Rajkot: Sheldon Jackson struck an unbeaten century and shared a 138-run partnership with Sagar Jogiyani as Saurashtra overcame early jolts to reach 235 for four against Uttar Pradesh in their Ranji Trophy Group B match here today.
After electing to bat, the hosts were struggling at 55 for three when Jackson joined Jogiyani at the crease and the two batsmen lifted their team out of trouble.
Jackson was batting on 102 off 184 balls while Jogiyani was scalped by leg-spinner Piyush Chawla after making 74 off 237 balls.
Giving Jackson company was Aarpit Vasavada on 17.
Saurashtra lost both the openers inside seven overs. Paceman Imtiaz Ahmed had Bhushan Chauhan caught behind for a duck while Chirag Pathak (4) was trapped by India discard paceman RP Singh.
Jogiyani and skipper Jaydev Shah added 41 runs for the third wicket and looked like rebuilding the innings but Chawla foiled their plans by removing Shah.
However, it was a long drawn battle for UP bowlers after that as Jogiyani and Jackson steadily built the innings.
Jogiyani hit 12 fours in his sedate knock while Jackson hit 14 fours and a six.
They batted together for 50 overs to ensure that momentum is withdrawn from the rivals. Chawla broke the stand when he had Jogiyani caught by Mukul Dagar.
Brief Scores: Saurashtra 1st innings: 235 for 4 in 90 overs.(Sheldon Jackson 102 batting, Sagar Jogiyani 74; Piyush Chawla 2/61).
Haryana 295/8 against Jharkhand on Day 1
Haryana 295/8 against Jharkhand on Day 1
Rohtak: Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem and India paceman Varun Aaron shared five wickets between them as Jharkhand fought back to reduce Haryana to 295 for eight on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group A match, here today.
Sunny Singh (53) and Rahul Dalal (58) struck contrasting half-centuries for Haryana but could not convert those into big ones.
Skipper Harshal Patel (22) and Mohit Sharma (20) were at the crease when stumps were drawn at Chaudhary Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium, where retiring batting legend Sachin Tendulkar had played his final Ranji game late last month.
Opener Abhimanyu Khod (30), Avi Barot (42) and Sachin Rana (37) batted well but could not carry on with their good work.
Medium pacer Shankar Rao (2/30) provided the first breakthrough when he had Nitin Saini (8) caught behind by wicketkeeper Shiv Gautam.
Next man-in, Sunny combined well with Khod and took the team's total to 96 but Aaron (2/48) broke the 84-run second-wicket stand by dismissing the latter.
Nadeem (3/108) then removed Sunny, having him trapped leg before to reduce the hosts to 96 for three. Sunny's 53-run knock off 83 balls was laced with eight fours.
Barot and Dalal then steadied the sinking ship and stitched together a 71-run partnership for the fourth wicket before Nadeem returned for his third spell to dismiss Barot.
Rana then took the crease and, along with Dalal, added 54 runs to take the team past 200. Aaron had Rana trapped leg before in the 71st over and from there on, Haryana kept on losing wickets.
Adding to their misery, Rao returned to have Dalal caught behind by Gautam for a patient 135-ball 58.
Spinner Rahul Shukla and Nadeem dismissed Jayant Yadav (14) and Joginder Sharma (6) in quick succesion to take the upperhand at the end of Day 1.
Brief Score: Haryana 296 for 8 in 90 overs (Rahul Dalal 58, Sunny Singh 53; Shahbaz Nadeem 3/108, Varun Aaron 2/48).
Pailwal, Desai strike fifties in Services fight against UP
Pailwal, Desai strike fifties in Services fight against UP
New Delhi: Rajat Paliwal came up with a fighting unbeaten half-century and combined well with lower-order batsmen to take Services to 275 for six against Rajasthan in their Ranji Trophy Group B match, here today.
Paliwal was batting on 71 and Suraj Yadav on 23 when stumps were drawn for the day. They added quick 39 runs in 6.3 overs in their seventh-wicket unfinished stand.
Among the top-order batsmen, only opener Pratik Desai (65) put up some fight against the former champions.
Paliwal got a good support from Vishnu Tiwari (45) and their 106-run stand stabilised the innings of hosts, who were struggling at 130 for five.
Their stand ended when Rituraj Singh castled Tiwari, who hit two fours in his 103-ball knock.
Fast bowler Pankaj Singh (3/74) rocked Services top order with his three-wicket burst after his pace colleague Aniket Choudhary drew the first blood for Rajasthan.
