Dhawan falters but Delhi take day's honours

Sumit Narwal, who held his nerve to help Delhi pull off a tense chase against Rajasthan last week, starred with the ball this time. His four-wicket haul helped skittle Vidarbha for 183 in Chennai. Shikhar Dhawan, on a comeback trail after recovering from a fractured finger, fell for 6 as Delhi went into stumps on 12 for 1. Gautam Gambhir, the captain, and Pradeep Sangwan were at the crease. Only one Vidarbha batsman - Shalabh Shrivastava (62) - crossed fifty, while one another Shrikant Wagh (46) contributed handy lower order runs. A good showing with the ball augers well for Delhi as they look to drive ahead. With rain forecast for the next three days, the drainage at the SSN College grounds could also be tested.

Table toppers Karnataka suffered a second first-innings meltdown in as many games to be bowled out for 200, but somewhat recovered courtesy their captain R Vinay Kumar to reduce Saurashtra, currently scraping the bottom, to 19 for 2 at stumps in Patiala. Manish Pandey top scored with 75 and Shreyas Gopal contributed 38 at No. 9 to help the side stage a brief recovery. Vandit Jivrajani, the offspinner playing in only his fourth first-class game, and debutant Jay Chauhan picked up three wickets apiece. Jaydev Unadkat, their pace spearhead, removed Pandey and Shreyas to finish with 2 for 11. Snell Patel and Sheldon Jackson were at the crease for Saurashtra when play ended.

Half-centuries from Saurabh Tiwary (88) and Ishank Jaggi (80 not out) helped Jharkhand remain steady on 251 for 4 after being put in to bat by Assam in Vizianagaram. The pair added 151 for the fourth wicket after Jharkhand were reduced to 98 for 3. Along the way, they also defied Assam's bowlers for a better part of two sessions. Each of Jharkhand's top three failed to convert starts. Pratyush Singh made 30 while No. 3 Sumit Kumar made 32. The spoils were equally shared by Assam's bowlers - Krishna Das, Arup Das, Dhiraj Goswami and Abu Nechim were all among the wickets.

Biplab Samantaray's 89 helped Odisha recover from 31 for 3 to end the opening day against Maharashtra in Wayanad on 311 for 9. Samantaray's 98-run stand for the seventh wicket with Deepak Behara, who made 58, helped arrest a slide triggered by Maharashtra's pacers. Anupam Sanklecha, the bowling spearhead who had picked up 26 wickets in the last two matches, nipped out the top three, before Mohsin Sayyad ate into the middle order. Things could have been much worse for Odisha if it wasn't for Samantaray's defiance.