Ranji round-up: KL Rahul makes fluent return; Bengal crawl to 190/3

A round-up of Ranji Trophy matches played across India on Sunday

Skipper Manoj Tiwary and middle order-batsman Agniv Pan struck half centuries as Bengal scored 190 for three against Tamil Nadu in their Ranji Trophy Group 'A' match in Rajkot on Sunday.

Electing to bat at the Madhavrao Scindia cricket ground, Bengal opener Sayan Mondal was dismissed on a duck with the team total on 14.

Abhimany Easwaran and one-down Sudip Chaterjee tried to steady the Bengal innings, but the latter retired hurt on 34. Easwaran, went back to the pavilion on 31 on a pitch which slightly aided the seamers in the initial session.

Tiwary, who came in at number four, made a patient 56, hitting five boundaries, in 161 balls. He was supported by Pan as the duo had a cautious approach.

Tiwary was caught and bowled by Aushik Sriniwas. Pan too notched up his 50 and was unbeaten 51 at stumps alongside Shreevasts Goswami (15).

For Tamil Nadu, Ashwin Crist, T Natrajan and Aushik Srinivas scalped a wicket each conceding 19,56 and 33 runs respectively.

Brief Scores:Bengal 190 for 3 (Manoj Tiwary 56, Agniv Pan batting 51; Ashwin Crist 1-19) vs Tamil Nadu.

Hyderabad post 303 for 7 despite middle-order collapse

Mumbai: Riding on an unbeaten 83 by B Sandeep, Hyderabad managed to post 303 for 7 at stumps on the first day of their Group G Ranji Trophy encounter against Services.

Put into bat at the MCA's Bandra-Kurla complex ground, Hyderabad openers added 31 when Benjamin Thomas was dismissed for 14. B Anirudh and and Akshath Reddy then conjured 105 runs for the second wicket stand before Services made a stunning comeback by crippling the Hyderabad middle-order.

Both Reddy and Anirudh rotated the strike well and also played eloquent shots. However it was Services medium-pacer Raushan Raj, who was rewarded for his disciplined line and length as he grabbed three quick wickets.

Reddy was caught by keeper Nakul Verma off Raj on 64, which comprised 9 boundaries. Anirudh was trapped leg before the wicket on 49 and in the same over Raj sent back Sumanth Kolla for a duck.

Raj, who eventually took four wickets, was robbed off a hat-rick due to sloppy fielding. He also dismissed Akash Bhandari on 4 as he kept bowling in the same areas.

S Badrinath, was run out for a duck.

Hyderabad, who were comfortably positioned at 136 for 2, were soon reeling under pressure at 141 for 6.

Then B Sandeep was ably supported by Mehdi Hasan, who notched 63 off 84 deliveries and helped the side recover to go past the 250-run-mark.

They shared a 135-run stand for the seventh wicket. Hasan was run out on 61 by Raj Bahadur Paul. For Services, spinner Vikas Yadav scaled a wicket each.

Brief Scores:Hyderabad 303/7 (B Sandeep 83 batting, Akshath Reddy 64; Raushan Raj 4/52, Vikas Yadav 1/70) vs Services.

Rahul back in action with a fluent 76 as Karnataka score 345/6

Vizianagaram (Andhra): India's new batting sensation KL Rahul announced his comeback from injury in style as he smashed 76 off only 85 balls as Karnataka scored 345 for six against Rajasthan in a group B Ranji Trophy encounter.

With Anil Kumble setting a protocol that one Ranji Trophy match being must to Test his match fitness, Rahul passed the batting test with flying colours as he hit 15 fours and a six in his 85 balls. He scored 66 runs in boundaries in 16 scoring strokes.

He was severe on both Pankaj Singh and Deepak Chahar hitting some flowing drives off both front and backfoot.

Rahul was finally out nicking one off left-arm seamer Tanvir Mantesar ul Haq to Chetan Bist.

Rahul and opener Ravikumar Samarth (62) added 111 runs in 24.3 overs.

Mayank Agarwal, who otherwise opens, came in at No 4 to score 81 off 127 balls with 12 boundaries.

Stuart Binny (37) and CM Gautham (35) were set before getting dismissed.

Brief Scores: Karnataka 345/6 (KL Rahul 76, Mayank Agarwal 81; Tanvir Mantesar ul Haq 3/64) vs Rajasthan.

Maharashtra in command as Sanklecha grabs 7/25

Kolkata: Medium pacer Anupam Sanklecha ripped through Vidarbha with a career-best seven-wicket haul as they crashed to their lowest score of 59 against Maharashtra in their group B Ranji Trophy cricket match.

Sanklecha returned with 7/25, which included a devastating second spell of 5-3-10-5 after a change of ends as Vidarbha's first innings folded in two hours 15 minutes, in the first session.

Such was the hurry that Vidarbha, whose previous lowest against Maharashtra was 61 (Nashik, 2010-11), lost their last five wickets for eight runs to sink to a new low.

In reply Maharashtra were 240 for 3 to take a firm grip on the four-day match with a massive 181-run lead, with Naushad Sheikh (111 batting) and Ankit Bawne's (75 batting) at the crease.

"It was a dream spell. I just did what my captain asked me to do, to stick to line and length. The conditions were humid so I took a break and changed the ends seeing that there was more assistance from the other side," Sanklecha said.

Brief Scores: Vidarbha 59 in 28 overs (Anupam Sanklecha 7/25) vs Maharashtra 240/3 in  55 overs (Naushad Sheikh 111 batting, Ankit Bawne 75 batting).

Panchal makes 62 in Gujarat's 224/4

Nagothane (Maharashtra):  Priyank Kirit Panchal made a solid 62 as Gujarat, who won the toss and opted to bat at the Reliance Cricket Stadium, ended at 224 for four on day one of their Ranji Trophy match against Madhya Pradesh.