Left-arm paceman Choudhary had Services skipper Soumik Chatterjee (11) caught behind after they decided to bowl at Palam Ground.
Pankaj then sent back Anshul Gupta (1) and wicket-keeper Nakul Verma (29).
The other opener Pratik Deai was batting solid from the other end but was eventually trapped by Pankaj. His 65 came off 123 balls with six boundaries.
Choudhary had his second victim when he trapped Yashpal Singh (5).
However, the hosts batted well after that.
Brief Scores: Services: 275 for six in 90 overs. (Rajat Paliwal 71 batting, Pratik Desai 65; Pankaj Singh 3/74, Aniket Choudhary 2/39).
Young Lad impresses as Delhi keep Mumbai to 252/6
Young Lad impresses as Delhi keep Mumbai to 252/6
Mumbai: Promising Mumbai batsman Siddhesh Lad impressed with a knock of 74 before Delhi fought back with a couple of late wickets to keep the hosts to 252 for six on the first day of their Group A Ranji Trophy match here today.
The experienced Wasim Jaffer made 61 while Asitya Tare scored 53 at the Bandra Kurla Complex.
For the visitors, Ashish Nehra and Parvinder Awana were the two most impressive bowlers, picking up two wickets each after Mumbai opted to bat.
At stumps, Hiken Shah and Balwinder Sacdhu were batting on 13 and seven, respectively.
Mumbai were off to a bad start as they lost opener Kaustabh Pawar with just 10 runs on the board, veteran left-arm pacer Nehra being the successful bowler.
A 94-run partnership for the second wicket ensued between wicketkeeper-batsman Tare and Jaffer before the latter was sent back by Awana with the scoreboard reading 104/2 in the 39th over.
Jaffer's innings was laced 12 fours and a six and he faced 95 balls.
Tare got out to Manan Sharma after spending a good 279 minutes in the middle, during which he found the fence six times.
21-year-old Lal continued to tackle the Delhhi bowlers and by the time he beacame the sixth man to get out, Lad had struck nine fours having faced 137 balls and spent 194 minutes at the crease.
All-rounder Abhishek Yadav (12) could not do much while the talented Suryakumar Yaday (20) got out after getting a start.
Brief scores: Mumbai 1st innings: 252 for six in 6 in 88 overs (Siddhesh Lad 74, Wasim Jaffer 61, Aditya Tare 53; Ashish Nehra 2/16).
Mali takes 8/45 as Railways bundle out Baroda for 176
Mali takes 8/45 as Railways bundle out Baroda for 176
Vadodara: Medium pacer Ranjitkumar Mali produced a dream spell that saw him take eight wickets for 45 runs, as Railways bundled out Baroda for 176 in their Group B Ranji Trophy match here today.
Opting to field after winning the toss, Railways rode on the 25-year-old Mali, who hails from Tezpur in Assam, to run through the Baroda line-up in their first innings.
This is Mali's best figures in first-class cricket, having made his debut in 2008.
At stumps on the first day, Railways were 24 for one in 16 overs. For Baroda, Aditya Waghmode made 33 while Yusuf Pathan and Murtuja Vahora contributed 32 each at the Moti Bagh Stadium.
Brief scores: Baroda 1st innings: 176 all out in 69 overs (Aditya Waghmode 33; Ranjitkumar Mali 8/45).
Karnataka struggling after good start against Gujarat
Karnataka struggling after good start against Gujarat
Bangalore: Karnataka squandered a good start by their openers to hand the initiative to Gujarat as they were struggling at 226 for seven at the end of the opening day of their Group A Ranji Trophy match at Chinnaswamy stadium here today.
A solid 80-run opening stand between Mayank Agarwal (42) and Lokesh Rahul (34) had given the hosts a good platform to consolidate but Karnataka lost six wickets in the last two sessions to squander the initiative.
Kunal Kapoor played his part at number three with a crucial 57 to give some respectability to the Karnataka total.
Gujarat captain Parthiv Patel did not have any hesitation in putting Karnataka into bat, hoping to capitalise on the morning conditions. But Mayank and Rahul kept the Gujarat bowlers at bay before the former fell to Rakesh Dhruv for 42 runs in 88 balls with seven hits to the fence.
Kapoor held on firmly in company of Rahul to carry Karnataka to 93 for one at lunch.
However, Rahul fell soon after the lunch for 34, which he made in 108 balls with six hits to the fence. Thereafter, Karnataka lost wickets at regular intervals and did not have any partnership going.
