Ranji Trophy 2017-18, Round 6 - Day 1 Review

With the group stages of the Ranji Trophy 2017-18 heading closer, all the teams are pulling up their socks to book their knockout berths. Whilst the likes of Karnataka and Saurashtra are maintaining a healthy lead at the top of the table, various other big teams like Maharashtra, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Bengal, and Tamil Nadu’s hopes are hanging slightly in the balance.

Powered by two brilliant knocks from Bavanaka Sandeep and Indian International Ambati Rayudu, Hyderabad posted a decent first innings total at the end of day 1 against Assam. With Sandeep amassing 84 off 122 balls and Ambati Rayudu chipping in with an 83, they finished at 289/8 in 84 overs on stumps day 1. Arup Das and Rahul Singh picked up three wickets each for Assam.

After his marathon triple-hundred a few days ago, Mayank Agarwal once again came close to registering three digits when Karnataka took on Uttar Pradesh. He was dismissed for 90 off 73 balls with Dega Nischal, Karun Nair, and Manish Pandey registering half-centuries. Pandey and Nischal are heading towards centuries as Karnataka finished day 1 strongly at 327/3 in 90 overs.

Punjab suffered a killer blow against their Group D opponents Bengal. Although their bowling mainstay Mohammad Shami was roped into the Indian team for the Sri Lanka series, youngsters Bodupalli Amit and Pradipta Pramanik picked up 3 wickets each to restrict Punjab to a mediocre 147 in their first innings. Openers Abhishek Raman and Abhimanyu Easwaran added 76 unbeaten runs and are heading towards a massive lead.

Another hundred for Prithvi Shaw

Mumbai’s young sensation Prithvi Shaw chipped in with yet another hundred this season, helping their side finish day 1 on a decent note despite the middle order’s failure against Andhra. Shaw was dismissed for 114 off 173 balls and was well supported by Siddhesh Lad, who scored 86 off 203 balls. Mumbai stood at 248/6, with Abhishek Nayar and Dhawal Kulkarni in the middle.

Kedar Devdhar’s scintillating knock was well supported by skipper Deepak Hooda’s half-century as Baroda notched up 281 for the loss of three wickets on day 1 against Odisha. Another opener Aditya Waghmode registered a 50 as well, helping Devdhar notch a crucial 104 off 150 balls. Hooda and Swapnil Singh are currently in the middle for Baroda.

Group B’s table-toppers Saurashtra are looking to extend their lead at the top and in the process, they dismissed Kerala for 225 in their first innings. Sanju Samson scored a crucial 68 off 104 balls for the South Indian side as Dharmendrasinh Jadeja finished with tremendous figures of 6/112. Saurashtra scored 37 runs at stumps without losing a wicket.

Nitish Rana’s blistering hundred helped Delhi chip in with 260 runs on day 1 for the loss of four. Only 62 overs were possible on the day due to bad light but thanks to their healthy scoring rate, they went past the 250 mark. Rishabh Pant missed out on a well deserved hundred after he scored a mind-boggling 99 off 110 balls, including 8 fours and 6 sixes. 

Brief Scores

Delhi v Maharashtra, Group A

Delhi first innings: 260/4 (Nitish Rana 110*, Rishabh Pant 99)

Assam v Hyderabad, Group A

Hyderabad first innings: 289/8 in 84 overs (Bavanaka Sandeep 84, Ambati Rayudu 83)

Karnataka v Uttar Pradesh, Group A

Karnataka first innings:  327/3 in 90 overs (Mayank Agarwal 90, Dega Nischal 90*, Mayank Agarwal 62, Manish Pandey 63*)

Gujarat v Rajasthan, Group B

Rajasthan 1st innings: 153 all out in 50 overs (Chintan Gaja 8/40)

Gujarat 1st innings: 90/1 in 37.5 overs (Samit Gohel 46)

Kerala v Saurashtra, Group B

Kerala first innings: 225 all out in 78 overs (Sanju Samson 68)

Saurashtra first innings: 37/0 in 10 overs

Jammu Kashmir v Haryana, Group B

Haryana first innings: 119/7 in 45 overs (Himanshu Rana 35; Mohammad Mudhasir 4/34)

Tamil Nadu v Madhya Pradesh, Group C

Madhya Pradesh first innings: 224/7 in 80 overs (Ankit Dane 63, Ankit Sharma 75)

Baroda v Odisha, Group C

Baroda first innings: 281/3 in 90 overs(Kedar Devdhar 104, Aditya Waghmode 52, Deepak Hooda 51*)

Mumbai v Andhra, Group C

Mumbai first innings: 248/6 in 90 overs (Prithvi Shaw 114, Siddesh Lad 86)

Bengal v Punjab, Group D

Punjab first innings: 147 all out (Pradipta Pramanik 3/41, Bodupalli Amit 3/31)

Goa v Vidarbha, Group D

Goa first innings: 239 all out in 93.4 overs (Keenan Vaz 72; Akshay Wakhare 4/50)

Chattisgarh v Services, Group D

Chattisgarh first innings: 130 all out in 72.2 overs (Manoj Singh 53; Diwesh Pathania 4/45, Vikas Yadav 3/10)