Cuttack: Ishan Porel was the wrecker-in-chief grabbing 4/40 as Bengal pacers shared bulk of spoils to bundle out Baroda for a paltry 181 on day one of their elite Group B Ranji Trophy fixture at the Barabati Stadium here on Thursday.
In reply, Bengal were 24/1 at stumps on day one with the two Sudips — opener Gharami (11 batting) and one drop Chaterjee (nine batting) at the crease after skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran (4) got out cheaply in the fifth over.
Put into bat, Baroda got off to a steady start with skipper Kedar Devdhar (31) surviving early on after being dismissed off an Akash Deep no-ball.
But the lanky Porel triggered the collapse in the 15th over, with his twin blows of Devdhar (23) and Pratyush Kumar (0) in the space of three balls.
On a roll, Porel picked up his third in the form of Shivalik Sharma (4) in his next over to reduce Baroda to 47/3.
Just when Baroda looked to get going with Krunal Pandya forming an alliance with keeper-batter Mitesh Patel, Akash Deep once again made further inroads.
Akash Deep (2/63) dismissed Krunal and Abhimanyusingh Rajput in three balls to further dent Baroda’s hopes for a revival.
Mukesh Kumar ripped through the lower order to finish with 3/33. For Baroda, Mitesh top-scored with a 104-ball 66, while Bharghav Bhatt remained not out on 30.
“The plan was to get as many wickets in the first two and a half hours; the wicket was helping the seamers. Afterwards the wicket became slow, low and flat,” Porel said.
“We have bowled well as a unit. Mukesh, Akash bowled well. When we got a breakthrough, wickets came in a cluster. For me, the first wicket of Devdhar was very crucial as earlier he was caught off a no-ball. Overall, it was a good day at the office. Ranji trophy resumed after two years and it feels good to be back in red ball cricket,” Porel said.
Brief Scores
At Barabati Stadium: Baroda 181; 54.2 overs (Mitesh Patel 66; Ishan Porel 4/40, Mukesh Kumar 3/33, Akash Deep 2/63). Bengal 24/1; 13 overs.
At Vikas Cricket Ground: Hyderabad 270/7; 88 overs (Hanuma Vihari 59, Prateek Reddy 36, Tilak Varma 32; Jagjit Singh 3/50) vs Chandigarh.
Sharma’s 92 guides Madhya Pradesh to 235/7 against Gujarat
Rajkot, Feb 17 (PTI) Shubham Sharma hit a patient 92 to guide Madhya Pradesh to 235 for 7 on the opening day of their Elite Group A Ranji Trophy match against Gujarat here on Thursday.
Gujarat pacer Arzan Nagwaswalla (3/50) wreaked havoc at the start, removing Madhya Pradesh openers Rameez Khan (20) and wicket-keeper Ajay Rohera (23) in quick succession to leave them teetering at 44/2.
But then, the 28-year-old Sharma resurrected the Madhya Pradesh innings in company of experienced campaigner Rajat Patidar (54 off 113 balls), who hit nine boundaries, as the duo stitched a 92-run stand for the third wicket.
While Sharma, who hit 11 boundaries and a six in his 206-ball knock, was the more aggressive of the two, Patidar played his role to perfection. He hit nine fours.
But when it looked like the duo would take MP to a big score, left-arm medium pacer Roosh Kalaria (2/37) removed Patidar and MP skipper Aditya Shrivastava (14) too fell cheaply becoming Nagwaswalla’s third victim. MP were in spot of bother at 166/4.
Stephen’s five-wicket haul helps Andhra dismiss Rajasthan for 275
Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 17 (PTI) Left-arm pacer CV Stephen’s impressive five-wicket haul helped Andhra dismiss Rajasthan for 275 in the first innings on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group E match here on Thursday.
The 28-year old Stephen, who struck in the very first over by dismissing opener Yash Kothari for 4, ran through the Rajasthan batting line-up to give his side the advantage.
Rajasthan batsmen got starts and Rajesh Bishnoi (54) did well to come up with a strokeful half-century (42 balls, 4X4, 3X6). Skipper Ashok Menaria and Aditya Garhwal contributed 40 and 49 respectively.
Menaria and Garhwal added 63 runs for the fourth wicket to help steady the Rajasthan innings before Bishnoi and Anirudh Singh (39) came up with a 76-run stand for the sixth wicket to add to the total.
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