Ranji Trophy 2018-19: Dhapola's five-for puts Uttarakhand in driver's seat

Deepak Dhapola claimed his sixth five-wicket haul in five matches to help his side bundle out Nagaland for 207 in a Ranji Trophy Plate group match in Dehradun on Friday.

Deepak Dhapola claimed his sixth five-for.

There's no stopping Deepak Dhapola. The Uttarakhand pacer claimed his sixth five-wicket haul in five matches to help his side bundle out Nagaland for 207 in a Ranji Trophy Plate group match in Dehradun on Friday.

Eyeing a sixth win on the trot, the Plate group leader was on 73-2, trailing by 134 runs. One of the best finds of the season so far, Dhapola did not allow the Nagaland batsmen to steady the ship.

In another fixture, Bihar's left-arm spinner Ashutosh Aman scalped a career-best 8-51, as the side restricted Meghalaya to 125 in the first innings.  Playing at home in Shillong, Meghalaya opener Raj Biswa provided some resistance with a fighting 56 from 105 balls before being trapped by Aman. At stumps on the first day, Bihar was at 80-2, trailing Meghayala by 45 runs.

Puducherry’s Fabid Ahmed hogged the limelight with an all-round show on a day 22 wickets tumbled against Arunchal Pradesh. The Kerala recruit top-scored with an unbeaten 41 before Puducherry was bundled out for 136 after Arunachal Pradesh opted to bowl at the DN Singha Stadium.

Ahmed then foxed the Arunchal Pradesh batsmen with his off-spin on way to career-best figures of 6-29.

Former India pacer Pankaj Singh (3/20) also chipped in with crucial breakthroughs as Arunchal Pradesh folded for 82 at their adopted home venue. Under fading lights, Arunachal Pradesh’s Upadhyal Deendyal dismissed both the openers for a total of 22 wickets on the day.

At stumps on day one, Puducherry was at 28-2, leading by 82 runs.

Summarised Scores

In Dehradun: Nagaland 207; 59.4 overs (Rongsen Jonathan 69, KB Pawan 46; Deepak Dhapola 5/49, Sunny Rana 3/43). Uttarakhand 73/2; 23.2 overs (KV Kaushal 48, Vineet Saxena 20 batting; Pawan Suyal 2/38).

In Goalpara: Puducherry 136; 35.5 overs (Fabid Ahmed 41 not out; Upadhay Deendyal 4/36, Techi Neri 3/28, Techi Doria 2/32) and 28/2; 12 overs. Arunachal Pradesh 82; 35.5 overs (Ahmed 6/29, Pankaj Singh 3/20).

In Jorhat: Sikkim 321/9; 88 overs (Milind Kumar 139, Bipul Sharma 50; Sinan Khadir 3/74, G Lalbiakvela 2/74, Akhil Rajput 2/36) vs Mizoram.

In Shillong: Meghalaya 125; 52.5 overs (Raj Biswa 56; Ashutosh Aman 8/51) vs Bihar 80/2; 31 overs (Babul Kumar 43 batting).

(With inputs from PTI)