Sumit Mathur rips through Gujarat

A five-wicket haul by medium pacer Sumit Mathur (5 for 49) saw Rajasthan restrict Gujarat to 188 for 9 in the first innings on the second day of the Ranji Trophy 'Elite' Group 'B match in Jaipur on Wednesday.

The Gujarat bowlers did well today to restrict Rajasthan's first innings total to 259 but their batsmen, except half-centurion Akash Christian, disappointed.

At stumps, the last wicket pair of Siddartha Trivedi (15) and Lalit Patel (3) were at the crease.

Earlier in the morning, Rajasthan resumed at their overnight score of 246 for 8 and Anup Dave (19) and Kishan Choudhary (16) enabled them reach 259 before the side was bowled out.

For the visitors, Lalit Patel (4/55), Shyamal Bhatt (3/45) and Sidharth Bhatt (2/50) were the successful bowlers.

In reply, Gujarat got off to a good start with Nilesh Modi (11) and Akash Chirstian (56) adding 34 for the first wicket.

But P Krishnakumar provided the first breakthrough for the hosts, trapping Modi leg before wicket.

Next batsman Niraj Patel (44) gave good support to Akash, who reached his fifty in 123 balls, with the help of six fours. But his dismissal triggered off a collapse as Mathur ripped through the middle order.

The lanky medium pacer got rid of Christian (56), Kirat Dhaman (2), Bhavick Thakkar (5) and Timil Patel (0).

Rahul Kanwat chipped in with two wickets to have the visitors reeling at 188 for 9.

Gujarat trail by 70 runs with the last wicket pair at the crease.

Scoreboard

Rajasthan (1st innings):
Vinit Saxena c Thakkar b Mehta 80
Gagan Khoda c Thakkar b l Patel 24
Anshu Jain lbw Bhatt 4
Nikhil Doru c Modi b Trivedi 1
P Krishnakumar lbw l Patel 17
Pankaj Gupta c Parmar b S Bhatt  1
Rahul Kanwat b Trivedi 65
Rohit Jhalani lbw Bhatt 20
Anup Dave lbw l Patel 19
Kishan Choudhary not out 16
Sumit Mathur b l Patel 0

Extras: (lb-12) 12

Total: (all out in 96.5 overs) 259

Fall of wicket: 1-40, 2-49, 3-79, 4-82, 5-91, 6-185, 7-220, 8-220, 9-257.

Bowling: Lalit Patel 27.5-8-55-4, Siddartha Trivedi 21-6-50-2, Shymal Bhatt 16-4-45-3, Bhavin Mehta 17-4-46-1, Timil Patel 4-1-25-0, Kirat Damani 11-1-26-0.

Gujarat (1st innings):
Nilesh Modi lbw Krishnakumar 11
Akash Christian c Jhalani b Mathur 56
Niraj Patel c Kanwat b Dave 44
Kirat Damani b Mathur 11
Mukund Parmar b Mathur 2
Bhavick Takkar b Mathur 5
Timil Patel b Mathur 0
Bhavin Mehta st Jhalani b Kanwat 12
Shyamal Bhatt c Krishnakumar b Kanwat 20
Sidhartha Trivedi batting 15
Lalit Patel batting 3

Extras: (b-1, lb-4, nb-4) 9

Total: (for 9 wkts, 81 overs) 188

Fall of wickets: 1-34, 2-113, 3-117, 4-126, 5-132, 6-132, 7-133, 8-166, 9-178.

Bowling: Sumit Mathur 26-9-49-5, Kishan Choudhary 13-3-34-0, P Krishnakumar 14-3-37-1, Anshu Jain 1-0-6-0, Rahul Kanwat 19-6-38-2, Anup Dave 8-1-19-1.