The results from the first day of the Ranji Trophy one-day tournament 2008-09
Cricinfo staff15-Feb-2009
Virat Kohli celebrates a hundred in Dharamsala © Cricinfo Ltd
West ZoneFresh from their heroics in the Twenty20 international in Sri Lanka, Yusuf and Irfan Pathan powered Baroda to a convincing four-wicket win over Mumbai at the Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Ground in Rajkot. Yusuf’s 101 off 72 balls, with seven sixes and five fours, steered Baroda to their target of 279 after they were in a spot of bother at 89 for 5. He added 92 with K Panchal (35) and later an unbroken 103 with Irfan, who made 51 off 42 deliveries.Rakesh Solanki had earlier scored 41 off 40 after Baroda lost a wicket each in the first two overs from Dhawal Kulkarni – debutant Aditya Reddy and Azharuddin Bilakhia were out for ducks. Mumbai’s innings was anchored by captain Wasim Jaffer, who scored 131 off 118 balls. However, he failed to get substantial support from the other batsmen, with only two others – Rohit Sharma and Aditya Tare – making it to the 30s. Irfan took 3 for 50 off nine overs, while Munaf Patel was more economical, with 2 for 33 off 9.5.At the Khandheri Cricket Stadium, Maharashtra sneaked a ten-run win against Gujarat in another high-scoring encounter. Half-centuries from Harshad Khadiwale and debutants Sangram Atitkar and Azhar Ansari took Maharashtra to 280 for 8. Khadiwale hit ten fours in his 63-ball 63, and put on 78 for the second wicket with Atitkar, who made 89 off 106. Ansari provided the late impetus with his unbeaten 50 off 47. Siddarth Trivedi, who struck three blows in the 50th over, finished with 3 for 39 off his ten overs. Gujarat lost their top four for 72, but the middle order staged a fightback. Bhavik Thaker hit a quickfire 56, while Shahil Patel made a steady 40. Debutants Rujul Bhatt and Rohit Dahiya made brisk and useful contributions of 53 and 33 to keep the chase alive, but Gujarat eventually fell 11 short of their target. Khadiwale followed up his fifty with 3 for 55, while Jitendra Patil took 3 for 49.North ZoneRavi Inder Singh’s maiden domestic one-day century, and some brisk contributions lower down the order failed to take Punjab past Haryana’s 290 in Una – they were dismissed for 287 in 49.5 overs. Haryana, batting first, were boosted by Sumit Sharma’s 74-ball 86, and opener AB Sonkar’s 68. Wicketkeeper Nitin Saini made a quick 31 in a 68-run stand – in 7.2 overs – with Sharma for the seventh wicket. Jaskaran Singh, making his domestic one-day debut, took three wickets but was expensive, conceding 68 runs. Medium-pacer Joginder Sharma struck early in Punjab’s chase, and they were struggling at 67 for 4 after 16.5 overs. Taruwar Kohli, also making his debut, scored 58 and put on 141 with Ravi Inder, who made 106. When Ravi Inder was out, Punjab needed 57 off 42 balls. Mayank Sidhana (37 off 27) and Jaskaran’s efforts kept them on course, but Jaskaran’s untimely injury hurt Punjab – he was retired out for 28 off 16. Three run-outs sealed the game for Haryana, with Jaskaran unable to bat again.Centuries from Virat Kohli and Mithun Manhas helped Delhi muscle their way to an emphatic 112-run win against Jammu & Kashmir in Dharamsala. Put in, Delhi lost openers Aakash Chopra and Shikhar Dhawan cheaply, but Kohli and Manhas consolidated with a stand of 167. Kohli was out for 102, bowled by Parvez Rassol, while Manhas stayed till the 50th over, and was eventually dismissed for 108 off 109 balls. J&K were never in the hunt chasing 315 after a slow start to their chase. Sumit Narwal removed the openers, and they were 75 for 4 after 25.1 overs. There were half-centuries for captain Shafiq Khan and Manoj Joglekar, but Yogesh Nagar took five of the last six wickets to end the innings at 202.In the other game in Una, Vinit Indulkar and Paras Dogra’s rescue act helped Himachal Pradesh to a 27-run win over Services. HP, asked to bat, were reeling at 33 for 4 after opening bowler Rakesh Kumar struck thrice. But Indulkar and Dogra combined for a 158-run stand. Dogra scored 73 off 99 balls, while Indulkar went on to his first List A century, making 103 off 117 balls. Rishi Dhawan smashed 23 off seven balls to boost HP’s total to 241. Services were reduced to 60 for 4 in 18.2 over during their chase, but recovered to 130 with a stand between Yashpal Singh and Sarabjit Singh. When Sarabjit was dismissed for 27 by Sarandeep Singh, Services needed a further 112 off 78 balls. Yashpal kept them in with a chance, scoring 100 off 104, but he was last out as Services were bowled out for 214 in 49.2 overs. Spinners Vishal Bhatia and Sarandeep took thee wickets apiece.East ZoneA partnership of 145 for the eighth wicket between Nishit Shetty and debutant Rana Dutta proved the difference between an embarrassing defeat and victory for Tripura against Assam in Kolkata. New-ball bowlers Dhiraj Goswami and Krishna Das ran through the Tripura line-up after Assam chose to field. They were reduced to 87 for 7 in 17.5 overs. But Shetty, who scored 128 off 141 balls, got support from Dutta, who played 91 balls for his 51. The two fell in the 47th over with the score on 232, and the last pair failed to add any as Tripura were bowled out in 47.1 overs. Goswami took 4 for 35, while Das ended with 3 for 48. Assam’s innings too got off in similar fashion, with twin strikes from medium-pacer Vineet Jain and left-arm spinner Tushar Saha leaving them at 65 for 5. Debutant Deepak Sharma’s 58 off 65 balls led a recovery – he added 61 for the seventh wicket with Goswami (31) – but Tripura struck to snuff out the Assam’s chances of an improbable win. Jain struck twice again, including the scalp of Sharma, to end with 4 for 27 off his ten overs. Assam finished their 50 overs 30 short of their target.Laxmi Shukla, the Bengal captain, top scored with 82 in Bengal’s 90-run win over Jharkhand at Eden Gardens. Wriddhiman Saha and Manoj Tiwary chipped in with 44 and 37 as the hosts were dismissed for 241 in 48.2 overs. Sourav Ganguly hit four fours in his 20-ball 17 before he was dismissed by medium-pacer Kuldeep Sharma, who had figures of 4 for 33. Despite a run-a-ball 32 from Saurabh Tiwary, Jharkhand failed to mount a challenge, and were bundled out for 151 in 40.4 overs.
