Vinay Kumar hands Karnataka the advantage
A round-up of the first day's play of the second-round matches of the Ranji Trophy Super League 2009-10
Cricinfo staff
10-Nov-2009
MP Arjun starred for Hyderabad, taking 6 for 47 • ESPNcricinfo Ltd
Group B
Right-arm seamer R Vinay Kumar demolished Delhi giving Karnataka all the aces on the opening day at the Roshanara Club Ground. On a green track, Vinay Kumar did full justice to captain Rahul Dravid's decision to field first as he ran through the opposition to finish with a splendid haul of eight wickets. He kept the ball up, and got his outswinger going to trouble the batsmen. None of the Delhi batsmen managed to cross 31, the top score set by wicketkeeper Puneet Bisht coming in at No. 8. The only blips for Karnataka were losing opener Muralidharen Gautam and Amit Verma during the reply.
Uttar Pradesh 287 for 5 (Shukla 119, Parvinder 120*) v Saurashtra
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Scorecard
Twin centuries from Shivakant Shukla and Parvinder Singh boosted Uttar Pradesh against Saurashtra in Rajkot. UP looked to be tottering at 51 for 3 during the opening stages after choosing to bat, but the duo of Shukla and Parvinder led the revival with a strong 180-run stand. While Shukla hit 11 fours and three sixes during his 212-ball innings, Parvinder managed 16 fours and two sixes during his unbeaten 206-ball knock.
A string of forties propped up Baroda even as they lost regular wickets after being put in by Bengal at the Eden Gardens. The Bengal seamers made the most of the home advantage as they had Baroda wobbling at 88 for 4. Medium-pacer Sourav Sarkar did the early damage, making use of the movement offered by the track to nip out opener Satyajit Parab and Azhar Bilakhia in the space of three deliveries in the fourth over. But Jacob Martin's patient 46 kept Baroda in the hunt and by stumps it was the unbeaten 73-run stand for the seventh wicket between Irfan Pathan and wicketkeeper Pinal Shah that kept Bengal away from doing further damage.
Group A
Right-arm seamer MP Arjun wreaked havoc as Punjab were skittled out for 221 in Chandigarh. Hyderabad then lost wicketkeeper-opener Abhinav Kumar just before stumps to set up an interesting second day. Put in by Hyderabad, Punjab were buoyed by the lone fifty in the innings, from Ravi Inder Singh. But the rest of the batsmen proved no match for Arjun as the 23-year-old removed six of the top seven to give the visitors the upper hand. Alfred Absolem gave Arjun good support, chipping in with three wickets.
Railways 238 for 4 (TP Singh 102, Sarandeep 4-79) v Himachal Pradesh
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ICL returnee TP Singh was the star for Railways as they finished on a strong note against Himachal Pradesh in Delhi. The left-hander scored a confident 102 as Railways looked to take the upper hand under home conditions. Though offspinner Sarandeep Singh held sway throughout the innings in the earlier part, he was only able to end the flourishing 130-run stand between TP Singh and Yere Goud (48 not out) in the 88th over of the day. TP became Sarandeep's fourth victim, but not before he had hit 12 fours and three sixes during his 177-ball innings.
Parthiv Patel anchored Gujarat's innings well with an unbeaten hundred, on the opening day's play against Tamil Nadu in Motera. The wicketkeeper-captain smashed 19 boundaries as Gujarat recovered well from the early blows dealt by Chandrasekar Ganapathy, after they opted to bat. Parthiv's third-wicket partnership of 148 with Bhavik Thaker, who scored a fluent half-century, proved to be critical as Gujarat took stumps at 275 for 5.
Heavy showers ensured no play was possible in the match between Mumbai and Orissa at the Brabourne Stadium.