Ranji Trophy round-up: Uthappa ton puts K'taka in control against Delhi; Mumbai lose 6 wickets

Uthappa, Agarwal hammer Delhi bowlers as Karnataka score 358/3

Hubballi:  Robin Uthappa flayed Delhi bowlers with disdain hitting part-time off-spinner Dhruv Shorey for 32 in a single over as his third successive hundred took Karnataka to a comfortable 358 for three against Delhi in the group A league encounter of the Ranji Trophy.

Courtesy Uthappa’s 141-ball-148 that had 16 boundaries and six maximums along Mayank Agarwal’s (118) maiden first-class hundred, the defending champions are in driver’s seat at the end of the opening day.

The duo added 236 runs for the second wicket stand with Agarwal hitting 19 boundaries off 209 balls.

When the stumps were drawn, Manish Pandey and Karun Nair were batting on 31 runs each, with help of four and two boundaries, respectively. They stitched an unbeaten 61-run stand for the fourth wicket.

Uthappa, who is riding high on his form, hammered his third consecutive century after his scores of 160 and 148 against Rajasthan and Odisha in the previous games.

Sent into bat, Karnataka lost their first wicket of Ravikumar Samarth at 47 when he Pawan Suyal castled him with an incoming delivery.

Uthappa joined Agarwal, and both started making runs at a quick pace of 3.43 runs per over and took Karnataka total to 120 for one at lunch.

In the post lunch session, Karnataka came out with renewed energy, and in just four overs Uthappa and Agarwal cracked 21 runs with Uthappa hitting three more boundaries and Agarwal helping himself with a boundary.

Having struck a chord, Agarwal and Uthappa batted very well in tandem, which helped Karnataka cross 200 in 55.1 overs. Both Agarwal and Uthappa reached their centuries after facing 175 and 122 balls, respectively.

Just at the stroke of tea, Uthappa crushed Shorey for 32 runs in his very first over by smashing four huge sixes, taking his score from 102 to unbeaten 134 in a jiffy.

Karnataka 1st Innings 358/3 (Robin Uthappa 148, Mayank Agarwal 118, Pawan Suyal 2/78).

Mumbai in trouble against MP on opening day

Indore: As many as 16 wickets fell on the opening day with Mumbai finding themselves in a spot of bother at 74 for six in their first innings in reply to Madhya Pradesh’s 240 all out in a Group B Ranji Trophy cricket match on Monday.

Opting to bat after wining the toss, Madhya Pradesh did not have the best of outing as only Harpreet Singh (59) made a significant score before the hosts were bowled out for 240 in 75.1 overs.

Off-spinner Ankush Jaiswal sparkled on his first-class debut picking up four wickets for 63 runs, while pacer Shardul Thakur (2/42) and left-arm spinner Vishal Dabholkar (2/59) scalped two wickets apiece.

In reply, Mumbai dished out a terrible display with the bat to be reduced to 74 for six in just 21 overs at stumps on the opening day.

Openers Jay Bista (27) and Akhil Herwadkar (17) got starts before being dismissed.

At the close of play, Nikhil Patil was unbeatn on 10 along side Iqbal Abdulla, who is yet to open his account.

Jalaj Saxena (3/32) and Ankit Sharma (3/39) picked up three wickets each for Madhya Pradesh.

Brief Scores:

Madhya Pradesh: 240 all out in 75.1 overs (Harpreet Singh 59; Ankush Jaiswal 4/63).

Mumbai: 74 for six in 21 overs (Jay Bista 27; Jalaj Saxena 3/32, Ankit Sharma 3/39).

Easwaran shows class; 20 wickets fall in Bengal vs Odisha game

Kalyani (WB): Opener Abhimanyu Easwaran stood tall amidst ruins with a classy 88 with as many as 20 wickets fell on the opening day of Bengal’s penultimate Ranji Trophy group league encounter against Odisha on Monday.