Left-arm spinner Akshar Patel and pacer Mehul Patel took vital wickets of Rahul and dangerous Manish Pandey (8) while Dhruv and Jasprit Bumrah dismissed Chidambaram Gautam (8) and Stuart Binny (4) at the fag end of second session to bring Gujarat back into the game.
In the post-tea session, pacer Mehul Patel first sent Kapoor packing after he scored 57 off 149 balls with the help of seven boundaries.
Bumrah once again came into the party and removed home side captain Vinay Kumar, caught behind by Parthiv for 22 to break the 44-run stand for the seventh wicket with Ganesh Satish.
Mehul, Bumrah and Dhruv finished the day with two wickets apiece while Akshar took one wicket.
At stumps, Satish was batting on 36 and Abhimanyu Mithun on three.
Odisha recover to 226/3 on 1st day against Vidarbha
Odisha recover to 226/3 on 1st day against Vidarbha
Nagpur: Niranjan Behera struck a solid unbeaten 90 as Odisha recovered from early struggle to post 226 for three on the opening day of their Group A Ranji Trophy match against Vidarbha here today.
Behera, who hit 11 boundaries in 228-ball stay at the crease today, stitched 150 runs for the third wicket with Govind Podder (74) after Gujarat were reduced to 26 for two in the first hour at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium at Jamtha.
Openers Girija Rout and Natraj Behera could contribute just 15 and seven respectively after Odisha captain Biplab Samantray won the toss and opted to bat.
At stumps after 90 overs on the first day, Samantray was giving company to Niranjan on 31. The duo has so far made 50 runs for the unbroken fourth wicket.
Samantray had faced 100 balls so far from which he hit three boundaries.
For Vidarbha, Amol Jungade took two wickets while his pace-mate Shrikant Wagh got a wicket.
Brief Scores: Odisha 1st Innings: 226 for 3 from 90 overs (Niranjan Behera 90 batting, Govind Podder 74; Amol Jungade 2/28)
Assam, Andhra share honours on day one
Assam, Andhra share honours on day one
Anantpur: Srikar Bharat (70) and Bodapati Sumanth (56 batting) scored half-centuries as Andhra Pradesh reached 233 for five against Assam on day one of their Ranji Trophy Group C match, here today.
Sumanth was batting along with Duvvarapu Shivkumar (21) when stumps were drawn for the day.
Several Andhra batsman such as skipper Amol Muzumdar (23), AG Pradeep, and Murumulla Sriram (20) got good start but could nor convert those into big ones.
Arup Das (2/66) and Pritam Das (2/71) shared four wickets between them.
Jadhav, Khadiwale slam tons to power Maharashtra to 337/4
Jadhav, Khadiwale slam tons to power Maharashtra to 337/4
Hyderabad: Kedar Jadhav and Harshad Khadiwale slammed a century each to take Maharashtra to a commanding 337 for four at the end of the opening day's play in their Group C Ranji Trophy match against Hyderabad here today.
At stumps, Maharashtra were in total control with Jadhav still unbeaten on 175 and giving him company at the other end was Rohit Motwani on 15.
While Jadhav's unbeaten knock came off 231 balls laced with 24 fours and a six, Khadiwale decorated his 107-run innings with 15 fours and a six. It came off 194 balls during his 266-minute stay at the crease.
Jadhav and Khadiwale also put on a solid 206 runs together for the third wicket.
Electing to bat, Maharashtra lost opener Chirag Khurana (19) and one-down batsman Vijay Zol (4) cheaply to be reeling at 32 for two.
But Khadiwale joined hands with Jadhav to not just bail the visitors out of trouble but also take an upper hand by the end of the day's play.
Brief scores: Maharashtra 1st innings: 337 for four in 90 overs (Kedar Jadhav batting 175, Harshad Khadiwale 107; M Ravi Kiran 2/58) vs Hyderabad.
Himachal in command with 92/1 in reply to J&K's 178
Himachal in command with 92/1 in reply to J&K's 178
Dharamsala: All-rounder Parveez Rasool slammed a brilliant 101-ball 97 but failed to save Jammu and Kashmir from being bowled out for just 178 by Himachal Pradesh in their Group C Ranji Trophy match here today.
Rasool, who was included in the India ODI squad which toured Zimbabwe in July after a string of fine performances in the domestic circuit, struck 17 fours in his blistering knock and was unlucky to have missed out on a century.
