Bhatt, Kotak prop up Saurashtra

A 185 run 3rd wicket stand between captain Sitanshu Kotak and PJ Bhatt laid a solid platform for Saurashtra as they progressed to 285/5 from 90 overs at stumps on the opening day of their Super League match against Haryana at Rohtak today.

After Saurashtra won the toss and chose to bat, openers Vasanth Kumar and Merchant fell cheaply. Kotak and Bhatt then came together in an association that lasted three and a quarter hours. Kotak's 83 came off 177 balls with 11 fours. Bhatt followed up scores of 61 and 88 in a losing cause against Tamil Nadu last week with 110 (158 balls, 17 fours, 1 six). Although Haryana's bowlers toiled for the better part of the day they pulled back 3 wickets for 47 runs towards the latter part as V Jain and P Thakur finished with two wickets each.