After a 75-run stand for the opening wicket with Samit Gohel, Panchal anchored the Gujarat innings with a 170-ball effort.

Captain Parthiv Patel too played well but missed out on a half century by a run.

Manpreet Juneja and Chirag Gandhi were batting on 44 and 9 respectively, at close of play.       Ankit Sharma was the most prolific bowler for Madhya Pradesh, taking two wickets for 60 runs.

Brief scores:Gujarat 224/4 in 90 overs (Panchal 62; Ankit Sharma 2/60) vs Madhya Pradesh.

Andhra take control after bowling out Tripura for 171

Valsad (Gujarat): Andhra reached 47 for 1 after bowling out Tripura for 171 in a Ranji Trophy group C encounter.

Pacer DP Vijaykumar took 4/56 in 23 overs while new ball partner Cheepurapalli Stephen took 3 for 47.

For Tripura, opener Bishal Ghosh scored 31 while No 10 Bunti Roy was top scorer 34.

Brief Scores: Tripura 171 (Bunti Roy 34; DP Vijaykumar 4/56) vs Andhra 47/1.

Railways takes control on day one with Avinash's five-for

Nagpur: Left-arm spinner Avinash Yadav returned career-best figures of five for 50 as Railways bowled out Baroda for a paltry 183 in their Ranji Trophy Group A match.

It was not a bad start from Baroda after winning the toss but Avinash ripped apart the middle-order to let his side gain control of the match.

In reply, Railways were 39 for none at stumps on day one of the contest with opener Shivakant Shukla (23) and Wakaskar (16).

Ashish Singh removed Aditya Waghmode (13) removed early but Kedar Devdhar (45) and Dhiren Mistry (50) batted well and Baroda were placed 137 for three at one stage.

However, they lost seven wickets for just 46 runs with Avinash wiping off the middle order while Karn Sharma chipped in with three wickets.

Brief Scores: Baroda 1st innings: 183 all out in 74 overs (D Mistry 50, K Devdhar 45; A Yadav 5/50, K Sharma 3/57) vs Railways 1st innigs: 39 for no loss in 14 overs.

Thakkar and Prem hit tons as Kerala dominate day one

Mumbai: Rohan Prem and Bhavin Thakkar hit centuries as Kerala took Goa to the cleaners to take an upper hand in their group C Ranji Trophy cricket fixture at Brabourne Stadium. Down 12/1 in the seventh over, Kerala rode on a huge 234-run partnership between Thakkar (120 batting; 16x4) and Prem (117; 14x4) to close day one on 290/2.

Giving Prem company was Sanju Samson on 28 at stumps.

Fresh from their win against Chhattisgarh, Goa started on a positive not when Rituraj Singh (1/21) dismissed Vishnu Sood but they found the going tough with Thakkar and Prem putting up a fine partnership.

Brief Scores: Kerala 290/2 in 90 overs (Rohan Prem 120 batting, Bhavin Thakkar 117) vs Goa.

Haryana 295/5 against J&K

Cuttack: Haryana put up a reasonably fine batting performance to post 295/5 on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy Group C match against Jammu and Kashmir.

Put in to bat by J&K, opener Nitin Saini (90) and Rajat Paliwal (99 batting) were the star performers for Haryana.

Rohit Sharma was another notable contributor to Haryana's total with a 98-ball 51.

For J&K, Parveez Rasool picked up three wickets for a mere 43 runs in his 20 overs.

Saini's 90-run effort was laced with 16 fours, while Paliwal's unbeaten knock was studded with 12 hits to the fence.

Brief Scores: Haryana 295/5 in 90 overs (Nitin Saini 90, Rajat Paliwal 99 batting, Parveez Rasool 3/43) vs J&K.

Assam 224/5 against Odisha on day 1

Hyderabad: Kunal Saikia remained unbeaten on 88 as Assam scored 224/5 in their Ranji Trophy Group B match against Odisha.

Giving Saikia company at stumps on day one was Arup Das, who was yet to open his account at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.

Saikia scored his runs off 217 balls with the help of 11 boundaries, while skipper KB Arun Karthik contributed 62 off 124 balls, striking six fours and a six.

Karthik opted to bat after the coin landed in his team's favour.

Sibshankar Roy chipped in with 37, but it was the 131-run partnership fifth-wicket partnership between Saikia and Karthik, which propped up Assam after they lost four wickets for 93 runs.

Assam had a disastrous start as they lost both their openers with just seven runs on the board in the morning session.

Basant Mohanty and Suryakant Pradhan picked up two wickets apiece for Odisha.

Saurashtra all out for 277 against Jharkhand

Agartala: Jharkhand were 29 for no loss after bowling out Saurashtra for 277 in their Ranji Trophy Group B match.

Sent into bat, Saurashtra relied on Perak Mankad's 96 to cross the 250-run mark at the MaharajaBirBikramCollege Stadium.

Skipper Jaydev Shah made 51 for Saurashtra.

While Mankad struck 11 boundaries in his 137-ball knock, Shah found the fence seven times and cleared it once during his 63-ball innings.

Shah and Mankad put on 62 runs for the fifth wicket, the highest on the opening day of the game.

For Jharkhand, Ashish Kumar returned impressive figures of 4/52, and Shahbaz Nadeem picked up 3/95.

When the stumps were drawn at the end of day's play, Jharkhand openers Anand Singh and Pratyush Singh were batting on 17 and 11 respectively.

Jharkhand trailed by 248 runs with 10 wickets remaining in their first innings.

Image: KL Rahul of Karnataka

Photograph: PTI