Punjab edge ahead after wicket-heavy day

Sixteen wickets fell on the opening day of the game between Gujarat and Punjab at the PCA stadium in Mohali, as the hosts reclaimed some of the ground lost by a poor batting effort.

Put in to bat, Punjab imploded to 172 all out, the bulk of their runs coming from Jiwanjot Singh's 86. Gujarat pacers Bhavesh Baria and Jasprit Bumrah bowled well early on to dismiss the Punjab top order, to leave the side at 50 for 3, before a 67-run stand between Jiwanjot and Uday Kaul put them on the track to recovery.

Gujarat, however, kept picking up wickets and a lower-order collapse - five wickets for 20 runs - saw the hosts fold for 172. Bumrah was the most successful Gujarat bowler, picking up his maiden five-for in first-class cricket.

The visiting batsmen hardly fared better than their Punjab counterparts. The Punjab pace attack, led by Sandeep Sharma, struck early on to leave Gujarat struggling at 36 for 6 in the 13th over. Rujul Bhatt and Akshar Patel held steady until the close of play, but with Gujarat trailing by 111 runs with four wickets in hand, the hosts would back themselves to secure a first-innings lead.

Faiz Fazal's seventh first-class hundred and his 181-run third-wicket stand with captain Shalabh Shrivastava helped Vidarbha finish the first day at a strong 244 for 2 against Karnataka in Nagpur.

Having won the toss and opted to bat, Vidarbha lost opener Akshay Kolhar in the first over of the day, before Fazal and Amol Ubharhande shared a 62-run second wicket stand. The latter's wicket hardly seemed a setback for the home side as Shrivastava and Fazal went about collating runs.

Fazal finished the day at an unbeaten 139 off 259 balls with 21 fours, while Shrivastava scored a measured 75 off 221 with nine fours. Pacer Abhimanyu Mithun and left-arm spinner Abrar Kazi were the only Karnataka bowlers to take wickets.

Basant Mohanty's five-for helped Odisha restrict Jharkhand to 221 before their batsmen finished the day at 37 for 1 in Cuttack. Saurabh Tiwary top-scored for Jharkhand, making 67 in an innings that had only four batsmen reach double-figure scores.

Put in to bat, Jharkhand had a poor start to the innings, as Mohanty claimed two wickets in the first over of the match without a run on the board. Jharkhand recovered with a 67-run stand between Rameez Nemat and Tiwary, but lost a quick wicket once Nemat was out. It was a pattern that repeated itself through the Jharkhand innings - they kept losing wickets in clusters right after a steady stand was broken.

At 143 for 7, Jharkhand were in danger of finishing with a score below 200 but they rallied with a 73-run, eighth-wicket stand between Bhavik Thaker and Varun Aaron. Mohanty finished with figures of 5 for 60 in 20.4 overs, while pacer Alok Chandra Sahoo took three wickets for 34 runs.

In reply, Odisha finished the day at 37 for 1, after losing opener Girjia Rout an over before the close of play.

Virender Sehwag's woeful form in domestic cricket continued as Delhi's much vaunted batting line-up flattered to deceive yet again, finishing the first day's play against Haryana at 194 for 8 in 84 overs at the Roshanara Club Ground. It was yet another poor show by the home team batsmen as none of the top six were able to even get past the 40-run mark. The captain Gautam Gambhir also failed, scoring 29.

Read the full report here.