Bengal pacer Ashok Dinda intimidated the batsmen with a four-wicket burst before Karnataka staged a recovery to be 237/7 on a curtailed day 1 of their Group A Ranji Trophy fixture at the Eden Gardens.
Dinda (4/50) and Veer Pratap Singh (3/45) utilised the early morning moisture and light breeze to perfection as they reduced Karnataka to 69/5 with a fine display of seam bowling after Laxmi Ratan Shukla put the visitors in.
But the duo did not get enough support from veteran Shib Shankar Paul as Karnataka turned it around with an attacking 81-ball 63 from CM Gautam.
Captain R Vinay Kumar remained unbeaten on 42 with legspinner Shreyas Gopal giving support on 27 when bad light stopped play at 3pm with only 66 overs bowled in the day.
Fresh from his 94 in their big win over Tamil Nadu, Gautam hit 11 fours and one six in his impressive innings in a 64-run partnership with Binny, who was dismissed at the strokeof lunch that yielded six wickets.
Gautam however could not make it big as his innings was cut short when Veer Pratap's delivery nipped back to take a thick edge to Subhajit Banerjee at gully.
The wicket also eased up and Vinay Kumar and Gopal looked untroubled in their undefeated 59-run partnership when the day's proceeding was cut short with 24 overs in arrears.
Earlier, Dinda showed why is he a threat in the domestic circuit as his two wickets from two overs reduced Karnakata to 9/2.
Robin Uthappa was beaten by a beautiful away going delivery to be dismissed for a second-ball duck while Mayank Agarwal (5) got a thin edge in Dinda's second over.
A pumped-up Dinda was however let down by his experienced new-ball partner Shib Shankar Paul.
Paul did not have pace or movement in his uninspiring spell and it seemed it was a bad selection to pick him ahead of Saurav Sarkar.
Skipper Shukla finally realised it was time to hand the ball to Veer Pratap and the young quick returned with the scalp of Karun Nair in his very first over.
It was a treat to watch Dinda going full throttle in his first spell (7-3-19-3) as the ball did everything and the star-studded Karnataka top order had no answer.
Reduced to 69/5, Stuart Binny (37) counter-attacked before becoming Dinda's fourth victim in a rather soft manner when he gave a straight catch to the pacer.
Brief Scores
Karnataka 237/7; 66 overs (C M Gautam 63, R Vinay Kumar 42 batting, Shreyas Gopal 27 batting; Ashok Dinda 4/50, Veer Pratap Singh 3/45) v Bengal.
J&K restrict TN to 254
Dindgul: Off-spinner Malolan Rangarajan scored a quickfire 93 to help Tamil Nadu reach a first innings total of 254 against giant-killers Jammu and Kashmir in a second round Ranji Trophy cricket tournament.
On a track offering substancial turn, left-arm spinner Waseem Raza grabbed 5/68 as Rangarajan's 75-ball innings studded with 14 boundaries and three sixes gave his team's total some semblance of respectability.
In reply, J&K were also in a spot of bother finishing the day at 28 for three as spin troika of Rahil Shah, R Aushik Srinivas and Rangarajan getting a wicket apiece. No other Tamil Nadu batsman could cross half-century with Baba Indrajith contributing 37 and opener Abhinav Mukund chipping in with 35.
Dinesh Karthik (9) again failed. In the last nine innings in domestic cricket, which includes both first-class and List A matches, Karthik has been able to score only one half-century. Tamil Nadu were staring at a total of less than 175 when Raza and other bowlers reduced the hosts to 144 for seven before Rangarajan came to the party.
He added 49 for the eighth wicket with former skipper L Balaji (9) and 54 for the ninth wicket with Shah (6). Rangarajan was the dominant partner during both stands as he finally edged one from pacer Samiullah Beigh to glovesman Obaid Haroon behind the stumps.
Brief Scores:
Tamil Nadu 1st Innings 254 in 80.2 overs (Malolan Rangarajan 93, Baba Indrajith 37, Waseem Raza 5/68) Jammu and Kashmir 1st Innings: 28/3.
Punjab shot out for 195
Mohali: Left-arm spinner Rakesh Dhruv scalped four batsmen as Vidarbha bundled out Punjab for 195 on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy Group B cricket match.
Vidarbha bowlers did everything right after winning the toss, striking consistently.
Fast bowler Shrikant Wagh (2/49) drew the first blood when he trapped Punjab opener Manan Vohra (2) in the third over of the day.
Fellow pacer Swapnil Bandiwar removed the other opener and very talented Jiwanjot Singh (26) after Punjab lost Amitoze Singh (11) and Mandeep Singh (1) cheaply.
However, Gurkeerat Singh saved the visitors from humiliation with a resolute 75-run knock that came off 134 balls with the help of nine shots to the fence.
Gurkeerat raised a 79-run stand with Taruwar Kohli (25) and it was broken when the latter was trapped by left-arm spinner Ravi Jangid.
