The team batting first in each of the three matches in the group were bowled out as bowlers dominated the day on day one in the last round of the league phase of Ranji Trophy 2016-17.
While Delhi’s Pradeep Sangwan and Sumit Narwal claimed four wickets each to skittle Saurashtra out for a paltry total, the Saurashtra pacers claimed eight wickets amongst themselves. Rishab Pant stood out for his quick-fire knock in Vadodara as the pacers ran the show.
Vinay Kumar-led attack bowled Maharashtra out while Team Rajasthan were bowled out by the Vidarbha attack. The Jharkhand - Odisha match, which was to be held in Tamil Nadu is being rescheduled.
Group B Round 9 – Day 1 Round-up
Saurashtra vs Delhi in Vadodara: Sau 1st inn 92/10 in 33.2 overs (P Mankad 33, P Sangwan 4/25, S Narwal 4/27); Delhi 1st inn 194/8 in 43 overs (R Pant 40, P Sangwan 39*, K Patel 4/59) Lead by 102 runs
After Gautam Gambhir elected to field, Sumit Narwal ended the opening stand for 24 with the wicket of Kishan Parmar to set the ball rolling. With fellow pacer Pradeep Sangwan, he then left Saurashtra tottering at 80 for seven. While Nitish Rana picked two lower-order wickets with his spin in an over to leave the opposition on 81 for nine, Sangwan claimed Prerak Mankad to wrap up the innings. The 22-year old middle-order batsman was the top-scorer for the side with 33 runs.
In reply, Delhi were leading by 102 runs with two wickets in hand at stumps. Even as the Saurashtra pacers struck at regular intervals, useful contributions by the batters including 28-ball 40 by Rishabh Pant helped the side to a first innings lead. Shikhar Dhawan was the first to be sent back to the pavilion by K Patel with the team on 38 while Gautam Gambhir was trapped lbw by S Sanandia four runs later.
Delhi’s lower middle-order bat Manan Sharma made a valuable 65-ball 33 to keep the innings afloat until he was sent back by Jaydev Unadkat. When play ended for the day, Sangwan was batting on 39 with P Narang on 0.
While Patel led the attack, and picked four wickets including that of Rishabh Pant, Sanandia and Jaydev Unadkat took two wickets apiece.
Maharashtra vs Karnataka in Mohali: Maha 1st inn 163/10 in 56 overs (R Motwani 32, Vinay Kumar 5/46, S Arvind 2/32, S Binny 2/40); Kar 1st inn 67/1 in 19 overs (R Samarth 33*, K Abbas 30*, A Sanklecha 1/24) Trail by 96 runs
After electing to field, Vinay Kumar wrecked the Maharashtra lineup with a five-for to bundle the side out for 163. With S Arvind and Stuart Binny too picking two wickets each, the Karnataka pace attack had bundled the opposition out by Tea on the first day. Although Anupam Sanklecha bowled Arjun Hoysala for naught in the first over, R Samarth and K Abbas then took Karnataka to stumps in an unbroken 67-run stand.
Vidarbha vs Team Rajasthan in Noida: Team Raj 1st inn 140/10 in 41.1 overs (MN Singh 27, A Sarvate 3/22, S Wagh 2/23, Lalit 2/46, R Gurbani 2/46); Vid 1st inn 14/0 in 4 overs. Trail by 126 runs
The Vidarbha attack bowled in tandem to skittle Team Rajasthan out for just 140 on the first day of the last round of the league phase of the ongoing tournament. After left-arm spinner Aditya Sarvate trapped AV Gautam lbw to end the opening stand for 42, Lalit sent back MN Singh in the next over. In the next over, Shrikant Wagh claimed Ashok Menaria and RK Bishnoi sr off successive deliveries to reduce the team to 47 for four.
Rajat Bhatia then plodded along with S Dobal until he was castled by R Gurbani to leave the team on 90 for five. The rest of the lineup then caved in to the Vidarbha attack as the spinner struck at regular intervals. In reply, Vidarbha were 14 without loss when play was stopped due to bad light and was called off a while later.
