Morris, Samant to
Mumbai's rescue

Lower-order batsmen Robin Morris (52 off 65 balls) and Vinayak Samant (84 off 125 balls) lifted Mumbai from a precarious 103 for 6 to 245 for 8 with a seventh-wicket stand of 89 runs, on the opening day of the four-day Elite Group Ranji Trophy cricket match against Andhra Pradesh, at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday.

Earlier, Andhra won the toss and put the former Ranji champions in to bat on a wicket with uneven bounce.

Former India opening batsman Wasim Jaffer was the first to go with his individual score on nine, when Andhra skipper and former India stumper M S K Prasad took a catch off the bowling of medium pacer Kalyan Krishna.

Prasad, who snapped up four more catches behind the wicket, took a low catch off the other medium pacer, R V Ch Prasad, to dismiss Milind Tamhane for 13.

In the next over, he took a leg-side catch to send back Amol Muzumdar off K S Shahbuddin for one and the hosts were in real trouble, losing three wickets for 52 runs.

The other opening batsman, Vinayak Mane, who was batting with a patient 35 runs, off 94 balls in 165 minutes, inclusive of two fours, snicked an easy catch for Prasad off the bowling of Kalyan Krishna.

Mumbai skipper Paras Mhambrey hung around for some time before being adjudged leg before wicket for 24, after facing 70. He had three hits to the fence.

Earlier, Sairaj Bahutule was caught and bowled by off-spinner Hemal Vatekar for four before Morris and Samant could retreive the situation.

Ramesh Powar and Nilesh Kulkarni were batting on six and two respectively when stumps were drawn.

Bhandari strikes as Delhi take control

Lanky pacer Amit Bhandari wreaked havoc, claiming four crucial wickets, as Himachal Pradesh slumped to 194 for seven on day one of the Elite Group 'A' Ranji Trophy match against Delhi in Delhi on Wednesday.

Bhandari troubled most of the Himachal batsmen on an "under-prepared" pitch at the Ferozshah Kotla ground with his bounce and swing, as the tourists, electing to bat, struggled to cope with the hostile conditions on a sunny day.

At stumps, Virender Sharma was batting on 17 and Rahul Panta on 14.

Putting behind the dismal performance against Mumbai in their previous match, which Delhi lost by nine wickets, the hosts put up a spirited performance.

A determined Delhi attack, led by Bhandari, reduced Himachal to 81 for four within 36 overs, with the fast bowler claiming the wickets Nischal Gaur (17) and captain Vikram Rathore (20).

The two other batsmen to fall during the period were Sandeep Sharma and Rajeev Nayyar, both of whom were run-out for 24 and 12 respectively.

Coming at the crease after the dismissal of Sandeep Sharma, Sangram Singh scored a patient 47 and added 77 runs for the fifth wicket with Amit Sharma (30) to pull the tourists out of the woods.

However, Himachal suffered a blow when Sangram Singh was given out, caught at short leg by Pradeep Chawla off Sarandeep Singh.

Assam, Punjab share honours on the first day

Assam medium pacer Parag Das produced a career-best four for 30 to bundle out Punjab for a paltry 177 but the hosts were themselves left reeling at 23 for two at the end of the first day's play of the Elite Ranji Trophy match in Guwahati on Wednesday.

On what looked a placid Nehru stadium wicket, Punjab's skipper and India one-day star Dinesh Mongia won the toss and elected to bat but that turned out to be the only good thing for the visiting team.

Punjab, which got off to a decent start with the opening stand producing 34 before wickets began to tumble, could have been dismissed for an even lower total but for the superb effort by middle order bat Ankur Kakkar, who hit 75 against all odds.

From a dismal 54 for six, Kakkar combined well with Navdeep Singh to take the score to 152 before the next wicket fell.

Punjab went into lunch at 79 for five and was reeling at 157 for eight during the tea break.

Parag Das, who troubled all the batsmen, seemed to have no effect on Kakkar, who cut and drove with ease and punished every loose delivery.

His fighting knock of 75 came off 126 balls, with eleven hits to the fence.

Assam's innings began on a shaky note as well, with Parag Das (15) and S Viswanathan (2) being dismissed cheaply.

Kiron Pawan (6) and Pankaj Tamuli were at the crease when stumps were drawn for the day.

Parab scores unbeaten ton

A fine unbeaten century by opener Satyajit Parab enabled Baroda score a healthy 278 for three against Orissa on the first day of the four-day Elite group Ranji Trophy match at the Barabati stadium in Cuttack on Wednesday.

Put in to bat after Orissa captain Rashmi Ranjan Parida won the toss, Baroda began well with skipper Connor Williams and Parab putting on 64 runs for the first wicket before speedster Debasis Mohanty trapped Williams leg before for 32.

Though Rakesh Solanki (26) was stumped by Goutam Gopal off Sanjay Roul, Parab (116) had a fruitful partnership with Ajit Bhoite (47), sharing 109 runs for the third wicket.

Parab, who has already faced 226 balls and hit 15 fours, was at the crease with veteran Tushar Arothe, batting on 25.

