Bhubaneshwar: In-form opener Prithvi Shaw slammed his fourth century in five first-class matches to help Mumbai reach 264 for six against Odisha at stumps on day one of their Ranji Trophy Group C match on Wednesday.
The 17-year old, who has been talked of highly ever since he made his debut in the last season, struck a breezy 105 studded with 18 boundaries and added 136 valuable runs for the second wicket with experienced Ajinkya Rahane (49).
So far among the Indian batsmen, only one player had more first-class hundreds before the age of 18 -- batting legend Sachin Tendulkar who had seven three figure scores.
Shaw had announced his arrival in Ranji Trophy by scoring a century on debut against Tamil Nadu in the semi-final in the 2016-17 season.
Odisha, electing to bowl, started on a promising note dismissing Akhil Herwadkar (14) in the sixth over itself, but Shaw and Rahane who came together then averted any further damage as they batted mixing caution and agression.
Shaw, in particular, scored at an impressive strike rate of 68.63 and looked strong before falling leg before to Basant Mohanty in the 44th over.
Mumbai's progress slowed down after the dismissal of Shaw as the team scored only 108 runs in the next 46 overs.
Rahane, who has not found a place in the India team for the three-match T20 International series against New Zealand, looked his classy self but missed out on a half-century.
urya Kumar Yadav (23) and Siddesh Lad (33) got decent starts but could not kick on.
Skipper Aditya Tare (28) and Akash Parkar (3) were at the crease when stumps were drawn.
Veteran all-rounder Abhishek Nayar, a tenacious batsman, who has rescued the team on numerous occasions fell in the 81st over leaving Tare a lot to do with the tail for company.
For Odisha, Biplab Samantray and Basant Mohanty took two wickets apiece.
Group C Brief scores:
Bhubaneshwar: Mumbai 264 for 6 in 90 overs (Prithvi Shaw 105, Ajinkya Rahane 49, Biplab Samantray 2 for 26) vs Odisha.
At Vizianagaram: Madhya Pradesh 219 for 5 in 89 overs (Shubam Sharma 60, Prithvi Raj Yarra 3 for 35) vs Andhra Pradesh.
At Vadodara: Baroda 304 for 5 in 90 overs (Vishnu Solanki 116, Abhijit Karambelkar 75 not out, Gurinder Singh 2 for 61) vs Tripura.
Pujara roars back to form with century
Rajkot: Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara roared back to form with his 42nd first-class hundred as Saurashtra scored 341 for five at stumps in a Group B Ranji Trophy encounter against Jharkhand.
Pujara held anchor remaining unbeaten 125 at the end of the day's play -- an innings that had 18 boundaries while facing 223 deliveries.
The right-hander has gone through a rough patch with his sequence of scores in last 10 first-class innings being 9 (in the Test match for India) followed by 18, 34, 28, 4, 0, 14, 12, 35 and 13.
Saurashtra were in trouble at 46 for three inside 14 overs when Pujara was joined by other India international Ravindra Jadeja (42) as they added 88 runs for the fourth wicket.
However, the 137-run stand between Pujara and Prerak Mankad (85) got Saurashtra in a comfortable position, with the latter hitting 12 boundaries and a six in 118 balls.
Pujara also added 70 runs for the sixth wicket with Chirag Jani, who was unbeaten on 40 at stumps.
Group B Brief scores:
At Rajkot: Saurashtra 341/5 (Cheteshwar Pujara 125 not out, Ravindra Jadeja 42, Prerak Mankad 85, Ashish Kumar 3/50) vs Jharkhand.
At Valsad: Gujarat 236 (Bharghav Merai 52, Amit Mishra 4/63) vs Haryana 0/1.
At Thumba: Kerala 219 (Sanju Samson 112, Parveez Rasool 6/70) vs Jammu and Kashmir 16/0.
Raina flop show continues as Delhi restrict UP
New Delhi: Suresh Raina failed with the bat yet again as Delhi put up an impressive bowling effort on a helpful track to restrict Uttar Pradesh to 270 for eight on Day 1 of the Group A Ranji Trophy.
