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Virender Sehwag's poor run with the bat continue as Delhi were shot out for a paltry 202 in their first innings against table toppers Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy Group A match at the Feroz Shah Kotla, in New Delhi, on Monday.
Virender Sehwag went back to opening the innings after his unsuccessful stint at No. 3, but he could manage only 32 before he was caught and bowled by medium pacer Ronit More.
The pitch also played some tricks with the odd ball keeping low but most of the Delhi batsmen had themselves to blame as they threw their wickets away with some poor shots. Karnataka captain R Vinay Kumar did most of the damage with the ball as he claimed 4-40, while Sharath took 3-58.
Skipper Gautam Gambhir (54) got set playing 111 deliveries before a poor shot selection brought about his downfall.
It was Sehwag, who started attacking from the onset as he took apart Vinay with some cracking strokes. There were a few square cuts, a flick through midwicket and a straight drive for boundaries as Delhi raced to 50 in nine overs.
However, after hitting five boundaries en route his 32, Ronit, who replaced Vinay, got one onto his body and Sehwag defended awkwardly. The resultant lob was taken by the bowler himself.
Milind Kumar (2) playing his first match of the season played away from his body as he dragged a Vinay delivery back onto the stumps.
Mithun Manhas (12) started with a cover drive but was bowled by Vinay when he played forward to an incoming delivery but inside edged it back on to his stumps.
At 84 for three, Manan Sharma joined Gambhir and the duo started batting freely. Left-hander Manan hit some impressive drives as he added 35 runs in the process.
But disaster struck in post lunch session when leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal trapped Manan leg before wicket for 23.
Gambhir, meanwhile, crafted his way to a half-century but his habit of playing the dab shot towards third man brought about his downfall as Mayank Agarwal caught the edge at first slip on second attempt off pacer HS Sharath.
Rajat Bhatia (13) was bowled by Vinay when he tried to cut a delivery that knocked his leg stump.
It was Rahul Yadav (21) and Sumit Narwal (22) who chipped in with useful contributions to take Delhi past the 200-run mark.
Narwal, in fact, hit back to back sixes off Gopal before he was trapped leg by Vinay.
Karnataka scored two for no loss in the only over that they played before bad light stopped the day's play in which 19 overs were lost.
Brief scores:
Delhi 202 in 67.4 (Gautam Gambhir 54, Virender Sehwag 32, R Vinay Kumar 4/40).
Karnataka 2 for 0 in 1 over.
Gujarat bowl out Mumbai for 154
Valsad: Former champions Mumbai suffered an unexpected batting collapse to be all out for 154 against Gujarat on day one of their final Group A Ranji Trophy match.
After deciding to bat, Mumbai were 74 for six at one stage and had it not been for some gritty batting by Iqbal Abdulla (30) down the order, the visitors would have struggled to cross the 100-run mark.
Abdulla was the second-highest run scorer after opener Kaustubh Pawar, who managed 37 off 150 balls with six shots to the fence.
Left-arm spinner Akshar Patel was the most successful bowler for Gujarat with three scalps for 32 runs while Ishwar Chaudhary (2/54) and Jasprit Bumrah (2/36) took two wickets each.
In reply, the host were a strong 90 for two with opener Samit Gohel (36) batting solid from one end.
Gujarat lost opener Smit Patel (11) cheaply, bowled by Bhargav Thakur, and later on Bhargav Merai, who was well set on 37 before being caught by Shah off Abdulla.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai 1st innings: 154 all out in 52.5 (Kaustubh Pawar 37, Iqbal Abdulla 30; Akshar Patel 3/32).
Gujarat 1st innings: 90 for 2 in 35 overs (Bhargav Merai 37, Samit Gohel 36 batting; Iqbal Abdulla 1/25).
Manan's 187 take Punjab to 380/4 against Jharkhand
Dhanbad: Manan Vohra cracked a brilliant century, while India's out-of-favour batsman Yuvraj Singh chipped in with 39 runs as Punjab posted a massive 380 for four on day one of their Group A Ranji Trophy match against Jharkhand.
Manan hit a patient 187 off 273 balls with the help of 24 fours and three sixes, while Jiwanjot Singh scored run-a-ball 78, laced with 15 boundaries as the duo put on an important 138 runs together for the opening wicket to set a solid platform for the team.
Yuvraj took 59 balls for his 39, which he scored with the help of five fours and a six.
For Jharkhand, SS Quadri (2/130) took two wickets, while Varun Aaron (1/48) and Shahbaz Nadeem (1/127) claimed wicket apiece.
Opting to bat, Punjab got off to a great start before Jiwanjot was dismissed off Quadri's bowling.
But Uday Kaul (25), followed by Yuvraj provided some good support to Manan.
