Rahul Singh's maiden ton drives Services; Chhattisgarh impress
A round-up of the opening day of Group C matches in the fourth round of the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy
ESPNcricinfo staff
27-Oct-2016
File photo: Chhattisgarh came from behind to end the opening day in a strong position • ESPNcricinfo Ltd
Chhattisgarh, led by Abhimanyu Chauhan in Mohammad Kaif's absence due to a neck injury, reduced Kerala to 194 for 8 before bad light forced early stumps at the Keenan Stadium in Jamshedpur. Pankaj Rao, the right-arm medium pacer, and Sumit Ruikar, the left-arm spinner, picked up three wickets apiece in the 65 overs that were possible to lead Chhattisgarh's fightback after a third-wicket stand of 73 between Rohan Prem (62) and Sanju Samson (41) had briefly kept them at bay.
Rahul Singh's maiden first-class century studded Services' dominance against Jammu & Kashmir in Jaipur. Services, who chose to bat, ended the day on 287 for 3, with Rahul and Shamsher Yadav having added 199 for the fourth wicket. Parvez Rasool, the offspinner, picked up two wickets in the first session in what was to be a small passage which went J&K's way at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium.
Goa's bowlers justified Sagun Kamat's decision to field first by dismissing Tripura for 283 in Bhubaneswar. Rajat Dey (87) and Abhijit Dey (58) led Tripura's revival after they were reduced to 82 for 5. Their 81-run seventh-wicket stand helped drive the innings forward after Saurabh Bandekar and Shadab Jakati had triggered the slide. Jakati, the left-arm spinner, finished with 4 for 67. Five other batsmen got into double figures, with Yashpal Singh's 35 being the highest.
Prasanth Kumar and Hanuma Vihari, the captain, struck half-centuries for Andhra, but legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal, leading Haryana's spin attack in the abence of Amit Mishra and Jayant Yadav, picked up three wickets to wrest the initiative at the Wankhede Stadium. Andhra, comfortably placed at 107 for 1 after being sent in to bat by Mohit Sharma, ended the day on 217 for 6. Ravi Teja, the middle-order batsman, also couldn't capitalise on a start and fell for 38 to give Chahal his third wicket. Ashish Hooda, Mohit and Sanjay Pahal were the other wicket-takers for Haryana.
Hyderabad made early inroads in the 4.1 overs that were possible before rain and a wet outfield washed out the rest of the day in Guwahati. Himachal Pradesh, who were sent in to bat, lost openers Ankush Bains and Prashant Chopra and were reduced to 8 for 2. Seamers Ravi Kiram and CV Milind had one wicket apiece.