On a pitch having prominent patches of green, Delhi captain and pace spearhead Ishant Sharma had little hesitation in putting the opposition in.
The UP batting, which has failed miserably so far in the tournament, was again found wanting against the moving ball.
The lone bright spot in the batting department was the 111-run stand between Mohammad Saif (83) and Akshdeep Nath (59), helping their team rebuild the innings after openers Shivam Chaudhary (24) and Almas Shaukat (5) departed to make it 41 for two.
Saif, unfortunately was retired hurt on 64 after being hit on the hand while negotiating a rising ball off Ishant.
Though he did return to make another 19 runs, his forced absence due to the incident allowed Delhi to comeback and claim a few quick wickets.
Nath was was dismissed by Ishant in the over after Saif got retired hurt. Saif returned to the centre and smashed a six and two fours off Milind Kumar before being run out.
A lot was expected from UP skipper Raina (10) but he perished cheaply again after being bowled off a quicker ball by off-spinner Milind.
The low bounce of the delivery seemed to surprise Raina, who fell in his attempt to cut the ball. Raina is yet to fire in the tournament so far, having failed in five innings.
That was another body blow to UP, who found themselves at 208 for six from a promising 157 for two.
Ishant bowled well again, picking up two wickets and so did India 'A' regular Navdeep Saini. The other pacer who got a wicket was left-arm seamer Kulwant Khejroliya.
Part-time off-break bowler Milind Kumar and left-arm spinner Manan Sharma also got a wicket apiece.
Group A Brief scores:
In Delhi: Uttar Pradesh 1st innings 270/8 in 84 overs (Mohammed Saif 83, Akshdeep Nath 59, Ishant Sharma 2/27, Navdeep Saini 2/37) vs Delhi.
In Delhi: Hyderabad 272/3 (Ambati Rayudu 88, Akshath Reddy 69, B Sandeep 64, Manish Rao 2/49) vs Railways.
In Pune: Maharashtra 1st innings 245 (Rahul Tripathi 120, NS Shaikh 69, R Vinay Kumar 6/59) vs Karnataka 1st innings 117/0 (R Samarth 47 not out, M Agarwal 50 not out).
Raman's maiden ton lifts Bengal on Day 1
Kolkata: Left-handed opener Abhishek Raman struck his maiden first-class hundred as Bengal scored 306 for five against Himachal Pradesh in their first home match of the season in the Ranji Trophy Group D.
Playing in his fifth first-class match, the 24-year-old looked in sublime form during his 176-run-knock that was laced with 29 boundaries.
He occupied the crease for nearly six hours to help Bengal recover from a jittery 44 for 2 after they were put into bat.
Raman first built the innings with Kaushik Ghosh (27) in a 92-run third wicket partnership and then shared 163 with skipper Manoj Tiwary, who remained unbeaten on 78.
Raman lost his patience and was caught by Amit Kumar at first slip playing away from his body off Paras Dogra's bowling.
Himachal Pradesh grabbed the prized wicket of Test wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha (2) with the penultimate ball of the day when bad light stopped play in the 86th over.
Raman, who shifted base to Kolkata from his hometown New Delhi in 2012-13, made first-class debut against Mumbai last season and was dismissed in the 90s twice including on 94 against Chhattisgarh in the last match.
Playing at the Eden Gardens at senior level for the first time, Raman finally got to the milestone in 141 balls, with a pull through fine-leg boundary off Pankaj Jaiswal in the second session.
Group D Brief scores:
In Kolkata: Bengal 306/5 in 86 overs (Abhishek Raman 176, Manoj Tiwary 78 not out) vs Himachal Pradesh.
In Nagpur: Vidarbha 259/3 in 90 overs (Faiz Fazal 128, Sanjay Ramaswamy 55) vs Services.
In Raipur: Chhatisgarh 238 in 73 overs (Vishal Kushwah 76, Jatin Saxena 52, Sumit Ruikar 50; Manpreet Gony 4/41, Vinay Choudhary 3/56) vs Punjab 57/1.
