Ranji Trophy wrap Shardul Thakur rattles Bengal Jakati claims eight

Ranji Trophy wrap: Shardul Thakur rattles Bengal; Jakati claims eight

GROUP A

Bengal vs Mumbai, Nagpur

Led by Shardul Thakur's six-wicket haul and Kaustubh Pawar's 78, Mumbai took a 65-run lead against Bengal on the opening day in Nagpur.

Mumbai won the toss and elected to field. They made three changes to their side. Jai Bista came in for Akhil Herwadkar and Dhawal Kulkarni returned to the side for Aditya Dhumal. Thakur, who has been out of form in the ongoing season, bowled a superb spell in the morning session to pick up four wickets and followed it up with a couple more in the post-Lunch period as Bengal collapsed from 90 for 3 to 99 all out in less than six overs.

In reply, Mumbai openers Herwadkar and Jay Bista began aggressively, putting on their half century stand at more than run-a-ball. While Bista departed for 26, Pawar continued the charge in company of Shreyas Iyer. However, once Iyer departed, Mumbai's middle order too crumbled as they were rescued from 119 for 1 to 162 for 5.

Mumbai reached 164 for 5 at Stumps, with skipper Aditya Tare and Dhawal Kulkarni at the crease.

Brief Scores: Begal 99 (Sudip Chatterjee 35, Abhishek Raman 21; Shardul Thakur 6-31, Dhawal Kulkarni 3-22) trail Mumbai 164/5 (Kaustubh Pawar 78, Shreyas Iyer 28; Amit Kuila 2-44, Mukesh Kumar 2-44) by 65 runs

Baroda vs Madhya Pradesh, Dharamsala

Babashafi Pathan's five-fer dented Madhya Pradesh after they electing to field in Dharamsala.

After Madhya Pradesh openers Aditya Shrivastava and Mukul Raghav put on a steady opening stand of 45 runs, Babshafi Pathan ran through the top order, reducing them from 45 for no loss to 94 for 6. Devendra Bundela, who became the most capped Ranji Trophy player in the ongoing match, salvaged some pride and used his experience to bail out his side.

He put on crucial partnerships with Ankit Singh Kushwah and Puneet Datey to take Madhya Pradesh to 217, before getting bowled out.

In reply, Baroda lost two early wickets with Datey sending back Kedar Devdhar and DM Mistry, before Aditya Waghmode and deepak Hooda took the side to 31 for 2 at Stumps.

Brief Scores: 217 (Devendra Bundela 86, Puneet Datey 34; Babashafi Pathan 5-48, Irfan Pathan 2-51) lead Madhya Pradesh 31/2 (Deepak Hooda 14*; Puneet Datey 2-7) by 186

Railways vs Uttar Pradesh

Suresh Raina's 91 helped Uttar Pradesh reach 259 after a shaky start against Railways on day one at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot.

Earlier in the day, Railways skipper Karn Sharma won the toss and elected to field. After opener Samarth Singh departed for one, Shivam Chaudhary and Akshdeep Nath steadied Uttar Pradesh's innings. However, a few overs before lunch, Karn broke the partnership, and a couple of strikes by Anureet Singh led to a top order collapse. Nonetheless, Raina combined with Praveen Kumar and Saurabh Kumar to help his side's recovery before they were bowled out.

Anureet and Karn bagged four wickets each. In reply, Railways lost opener Shivakant Shukla early to Praveen Kumar, but ensured no further damage before Stumps.

Brief Scores: Uttar Pradesh 259 (Suresh Raina 91, Saurabh Kumar 53; Karn Sharma 4-48, Anureet Singh 4-67) lead Railways 18/1 by 241 runs

Gujarat vs Punjab, Belgaum

Led by Priyank Panchal's unbeaten unbeaten 134, Gujarat posted 281 for 2 against Punjab at the KSCA Stadium in Belgaum on Monday.

Gurkeerat Mann, who is serving as Punjab's stand-in-captain in Yuvraj Singh's absence, won the toss and elected to field. Punjab got an early breakthrough when Manpreet Grewal had opener SB Gohil caught by Gitansh Khera for 16. Panchal, then went on to put back-to-back century stands with Bhargav Merai (65) and Rujul Bhatt (55 not out) to take complete control of the proceedings.

In the process, Merai and Bhatt also notched up their respective half-centuries. Sandeep Sharma was the only other bowler to get a wicket on the opening day when he had Merai trapped leg before and ended the 143-run stand for the second wicket.

