Ranji Trophy QF, Day 1 Round-Up: Unadkat demolishes Vidarbha; Herwadkar guides Mumbai to big total

Jaydev Unadkat picked up a five-wicket hull as Saurashtra restricted Vidarbha to a modest total of 151. In reply, Saurashtra posted 70/1 at stumps on day one of the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals at Dr PVG Raju ACA Sports Complex, Vizianagaram. It was a collective bowling display by the Saurashtra players led by the young Unadkat. Hardik Rathod and Chirag Jani also picked up two wickets each.

Saurashtra captain Jaydev Shah won the toss and elected to field first on a green track. The decision proved to out be a masterstroke in the context of the match as his bowlers took full advantage of the situation and bowled out Vidarbha in the second session of the first day.

Brief Scores: Vidarbha 151 (Jaffer 41, Yadav 25; Unadkat 5/70) lead Saurashtra (toss) 70/1 (Pujara 45*, Jogiyani 19*; Yadav 1/20) by 81 runs at stumps on Day 1in Vizianagaram.

In Mumbai, Madhya Pradesh rallied on Aditya Shrivastava and Naman Ojha’s batting, as they largely dominated proceedings against Bengal, posting 254/4 at stumps on day 1 at Brabourne Stadium.

Bengal captain Manoj Tiwari won the toss and chose to bowl first, and his decision proved out to be costly as he was let down by his bowlers even after they picked up two early wickets. Shrivastava and Ojha put up a 100-run partnership to bring their side back in the match.

Brief Scores: Madhya Pradesh 254/4 (Shrivastava 65, Ojha 64; Singh 2/55) vs Bengal (toss) at stumps on Day 1 in Mumbai.

Former champions Mumbai ended first day’s play in total command against Jharkhand at Srikantadatta Narasimha Raja Wadiyar Ground, Mysore. Mumbai opener Akhil Herwadkar became the first batsman to score a century in the quarter-final stages of this year’s Ranji Trophy, and his heroics helped Mumbai to post a massive 303/6 at stumps on day one in Mysore.

Mumbai captain Abhishek Nayar won the toss and immediately decided to bat fast in the flat track of Mysore. Herwadkar’s 107 was well supported by Suryakumar Yadav’s entertaining 75. Nayar remained unbeaten along with wicketkeeper Sufiyan Shaikh.

Brief Scores: Mumbai (toss) 303/6 (Herwadkar 107, Yadav 75; Singh 2/57) vs Jharkhand at stumps on Day 1 in Mysore.

The last quarter-final encounter was at the Sardar Vallabhai Patel Stadium, Valsad, where Punjab were up against Assam. Assam posted 223/8 at stumps on day 1 after Punjab captain Harbhajan Singh called them up to bat first. Assam did not start off well as they lost their opener Rahul Hazarika early in the day but fought back with great resilience.

Siddarth Kaul was the star of Punjab’s bowling as he picked up four crucial wickets. Barinder Sran, who recently made his international debut for India picked up two wickets. Captain Harbhajan Singh also chipped in with a wicket alongside Deepak Bansal.

Brief Scores: Assam 223/8 (Jamaluddin 50*, Das 46; Kaul 4/81, Sran 2/67) vs Punjab (toss) at stumps on Day 1 in Valsad.