Madhya Pradesh captain, Devendra Bundela became the most capped player in the history of Ranji Trophy when he stepped out on the field for the match against Baroda. Playing in his 137th game, he was the top-scorer for his side with 86 runs in the eighth-round match of the Ranji Trophy 2016-17.
Suresh Raina scored 91 on return to domestic cricket to help Uttar Pradesh to a respectable first innings score while Gujarat opener Priyank Panchal scored his ninth first-class century as he anchored the innings. In Nagpur, Mumbai pacers – Shardul Thakur and Dhawal Kulkarni - bundled Bengal out for 99.
Group A, Round 8 – Day 1 Round-up:
Bengal vs Mumbai in Nagpur: Bengal 1st 99/10 (S Chatterjee 35, S Thakur 6/31, D Kulkarni 3/22); Mumbai 1st inn 164/5 in 42 overs (K Pawar 78, A Tare 13*) Lead by 65 runs
Mumbai pacers – Shardul Thakur and Dhawal Kulkarni - skittled out Bengal for 99 after Aditya Tare opted to field.
Thakur set the tone by claiming the Bengal openers and finished with six for 31 while his new-ball partner Kulkarni wrapped up the tail. Senior all-rounder Abhishek Nayar chipped in with one wicket.
Kaustubh Pawar then led Mumbai’s reply with a 112-ball 78. In the absence of Akhil Herwadkar, he opened the innings with Jay Bista and the pair put together 58 runs before the youngster was sent back by Amit Kuila. Shreyas Iyer then helped in seizing the first innings lead but was sent back by Ashoke Dinda leaving the side on 119 for two. Trapped lbw by Mukesh Kumar, Suryakumar Yadav followed him back after chipping in with just eight runs. The opener was the next to return to the dressing room leaving Mumbai on 147 for four. In the penultimate over before stumps, the team lost Nayar for five. Tare then took the team to stumps at 164 for five with Kulkarni.
Baroda vs Madhya Pradesh in Dharamsala: MP 1st inn 217/10 in 67.5 overs (D Bundela 86, B Pathan 5/48, I Pathan 2/51); Baroda 1st inn 31/2 in 15 overs (A Waghmode 10*, D Hooda 14*) Trail by 186 runs
The Baroda pace attack under the captaincy of Irfan Pathan bowled MP out for 217 after electing to field. B Pathan picked his maiden five-for as ran through the MP lineup with S Manglorkar (two wickets) while the skipper wrapped the game with two wickets. As wickets tumbled, MP captain Devendra Bundela playing in his landmark game stoically held up one end and was the ninth batsman to return to the pavilion. With his team on 217, the senior campaigner was run out for 86 off 120 balls by Kedar Devdhar. Later in the over, Irfan trapped Chandrakant Sakure lbw to end the MP innings.
MP pacer Puneet Datey then claimed Kedar Devdhar and Dhiren Mistry to leave Baroda on seven for two. With the innings on the backfoot, Aditya Waghmode and Deepak Hooda took Baroda to stumps on 31 for two.
Gujarat vs Punjab in Belgaum: Gujarat 1st inn 281/2 in 82 overs (P Panchal 134*, B Merai 65, R Bhatt 55*)
After losing his opening partner S Gohil with just 27 runs on the board, Priyank Panchal forged a 143-run stand with Bhargav Merai to lay the foundation for a solid total. After the No 3 bat was sent back for 65 by Sandeep Sharma, the opener found an able ally in R Bhatt to carry the innings forward.
In an unbroken 111-run partnership for the third wicket, Panchal (134*) and Bhatt (55*) took Gujarat to stumps on 281 for two.
Uttar Pradesh vs Railways at Rajkot: UP 1st inn 259/10 in 70.3 overs (S Raina 91, S Kumar 53, K Sharma 4/48, A Singh 4/67); Railways 1st inn 18/1 in 14 overs () Trail by 241 runs
Back at the helm, Suresh Raina helped Uttar Pradesh to a respectable 259 in the first innings with a 91-run knock. After Karn Thakur had bowled Samarth Singh for one, skipper Karn Sharma and pacer Anureet Singh dealt blows at regular intervals to keep the batsmen in check. As wickets tumbled, the left-hand bat anchored the innings with a well compiled 109-ball knock. Besides the skipper’s determined effort, Saurabh Kumar lower down the order contributed a valuable 53 runs to total and was the last wicket to fall. Karn and Anureet picked four wickets each as they bowled UP out after electing to field.
Praveen Kumar then accounted for Shivakant Shukla to leave Railways on 17 for one. Saurabh Wakaskar and A Sherawat then saw the team through to the end of day’s play.
