Ranji round-up

A century from Kiran Powar brightened up the first day of play in Tamil Nadu and Goa's Ranji Trophy tie at Chennai.

Winning the toss, Goa's openers were separated early. One-down batsman Powar, however, batted resolutely, shrugging off the regular loss of partners at the other end.

Making 111 off 282 balls, with five fours and three sixes, Powar was finally out with the score on 206, being the fifth wicket to fall. No other batsman really contributed to Goa's total.

At stumps, Goa were 217 for six, with Rajesh Naik (12*) and HAS Khalid (2*) at the crease.

A century from Karnataka middle-order batsman Thilak Naidu saw his side hold on for a draw in the face of Hyderabad's mammoth firstinnings total in their Ranji Trophy league match at Secunderabad.

Batting first with Vijay Bharadwaj (76) and then with the lower order, Naidu became the eighth wicket to fall with the score on 390. Helping his side avoid not only the follow-on, but also a loss, Naidu's innings spanned 340 minutes and 225 balls, and contained 14 fours and a six.

Bowled out finally for 416, Karnataka tried their best to liven up proceedings in a match that was always destined for a dull draw. Dodda Ganesh picked two wickets in Hyderabad's brief second innings, with makeshift openers Vinay Kumar and Anirudh Singh both falling to him.

At stumps on the final day, Hyderabad were 64/2. They picked up five points from this match by virtue of their first-innings lead, while Karnataka picked three points.

Andhra Pradesh, playing Kerala at Cochin in their Ranji Trophy league match, bowled their opponents out on Day One and reached 49/1 at close of play.

Kerala, winning the toss, could not make the most of batting first. Although opener MP Sorab made a slow 49, none of the other batsmen could occupy the crease for any length of time. Sorab was dismissed with the score on 113, and the rest of the batsmen fell quickly.

Being bowled out for 176, Kerala must have looked for quick wickets to gain some semblance of upper hand. But, even though opener PIS Reddy fell early, Andhra Pradesh consolidated and reached a score of 49/1 at stumps.

Although Vidarbha gained a slender first-innings lead, Uttar Pradesh batted resolutely to make for an interesting fourth-day's play in their Ranji Trophy league match at Kanpur.

Overnight on 227/6, Vidarbha could only add 20 runs to that total. The last four wickets fell in a hurry and Vidarbha were bowled out for 247 within a space of seven overs. For Uttar Pradesh, Ashish Winston Zaidi picked four wickets.

Looking to erase the first-innings deficit and then build a sizeable target for Vidarbha to chase, Uttar Pradesh started with a solid opening stand of 61. And, although wickets fell at regular intervals, each batsman in the top order reached double digits.

Mohammad Kaif top-scored with fifty, and Uttar Pradesh reached a total of 194/5 at stumps, with Mohammad Saif and Nikhil Chopra at the crease.