Juyal 118; Imliwati Lemtur 1/56) vs Nagaland.
Vidarbha 234 for 5 in 90 overs (Dhruv Shorey 128 not out; Rajesh Mohanty 2/34) vs Odisha.
Tamil Nadu 182 all out in 74.3 overs (P Vidyuth 40; Prithvi Raj 4/46) vs Andhra 20 for 1 in 6 overs (Srikar Bharat 12; Trilok Nag 1/13).
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