Ranji Trophy: Siraj picks four-fer for Hyderabad against Chhattisgarh

Mohammed Siraj returned 17-3-56-4 to help Hyderabad bowl Chhattisgarh out for 283 on Day 1 of their Group D Ranji Trophy contest, in Hyderabad, on Thursday. 

For the visitors, Prateek Yadav made 106 while Vikalp Tiwary scored 94.

In reply, Hyderabad reached 56 for no loss, trailing by 227 runs in first innings.

Siraj had opener Anuj Tiwary caught for four, after coming off a century in the last match and then trapped No. 3 Sanjeet Desai (1).

The Indian pacer then denied Vikalp Tiwary (94) a century and also got rid of veteran Aditya Sarwate.

Sangwan slams century for Delhi

In another Group D encounter in Mumbai, Sanat Sangwan struck a fine hundred for Delhi against Mumbai before the visitors were shot out for 221, with Mohit Avasthi claiming 5/62.

While Sangwan (118) stood tall with a resolute ton - his third this season - Delhi's other batters cut a sorry figure.

Mumbai were 13/1 in reply with Divij Mehra removing Akash Anand (4). The hosts trail by 208 runs in first innings.

Sangwan mixed caution with aggression to negate early seam movement and testing spells from Mumbai pacers to produce a quality century. He scored his runs off 218 balls, hitting 11 fours and two sixes.

The 25-year-old Sangwan had fortified Delhi's position with a solid 100-run stand for the second wicket with Vaibhav Kandpal (32), keeping Mumbai at bay against the new ball.

Delhi had lost only one wicket in the morning session and were 111/1 at one stage in the second when after lunch, Avasthi ripped through the visitors in his third spell of 6-0-17-3.

In Puducherry, Karan Kannan (5/37) and Sagar Udeshi (3/54) shared eight wickets as Rajasthan were dismissed for 164. In reply, the hosts reached 77/2.

For Rajasthan, Deepak Choudhary struck a vital 71-ball 64 at No. 8 with nine fours and two sixes while Deepak Hooda scored 36.

Jammu and Kashmir were 20 for no loss at stumps in reply to Himachal Pradesh's 168. Sunil Kumar produced 5/55 for J&K.

Brief scores:

Delhi 221 all out (Sanat Sangwan 118; Mohit Avasthi 5/62) vs Mumbai 13/1 (Akhil Herwadkar 4 not out; Divij Mehra 1/4).

Chhattisgarh 283 all out (Vikalp Tiwary 94, Prateek Yadav 106; Mohammed Siraj 4/56) vs Hyderabad 56/0 (Aman Rao 32 not out, Abhirath Reddy 23 not out).

Rajasthan 168 all out (Deepak Choudhary 64; Sagar Udeshi 3/54, Karan Kannan 5/37) vs Puducherry 77/2 (Neyan Kangayan 41 not out; Deepak Choudhary 1/14).

Himachal Pradesh 168 all out (Pukhraj Mann 77; Sunil Kumar 5/55) vs Jammu and Kashmir 20/0.

Emanjot frustrates Karnataka

Emanjot Singh Chahal made a gritty 77 not out in his first-class comeback to lift Punjab to a competitive 303 for nine against Karnataka on the opening day of their final Group B fixture in Mohali.

Having reduced Punjab to 168 for six, Karnataka were left frustrated by the Punjab lower-order mainly Emanjot who stood firm against a formidable opposition.

Abhijeet Garg (81) and captain Uday Saharan (44) contributed at the top of the order before the middle-order collapse took the momentum away from the home team.
However, Emanjot seized the momentum from Karnataka who are in the hunt for a knock-out berth while Punjab are out of contention.

Primarily a left-arm spinner with a free flowing action, the 21-year-old who bat right handed negated the threat from Karnataka spinners on helping surface brilliantly.
His two games from Punjab previously came in 2024.

Emanjot employed the sweep regularly to counter the turn, while played an attractive back foot punch off India pacer Prasidh Krishna towards close of play.
For Karnataka, Vidhyadar Patil and leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal shared three wickets amongst themselves.

Karnataka did not have their best day on the field and Shikhar Shetty dropping tail-ender Sukhdeep Bajwa (20) was an example of that.

Gopal had removed Jashanpreet Singh and Anmolpreet Singh off successive balls to reduce Punjab to 119 for four before the home team lost two more wickets on 168.
The tide was turned single-handedly by Emanjot.

Prasidh did not have an enjoyable opening day but managed to castle Bajwa in the 89th over of the day.

Brief scores:

Punjab 303/9 (Abhijeet Garg 81, Emjanjot Singh Chahal 77 not out; Vidyadhar Patil 3/46, Shreyas Gopal 3/48) vs Karnataka.

Chandigarh 136 all out (Arjit Singh 29; Jaydev Unadkat 4/44) vs Saurashtra 167/1 (Harvik Desai 80 not out, Jay Gohil 61 not out).

