Chirag Gandhi anchored Gujarat to a respectable 300 for eight with an unbeaten 136-run knock on the first day after captain Parthiv Patel elected to bat in the Irani Cup. Although the Rest of India (ROI) quicks dominated the first session, the Gujarat batsmen stitched useful stands.
After Siddharth Kaul struck in the first over of the second session, Gandhi joined Manprit Juneja in forging a 109-run stand to shape the Gujarat innings. While the No 5 bat was sent back three runs short of a half-century at the stroke of tea by Akhil Herwadkar, he continued to rally on. Even as Kaul struck regularly at the other end to finish the day with a four-wicket haul, the middle-order bat’s maiden ton kept the match evenly poised.
Pankaj Singh had earlier dealt the first blow by trapping Samit Gohil lbw in the first over without a run on the board and later forced an edge from Priyank Panchal through to the slips. With the team on 55 for one, Parthiv Patel joined Dhruv Raval in the middle. The pair added 26 runs until the skipper played on a Kaul delivery on to the stumps.
The medium-fast returned to account for Raval in the first over after lunch and leave the team on 82 for four. Thereafter though Juneja and Gandhi ensured that the Rest of India don’t seize the momentum. Juneja impressed with some crisply struck boundaries, Gandhi too kept pace. While a mix-up would have ended the stand with a run out, the batsman scraped through and kept the partnership going.
After Juneja returned to the pavilion, Gandhi batted with the lower-order. Karan Patel, who was dropped by Karun Nair in the slips off Kaul while on naught helped add 40 runs to the total during his 28-ball 13-run stay at the crease. While Karan edged Kaul to the wicket-keeper, debutant Mohit Thadani handed a simple catch to Manoj Tiwary in the slips six runs later. Chintan Gaja was the next to walk back; lbw off Pankaj with Gujarat on 261 for eight.
With Hardik Patel, Gandhi then saw the team through to stumps even as Pankaj Singh and Co continued to hit the deck hard in hunt of wickets.
Brief scores:
Day 1: Gujarat 1st inn 300/8 in 88 overs (C Gandhi 136*, M Juneja 47, S Kaul 4/73, P Singh 3/77)
