Bisla and Sangram make merry
The Himachal Pradesh batsmen made merry on the opening day of the Plate Group of the Ranji Trophy
Wisden Cricinfo staff
17-Nov-2004
Plate Group
Maninder Bisla and Sangram Singh shared a massive 268-run partnership as Himachal Pradesh took control of their opening game against Kerala at Palghat. After electing to bat first, Himachal lost both their openers with just 53 on the board. But both Bisla and Sangram cracked unbeaten hundreds and flogged the bowlers to all corners of the park. Himachal finished the day in complete command as newly relegated Kerala wondered what depths awaited them yet.
Pravanjan Mullick helped Orissa get out of a sticky situation as they finished the first day with 276 for 6 at Srinagar. Jammu & Kashmir's decision to field first appeared to have been justified when they reduced Orissa to 74 for 4. But a 99-run stand between Mullick and Pinninti Jayachandra (59) rescued them before Debasis Mohanty, the former Indian swing bowler, then made a handy 43 and helped continue the fightback.
Seventeen wickets tumbled on the opening day at Nagpur as Vidarbha and Rajasthan began their campaigns. Chandrasekhar Atram and Sandeep Singh, the Vidarbha opening bowlers, snapped up seven wickets between them as Rajasthan were skittled out for just 101 after being inserted. Vidarbha also found the going extremely tough, as S Mathur and Pudiyangum Krishnakumar reduced them to 97 for 7 at the end of the first day.
Jasvir Singh compiled a patient 109 as Services were well placed after choosing to bat first in their game against Goa at Palam A Stadium in Delhi. Madhusudhan Reddy, the opener, made 75 and his 156-run second-wicket stand with Jasvir helped to set a solid platform.
The Bihar bowlers restricted Saurashtra to a modest 230 for 6 at the end of the opening day at Rajkot. Shitanshu Kotak's painstaking 68, spread over nearly five hours, was the main contribution for Saurashtra as most of the batsmen got a start but failed to kick on to a big score. Jaydev Shah and Prakash Bhatt made 40 apiece but the Bihar bowlers struck at regular intervals and gave their team the upper hand.