Jurel misses out on ton as UP falter

India international Dhruv Jurel missed out on a deserving ton by just four runs as his team Uttar Pradesh was bowled out for 237, courtesy a six-wicket haul from Vidarbha left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey on Day 1 of their final Group A league fixture in Nagpur.

At stumps, hosts Vidarbha (25 points), who are looking at an outright win to qualify for the knock-outs, were 33 for no loss.

Opting to bat, UP were struggling at 109 for 6 at one stage before Jurel and seamer Shivam Mavi (47) added 92 runs for the seventh wicket in a recovery act that enabled the visitors to cross the 200-run mark.

Jurel hit 11 boundaries and was a bit severe on spinner Parth Rekhade (1/60) but it was India A regular Dubey, who ran through the UP line-up with figures of 6 for 63 in 19.5 overs.

The UP innings folded a delivery short of 69 overs with none of the other nine batters able to cross the 20-run mark.

Jurel was the eighth batter out and Dubey's fourth victim caught by Parth Kadam.

Sukirt, Ninad take Baroda to 247/5 vs TN

In another Group A game in Salem, Sukirt Pandey's patient 73 not out off 222 balls and Ninad Rathwa's (66 off 112 balls) half-century took Baroda to 247 for 5 against Tamil Nadu on the opening day.

The duo added 85 runs for the fifth wicket after Baroda were left tottering at 72 for 4.

Sukirt also added 90 runs for the sixth wicket with Atit Seth (45 batting). Off-spinner J Hemuchudeshan took three wickets.

Chetan blasts 160 for Nagaland

Keeper-batter Chetan Bist smashed an unbeaten 160 as Nagaland reached 322 for 6 against Andhra on the opening day of their group A match in Sovima.

Bist smacked 23 boundaries and a six and added 167 for the fifth wicket with Dega Nischal (74) after Nagaland were left reeling at 59 for 4.

Kavurui Saiteja and Satyanarayana Raju took two wickets apiece. Andhra (28 points) would ideally want to take six points for a clear cut knock-out berth but even three points would take them to 31 and keep them in quarters hunt.

Swastik, Govinda take Odisha to 242/6 

Half-centuries by opener Swastik Samal (79, 168 balls) and veteran middle-order batter Govinda Poddar (64, 120 balls) took Odisha's first day total to 242 for 6 against Jharkhand in Jamshedpur.

For Jharkahnd, medium pace bowler Saurabh Sekhar (3/34) was the pick of the bowlers. Jharkhand, like Vidarbha are on 25 points and are looking at an outright win and bonus points to ensure a quarter-final berth.

Brief scores:

Uttar Pradesh 237 all out (Dhruv Jurel 96, Shivam Mavi 47, Harsh Dubey 6/63) vs Vidarbha 33/0.

Baroda 247/5 (Sukirt Pandey 73 batting, Ninad Rathwa 66) vs Tamil Nadu.

Nagaland 322/6 (Chetan Bist 160 not out, Kavurui Saiteja 2/28) vs Andhra.

Odisha 242/6 (Swastik Samal 79, Govinda Poddar 64, Saurabh Shekhar 3/34) vs Jharkhand.

Chatterjee's unbeaten fifty steadies Bengal

Veteran Sudip Chatterjee struck a resolute half-century to hold the Bengal innings together as the visitors recovered to 168 for five on a curtailed opening day of their Group C match against Haryana in Rohtak.

Only 58 overs were possible after a delayed start due to dense fog, but Chatterjee stood firm with an unbeaten 78 off 177 balls, hitting five fours, even as wickets fell at regular intervals at the other end.

Left-arm rookie spinner Tanmay Baloda was the pick of the Haryana bowlers, returning figures of 3/38 from 11 overs, while Anshul Kamboj (1/16) and Amit Rana (1/51) chipped in with a wicket each.

Asked to bat after Haryana skipper Ankit Kumar won the toss, Bengal began steadily through Chatterjee and Abhimanyu Easwaran.

The opening stand yielded 61 runs before Baloda struck in the 24th over dismissing Abhimanyu for 26 off 69 balls.

The spinner then removed Sudip Kumar Gharami (1) in his next over to put Bengal under pressure.

But Chatterjee, fresh from a career-best 209 against Services in the previous game, once again anchored the innings and stitched useful stands to steady the side.

Having already sealed their quarterfinal berth with an innings win over Services, Bengal rested pace spearhead Mohammed Shami, who had claimed seven wickets in that match.

Earlier, Bengal handed a debut to left-arm spinner Vikas Singh.

Brief scores:

Bengal 168/5 (Sudip Chatterjee 78 batting; Tanmay Baloda 3/38) vs Haryana.

Gujarat 267/7 (Manan Hingrajia 98 not out, Jaymeet Patel 69, Priyesh Patel 51; Manisankar Murasingh 3/37, Abijit Sarkar 2/45, Sandip Sarkar 2/59) vs Tripura.

Uttarakhand 279/3 (Kunal Chandela 128 batting, Bhupen Lalwani 52; Rohit Singh 2/99) vs Assam.

 Services 174/3 (Anshul Gupta 101; Zubair Ali 3/43) vs Railways.