Leading from the front, Jharkhand captain, Shahbaz Nadeem helped bowl Hyderabad out on day one for a low score. Shaurya Sanandia claimed a fifer as Saurashtra look to consolidate their position at the top of the table. In the must-win game for either side, HP’s RK Singh took six wickets to skittle Kerala out as 20 wickets fell in Malappuram. Rajat Paliwal was three runs short of the 150-run mark at stumps as he helped Services to sizeable total.
Here’s what happened on Day 1 of Round 9:Hyderabad vs Jharkhand: Hyd 145/10 (B Sandeep 39, J Singh 3/32, S Nadeem 3/33, K Singh 3/35); Jharkhand 1st inn 31/1 (SP Gautam 14*, CV Milind 1/9) Trail by 114 runs
While captain Shahbaz Nadeem claimed three wickets, pacers Jaskaran Singh and Kaushal Singh too picked three wickets each to bowl Hyderabad out for 145 earlier in the day. Jharkhand who are at No 3 in the points table are still in the reckoning for a place in the quarter-finals as the results at the end of this round will determine who enters the next phase.
The visitors, who were given a good start by the bowlers, were trailing by 114 runs with nine wickets in hand at the end of day's play.
J & K vs Saurashtra: J & K 1st inn 138/10 (A Sofi 32, I Chauhan 29, S Sanandia 5/53, D Jadeja 2/7); Sau 150/2 (S Jogiyani 41, S Jackson 35*, Z Sofi 1/22) Lead by 12 runs
Shaurya Sanandia claimed his first five-wicket haul as Saurashtra ran through the J&K lineup to bowl the hosts out for 138. Ably supporting him, spinners Dharmendra Jadeja and Kamlesh Makwana chipped in with two wickets each. In reply, the table-toppers guided by Sagar Jogiyani (41 and Arpit Vasavada (31*) had seized a first innings lead until stumps.
Kerala vs Himachal Pradesh: Kerala 1st 103/10 (S Samson 25, RK Singh 6/19, R Dhawan 3/24); HP 1st inn 163/10 (P Chopra 40, F Ahmed 3/12, M Kareparambil 3/60, Warrier 2/17) Lead by 60.
20 wickets fell in Mallapuram as both team's fight for a spot in the knock-outs. Kerala who are at No 2 have 25 points while HP, who are at No 4 have 24 points, the same as Jharkhand.
After Rishi Dhawan (three wickets) claimed Kerala's top-order to leave them on 32 for three, left-arm spinner RK Singh bowled the hosts out with six for 19.
Helped by Prashant Chopra's 40, HP then claimed a 60-run lead before being bowled out by the S Warrier-led attack.
Tripura vs Services: Services 1st inn 282/5 (R Paliwal 147*, D Lohchab 31*, R Datta 4/53)
In the match in Agartala, Services' middle-order bat, Rajat Paliwal helped the team to a comfortable 282 for five until stumps. Coming in to bat at 33 for three, the middle-order bat anchored the innings and was unbeaten on 147 at the end of day's play. The young batsman, who will turn 24 later this month, scored his 12th first-class century as he shaped the innings for his team even as Rana Datta (4/53) picked wickets at the other end. He was batting with Devendra Lohchab when play ended for the day.
Follow the stars:
Sanju Samson was the top-scorer for Kerala with 25 off 88 against HP.
Parvez Rasool scored 21 runs and bowled five overs for 10 runs against Saurashtra.
