Ranji Trophy Highlights, Round 7 Day 1 updates: Indrajith scores 100 for TN; Gaikwad falls for 96; Thakur picks six

At Agartala, Railways 72/7 in 26 overs vs Tripura 149 in 52.1 overs 

At Jamshedpur, Rajasthan 79/2 in 29 overs vs Jharkhand 188 in 58.3 overs

At Kolkata, Bengal 111/2 in 33 overs vs Bihar 95 in 46.4 overs

At Rajkot, Saurashtra 153/3 in 43 overs vs Manipur 142 in 45 overs

At Palam, Services 27/0 in 9 overs vs Maharashtra 225 in 79 overs

At Nagpur, Vidarbha 313/5 in 86 overs vs Haryana

At Vizianagaram, Andhra 260/7 in 89.3 overs vs Kerala

At Mumbai, Mumbai 217/6 in 48.4 overs vs Assam 84 in 32.1 overs

At Lucknow, Chattisgarh 238/4 in 87 overs vs Uttar Pradesh

At Hubli, Chandigarh 219/6 in 89 overs vs Karnataka

At Salem, Tamil Nadu 291/4 in 90 overs vs Punjab

At Porvorim, Goa 309/9 in 83 overs vs Gujarat

At Indore, J&K 42/3 in 17 overs vs Madhya Pradesh 200 in 65.4 overs

At Dehradun, Uttarakhand 295/5 in 89 overs vs Baroda

At Puducherry, Himachal Pradesh 272/4 in 90 overs

At New Delhi, Odisha 314/4 in 88 overs vs Delhi

Shayan: A century for Shivam Dube as Mumbai reaches 215 for 6. This is Dube’s second century of the season. 

Harvik Desai and Arpit Vasavada near their respective half centuries as Saurashtra nears Manipur’s first innings total of 142. 

Ravi Shankar removes Karan Lal for 28. Abhimanyu Easwaran unbeaten on 42. Anustup Majumdar joins him at the crease.

Shivam Dube continues in the same vein. Reaches 62 off just 52 balls with Shams Mulani for company. Mumbai leads by 78 runs.

A P Sharma picks a fifer as Services bowls Maharashtra out for 225 after a 96 from Ruturaj Gaikwad. 

Indrajith scores a century for Tamil Nadu against Punjab. 150 runs the partnership now between him and Vijay Shankar as TN eye a huge first innings score. TN 259/4

Hardik Raj picks up his second to remove Kaushik. Mayank Sidhu joins Karan Kalia who is 65 unbeaten. 

Abid Mushtaq picks up three as J&K bowl Madhya Pradesh out for 200. Venkatesh Iyer top-scoring with 62.

Shayan: And now, Dibakar Johari has cleaned up Ajinkya Rahane. A full-length delivery hits the middle-stump and Mumbai loses its fifth wicket.

Gourav Yadav gets Vashisht trapped in front to break the stand for Pondicherry. Rishi Dhawan comes in at 6. 

Veer Pratap Singh strikes to remove Shakir Gandhi for 19 after a 50-run opening stand. 

Shayan: MORE TWIST IN THE TALE: Assam has withdrawn the appeal of obstructing the field, and Ajinkya Rahane is back to the crease. Crazy scenes at BKC Ground.

Dipak: It was a much better second session for the hosts as Indrajith and Vijay Shankar struck crucial half-centuries and ensured TN didn’t lose a wicket in this passage of play. Indrajith, time and again, proves he is one of the best players of spin in domestic cricket. He has used his feet well to dance down and hit through the on-side to pick ones and twos. When the bowlers have gone short, he has used the crease to cut to the square boundary and got to his half-century with one such shot.

Vijay Shankar has also looked untroubled and hit a few boundaries with some deft late cuts through third man. The duo have added 111 runs for the fifth wicket so far, but the job is not even half done. Both would need to score big hundreds if TN wants to press for an outright win. 

Punjab spinners haven’t troubled the batters, and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of evidence of assistance for the tweakers yet. Also, Mandeep Singh has used his bowlers in short spells of four to five overs at best.

Shayan: Mumbai has lost its captain Ajinkya Rahane on the last delivery before tea. Big wicket for Assam. He’s been given out for obstructing the field. Mumbai 102/5 in 24.4 overs

So, this is what happened: Ajinkya Rahane hit a straight drive and wanted a single, but he was sent back by Shivam Dube. He scampered back but got in the way of the throw from the mid-on fielder Denish Das and was given out for obstructing the field.

