Defending Ranji Trophy champion Vidarbha started its defence of the title strongly against Andhra, while Mumbai and Kerala produced strong batting displays on the first day of their round-one fixtures against Baroda and Delhi respectively.
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Andhra vs Vidarbha: Vidarbha is 26 for no loss at stumps on day one, trailing Andhra by 185 runs. Captain Faiz Fazal and Sanjay Yadav are the two overnight batsmen for the defending Ranji Trophy champion.
Mumbai vs Baroda: Mumbai is 362 for eight at stumps on day one. Shams Mulani is the unbeaten overnight batsmen batting on 56, while half-centuries from Ajinkya Rahane (79), Prithvi Shaw (66) and Shardul Thakur (64) have put Mumbai in a strong position. Bhargav Bhatt is the pick of the Baroda bowlers with figures of 28-9-110-3.
Hyderabad vs Gujarat: Our correspondent V. V. Subrahmanyam reports: Hyderabad bowled out for 233 with Sumanth remaining unbeaten on 69 on first day vs Gujarat.
Tamil Nadu vs Karnataka: Karnataka 259 for six at stumps on day one. Shreyas Gopal (35 not out) and David Mathias (0 not out) are the two overnight batsmen.
Kerala vs Delhi: Kerala batsman Robin Uthappa has been dismissed for 102, caught by Lalit Yadav in the slips off the bowling of Pradeep Sangwan. And that will be stumps! Kerala 276 for three in 89.1 overs.
Kerala vs Delhi: Our correspondent A. Vinod reports: Robin Uthappa completes a confidence boosting century after a lean patch in the limited over tournaments earlier on the season. Kerala 274/2 after 86 overs. Sachin Baby is at the other end batting at 36.
End of Innings: Andhra bowled out for 211. (Hanuma Vihari 83, R Gurbani 3/72, A Sarvate 3/50)
Kerala vs Delhi: Our correspondent A. Vinod reports: Kerala inches past 250 in 82.1 overs. Uthappa currently is on 93 and Sachin Baby on 26.
Hyderabad vs Gujarat: Our reporter V. V. Subrahmanyam reports: Hyderabad loses Mehdi Hasan, caught in slip cordon off leggie Piyush Chawla. Hyderabad 175/8 in 73 overs.
Nagaland vs Meghalaya: Nagaland's Imliwati picks seven wickets after Punit Busht scored a hundred. Meghalaya 264/9 in 88.4 overs
Tamil Nadu vs Karnataka: Tamil Nadu will hope to make further inroads after sending five Karnataka batsmen back to the hut. Karnataka 222/5 in 80.3 overs
Hyderabad vs Gujarat: Our reporter V. V. Subrahmanyam reports: The host loses seventh wicket as Tanay Thyagarajan departs. Hyderabad 156 for 7
Nagaland v Meghalaya: Punit Bisht has been dismissed for 125 and he becomes the first centurion of this season.
Tamil Nadu v Karnataka: Our correspondent S. Dinakar at the NPR College Ground in Dindigul updates: "Karnataka was 204 for four at Tea. Pawan Deshpande was on 56. Devdutt Padikkal and Despande added 116 in 208 balls for the fourth wicket. Padikkal, dropped thrice during his 78, was eventually held at covers off B. Aparajith"s occasional off-spin. Plenty of heat was on view with R. Ashwin's three vociferous appeals turned down. The Tamil Nadu players protested and the two umpires had to step in."
Kerala vs Delhi: Our correspondent A. Vinod reports: "At tea on the opening day against Delhi, Kerala is 207 for two in 69 overs. Uthappa batting on 57 and Sachin Baby on 13."
Rajasthan v Punjab: End Innings: Punjab - 185/10 in 57.6 overs (Siddhant Tiwari 1 off 13, Aditya 18 off 35)
Kerala vs Delhi: Our correspondent A. Vinod reports: "Kerala crosses 200 in its first innings against Delhi in the 65th over. Uthappa batting on 53 and Sachin Baby on 10."
Hyderabad v Gujarat: Our reporter V. V. Subrahmanyam at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad texts: "Hyderabad fighting back thanks a gritty 80 run stand between Kolla Sumanth and Chama Milind, 136 for 5 in 57 overs."