Gurkeerat was caught behind off Swapnil Bandiwar (2/24) and it did not take much for Punjab innings to fold after his fall.
Dhruv's first wicket was middle order batsman Mandeep Singh and added three more to his tally by polishing off the Punjab tail.
Vidarbha openers then saw off the two overs from Punjab bowlers as the hosts ended the day at three for no loss. Faiz Fazal (1) and Sanjay Ramaswamy (2) were at the crease.
Railways 25/2 vs Mumbai as play abandoned due to bad light
New Delhi: Poor weather condition robbed almost an entire day's play in the second round Ranji Trophy cricket tournament encounter between Railways and Mumbai as only 8.2 overs action was possible.
Railways were in a spot of bother at 25 for two after the proceedings started an hour late.
In cold and overcast conditions, Mumbai skipper Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and rightly elected to field.
New ball bowler Shardul Thakur provided a breakthrough in the very second ball as opener Asad Pathan (4) edged one to the Mumbai captain stationed in the second slip. He was lucky as the first ball he played flew through the slip cordon for boundary but he wasn't lucky second time.
Thakur's new ball partner Javed Khan also got fair bit of movement with the conditions helping him. Abhishek Kaushik (4) looked uncomfortable during his stay at the crease as he nicked one off Javed to glovesman Aditya Tare behind stumps.
Railways vice-captain Nitin Bhille (8) clipped Shardul Thakur towards mid-wicket for a boundary while in-form Arindam Ghosh (0 bating) survived anxious moments before umpires A Nand Kishore and Australia's
Brief Scores:
Railways 1st Innings 25/2 (Nitin Bhille batting 8, Shardul Thakur 1/11, Javed Khan 1/6).
Kalaria puts Odisha on backfoot
Cuttack: Gujarat pace spearhead Rush Kalaria bagged five wickets to put Odisha on the backfoot on the opening day of the Group B Ranji Trophy cricket match.
Electing to field at DRIEMS Ground, Tangi in the four-day encounter, Kalaria got to business right away to pick opener Anurag Sarangi for nought and kept hurting the Odisha batting line-up regularly as the hosts ended Sunday on 219 for eight.
Opener Natraj Behera (75) remained the top-scorer of the day, only to be run out post a quick reaction from Kushang Patel.
The middle-order batsmen got starts but failed to capitalise as Kalaria and poor shot-selection accounted for their departure.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Halhadar Das (34 not out) and Suryakant Pradhan (8 not out) are battling on.
Medium-pacer Kushang and left-arm spinner Axar Patel also picked up a wicket each.
Brief Scores:
Odisha 219/8 in 90 overs (Natraj Behera 75, Govinda Podder 37; Rush Kalaria 5-54).
Rain plays spoilsport in Haryana-Maharashtra game
Rohtak: Rain played spoilsport on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy Group B cricket match between Haryana and Maharashtra and the home team was precariously poised at 41 for two in their first innings.
Left-arm pacer Samad Fallah grabbed both the wickets which fell today in the 17.5 overs of play that was possible.
Opting to field after winning the toss, Maharashtra got an early breakthrough when Haryana opener Abhimanyu Khod (12) was dismissed in the 11th over.
The visiting side struck again through Fallah, who trapped rival skipper Sunny Singh (7) LBW just one over before proceedings had to abandoned for the day owing to inclement weather.
Avi Barot (20) and Sachin Rana (0) were holding fort for the home side at close. For the visitors, Fallah picked up 2/20 in his nine overs.
Brief Scores:
Haryana 1st Innings: 41/2 in 17.5 overs (Avi Barot 20 batting, Samad Fallah 2/20).
UP pacers check MP surge on Day 1
Indore: Uttar Pradesh medium-pacers continuously came back to check Madhya Pradesh on the opening day of the Group A Ranji Trophy cricket match, here today.
Put into bat at the Holkar Stadium, the hosts ended Sunday on 195 for seven in 82 overs with Sanjay Mishra (6) and Puneet Datay (0) fighting on. Praveen Kumar and Rudra Pratap Singh bagged three wickets apiece.
Sharing the new ball with Kumar, RP hit the hosts hard by trapping openers Satyam Choudhary (9) and Jalaj Saxena (11) lbw when the score read 24. Kumar soon got No.3 batsman Mohnish Mishra (3) back in the hut.
MP captain Devendra Bundela (80) and Rameez Khan (52) then stitched together 125 runs for the fourth-wicket to stabilise the innings.
But RP and Praveen again got together to remove the dangermen and restrict the home team from moving towards a big score.
Rising chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav, who had been named in the 30-man World Cup probables, also made his presence felt by scalping Harpreet Singh Bhatia (24), just when the middle-order batsman was looking to get going.
Brief Scores:
Madhya Pradesh 195/7 in 82 overs (Devendra Bundela 80, Rameez Khan 52; Praveen Kumar 3-14, RP Singh 3-55).
