Journalism of Courage
Saurabh Tiwary has been working hard for a few years now to shed his T20 tag and establish himself as a proper first-class batsman. He was consistent last season. At Keenan Stadium he gave a good account of his patience and grit as he finished the day on 75 not out,playing 213 balls. Progress was very slow for Jharkhand against Gujarat after they won the toss and at stumps on Day One they could only manage 194 for five in 89.3 overs. Tiwary,however,ensured that the hosts didnt suffer a middle-order collapse as he put on 135 runs for the third wicket with Rameez Nemat (78) after the first two wickets fell with just 35 runs on the board.
Brief scores: Jharkhand 194/5 in 89.3 overs (R Nemat 78,S Tiwary 75 batting; JJ Bumrah 2/51) vs Gujarat
Mithuns six flattens Odisha
odisha vs karnataka (tangi)
Another India discard,Abhimanyu Mithun,shone bright in this Ranji game. The 24-year-old medium pacer,who last played a Test match in 2011 and has had issues with injury,gave Karnataka the early bragging rights with the figures of six for 52 that saw Odisha fold up for 226 in their first innings. Karnataka scored 22 for no loss in the four overs they batted.
Brief scores: Odisha 226 all out (Abhilash Mallick 98; A Mithun 6/52,A Kazi 2/38) vs Karnataka 22 for no loss in four overs (R Uthappa 6 batting,MA Agarwal 11 batting)
Group B
Das takes flight on Air Force Ground
services vs bengal (palam)
Bengal captain Laxmi Ratan Shukla walked out to a guard of honour given by the two teams after chief selector Sandeep Patil congratulated him for his 100th Ranji Trophy appearance. And Shuklas team mates ensured that they finished the day on high after Services won the toss and elected to field. Wriddhiman Saha,however,would be disappointed not to have some runs under his belt before his South African sojourn. The keeper-batsman was out leg before for just 21. Opener Arindam Das,however,batted well for his unbeaten 139. It was his second century of the season.
Brief Scores: Bengal 242/3 in 90 overs (A Das 139 batting,R Banerjee 42; Pratik Desai 1/27)
Mukund on song with 103* for TN
tamil nadu vs saurashtra (chennai)
Abhinav Mukund would be happy to get back to form with a 103 not out which set Tamil Nadu on course for a big total after Saurashtra won the toss and strangely asked the hosts to bat first. Consistency has been a factor for this 23-year-old left-hander ever since he was dropped from the Indian team in 2011. Murali Vijay (62) and S Badrinath (56) too made decent contributions and now the focus is on Baba Aparajith who has raced to 40 not out in just 66 balls and appears to be set for his customary hundred.
Brief Scores: Tamil Nadu 268/2 in. 80 overs (A Mukund 103 batting,M Vijay 62; C Jani 1/29)
20 wkts fall in a day
Baroda vs MP (baroda)
Brief scores: Odisha 226 all out (Abhilash Mallick 98; A Mithun 6/52,A Kazi 2/38) vs Karnataka 22 for no loss in four overs
Group C
Andhra vs Maharashtra (kadapa)
Brief scores: Andhra 232/3 (D Prasanth86,KS Bharat 82,D Joseph 2/45) vs Maharashtra
Goa vs Tripura (porvorim)
Brief scores: Goa 231/8 (A Desai 102,S Asnodkar 75,R Dutta 4/52,S Majumder 3/51) vs Tripura
