Ranji Trophy 2017-18, Round 1 - Day 1 Review

The first round of Ranji Trophy 2017-18 went underway today (October 8), with 24 teams taking the field on the first day. In the south-Indian derby, Andhra surely have the upper-hand, as they bundled out the mighty Tamil Nadu batting lineup for just 176 runs. The experienced players like Murali Vijay and Abhinav Mukund failed to make a mark, as Bhargav Bhatt and Yarra Prithviraj annihilated them.

The Haryana v Saurashtra match is in a perfect balance to keep a neutral’s interest alive in the game, with the away side scoring 271 runs for the loss of 7 wickets. Ashish Hooda rattled the Saurashtran top order, later in the day, Prerak Mankad and Chirag Jani bought the team back into the game, with the former scoring well-composed 68 runs.

Rajasthan are at the moment finally finding it easy against Jammu & Kashmir, as Pankaj Singh’s team scored 249 runs after losing just 4 wickets. Robin Bist remains their best performer of the day. The centurion is not out on 105, as Parvez Rasool’s warriors must pull their socks up. Underdogs Assam scored 224 runs on the first game against the mighty Delhi side, but only after losing 7 wickets. Their hopes of reaching the 250-run mark depend on Swarupam Purkayastha, who is not out on 57. Newly appointed skipper Ishant Sharma took 3 wickets.

Just like Andhra, Uttar Pradesh’s bowlers also had a superb day in the office, as all Railways could only manage to score 182 runs against them. Ankit Rajpoot and Zeeshan Ansari were too hot to handle for them, and skipper Suresh Raina also picked up a couple of wickets to complete what has been an amazing season opener for UP.

Jharkhand has just managed to score 200 runs against Kerala, with just one wicket in hand. Jalaj Saxena was perhaps the best bowler of the day, as the Kerala lad picked up 6 wickets. Madhya Pradesh v Baroda is another game which remains in equilibrium, as the hosts have 268 runs on the board after losing half of their team. Devendra Bundela missed out on his century by just one run, while Shubham Sharma is just 12 runs away from his hundred.

Services v Bengal is turning out to be a one-sided game, as Manoj Tiwary‘s men scored 341 runs from 89 overs after losing just 3 wickets. Sudip Chatterjee was another centurion of the day, and standing not out on 114, he has a great chance of converting it into something bigger. Chhattisgarh scampered for their 189 runs sacrificing 5 wickets. Legendary Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif is not out on 49, and might even look for a ton.

But all said and done, Himachal Pradesh were the best performers of the day. They probably weren’t aware that this is not an ODI game and blasted 459 runs in the first game against Punjab. Prashant Chopra was undoubtedly the best performer of the day, scoring 271 runs from just 289 balls. While he remains not out and has a chance to score a triple century, Paras Dogra is just one run away from his century. Not a single ball was bowled in the Odisha v Tripura and the Hyderabad v Maharashtra game.

Brief scores

Andhra v Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu 176/10 (Baba Aparajith 51; Bhargav Bhatt 4/52)

Haryana v Saurashtra

Saurashtra 271/7 (Prerak Mankad 58; Ashish Hooda 4/59)

Rajasthan v Jammu and Kashmir

Rajasthan 249/4 (Robin Bist 105*; Mohammed Mudhasir 3/66)

Delhi v Assam

Assam 224/7 (Swarupam Purkayastha 57*; Ishant Sharma 3/31)

Uttar Pradesh v Railways

Railways 182/10 (Ashish Yadav 53*; Ankt Rajpoot 3/30)

Uttar Pradesh 9/0 (Himanshu Asnora 7*)

Kerala v Jharkhand

Jharkhand 200/9 (Ishan Kishan 45; Jalaj Saxena 6/50)

Madhya Pradesh v Baroda

Madhya Pradesh 286/5 (Devendra Bundela 99; Atit Sheth 2/51)

Services v Bengal

Bengal 341/3 (Sudip Chatterjee 114*; Sachidanand Pandey 2/36)

Goa v Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh 189/5 (Mohammad Kaif 49*; Darshan Wagha Misal 2/15)

Himachal Pradesh v Punjab

Himachal Pradesh (459/2 Prasanth Chopra 271*; Sandeep Sharma 1/ 76)