Fast bowler Basant Mohanty skittles Assam for 92 in Ranji Trophy: Day 1 Roundup
Odisha’s new-ball bowler, Basant Mohanty ripped the Assam batting unit apart with an incisive spell on a helpful surface at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. He was ably supported by the other bowlers as only Assam batsmen reached double figures. However, the Assamese bowlers struck back by dismantling the Odisha top-order. Krishna Das scalped 4 wickets as a low-scoring match began to unravel quickly.
Assam 92 (Mohanty 5-24); Odisha 52/5 (Das 4-5, Behera 23)
At the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, Manish Pandey produced a scintillating hundred to propel Karnataka to a comfortable position. He compiled a significant partnership for the 4th wicket with Karun Nair who responded with a half-century. The Vidarbha bowlers toiled hard on a hard batting wicket as the defending champions would look to post a formidable 1st innings score.
Karnataka 298/6 (Pandey 104, Uthappa 59, Thakur 2-35)
Meanwhile in a battle between the former Indian opening duo of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir at the Feroz Shah Kotla, Haryana could only manage 195 against a disciplined Delhi attack which included speedster Ishant Sharma. The Haryana captain, Sehwag showed brief glimpses of his fabled reflexes before he ran himself out.
Haryana 195 (Sehwag 37, Ishant 2-29, Manan 5-57); Delhi 22/0
The Tamil Nadu batsmen struggled on a sluggish surface in Mumbai against a potent bowling attack. Dinesh Karthik remained not-out with a fighting half-century as the left-arm spin of Vishal Dabholkar troubled the Tamil Nadu batting line-up.
Tamil Nadu 249/6 (Karthik 76*, Aparajith 62, Dabholkar 4-67)
Priyank Panchal frustrated the Punjab bowlers on a docile surface at the PCA Stadium in Mohali with a patient century. The Yuvraj Singh-led Punjab team toiled hard without much luck. The skipper turned his arm over and picked up a wicket too.
Gujarat 290/3 (Panchal 105, Parthiv 41*, Yuvraj 1-17)
Unheralded right-arm medium bowler Raushan Raj tore through the Jammu & Kashmir batting order to place Services in a daunting position in Jammu. Skipper Parvez Rasool watched in horror as Raushan’s 7-wicket haul restricted the home-team batting unit to 85. The Services batsmen did not let the advantage slip as they batted with an attacking mindset.
Jammu & Kashmir 85 (Rasool 24*, Raj 7-38); Services 152/4 (Paliwal 70, Nazir 2-38)
In a shocking batting display at the Porvorim Stadium in Goa, Tripura crashed to 61 all out. As the Goa bowling attack shared the spoils between them, the visiting batsmen were left clueless and searching for answers. At the end of Day 1, Goa had already raced to a 100-run lead.
Tripura 61 (Rituraj 3-17, Jakati 2-14); Goa 161/5 (Kamat 45, Solanki 2-31)
At the Jawaharlal Stadium in Ghaziabad, the Railways batsmen severely tested the resolve of the Uttar Pradesh bowlers by constructing important partnerships with each other. Ashish Singh led the way with a brilliant hundred against a Uttar Pradesh bowling attack which contained the likes of Praveen Kumar and Piyush Chawla.
Railways 316/5 (Ashish 101, Faiz 74, Kuldeep 3-64)
Jharkhand were bowled out for just 202 by Kerala in Malappuram. Saurabh Tiwary resisted the Kerala bowlers with a fine half-century. He found an unlikely ally in Indian pacer Varun Aaron who chipped in with an useful 37.
Jharkhand 202 (Saurabh 75, Aaron 37, Warrier 4-56); Kerala 3/1 (Aaron 1-1)
In Dharamsala, Hanuma Vihari and Tanmay Agarwal combined together in a massive partnership to help Hyderabad reach a dominant position against Himachal Pradesh. Having completed their centuries, both of them are still unbeaten at the crease.
Hyderabad 252/3 (Vihari 101*, Tanmay 104*, More 2-47)
Kedhar Devdhar thwarted Andhra Pradesh with a resilient 97 as the other Baroda batsmen struggled in Vizianagaram. Stephen grabbed 4 wickets for the home-team.
Baroda 234/7 (Devdhar 97, Stephen 4-57)
On a day marred by rain at the Eden Gardens, Rajasthan XI could only face 43 overs against Bengal. Pragyan Ojha bowled an useful spell and scalped 2 wickets.
Rajasthan XI 102/3 (Menaria 40, Ojha 2-24)