Cheteshwar Pujara guides one past first slip © AFP
Saurashtra 271 for 7 (Mankad 68, Jackson 51, A Hooda 4-59) v Haryana
Cheteshwar Pujara contributed only 35 while Robin Uthappa, in his first match for Saurashtra, was dismissed for 7 as Haryana’s seamers dominated in Lahli. Fifties from Prerak Mankad and Sheldon Jackson helped Saurashtra recover to 271 for 7.
Ashish Hooda was the most successful seamer for Haryana with 4 for 59, which included the wickets of Pujara and Uthappa. His strikes in the middle overs left Saurashtra at 104 for 4, after they were 76 for 1 at one stage. Jackson contributed 51 off 59 balls and his wicket left Saurashtra at 150 for 5, but Mankad combined with Chirag Jani (45) to add another 105 runs for the sixth wicket to help Saurashtra fight back. While Mankad was dismissed for a 115-ball 68, Jani fell on the last ball of the day for 45. Five Saurashtra batsmen scored more than 35, but none of them could convert their starts into bigger innings.
Rajasthan 249 for 4 (Bist 105*, Menaria 69, Gautam 51, Mudhasir 3-66) v Jammu & Kashmir
Robin Bist anchored Rajasthan’s batting on the opening day of theGroup B match against Jammu & Kashmir in Jaipur with his 13th first-class hundred. He was assisted by fifties from opener Amitkumar Gautam and Ashok Menaria, who scored 51 and 69 respectively. Bist remained unbeaten on 105, smashing 17 fours on the day, at a strike rate of a little under 50.
Bist came in to bat at the fall of Dishant Yagnik’s wicket in the 14th over and went on to add 73 runs for the second wicket with Gautam. The duo batted out more than 30 overs before Gautam was bowled by pacer Mohammed Mudhasir soon after reaching his fifty. Menaria then joined Bist to add a further 137 runs for the third wicket to set the side on track for a big first-innings total.
Towards the end of the day, however, offspinner and J&K captain Parvez Rasool bowled Menaria for 69, and then held on to a catch to dismiss Mahipal Lomror, helping J&K finish the day with four wickets. Mudhasir had returns of 3 for 66 in his 25 overs.
Jharkhand 200 for 9 (Kishan 45, Saxena 6-50) v Kerala
Allrounder Jalaj Saxena led Kerala’s charge against Jharkhand in Thiruvananthapuram, with his 13th first-class five-for to leave the visitors at a weak 200 for 9.
Jharkhand opted to bat but their opener Babul Kumar was out for a duck in the day’s third over before Saxena’s left-arm spin cut through Jharkhand’s top order, taking three wickets in a nine-over period to leave Jharkhand at 48 for 4. Saurabh Tiwary (22) then added 52 runs for the fifth wicket with Ishan Kishan before ending up as Saxena’s fourth victim of the day, ensuring that Saxena had accounted for four of Jharkhand’s top five batsmen. Kaushal Singh (24) and Ashish Kumar (25) resisted briefly but Saxena removed both batsmen after they got useful starts.
Sandeep Warrier and left-arm spinners Karaparambil Monish and Akshay Chandran shared the other three wickets.
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo