Ranji: Rajasthan on top, Saurashtra struggle

Opener Vineet Saxena and Ashok Menaria hit contrasting half-centuries as Rajasthan reached 274 for five against Hyderabad on the opening day of their Group A Ranji Trophy match in Jaipur, on Saturday.

Sent in to bat, Rajasthan openers Saxena (84) and Sourabh Chouhan (24) put on 42 runs for the first wicket before the latter was caught by Akshath Reddy off Ashish Reddy in the 20th over.

Robin Bist, who returned to the side after recovering from an injury, was run out by Sundeep Rajan for 26 as the hosts went for lunch at 119 for two with Saxena and Menaria on 33 and six respectively.

After the lunch break, Hyderabad bowlers were taken to task by Menaria as the left-hander stroked his way to a half-century laced with 10 fours.

Menaria was trapped leg before wicket by Amol Shinde for a fluent knock of 63 from 90 deliveries, having added 105 runs for the third wicket with Saxena.

Saxena also joined him in the dressing room soon after when he fell to Shinde for 84. He struck 13 fours in his 209-ball stay at the crease.

Skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar (42) then joined hands with Rashmi Ranjan Parida and shared a 50-plus stand for the fifth wicket to take Rajasthan past the 250-run mark.

Pandey leaves Saurashtra in a mess

Ishwar Pandey led an impressive bowling effort by Madhya Pradesh as they left Saurashtra struggling at 212 for nine on the first day of their Group A Ranji Trophy match in Rajkot.

Pandey returned impressive figures of three for 37 while Ankeet Sharma and Rameez Khan took two wickets each after the visitors elected to bat at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium.

However, it was Anand Rajan who was the first one to strike for Madhya Pradesh, having Shintanshu Kotak trapped leg before wicket.

The hosts could not recover from the early blow and lost wickets at regular intervals.

Barring opener Sheldon Jackson (53) and Arpit Vasavada (54) and to some extent, Kamlesh Makvana, who was unbeaten on 41 at close, none could make an impact for Saurashtra.

Brief scores:

Saurashtra 1st innings: 212/9 in 90 overs (Arpit Vasavada 54, Sheldon Jackson 53; Ishwar Pandey 3/37).