The third round of Ranji Trophy matches got underway on Thursday, with Meghalaya batters Ajay Duhan and Kishan Lyngdoh both smashing unbeaten tons as they plundered 385-2 against Mizoram. Across the groups, bowlers and batters made their mark on the opening day.
Group A
Saransh Jain was the hero for Madhya Pradesh, taking 7-40 to skittle Bihar for just 99. MP then amassed 261-3 on the back of an unbeaten century from Saksham Purohit. Baroda rode on Priyanshu Moliya‘s unbeaten 113 to post 259-6 at stumps against Jammu & Kashmir. Uttar Pradesh were 67-4 against Puducherry, while Goa finished on 204-8 against Vidarbha.
Baroda 259-6 (Priyanshu Moliya 113*, Umar Nazir 2-28) vs Jammu & Kashmir.
Madhya Pradesh 261-3 (Saksham Purohit 113*) vs Bihar 99 (Mangal Mahrour 42, Saransh Jain 7-40).
Uttar Pradesh 67-4 (Madhav Kaushik 23, Ankit Sharma 2-14) vs Puducherry.
Goa 204-8 (Yash Kasvankar 51*, Darshan Misal 51, Nachiket Bhute 4-40) vs Vidarbha.
Group B
Prabhsimran Singh starred for Punjab with 81 against Hyderabad, helping them post 289-6. Salil Arora remained unbeaten on 52. Shikhar Shetty claimed a five-wicket haul as Tripura were bundled out for just 194, and Karnataka were 10-1 by stumps in response. Andhra posted 231 against Chhattisgarh, while Assam reached 235-6 against Saurashtra.
Chhattisgarh 35-1 vs Andhra 231 (SV Rahul 89, Jayant Yadav 4-75).
Punjab 289-6 (Prabhsimran Singh 81, Salil Arora 52*, Rakshan Readdi 2-53) vs Hyderabad.
Karnataka 10-1 vs Tripura 194 (Bikramkumar Das 51, Shikhar Shetty 5-54).
Assam 235-6 (Denish Das 90, Sibsankar 59*, Jaydev Unadkat 3-27) vs Saurashtra.
Group C
Ayush Badoni continued his rich vein of form, smashing an unbeaten 106 for Delhi against Jharkhand. Pulkit Narang ran through Odisha with 6-47 as Services dominated proceedings. Bengal struggled against Kerala, mustering only 172-6 in the 50 overs of play possible. Gujarat were skittled for 223, with Siddhesh Veer picking up four wickets. In response, Maharashtra lost Prithvi Shaw for a duck and finished the day at 24-1.
Delhi 309-5 (Ayush Badoni 106*, Sumit Mathur 50*) vs Jharkhand.
Services 13-0 vs Odisha 194 (Swastik Samal 39, Pulkit Narang 6-47).
Bengal 172-6 (Ankur Paul 66, Aditya Sarvate 3-38) vs Kerala.
Maharashtra 24-1 vs Gujarat 223 (Abhishek Desai 79, Siddhesh Veer 4-20).
Group D
Arjun Azad and Nehal Pajni slammed tons for Chandigarh, who ended the day at 363-2 against Himachal Pradesh. In Mumbai’s match against Haryana, Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Musheer Khan starred with 114 and 109 as Mumbai reached 290-3. Tamil Nadu were 71-3 in response to Railways’ 184 in the first innings, while Uttarakhand bowled out Rajasthan for 272.
Chandigarh 363-2 (Arjun Azad 147, Nehal Pajni 126*) vs Himachal Pradesh.
Mumbai 290-3 (Angkrish Raghuvanshi 114, Musheer Khan 109) vs Haryana.
Tamil Nadu 71-3 vs Railways 184 (Zubair Ali 75, Sonu Yadav 3-46).
Uttarakhand 18-0 vs Rajasthan 272 (Kartik Sharma 73, Devendra Bora 6-72).
Plate Group
In the Plate Group, Nagaland could muster only 187 against Sikkim. Fifteen wickets fell on the opening day in Manipur’s match against Arunachal Pradesh, with the visitors dismissed for just 111. Manipur finished on 165-5. Meanwhile, Ajay Duhan (167*) and Kishan Lyngdoh (144*) put Meghalaya in a commanding position at 385-2 against Mizoram.
Sikkim 30-1 vs Nagaland 187 (Joshua Ozukum 59, Ankur Malik 3-23, Abishek Kumar 3-29).
Manipur 165-5 (Karnajit Yumnam 56, Jotin Pheiroijam 52*) vs Arunachal Pradesh 111 (Ajay Singh 4-27).
Meghalaya 385-2 (Ajay Duhan 167*, Kishan Lyngdoh 144*) vs Mizoram.