Yuvraj stars with century Pankaj Singh bags fifer

Group A

Mumbai vs Baroda in Delhi

Pinal Shah (66), Yusuf Pathan (41) and Deepak Hooda (46) lifted Baroda to 286 for 9 on the first day of their clash against Mumbai at the Airforce Complex Ground in Delhi.

After opting to bat, Baroda lost Kedar Devdhar early and were pegged back when Aditya Waghmode fell for a 122-ball 39. At one stage they were reduced to 89 for 3 but first Hooda and Shah and then Pathan and Shah rebuilt the innings to even the scales.

However, what the think-tank will rue is that not one batsmen could convert starts into big scores as Baroda were left with just one wicket to their tally by the close of play.

Brief Scores: Baroda 286/9 (Pinal Shah 66, Deepak Hooda 46, Yusuf Pathan 41; Shardul Thakur 2-77) vs Mumbai.

Uttar Pradesh vs Bengal in Jaipur

Bengal made most of a placid track at the Sawai Man Singh stadium in Jaipur and posted 278 for 3 against Uttar Pradesh after opting to bat. Abhimanyu Eswaran (123 not out) and Sudip Chhatterjee (73) led Bengal's charge against a hapless UP attack.

Sayan Mondal (30) and Eswaran made a cautious start, scoring 64 for the first wicket. Once Ankit Rajpoot dismissed Mondal, Eswaran and Chhatterjee got together to frustrate the bowlers.

Chhatterjee's positive approach rubbed off on Eswaran as well as the duo scored 132 for the second wicket. Chhatterjee was bowled by Rajpoot but Eswaran went on to score his century off 182 deliveries.

Brief Scores: Bengal 278/3 (Abimanyu Eswaran 123*, Sudip Chhatterjee 73; Ankit Rajpoot 3-72) vs Uttar Pradesh.

Railways vs Tamil Nadu in Bilaspur

Railways took a firm grip of their clash against Tamil Nadu on the first day, by shooting them down for just 121 at the Luhnu Cricket ground in Bilaspur. In response, Railways ended the day on 87 for 3, trailing by 34.

Asked to bat, Tamil Nadu showed little resistance as they were blown over for a paltry score - for the third time in as many innings in this season already. Deepak Bansal ended with four wickets while Manjeet Singh bagged three. Malolan Rangarajan scored an unbeaten 36 in what turned out to be another dismal performance from the batsmen.

For Railways, Mrunal Devdhar fought hard with a 82-ball 47 before being trapped leg before by T Natarajan.

Brief Scores: Tamil Nadu 121 (Malolan Rangarajan 36*; Deepal Bansal 4-48, Manjeet Singh 3-31) lead Railways 87-3 (Mrunal Devdhar 47; T Natarajan 1-36) by 34 runs

Madya Pradesh vs Punjab in Lahli

Veteran Indian batsman Yuvraj Singh powered Punjab to 347 for 3 on the first day against Madhya Pradesh in Lahli. Yuvraj brought his experience to the fore on a greenish track and bailed his side out of trouble after the MP seamers reduced them to 15 for 2. After getting hit off the very first ball, he battled past the first session and was authoritative in the second to bring up his 25th first-class ton.

Opener Jiwanjot Singh played the ideal foil at the other end as the duo put on 180 for the third wicket. Ishwar Pandey, who picked up Manan Vohra very early in the game, then provided the breakthrough by trapping Jiwanjot in front for 61. But MP's woes were far from over as the new man Gurkeerat Singh Mann scored an enterprising ton in the final session. He took full toll of a tiresome looking attack and flayed them to all parts of the ground. He hit a boundary off the final ball of the day to bring up his century.

Brief Scores: Punjab 347/3 (Yuvraj Singh 164*, Gurkeerat Singh 101*; Ishwar Pandey 2-95) vs Madhya Pradesh

GROUP B

Maharashtra vs Delhi in Mumbai

Centuries from Swapnil Gugale and Ankit Bawne helped Maharashtra post 290 for 2 against Delhi at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

The decision to bat first turned out to be a fruitful one as the opposition bowlers were left searching for answers while the Gugale-Bawne stand fetched 249 runs. Maharashtra were in a spot of bother at 41 for 2, having lost Harshad Khadiwale and Chirag Khurana. But twin tons helped them end the day with a clear advantage.

Brief Scores: Maharashtra 290/2 (SM Gugale 152*, AR Bawane 120*; Navdeep Amarjeet Saini 2-43) vs Delhi.

Team Rajasthan vs Assam in Vizag

Skipper Pankaj Singh picked up five wickets to restrict Assam to 195 on the opening day in Vizag. Assam were at one stage were well placed at 82 for 1 before the downfall began. Opener Pallav Kumar Das scored a patient 40 but No.3 Rishav Das fought till the end to remain unbeaten on 93.

He failed to find support from the other end as eight batsmen were dismissed for single-digit scores including seasoned campaigner Arun Karthik. After dismissing the openers, Karthick and Syed Mohammad, Pankaj got rid of the last man Krishna Das to complete his five-wicket haul.

Brief Scores: Assam 195 (Rishav Das 93*, Pallav Kumar Das 40; Pankaj Singh 5-39, NB Singh 2-40) vs Team Rajasthan.

