Ranji: Kotak, Pujara put Saurashtra on top

Rajkot: Three top order batsmen hit half centuries as Saurashtra reached a comfortable 236 for two on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Super League Group-B match against Maharashtra here on Tuesday.

Saurashtra have Shitanshu Kotak and Cheteshwar Pujara batting on 85 and 52 respectively at stumps.

The hosts suffered a jolt with opener Sagar Jogiyani falling to Samad Fallah cheaply for four at the stroke of half hour and that seemed their captain Jaydev Shah's decision to bat first boomeranged.

But the other opener Chirag Pathak (90) and Kotak steadied the ship with a 127-run partnership for the second wicket before the former was out few minutes before tea.

Kotak and Pujara then remained together till the draw of stumps, sharing 96 runs from 201 balls.

Pathak scored 90 off 178 which has 13 hits to the fence. Pujara hit four boundaries after facing 112 balls.

Saurashtra though scored at a slow pace at 2.62 per over, mainly due to Kotak taking 242 balls for his 85 which had eight fours in it.

For Maharashtra, Fallah and Kedar Jhadav took one wicket apiece for 61 and 64 runs respectively.

Brief Scores:

Saurashtra 1st Innings: 236 for two in 90 overs (Chirag Pathak 90, Shitanshu Kotak batting 85, Cheteshwar Pujara batting 52; Samad Fallah 1/61, Kedar Jhadav 1/64).

Railways 176-4 against Orissa

Bhubaneswar: V Cheluvuraj's unbeaten 72 helped Railways labour to 176 for four against Orissa on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Super League Group-A match here on Tuesday. The slow batting by the visitors frustrated the Orissa bowlers as they had a long and tiring day on the field after opting to bowl.

Chelvuraj and Sanjib Sanyal (20) were at the crease at close of play. Railways opener Faiz Fazal (32) and Cheluvuraj batted agonisingly slowly, putting up 53 runs for the first wicket at a run-rate which was about near two per over.

The pair separated after the run out of Fazal, who comsumed 80 balls for his 32 which included five boundaries.

Former India pacer Debasis Mohanty struck the second blow to visitors when he scalped in-form Sanjay Bangar (10), having him caught behind.

Chelvuraj kept the one end intact, putting up 28 runs in 13.4 overs with TP Singh, who was sent bowled by Basant Mohanty. Yere Goud though was aggressive as he took 40 balls for his 23 with the help of two fours and a six.

Chelvurah though was not in a mood to surrender as he batted through the day, facing 248 balls for his unbeaten 72 which included just five boundaries. Sanyal (20) complimented Cheluvaraj well in their unbeaten fifth wicket partnership so far.

Brief Scores:

Railways First Innings: 176 for 4 in 84 overs (V Cheluvuraj 72 batting, D Mohanty 1/20, B Mohanty 1/34).

Hyderabad 175-5 against Gujarat on Day 1

Hyderabad: Fighting half-centuries by Ambati Rayudu (60) and Syed Quadri (51 not out) helped Hyderabad wither a middle-order collapse to reach 175 for five on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Super League Group A match against Gujarat here on Tuesday.

Rayudu batted well up the order while Quadri held the one end together after coming down to bat at number seven. Anirudh Singh, on 34, was giving company to Quadri at the crease at close of play.

Paceman Siddharth Trivedi (4/30) ripped apart the host middle order by striking thrice in successive overs.

After being reduced to 26 for two, Hyderabad were saved from total collapse by Rayudu and Anirudh with a 74-run partnership for the third wicket.

Then came the devastating spell of Trivedi as he first broke the third wicket stand by scalping Rayudu and then sent back rival skipper Arjun Yadav (0) and Abhinav Kumar (0) in three balls to sent shockwaves in the opposition camp.

From a comfortable 100 for two, Hyderabad were reduced to 100 for five.

Quadri though stemmed the rot with his sensible knock as he made sure the hosts do not suffer any further jolt, rattling up an unbeaten 75 for sixth wicket with Anirudh.

Anirudh showed tremendous patience as he kept a long vigil at the wicket, batting for more than four hours, facing 189 balls and hitting just three fours.

Quadri's 51 came off 114 balls with six fours.

Rohan smashes hundred as Bengal reach 252-5

Mysore: A brilliant 107 by Rohan Banerjee and his 172-run third wicket partnership with Manoj Tiwari (78) put Bengal in a strong position of 252 for five against Karnataka on day one of their Super League Ranji Trophy match here on Tuesday.

Wriddhiman Saha (3) and Shib Sagar Singh (1) were at the crease when stumps were drawn for the day at the Gangfotri Glades platinum jubilee grounds.

Karnataka's hopes of making early inroads were shattered stoutly by openers Rohan and Arindam Das (27) as they raised 52 runs to take the sting out of the Karnataka pace attack, which had run amok against Uttar Pradesh and Delhi in the previous games.