Bhoite, who hit eight boundaries, was bowled by medium pacer Prabhanjan Mallick.

Orissa opener Shiv Sundar Das pulled out of the team following his selection to the Indian team for the New Zealand tour.

Medium pacer Sujan Mohanty, who made his debut in the Ranji Trophy, and P Jayachandra were picked in the team in place of Bipin Singh and Subit Biswal.

Debasis Mohanty, off-spinner Sanjay Roul and Mallick claimed a wicket apiece.

Debutant Sujan Mohanty was disappointed after an edge by Williams, off his fourth ball of the innings, was floored in the slips by Mallick.

Gopal also messed up a stumping chance off Roul, when Bhoite was on five.

Hyderabad shot out for 212

A fiery spell by medium pacer Sumit Mathur (5-56) sent Hyderabad crashing to 212 all out on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group 'A' league match against Rajasthan in Jaipur on Wednesday.

Rajasthan were in the driver's seat at stumps, scoring 75 for one, with Vinit Saxena on 32 and Rahul Kanwat on 17.

Hyderabad's decision to bat first after winning the toss backfired when the home side bowlers exploited the early morning conditions to the fullest at the Mansarovar stadium.

Hyderabad lost four wickets for 107 runs in the morning session as Sumit Mathur along with Kishen Chaudhury (3-62) ran through the opposition's batting line-up.

The highlight of Hyderabad's innings was a resolute 94 by Arvind Shetty, who with the help of valuable contributions from A T P Rayudu (27), allrounders Ibrahim Khalili (22) and Shivaji Yadav (20), helped the visitors cross the 200 mark.

Shetty hit 15 boundaries during the 151-ball knock which lasted 220 minutes.

The visitors made a disastrous start and lost their first wicket without opening the account when Daniel Manohar edged the second ball of the match to Gagan Khoda in the slips.

Despite fall of wickets at regular intervals at the other end, Shetty held his ground firmly. However, he was unlucky to miss his century by six runs, when he was given out leg before to Krishnakumar.

Rajasthan were off to a good start as openers Vinit Saxena and Gagan Khoda (16) added 33 runs before the latter was claimed leg before by Vishnuvardhan.

UP recover from shaky start

Former champions Tamil Nadu let go a golden chance to tighten the noose around Uttar Pradesh, allowing them to score 304 after they were tottering at 54 for five at one stage, on the opening day of the Elite Group B Ranji Trophy tie, in Chennai on Wednesday.

Gyanendra Pandey, who was unlucky to miss his century by a run, and Nikhil Chopra put on 181 runs for the sixth wicket to help Uttar Pradesh come out of the mire and put up a respectable total.

At close, Tamil Nadu were 12 without loss, with S Suresh (2) and Sadagopan Ramesh (6) at the crease.

Put in to bat, Uttar Pradesh were off to a disastrous start, with Tamil Nadu's medium pacers L Balaji and M R Srinivas bowling menacingly to claim three wickets for six runs and two for four respectively.

But former India players, Pandey and Nikhil Chopra, who shifted from Delhi to UP this year, put their heads down and kept the bowlers at bay for 45.5 overs. Between lunch and tea, the batsmen went on a leather hunt, scoring 122 runs off 27 overs.

Chopra was finally clean bowled by Balaji for 86 (1x6, 15x4) with the total reading 235. Pandey also made his exit ten overs later, falling a run short of a well-deserved 100.

The UP captain tried to lift Vidyuth Sivaramakrishnan but holed out to M R Srinivas at backward point. His 99 was studded with 12 boundaries and a six.

Rowland hits unbeaten ton for Karnataka

Opener Barrington Rowland hit an unbeaten century as Karnataka amassed 295 for two against Jammu and Kashmir on the opening day of the four-day Plate Group "B" Ranji Trophy match in Bangalore on Wednesday.

Rowland was batting on 111 (366m, 275b, 12x4) and Vijay Bharadwaj on 11 at stumps.

Rowland was dropped by Fayaz Ahmed Harari at mid-on off Ashwani Gupta when his individual score was 22, a lapse that proved costly for the visitors as the batsman went on to make his fourth Ranji Trophy century.

Earlier, skipper J Arun Kumar and Barrington frustrated the J & K bowling attack, denying them any early breakthrough as they put on 130 runs (163m, 232b) for the opening wicket.

The partnership was finally broken when Arun Kumar was snapped up by Gupta off Jugtar Singh for 73 (111b, 11x4). It was a day to remember for Arun Kumar as he crossed the 4000- run mark in Ranji championship, when he made 10, becoming the fifth Karnataka man to do so after Brijesh Patel, G R Vishwanath, Roger Binny and Syed Kirmani.

Then came a 147-run partnership for the second wicket between Rowland and Deepak Chougule, who made a fine 80 (175m, 139b, 10x4) before falling lbw to Abdul Qayoom Bagow.

