On the first day of the fourth round of Ranji Trophy 2014-15, Himachal Pradesh’s Ankush Bains struck his maiden first-class hundred against Assam, while Tripura’s Rana Dutta claimed 6/57 against Goa while Hyderabad’s Akash Bhandari claimed a four-for.
Mumbai’s Shreyas Iyer was not out on 153 at the Eden Gardens at stumps on the first day while Mandeep Singh was batting on 154 against Saurashtra. Shalabh Shrivastava and Jharkhand’s Virat Singh were also amongst runs and scored centuries.
Bengal vs Mumbai: Shreyas Iyer propelled Mumbai to 306/4 at stumps remaining unbeaten on 153. The top-order batsman held the visitors’ innings together at the Eden Gardens. His partnership for the third wicket with Abhishek Nayar was worth 176. Veerpratap Singh who ended the partnership with the wicket of Nayar had also claimed Aditya Tare earlier in the day. Iyer was sent back by Ashoke Dinda late in the final session of the day. When play ended, Suryakumar Yadav was batting with Siddhesh Lad.
Madhya Pradesh v Baroda: Baroda were 291/6 at stumps on Day 1 in Gwalior against Madhya Pradesh. Saurabh Wakaskar made 94 before being sent back by S Mishra and was the top-scorer for his side on the first day. Puneet Datey and Avesh Khan claimed two wickets each to claim the middle order and keep the visitors in check. Deepak Hooda was batting on 82 with Swapnil Singh on 13 when play ended in the evening.
Tamil Nadu vs Railways: Electing to bat at Chepauk, Tamil Nadu were 144/4 at stumps on Day 1. Railways’ Arnab Nandi and Ashish Yadav claimed two wickets each during the 49 overs of play that took place. When play ended Baba Indrajith was batting on 39 with R Prasanna who was yet to open his account.
Uttar Pradesh vs J & K: In the 29 overs of play that took place in Kanpur, the UP openers scored half-centuries to take the team to stumps at 113. Tanmay Srivastava was batting on 56 with Akash Verma on 55 when play was called off.
Delhi vs Gujarat: After Delhi elected to bat first on their home ground, Unmukt Chand and Gautam Gambhir laid a solid platform with a 171-run opening stand. The Delhi captain was sent back by Jesal Karia for 66 and was the only wicket to fall during the 53 overs of play that took place on the first day. At stumps the hosts were 178/1 with Chand batting on 97 while Virender Sehwag was on 13.
Haryana vs Odisha: Odisha bowled out Haryana for 178 on the first day after electing to field in Lahli. Basant Mohanty, Suryakant Pradhan and Deepak Behera claimed three wickets each to wrap-up the hosts innings in 41.1 overs. At stumps Odisha were 39 without loss with Girija Rout on seven and Natraj Behera batting on 29.
Rajasthan vs Vidarbha: Vidarbha were reduced to 23/3 by Pankaj Singh after Rajasthan elected to field in Jaipur. Shalabh Shirvastava then anchored the innings and took Vidarbha to stumps at 236/6. S Badrinath made 47 while R Jangid made 43 as they assisted the middle-order batsman to rebuild the innings. Shrivastava was batting on 105 with Rakesh Dhruve when play ended on Sunday evening. Pankaj Singh claimed the top four visitors’ batsmen and returned with 4/85 on Day 1.
Saurashtra vs Punjab: Mandeep Singh’s 154 not out complemented by Yuvraj Singh’s unbeaten 95 had taken Punjab to 327/3 against Saurashtra in Rajkot. The visitors were 100/3 when the duo came together and built a partnership to rebuild the innings. Sudeep Tyagi, who had claimed Jiwanjot Singh for 11 also sent back Taruvar Kohli while K Makvana accounted for Amitoze Singh earlier in the day. The Mandeep-Yuvraj stand was unbroken on 227 when play ended on the first day.
Assam vs Himachal Pradesh: Winning the toss and opting to bat, HP powered to 282/2 at stumps courtesy Ankush Bains. Anchoring the innings, the opener was batting on 156 at the end of day’s play with Paras Dogra on 76.
Hyderabad vs Services: Services put together 235 runs for the loss of seven wickets on the first day against Hyderabad. Electing to bat the visitors lost wickets at regular intervals. Opener Soumik Chatterjee was the top-scorer for SSCB with 70 while Deepak Punia was batting on 61 even as the rest of the line-up succumbed to Akash Bhandari-led attack on Day 1. Bhandari claimed 4/64 on the first day while Ravi Kiran Ashish Reddy and Ahmed Quadri picked a wicket each.
Jharkhand vs Kerala: Jharkhand top-order batsman, Virat Singh scored a century to help Jharkhand to 246/6 on the first day in Dhanbad. Kerala used as many as eight bowlers in an effort to create breakthroughs after the opposition opted to bat and succeeded in claiming the middle-order for meager figures. The Jharkhand middle-order returned to the dressing room without making useful contributions. Kerala’s K Monish and Rohan Prem picked two wickets each while Basil Thampi and Amit Verma claimed a wicket apiece. At stumps Kaushal Singh was batting on 21.
Tripura vs Goa: Asked to bat in Agartala, Goa were restricted to 234/8 by Tripura on Day 1. Running through the visitors’ middle-order Rana Dutta claimed six wickets while A Sarkar and V Saha chipped in with a wicket each. Goa’s middle-order batsman Regan Pinto waged a lone battle and was batting on 78 while Amit Yadav was on 17 at stumps.
