Shreyas' spell gives Karnataka slight edge

Leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal denied Aditya Shrivastava (91) a hundred as Karnataka reduced Madhya Pradesh to 270 for seven on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group A cricket match, here on Tuesday.

The hosts were going good after the early loss of opener Jalaj Saxena (0) as Shrivastava and Anand Bais (34) stitched together a 74-run stand for the second wicket after they elected to bat. Gopal (3/48) dismissed Bains to break the partnership but Naman Ojha was a good replacement at the crease as the wicket-keeper batsman scored a 54-run knock, which had three fours and as many sixes.

With debutant Shrivastava he brought up a 109-run stand, which was broken when Gopal sent back the MP opener. Ojha was also dismissed in the next over, bowled by off-spinner Udit Patel. Gopal struck again by trapping rival skipper Devendra Bundela (1).

The hosts were now struggling at 186 for five. However, Harpreet Singh, batting at number six, scored a quick-fire 53 with eight fours and a six to lend some respectability to his team’s total. Seasoned paceman Abhimanyu Mithun removed him at the fag end of the day to expose Madhya Pradesh’s tail. Ankit Sharma (11) and SS Jain (12) though ensured that the hosts do not lose any more wicket before the end of the day’s play.

TN in command
Tamil Nadu replied with 53 for the loss of two wickets after bowling out Uttar Pradesh for just 182 on the first day of their Group ‘A’ match in Chennai.

The Uttar Pradesh first innings lasted 74.4 overs at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
At stumps, left-handed opening batsman Ahbinav Mukund (26) and Baba Aparajith (1) were at the crease.

Earlier, electing to bat, Uttar Pradesh opening batsman Tanmay Srivastava offered a straightforward catch to medium pacer Vijay Shankar in the fourth over of the day. With the other opener Akash Varma (16) also back in the pavilion after being caught at short leg by Baba Indrajit off M Prabhu’s bowling, the visitors were struggling at 36 for two, before slipping to 89 for five in the 40th over.