Bihar v Pondicherry: End of Innings: Bihar - 173/10 in 68.3 overs (Shivam S Kumar 8 off 14, Sabir Khan 0 off 1)
Uttarakhand v Jammu and Kashmir: Uttarakhand in deep trouble! Unmukt Chand has been dismissed for four now, ct & b Ram Dayal. Uttarakhand 8/3 after 5.2 overs.
Kerala vs Delhi: Our correspondent A. Vinod reports: "A disappointed P. Rahul returns back to the pavilion, missing what would have been a great century by a mere three runs. Shuffling across to Vikas Mishra, the opener is adjudged leg before. Kerala 186 for two. Uthappa batting on 49 is joined by skipper Sachin Baby."
Tamil Nadu v Karnataka:
Two back-to-back boundaries for Hanuma Vihari as he closes in on another first-class century.Strike that! Seems like I jinxed it. Smart work from Rajneesh Gurbani who lands a fuller delivery wide of off stump. Vihari goes for the drive but ends up nicking it to the 'keeper. FOW: 139/5, 50.4 oversUttarakhand v Jammu and Kashmir: End of Innings: Jammu and Kashmir - 182 all out (Shubham Khajuria 47, Rahil Singh 3/18, Sunny 2/50)
Kerala vs Delhi: Our correspondent A. Vinod reports: "Rahul moves to 90 and help Kerala post a century partnership for the second wicket in the company of Uthappa (38). Kerala 169 for one after 51 overs."
Andhra vs Vidarbha: Hanuma Vihari is in complete control of things in the middle and he is shaping up nicely for a big knock. KS Bharat is doing his part by playing a perfect foil to his captain. Andhra 126/3 after 45 overs.
Bihar v Pondicherry: Rathour's fighting innings of 31 off 86 balls comes to an end as Sagar P Udeshi traps him in front. Bihar 122/6 after 53.5 overs.
Chhattisgarh v Odisha: And with the wicket of Manoj Singh, Rajesh Mohanty completes his four-wicket haul (12.2-5-20-4). Chhattisgarh 66/7.
Himachal v Saurashtra: Himachal loses its sixth wicket in 32 overs for 92 runs! R R Dhawan departs cheaply, scoring just four runs off 13 balls.
Chhattisgarh v Odisha: With Shashank Singh's wicket for 8(18), Chhattisgarh has now stumbled further to reach 61/6 after 31.2 overs.
Tamil Nadu v Karnataka: Our correspondent S. Dinakar at the NPR College Ground in Dindigul updates: Karnataka 108 for three against Tamil Nadu at lunch in Dindigul after winning the toss. Devdutt Padikkal batting on 40. The left-hander was however dropped by M. Siddharth at short cover off R. Ashwin on 7. Debutant left-arm spinner Siddharth got the vital wicket of Mayank Agarwal (43), having the opener caught at slip by B. Aparajith with his second delivery in Ranji Trophy. Karnataka skipper Karun Nair perished attempting a suicidal single after playing R. Ashwin to short mid-wicket. Tamil Nadu is fielding four spinners in the match, R. Ashwin, M. Ashwin, Sai Kishore and Siddharth.
Assam v Services: Meanwhile, Assam's Arup Das has just picked up his fourth wicket and has the Services in all sorts of trouble. After 39 overs, Services has lost five wickets with 82 runs on the board.
Andhra v Vidarbha: Hanuma Vihari remains resolute as Andhra heads into the lunch break at 87 for the loss of three wickets.
Kerala v Delhi: Kerala gets to 124/1 at lunch against Delhi off 39 overs. Rahul is batting on 72, while Uthappa is on 16.
Hyderabad v Gujarat: Hyderabad continues to struggle as reliable southpaw B Sandeep falls cheaply to Chintan Gaja. He was caught behind and the home side is now 66 for 5 at the end of 29 overs.
Goa v Sikkim: Sikkim has lost seven wickets for 61 in 25.5 overs. Yashpal 14(43) is the last man to go, ct Amit Verma b Lakshay A Garg.
Andhra v Vidarbha: Thakur strikes again and Ricky Bhui is the one who has to take the long walk back to the pavilion now. A 'seam up' delivery gets the extra bounce and Bhui doesn't seem to be ready for it. Edges to the keeper. Andhra 59/3 after 26.2 overs.
Kerala v Delhi: Our correspondent A. Vinod at the St. Xavier's KCA Cricket Ground in Trivandrum updates: "Rahul gets to a deserving half century as Kerala moves to 89 for one in the 27th over."
