Umesh Yadav shoots Haryana out for 55, their lowest
A round-up of the first day of the Group B matches in the first round of Ranji Trophy
ESPNcricinfo staff
02-Nov-2012
Last year's semi-finalists Haryana were shot out for 55, their lowest first-class total, at their home venue, Lahli, near Rohtak. Umesh Yadav and the 31-year-old medium-pacer Sandeep Singh wreaked havoc with the ball, taking nine wickets between them for just 29 runs. At one point, Yadav's figures read 6-6-0-1. Left-arm quick Shrikant Wagh took the remaining wicket.
It could have been much worse for Haryana but for Priyank Tehlan's 18, the only double-figure score. The last five wickets fell for eight runs. This was Haryana's third straight mediocre effort with the bat. In their Ranji Trophy semi-final last season, they managed just 97 and 120 against Rajasthan at the same venue.
Delhi went to Ghaziabad with an enviable batting line-up, boasting three batsmen from India's last Test XI and a promising batsman who led India to Under-19 World Cup success. However, they came up against one of the best attacks in domestic cricket, who rolled them over for 235.
Virender Sehwag managed 25, Gautam Gambhir 32, and Virat Kohli just 14. Imtiaz Ahmed, playing his seventh first-class match, rocked Delhi with a maiden five-for, but it was Praveen Kumar who ended the opening stand in the seventh over of an extended opening spell. Gambhir followed Sehwag into the change room when he shouldered arms to Imtiaz, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar got Kohli to edge into the slips.
A fifth-wicket stand of 86 between Puneet Bisht and Mithun Manhas revived Delhi, but Imtiaz rocked them again with his comeback spell, taking four wickets in no time. Delhi lost their last six for 43. Click here to read the full report.
Irfan Pathan and opener Aditya Waghmode added an unbeaten 220 for the fifth wicket to rescue the home side Baroda from 88 for 4. Karnataka's captain R Vinay Kumar and Stuart Binny got them off to a good start, and when Binny made Baroda captain Yusuf Pathan his second victim, Irfan seemed to be the only resistance left.
Irfan and Waghmode then stole the initiative. While Waghmode remained circumspect, Irfan scored at a strike-rate of 68. This was Waghmode's maiden first-class century, and Irfan's third, and he ended the day six short of his personal best.
Vinay later tweeted: "Hard day on the ground..Did very well as a team..Luck was not thr in our favor.. Thy were 88/4, end of days play thy are 310/4.."
Only 31 overs of play was possible in Cuttack after rain delayed the start on the game between Tamil Nadu and Odisha. It must have provided some relief to Abhinav Mukund and M Vijay who finished their tour game for India A against England XI on Thursday evening in Mumbai. Vijay managed only 15 in a cautious effort that went on for close to two hours while S Badrinath fell for 11. Abhinav was unbeaten on 21, along with Baba Aparijith on 3.