Rasool puts J&K on top; Khare ton drives Chhattisgarh

Bowlers had a field day at the Lalabhai Contractor Stadium in Surat, where Jammu & Kashmir reduced Goa to 43 for 5 after being bowled out for 227. J&K's decision to bat backfired as they lost three early wickets with the score on 20. Contributions from Parvez Rasool (82) and Ian Dev Singh (67), who shared a fourth-wicket stand of 123, as well as Puneet Bisht, who contributed 40, lifted J&K. Left-arm spinner Shadab Jakati took 4 for 48 and Amit Yadav, the offspinner, took 3 for 43.

Rasool was at the forefront again, this time with the ball, and along with Ram Dayal, the right-arm medium pacer, brought Goa down to their knees. Dayal castled both of J&K's openers, while Rasool accounted for Sagun Kamat, the Goa captain, and Darshan Misal, who was dismissed off the last ball of the day.

After a nine-wicket win against Tripura, Chhattisgarh followed up their dream Ranji Trophy debut with a strong start on the opening day against Andhra at the Bengal Cricket Academy Ground in Kalyani. After being put in, Chhattisgarh finished with 261 for 4 on the opening day, courtesy an unbeaten 136 from Amandeep Khare, who struck his maiden first-class century.

Khare offset the early loss of Rishabh Tiwari through a 67-run second-wicket stand with Sahil Gupta. After the association was ended by CV Stephen, the left-arm medium pacer, Chhattisgarh lost wickets in a cluster again, and were reduced to 92 for 4. Abhimanyu Chauhan then joined Khare and the two batted out 50 overs, adding 169 unbeaten runs for the fifth wicket in the process. Chauhan stayed not out on 73.

Elsewhere, at the Baraspara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati, Services' bowlers pegged Tripura back with regular wickets after electing to bowl. Tripura had made 228 for 7 by stumps. Every time Tripura got a partnership going, Services struck before it could swell into something big. Tripura opener Bishal Ghosh top-scored with 49 and there were brief contributions from all around. Muzzaffaruddin Khalid, the legspinner, led Services' charge with the ball, with 4 for 56.

Over at the Keenan Stadium in Jamshedpur, Hyderabad were shot out for 191 in 82.5 overs after electing to bat against Haryana. B Sandeep top scored with 44. Legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal ran through the Hyderabad middle order to claim his maiden first-class five-wicket haul. Chahal had figures of 6 for 44 after having sent down 27 overs.

Only 73 overs were bowled at the Eden Gardens, where Kerala ended the opening day of their match against Himachal Pradesh on 163 for 4. Kerala were reduced to 49 for 3 after being inserted. They were partially revived by Sanju Samson (47) and Sachin Baby (52 not out). Baby and Samson combined to add 57 for the fourth wicket. VA Jagadeesh was giving Baby company, on 24 and having added another 57 for the fifth wicket, when stumps were drawn. Himachal's bowlers shared the wickets equally, with Rishi Dhawan, Shresth Nirmohi and Gurvinder Singh taking a wicket apiece.