Uttarakhand v Jammu and Kashmir:
Tamil Nadu v Karnataka: And that is a big, BIG wicket! Mayank Agarwal falls seven runs short of his half-century: ct B Aparajith b M Siddharth. Karnataka 71/2 after 25.2 overs.
Hyderabad v Gujarat: Our reporter V. V. Subrahmanyam at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad texts: "Himalaya Agarwal gone, Hyderabad struggling at 40 for four after being put in to bat vs Gujarat in Hyderabad."
Kerala v Delhi: Our correspondent A. Vinod at the St. Xavier's KCA Cricket Ground in Trivandrum updates: "Kerala loses its first wicket as Jalaj Saxena fails to keep down a intended cover drive and is easily caught by Lalit Yadav off Tejas Baroka. Saxena scored 32 in Kerala 's total of 69. Rahul batting on 34 is joined by Robin Uthappa"
Baroda v Mumbai: And that is the big fish in the net! Prithvi Shaw departs after making 66 off 62 balls. Abhimanyusingh Rajput keeps this one straighter but pulls back on the length a bit. Shaw, who goes for the front-foot defence misreads the line and the cherry clips the top of leg. Mumbai 95/2 after 17.3 overs. Ajinkya Rahane is the new man in.
Hyderabad v Gujarat: Our reporter V. V. Subrahmanyam at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad texts: "Hyderabad loses debutant Shashidhar Reddy cheaply, 33 for 2 in 17 overs vs Gujarat."
Baroda v Mumbai: Mumbai reaches a score of 92/1 after 16 overs. It has lost the wicket of Jay Bista for 18 (20). At the crease are Shubham Ranjane 8* (21) and Prithvi Shaw 64* (55).
Andhra v Vidarbha: Inside edge, onto the stumps! D B Prashanth Kumar has been sent back by Vidarbha's Yash Thakur. Andhra 38/2 after 15.2 overs. The drinks break has been taken.
Tripura v Jharkhand: Tripura's Bikram Kumar Das makes 21(50) before Vivek Tiwari rattles his furniture. Tripura 48/4 after 17.1 overs.
Kerala v Delhi: Our correspondent A. Vinod at the St. Xavier's KCA Cricket Ground in Trivandrum updates: "Kerala off to a good start, 52 for no loss at the first break, taken after 16 overs. P. Rahul batting on 22 and Jalaj Saxena on 29"
Tamil Nadu v Karnataka: Devdutt Padikkal and Mayank Agarwal take Karnataka to 34/1 after 15 overs of play. Earlier, Nischal D was castled by Vignesh K only 23 balls into the innings.
Rajasthan v Punjab:
Manipur v Mizoram: INNINGS BREAK, and I thought we were just getting started for the day! Mizoram has been bundled out for 65 in 16 overs.
Hyderabad v Gujarat: Our reporter V. V. Subrahmanyam at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad texts: "Hyderabad loses captain Tanmay, pacer Chintan Gaja strikes, one for one vs Gujarat."
Manipur v Mizoram: EIGHT WICKETS OUT OF THE TOTAL NINE FOR JUST 21 RUNS, REX IS SURELY HAVING THE BEST DAY OF HIS LIFE! Mizoram 57/9 after 15 overs.
Manipur v Mizoram: We already have a fifer, ladies and gentlemen! Mizoram is struggling at 33/5 after nine overs now.
Andhra v Vidarbha: Andhra loses opener C R Gnaneshwar as Rajneesh Gurbani gets one to zip back in to crash onto the batsman's pads. Would have gone on to hit the top of middle and leg. 10/1 after 4.1 overs.
Uttar Pradesh v Railways: UP wins toss, opts to field.
Tripura v Jharkhand: Tripura loses its first wicket in three overs. BB Ghosh makes four, before walking back to the pavilion.
Chhattisgarh v Odisha: Odisha won the toss and elects to field.
Haryana v Maharashtra: Haryana wins toss, elects to bat first.
Andhra v Vidarbha: MILESTONE ALERT: Wasim Jaffer makes his 150th Ranji Trophy appearance today!
Hyderabad v Gujarat: Our reporter V. V. Subrahmanyam at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad texts: "Hyderabad, under a new captain Tanmay Agarwal, is put in to bat by Gujarat in the Ranji game in Hyd apparently to exploit early morning moisture, opener Tanmay and Akshath Reddy out there in the middle."