Brief Scores: Gujarat 281/2 (Priyank Panchal 134*, Bhargav Merai 65; Manpreet Grewal 1-31, Sandeep Sharma 1-57) vs Punjab

GROUP B

Odisha vs Maharashtra, Wayanad

Biplab Samantray led Odisha's spirited fightback on the first day of his side's crucial encounter against Maharashtra after seamers Anupam Sanklecha and Mohsin Sayyed had initially reduced them to 116 for 5. After opting to bowl, Sanklecha carried forward his terrific form to remove three out of the first four batsmen to fall. In the process, he became the leading wicket-taker this season by overtaking Pankaj Singh.

Samantray then stitched together a crucial 98-run stand with Deepak Behera to revive Odisha's innings. With Samantray being calm at one end, Behera continued to play his strokes before eventually falling for 58. Maharashtra, who looked to have lost the plot at one stage, then finished in strong fashion by picking up some quick wickets towards the end, including that of Samantray for 89 as Sanklecha cleaned him up with one that kept a bit low.

Brief scores: Odisha 311/9 (Biplab Samantray 89, Deepak Behera 58; Anupam Sanklecha 4-75; Mohsin Sayyed 3-58) vs Maharashtra

Saurashtra vs Karnataka, Patiala

Twelve wickets fell on the first day in Patiala as Saurashtra trail by 181 runs with eight wickets in hand against group toppers Karnataka. After opting to bat first, Karnataka lost opener Mayank Agarwal cheaply for 15 and he was soon followed by Robin Uthappa for 14. Samarth and Manish Pandey revived the innings for a while but the former's dismissal triggered a collapse.

Wickets kept tumbling at one end while Manish kept the scoreboard ticking at the other. He found support in the form of Shreyas Gopal, who made 38. Manish was the ninth batsman to be dismissed after scoring 75 as Karnataka were bowled out for 200. Skipper Vinay Kumar though, gave his side something to smile by picking two quick wickets before stumps.

Brief scores: Karnataka 200 (Manish Pandey 75, Shreyas Gopal 38; Vandit Jivrajani 3-41, JM Chauhan 3-52) lead Saurashtra 19/2 (Vinay Kumar 2-1) by 181 runs.

Assam vs Jharkhand, Vizianagaram

Half-centuries from skipper Saurabh Tiwary and Ishank Jaggi helped Jharkhand post 251 for the loss of four wickets on the first day against Assam in Vizianagaram. Krishna Das, Abu Nechim Ahmed and Dhiraj Goswami picked up a wicket each to vindicate the skipper's decision to bowl first. Jaggi then joined his skipper out in the middle at 98 for 3 to steer his side away to safety.

The duo played smart cricket, kept rotating the strike besides finding the boundary at regular intervals to put on 151 for the fourth wicket, before Arup Das gave Assam a breakthrough before stumps. Tiwary was dismissed for a 174-ball 88 but Jaggi remained unbeaten on 80.

Brief scores: Jharkhand 251/4 (Saurabh Tiwary 88, Ishank Jaggi 80*; Abu Nechim Ahmed 1-28, 1-38) vs Assam

Vidarbha vs Delhi, Chennai

Despite losing Shikhar Dhawan early for 6 before stumps, Delhi would be pleased with their efforts on the first day of their encounter against Vidarbha after bowling them out for just 183. Navdeep Amarjeet Saini and Sumit Narwal dented Vidarbha early in the innings to leave them reeling at 20 for 3. Even though Shalabh Srivastava scored a fighting half-century, the procession continued at the other end.

Shrikant Wagh contributed with an unbeaten 46 to guide his side past 150. While Narwal finished with four wickets, Saini ended up with three. Rajneesh Gurbani then began his side's reply in fine fashion by getting rid of Dhawan early for six as Delhi sent out Pradeep Sangwan as the night-watchman to see them through for the day.

Brief scores: Vidarbha 183 (Shalabh Srivastava 62, Shrikant Wagh 46*; Sumit Narwal 4-38, Navdeep Amarjeet Saini 3-30) lead Delhi 12/1 (Rajneesh Gurbani 1-11) by 171 runs.

GROUP C

Kerala vs Tripura, Cuttack

Sandeep Warrier and Jalaj Saxena picked up three wickets apiece to put Kerala in a position of strength in their match against Tripura at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack.

