Ranji Trophy 2014: Bengal, Uttar Pradesh start campaign positively

But the duo did not get enough support from veteran Shib Shankar Paul as Karnataka turned it around with an attacking 81-ball 63 from CM Gautam.

Captain R Vinay Kumar remained unbeaten on 42 with leg spinner Shreyas Gopal giving support on 27 when bad light stopped play at 3pm with only 66 overs bowled in the day.

Fresh from his 94 in their big win over Tamil Nadu, Gautam hit 11 fours and one six in his impressive innings in a 64-run partnership with Binny, who was dismissed at the stroke of lunch that yielded six wickets.

Gautam however could not make it big as his innings was cut short when Veer Pratap’s delivery nipped back to take a thick edge to Subhajit Banerjee at gully.

The wicket also eased up and Vinay Kumar and Gopal looked untroubled in their undefeated 59-run partnership when the day’s proceeding was cut short with 24 overs in arrears.

Earlier, Dinda showed why is he a threat in the domestic circuit as his two wickets from two overs reduced Karnakata to 9/2.

Robin Uthappa was beaten by a beautiful away going delivery to be dismissed for a second-ball duck while Mayank Agarwal (5) got a thin edge in Dinda’s second over.

A pumped-up Dinda was however let down by his experienced new-ball partner Shib Shankar Paul.

Paul did not have pace or movement in his uninspiring spell and it seemed it was a bad selection to pick him ahead of Saurav Sarkar.

Skipper Shukla finally realised it was time to hand the ball to Veer Pratap and the young quick returned with the scalp of Karun Nair in his very first over.

It was a treat to watch Dinda going full throttle in his first spell (7-3-19-3) as the ball did everything and the star-studded Karnataka top order had no answer.

Reduced to 69/5, Stuart Binny (37) counter-attacked before becoming Dinda’s fourth victim in a rather soft manner when he gave a straight catch to the pacer.

Brief Scores: Karnataka: 237/7; 66 overs (C M Gautam 63, R Vinay Kumar 42 batting, Shreyas Gopal 27 batting; Ashok Dinda 4/50, Veer Pratap Singh 3/45) v Bengal. Match to continue.

Rangarajan’s 93 helps Tamil Nadu post 254

Off-spinner Malolan Rangarajan scored a quickfire 93 to help Tamil Nadu reach a first innings total of 254 against giant-killers Jammu and Kashmir in a second round Ranji Trophy.

On a track offering substancial turn, left-arm spinner Waseem Raza grabbed 5/68 as Rangarajan’s 75-ball innings
studded with 14 boundaries and three sixes gave his team’s total some semblance of respectability.

In reply, J&K were also in a spot of bother finishing the day at 28 for three as spin troika of Rahil Shah, R Aushik Srinivas and Rangarajan getting a wicket apiece.

Rangarajan was the dominant partner during both stands as he finally edged one from pacer Samiullah Beigh to glovesman Obaid Haroon behind the stumps.

Brief Scores: Tamil Nadu 1st Innings 254 in 80.2 overs (Malolan Rangarajan 93, Baba Indrajith 37, Waseem Raza 5/68) Jammu and Kashmir 1st Innings: 28/3.

Bad weather robs day’s play

Poor weather condition robbed almost an entire day’s play in the second round Ranji Trophy cricket tournament encounter between Railways and Mumbai, as only 8.2 overs action was possible.

Railways were in a spot of bother at 25 for two after the proceedings started an hour late.

In cold and overcast conditions, Mumbai skipper Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and rightly elected to field.

New ball bowler Shardul Thakur provided a breakthrough in the very second ball as opener Asad Pathan 94) edged one to the Mumbai captain stationed in the second slip. He was lucky as the first ball he played flew through the slip cordon for boundary but he wasn’t lucky second time.

Railways vice-captain Nitin Bhille (8) clipped Shardul Thakur towards mid-wicket for a boundary while in-form Arindam Ghosh (0 bating) survived anxious moments before umpires A Nand Kishore and Australia’s Paul Wilson decided that light wasn’t good enough to continue.

Brief Scores: Railways 1st Innings 25/2 (Nitin Bhille batting 8, Shardul Thakur 1/11, Javed Khan 1/6) vs Mumbai.

UP Pacers keep Madhya Pradesh under check

Uttar Pradesh medium-pacers continuously came back to check Madhya Pradesh on the opening day of the Group A Ranji Trophy cricket match.

Put into bat at the Holkar Stadium, the hosts ended Sunday on 195 for seven in 82 overs with Sanjay Mishra (6) and Puneet Datay (0) fighting on. Praveen Kumar and Rudra Pratap Singh bagged three wickets apiece.

MP captain Devendra Bundela (80) and Rameez Khan (52) then stitched together 125 runs for the fourth-wicket to stabilise the innings.

Brief Scores: Madhya Pradesh: 195/7 in 82 overs (Devendra Bundela 80, Rameez Khan 52; Praveen Kumar 3-14, RP Singh 3-55).