Ranji Trophy 2019-20 | Elite Group A - Vidarbha, Punjab dominate on opening day

12/17/2019

Vidarbha skipper Faiz Fazal scored a brilliant century to give Vidarbha an early advantage while spinners Mayank Markande and Gurkeerat Singh dominate to provide Punjab with an early impetus. Elsewhere, Sanju Samson scored a brilliant century for Kerala while Andhra and Delhi share even honours.

Faiz Fazal, Wasim Jaffer hand Vidarbha an early advantage

Brief scores: Vidarbha 288/4 (Fazal 136, Jaffer 60; Tanveer 2/46) vs Rajasthan at Stumps on Day 1

Skipper Faiz Fazal played a brilliant knock of 136 and was ably accompanied by seasoned pro Wasim Jaffer with a well-made 60 as Vidarbha scored 288 runs and lost just 4 wickets in the entire day. Rajasthan bowlers had to toil very hard but barring Tanveer-ul-Haq, no other bowler looked really up to the mark and Vidarbha will be hopeful of piling on more misery on the second day.

Samson, Uthappa keep honours even on Day one

Brief Scores: Kerala 237/7 (Samson 116, Uthappa 50; Nandi 2/46, Ahmed 2/55) vs Bengal at stumps on Day 1

Batting first, Kerala were in a spot of bother as openers Poonam Rahul and Jalaj Saxena failed to give them a steady start, thanks to some great bowling from Ishan Porel and Mukesh Kumar. At 53-3, Robin Uthappa joined Sanju Samson to string a wonderful partnership in the middle for the fourth wicket, adding 138 runs. Samson scored a brilliant hundred while Uthappa reached his half-century steading the ship for Kerala. Just when things looked to go in the favour of the batting side, Shahbaz Ahmed and Arnab Nandi bowled brilliant spells to restrict Kerala to 237-7 at the end of day's play, with both sides being relatively happy.

Punjab spinners dominate on day one despite Hyderbad's resistance

Brief Scores: Hyderabad 242 all-out (Sumanth 79, Himalay 68; Gurkeerat 4/34, Markande 3/65) vs Punjab at stumps on Day 1

Hyderabad batted first and the openers were sent packing early as they were reduced quickly to 53-4 thanks to some brilliant seam bowling from Sandeep Sharma. Himalay Agarwal along with keeper Kolla Sumanth staged a strong fightback with the former scoring 68 runs and the keeper contributing 79 runs to the total. However, Gurkeerat Singh Mann and Mayank Markande spun a web around the batsmen as Hyderabad were bowled out for 242 handing an early initiative to Punjab in the game.

KV Sasikanth stars for Andhra but late wickets keep Delhi in the game

Brief Scores: Andhra 16-2 (Gnaneshwar 9, Suyal 1/4) trail Delhi 215 (Yadav 51, Sasikanth 5/38) by 199 runs at Stumps on Day 1

Delhi batted first against Andhra and after a wobbly start were steadied by skipper Nitish Rana and Lalit Yadav's half-centuries. But just as things seemed to be under control, KV Sasikanth rattled the Delhi batsmen and picked up a five-wicket haul to bowl them out for 215. Delhi knew that they had to take quick wickets as they did not have enough runs on the board in the first innings. Navdeep Saini and Pawan Suyal were right on the money as they sent both the Andhra openers packing and Andhra ended the day on 16-2, trailing Delhi by 199 runs.