Seamers thrive in Lahli on 23-wicket day

Seamers picked up all 23 wickets to fall on the opening day of the Group A match between Baroda and Bengal in Lahli. Baroda, who were dismissed for 97 in the first innings, finished the day with a lead of 84 runs after seamer Atit Sheth's 7 for 36 routed Bengal for 76.

Bengal grabbed the early advantage through Ashok Dinda's 6 for 45. Baroda's top score in the first innings was 17, from opener Aditya Waghmode. Only three other batsmen scored in double-figures, all of them making 13. Sudip Chaterjee top-scored for Bengal with 37, playing a lone hand as the side slumped from 25 for 1 to 52 for 8 within 14 overs. Six wickets in this period fell to Sheth, who had earlier dismissed opener Abhimanyu Easwaran in the second over.

Mukesh Kumar and Amit Kuila, who had taken four wickets between them in the first innings, then quickly dismantled Baroda's top order in the second innings before Kedar Devdhar stabilized the side with 34 not out. They finished the day at 63 for 3.

Opener Priyank Panchal's eighth first-class hundred led Gujarat to 246 for 3 at stumps against Mumbai in Hubli. Panchal and his opening partner Samit Gohel gave the side a strong start after Gujarat opted to bat, with a partnership of 172 runs. Gujarat lost Gohel, Bhargav Merai and Parthiv Patel quickly before Panchal added an unbeaten 43-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Manpreet Juneja. Panchal remained not out on 122 off 256 balls with 17 fours.

Mumbai used eight bowlers but the only ones to get wickets were Vishal Dabholkar, who struck in successive overs, and Aditya Dhumal.

Railways' batsmen, particularly Nitin Bhille, dominated the first day against Madhya Pradesh in Delhi, taking their score to 249 for 2 at stumps. Bhille was unbeaten on 102, his third first-class century, while opener Saurabh Wakaskar and Arindam Ghosh scored 62 and 61 not out respectively. Wakaskar and Shivakant Shukla had added 50 for the first wicket, before Bhille and Wakaskar put on 67 for the second wicket. Bhille and Ghosh then added 132 runs for the unbroken third-wicket partnership. Offspinner Saransh Jain and left-arm spinner Ankit Sharma took the only two wickets to fall on the day.

Three wickets from seamer K Vignesh, including two in one over - the 32nd of the innings, helped Tamil Nadu claw back and limit Punjab to 241 for 6 in Nagpur. Punjab's openers had moved on to 97 for 0 in the 29th over before they lost three quick wickets for 10 runs. Vignesh dismissed Manan Vohra for 73 off the second ball of the 32nd over and sent back Mandeep Singh four balls later. Punjab recovered briefly through a 53-run partnership between Uday Kaul and Gurkeerat Singh, who led Punjab after Harbhajan Singh missed the game due to personal reasons. Tamil Nadu, however, reigned them in with two quick wickets before Vignesh contributed another one, through a run-out, which sent back Kaul for 56.