While Manan and Uday shared a 54-run partnership for the second wicket, with Yuvraj, the opener put on another solid 89 runs for the third wicket to take Punjab past 280-run mark.
At stumps, skipper Mandeep Singh was unbeaten on 41 and Siddarth Kaul was yet to open his account.
Brief Scores:
Punjab 1st innings: 380 for 4 in 86 overs (Manan Vohra 187, Jiwanjot Singh, Yuvraj Singh 39; SS Quadri 2/130).
Mishra, Yadav share seven wickets
Bhubaneshwar: Amit Mishra and Jayant Yadav shared seven wickets between them as Haryana restricted Odisha to 221 for nine on Day 1 of their Group A Ranji Trophy match.
Opener Girjia Rout waged a lone battle for Odisha and fell just six runs short of his well-deserved century. Niranjan Behera (38) and Govind Podder (34) batted well in the middle-order but could not carry on with their good work.
After the early dismissal of Natraj Behera (0), it took Haryana some time to take the second wicket as Rout and Niranjan put on an impressive 102-run stand for the second wicket.
Sachin Rana (1/12) provided the breakthrough when he had Niranjan caught by wicketkeeper Nitin Saini. Niranjan's 38 came off 118 balls with four shots to the fence.
Rout and Podder took the team close to 150-run mark but leg spinner Amit Mishra broke the stand by dismissing the former.
Mishra had him caught behind and from there on Odisha's innings fell apart. Rout's 227-ball innings was laced with 12 fours.
The hosts lost wickets intermittently and their innings never got the impetus.
Mishra was the most successful bowler for the visitors with figures of four for 78 while Yadav picked up three for 47.
Brief Scores:
Odisha: 221 for 9 in 90 overs (Girjia Rout 94, Niranjan Behera 38; Amit Mishra 4/78, Jayant Yadav 3/47).
Ghosh, Rawat hit half centuries; Railways reach 301/4
Lucknow: Arindam Ghosh (89) and Mahesh Rawat (83) struck unbeaten half centuries as Railways reached 301 for four against Uttar Pradesh on the opening day of their Group B Ranji Trophy match.
Electing to bat after winning the toss, Railways lost opener Abhishek Kaushik (7) early into their innings.
Skipper Shivakant Shukla and Nitin Bhille (22) then put on 58 runs for the second wicket before the latter was trapped leg before by Piyush Chawla. Shukla (40) too departed after a few overs as Railways reached 81 for three.
Next man-in, Ghosh then combined well with Rongsen Jonathan and stitched together a valuable 75-run partnership for the fourth wicket to take the visitors to a safety position.
Jonathan fell five runs short of his half-century to medium pacer Imtiaz Ahmed. His 92-ball stay at the crease had eight hits to the fence.
Jonathan's dismissal brought Rawat at the crease and the wicketkeeper-batsman took the UP bowlers to task as he pull, drive and cut his way to an attacking half-century.
Ghosh, at the other end, too completed his half-century as the duo raised an unconquered 135-run stand for the fifth wicket to frustate the host bowlers with their strokeplay.
While Rawat hit 14 fours and two sixes in his 88-ball knock, Ghosh's 164-ball vigil at the crease was decorated with 12 fours.
For Uttar Pradesh, Ankit Rajpoot picked up two wickets while Imtiaz Ahmed and Piyush Chawla accounted for a wicket each.
Brief Scores:
Railways: 301 for 4 in 91 overs (Arindam Ghosh 89 batting, Mahesh Rawat 83 batting; Ankit Rajpoot 2/90).
16 wkts fall in Bengal vs TN match
Chennai: Tamil Nadu prepared a rank turner to get an outright result but they were in a spot of bother at stumps in the Ranji Trophy group B encounter against Bengal with as many as 16 wickets faling on the first day.
Tamil Nadu spinners -- offie Malolan Rangarajan (6/30) and left-arm spinner Rahil Shah (4/65) decimated Bengal for 130 in 52 overs before the visitors hit back reducing Tamil Nadu to 66 for six in 35.1 overs.
Off-spinners Saurashish Lahiri (2/27), Arnab Nandi (1/4) and Writtick Chatterjee (1/5) along with seasoned left-arm spinner Iresh Saxena (2/21) did well enough to dismiss the top-order batsmen like Abhinav Mukund (14), Baba Aparajith (8), S Badrinath (3), Baba Indrajith (3) and Dinesh Karthik (28).
With 16 wickets falling on the first day itself, the 22-yard strip has come under scanner with ball turning square. The off-spinners of both sides included, have accounted for 10 of the 16 wickets to have fallen so far.
For Bengal, veteran Subhamoy Das scored 36 off 49 balls with six fours and a six giving a far better account of himself. Subhamoy had crawled to 20 off 121 balls against Railways which was one of the reasons for Bengal conceding three points in that match.
