Ranji Trophy, Group B, Day 1: Gill scores fifty; MP and Kerala in strong position

Madhya Pradesh’s Right-handed batsman Rajat Patidar (110*) was not only the highest scoring batsman for his side but also dominated the Tamil Nadu bowlers by scoring a blistering century

Punjab vs Andhra Pradesh

With three tail-enders yet to bat, Punjab's batting line-up batted well to put 261/6 in 90 overs on day one against Andhra Pradesh. Under-19 batting star Shubman Gill, while opening for his squad, scored a decent 56 in 92 balls, hitting five fours and two sixes with a good strike rate of 60.86. Apart for Gill, skipper Mandeep Singh (68) was the highest scorer of the day. For Punjab, Singh and Gill were the only two batsmen to hit two sixes. With Sanvir Singh (63*) and Arpit Pannu (13*) on the crease, Punjab will look forward to add some more runs on day 2.

Top Performer: For Andhra Pradesh, B Ayappa took three crucial wickets of top order batsmen in form of Jiwanjot Singh, Anmolpreet Singh and Captain Mandeep Singh.

Brief Scores: Day 1 - Punjab 1st innings 261/6 (Sanvir Singh 63*, Arpit Pannu 13*, 90 ov)   

Bengal vs Himachal Pradesh

For Bengal, openers A Raman (48) and AR Easwaran (21) started the innings wisely to put a 69 run stand for the first wicket. However, despite playing 132 balls, Raman got dismissed by fast bowler Jaiswal just before scoring a well deserved fifty. Skipper MK Tiwary along with AP Majumdar scored 55 and 52 respectively. Batsmen IC Porel, PJ pramanik and AB Dinfda are yet to bat on Day 2. After winning the toss, Bengal decided to bat first and has scored 266 runs at loss of six wickets.

Top Performer:  Right-handed batsman Manoj Tiwary was the star performer for his squad. The Bengal skipper scored 55 runs, hitting eight fours with a strike rate of 64.70.

Brief scores: Day 1 - Bengal 1st innings 266/6 (AA Gani 1*, B Amit 0*, 90 ov)  

Kerala vs Andhra Pradesh

The decision of electing to field first did not go too well for Hyderabad. Put to bat first, Kerala managed to score a total of 231/4 in 85 overs, losing four wickets. For Kerala, Skipper Sachin Baby (57*) will continue to add some more runs for his team along with his partner VA Jagadeesh (3*) at the opposite end of the wicket on day 2 . Hyderabad’s Slow left-arm orthodox bowler M Hassan, bowled the maximum number of 30 overs for his side and managed to pick the crucial wicket of opener JS Saxena who was batting wisely and had scored 57 runs in 122 balls with one six and five fours. 

Top Performer: Kerala’s skipper Sachin Baby (57*) will look forward to built a partnership with Jagadeesh on day 2.

Brief scores: Day 1 - Kerala 1st innings 231/4 (Sachin Baby 57*, VA Jagadeesh 3*, 85 ov)

Madhya Pradesh vs Tamil Nadu

Madhya Pradesh’s Right-handed batsman Rajat Patidar (110*) was not only the highest scoring batsman for his side but also dominated the Tamil Nadu bowlers by scoring a blistering century, with nine fours. Among the openers, while AS Dane failed to impress, his teammate and co-opening batsman Av Birla batting maturely scoring a decent half-century in 166 balls, with four fours.

Top performer: Rajat Patidar score of 110 helped his team put a total of 214/3 in 89 Overs.

Brief scores: Day 1 - Madhya Pradesh 1st innings 214/3 (RM Patidar 110*, SS Sharma 0*, 89 ov)