Neither R Vinay Kumar nor Abhimanyu Mithun could extract any life from the deck, though they bowled a probing line and length. S Arvind was the most successful Karnataka bowler, returning with the wickets of Arindam and Deep das Gupta.

Deep Das Gupta perished without scoring, but Banarjee, who batted a little more than six hours, and Tiwari ensured that Bengal were in fine fettle, posting 172 runs together.

Tiwari was the more adventurous of the twosome, smashing eight fours and two sixes during his enterprising 78. He seemed well settled to score a hundred when left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi produced the breakthrough in 76th over.

Karnataka were to strike twice again when leg Amit Verma scalped the priced wicket of Banarjee. Abhimanyu Mithun accounted for Abhishek Jhunjunwala moments before stumps.

Malik scalps six as Himachal bowl out Mumbai for 162

Mumbai: Speedster Vikramjeet Malik ripped through the famed Mumbai batting line-up with a six-wicket haul as Himachal Pradesh took control of their Ranji Trophy Super League Group A match on the first day on Tuesday.

Malik, who ended with figures of six for 33, justified skipper Ashok Thakur's decision to bowl first as the visitors bowled out Mumbai for a paltry 162 in 51.1 overs at the Bandra-Kurla Complex ground here.

In reply, Himachal were 79 for no loss at one stage but lost three quick wickets to end the day at 100 for three.

Opener Bhavin Thakkar (48) and Vinit Indulkar (10) were at the crease when stumps were drawn for the day.

Earlier, Malik made full use of the moist conditions, swinging the ball both ways to clean up the Mumbai top order, including the prize scalp of skipper Wasim Jaffer for nought, to have the home side tottering at 18 for three.

Rohit Sharma (22; 53 balls, 4X3) and Abhishek Nayar (16; 45 balls, 4x3) tried to stem the rot, adding 46 runs for the fourth wicket.

However, Sharma was trapped in front by medium pacer Jitender Mehta, while Malik came back to remove Nayar from the other end as Mumbai went into lunch at 90-5.

Mumbai's misery continued after lunch as they lost the wickets of Vinayak Samant (10), debutant Harmeet Singh (0) and Iqbal Abdullah (5).

However, Ajit Agarkar, who top-scored with 45 (66 balls, 4x6), and Dhawal Kulkarni 28 (50 balls, 4x3, 6x1) saved Mumbai the blushes as they added 54 runs for the ninth wicket to give some respectability to their total.

The visitors enjoyed a good start as openers Thakkar and Sangram Singh added 79 runs. Just when it looked like Himachal was running away with the game, Mumbai spinners stuck thrice to bring the hosts back into the game.

Harmeet beat Sangram in the air to have him stumped, while a rush of blood against Iqbal led Abhinav Bali (2) to his own downfall.

Harmeet then had Paras Dogra caught at first slip for nought.

No play on 1st day of UP vs Baroda match

Ghaziabad: The first day's Ranji Trophy Super League Group B match between Uttar Pradesh and Baroda was called off after overnight heavy rain rendered the wicket unplayable here on Tuesday.

Apparently overnight rain seeped in through the covers at the Mohan Meakins Cricket Stadium here and the umpires decided to call off the day's proceedings without a ball being bowled.

Uttar Pradesh have collected three points from their two earlier group matches, a loss -- against Karnataka -- and a draw -- against Saurashtra.

Baroda are on four points from their earlier two drawn matches against Delhi and Bengal.

Vidarbha-Tripura day one washed out

Nagpur: Overnight rains and steady drizzle throughout the day washed out the opening day's play of the four-day Ranji Trophy Plate division Group A match between Vidarbha and Tripura here Tuesday.

Umpires R Radhakrishnan and Ravi Krishna, after the third and final inspection at around 3.30 pm, called off play for the day at Jamtha Stadium.

The weather department has forecast more rains.

Asnodkar steers Goa to 149/4 vs Rajasthan

Margao: Swapnil Asnodkar's unbeaten half century helped Goa reach 149 for 4 against Rajasthan on the opening day of their Plate Ranji Trophy group A match at MCC Ground here on Tuesday.

The start of the play was delayed because of wet outfield due to intermittent rain and only 51 overs could be bowled.

The hosts, put into bat by the opposition, started disastrously, losing opener Sagun Kamat for a duck.

But Asnodkar, Goa's batting mainstay who missed the first two matches due to injury, did the repair work along with captain S Sriram by putting on 40 runs for the second wicket before Sriram was run out for nine.

Regan Pinto (18) and Ajay Ratra (14) perished soon, leaving Goa struggling at 106 for four.

But Asnodkar (75) and Rahul Keni (26) added 43 runs for the fifth wicket and batted through the day. Asnodkar hit nine fours and one six in his knock.

Pankaj Singh was the most successful bowler for Rajashtan, capturing two wickets, while Gajanra Singh accounted for one.