Ranji round-up

Largely thanks to Shafiq Khan's gritty innings of 95, Haryana reached a total of 275/8 by the close of play on the first day of their Ranji Trophy league match against Services at Faridabad.

Winning the toss, Haryana's captain Parender Sharma opted to bat. Three wickets fell for 59 before opener Chetan Sharma (73) and Shafiq stabilised the innings. Sharma departed with the score on 124, but Shafiq put up solid stands with Ajay Ratra and S Vidyut, falling finally with the score on 270.

At stumps, Haryana were 275/8, with Sumit Narwal and Amit Mishra unbeaten on three and one respectively.

For Services, Sudhakar Ghag picked up four wickets for 72 runs, bowling a marathon 35 overs in the day. Hari Prasad took 3-101.

A fighting knock of 94 from captain Reetinder Singh Sodhi notwithstanding, Punjab found itself struggling at the close of play at 269/9 against Jammu and Kashmir in their Ranji Trophy league tie against Jammu.

The home side, with their wider knowledge of the conditions, opted to bowl first; they struck immediately with the wicket of Manish Sharma with the score on six. Yuvraj Singh fell soon, but the only significant partnership of the innings then developed between Ravneet Ricket and Sodhi.

Ricky fell for 68, with the score on 165. Wickets then fell at regular intervals, with Ashwani Gupta (3-72) and Jagtar Singh (2-74) cleaning up the middle-order.

At stumps, Gagandeep Singh was unbeaten on 28 and Sanjay Dhull on one. Only one wicket remains to fall in Punjab's first innings, and they will have to bowl well to avoid losing face to a less-endowed opponent.

With Amit Bhandari and Arun Singh picking up three wickets apiece, Himachal Pradesh were bowled out for 167 on Day One of their Ranji Trophy league match against Delhi at Bilaspur.

Winning the toss, Delhi captain Mithun Manhas put his opponents in to bat. His bowlers backed him up beautifully; three wickets fell for 26 and five for 39. At 89/7, Himachal were in real danger of being bowled out for less than 100, but Shakti Singh batted (43) well with his fellow tailenders to take the score to 167.

Delhi lost Akash Chopra at 29, but Gautam Gambhir and RS Sharma took their side to the close of play without further mishap. Gambhir was unbeaten on 32, while Sharma was on 24. For Himachal, Sandeep Sharma was the lone wicket-taker.