Prithvi Shaw continued his prolific run as he posted his fourth first-class hundred, this time against Odisha. Cheteshwar Pujara, Sanju Samson, Rahul Tripathi, Faiz Fazal, Abhishek Kumar Raman, Vishnu Solanki were the other batsmen to post centuries on the first day of the fourth round of the Ranji Trophy 2017-18.
Karnataka skipper Vinay Kumar claimed six wickets to keep Maharashtra in check while J & K captain Parvez Rasool’s six-wicket haul held Kerala to a modest score. Punjab pacers maintained a stranglehold on Chhattisgarh in Raipur.
Here are the highlights of the day:
Group ARailways vs Hyderabad: Tanmay Agarwal and Akshath Reddy (69) got Hyderabad off to a good start with a 93-run opening stand until the former was bowled by Manish Rao. The visitors then lost a couple of quick wickets and were 313 for three. B Sandeep (64*) and Ambati Rayudu (88*) then joined hands to help the side to 272 for three until stumps. The fourth-wicket partnership between the two was unbroken on 141 when play ended for the day.
Scorecard -
http://www.bcci.tv/ranji-trophy-2017-18/match/46Delhi vs Uttar Pradesh: Uttar Pradesh were held to 270 for eight on Day 1 by the Ishant Sharma-led Delhi attack at Palam ground. Mohammed Saif was the top-scorer with 83 runs while Akshdeep Nath scored a half-century to help the side put up a modest score. When play ended for the day, Upendra Yadav was batting on 48 with Israr Aszim (6*).
Ishant and NA Saini had claimed two wickets each while Manan Sharma, Kulwant Khejroliya and Milind claimed a wicket apiece to keep the UP lineup in check.
Scorecard -
http://www.bcci.tv/ranji-trophy-2017-18/match/47Maharashtra vs Karnataka: Leading from the front, skipper Vinay Kumar claimed four of the first five wickets as Karnataka left Maharashtra reeling at 28 for five in the morning. NS Shaikh and Rahul Tripathi then forged a determined partnership to revive the Maharashtra innings. The pair added 147 runs for the sixth wicket until Shaikh was trapped lbw by Pavan Deshpande. While Tripathi scored a 114-ball 120, Vinay Kumar wrapped up the hosts innings for 245.
The Karnataka skipper claimed 6/59 while Deshpande accounted for two and A Mithun and Stuart Binny chipped in with a wicket each.
At the end of day’s play, openers Samarth R (47*) and Mayank Agarwal (50*) had take Karnataka to 117/0.
Scorecard -
http://www.bcci.tv/ranji-trophy-2017-18/match/48Group B
J & K vs Kerala: Sanju Samson’s 187-ball 112 guided Kerala to a modest 219 even as the Parvez Rasool-led attack dismantled the side’s line-up. The J & K skipper claimed 6/70 while Mohammed Mudhasir and Aamir Aziz picked two wickets each.
Mudhasir set the ball rolling with the wickets of Vishnu Vinod and Rohan Prem to leave Kerala on 19 for two. Sanju Samson who then came to the crease toiled to keep the innings in the fray even as the rest of the lineup succumbed to the J & K attack. The middle-order batsman was eventually sent back by Rasool leaving the side on 215 for eight and four runs later Kerala was bowled out.
When play ended for the day, Ahmad O Banday and Shubham Khajuria had taken J & K to 16 without loss of wicket.
Scorecard -
http://www.bcci.tv/ranji-trophy-2017-18/match/43Gujarat vs Haryana: Electing to bat, Gujarat were bowled out for 236 on the first day. B Merai was the only Gujarat batsman to score a half-century while R Bhatt posted the second highest score – 40. Amit Mishra claimed 4/63 while Rajat Paliwal and A Sandhu claimed two wickets apiece and H Patel and C Bishnoi took a wicket each to help keep the defending champions in check.
At stumps, Haryana were 0/1 with opener S Rohilla back in the pavilion.
Scorecard -
http://www.bcci.tv/ranji-trophy-2017-18/match/44Saurashtra vs Jharkhand: With a patient knock, Cheteshwar Pujara (125* off 223) had led Saurashtra to 314 for five until stumps on the first day. Coming to the crease at 34 for one after the departure of Robin Uthappa (13), the Saurashtra captain built the innings with a carefully paced knock. With the team wobbling on 46 for three, he found an able partner in Ravindra Jadeja to steady the innings. The Pujara-Jadeja pair 88 runs until the latter was sent back Ashish Kumar for 42. The top-order bat was then complemented by Prerak Mankad in building the innings. The duo added 137 runs for the fifth wicket until Mankad was sent back by Varun Aaron leaving the side on 271 for five.