Young left-hander Sudeep Chatterjee also fought gustily remaining not out on 34 with three fours. Seven Bengal players were out scoring less than 10 runs. In-form skipper Laxmi Ratan Shukla (0) was dismissed when he tried to hit left-armer Rahil Shah out of the ground only to be stumped.
The Nos 9, 10, 11 didn't score a single run for Bengal as Rangarajan ran through the lower half with effortless ease.
When Tamil Nadu batted, they crawled to 16 in 10 overs before the slide began. Saxena got Aparajith bowled in the 11th over. Abhinav Mukund edged one to Subhamoy off Saxena to make it 29 for two while Badrinath offered a catch to Shukla to fall on same score.
Baba Indrajith offered a bat pad catch off Lahiri's bowling to Abhimanyu Easwaran. Vijay Shankar and Karthik who hit four boundaries carried the score to 66 before both fell in a space of five balls. Right-hander Vijay was bowled by Writtick while Karthik gave a catch to Subhamoy off Arnab Nandi.
Brief Scores:
Bengal 130 in 52 overs (Subhamoy Das 36, Sudeep Chatterjee 34 no, Malolan Rangarajan 6/30)
Tamil Nadu 66/6 in 35.1 overs (Dinesh Karthik 28, Iresh Saxena 2/21, Saurashish Lahiri 2/27).
Tripura recover after poor start against J&K
Agartala: Skipper Yogesh Takawale (82) closed in on his fifth first class century and shared an unbeaten 102-run stand with Abbas Ali (46) as Tripura reached a solid 176 for three against Jammu and Kasmir in their final Group C Ranji Trophy match.
J&K paceman Samiullah Beigh gave his side a stupendous start by two quick wickets but Takawale foiled the visitors' plan to grab the initiative with a determined batting effort.
Opener Samrat Singha (32) combined with Takawale to steady the innings after two early blows and after his dismissal, the Tripura found a good ally in Ali.
Only 56 overs possible at Tripura Institute of Technology Ground after visitors won the toss and elected to field.
Brief Scores:
Tripura 1st innings: 176 for three in 56 overs (Yogesh Takawale 82 batting, Abbas Ali 46 batting; Samiullah Beigh 2/53).
Jadhav hits ton as Maharashtra post 343/8
Guwahati: Riding on Kedar Jadhav's 128, Maharashtra posted 343 for eight at stumps on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group C match against Assam at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium.
Put in to bat, Maharashtra did not have an ideal start as they lost their openers -- Harshad Khadiwale (24) and skipper Rohit Motwani (2) -- early to be at 46 for two.
But Sangram Dilp Atitkar (46) and Jadhav consolidated the innings and shared a 73-run partnership for the third wicket.
After Atitkar's dismissal, Jadhav continued in the able company of Pushkaraj Chavan and the duo put on 132 runs together for the fourth wicket to take the team to a comfortable position.
Chavan departed for a well-made 65 off 94 balls, studded with 10 boundaries, while Jadhav followed him after playing a fabulous knock that came off 148 balls, including 19 hits to the fence.
Thereafter, Ankit Bawne (36) also chipped in with some important runs.
For Assam, J Syed Mohammad was the pick of the bowlers with three for 85.
Brief scores:
Maharashtra 1st innings: 343 for eight in 90 overs (Kedar Jadhav 128, Pushkaraj Chavan 65; J Syed Mohammad 3/85).
Kerala dismiss Hyderabad for 201
Hyderabad: Pacer S Sandeep Warrier notched up a five-wicket haul as Kerala dismissed Hyderabad for 201 before being reduced to 45 for three in their first innings on day one of their Ranji Trophy Group C match.
Put in to bat by Kerala, Hyderabad managed to go past 200 only because of some late contributions after being reduced to 78 for six.
A Ashish Reddy's 65-ball 55, including seven fours and a six, and Habeeb Ahmed's 100-ball 39 were the crucial contributions which gave some respectability to Hyderabad's scorecard.
Warrier ended the day with brilliant figures of five for 38 in 19 overs, including eight maidens.
Kerala's reply was no better as both their openers departed without disturbing the scoreboard. At stumps, Robert Fernandez (14) and skipper Sachin Baby (19) were holding fort for the visitors. pacer Anwar Ahmed picked up two wickets.
Brief Scores:
Hyderabad 1st Innings: 201 (A Ashish Reddy 55, S Sandeep Warrier 5/38)
Kerala 1st Innings: 45/3 in 12 overs (Rohan Prem 19 batting, Anwar Ahmed 2/13).
Image: Virender Sehwag
Photograph: Rogan Ward/Reuters