Table-toppers Delhi crawled to 99 for one against Odisha on a day when only 48.2 overs were possible with bad light curtailing play in the Group A Ranji Trophy cricket encounter here on Friday.
Put into bat, Delhi openers, Dhruv Shorey (42) and Gautam Gambhir (35 not out) managed a 74-run stand to give the hosts a firm but slow start.
The Delhi innings has seen a run-rate of 2.05 so far with some disciplined bowling from the Odisha bowlers.
Pace spearhead Basant Mohanty cleaned up Shorey in the 40th over, but new man Nitish Rana (15 not out) and bad light made sure that the visitors have no more casualties.
Gambhir has been very cautious in his 148-ball stay so far, his innings laced with three boundaries. Earlier Shorey struck seven fours in his 114-ball innings.
Delhi, who conceded three points to Bengal in their previous encounter at Feroz Shah Kotla, will be looking for their third outright win in their fifth game this season, while the Biplab Samantaray-led side, which is placed sixth in the group table, is looking for a better showing.
17 wickets fAll on Day 1
Patiala: As many as 17 wickets fell on the opening day as Punjab finished at 128 for seven after bowling out Andhra for a paltry 80 in a Group B match, here on Friday.
Andhra’s decision to bat first after winning the toss completely backfired as Punjab picked up wickets at regular intervals to bundle out the visitors under the 100-run mark in 45 overs.
Andhra’s batting misery can be ascertained from the fact that only three of their batsmen could reach double digit scores with opener D B Prasanth Kumar (33) being the highest.
Off-spinner Gurkeerat Singh Mann (4/14) was the highest wicket taker for Punjab while Siddharth Kaul (2/11), Rajwinder Singh (2/12) and Sarabjit ladda (2/25) sharing six wickets between them.
In reply, Punjab failed to capitalise on the initiative as the hosts lost their top seven batsmen with just 128 runs on the board in 42 overs, a lead of 48 runs.
Besides opener Jiwanjot Singh’s (59) half-century, Udal Kaul (27) was the other significant contributor for Punjab. Prasanth (3/36) picked up three wickets for Andhra.
With three full day’s play remaining in the match and the pitch showing its colour from the first day, first innings lead will hardly matter as the match is headed for an outright result.
Indrajith’s ton takes TN to 288/6
New Delhi: Middle-order batsman Baba Indrajith hit a strokeful unbeaten century to help Tamil Nadu score 288 for six at stumps on the opening day of their Group B match.
Indrajith eneded the day unbeaten on 121 that came off 178 deliveries and was studded with 21 boundaries after Tamil Nadu was invited to bat at the Karni Singh Stadium.
Besides Indrajith, skipper Abhinav Mukund made 49 off 117 balls opening the batting while Jagannathan Kaushik made 32.
Wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik (27), Ramaswamy Prasanna (22) and Vijay Shankar (19) all got starts before perishing.
At the close of play, Malolan Rangarajan was giving Indrajith company at the crease on 8.
Bengal 257/8 against Haryana
lahli: Half centuries by lower-order batsmen Pramod Chandila and Pankaj Shaw steered Bengal to 257 for eight after they were struggling at 112 for five at one stage on day one of their Group A match against Haryana.
Sent into bat after Haryana skipper Virender Sehwag won the toss, Bengal had to fall back on the duo of Chandila and Shaw after the top-order failed to make substantial contributions.
Chandila made a breezy 65 off 79 balls, hitting seven boundaries, while Shaw struck 54 off 107 deliveries with the help of four boundaries and a six. Sachin Rana was the most successful bowler for Haryana as he picked up three wickets, which included the scalp of Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary.