Harsh Dubey created history with a nine-wicket haul against Madhya Pradesh on the opening day of the fourth round of the Ranji Trophy, as Snehal Kauthankar’s unbeaten 116 put Goa ahead of Bihar. Here is how the action unfolded across all four groups and the Plate Group.
Group A
Harsh Dubey took 9-53 as Vidarbha bowled out Madhya Pradesh for 209. Atharva Mahajan made 85 in that innings, and Kumar Kartikeya took 3-23 for Vidarbha, who were 56-4 at the close.
Snehal Kauthankar smashed an unbeaten 116, and Goa finished on 288-6 against Bihar, ahead in the day’s contest.
Dhruv Patel scored 124 for Baroda, who reached 269-6 against Uttar Pradesh. Karan Sharma took 3-39 for Uttar Pradesh.
Pondicherry ended the day on 261-6 against defending champions Jammu & Kashmir. Mohit Kale made 73 and Neyan Kangayan added 70.
Group B
Karnataka hold the early advantage after bowling out Assam for just 135. Ritesh Bhatkal (5-35) and Shikhar Shetty (5-53) each took five wickets. Karnataka closed on 180-2, a lead of 45 runs, with Rohan Patil on 89.
Punjab recovered from a precarious 71-5 to finish on 276-5 against Andhra. Salil Arora (111*) and Sanvir Singh (100*) both struck unbeaten centuries.
Elsewhere, the batters made their mark. Tripura reached 219-7 against Saurashtra, with Sridam Paul scoring 86. Chhattisgarh posted 279-7 against Hyderabad, led by Anuj Tiwary (72) and Vikalp Tiwari (69).
Group C
Maharashtra and Bengal have a tightly contested match, with 12 wickets falling on the opening day. Maharashtra bowled out Bengal for 143, with Abishek Porel making 54. Mohammed Shami then took both wickets to fall as Maharashtra slipped to 21-2 in reply.
Gujarat dominated Kerala, reaching 300-5. Three batters passed fifty: Aarya Desai (95), Urvil Patel (63*) and Vishal Jayswal (50*).
Only 25 overs were bowled in the match between Jharkhand and Odisha, as the Odisha bowlers reduced Jharkhand to 37-3.
Services were bundled out for 266 against Delhi. Captain Rajat Paliwal struck an unbeaten 111, while Aman Chaudhary took 4-79.
Group D
Mayank Mishra took 6-57 to rip through Haryana, who were dismissed for 153. Uttarakhand then ended the day on 59-0.
Tamil Nadu made the most of the conditions against Chandigarh, posting 320-4. Pradosh Paul remained unbeaten on 138.
Mumbai reached 247-6 against Railways. Angkrish Raghuvanshi (78) and Sarfaraz Khan (55) both scored half-centuries.
The match between Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh saw 20 wickets fall. Rajasthan were bowled out for 78, with Abhishek Kumar taking 5-14, and Himachal Pradesh replied with 153, Sahil Diwan taking 5-50. Rajasthan were 8-0 at the close of the second innings.
Plate Group
Salil Malhotra smashed 146 for Arunachal Pradesh, who were bowled out for 285. Kuldip Yadav took 4-44. Mizoram were 35-0 in reply at the close.
Sikkim finished the day strongly on 301-5 against Manipur. Ashish Thapa struck a brilliant century (107), and Parth Palawat added 86.
In the match between Nagaland and Meghalaya, Nagaland reached 244-8. Rongsen Jonathan (69) and Nagaho Chishi (68) got starts, but neither converted them into a big score, leaving Meghalaya with the initiative after day one. Manish Sharma took 4-64.