The frail looking right-hander scored 88 runs in Bengal’s meagre first innings score of 142 in 47.3 overs on a wicket which was distinctly under-prepared.

It showed when Odisha were bundled out for 107 in 29 overs with young off-spinner Aamir Gani picking up a career best 6 for 34. He was well supported by left-arm spin duo of Pragyan Ojha (2/25) and debutant Anurag Tiwary (2/26).

With a small but important first innings lead of 35 runs, Bengal openers Easwaran (20 batting) and Sayan Sekhar Mondal (3 batting) added 23 runs in 9 overs in the second essay. The overall lead swelled to 58 runs with the match unlikely to last even three full days.

The highlight of the day certainly was young Easwaran, who has scored a total of 108 runs on a single day on a track where the entire Odisha team managed a run less.

In his first innings, he nearly carried his bat through for the 156-ball effort that had 10 boundaries and a six. He was the last man out after adding an invaluable 46 runs for the final wicket with debutant Anurag (2).

Credit should be given to No 11 batsman Anurag for hanging in there for as long as 48 minutes. After Abhimanyu’s 88, the next highest score for Bengal was Shreevats Goswami’s 17 followed by Gani’s 15.

“The pitch was difficult to bat on. The key is to play your shots as late as possible and you have to show a lot of resolve,” Abhimanyu said after his three-hour 22 minute stint at the crease, which is also Bengal’s first innings span.

When captain Manoj Tiwary decided to bat on a cracked surface at the Bengal Academy Ground, where the first ever first-class match was being played, it seemed like the move had backfired with half of the team back in hut for 56.

But it was Easwaran, who carried on with a lot of grit as he showed how to play the left-arm spinner Dhiraj Singh (5/58) with assured feet movement and positive attitude.

When Odisha came into bat, seasoned Ojha struck the first blow dismissing rival captain Natraj Behera (4) caught by skipper Tiwary. Gobinda Poddar was castled by Gani and fellow opener Ranjit Singh was caught behind off Ojha.

The wickets fell at regular intervals and buoyed by a vociferous home crowd at this district town in Nadia, Bengal clawed their way back into the match, which now looks in their grasp.

Brief Scores:

Bengal 142 all out; 47.3 overs (Abhimanyu Easwaran 88; Dhiraj Singh 5/58, Suryakant Pradhan 3/15) and 23 for no loss; 9 overs (Abhimanyu Easwaran 20 batting).

Odisha 107 in 29 overs (Aamir Gani 6/34, Pragyan Ojha 2/25, Anurag Tiwary 2/26). Match to continue.

-—— Sidhana, Khera fifties help Punjab reach 248/8 on Day 1

Kanpur: Mayank Sidhana and Gitansh Khera struck gritty fifties to help Punjab recover from an early slump to reach 248 for eight at stumps on the opening day of their Group B Ranji Trophy cricket league encounter against Uttar Pradesh on Monday.

UP medium-pacers rattled the Punjab top-order after inviting the visitors to bat at Green Park. Openers Manan Vohra (15) and Jiwanjot Singh (2) departed early while Uday Kaul (16),Mandeep Singh (25) and Yuvraj Singh (16) also could not last long.

It was then that Sidhana (85) and Khera (73 not out) stitched a 138-run sixth-wicket partnership to give some respectability to the visitors’ score.

But out went Sidhana after his 141-ball stay at the crease, which was laced with 10 fours and a six and Punjab lost three more quick wickets.

Khera though has stood firm at one end only to be running out of partners.

Ankit Rajput led the charge by picking up three wickets while Praveen Kumar (2-76) and Akshdeep Nath (2-7) bagged two scalps apiece. Sharing the new ball with Praveen, Imtiaz Ahmed also chipped in with a wicket.

The two teams are battling hard to gain a quarterfinal berth with a couple of more league games left for both the sides.

