Mumbai opener Jay Bista rediscovered his form with a splendid century to lay a solid foundation with his partner Vikrant Auti before Saurashtra fought back on day one of their Elite Group A match on Saturday.
Bista slammed 127 off just 150 balls studded with 21 hits to the fence and also put on 174 runs with fellow-opener Auti (57) before the visiting team's bowlers, led by left arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (3 for 89), triggered a collapse post lunch taken with the hosts at a commanding 122 for no loss.
The hosts were left reeling at 232 for five before captain Siddesh Lad, with a responsible 84 in 115 balls with 12 fours and a six, and all rounder Shivam Dube (34) stemmed the rot with an unfinished partnership of 102 for the sixth wicket that helped Mumbai end the day at a healthier-looking 334 for five.
At Raipur hosts Chhattisgarh bundled out Maharashtra for 239 on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy game. For the visitors, Rahul Tripahi top scored with 102. In their first innings, Chhattisgarh were teetering at 23/3, still 216 runs behind.
At Nagpur, riding on opener Kathan Patel's 105, Gujarat scored 263 for 6 against regaining champions Vidarbha. At close of play, wicket-keeper Dhruv Raval (69 not out) was holding fort with Karan Patel (27 not out).
At Shimoga, Karnataka ended the first day at 208/9 with Siddharth K V top scoring with 69 against Railways.
Akshdeep, Priyam shine
Lucknow: Centuries by captain Akshdeep Nath and Priyam Garg helped Uttar Pradesh dominate the opening day of their Group C encounter against Tripura.
At stumps, Uttar Pradesh were 257 for 4 with Garg and Rinku Singh batting on 113 and 13 respectively.
Nath and right-hand batsman Garg anchored the Uttar Pradesh innings with a 201 runs partnership. Nath's 106 off 216 balls was studded with 12 boundaries and two sixes while Garg, who was unbeaten at 113, hit 12 fours and one maximum before the captain was trapped leg before by a Rana Dutta delivery in the 75th over.
For Tripura, Dutta and Saurabh Das both picked two wickets each with the former emerging as the more economical.
Delhi pitch controversy
New Delhi: BCCI's North Zone curator Sunil Chauhan overwatered the Feroz Shah Kotla pitch and then, breaching protocol, left the venue before the start of Delhi-Madhya Pradesh Ranji Trophy match Saturday, his indiscretion leading to a delay of two and half hours.
Despite perfect weather conditions, the match began in the second session.
While the hosts reduced MP to 132 for nine courtesy left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra's 6/41 in 18 overs, the delay in proceedings could land the Himachal Pradesh curator in trouble.
Off-spinner Shivam Sharma got 3/48 on a pitch where the ball kept low, but there was some turn on offer, with the odd ball taking off from the spot.