Veteran pacer Ajit Agarkar dismissed in-form batsmen Unmukt Chand and the talented Virat Kohli to reduce Delhi to 47 for 2 at stumps, in reply to Mumbai's modest first innings score of 267 on Day 1 of the the final Ranji Trophy group league encounter at the Roshanara Club ground in Delhi on Wednesday.
While last match's centurion Unmukt (11) was out edging one to wicketkeeper Omkar Gurav, Virat was bowled by the veteran pacer off the last delivery of his sixth and team's 11th over. The ball was a shooter and the ODI star couldn't keep it out.
However, Shikhar Dhawan (25 not out, 56 balls, 5x4) and skipper Mithun Manhas (5 not out) were at crease when stumps were drawn.
Earlier, Mumbai captain Wasim Jaffer opted to bat on a seaming track as the hosts introduced a four-pronged pace attack.
Save debutant Suryakumar Yadav, who smashed his way to 73 off only 89 deliveries with the help of 15 boundaries, none of the top-order batsmen stayed for long.
The slide started as early third over when Sumit Narwal cleaned up Omkar Gurav (1). Parwinder Awana, who bowled only 5.4 overs, then sent back Prashant Waghela (10) and Sahil Kukreja (27) before skipper Jaffer (32) and Rohit Sharma (37) steadied the ship.
From 3 for 47, they took the score to 94 before Jaffer was caught by Mayank Tehlan off Pradeep Sangwan's bowling.
However, Surya and Rohit added 62 runs for the fifth wicket before the latter edged one to Puneet Bisht off Narwal's bowling.
It was due to some lusty blows from Agarkar (35, 3x4, 2x6) and Iqbal Abdullah (31, 6x4) that Mumbai crossed the 250-run mark.
Brief scores:
Mumbai (1st innings): 267 all out (S Yadav 73, R Sharma 37, W Jaffer 32; S Narwal 4-52, P Sangwan 4-88).
Delhi (1st innings): 47-2 (A Agarkar 2-14)
Ganguly fails as Railways dismiss Bengal cheaply
Poor shot selection by top-order batsmen saw Bengal fold for 201 in their first innings against Railways on the first day of their final Ranji Trophy league encounter, at the Karnail Singh stadium in Delhi, on Wednesday.
Considering the nature of the pitch, the total may prove to be a decent one if Bengal spinners Sourashis Lahiri and Iresh Saxena can hit the right areas on Thursday like Murali Kartik (2/49) and medium pacer Anureet Singh (3/48) did for the hosts.
Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary won the toss and rightly elected to bat on wicket where the ball kept low at times. However, none of the top-order batsmen, including veteran Sourav Ganguly, were dismissed due to the tricky nature of the pitch. It was all about horrible shot selection when they needed to be careful keeping the nature of the track in mind.
Ganguly's much-anticipated return to first-class cricket was absolutely scratchy as he barely moved his feet during his 43-minute stay at the wicket. He was done in by his former KKR teammate Anureet Singh, whose delivery kept low and Ganguly was late in bringing his bat down. The result was an inside edge onto the off-stump.
If Ganguly was rusty, skipper Tiwary (42, 133 balls, 4x4) looked solid and played patiently till he gave left-arm spinner Nilesh Chauhan the charge. Tiwary went inside out trying to hoist over long-on but offered the simplest of catches to Kartik at mid-on.
It was a track where batting was difficult considering the variable bounce and the three Railways spinners -- Karthik, Chauhan and leggie Karan Sharma -- made life even more difficult for Bengal's batsmen by pitching it on the rough.
Most of the Bengal batsmen did the tough job of surviving the initial period only to throw it when they looked set.
Senior opener Arindam Das (21) played out the first hour but needlessly went for a slog sweep off Kartik only to hole out at short fine leg.
Dibyendu Chakraborty couldn't check his drive and was caught in the covers off Sanjay Bangar. Anushtup Mazumdar chased a wide delivery to edge it into Mahesh Rawat's gloves.
Young Gitimoy Basu (58, 9x4), who was flown in last night as Shreevats Goswami's replacement, played a gutsy innings, although, he was dropped twice in the slip cordon.
Basu not only scored his maiden half century in first-class cricket but also applied himself after those two reprieve. It was his inexperience that saw him get out trying to sweep Sharma.
While the first session saw a lot of positive intent from Bengal batsmen as they went into lunch at 97 for two, they were strangely subdued in the remaining two sessions.
Brief score:
Bengal (1st innings): 201 all out (Gitimoy Basu 58, Manoj Tiwary 42; Anureet Singh 3/48) vs Railways.
Gautam rescues Karnataka
Wicketkeeper C M Gautam scored an unbeaten 62 to help Karnataka end the opening day on 274 for 7 against Uttar Pradesh, in their final round Ranji Trophy Super League Group A match in Kanpur on Wednesday.
Gautam (62), Amit Verma (54) and R Vinay Kumar (51) saved Kanataka from humiliation, as after opting to bat the visitors collapsed twice in their first essay.