Brief Scores:

Punjab 248/8 in 87 overs (Mayank Sidhana 85, Gitansh Khera 73 not out; Ankit Rajput 3-45).

Saurashtra 55/6 in reply to Kerala’s 166

Malappuram: Saurashtra failed to capitalise on the bolwing exploits of spinners Dharmendrasinh Jadeja and Vandit Jivrajani as they slumped to 55 for six in their first innings in reply to Kerala’s paltry 166 all out on the opening day of a Group C Ranji Trophy cricket match on Monday.

Elecxting to bat, Kerala made a decent start with opener VA Jagadeesh (59 off 134 balls) striking a half century and along with Mohammed Azharuddeen putting on 52 runs for the opening stand.

But therafter, Jadeja (5/44) and Jivrajani (4/61) spun a web around the Kerala batsmen to bowl the hosts out for 166 in 62.2 overs.

Fabid Ahmed (25) is the other notable scorer for Kerala.

In response, Saurashtra had a horrendous outing with the bat as left-arm pacer KS Mohnish picked up four wickets for 27 runs to make life misery for the visitors.

Besides Mohnish, Rohan Prem (2/2) accounted for two Saurashtra batsmen.

Opener Mohsin Ahmedbhai Dodia (23) top-scored for Saurashtra.

Brief Scores:

Kerala: 166 all out in 62.2 overs (VA Jagadeesh 59; Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 5/44, Vandit Jivrajani 4/61).

Saurashtra: 55 for six in 25 overs (Mohsin Ahmedbhai Dodia 23; KS Mohnish 4/27).

Gautam ton gives Jharkhand Day 1 honours

Ranchi: Opener Shiv Gautam struck a patient century to help Jharkhand post 306 for four against Himachal Pradesh on Day 1 of the Group C Ranji Trophy cricket league match on Monday.

Electing to bat at the JSCA International Stadium Complex, Jharkhand lost a couple of early wickets but the 154-run third-wicket partnership between Gautam (122) and Saurabh Tiwary (79) gave the opening day honours to the hosts.

Pace spearhead Rishi Dhawan bagged two wickets, while left-arm spinner Bipul Sharma and leg-spinner Prashant Chopra picked a wicket apiece.

Brief Scores:

Jharkhand 306/4 in 91 overs (Shiv Gautam 122, Saurabh Tiwary 79; Ishant Jaggi 43 not out; Rishi Dhawan 2-67).

Vihari, Anirudh hit fifties as Hyderabad reach 263/2 on day 1

Hyderabad: Skipper Hanuma Vihari and Balchander Anirudh scored a half-century each to help Hyderabad reach 263 for two against Tripura on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group C cricket match on Monday.

Openers Tanmay Agarwal (45) and Akshath Reddy (40) also chipped in with useful contributions after Hyderabad was put in to bat.

After the openers’ dismissal, Vihari and Anirudh put on an unbeaten 151 runs for the third wicket to take the team to a commanding position.

At stumps, Vihari was unbeaten on 94 off 217 deliveries that included 10 fours and a six, while Anirudh was 75 not out off 127 balls, studded with eight boundaries and two sixes.

Brief scores:

Hyderabad: 263 for two in 90 overs (Hanuma Vihari batting 94, Balchander Anirudh batting 75) vs Tripura.

No play on first day in Tamil Nadu vs Gujarat Ranji match

Tirunelveli: The first day’s play of the Ranji Trophy cricket match between Tamil Nadu and Gujarat was called off without a ball being bowled due to rains on Monday.

Even the toss was not held for the Group B match at the Indian Cement Company Ground.

Gujarat are now placed second in the nine-team Group B with 22 points from six matches while Tamil Nadu are on sixth with 17 points from six games.

Day 1 called off in Assam-Maharashtra game

Pune: The first day’s play in the Group A Ranji Trophy cricket match between Assam and Maharashtra was called off without a ball being bowled owing to bad light on Monday.

Even the toss could not take place at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium.

PTI