Panchal hits ton, Pant fails as India Red struggle to 232/5
Lucknow, Sep 5 (PTI) Gujarat opener Priyank Panchal started off his new season with a patient 105 in India's Red's none too impressive 232 for 5 as Murali Vijay and Karun Nair surprised one and all sharing bulk of the spoils for India Green on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy. However another talented youngster Rishabh Pant's barren run continued as he only managed 11 gifting his wicket to part-time off-spinner Vijay.
Pant also had a disappointing tour of South Africa. Vijay (2/15 in 6 overs) and Nair (2/17 in 7 overs) accounted for four of the five wickets that fell on the day. The only other notable scorer for Reds was Bengal left- hander Sudeep Chatterjee (52). Panchal, the highest run-getter in last year's Ranji Trophy was unlucky to miss out India A's tour to South Africa due to illness but made showed grit and determination hitting 12 boundaries off 228 balls.
Panchal's knock makes him a certainty for India A's upcoming series against New Zealand A. However Pant, who came into bat in the 77th over, didn't show enough patience as Parthiv Patel snapped him behind the stumps off Vijay. At start, it was Panchal and Chatterjee, who safely negotiated the new pink ball adding 83 runs for the first wicket before Aniket Chaudhary bowled the Bengal batsman.
Panchal however continued calmly in company of Ishank Jaggi, adding 75 runs for the second wicket before Vijay got his first breakthrough breaching Jaggi's defence. Panchal duly completed his hundred in company of Dinesh Karthik (15 batting) before he was tarpped leg before off Nair's bowling. The final hour of play saw Reds get into a shell as Pant and Rahul Singh Gehlaut (4) were also back in the pavilion. Giving Karthik company is Krishnappa Gowtham (10) when stumps were drawn.
Brief Scores: India Red 232/5 (Priyank Panchal 105, Sudeep Chatterjee 52, Karun Nair 2/17, Murali Vijay 2/15) vs India Green