Apart from the trio, young Manish Pandey made a useful contribution with the bat, scoring a 71-ball 36.
Leg-spinner Piyush Chawla (74 for 4) was the pick of the UP bowlers while medium-pacers Rohit Choudhary and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar scalped two and one wicket respectively.
Early on, Karnataka lost their three top batsmen inside the 30-run mark.
Pandey and Verma managed to steady the ship with a 102-run fourth-wicket stand before Karnataka witnessed another batting collapse.
But then came Gautam and in Vinay Kumar's company added 91 runs for the seventh wicket to resurrect the visitor's innings for the second time in the day before the latter became Chawla's fourth victim.
At stumps, giving Gautam company at the crease was veteran Sunil Joshi on 13.
With two quarter-final spots up for grabs from the group, UP will be desperate to claim the remaining Karnataka wickets early on Thursday.
Brief scores:
Karnataka (1st innings): 274 for seven in 90 overs (CM Gautam 62 not out, Amit Verma 54, R Vinay Kumar 51; Piyush Chawla 74-4).
Orissa out for 175; Haryana 75 for 4
After bundling out Orissa for a mere 175, Haryana themselves struggled to reach 75 for four at the end of the first day's play of their Ranji Trophy Super League Group B match in Rohtak on Wednesday.
Orissa's Subhrajit Sahoo (50 not out) was the only batsman to hit a respectable score on a day dominated by bowlers.
Opting to bat first, Orissa got off to a decent start with openers Paresh Patel (25) and Natraj Behera (22) playing cautious innings each, before Sachin Rana drew the first blood for the hosts to see off the former.
Soon, Behera followed his partner into the dressing room, Joginder Sharma causing the damage this time.
Thereafter, Orissa's downfall started as the host bowlers simply wrecked havoc to leave the visitors suddenly reeling at 86 for six.
However, Sahoo came to his team's rescue. In the able company of Lagnajit Samal (23) he consolidated the innings and helped steady the boat a bit.
But once Samal got out, it was again the same story as Orissa quickly lost rest of the tail, failing to reach even the 200-run mark.
Sahoo remained unbeaten on 50 from 102 balls with the help of three boundaries and a six.
While Sachin Rana (3/34) and Amit Mishra (3/55) chipped in with three wickets each, Joginder Sharma (2/21) took two.
Replying to Orissa's modest total, Haryana failed to executive their plans properly and they also failed to get off to a good start and lost early wickets.
Right-arm medium pacer Alok Sahoo did not allow the Haryana batsman to settle and went on to dismiss openers Nitin Saini (14) and Rahul Dewan (20) cheaply, before sending back Sunny Singh for a duck to put Orissa on the backfoot.
Skipper Debasis Mohanty then saw off Ankit Rawat (1) to give a much-needed boost to the visitors.
Hemang Badani (14) and Sachin Rana (19) were at the crease when stumps were drawn.
Brief scores:
Orissa (1st innings): 175 all out in 55.4 overs (Subhrajit Sahoo not out 50, Paresh Patel 25; Sachin Rana 3/34, Amit Mishra 3/55).
Haryana (1st innings): 75 for four in 32 overs (Rahul Dewan 20; Alok Sahoo 3/27).
Bhatt's five-for helps Baroda take 54-run lead
A five-wicket haul by left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt helped Baroda bundle out Himachal Pradesh for 119 and then score 173 for 5 at stumps on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Super League Group B match in Vadadora on Wednesday.
Bhatt responded to his skipper Pinal Shah's call to field first as he scalped the wickets of BJ Thakkar (20), Paras Dogra (24), VA Indulkar (16), R Dhawan (0) and VS Malik (1) in his 11 overs giving away 40 runs.
Wrecked by a lethal combination of spin and seam bowling, Himachal failed to forge any partnership and kept losing wickets at regular intervals before capitulating at 119 in just 46.3 overs.
Munaf Patel also contributed, claiming three HP wickets, while Yusuf Pathan scalped two here at the Moti Bagh stadium.
In reply, Baroda recovered from a shuddering start to take a 54-run lead with five wickets remaining in their first innings, courtesy an unbeaten 71-run knock by Kedar Devdhar.
Devdhar blasted 10 fours in his 117-ball unfinished innings to lift Baroda from 13 for three to 173 for five at stumps.
The 21-year-old stemmed the rot, adding a 108-run fourth-wicket partnership with Ambati Rayudu (57), before the latter was dismissed by Vikramjeet Malik.
At stumps, skipper Shah was giving Devdhar company on 24.
For Himachal Pradesh, Malik and R Dhawan took two wickets apiece, while Gurvinder Singh accounted for one wicket.
Brief scores:
Himachal Pradesh (1st innings): 119 in 46.3 overs (Gurvinder Singh 25; BA Bhatt 5/40)
Baroda (1st innings): 173 for five in 41 overs (KH Devdhar 71, A Rayudu 57; VS Malik 2/35).
