New Delhi: Veteran India spinner Harbhajan Singh made his return to First-class cricket in a Punjab-Bengal fifth round Ranji Trophy match, even as Delhi batsmen Rishabh Pant and Nitish Rana showed their class on Day 1 today.
In a Group A clash, Pant showed his natural flair for strokeplay with an attractive 99 in company of a reliable Rana (110 batting) as Delhi were comfortably placed 260 for 4 against Maharashtra on truncated first day at Palam ground on Friday.
In another Group A clash, Arup Das and Rahul Singh took three wickets each as Assam challenged Hyderabad at Guwahati.
Group A brief scores
At Palam: Delhi 260 for 4 (Nitish Rana 110 batting, Rishabh Pant 99, Chirag Khurana 2/71) vs Maharashtra.
At Guwahati: Hyderabad 289/8 (BP Sandeep 84, AT Rayudu 83, Arup Das 3/90, Rahul Singh 3/54).
At Surat: Rajasthan 153 (Chintan Gaja 8/40). Gujarat 90/1 (Samit Gohil 46, Priyank Panchal 34 batting).
In Group B, left-arm orthodox spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja took a six-wicket haul to enable Saurashtra bundle out Kerala for a meagre 225. Saurashtra were 37 without loss with Robin Uthappa unbeaten on 20 and Snell Patel on 16.
Group B brief scores
At Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala 1st innings: 225 all out (Sanju Samson 68; Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 6/112); Saurashtra 1st innings 37 for no loss.
At Surat: Rajasthan 1st innings: 153 (Chintan Gaja 8/40); Gujarat 1st innings: 90 for one (Samit Gohil 46, Priyank Panchal 34 batting).
At Rohtak: Haryana 1st innings: 119 for 7 (Himanshu Rana 35; Mohammed Mudhasir 4/34, Ram Dayal 3/35) vs J&K.
In Group C, Tamil Nadu let Madhya Pradesh off the hook allowing them to reach 224 for 7 after having them at 67 for 5 at one stage at close.
Group C brief scores
At Indore: Madhya Pradesh 224 for 7 in 80 overs (Ankit Sharma 75 batting, Ankit Dane 63, K Vignesh 3 for 27) vs Tamil Nadu.
At Ongole: Mumbai 248 for 6 in 90 overs (Prithvi Shaw 114, Siddhesh Lad 86, Abhishek Nayar 21 batting, B Ayyappa 3 for 87) vs Andhra Pradesh.
At Vadodara: Baroda 281 for 3 in 90 overs (Kedar Devdhar 104, Deepak Hooda 51, Vishnu Solanki 46 batting) vs Odisha.
In Group D, Harbhajan Singh playing his first four-day game in over 21 months, witnessed Bengal bowlers skittling out Punjab for a paltry 147 before reaching 76 for no loss.
Group D brief scores
At Amritsar: Punjab 1st Innings 147 (Shubhman Gill 63, Pradipta Pramanik 3/41, B Amit 3/31); Bengal 1st Innings 76/0 (Abhishek Raman 42 batting, Abhimanyu Easwaran 33 batting).
At Raipur: Services 1st Innings 130 (Diwesh Pathania 4/45). Services 1st Innings 39/0.
At Porvorim: Goa 1st Innings 239 (Keenan Vaz 72, Akshay Wakhare 4/50) vs Vidarbha.
(With PTI inputs)
