Defending champions Vidarbha started their Ranji Trophy campaign on a bright note while debutant Chandigarh enjoyed a good outing in the middle on the opening day of the 2019-20 season.

Hanuma Vihari, leading Andhra against Vidarbha, scored 83 off 155 balls, but his side was bowled out for 211 against the Faiz Fazal-led unit in Mulapadu as Aditya Sarvate picked up four wickets.

In Vadodara, Mumbai scored 362/8 against Baroda on the back of the fifties from Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Shardul Thakur and Shams Mulani. While Shaw scored a quickfire 66 off 62 balls, hitting 11 fours and a six, Rahane scored 79 from 145 balls. Thakur and Mulani then strengthened Mumbai’s position. The two scored fifties and their stand of 108 runs helped Mumbai cross the 360-run mark.

Indian Test opener Mayank Agarwal (43) missed out on a fifty while Devdutt Padikkal (78), who impressed one and all during the recently-concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, and Pavan Deshpande (65) scored fifties against Tamil Nadu on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy.

In Kolkata, Rex Singh ran riot as Manipur bowled out Mizoram for 65. The left-arm pacer, who had taken all the ten wickets in an innings during the Cooch Behar Trophy in December last year, picked up eight wickets, conceding just 22 runs. He then scored an unbeaten fifty while Bonny Chingangbam scored 89 to consolidate Manipur’s position.

In the match against Nagaland, Meghalaya captain and wicketkeeper Punit Bisht scored a hundred while Sanjay scored 61. Services, meanwhile, were bowled out for 124 against Assam at the ACA Stadium in Barsapara, Guwahati. At stumps on the first day, Assam were 81/3.

For Tripura, skipper Milind and Harmeet Singh scored half-centuries against Jharkhand in Agartala. In a Plate Group game in Patna, Sagar Udeshi scalped six wickets as Pondicherry bowled out Bihar for 173. If it was Udeshi for Pondicherry, it was Rajesh Mohanty from Odisha who picked up six wickets as Chhattisgarh were all out for 134.

In Hyderabad, bowlers shared the spoils as Gujarat managed to limit the Tanmay Agarwal-led Hyderabad for 233. In Trivandrum, Kerala had a fine opening day as Robin Uthappa’s hundred and Ponnam Rahul 97 put the Sachin Baby-led unit on top against Delhi.

In the Group C clash in Rohtak, Haryana’s Shubham Rohilla and Shivam Chauhan scored hundreds against Maharashtra.

Bowlers, meanwhile, had a field day during the Uttarakhand versus Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh-Saurashtra games. As many as 17 wickets fell on the first day of both the games. After being bowled out for 182, J & K fought back, reducing Uttarakhand to 64/7. Saurashtra, who are enjoying the services of Cheteshwar Pujara, were reduced to 93/7 after bowling out Himachal Pradesh to 120.

Railways, facing Uttar Pradesh, scored 244/8, with Dinesh Mor scoring an unbeaten on 89 and Navneet Virk chipping in with 58. Chandigarh, meanwhile, enjoyed a fantastic start on their Ranji Trophy debut.

After Shreshth Nirmohi’s five-wicket haul helped them skittle out Arunachal Pradesh for 147, Chandigarh openers - Arslan Z Khan and Shivam Bhambri – scored hundreds as the Manan Vohra-led side scored 236 runs in 38 overs, losing just a wicket.

In Porvorim, Goa bowled out Sikkim for 136 and then scored 124/3 at stumps on day one. In Jaipur, Rajasthan were restricted to 256/9 against Punjab.