Patel, Saxena split honours

Madhya Pradesh pegged back Gujarat to 255/9 on the opening day of their Cooch Behar Trophy pre-quarter final at the Deccan Gymkhana in Pune on Friday. A useful 64 (141 balls, 8 fours) by Swapnil Patel was the only half century in the Gujarat innings as MP bowlers Jatin Saxena and Omprakash Yadav made steady inroads into their batting line-up.

Opting to bat, Gujarat were rocked early by seamer Yadav who removed both the openers cheaply. Patel and skipper Akash Christian (40) added 80 for the third wicket but after both fell in quick succession to plunge Gujarat to 131/4, the innings never really recovered its momentum. Saxena broke the back of the middle order, claiming returns of 4/53.

Just when it looked like Gujarat would be bowled out before stumps were drawn, No.9 bat Siddharth Trivedi offered some late resistance with a 44-ball 34. He was still unbeaten when play closed after 90 overs. Yadav finished with 3/56 while Jitendra Likhar had a share of the spoils, scalping two. Former Test players Sadanand Viswanath and Raghuram Bhatt are umpiring the game.