Ranji 2016-17, Round 8, Day 1 Review

Just like the previous rounds of the competition, the opening day of Round 8 of Ranji Trophy 2016-17 also went to the bowlers with a few impressive batting performances. Except Odisha, no team was able to cross the 300-run mark on day 1 whereas as many as 9 teams were bundled out. Bengal was the first team to be dismissed. They were blown away by the 25-year old pace bowling sensation, Shardul Thakur (who took 6/31) for just 99.

In reply, Bengal bowlers did remove the top order of Mumbai by the end of day’s play but have already conceded the first innings lead. In Dhanbad, both Goa and Assam were bowled out on day 1 itself. The Dhanbad track proved to be a paradise for the left arm spinners. First it was Andhra’s Bhargav Bhatt who bagged a 6-wicket haul to shot out Goa for 115 but Shadab Jakati enjoyed even better bowling figures of 8/53 to bring Goa back in the game.

Andhra somehow managed a lead of 44 runs which can prove to be decisive if the track continues to help the slow bowlers. Vidarbha were bowled out for 183 by Delhi whereas a batting unit as strong as that of Karnataka only managed 200 in Patiala where 12 wickets fell on day 1. Baroda’s Babashafi Pathan (5/48) and Sumit Ruikar (5/73) were the other two bowlers to take 5-wicket hauls today.

Gujarat did not miss their captain Parthiv Patel, who they lost due to national duties. Priyank Panchal notched up an unbeaten hundred and Gujarat enjoyed a memorable batting day ending 281/2 against Punjab. Hyderabad and Haryana also had a good batting day with hundreds from their batsmen Tanmay Agarwal and Guntashveer Singh respectively.

Jharkhand finished the day on 251/4 and with Ishank Jaggi still unbeaten on 80 and the in-form Ishan Kishan yet to come to bat, they will be expecting a huge first innings total tomorrow. The most highlighted batting performance of the day would be of Suresh Raina who put a fluent 91 against his name in otherwise a dismal batting card for Uttar Pradesh.

Brief Scores:

(Group A)

Bengal v Mumbai, Nagpur

Bengal 99 all out (Shardul Thakur 6/31)

Mumbai 164/5 (Kaustubh Pawar 78)

Mumbai lead by 65 runs

Baroda v Madhya Pradesh, Dharamsala

MP 217 all out (Babashafi Pathan 5/48)

Baroda  31/2

Baroda trail by 186 runs

Gujarat v Punjab, Belagavi

Gujarat 281/2 (Priyank Panchal 134*, Bhargav Merai 65)

Uttar Pradesh v Railways, Rajkot

UP 259 all out (Suresh Raina 91, Karn Sharma 4/48)

Railways 18/1

Railways trail by 241 runs

(Group B)

Saurashtra v Karnataka, Patiala

Karnataka  200 all out (Manish Pandey 75, JM Chauhan 3/52)

Saurashtra 19/2 (Vinay Kumar 2/1)

Saurashtra trail by 181 runs

Delhi v Vidarbha, Chennai

Vidarbha 183 all out (Shalabh Srivastava 65, Sumit Narwal 4/38)

Delhi 12/1

Delhi trail by 171 runs

Odisha v Maharashtra, Kerala

Odisha 311/9 (Biplab Samantray 89, Anupam Sanklecha 4/75)

Jharkhand v Assam, Vizianagaram

Jharkhand 251/4 (Saurabh Tiwary 88, Ishank Jaggi 80*)

(Group C)

Himachal Pradesh v Haryana, Valsad

Haryana 235/5 (Guntashveer Singh 109*, Kanwar Singh 3/48)

Chhattisgarh v Services, Mumbai

Services 225 all out (Nakul Verma 54, Sumit Ruikar 5/73)

Chhattisgarh 8/0

Chhattisgarh trail by 217 runs

Hyderabad v Jammu and Kashmir, Vadodara

Hyderabad 234/3 (Tanmay Agarwal 106*)

Andhra v Goa, Dhanbad

Goa 115 all out (Bhargav Bhatt 6/36, Bukkapatnam Siddharth 4/52)

Andhra 159 all out (Srikar Bharat 68, Shadab Jakati 8/53)

Andhra lead by 44 runs

Kerala v Tripura, Cuttack

Tripura 213 all out (Yashpal Singh 50, Sandeep Warrier 3/34)

Kerala 11/0

Kerala trail by 202 runs