Debutant Faiz Fazal's unbeaten 138 steered hosts Vidarbha to a strong 300 for 4 against Jammu and Kashmir on the opening day in the 'Plate' Group 'A' Ranji Trophy match at the VCA ground in Nagpur on Wednesday.

Faiz, who has scored a century in the under-19 category and a double century in under-22 for Vidarbha this season, underlined his prolific scoring ability with the well-compiled century today.

He was associated with Amit Deshpande (66) in an opening stand of 118, which laid the foundation for a good first innings total.

Left arm spinner Jagtar Singh (2 for 60) was the lone Jammu and Kashmir bowler to make some impact on the home team batsmen.

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Goa take first innings lead against HP

Hosts Himachal Pradesh were skittled out for 111 runs in their first innings by Goa in the Ranji Trophy 'Plate' Group 'B' match in Dharamsala on Wednesday.

For the visitors, Avinash Abate and Amit Dani were the wreckers-in-chief, taking five wickets each.

In reply, Goa reached 135 for 3 when bad light stopped play.

Robin D'Souza (19) and Rajesh Naik (21) were the two not out batsmen at stumps.

Earlier, Rahul Panta scored 34 runs to emerge Himachal's top scorer. Sangram Singh scored 22.

Abate claimed five wickets for 63 runs while Dani also bagged five wickets, conceding 45 runs.

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Orissa have Saurashtra reeling at 68 for 4

Saurashtra were 68 for four on a rain-affected first day in 'Plate' Group 'B' Ranji Trophy match against Orissa at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Wednesday.

Opener Kanaiya Vaghela and Firoz Bambhaniya were at the crease on 24 and 5 respectively when play ended half an hour early due to bad light.

Winning the toss, hosts Orissa decided to field but play could begin only after lunch as overnight rains had rendered the ground unfit for the scheduled start.

The start for the visitors, however, was disastrous as new pace sensation Deepak Mangaraj grabbed three wickets in no time. He found the edge of the bats of opener Altaf Merchant

(5) and skipper Sitanshu Kotak (4) while Jaydev Shah (21) was clean bowled.

Shiv Sundar Das took Merchant's edge at slip while Kotak was caught by wicket-keeper Sukhwinder Singh.

Saurashtra suffered the fourth jolt when medium pacer Bipin Singh had Prakash Bhatt lbw for seven.

The match was also interrupted due to insufficient light.

Orissa made one change in the team that defeated Himachal Pradesh in the earlier match by including Bipin Singh for a three-pronged attack in place of left arm spinner Srikanta Jena.

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Rajiv Kumar guides Bihar to 183 for 7

A cautious, unbeaten knock of 66 by middle order bat Rajiv Kumar helped hosts Bihar reach 183 for seven in their first innings against Haryana on the first day of the four-day 'Plate' Ranji Trophy Plate match at the Keenan stadium in Jamshedpur on Wednesday.

Electing to bat first after winning the toss, Bihar received a setback in the very first over when opener Ananth Prakash was adjudged leg before off seamer Joginder Sharma for a duck. Bihar were soon reduced to 44 for three after opener Ratan Kumar (3) and Chandra Mohan Jha (25, 4x4) returned to the pavilion before lunch.

Jha, who came in at the dismissal of Prakash, started off on a shaky note but managed to put together a 41-run third wicket partnership with former skipper Rajiv Kumar, who remained unbeaten on 66 at stumps, before medium pacer Sourav Virmani struck, having Jha caught off Jitender Singh at first slip.

Rajiv, who got a reprieve at four when Chetan Sharma dropped him off Joginder Sharma at forward short leg, played responsibly and put on valuable 62 runs in a fourth wicket stand with Mohit Goyal (37, 5x4).

Goyal executed some brilliant drives during his 76 minute stay at the crease and faced the Haryana bowlers with confidence before medium pacer Sunny Singh bowled him.

Virmani and Singh picked two wickets each for the visitors while Sharma, and leg spinner Amit Mishra bagged a wicket apiece.

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MP 169 for 4 against Tripura

Hosts Madhya Pradesh were 169 for four wickets against Tripura on the opening-day of the four-day Ranji Trophy 'Plate' Group 'A' match in Indore.

Beginning on a confident note after winning the toss, openers Sachin Dholpure (13) and Naman Ojha (35) added 51 runs for the first wicket to give Madhya Pradesh a confident start.

However, in the 20th over Ojha was caught by Ritesh Jaiswal off Arindam Sarkar to give the visitors their first breakthrough.

Dholpure and captain Amay Khurasia fell soon as MP lost two quick wickets. But a 70-run partnership between Devendra Bundela (37, 4x7) and Abbas Ali (55 no, 4x4) stemmed the slide for the hosts.

But Tripura struck back, breaking the stand when Bundela was caught by Subal off Sonu Sharma in the 52nd over.

At stumps, Ali was batting with Nikhil Patwardhan (18 not out).

For Tripura, Sarkar took two wickets, while Dahad and Sharma took one each.