Mumbai were in control of the proceedings on the first day of the last round of the Ranji Trophy 2015-16 league phase as Akhil Herwadkar and Surya Kumar Yadav posted centuries against Gujarat.
As spinners from either side ran through the batting lineups, 21 wickets fell on the first day in the match between Tamil Nadu and Punjab. Left-arm spinner Rajwinder Golu stood out for Punjab with his all-round performance in the game. He tipped the balance in the Punjab’s favour with a six-wicket haul and a valuable contribution with the bat.
In Noida, captain Ambati Rayudu held the Baroda innings together against UP.
Here is the wrap-up of Day 1, Round 9:Mumbai vs Gujarat: Mum 1st inn 370/2 (A Herwadkar 143*, SK Yadav 103*, S Iyer 75, RP Singh 1/46)
The Mumbai batsmen blunted the Gujarat attack as they piled on the runs on the first day at the Wankhede Stadium. Opener Akhil Herwadkar scored his second century of the season as he remained unbeaten on 143 while Surya Kumar Yadav too notched up his second ton of the season and was not out on 103 at stumps. Mumbai's prolific run-scorer since last season, Shreyas Iyer missed out on his hundred by 25 runs. The RP Singh-led attack was plundered by the hosts top-order as the table-toppers dominated the day.
Madhya Pradesh vs Andhra: MP 1st inn 261/9 (HS Bhatia 81, R Khan 73, A Bandaru 5/59, CS Kishore 3/85)
After GS Rao claimed Jalaj Saxena for 14, Ayyappa Bandaru and Chikkam Kishore dealt blows at regular intervals to keep MP in check as Andhra fight to avoid relegation. The 23-year old pacer claimed his second five-wicket haul in first-class cricket as he ran through the lower-half of the MP lineup including the wicket of Devendra Bundela while Kishore, who accounted for Naman Ojha, finished the day with three wickets.
Harpreet Singh Bhatia top-scored for hosts in Indore with 81. Rameez Khan was not out on 73 at stumps, while Ishwar Pandey was batting on 20 at the other end.
Tamil Nadu vs Punjab: Pun 1st inn 206/10 (Y Singh 49, BS Sran 33, R Golu 23*, DT Chandrasekar 3/43); TN 1st inn 68/10 (Kousik J 30, R Golu 6/29, H Singh 3/30); Pun 2nd inn 36/1 (J Singh 10*, M Rangarajan 1/1) Lead by 174 runs
Yuvraj Singh's 49 followed by Barinder Singh Sran's 33 and Rajwinder Golu's 23* lower down the order lifted Punjab to a respectable 206 before being bowled out by the Tamil Nadu spinners. DT Chandrasekar picked three wickets while Rahil Shah and Malolan Rangarajan claimed two each as they wrapped up the visitors innings in Dindigul.
However, the Punjab spinners bundled TN out for a paltry 68 to take a 138-run first innings lead. Golu, who had made a useful contribution with the bat earlier in the day returned to run through the hosts batting lineup in tandem with his captain. The left-arm spinner claimed six for 29 while captain Harbhajan Singh took three for 30 as Punjab, who are at No 3 in the points table seek a victory to consolidate their position in bid for a place in the knock-outs.
The visitors then lost one wicket in their second innings until stumps, and were 36 for one.
Uttar Pradesh vs Baroda: Baroda 1st inn 242/5 (A Rayudu 70, A Waghmode 56, P Kumar 2/34)
Propelled by Ambati Rayudu's 70*, Baroda finished the day with a respectable total on the board against the Praveen Kumar-led attack. The Baroda captain was batting with Irfan Pathan (18*) when play ended for the day.
UP pacer Praveen Kumar claimed both the openers while Kuldeep Yadav and Saurabh Kumar took a wicket each.
Follow the stars:
Naman Ojha departed for 22 in the first innings against Andhra.
RP Singh claimed the sole wicket of Jay Bista in Gujarat's match against Mumbai.
Axar Patel bowled 16 overs for 68 runs without capturing a wicket against Mumbai.
Playing for Gujarat, Ramesh Powar too went wicketless and conceded 65 off 15 overs.
Yusuf Pathan was bowled by Kuldeep Yadav for 18.
UP captain Suresh Raina bowled a maiden over against Baroda.
