Pacers put Mumbai on top against Punjab

Ravi Inder Singh stood tall amid ruins with a gritty century as Ajit Agarkar and Zaheer Khan ripped apart the Punjab batting line up to help Mumbai reduce the hosts to 242 for nine on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Super League match in Chandigarh.

India discard Agarkar (4/41) and Zaheer (3/45), who is returning to competitive cricket after a shoulder injury, shared seven wickets among them to give the reigning champions Mumbai an edge in the contest.

It was Zaheer who started the rot when he sent back Sunny Sohal (2), who edged one to stumper V Samant.

Barring a third wicket partnership of 68 runs between Ravi Inder, who struck an impressive 104, and Uday Kaul (28), Punjab kept losing wickets at regular intervals.

Ravi's fighting knock contained 17 hits to the fence and one shot over the ropes before being dismissed by Agarkar.

Top order batsmen Taruvar Kohli (14), Pankaj Dharmani (9) and skipper Ankur Kakkar (2) cut a sorry figure after opting to bat.

Debutants Gaurav Gambhir (21) and Harmeet Singh (0) also failed to make much impact.

Manpreet Gony (30) and Love Ablish (0) were at the crease when stumps were drawn for the day.

Brief Score:
Punjab 1st innings: 242 for nine (Ravi Inder Singh 104; Ajit Agarkar 4/41, Zaheer Khan 3/45).