Assam let Gujarat off the hook

Parthiv Patel scored a 51-ball 49, but Gujarat were bowled for out for 228 © AFP

Assam 56 for 4 trail (Makda 2-13) Gujarat 228 (Suresh 4-46, Das 4-73) by 172 runs
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Gujarat, struggling at 155 for 9, managed to reach 228 and then reduce Assam to 56 for 4 at stumps on day one in Ahmedabad, with two former Tamil Nadu batsmen - S Ramesh and S Sharath - in the middle.

Put in, Gujarat made a cautious start, but didn't get a partnership going until the very end. Parthiv Patel, who had scored five centuries in his last five first-class innings, upped the scoring, but fell one short of 50, after which the rest of the line-up folded easily. Digant Popat, the No. 6 batsman, found a good partner in No. 11 Siddharth Trivedi, and the two put on 73 runs in 12 overs. Popat top scored with a 72-ball 63. Trivedi carried the confidence from his batting through, and as if out of inertia got Assam opener Sauran Bhagawati to edge one in the first over.

Railways 39 for 0 trail Jammu & Kashmir 194 by 155 runs
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Jammu & Kashmir denied Railways a wicket for the first 37.5 overs and 104 runs, but thereafter collapsed to 194 all out. Madan Yadav, the Railways left-arm spinner, bowled a miserly spell of 22.3-12-22-4. The wicket of Ian Dev Singh, who fell to Yadav for 62, triggered the collapse. Ian's opening partner Sajjad Shaikh soon followed, caught by Amit Pagnis off Harvinder Singh, for 40.

The second-highest partnership came for the seventh wicket: 34 runs between captain Vijay Sharma, who made and unbeaten 34 and Samiullah Beigh. Harvinder, who toiled for more overs than Yadav, had four wickets to show for his efforts.

Vidarbha 0 for 0 trail Kerala 169 (Gandhe 4-53) by 169 runs
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Vidarbha, powered by captain and off-break bowler Pritam Gandhe's four-wicket haul, bundled Kerala out for 169, after opting to bowl in Nagpur. Eight Kerala batsmen - including the first seven - reached double figures, but the highest was only 24, scored by Sony Cheruvathur, the team's captain and opening batsman. Kerala finally reached 169 thanks to the 30-run ninth-wicket stand between Preambhastn Prem and Sadanandan Anish.

Tripura 93 for 2 trail Services 102 (Debnath 4-13) by nine runs
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Nine of Services' batsmen failed to reach double figures as they were bowled out for 102 in Agartala. Timir Chanda, Tripura's captain and right-arm opening bowler, started the slide, reducing Services to 8 for 2 by the sixth over.

It could have been worse for Services but for the 32-run stand for the ninth wicket between No. 3 Devendra Israni and left-arm spinner Arun Sharma. Israni was caught and bowled by off-break bowler Jayanta Debnath, who finished with 4 for 13 in 11.4 overs. Sharma stayed unbeaten on 24 and extras, 13, were the third-largest contributor.

Manoj Singh and Subal Chowdhury consolidated after Tripura lost a quick wicket, and finished with the lead all but erased and eight wickets still in hand.

Madhya Pradesh 100 for 4 (Saxena 69*) v Jharkhand
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After a delayed start because of overnight rain, scoring was not high on the priority list as Madhya Pradesh crawled to a total of 100 for 4 in 50.3 overs at the Keenan Stadium in Jamshedpur. More than half the runs came from Jatin Saxena's bat: he was also the quickest batsman with a strike-rate of 46. Opener Mudassar Pasha took 47 deliveries for his 6, and Devendra Bundela, No. 4, took 35 balls to score 1 run. Shankar Rao, the right-arm medium pacer, took two wickets.

Goa 258 for 8 (Arunkumar 55, Angle 54*) v Haryana
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An unbeaten half-century down the order by Aditya Angle helped Goa to 258 for 8 against Haryana at Margao. After choosing to bat, the Goa got off to a steady start, with the openers adding 55, but Haryana took the initiative after bagging four wickets within ten overs. Captain J Arunkumar resisted with 55, before legspinner Amit Mishra picked up three middle-order wickets to peg the home side back again. Angle, who finished unbeaten on 54, added 57 for the ninth wicket with Ryan D'Souza as Haryana were unable to wrap up the innings, especially after Goa were struggling at one stage at 159 for 7.