As Assam and Bengal battle to consolidate their place in the points table for a spot in the knock-outs, the match was evenly poised at the end of first day’s play. Defending champions Karnataka, who are at No 4 in the points table, were in an advantageous position at the end of day’s play as they seek a win against Maharashtra in hope for a place in the quarterfinals. In Jaipur, 16 wickets fell on the first day as pacers dominated the proceeding in the match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.
Here’s what transpired on Day 1 of Round 9:Assam vs Bengal: Ben 1st inn 191/4 (SS Mandal 87, S Chatterjee 65, K Das 2/39)
Placed at No 2 and 3 respectively, Assam and Bengal who have 25 points each, the same as table-toppers Delhi are battling it out in the middle in Guwahati. While the hosts struck at regular intervals, Sayan Shekhar Mandal held Bengal's innings together with 193-ball 87 for the better part of the day. After losing his opening partner with just eight runs on the board, he built a 140-run partnership with Sudip Chatterjee.
However, after the departure of the No 3 bat, the visitors lost the opener and Manoj Tiwary in succession a while later.
Maharashtra vs Karnataka: Maha 1st inn 212/10 (A Bawane 87*, S Arvind 3/35, V Kumar 2/44); Kar 1st inn 50/1 (M Agarwal 25, S Mundhe 1/17) Trail by 162 runs
Facing off against Maharashtra in their must win game as they look to stake a claim for a place in the quarter finals, Karnataka bowled the hosts out for 212 in Pune. While Ankit Bawane remained unbeaten on 87 off 158, the Vinay Kumar-led bowling unit ran through the rest of the lineup earlier in the day. S Arvind claimed 3 for 35, while A Mithun and HS Sharath took two wickets each. In reply, the visitors were 50 for one at stumps with Mayank Agarwal and Robin Uthappa at the crease.
Team Rajasthan vs Odisha: Odisha 1st inn 151/10 (A Sarangi 43, AV Choudhary 6/27, Pankaj Singh 3/53); Raj 1st inn 28/6 (V Saxena 11*, A Sahoo 4/18, B Mohanty 2/10) Trail by 123
Rajasthan's left-arm pacer Aniket Choudhary claimed six for 27 (fourth first-class five-for) while captain Pankaj Singh took three wickets as the hosts wrapped-up the Odisha innings for 151.
The duo of Alok Sahoo and Basant Mohanty then left the home team reeling at 28 for six at stumps. While Sahoo picked his fourth four-wicket
haul, Basant claimed two for 10. While wickets tumbled at one end, Vineet Saxena was not out on 11 off 43 balls at the end of day's play.
Vidarbha vs Haryana: Vid 1st inn 284/6 (F Fazal 126, A Shanware 55, H Patel 2/41)
Faiz Fazal, Vidarbha's left-hand batsman anchored the hosts innings with a 266-ball 126 to help the team to a respectable score on the first day, after electing to bat. The opener scored his tenth first-class century to help the team to 284 for six, A Shanware chipped in with 55 while Wasim Jaffer made 41.
Follow the stars:Manoj Tiwary scored 12 runs before returning to the dressing room in the match against Assam.
Kedar Jadhav was sent back by HS Sharath for 11.
Rajat Bhatia was trapped lbw by Sahoo for 2 as the Rajasthan lineup crumbled against Odisha.
Haryana are playing their last match of the season against Vidarbha in Nagpur without
Virender Sehwag and
Mohit Sharma.
S Badrinath was out lbw to H Patel for six runs against Haryana.
