Hyderabad ride high on the Arjun assault

The second round of the Ranji Trophy super League matches have begun and we once again bring to you a round-up of the day in India’s premiere domestic tournament…

Group A

Hyderabad 12 for 1 trail Punjab 221 (Inder Singh 63, Arjun 6-47) by 209 runs

Hyderabad rode on the splendid 6 wicket haul of 23 year old pacer MP Arjun to reduce Punjab to 221 in the first innings. Ravi Inder Singh was the lone fighter for Punjab with a knock of 63 as no one else could stand the Arjun assault. While Arjun got rid of six of the top seven Punjab batters, ICL returnee Alfred Absolem played a good helping hand with three scalps. Hyderabad’s perfect day was, however, tainted in the end as they lost opener Abhinav Kumar just before stumps.

Railways 238 for 4 (TP Singh 102, Sarandeep 4-79) v Himachal Pradesh

Batting first, Railways were reduced to 100/3 by off-spinner Sarandeep Singh when former Chandigarh Lion, TP Singh came up with a crucial innings of 102 and along with Yere Gaud (48*), put up a solid stand of 130 for the fourth wicket. Sarandeep came back to break the partnership as he accounted for TP Singh’s wicket, hence ending up as the lone wicket-taker for Himachal Pradesh.

Gujarat 275 for 5 (Parthiv 130*, Thaker 72) v Tamil Nadu

Taking on Tamil Nadu at the Motera stadium, the home team was struggling at 61/3 when captain, Parthiv Patel came to their rescue with an unbeaten century. The wicketkeeper-skipper was well supported by Bhavik Thaker’s 72 run knock and together they formed a partnership of 148. Pacer Chandrasekar Ganapathy and left-arm spinner Aushik Srinivas claimed two wickets each, as Gujarat finished the opening day at 275/5.

Group B

Uttar Pradesh 287 for 5 (Shukla 119, Parvinder 120*) v Saurashtra

A defining 180-run stand between Shivakant Shukla and Parvinder Singh consolidated the UP innings that, at 51/3 seemed to be falling apart. Both the batsmen registered their respective hundreds in the process and put UP in a commandable position at the end of the first day in Rajkot.

Baroda 219 for 6 (Martin 46, Pathan 42*, Shah 41*) v Bengal

At the Eden Gardens, Bengal kept Baroda in check by inflicting regular blows, not allowing any batsman to capitalise on a start. Tottering at 146/6, Irfan Pathan and wicketkeeper Pinal Shah held the Baroda innings together with their unbeaten 73-run stand for the seventh wicket. The Bengal bowlers, on the other hand, got off to an impressive start, taking the advantage of the morning conditions.

Mumbai v Orissa match to be played at the Brabourne stadium in Mumbai could not start due to intermittent showers in the city.