Saurashtra fast bowler Jaydev Unadkat claimed his second five-wicket haul this season to shoot Vidarbha out for a paltry 151 on Day One of the Ranji Trophy quarterfinals. With Harbhajan Singh back to lead the team, Punjab took an early advantage after restricting Assam to just 223/8 in Valsad.
Akhil Herwardkar’s century, coupled with an aggressive approach from the rest of the batsmen, propelled Mumbai to 303/6 against Jharkhand while three Madhya Pradesh batsmen scored half-centuries after being asked to bat first by Bengal at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai.
A brief recap of the action that unfolded on the first day.
QF 1: Vidarbha v Saurashtra: Vid 151/10 in 50.4 overs (Wasim Jaffer 41, Umesh Yadav 25; Jaydev Unadkat 5/70) Sau 70/1 (Cheteshwar Pujara 45, Sagar Jogiyani, Umesy Yadav 1/) Trail by 81 runs
Vidarbha face an uphill task just after first day’s play as they were shot out for just 151 runs in 50.4 overs. Left-arm medium fast Jaydev Unadkat struck just on the second ball of the match to dismiss Jitesh Sharma for a duck and played a key role with his five-for. While Jaydev removed the opener and the lower-order, his new ball partner, Hardik Rathod claimed Faiz Fazal and one-drop Ganesh Satish to reduce Vidarbha to 30/3.
Skipper Subramaniam Badrinath departed for 17 and veteran Wasim Jaffer made 41 as Vidarbha huffed and puffed their way to 150 at the Dr P.V.G. Raju ACA Sports Complex, Vizianagaram.
Cheteshwar Pujara then remained not out on 45 from 71 balls as Saurashtra reached 70/1 at Stumps. They now trail Vidarbha by just 81 runs and look set to gain a big first innings lead. A lot will depend on India fast bowler Umesh Yadav, who first struck 25 and then removed Saurashtra opener Avi Barot for five runs performs on the second day. Akshay Wakhare, the tournament’s joint leading wicket taker bowled just one over and will be required to pick wickets on Thursday.
QF 2: Assam v Punjab: Assam 223/8 in 88 overs (Syed Mohammed 50 not out, Pallav Kumar Das 46, Siddharth Kaul 4/81)
The return of Harbhajan Singh (1/11) boosted Punjab as they restricted Assam to 223/8 after electing to field first Sardar Patel Stadium, Valsad. New ball bowler Siddharth Kaul took four wickets while Barinder Sran, fresh from his experience with the national team, claimed two. The Assam batters found Punjab captain and senior offie too hot to handle as he gave away just 11 runs in as many overs.
The Assam openers Pallav Das (46) and Rahul Hazarika (12) had put up a 44-run stand and looked good for a big first innings total.
However, once Harbhajan removed Pallav Das, the team struggled to get going. Syed Mohammed, who has played useful knocks for Assam, once again contributed with the bat. He put up a strong fight and remained not out on 50 off 142 balls.
QF 3: Bengal v Madhya Pradesh: MP 254/4 in 87 overs (Aditya Shrivastava 65, Naman Ojha 64, Harpreet Singh Bhatia 51 not out, Veerpratap Singh 2/55)
The green top at the Cricket Club of India tempted Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary to bowl first, but the result quite did not go his way. Once the early moisture was gone, the bowlers struggled to break the partnership. Although, Madhya Pradesh did not score heavily, three half-centuries from Aditya Shrivastava (65), Naman Ojha (64) and Harpreet Singh Bhatia (51 not out) have put them in a strong position.
Bengal pacer Ashoke Dinda did not get a wicket, but must be credited for trying hard each time he came onto bowl. While his partner Veerpratap Singh took two wickets, senior bowler Pragyan Ojha bowled a tad short before he got the wicket of Shrivastava. Wicketkeeper-batsman Naman Ojha would be disappointed to not get a century after doing all the hard work in the morning session.
QF 4: Jharkhand v Mumbai: Mum 303/6 (Akhil Herwadkar 107, Suryakumar Yadav 75, Jaskaran Singh 2/57, Shahbaz Nadeem 2/96)
They were without their skipper Aditya Tare, but Mumbai still played with aggression after stand-in skipper Abhishek Nayar won the toss and elected to bat first. Though Mumbai lost opener Jay Bista for just nine, they reached the 50-figure mark in just the 13th over. Shreyas Iyer, the tournament’s leading run-getter continued with his aggressive approach.
He smashed eight boundaries in his knock of 45 off 53 balls and was dismissed before the Lunch session. His wicket did not deter Mumbai, as senior batsman Suryakumar Yadav continued to amass runs and shared a 136-run stand with opener Akhil Herwadkar. In the second session, Herwadkar brought up his century in 205 balls, but was dismissed after the addition of seven more runs. Before Stumps, Mumbai crossed the 300-run mark with Nayar batting on 25. For Jharkhand, left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem picked two wickets.
Follow the stars!
Punjab captain Harbhajan Singh bowled 11 overs for just 11 runs and took one wicket
Cheteshwar Pujara struck nine boundaries and remained unbeaten on 45
Jaydev Unadkat dismantled Vidarbha with a five-wicket haul
Umesh Yadav struck 25 off 16 balls and removed Saurashtra opener Avi Barot for five runs
Naman Ojha made 64 off 116 balls for Madhya Pradesh
Pragyan Ojha bowled 16 overs for 47 runs and picked up a wicket for Bengal
