The opening day of round four of the ongoing Ranji Trophy saw Dhruv Shorey scoring his first century of the season against Odisha. Mayank Agarwal registered his first fifty-plus score of the season against Maharashtra. Uncapped pacers Auqib Nabi (5/35) and M. D. Nidheesh (6/22) starred with the ball for their respective teams.
Vidarbha vs Odisha
Shorey finally broke the jinx by smashing his first hundred of the season at the VCA Stadium against Odisha. Before this innings, Shorey had made starts in the previous three games but was unable to convert them into big scores. His knock came at a crucial time for the hosts after their top order was blown away by Rajesh Mohanty and Tapan Das, who shared three wickets between them. From being 6/3 to ending the day on 234/5, the Vidarbha batters fought hard in tricky conditions. Shorey was involved in two crucial partnerships — first, a 141-run stand with Ravikumar Samarth, and then an 83-run partnership with Yash Rathod.
Maharashtra vs Karnataka
At the Golf Club Ground in Nashik, Karnataka opted to bat first, and Mayank Agarwal, who had been struggling for form, led from the front with a gritty 80. Jalaj Saxena, who finished the day with three wickets, denied the Karnataka skipper his century. Karun Nair was dismissed for a single-digit score. Fresh from a double hundred in the last game, Smaran Ravichandran looked good but was outfoxed by Vicky Ostwal. Abhinav Manohar and Shreyas Gopal remained unbeaten on 31 and 32 respectively, as Karnataka finished the day on 257/5.
Delhi vs Jammu and Kashmir
After opting to bowl first, Jammu and Kashmir managed to dismiss Delhi for just 211 at Arun Jaitley Stadium. Auqib Nabi was the wrecker-in-chief with a five-wicket haul. Vanshaj Sharma and Abid Mushtaq took two wickets each, while Sunil Kumar claimed the important wicket of Yash Dhull. Ayush Doseja top-scored for Delhi with 65, while captain Ayush Badoni (64) and Sumit Mathur (55*) were the other notable contributors. There was assistance from the pitch, and like Auqib, Simarjeet Singh made full use of the conditions, taking three wickets in his six-over spell to reduce the visitors to 31/3 as Delhi ended the day on a positive note.
Railways vs Bengal
Railways had Bengal on the mat at 61/4 when Anustup Majumdar and Shahbaz Ahmed forged a partnership of 135 runs to bail their team out of trouble. Although Shahbaz missed out on a hundred, falling for 86, Anustup reached his century. By the end of the day, Railways tried a variety of bowling options to break the stand, but Anustup and Sumanta Gupta remained unbeaten. A total of eight bowlers were used by Railways, with Kunal Yadav, the right-arm medium pacer, being the most successful, taking three wickets.
Kerala vs Saurashtra
Kerala’s pace spearhead M. D. Nidheesh was on fire at the KCA Cricket Ground in Thiruvananthapuram, as the right-arm pacer took a six-wicket haul to help his team bowl Saurashtra out for 160 in the first innings. Nidheesh received good support from the other bowlers — veteran all-rounder Babar Aparajith returned with three wickets, while Eden Apple Tom dismissed Jay Gohil, who top-scored for his side with 84. Even though the hosts have already lost two wickets, riding on Rohan Kunnummal’s unbeaten 59, last season’s runner-up have reached 82/2. A first-innings lead tomorrow will secure them three points, but Kerala will be looking to post a daunting target and bat just once in the game.
Hyderabad vs Rajasthan
Hyderabad posted 295 for the loss of seven wickets on the opening day. The home side lost their openers early, but the middle-order stood up against Rajasthan. Wicketkeeper-batter Rahul Radesh finished the day unbeaten on 85. With not many wickets remaining, the onus will be on Rahul to add as many runs as possible with the tail-enders and, in the process, complete his first red-ball century of the season.
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