Ranji Trophy: Jammu And Kashmir Take Control vs Hyderabad; Sharandeep Singh Lifts Jharkhand vs Andhra Pradesh
Pacer Auqib Nabi continued his rich vein of form to return 3/30 as Hyderabad, yet to lose a match this season, were trailing by 82 runs at stumps.
As many as 16 wickets fell on the opening day as visitors Hyderabad were left reeling at 88/6 after bundling out Jammu and Kashmir for 170 on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group D match on Sunday. Pacer Auqib Nabi continued his rich vein of form to return 3/30 as Hyderabad, yet to lose a match this season, were trailing by 82 runs at stumps. Reduced to 32/5 while batting first, J&K were bolstered by a stroke-filled 57 (49 balls, 9x4s) from Abid Mushtaq at No. 7, who put on 60 runs for the sixth wicket with Abdul Samad and another 47 for the seventh wicket with Sahil Lotra.
Hyderabad bowlers Kartikeya Kak (3/48) and Tanay Thyagarajan (3/19) did well to give their side the advantage, but a poor response with the bat undid their effort.
Nabi struck on the third ball to remove Tanmay Agarwal (0) and Abhirath Reddy (5), followed by Nitish Reddy (3), who was caught by Umar Nazir.
Skipper Rahul Singh Gahlaut dropped anchor at one end but he fell for 48.
In Mumbai, both Musheer Khan and comeback batter Akhil Herwadkar missed their centuries while Siddhesh Lad made 80 not out (132 balls, 9x4s, 1x6s), as the hosts reached 317/3 against Pondicherry.
India batter Sarfaraz Khan was batting on 29.
Playing their first match of the season at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai made merry on a flat pitch on which fresh green grass on the first day morning led Pondicherry skipper Sagar Udeshi, who had played cricket in the city in his early days, to field.
Udeshi's decision proved wrong as Mumbai raced to a brisk start with openers Ayush Mhatre (36) and Musheer putting on a half-century stand in the first 10 overs.
Both Mhatre and Musheer pounced on every opportunity to score as Pondicherry bowlers struggled for control.
But the young Mhatre paid the price of playing one shot too many when he committed on the front foot to poke one outside the off-stump and was caught behind by another Mumbai-born player in the opposition camp, Siddhant Aadhhathrao off Abin Mathew.
The dismissal brought Herwadkar at the crease and the left-hander, replacing Ajinkya Rahane who was unavailable for this game, put on 119 runs with Musheer.
Musheer (84 off 102 balls, 11x4s) was by far the best batter on the day for Mumbai as his crisp hits, particularly drives down the ground, stood out. He looked set for a second consecutive ton but Sabhay Chadha had him caught by Paras Ratnaparkhe for 84.
Herwadkar, playing his first game for Mumbai since 2018, showed resolve to play an impactful innings even though he was dropped twice. While there was no century in the end for the left-hander, he did well to make 86 off 188 balls with 11 fours.
Herwadkar said he was nervous on his comeback but grew in confidence as the innings progressed.
“I was a little nervous. I won't lie. I was playing the Ranji Trophy in Bombay after a long time. But the way Musheer was playing on the wicket, it gave me confidence,” he told the media.
“I decided that the more I play, the better it would be for me,” Herwadkar added.
At Rajsamand, centuries from opener Sachin Yadav (130) and Kunal Singh (103) led Rajasthan to 263/4 at the end of play against Delhi.
Yadav struck 17 fours and two sixes to make 130 while Rathore played a perfect second fiddle, making 102 off 198 balls (11 fours, 1 six). Both the batters fell towards the end of play as Delhi made crucial breakthroughs.
Chhattisgarh also enjoyed a successful day out while visiting the Amtar Cricket Ground in Himachal Pradesh's Nadaun, reaching 319/3 against the hosts.
Anuj Tiwary scored a 260-ball 162 (20x4s, 3x6s) with opener Ayush Pandey making 59. Sanjeet Desai was batting on 76.
Meanwhile, in Jamshedpur, young opener Sharandeep Singh overcame a lean patch to score a century as Jharkhand looked set for a 300-plus score on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group A match against Andhra.
Sharandeep, 22, came good after back-to-back disappointments by scoring a 209-ball 115 as he led his side to 259 for six after a none-too-impressive start, which saw Jharkhand's top order unable to make an impact on their home turf.
With opener Shikhar Mohan and last game's double-centurion Kumar Kushagra walking back early, Sharandeep, who had two single-digit scores against Baroda in the previous game and just one half-century this first-class season, came up with some inspired batting to make a big contribution.
Playing in his 11th first-class game Sharandeep, who will turn 23 in 10 days, relied on his ground strokes to smash 16 boundaries and share two vital half-century partnerships with skipper Virat Singh (41) and Aditya Singh (29).
The right-hand batter first stitched a 78-run stand with Virat and then a 62-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Aditya as Jharkhand made a comeback from from 73 for 2.
Andhra's veteran right-arm pacer KV Sasikanth (3/50) and left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar (2/63) managed to tie down the Jharkhand batters, who have scored two 500-plus totals this Ranji season.
In Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu batting stalwart Baba Indrajith scored an unbeaten 128, his 17th first-class ton, while teenage middle-order batter C Andre Siddarth hit 121 as the southern team reached 282 for 5 in 81.3 overs against Uttar Pradesh.
In Nagpur, table-toppers Vidarbha suffered a middle-order meltdown to be all out for 169 in 58 overs against Baroda. The hosts then reached 70 for 2 thanks to a 59-run stand between Jyotsnil Singh (27 not out) and Shashwat Rawat (33).
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Jammu and Kashmir