Opener Adil Rishi was the only other J&K batsman who contributed substantially with a 47. All the remaining batsmen could not touch double-digit scores.
For Himachal, pacers Rishi Dhawan and Vikramjeet Malik shared seven wickets between them with four and three scalps respectively as the home side placed themselves in a commanding position.
In reply, Himachal were 92 for one at the end of the day, trailing by 86 runs with nine first innings wickets in hand.
Opener Sangram Singh and Paras Dogra were on 24 and 29 respectively.
Brief Scores: J&K 1st Innings: 178 all out in 54.1 overs (Parveez Rasool 97, Rishi Dhawan 4/70).
Himachal 1st Innings: 92 for 1 in 33 overs (Prashant Chopra 35; Ram Dayal 1/26).
Kerala reduce Tripura to 136 for nine
Kerala reduce Tripura to 136 for nine
Kannur: Super bowling performance gave Kerala an upper hand as they reduced Tripura to 136 for nine at the end of the opening day's play of their Group C Ranji Trophy match here today.
Medium-pacer Sandeep Warrier (3/27) was the pick of the bowlers with a three-wicket haul, while KR Sreejith (2/16), V Manoharan (2/27) and Prashant Parameswaran (2/40) claimed two wickets each.
Opting to bat, Tripura slumped to 57 for five before a 51-run stand between Yogesh Takawale (45) and MB Murasingh (24) for the sixth wicket helped the visitors cross the 100-run mark.
Only other batsmen who reached double figures were opener Rajib Saha (25) and Samrat Singha (17).
At stumps, Viki Saha was yet to open his account, while Abhijit Chakraborty was unbeaten on five.
Brief scores: Tripura: 136 for nine in 65 overs (Yogesh Takawale 45; Sandeep Warrier 3/27, KR Sreejith 2/16) vs Kerala.
Madhya Pradesh score 293/4 riding on Ojha's unbeaten ton
Madhya Pradesh score 293/4 riding on Ojha's unbeaten ton
Kolkata: Naman Ojha struck an unbeaten century on a dead-looking Eden pitch as Madhya Pradesh put themselves in a comfortable position against Bengal in their Ranji Trophy group 'B' league match, here today.
Bengal had opted for a green top but the slow and low surface severely "upset" the home side as Madhya Pradesh took full advantage of the track after electing to bat and score 293 for four with Ojha unbeaten on 101, his 10th first-class century.
Udit Birla was batting on 14 at the other end when the stumps were drawn for the day.
After being dropped on 5, Ojha first had a fruitful 100-run partnership with Mohnish Mishra (64) and then his stand with skipper Devendra Bundela (35) yielded 97 runs as Madhya Pradesh remained on course for yet another good show against Bengal.
Madhya Pradesh had defeated Bengal by bonus point last season, while in 2011-12, they walked away with three points chasing down 496 in the first innings in Kolkata.
For the Madhya Pradesh wicketkeeper batsman, this was his second consecutive Ranji Trophy century here after his 127 at the JU Saltlake Campus ground in the 2011-12 season.
The home side sorely missed Mohammad Shami, who is doing the Team India duty in Sachin Tendulkar's farewell match in Mumbai, as none of their bowlers could pose any threat on the eased out track.
Wicketless Ashok Dinda slogged for 24 overs, while senior most Sib Shankar Paul was forced to bowl 19 overs and gave the first breakthrough after the first drink break in pre-lunch session.
As their own ploy backfired, Paul severely criticised the pitch in the post-match interaction.
Terming it half-baked, a frustrated-looking Paul said: "The feeling was like tasting a saltless food. Obviously, they had little time to prepare with the India-West Indies Test but we expected some bounce. It appears green but there was no bounce or carry in the wicket. It really upsets everybody in the team.
"With nothing going in their way, the catching too was a let down.
Paul gave the first breakthrough with the scalp of Satyam Chaudhary who had an unbeaten double century against Railways in the first round.
But Bengal could not capitalise as five overs later, Anustup Majumdar dropped a regulation catch of Ojha at the second slip off skipper Laxmi Ratan Shukla's bowling.
Ojha later conceded that Shami's absence was a boon for Madhya Pradesh.
"They bowled well but Shami's absence certainly gave us an edge. We now have a match in hand and would look to add to the total as much as possible tomorrow," the 30-year-old said.
Brief Scores: Madhya Pradesh 293/4 in 89 overs (Naman Ojha 101 batting, Mohnish Mishra 64) vs Bengal.
