Ranji Trophy: Shreevats Goswami's Ton Helps Bengal Fightback Against Goa

Shreevats Goswami and Anustup Majumdar struck sublime centuries to help Bengal wriggle out from a poor start and reach 305 for five on day one of their Ranji Trophy Group D game against Goa on Saturday. The 22-year-old debutant medium pacer Lakshay Garg (2/55) rattled Bengal's top order by removing Sudip Chatterjee (1) and captain Manoj Tiwary (0) in successive overs to have them struggling at 20 for three inside 13 overs after Goa opted to bowl on an Eden Gardens greentop. But Goswami struck a 194-ball 139 (20x4) in a 213-run fifth wicket partnership with Majumdar, who remained unbeaten on 107 from 182 balls (13x4). The duo enabled Bengal seize the momentum after Goa dominated the first session.

Writtick Chatterjee was unbeaten on six along with Majumdar when bad light stopped play at 84 overs on day one.

Bengal need three points to seal a knock-out berth.

Earlier, Goa medium-pacers made full use of the conditions with Felix Alemao (1/67) giving the breakthrough in his first over of the day when he trapped Abhishek Raman (1) lbw with Bengal scorecard reading 1/1 in 1.4 overs.

Brief scores: Bengal 1st innings: 305 for 5 in 84 overs (Shreevats Goswami 139, Anustup Majumdar 107 batting; Amulya Pandrekar 2/50, Lakshay Garg 2/55) vs Goa.

-- Swapnil Singh's fighting knock keeps Tamil Nadu bowlers at bay --

A determined knock of 94 not out by Swapnil K Singh helped Baroda make 254 for 8 in 87 overs at stumps on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy Group C match against Tamil Nadu at Motibaug Cricket Ground on Saturday. Electing to bat after winning the toss in a must-win game for both teams, the home side made slow progress and lost wickets at regular intervals before Swapnil did the rescue act.

Opener Kedar Devdhar added 29 runs for the first wicket before falling to a catch by M Mohammed off K Vignesh for 17.

The other opener Aditya Waghmode, who scored centuries in two previous matches, put on 29 for the second wicket with Vishnu Solanki before becoming Vignesh's second victim.

Brief scores: Baroda 254 for 8 in 87 overs (Swapnil K Singh 94 batting, K R Kakade 42, J Kousik 2 for 28, K Vignesh 2 for 38) vs Tamil Nadu.

-- Himmat Singh's 99 put Delhi in driver's seat --

Young batsman Himmat Singh missed out on his maiden first class hundred after being run out on 99 but strong batting throughout helped Delhi reach a strong 336 for five against Hyderabad on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group A match, on Saturday.

The 21-year-old Himmat, playing only his second first class game, provided solidity to the Delhi innings with his his brilliant batting at number four but was run out going for the milestone.

His 99 came off 151 balls and he hit 15 shots to the fence during his three hour and 27 minute stay at the crease. Gautam Gambhir scored a quick-fire 33 with seven boundaries before being caught and bowled by left-arm spinner Mehdi Hasan, who also trapped Chandela later in the innings.

Talented Rishabh Pant had a disappointing outing as he managed only 16 runs when the stage was set to dominate the home bowlers.

Dharam Shorey (32) also got a start but could not convert it into a big knock. He was cleaned up by off-spinner P Sairam.

At stumps, Manan Sharma (16) was giving compnay to Yadav.

-- Avi Barot hits century as Saurashtra reach 286/3 on Day 1 --

Avi Barot scored an unbeaten century as Saurashtra reached 286 for three at stumps on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group B match against Rajasthan on Saturday.

Put in to bat, Saurashtra did not have an ideal start as they lost both the openers -- Kishan Parmar (12) and Snell Patel (17) cheaply.

But Barot and Robin Uthappa bailed Saurashtra out of trouble with a crucial 126-run stand for the third wicket. Uthappa fell after scoring 59 runs from 101 deliveries that included 11 hits to the fence.

Barot remained unbeaten on 128 off 255 balls, studded with 18 boundaries.

Brief scores:
Saurashtra 1st innings: 286 for 3 in 86 overs (Avi Barot
128 batting, Robin Uthappa 59, Sheldon Jackson 54 batting; TM
Ul-Haq 2/48).