Ranji Trophy 2014, Round 4, Day 1

Group A

Tamil Nadu v Railways

After opting to bat, hosts Tamil Nadu were propped up by a half-century from opener Abhinav Mukund. He fell in the last over on a day where only 49 overs were possible. Baba Indrajith remained unbeaten on 39.

Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 144/4 (Abhinav Mukund 57, Ashish Yadav 2/49) v Railways

Madhya Pradesh v Baroda

Opener Saurabh Wakaskar and Deepak Hooda starred for Baroda after they were put in to bat. Hosts Madhya Pradesh managed to strike at regular intervals but the honours were even at stumps on day 1.

Brief scores: Baroda 291/6 (S Wakaskar 94, D Hooda 82*, Avesh Khan 2/34) v Madhya Pradesh

Bengal v Mumbai

Shreyas Iyer enhanced his reputation with another fine knock. Mumbai were put in to bat but they managed to dominate throughout. Shreyas Iyer was given good support by Abhishek Nayar. Even though both batsmen fell late in the day, Mumbai still retained the upper hand.

Brief Scores: Mumbai 306/4 (Shreyas Iyer 153, Abhishek Nayar 65) v Bengal

Jammu & Kashmir v Uttar Pradesh:

In another curtailed day, Uttar Pradesh retained the upper hand with a solid show after winning the toss.

Brief Scores: Uttar Pradesh 113/0 (Tanmay Srivastava 56*, Akash Verma 55*) v J&K

Group B:

Delhi v Gujarat: 

Unmukt Chand kept up his impressive form as he anchored Delhi's first innings with an unbeaten 97 on a fog-hit curtailed opening day. The right-hander was in fine form, smashing twelve fours and four sixes during his 170-ball knock. Gautam Gambhir was out for a patient 66, while Virender Sehwag was unbeaten on 2. Jesal Karia was the wicket-taker for the visitors.

Saurashtra v Punjab

Harbhajan Singh's decision to bat first proved to be the right one as his batsmen gave Punjab a superb start to the match. It was a day completely dominated by batsmen with Mandeep Singh and Yuvraj Singh leading the way. Both batsmen remained unbeaten to make it much better for Punjab.

Brief Scores: Punjab 327/3 (Mandeep Singh 154*, Yuvraj Singh 95*)

Rajasthan v Vidarbha

Pankaj Singh ripped through Vidarbha's top order after Rajasthan opted to bowl. The visitors were in danger of being bowled out for a below par score before a splendid ton from Shalabh Shrivastava resurrected them.

Brief Scores: Vidarbha 236/6 (S Shrivastava 105*, Pankaj Singh 4/85)

Haryana v Odisha

Batting first, Haryana suffered a horrible collapse with Basant Mohanty, Suryakant Pradhan and Deepak Behera taking three wickets each as they were bowled out for a paltry 127. In reply, Odisha were 39/0.

Group C: 
Assam v Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh had Ankush Bains to thank for a solid batting effort as his fine hundred helped HP finish Day 1 on a strong note. The right-hander ended the day at a superb unbeaten 152. Paras Dogra too contributed with an unbeaten fifty as they ended the day at 282/2.

Abu Nechim and Sibsankar Roy were the best bowlers for the hosts, taking one wicket each.

Brief Scores: Himachal Pradesh 282 for 2 (Bains 156*, Dogra 76*, Sibsankar Roy 1/19) v Assam

Jharkhand v Kerala at Dhanbad
Jharkhand and Kerala shared honours on the opening day, with Virat Singh, who scored his maiden hundred, and Rohan Prem (2/19) impressing the most. Ishan Kishan and Rameez Nemat provided the hosts with a strong start, but Jharkhand kept losing wickets at regular intervals there after to end the day at 246/6. They would have been in a stronger position had Virat, like his namesake playing for India, not gotten himself dismissed off the last ball of the day.
Brief Scores: Jharkhand 246 for 6 (Virat 100, Rameez Nemat 44, Rohan Prem 2/19) v Kerala

Tripura v Goa
Rana Dutta continued his fine form as he delivered a lethal spell of pace bowling to take six for 57 and reduce the visitors to 234/8 at stumps on Day 1. Amogh Desai and Reagen Pinto were the only batsmen to show some resistance as they notched up hard-working fifties for Goa.
Brief Scores: Goa 234 for 8 (Pinto 78*, Desai 60, Dutta 6-57) v Tripura