Ranji Trophy Round Up: Pujara continues his bad form; Padikkal carries Karnataka hopes

Delhi's disappointing run continues

Virtually out of quarterfinal race, Delhi's disappointing campaign in the Ranji Trophy continued as Chhattisgarh posted 290 for four on the opening day of their elite Group H match here on Thursday. Electing to bat, Chhattisgarh rode on half-centuries from Ajay Mandal (63 off 90 balls), Amandeep Khare (68 not out off 170) and Shashank Singh (75 not out) to pile up a big score in 90 overs and take their side to a strong position in the four-day contest.

Mandal and Singh stitched 147 runs for the unconquered fifth wicket to take Chhattisgarh forward. Besides, Sanidhya Hurkat (44) and skipper Harpreet Singh (21) also made useful contributions with the bat. Left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra (2/65) was the pick of the bowlers for Delhi.

Delhi are languishing at the last spot in the four-team Group H with just one point from two games and for the Pradeep Sangwan-led side, the tournament is as good as over and only seven points (including a bonus) in the ongoing match against Chhattisgarh will give them a slim chance in theory.

Chhattisgarh, on the other hand, are leading the group with seven points from two games.

Even Stevens for Jharkhand, TN

Meanwhile, in the second Group H match here, Baba Indrajith smashed a quick century, while Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore made 81 as Tamil Nadu ended Day 1 on 256 for seven against Jharkhand. Indrajith played an aggressive knock, scoring 100 off 132 balls with the help of 11 boundaries and two sixes.

Indrajith and Sai Kishore shared 171 runs for the fifth wicket after Tamil Nadu found themselves in a spot of bother at 32 for four after electing to bat. Sai Kishore struck 11 fours during his 179-ball knock. Rahul Shukla (3/57) picked up three wickets for Jharkhand, while Anukul Roy (2/29) accounted for two dismissals. With six points apiece from two games each, both Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand are still in the reckoning for a quarterfinal berth.

Pujara's struggle continues

Chirag Jani hit a superb 140 while Sheldon Jackson smashed an unbeaten 96 as Saurashtra reached 343 for 7 at stumps on day one of their Ranji Trophy group D match against Goa here on Thursday. Chirag slammed 22 fours and two sixes in his 190-ball knock, while Jackson struck six fours and five maximums during his 119-ball unfinished innings after Saurashtra decided to bat first at the Narendra Modi stadium here.

Saurashtra lost opener Snell Patel for a duck but Chirag and Harvik Desai (14) steadied the innings with a 75-run stand. Test discard Cheteshwar Pujara's (28) struggle to convert the starts continued and once again he was back in the pavillion after being trapped in front following a 47-ball stay.

Jackson then joined hands with Chirag and the duo stitched together 102 runs to take Saurashtra close to 250. Once Chirag was caught by AS Desai off Suyash Prabhudessai's bowling, Arpit Vasavada (12) too couldn't stay long and Saurashtra slipped to 297 for 7 following the wickets of Prerak Mankad (28) and Parth Bhut (0).

At stumps, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (23) was giving company to Jackson. Lakshay Garg (2/74) and Prabhudessai (2/36) snared two wickets each, while Shrikanth Wagh (1/34), Shubham Ranjane (1/30) and Darshan Misal (1/69) also accounted for one wicket apiece.

Mishra saves Odisha's day

In another group D match, Shantanu Mishra scored a responsible 89 to anchor Odisha to 250 for 6 at stumps on the opening day after skipper Subhranshu Senapati won the toss and elected to bat against Mumbai. Mishra struck 11 hits to the fence in his 213-ball innings. Other batters got starts but failed to capitalise as Mumbai managed to take regular wickets. For Mumbai, Mohit Avasthi (2/48) and Tanush Kotian (2/65) picked up two wickets each.

Padikkal's unbeaten 161 carries Karnataka

Devdutt Padikkal slammed his maiden first-class hundred, an unbeaten 161, as Karnataka ended day one of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group C match against Pondicherry here at 293 for 3. Sent in to bat by Pondicherry captain D Rohit, Karnataka were reduced to 39 for 2 in the 19th over, losing opener R Samarth (11) and Karun Nair (6) to Ashith Rajiv (2 for 37).

Padikkal did the rescue act and moved to 47 as Karnataka recovered to 88 for 2 at lunch. The big-hitting batter was in full flow in the second session as he and K V Siddharth (85) put the opposition bowlers to the sword. It was a toil for the Pondicherry bowlers after medium-pacer Ashith Rajiv struck two early blows to remove the consistent Samarth and Nair.

None of the bowlers could make an impression as the stylish Padikkal and Siddharth got going and took the score to 204 for 2 in 61 overs at tea. Padikkal in the meanwhile had reached his maiden first-class ton. His knock so far has come off 277 balls, and included 20 fours and two sixes.

He continued to score and stitched a 223-run stand in 357 balls for the third wicket with Siddharth, which put Karnataka in control. Skipper Manish Pandey, who replaced Siddharth at the crease, is batting on 21 and has so far added 31 runs with the left-handed Padikkal. In the group's other match, Jammu & Kashmir were bowled out for 258 against Railways with Qamran Iqbal top-scoring with 83.

For the Railways, captain and leg-spinner Karn Sharma led from the front with 6 for 76.