Mithun Manhas got a ton too as Delhi trounced Jammu & Kashmir © Cricinfo Ltd
South ZoneA disciplined bowling performance helped Karnataka ease to a nine-wicket win against Andhra in Visakhapatnam. Put in, only three of Andhra’s batsmen made it to double figures, with opener Hemal Watekar top scoring with 40. They were bowled out for 126, with four Karnataka bowlers taking two wickets each. CM Gautam and captain Robin Uthappa powered Karnataka’s chase. Uthappa made 64 off 51 balls before he fell with one run short of the win. Gautam finished unbeaten on 53.At the Port Trust Golden Jubilee Stadium, it was a close tussle between Tamil Nadu and Goa, which TN eventually won by 20 runs. TN’s in-form batting line-up made good the decision to bat first, scoring 280 for 7. Opener Abhinav Mukund made 73, S Badrinath 66, AB Karthik 40 and SS Kumar an quick unbeaten 50. Shadab Jakati was the pick of the Goa bowlers, taking 4 for 47 off ten overs. Goa lost their top three cheaply, with debutant R Suthesh striking twice. Ajay Ratra revived the innings with a 64-ball 73, putting on 86 with Saahil Dhuri (32). Jakati, the Goa captain, chipped in with a brisk 43, but his dismissal left Goa at 186 for 6 after 31.2 overs. Robin D’Souza and Aditya Angle reduced the runs required to 57, but D’Souza was run out for 33. Angle nudged Goa towards the target during his 35, but two more run-outs ended their hopes. They were all out for 260 in 47.4 overs.Hyderabad completed a four-wicket win over Kerala at the Ukku Stadium. Robert Fernandez’s 83, supported by Sreekumar Nair’s 50, helped Kerala to a competitive 247 in their 50 overs. They lost five wickets for 43 runs in the final ten overs. For Hyderabad, offspinner Syed Quadri took 4 for 40 off his ten overs. Sreesanth only bowled 2.3 overs during Hyderabad’s innings, and the other bowlers failed to make an impact. Half-centuries from DB Ravi Teja and Anoop Pai set the chase in motion. There was a mini-wobble with four wickets falling in 14.1 overs, but Quadri’s run-a-ball 52 not out steered Hyderabad to victory.Central ZoneA splendid all-round effort from Karan Sharma failed to lift Railways, who lost by 71 runs to Uttar Pradesh in Indore. Debutant Dilip Yadav struck twice to reduce UP, who chose to bat, to 46 for 2. A 146-run third-wicket stand between Tanmay Srivastava (86) and Parvinder Singh (75), at more than five an over, set up UP for a flourish in the final ten overs, but Murali Kartik and Sharma played killjoys, Kartik removed the two set batsmen, and Sharma, who bowls legspin, struck thrice as UP finished on 240 for 9. That score, however, proved more than enough, after Railways made a disastrous start in the reply. Sanjay Bangar, the captain, was run out on the second ball, and from there on wickets fell in a heap. After ten overs, they were at 26 for 3, and when wicketkeeper Mahesh Rawat was out for 43, Railways were 78 for 6 off 23. Sharma top scored with a run-a-ball 65, including five sixes, but had only the lower order for company. He added 47 with last man Anureet Singh, who scored 13 off 32. Legspinner Piyush Chawla took 3 for 32 off his ten overs, while medium-pacer Imtiyaz Ahmed struck twice.In the other game in Indore, Rajasthan beat Vidarbha by 87 runs in a low-scoring affair. Batting first, Rajasthan faltered to 100 for 6 after 34 overs, but were boosted by 99-run stand between Rohit Jhalani (36) and Pankaj Singh, who smashed four sixes and five fours in his 66 off 40 balls. Mohammad Hashim took 4 for 58 in the innings. Set a target of 218, Vidarbha lost three wickets in 3.2 overs, and lost half their side for 33. Alind Naidu was the only one in the top six to get to double figures, and despite some resistance from Vikrant Gonnade (39) and Viraj Kadbe (32), they folded for 130 in 39.3 overs. Pankaj snared two wickets, while new-ball partner Shailender Gehlot grabbed 4 for 25 off his 10.