A round-up of the first day's action of various Ranji Trophy Super League matches across the country.
Rahane hits century as Mumbai dominate Bengal
Ajinkya Rahane started his Ranji season in style hitting his 15th first-class century as defending champions Mumbai scored 287 for four at stumps, on the first day against Bengal at the Eden Gardens.
Rahane (110, 189 balls, 15x4), who missed Mumbai's opening encounter against Saurashtra at Rajkot, added 152 runs with skipper Wasim Jaffer (73, 121 balls, 11x4) for the third wicket before Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary (two for 23) bowling his gentle seamers removed them in quick succession.
At close of play, Rohit Sharma (37 batting) and all-rounder Abhishek Nayar (13 batting) were at the crease having added 50 runs for the unbroken fifth wicket partnership.
Brief Scores: Mumbai 287-4 (A Rahane 110, W Jaffer 73, M Tiwary 2-23) vs Bengal
Vinay Kumar, Aravind bundle out Punjab for 243
Pacers R Vinay Kumar and Sreenath Aravind helped Karnataka bundle out Punjab for a mere 243 on the opening day of the Group B match at the PCA stadium.
Despite Punjab's Uday Kaul scoring a brilliant 94, Vinay Kumar (5 for 61) and Aravind (4 for 63) dominated the day's proceedings to push the hosts on to the backfoot.
Brief scores: Punjab: 243 all out in 89.5 overs (Uday Kaul 94, Yuvraj Singh 39, R Vinay Kumar 5-61, Sreenath Aravind 4-63)
Kohli cracks unbeaten 119 to guide Delhi to 258-3 vs Tamil Nadu
Virat Kohli slammed an unbeaten 119 to help former Champions Delhi reach 258 for three in 88 overs against Tamil Nadu at close on the opening day of their group-A match in Chennai.
Electing to bat first, Delhi Captain Mithun Minhas provided a good foil to Kohli in his effort to make a fine 70 (140b, 4 X 4 and 2 X 6) and his stand for the third wicket yielded 190 runs of 53.5 overs.
At close, Kholi was batting on 119 (219b, 11x4 and 3x6) and Punit Bisht, who came in after another Delhi dependable batsman Rajat Bhatia retired hurt due to an injury on his right hand sustained while negotiating a raising delivery from M.Prabhu, was on five.
Brief scores: Delhi: 258-3 in 88 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 41, Virat Kohli batting 119, Punit Bisht batting 5, C Ganapathy 1-21, R Ashwin 1-75 and M Prabhu 1-34).
UP crawl to 174-4 on day one against Orissa
Captain Mohammad Kaif (51) and Eklavya Dwivedi (83) scored painstaking half centuries as hosts Uttar Pradesh crawled to 174 for four at stumps, on the first day of their Group B match against Orissa, at the Dr Akhilesh Dasgupta Stadium in Lucknow.
At stumps, Parvinder Singh on 17 was at the crease along with wicketkeeper-batsman Amir Khan, who is yet to open his account.
For the entire 90 overs, UP's average was an unimpressive 1.93.
Brief scores: UP: 174-4 (Eklavya Dwivedi 83, Mohd. Kaif 51) vs Orissa
Munaf, Yusuf shine as Baroda take lead vs Haryana
Paceman Munaf Patel took four for 34 before Yusuf Pathan (65 not out) hit an aggressive half century as Baroda seized control on the first day of their Group B match against Haryana by taking a 48-run first innings lead.
Baroda captain Pinal Shah opted to bowl and Munaf and left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt (three for 25) bundled out Haryana for a paltry 127 in 42.2 overs.
Dhruv Singh was the top-scorer for Haryana with 35 as his team folded an hour into the post-lunch session at the Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium in Rohtak.
Kartik takes four, Assam struggle
Left-arm spinner Murali Kartik heavily dented the Assam middle and lower order with important breakthroughs as Railways reduced the visitors to 174 for seven, on the opening day of the Group A match at the Karnail Singh Stadium.
The left-arm spinner took four for 31 and struck blows whenever Assam tried to build partnerships.
Skipper Amol Mazumdar (44) then did some damage control sharing couple of important partnerships with veteran S Sriram (31) and Deepak Sharma (21) for the third and fourth wicket respectively.
