With Uday Kaul and M Singh scoring centuries despite early blows by Shardul Thakur, Punjab were comfortably placed at the end of Day 1. Lower-order batsmen – Kuldeep Yadav and Saurabh Kumar took UP to a solid total with an unbroken 153-run stand.
The tournament’s highest-scorer in the 2016-16 season, Priyank Panchal posted a century to help Gujarat to boost the total while the match between Madhya Pradesh and Bengal is evenly poised.
Group A Round 9 – Day 1 Round-up:
Punjab vs Mumbai in Rajkot: Punjab 1st inn 216/4 in 90 overs (U Kaul 86, M Singh 78, S Thakur 2/44, S K Yadav 2/3)
Shardul Thakur claimed Jiwanjot Singh early in the innings to leave Punjab on six for one. Pargat Singh then found an able ally in Uday Kaul to take the team to 63 until he too was sent back by the Mumbai pacer.
Uday and Mandeep Singh then shaped the innings with a 138-run stand until Surya Kumar Yadav was introduced into the attack. The part-time bowler claimed both the batsmen in the same over to leave Punjab on 202 for four. Gitansh Khera and Mayank Siddana then took the team to stumps at 216 for four.
Baroda vs Uttar Pradesh in Nashik: UP 1st inn 360/7 in 90 overs (S Kumar 85*, K Yadav 77*, A Nath 45, B Pathan 3/84)
Lower-order batsmen, Kuldeep Yadav and Saurabh Kumar helped UP to 360 for seven at stumps on the first day with an unbroken 153-run partnership. While Akshdeep Nath and Rinku Singh made 45 and 40 runs respectively, the rest of the batsmen didn’t make any sizeable contributions. With B Pathan and Co claiming wickets at regular intervals, Uttar Pradesh were 207 for seven when the duo joined forces to take the team to a healthy score until the end of day’s play. Kuldeep was batting on 77 with S Kumar on 85 at stumps.
Madhya Pradesh vs Bengal in Palam, New Delhi: Bengal 1st inn 185/4 in 60 overs (A Eswaran 68*, S Goswami 52*, C Sakure 2/33)
After a delayed start to the day’s play due to bad light, Bengal posted 185 for four until the end of day’s play. While Chandrakant Sakure claimed two wickets, Ishwar Pandey and Puneet Datey claimed a wicket each to keep the Bengal lineup in check after Manoj Tiwary opted to bat. However, A Easwaran and Shreevats Goswami scored half-centuries and stabilized the innings.
Easwaran and Goswami were involved in a 97-run unbroken stand as they saw the team through to stumps.
Tamil Nadu vs Gujarat in Belgaum: Gujarat 267/7 in 86 overs (P Panchal 113, D Raval 35, B Aparajith 2/29, T Natarajan 2/62)
Priyank Panchal powered Gujarat to 267 for seven on Day 1 with a 113-run 180-ball knock against Tamil Nadu as the No 2 and No 3 positioned teams fight to seal their slot in the quarter-finals.
Panchal was once again the mainstay of the Gujarat lineup as wickets fell at regular intervals at the other end. S Gohil was the first to be sent back by Aswin Crist with the team on 55 while Vijay Shankar claimed B Merai a while later. 20 runs later T Natarajan accounted for R Bhatt and A Srinivas left Gujarat on 176 for four with the wicket of Manprit Juneja. With the team on 216, Panchal was castled by Baba Aparajith, who then followed up with the wicket of Dhruv Raval. And with Natrajan claiming R Kalaria Gujarat were 258 for seven. Axar Patel then saw the team through to stumps with C Gaja.
