Pacer Simarjeet Singh Shines For Delhi; Musheer Khan Slams Ton For Mumbai In Ranji Trophy

Pacer Simarjeet Singh bowled a sharp opening spell to reduce Jammu and Kashmir to 31 for 3 after eight home batters contributed just 20 runs in Delhi's below-par 211 on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group D match, Saturday. Simarjeet moved the ball both ways to first dismiss Shubham Khajuria, who was caught by Ayush Doseja and then removed Qamran Iqbal, who edged one to Sanat Sangwan in the slips.

Nightwatchman Sunil Kumar was bowled by an incoming delivery as Delhi after a forgettable batting effort smelt blood during the final hour of the day at Feroze Shah Kotla Ground.

With the new ball only 13 overs old, Simarjeet and fellow pacer Money Grewal will like to exploit the underlying moisture, which is a regular feature at Kotla during winters.

And that was precisely the reason, why Delhi's opening duo of Arpit Rana (0) and Sanat Sangwan (12) were all at sea against Auqib Nabi (5/35) and Sunil Kumar (1/29), who got some swing and seam movement.

Rana dabbed at a delivery from Nabi and was caught by IPL specialist Abdul Samad in the slips. Yash Dhull (1) was slightly unlucky as the delivery from Sunil had deviated enough and didn't take the outside edge of his bat but was ruled out.

Sangwan was done by left-arm spinner Vanshaj Sharma, whose ball stopped as the left-hander wanted to whip it but the uppish drive was taken at mid-wicket.

Skipper Ayush Badoni (64 off 82 balls) and his namesake Ayush Doseja (65 off 143 balls) added 104 for the fourth wicket after Delhi's top three were blown away for just 14 runs inside the first 10 overs.

The stockily-built left-hander Doseja added another 68 with all-rounder Sumit Mathur (55 not out, 115 balls) but at 182 for 4, Delhi lost their next six wickets for just 27 runs as seamer Nabi (5/35) continued his fine form with his third five-wicket haul of the season.

As many as five Delhi batters failed to disturb the scorers as Delhi had nothing to show save the two stands but both Badoni and Doseja were guilty of not converting their half-centuries into three-figure mark.

In case of Mathur, he was stranded at the other end despite looking in good touch.

Musheer, Lad tons take Mumbai to 289/5 vs HP

Opener Musheer Khan (112) and veteran Siddhesh Lad (100 batting) added 157 runs between them for the fifth wicket as Mumbai reached a position of stability to end the opening day at 289 for five against Himachal Pradesh in Mumbai.

Mumbai were reduced to 73 for 4 after another failure from Team India hopeful Sarfaraz Khan (16) was trapped leg before by KKR seamer Vaibhav Arora.

However Musheer and Lad struck a fine stand with former hitting 14 boundaries in his 162 ball knock and the latter had 12 fours and six during his undefeated 207-ball stay at the crease.

Brief Scores At New Delhi: Delhi 211 in 69 overs (Ayush Doseja 65, Ayush Badoni 64, Sumit Mathur 55 no, Auqib Nabi 5/35). Jammu and Kashmir 1st Innings 31/3 in 13 overs (Simarjeet Singh 3/14) At Mumbai: Mumbai 1st Innings 289/5 in 88 overs (Musheer Khan 112, Siddhesh Lad 100 batting, Arpit Guleria 2/56) vs HP.

Bengal rescued by Anustup, Shahbaz

A gritty century from Anustup Majumdar and a fluent half-century by Shahbaz Ahmed rescued Bengal from early trouble and helped them reach a strong 273 for five against Railways on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group match here on Friday.

Opting to bat first, Bengal found themselves in early trouble against a disciplined Railways attack.

Skipper Sudip Gharami (0) fell early to Adarsh Singh, while Aditya Purohit (6) and Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal (5) also departed cheaply, leaving the visitors reeling at 27 for three inside the first 27 overs.

Wicketkeeper Habib Gandhi (28) attempted to steady the innings but his dismissal to left-arm spinner Kunal Yadav at 61 threatened to undo the brief recovery.

That was when Majumdar, one of Bengal's most seasoned campaigners, rose to the occasion.

The 41-year-old right-hander, known for his ability to anchor long innings, showcased immense composure on a sluggish track to bring up his 18th first-class century.

He remained unbeaten on 103 off 161 balls, an innings decorated with 12 boundaries.

Majumdar found an ideal partner in Shahbaz, who counter-attacked in style. The left-hander mixed aggression with control, playing some delightful strokes en route to a brisk 86 off 106 balls, which included 12 fours and three sixes.

The pair's 134-run partnership for the fifth wicket changed the complexion of the innings, frustrating the Railways bowlers who had dominated the morning session.

Shahbaz, who looked set for a century, fell to Karn Sharma late in the evening, caught at mid-off while attempting to accelerate.

Towards the close, Sumanta Gupta (39 not out off 56 balls) provided excellent support to Majumdar. The duo added an unbroken 78-run stand for the sixth wicket to ensure Bengal ended the day in control.

For Railways, Kunal Yadav was the standout performer, finishing with 3 for 56 from 19 tidy overs.

Adarsh Singh (1/29) and Karn Sharma (1/64) picked up a wicket each, but the rest of the attack struggled to extract any help from the surface.

The first session clearly belonged to Railways, but Majumdar's experience and Shahbaz's fluency swung the momentum in Bengal's favour by stumps.

Bengal will look to push the total beyond 350 on the second day to strengthen their position further.

Brief Scores:

At Raipur: Chattisgarh 1st Innings 201/4 in 86 overs (Sanjeet Desai 69, Amandeep Khare 41, Puneet Datey 2/37) vs Puducherry.

At Hyderabad: Hyderabad 1st Innings 295/7 in 89 overs (Rahul Radesh 85 not out, Aniket Chaudhary 2/35) vs Rajasthan. 

At Surat: Bengal 1st innings: 273/5 in 85 overs (Anustup Majumdar 103 batting, Shahbaz Ahmed 86, Sumanta Gupta 39 batting; Kunal Yadav 3/56, Adarsh Singh 1/29, Karn Sharma 1/64).

At Agartala: Tripura 1st innings: 316 for 4 in 84 overs (Hanuma Vihari 143 batting, Sentu Sarkar 94; Darshan Rajbongshi 2/52) vs Assam.

At Rohtak: Haryana 1st innings: 112 all out in 48.1 overs (Yuvraj Singh 30, Ankit Kumar 23; Jagadeesha Suchith 5/27, Mayank Mishra 4/38) Uttarakhand 1st innings: 126 for 2 in 46 overs (Kunal Chandela 37 batting, J Suchith 35 batting; Nishant Sindhu 2/41).

At Nadiad: Services 1st innings: 203 for 8 in 90 overs (Shivam Kumar 37, Rajat Palwal 36; Siddharth Desai 3/55, Vishal Jaiswal 2/61).

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)