Sujith Somasundar puts Kerala on top

Former Indian player Sujith Somasundar's unbeaten 165 helped Kerala to score a commanding 269 for 4 on the first day of their Plate Group Ranji Trophy match against Tripura in Kochi on Wednesday.

The in-form Sujith was dropped thrice by the Tripura fielders during his unbeaten knock, which included 19 well-executed hits to the fence and two towering sixes.

Sujith, who had already one century under his belt against Goa this season, put on 102 runs for the second wicket with Hemanth Kumar 23 (112 b, 3x4) after the loss of opener M P Sorab (0) with the team total on 4.

Later, Sujith, partnering captain Sunil Oasis 42 (81 b, 2x4, 1x6), added 102 runs for the third wicket to put Kerala in a commanding position.

Sujith was dropped in the very second ball of the first over off medium pacer Sunil Sukla before he opened his account and got two more 'lives' with his individual score on 39 and later at 104.

With the track already assisting the spinners, Kerala, who have three spinners in their ranks -- spearheaded by experienced leg spinner K N Ananthapadmanabhan, left arm spinner M Sureshkumar and Sreekumar Nair -- should rule the roost.

MP pile the runs against Bihar

Electing to bat, Madhya Pradesh were 332 for the loss of six wickets on the first day of their four-day Plate Group B Ranji Trophy match against Bihar at the Usharaje stadium in Indore on Wednesday.

The hosts suffered an early jolt when their opener Naman Oza was caught by the 'keeper M S Dhoni off Mihir Diwakar off the very first ball.

However, captain Amay Khurasia and Mudassar Pasha batted comfortably to add 79 runs for the second wicket. Khurasia scored 50 runs, inclusive of nine boundaries.

However, the partnership was broken by Shahid Khan, who forced Khurasia to edge the ball and be caught behind.

Soon Pasha (28) was trapped leg before by Nikhilesh Ranjan. However, Devendra Bundela (59, 4x7) and Abbas Ali (55, 4x9) added 79 runs for the fourth wicket to give parity to MP's batting.

Shashibhushan Chobey then claimed the wicket of Ali who was caught by Manish Kumar.

Later, Bundela and Nikhil Patwardhan (81 not out) added 63 runs for the fifth wicket before Bundela was out.

At the draw of stumps, Patwardhan and H S Sodhi (15) were at the crease.

Vidarbha well-placed against Goa

Hosts Vidarbha were comfortably placed at 303 for seven in their first innings on the opening day of their Plate 'B' Ranji Trophy match against Goa, at the VCA stadium in Nagpur on Wednesday.

Opener P Vivek (81) along with Alind Naidu (76 not out) were the mainstays of the home side's batting while Chandrasekhar Atram (38) and keeper-batsman Amit Deshpande (40) also contributed to the team's total.

Right-arm spinner Faizal Sheikh was the most successful bowler for the visitors, claiming five wickets.

Abhijit Kale's ton lifts Maharashtra

A brilliant century by middle order batsman Abhijeet Kale (108) and a half-century by skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar (50) enabled Maharashtra to score 250 for eight on the first day of the Ranji Trophy match against hosts Haryana in Rohtak on Wednesday.

Electing to bat, Maharashtra kept losing wickets at regular intervals before Kale's knock restored some respectability to the visitors' total.

A 65-run partnership between opener Dhiraj Jadav (22) and Kanitkar was the other highlight of the Maharashtra innings while Joginder Sharma claimed three wickets to emerge the most successful bowler for Haryana on the first day.

In the absence of Ajay Ratra, who was selected in the Indian squad for the tour of New Zealand, Jitender Singh donned the captain's hat for Haryana.

At stumps, Satyajit Satbhai was batting on 6 while Mander Sana was yet to open his account.

Bengal skittle out Railways for 246

Bengal spinners Utpal Chatterjee 95/89) and Sourasish Lahiri (4/87) bowled with venom to skittle out defending champions Railways for 246 in the first innings on the opening day of their four-day Ranji Trophy match, at the Kanchenjungha stadium in Siliguri, on Wednesday.

At stumps, Bengal were four for no loss, with Amitava Chakraborty (2) and Deep Dasgupta (2) at the crease.

Earlier, Railways started off on a confident note with openers J P Yadav (33) and Amit Pagnis (35) adding 66 runs for the first wicket after their stand-in skipper Yere Goud won the toss and elected to bat.

However, disaster struck soon after as the visitors lost four wickets within a space of 19 runs to reach a dismal 85 for four at lunch.

With Chatterjee and Lahiri bowling in tandem, the Railways downslide continued though Sudhir Wankhade (84 not out) and Shreyas Khanolkar (38) briefly ressurected the innings with an 89-run partnership for the seventh wicket before Khanolkar departed giving a return catch to Utpal Chatterjee with the total reading 218.

Wankhade played confidently, mixing caution with aggression as he struck 12 fours and a six and remained unconquered till the end as he ran out of partners.

Four of the Railways willowers -- the experienced middle order bat Goud and tailenders Harvinder Singh, Kulmani Parida and S Saxena -- failed to open their account.

Mail Cricket Editor