Ranji Trophy Roundup: Ajinkya Rahane, Prithvi Shaw shine, Robin Uthappa hits ton for Kerala
by Sports DeskBy: Sports Desk | Published: December 9, 2019 6:51:55 pm
Ajinkya Rahane. (Source: AP Photo)
GROUP A: UTHAPPA HUNDRED PAINS DELHI SPINNERS
Delhi coach KP Bhaskar’s ploy of using four-pronged spin attack backfired badly as Kerala comfortably reached 276 for 3 riding on a patient hundred from Robin Uthappa in Thumba, Kerala on the first day of their Ranji Trophy encounter.
Uthappa, who has endured a slump in form during the past few seasons, scored 102 off 221 balls with seven fours and three sixes, adding 118 runs for the second wicket with opener Ponnam Rahul (97).
Rahul missed his ton by three runs but Uthappa completed his 22nd hundred before being dismissed in the final over of the day by comeback-man Pradeep Sangwan (1/31 in 9.1 overs). In the process, he also added 90 runs for the third wicket with skipper Sachin Baby (36 batting).
On a slow track, Kerala skipper Baby called correctly and his decision to bat was vindicated by the top-order, also aided by poor team selection from the Delhi team management. None of the spinners made an impression even though young Baroka, who made his debut after a consistent show at the U-19 and U-23 levels did show some spark. He got his maiden first-class scalp removing the seasoned Jalaj Saxena (32) caught by Lalit.
With Kerala looking good for a comprehensive first innings score, poor team selection has already put Delhi on the backfoot.
SCORES:
At Thumba: Kerala 276/3 (Robin Uthappa 102, Ponnam Rahul 97, Pradeep Sangwan 1/31, Tejas Baroka 1/62, Vikas Mishra 1/45) vs Delhi.
At Jaipur: Team Rajasthan 1st Innings 256/9 (Ashok Menaria 60, Mahipal Lomror 60, Siddarth Kaul 3/68) vs Punjab.
At Vijaywada: Andhra 1st Innings 211 (Hanuma Vihari 83 off 155 balls, Aditya Sarwate 4/50 in 18 overs) vs Vidarbha 1st Innings 26/0.
At Hyderabad: Hyderabad 1st Innings 233 in 88 overs (Kolla Sumanth 69, Piyush Chawla 3/61 in 16 overs).
GROUP B: RAHANE, SHAW GUIDE MUMBAI TO 362/8
Ajinkya Rahane and Prithvi Shaw struck gritty fifties as Mumbai ended day one of their Ranji Trophy lung opener against Baroda at 362/8 in Vadodara on Monday.
While Rahane’s patient 79 off 145 balls pulled Mumbai out of the rubble, bowlers Shardul Thakur (64) and Shams Mulani (56*) contributed with the bat slamming half centuries as they ensured Mumbai ended the first day with a decent score on the board.
This was Shaw’s first first-class game after serving an eight-month ban for doping, and he made optimum use of the opportunity. Shaw, who is eyeing the third opener’s slot in Tests, made a quick 66 off 62 balls. He smashed 11 fours and one six as he tore into the Baroda attack.
After opting to bat, openers Jay Bista (18) and Shaw conjured a 74-run stand for the first wicket. After Bista fell, all-rounder Shubham Ranjane was promoted up the order at number three, but he fell to convert his start and was dismissed for 36 off 59 balls.
But after right-arm pacer Abhimanyu Rajput cut short Shaw’s stay on 95/2, Rahane walked in to steady Mumbai’s ship. Rahane, who hammered 10 boundaries, showed his mettle. After his dismissal, Mulani and Thakur took the game away from Baroda after hitting a combined 18 fours and three sixes.
Mulani and Shashank Attarde will resume Mumbai’s innings on Tuesday. For Baroda, Bhargav Bhatt grabbed three wickets but gave away 110 runs.
SCORES:
At Vadodara: Mumbai 362/8 (Ajinkya Rahane 79, Prithvi Shaw 66; Shardul Thakur 64; Bhargav Bhatt 3/110) vs Baroda.
At Dharamshala: Himachal Pradesh 120 all out (Prashant Chopra 33, Sumeet Verma 22; Prerak Mankad 3/13, Chirag Jani 3/26) vs Saurashtra 93/7 (Snell Patel 42, Arpit Vasavada 16, Vaibhav Arora 3/20, Pankaj Jaiswal 3/29). Saurashtra trail by 27 runs.
At Dindigul: Karnataka 259/6 (Devdutt Padikkal 78, Pavan Deshpande 65; M Siddharth 2/33, Baba Aparajith 1/24) vs Tamil Nadu.
At Meerut: Railways 244/8 (Dinesh Mor 89 not out, Navneet Virk 58; Yash Dayal 3/47) vs Uttar Pradesh.
GROUP C: CHAUHAN, ROHILLA HIT TONS FOR HARYANA
Opener Shubham Rohilla and middle-order batsman Shivam Chauhan scored centuries as Haryana comfortably reached 279 for three against Maharashtra on the opening day of their Group C opener at the Ranji Trophy in Rohtak on Monday.
Rohilla and Chauhan added 221 runs for the third wicket to resurrect Haryana’s first innings after they were reduced to 24 for 2 in the 8th over. While Chauhan blasted two sixes and had 14 hits to the fence in his 208-ball 117, opener Rohilla slammed 15 boundaries in his 234-ball 117 not out.
Electing to bat, Haryana didn’t make a good start as opener Ankit Kumar (14) was sent packing by Samad Fallah in the seventh over, new batsman Chaitanya Bishnoi (1) too quickly walked back to the pavillion when he was dismissed by Anupam Sanklecha in the next over.
The duo of Chauhan and Rohilla then took Haryana to safe haven as Chauhan reached his century in 181 balls, while after the tea break Rohilla completed his century, amassing 103 runs off 206 Balls.
Haryana scored the 250-run mark in 77.5 overs before the stumps were drawn after in 83.6 overs. For Maharashtra, Fallah (1/42), Sanklecha (1/58) and Pradeep Dadhe claimed one wicket each.
SCORES:
Haryana 1st innings: 279 for 3 in 84 overs (Shivam Chauhan 117, Shubham Rohilla 117 not out; SM Fallah 1/42) vs Maharashtra.
Tripura 1st innings: 263 for 8 in 77 overs (Milind Kumar 59; Ashish Kumar 2/32) vs Jharkhand.
Services 1st innings: 124 all out in 52.1 overs (VS Hathwala 34; AK Das 4/39) vs Assam 1st innings: 81 for 3 in 30 overs (G Sharma 32; DG Pathania 2/21)
Jammu and Kashmir 1st innings: 182 all out 49.2 overs (SP Khajuria 47; RS Shah 3/18) vs Uttarakhand 1st innings: 64 for 7 in 25 overs (TM Srivastava 17; M Mudhasir 3/11)
Chhattisgarh 1st innings: 134 all out in 52.2 overs (AJ Mandal 47; Rajesh Mohanty 6/47) vs Odisha 1st innings: 48 for 3 in 19 overs (SP Senapati 16; PM Datey 2/5).
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