Pujara then saw Saurashtra through to stumps with Chirag Jani (40*).
Scorecard -
http://www.bcci.tv/ranji-trophy-2017-18/match/45Group CBaroda vs Tripura: Vishnu Solanki registered his maiden first-class century as he helped Baroda to a respectable 304 for five on the first day. The middle-order batsman scored 116 off 216. At stumps, Abhijit Karambelkar was batting on 75* with M Patel on 4*.
Gurinder Singh had claimed two wickets for Tripura while MB Mura Singh, AK Sarkar and AS Sarkar took a wicket each.
Scorecard -
http://www.bcci.tv/ranji-trophy-2017-18/match/37Andhra vs Madhya Pradesh: In the match in Vizianagaram, hosts Andhra had restricted MP to 219 for five on Day 1. Prithvi Raj Yatra claimed three wickets while Bhargav Bhatt and KV Sasikanth claimed a wicket each to keep the visitor’s lineup in check.
At Stumps, Harpreet Singh Bhatia was batting on 47* with Ankit Sharma on 18*.
Scorecard -
http://www.bcci.tv/ranji-trophy-2017-18/match/38Odisha vs Mumbai: Prithvi Shaw carried his form into Mumbai’s third match of the season against Odisha. The youngster scored his fourth first-class ton in only his fifth first-class match after Mumbai were asked to bat by Odisha. After losing partner Akhil Herwadkar with 20 runs on the board, the opener continued to carry the innings forward with Ajinkya Rahane.
The Shaw-Rahane pair put together 136 runs for the third wicket to lay a solid platform until Shaw was trapped lbw by Basant Mohanty for 105. The Odisha attack then continued to strike at regular intervals. Rahane was sent back by Suryakant Pradhan for 49 while Biplab Samantray accounted for Suryakumar Yadav a little later to leave Mumbai on 226 for four. The bowler then followed up with the wicket of Siddhesh Lad while Abhishek Nayar was removed by Dhiraj Singh.
At stumps, Mumbai were 264 for six with Aditya Tare (28*) and Akash Parker (3*) in the middle.
Scorecard -
http://www.bcci.tv/ranji-trophy-2017-18/match/42Group DBengal vs Himachal: Abhishek Kumar Raman’s maiden century propelled Bengal to 306 for five on the first day of the ongoing match against Himachal. The opener scored a solid 242-ball 176 to shape the hosts’ innings. After losing his opening partner A Eswaran in the first over the, batsman held the innings together with a patient knock. After a 92-run partnership with Koushik Gosh for the third wicket he found an able ally in skipper Manoj Tiwary. The duo added 163 for the fourth wicket until Raman was sent back by Paras Dogra leaving the team on 299 for four. Wriddhiman Saha followed him back to the dressing room leaving the side on 306 for five.
At the end of day’s play Tiwary was batting on 78 with Shreevats Goswami.
Scorecard -
http://www.bcci.tv/ranji-trophy-2017-18/match/39Chhattisgarh vs Punjab: The Punjab pacers – Sandeep Sharma and MS Grewal had left Chhattisgarh reeling on 11 for four after the home team elected to bat. The hosts lineup was kept on a tight leash by the Punjab attack even as the lower middle-order worked to revive the innings. Half-centuries by Jatin Saxena and S Ruikar followed by a 93-ball 76 by Vishal Singh lower down the order helped the hosts post 238 before being bowled out.
Grewal claimed 4/41 while Vinay Choudhary claimed 3/56 and Sandeep Sharma finished with 2/41.
When play ended for the day, Punjab were trailing by 181 runs with nine wickets in hand.
Scorecard -
http://www.bcci.tv/ranji-trophy-2017-18/match/41Vidarbha vs Services: Faiz Fazal anchored Vidarbha to 259 for three on Day 1 with an unbeaten 128-run knock. After a 148-run opening stand with SR Ramaswamy (55 off 146) the opener held the innings together with a patient knock.
Fazal was batting with Ganesh Satish (14*) when play ended for the day.
Scorecard -
http://www.bcci.tv/ranji-trophy-2017-18/match/40