Skipper Manisankar Murasingh's decision to bat first back-fired as Tripura lost wickets at regular intervals and were reduced to 124 for 7 at one stage. A fighting half-century by Yashpal Singh and Murasingh's gritty 42 led a brief revival before Tripura folded for 213 in 79.5 overs.

In reply, Kerala openers saw through a tricky three-over period to come out unscathed.

Brief scores: Tripura 213 (Yashpal Singh 50, Manisankar Murasingh 42; Sandeep Warrier 3-34, Jalaj Saxena 3-37) lead Kerala 11/0 by 202 runs.

Andhra vs Goa, Dhanbad

As many as 20 wickets went down in the game between Andhra and Goa at the Railway Stadium in Dhanbad with the latter gaining a marginal lead of 44 runs. Bhargav Bhatt picked up a six-wicket haul while Shadab Jakati did even better, finishing with eight wickets on what was a bowlers' day.

Opting to bowl first, Bhargav Bhatt and Bukkapattam Siddharth ran through Goa's batting order, sharing all 10 wickets to fall to bowl them out 115. Bhatt finished with impressive figures of 6 for 36 while Siddharth ended up with 4 for 52. Opener Sumiran Amonkar (29) was the highest contributor with the bat for Goa.

In reply, Andhra were in a good position as KS Bharat and DB Ravi Teja put on a half-century stand after the early dismissal of DB Prasanth. Jakati then triggered a collapse, although Bhargav Bhatt's handy knock of 25 ensured a first-innings lead for Andhra. Jakati finished with excellent figures of 8 for 53.

Brief scores: Goa 115 (Sumiran Amonkar 29, Samar Dubhashi 23*; Bhargav Bhatt 6-36, Bukkapattam Siddharth 4-52) trail Andhra 159 (KS Bharat 68, Bhargav Bhatt 25; Shadab Jakati 8-53) by 44 runs.

Chhattisgarh vs Services, Mumbai

Sumit Ruikar's five-wicket haul overshadowed half-centuries from Nakul Verma and Vikas Hathwala to help Chhattisgarh to a good position at the end of Day 1 of their Ranji Group C encounter against Services at the Bandra Kurla Complex.

Most of the Services batsmen made promising starts but they could not convert them into substantial contributions. Ruikar picked up the bulk of the wickets while he was supported well by the rest of his bowling colleagues to bowl Services out for 225.

Chhattisgarh openers Sahil Gupta and Abhimanyu Chauhan survived for two overs to remain unbeaten at stumps.

Brief scores: Services 225 (Nakul Verma 54, Vikas Hathwala 50; Sumit Ruikar 5-73, Abhimanyu Chauhan 2-24) lead Chhattisgarh 8/0 by 217 runs.

Haryana vs Himachal Pradesh, Valsad

Guntashveer Singh scored an unbeaten 110 on his first-class debut to help Haryana to a strong position against Himachal at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium in Valsad.

After opener Shubham Rohilla retired hurt on 2, the 23-year-old Guntashveer was involved in useful partnerships with the top-order batsmen, although the likes of Nitin Saini, Chaitanya Bishnoi and Rajat Paliwal could not convert their starts into bigger scores. Kanwar Abhinay, who provided timely breakthrough, bagged three wickets.

Skipper Mohit Sharma put on an unbeaten 49-run stand with Guntashveer to help Haryana to 237 for 3 at stumps.

Brief scores: Haryana 237/3 (Guntashveer Singh 110*, Nitin Saini 39; Kanwar Abhinay 3-48) vs Himachal Pradesh.

Jammu & Kashmir vs Hyderabad, Vadodara

Tanmay Agarwal's unbeaten ton, along with useful contributions from the top-order batsmen, helped Hyderabad make a good start in their Ranji encounter against Jammu & Kashmir at the Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara.

Following the early dismissal of Akshath Reddy, Agarwal was joined by skipper S Badrinath as they added 101 runs for the second wicket to lay the foundation for a big total. Following Badrinath's dismissal for 47, Balchander Anirudh was involved in a 93-run stand with Agarwal as they continued the good work. However, Anirudh fell four short of a fifty, becoming Parvez Rasool's second scalp late in the day.

Agarwal and Bavanaka Sandeep were unbeaten to take Hyderabad to 234 for 3 at stumps.

Brief scores: Hyderabad 234/3 (Tanmay Agarwal 106*, S Badrinath 47, Balchander Anirudh 46; Parvez Rasool 2-39) vs Jammu & Kashmir.