Odisha vs Saurashtra in Hyderabad

Saurashtra managed to bowl out Odisha for 228 in their Group B fixture in Hyderabad despite opener and skipper Sandeep Pattanaik's composed century. In reply, the Saurashtra openers negated the seven overs and scored four runs before stumps. DA Jadeja was the wrecker-in-chief as he finished with a four-wicket haul. Shaurya M Sanandia, Deepak Punia and Chirag Jani picked up two wickets each.

Odisha will be disappointed with their efforts though as they were cruising at 122 for 1 halfway through the day before losing nine wickets for the addition of just 106 runs.

Brief scores: Odisha 228 (Sandeep Pattanaik 123; DA Jadeja 4-67, Deepak Punia 2-36) lead Saurashtra 4/0 by 224 runs.

Jharkhand vs Karnataka in Greater Noida

Opener R Samarth's patient unbeaten century guided Karnataka to 248 for 3 on the opening day against Jharkhand at the Sports Complex Ground in Noida. Skipper Vinay Kumar had no hesitation in batting first but his side were rocked early after the early dismissals of Mayank Agarwal and Robin Uthappa.

Karun Nair then stitched a fruitful 155-run stand for the third wicket with Samarth to rescue his side before getting dismissed by Ashish Kumar for 74. Kaunain Abbas joined forces with Samarth were involved in an unbeaten 61-run stand before stumps.

Brief scores: Karnataka 248/3 (R Samarth 118*, Karun Nair 74; Ashish Kumar 3-47) vs Jharkhand

Group C

Tripura v Services in Guwahati

Leg break bowler Muzzaffaruddin Khalid (4-56) and medium-pacer Diwesh Pathania (2-57) wrecked Tripura's top-order on Day 1 of the second round Ranji Trophy fixture at Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati. Asked to bat first, Tripura opener Bishal Ghosh played a handy knock but batsmen at the other end couldn't last long. Bishal fell for 41 after Lunch, giving Services a chance to seize the initiative in the second session. From 111 for 3, Tripura slipped to 188 for 7, before Rajat Dey (28 not out) and Gurinder Singh (23 not out) steadied the ship to an extent.

At stumps on Day 1, Tripura reached 228 for 7.

Brief Scores: Tripura 228/7 (Bishal Ghosh 49, Yashpal Singh 41; Muzzaffaruddin Khalid 4-56, Diwesh Pathania 2-57) v Services

Andhra v Chhattisgarh in West Bengal

After a dream start to their maiden Ranji Trophy last week, Chhattisgarh continued to put their best foot forward. Amandeep Khare scored an unbeaten 136, an innings laced with 18 fours, to cap off a good opening day's play for the debutants against Andhra at the Bengal Cricket Academy Ground in West Bengal.

After Hanuma Vihari opted to field, left-arm pacer Cheepurapalli Stephen accounted for both the Chhattisgarh openers, but 19-year-old Khare took control of the proceedings in emphatic fashion. Even as captain Mohammad Kaif departed early, Khare and Abhimanyu Chauhan (73 not out) added an unbeaten 169-run stand for the fifth wicket to take their side to 291 for 4 at stumps.

Brief Scores: Chhattisgarh 291/4 (Amandeep Khare 136*, Abhimanyu Chauhan 73*; Cheepurapalli Stephens 2-44) v Andhra

Goa v Jammu & Kashmir in Surat

On a wickets-filled Day at the Lalabhai Contractor Stadium in Surat, an all-round effort from Parvez Rasool helped Jammu & Kashmir take better control of the frenzied proceedings.

Opting to bat, Jammu & Kashmir were tottering at 20 for 3 before Rasool (82) and Ian Dev Singh (67) came together for a 123-run stand. Rasool was at his aggressive best, hitting 13 fours and 2 sixes in his 83-ball knock, before Shadab Jakati trapped him leg before. There was a brief revival through a 34-run partnership between Puneet Bisht and Dev Singh, but the latter was dismissed by Amit Yadav. Bisht took the team past 200, but Jakati (4-48) and Yadav (3-43) had done well to restrict Jammu & Kashmir to a modest total of 227.

In reply, Goa faltered against the pace of Ram Dayal, who dismissed the openers in the first 10 overs. Rasool then arrived and got rid of Goa captain Sagun Kamat for 16. His dismissal of Darshan Misal, for 0 off 11 balls, signalled the end of the day, with Goa languishing on 43 for 5.

Brief Scores: Jammu & Kashmir 227 (Parvez Rasool 82, Ian Dev Singh 67; Shadab Jakati 4-48, Amit Yadav 3-43) lead Goa 43/5 (Swapnil Asnodkar 18; Ram Dayal 2-10, Parvez Rasool 2-18) by 184 runs

Kerala v Himachal Pradesh in Kolkata

Kerala played out slow and cautiously on Day 1 of their game against Himachal Pradesh at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. After their top three failed to settle in, Sanju Samson (47) arrived at the crease and straightened the mess. He and Sachin Baby (52 not out) added 57 runs for the fourth wicket, before the former was sent packing by Rishi Dhawan. VA Jagadeesh joined Baby and two took Kerala to stumps without further damage. Their unbeaten stand is worth 57 runs.

Brief Scores: Kerala 163/4 (Sachin Baby 52*, Sanju Samson 47; Shresth Nirmohi 1-29) v Himachal Pradesh