Andhra v Vidarbha: Meanwhile, the wildest of things happens at Vijaywada. A snake has invaded the pitch. Do I say "Snake stops play!"?
Kerala v Delhi: Our correspondent A. Vinod at the St. Xavier's KCA Cricket Ground in Trivandrum updates: "Kerala winning the toss has elected to bat against Delhi."
Andhra v Vidarbha: PITCH REPORT: "An absolute delight for the batters. Not a lot of bounce as there is rock hard black soil beneath the live grass. The bowlers are going to get help only in the first couple of hours. There is a hint of moisture at the top."
Tamil Nadu v Karnataka: Karun Nair wins toss. The domestic treble seeker will bat first.
Rajasthan v Punjab: Punjab has elected to bat.
Manipur v Mizoram: Mizoram loses its first wicket with the scoreboard reading 28 after 4.5 overs. Amatea has been trapped in front by Rex.
Himachal v Saurashtra: Trend's broken. Himachal to bat.
Andhra v Vidarbha:
Bihar v Pondicherry: 5/5. Pondicherry to field.
Assam v Services: And in no time has Services lost its second wicket, thanks to Arup Das. Mumtaz Qadir walks. He had faced 21 balls but was yet to get off the mark. Services 7/2 after 7 overs.
Assam v Services: And the first wicket of the 19-20 season falls! Assam's Ranjeet Mali removes Nakul Verma for 7 off 19 deliveries: caught behind. Services 7/1 after 5.4 overs.
Tripura v Jharkhand: Jharkhand wins the toss. The side has opted to bowl as well: that's a 4/4 this morning.
Manipur v Mizoram: Manipur wins toss, elects to field.
Assam v Services: Arup Das to start things off with the new ball. Wicketkeeper Nakul Verma and Mumtaz Qadir will open for Services.
Nagaland v Meghalaya: Nagaland wins toss. The side will field first.
Assam v Services: Assam wins toss, chooses to field.
TODAY'S MATCHES
SEASON PREVIEW
Relevance and context. These are the oft-used terms when it comes to discussing the fate of Test cricket in an era of instant results. When it comes to the 86th Ranji Trophy, which starts on Monday with 19 matches scheduled to get underway in the opening league round, one can’t help but wonder whether the biggest edition — at least in terms of the number of participating teams — will also struggle to find relevance and context over the next three months.
With the overbearing emergence of India A tours, the Ranji Trophy is no longer the most important tournament for a domestic cricketer to knock on the doors of the national selectors and get a call-up in the Test squad. Also, India’s international fixtures are so dominated by white-ball cricket in 2020 that the Ranji Trophy performances are hardly going to matter in the larger scheme of things.
Read | Ranji Trophy in numbers: the stats you need to know
India is not scheduled to play a Test match at home until February, 2021. Besides, after the two Tests in New Zealand in February-March, Virat Kohli’s men could well wear whites only in November, in Australia. As a result, the Ranji Trophy this time around is most likely going to be about cricketers ‘playing for pride’ and to stake a claim for soon-to-be-introduced domestic contracts.
No wonder then that during the week-long gap between the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the Ranji Trophy, most Ranji teams saw Indian Premier League (IPL) aspirants prefer to skip training at the cost of pre-auction trials organised by virtually all the IPL franchisees.
Hat-trick or treble?
Despite the oddities, the cricket connoisseurs will be hoping either for a rare hat-trick or the first treble in the history of domestic cricket to be achieved in March, 2020. No team except Bombay — which won 15 successive triumphs from 1958-59 to 1972-73 — has won three titles in a row. Vidarbha — with captain Faiz Fazal and coach Chandrakant Pandit at the helm — is hoping to join the domestic powerhouse to achieve the rare feat. With the core of the team having virtually remained the same for the third season in succession, Vidarbha can well continue to stamp its supremacy on the coveted trophy yet again.
Read | Ranji Trophy 2019-20 FAQs
The biggest challenge Vidarbha will face will be by Karnataka. The southern giant has already maintained a clean record, having swept the white-ball season with the Vijay Hazare Trophy and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy triumphs. It will be hoping to become the first team to complete the treble of inter-State titles in a season by winning Ranji.
Only if one of these two teams emerges champion will the Ranji Trophy’s 86th edition not lack in relevance or context.de
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