Shib Shankar Paul routs Delhi with a six-wicket haul

Bengal 10 for 0 trail Delhi 148 (Paul 6-25) by 138 runs
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On a pitch prepared to suit Delhi's spinners, Shib Sankar Paul, the seam bowler, routed Delhi with an impressive six-wicket haul as they were shot out for 148 on the first day of the Ranji Trophy encounter at Delhi. By close Bengal, who earlier had lost the toss, reached 10 for no loss in reply.

"We have to pull up our socks. We have prepared a turner and it is upto the spinners to get the maximum out of it. We are going for an outright win," Madan Lal, the Delhi coach, had told The Times of India on the eve of the match. But today's events would have left the coach disgruntled as the Delhi batsmen crumbled against Paul, who delivered seven maidens in his 19 overs and conceded just 25 runs. That 44 was the highest partnership Delhi could manage reflects the stranglehold Paul had imposed over them.

Hyderabad 211 for 5 (Anirudh Singh 78, Yadav 69) v Andhra
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Propelled by Venugopal Rao's double strikes in the post-tea session, Andhra pulled things back as Hyderabad, opting to bat first, slid from a comfortable 158 for 2 to 203 for 5 by close of the first day's play at Anantapur. Anirudh Singh, the left-handed batsman, added 145 runs with Arjun Yadav, the son of former Indian offspinner Shivlal, to lift Hyderabad from a shaky 13 for 2 to 158 when Venugopal struck twice. Venugopal, who has 32 first-class wickets at 33.62, had missed the first match against Baroda as he was leading Board President XI against Sri Lanka in their warm-up match at Bangalore. He first had Yadav caught by Ambati Rayudu and the duo combined again to get rid off Anirudh, as Hyderabad tottered at 173 for 5. However, Ibrahim Khaleel, the wicketkeeper, ensured Hyderabad ended the day without any further mishap.

Mumbai 1 for 0 trail Karnataka 186 (Naidu 51, Akhil 55) by 185 runs
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Aavishkar Salvi and Swapnil Hazare, the seam bowlers, grabbed four wickets apiece as they bowled out Karnataka for 186 to put Mumbai on top at the end of the opening day's play at Bangalore. Things would have been even worse for Karnataka, who chose to bat first, had it not been for 70-run partnership for the sixth wicket between Thilak Naidu, the wicketkeeper, and Balachandra Akhil. Salvi, who has played four ODIs for India, removed Robin Uthappa, Karnataka's main batting hope, in his seventh over to trigger a collapse. He picked up one more and Hazare complemented him well grabbing two as Karnataka slipped from 26 for 0 to 58 for 5 before Naidu and Akhil lifted them to a fighting total.

Railways 237 for 8 (Khanolkar 78, Goud 71) v Tamil Nadu
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Yere Goud and Shreyas Khanolkar shared a vital 122-run partnership for the sixth wicket to lift Railways from a wobbly 42 for 5 to 237 for 8 by the end of the first's day play against Tamil Nadu at Delhi. Railways, the defending champions, opted to bat first but were rocked by Rajamani Jesuraj, the right-arm medium-pacer. Goud, the veteran Railways batsman who is no stranger to rescue acts, rebuilt the innings along with Khanolkar to take Railways to 164. It was then that Ramadoss Naresh, the 20-year old left-arm medium-pacer, had Khanolkar stumped and Jesuraj came back to dismiss Goud to pull things back for Tamil Nadu. Railways, who conceded two points to Karnataka in their previous match, have registered outright victories over Tamil Nadu in their last two meetings at the same venue and the Tamil Nadu batsmen will need to seize the initiative tomorrow to reverse the recent trend at Karnail Singh Stadium.

Maharashtra 204 for 5 (Bahutule 48*, Satbhai 41*) v Gujarat
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A patient unbroken sixth-wicket stand of 78 between Sairaj Bahutule and Satyajit Satbhai, the wicketkeeper, pulled Maharashtra out of trouble as they recovered from a precarious 122 for 5 to end the opening day on 204 against Gujarat at Valsad. Mukund Parmar, the Gujarat captain, used seven bowlers to try and break the stonewalling partnership but his efforts were to prove futile. Bahutule, who moved from Mumbai to Maharashtra this season, faced 131 balls as he defended dourly to steer his side to safety by close of play.

Punjab 0 for 0 trail Haryana 232 (Gagandeep 4-37, Malhatra 4-78) by 232 runs
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Gagandeep Singh rocked the top order while Ishan Malhotra took care of the lower middle order, as they grabbed four wickets apeice to restrict Haryana to a modest 232 on the opening day at Mohali. Ravneet Ricky and Karan Goel, the Punjab openers, were at crease and yet to open their account after playing two overs when the stumps were drawn. Haryana, opting to bat first, got off to a disastrous start losing first five wickets for 59. However, vital contributions from the lower-order batsmen - Pardeep Sahu, Mahesh Rawat, Sachin Rana, and Amit Mishra - helped Haryana cross the 200-mark.

Uttar Pradesh 303 for 6 (Raina 75, Prakash 71) v Baroda
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Powered by half-centuries from Suresh Raina and Rohit Prakash, Uttar Pradesh reached 303 for 6 at the end of the opening day's play against Baroda at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur. The duo put together a 129-run partnership for the second wicket to lift UP to 141 for 1 before Prakash fell lbw to Rakesh Patel. Yusuf Pathan, the offspinner, then got into the act, removing Raina and Rizwan Shamshad to reduce UP to 159 for 4. But a 75-run fifth-wicket stand between Gyanendra Pandey and Ravikant Shukla enabled UP to end the day on a strong note.