India internationals Shardul Thakur and Shivam Dube starred with the ball and the bat respectively as 41-time champions Mumbai took an upperhand over Assam on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group B match in Mumbai on Friday.
Shardul (6/21) was simply unplayable with the new ball as he single-handedly dismantled Assam for a meagre 84 in 32.1 overs after Mumbai opted to bowl.
Left-arm spinner Shams Mulani (2/8) also chipped in with a couple of wickets.
It was a struggle for Assam from the first ball as only three of their batters could manage double-digit scores with Abhishek Thakuri (31) being the top-scorer.
In reply, Dube smashed his way to an unbeaten 101 off 95 balls with the help of 10 boundaries and five sixes to guide Mumbai to 217 for 6 in 48.4 overs at stumps on the first day.
Besides Dube, Mulani (31), Prithvi Shaw (30), skipper Ajinkya Rahane (22) and wicketkeeper Hardik Tomare (22) also contributed for Mumbai.
For Assam, Rahul Singh (2/42) and Dibakar Johri (2/49) snared two wickets each.
Mumbai now enjoy a lead of 133 runs over Assam.
In Kolkata, Mukesh Kumar (4/18), who has been released from the Indian team to play in the premier domestic tournament, and Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal (4/47) shared eight wickets between them to bundle out Bihar for 95 in 46.4 overs after Bengal opted to bowl at the Eden Gardens.
Bengal, in response, finished the day at 111 for 2 in 33 overs. Opener Abhimanyu Easwaran was batting on 48 in the company of Anustup Majumdar (13 batting).
Bengal led Bihar by 16 runs.
In Lucknow, Sanjeet Desai hit an unbeaten 113 while skipper Amandeep Khare was batting on 70 to take Chhattisgarh to 238 for 4 in 87 overs after deciding to bat against Uttar Pradesh.
Aaqib Khan (2/55) picked up two wickets for Uttar Pradesh.
Brief Scores:
In Mumbai: Assam 84 all out in 32.1 overs (Shardul Thakur 6/21) vs Mumbai 217 for 6 in 48.4 overs (Shivam Dube 101 not out; Rahul Singh 2/42).
In Kolkata: Bihar 95 all out in 46.4 overs (Mukesh Kumar 4/18, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal 4/47) vs Bengal 111 for 2 in 33 overs (Abhimanyu Easwaran 48 not out; Ravi Shankar 1/14).
In Lucknow: Chhattisgarh 238 for 4 in 87 overs (Sanjeet Desai 113 not out, Amandeep Khare 70 not out; Aaqib Khan 2/55) vs Uttar Pradesh.
In Vizianagaram: Andhra 260 for 7 in 89.3 overs (Maheep Kumar 81, Ricky Bhui 79 not out; Basil Thampi 2/42, Nedumankuzhy Basil 2/78) vs Kerala.
Saurashtra take 1st-innings lead
Stand-in Saurashtra skipper Arpit Vasavada scored a composed half-century while opener Harvik Desai narrowly missed a 50 as the defending champions took a narrow first-innings lead on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group A match against Manipur in Rajkot on Friday.
At stumps on day one, Saurashtra, replying to Manipur's first innings score of 142, had made 153 for three to lead by 11 runs.
On a day when India batter Cheteshwar Pujara pushed himself down the order and Vasavada led Saurashtra in place of regular skipper Jaydev Unadkat, the home team bowlers made optimum use of familiar conditions to bundle out the visitors for 142 in 45 overs.
Veteran Saurashtra left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja grabbed four wickets. Unadkat is not playing the game due to a niggle.
Manipur opener Al Bashid Muhammed (51) and captain Langlonyamba Keishangbam (61) were the only two visiting team players who made fine starts but the 33-year-old Jadeja accounted for both as the tourists slumped to another below-par total in the tournament.
While Jadeja had figures of 4/62, his left-arm pace-bowling India partner Chetan Sakariya also impressed with a three-wicket haul.
Saurashtra opener Harvik Desai (48) then steadied the innings following quick dismissals of opener Kevin Jivrajani (9) and the previous game's centurion Sheldon Jackson (20).
At 35/2, Saurashtra needed someone to shore up the innings and the dependable Desai and Vasavada strung together a 106-run stand as the defending champions reached 141/3.
Five overs later, stumps were drawn with Saurashtra taking a narrow lead.
With Saurashtra batting running deep and Pujara finding his touch following a shaky start to the season, the hosts would like to pile a sizeable total and then aim for an innings win.
Manipur looked hapless against a quality bowling attack with five of their batters getting dismissed for duck, while four others could not cross even 10 runs. Though captain Keishangbam and wicketkeeper-batter Al Bashid painstakingly scored half-centuries, their efforts were not complemented by teammates.
Jharkhand bowled out cheaply
In Jamshedpur, all eyes were on whether the country's top-order batter Ishan Kishan would be in Jharkhand's playing XI following the BCCI's diktat that all India players, currently not in the national squad, should play the last round of Ranji matches to keep themselves match fit.
However, the wicketkeeper-batter is reportedly "working on certain technical aspects" of his game and therefore opted out of the match.
Jharkhand were dismissed for a paltry 188 on day one with Rajasthan scoring 79 for 2 in reply at stumps.
Brief scores:
In Rajkot: Manipur 142 in 45 overs (Al Bashid Muhammed 51, Langlonyamba Keishangbam 76; Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 4/62, Chetan Sakariya 3/29, Yuvrajsinh Dodiya 2/14) vs Saurashtra 153 for 3 in 43 overs (Harvik Desai 48, Arpit Vasavada batting 63; Lamabam Singh 2/34).
In Jamshedpur: Jharkhand 188 in 58.3 overs (Utkarsh Singh 43, Saurabh Tiwary 42; Khaleel Ahmed 3/40, Mahipal Lomror 3/8)vs Rajasthan 79 for 2 in 29 overs (Sumit Godara batting 37).
In Delhi: Maharashtra 225 in 79 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 96, Digvijay Patil 42; Arjun Sharma 5/59, Varun Choudhary 4/39) vs Services 27 for no loss 9 overs.
In Nagpur: Vidarbha 313 for 5 in 86 overs (Dhruv Shorey 78, Akshay Wadkar 62, Yash Rathod batting 68, Aditya Sarwate batting 74) vs Haryana.