Pratham and Sahab fall in quick succession as Railways falter against Tripura. Rana Dutta and Mura Singh with the wickets. 

Abhijeet Tomar departs for 6, castled by Saurabh. Perfect start for Jharkhand. 

Shivam Dube plays a counter-attacking 26 off 21 balls to take Mumbai past the Assam score. Rahane unbeaten on 18 at the other end.

Captain Ricky Bhui and Karan Shinde stitch up a stand after Maheep Kumar falls for 81. Vaishakh Chandran picks two, including the crucial scalp of VIhari.

Dhruv Shorey and Akshay Wadkar depart after crucial half-centuries. Aman Kumar and Sumit Kumar pick two each. 

Early blow for Railways as Suraj Ahuja departs for a duck. Sahab Singh joins Pratham Singh at the crease against Tripura.

Hardik Raj breaks the partnership for Karnataka. A 71-run stand broken. A K Kaushik joins half-centurion Karan Kalia at the crease.

Subhranshu Senapati brings up his fifty to take Odisha past 200 against Delhi. Govinda Poddar at the other end. The two have combined for 37 runs so far.

Suryansh departs for an eight-ball duck. Rahul Singh picks up his second wicket. Mumbai trails by 24 runs vs Assam.

Mahipal Lomror picks up three at the death to bowl Jharkhand out for 188. Kumar Kushagra and Shahbaz Nadeem offered a brief resistance with a 60-run stand. 

Rahul Singh bowls Hardik Tamore for 22 off 26 balls. Suryansh Shedge joins Rahane at the crease. 

After being stuck in the nineties, running out of partners, Gaikwad falls for a well-made 96. Maharashtra 169/7 in 55.1 overs.

Yuvraj Singh picks four as Railways bundle Tripura out for 149. Sridam Paul the top-scorer with 71.

Gangta and A P Vashisht put up a 33-run partnership after Prashant Chopra falls for 61. Pondicherry in need of another breakthrough.

Dharmendrasinh Jadeja picks up four as Saurashtra bowl out Manipur for 142. Half centuries for Langlonyamba and Al Bashid in a 67-run partnership the only batting performance of note.

Shayan: Bhupen Lalwani is caught behind without opening his account. And within a few minutes, Prithvi Shaw departs as well. 

Suraj Jaiswal and Mukesh Kumar pick four each to dismiss Bihar out for 95 after Lunch. Rishav Das the top-scorer with 26.

Ajinkya Rahane and Hardik Tamore at the crease.

Mukesh removes Veer Pratap Singh for his fourth wicket and Suraj Jaiswal removes Ashutosh Aman for nought as Bengal look set to restrict Bihar to a double-figure score.

Maheep and Vihari take Andhra past the three-figure mark against Kerala. Maheep unbeaten on 63 off 115 balls. 

Digvijay Patil falls for 42, lbw to Pulkit Narang. U19 star Sachin Dhas joins Ruturaj Gaikwad at the crease. 

Suyash Prabudessai wages a lone battle as Goa loses four in the first innings to Gujarat. Chintan Gaja picks two. 

Ruturaj Gaikwad completes his fifty as Maharashtra fightback against Servies. An unbeaten 86 run partnership with Digvijay Patil who nears his fifty as well.

Shayan: It was an incredible morning for Shardul Thakur as the Mumbai bowler claimed a six-for to bundle out Assam for a paltry 84 in the last Group league fixture of the Ranji Trophy at the Sharad Pawar Academy Ground. 

Coming on the back of a rather pale show with the ball in its previous game, Shardul made the most of the early conditions and rattled Assam’s top-order and having lost three wickets for just nine runs, the visiting team could not bounce back. 

Once Shardul dominated the first session, seasoned spinner Shams Mulani claimed a couple of wickets to add to Assam’s woes. In the absence of regular captain Riyan Parag, Assam lacked experience and none of its batters could step up.

Dipak: Having won the toss, TN had a poor session, with its in-form batters gifting away the wickets and squandering the advantage of batting first in a must-win game.

After losing opener S. Lokeshwar early, Pradosh Ranjan Paul and N. Jagadeesan steadied things till the first drinks break before pressing the self-destruct button.

Pradosh, who looked good during his brief stay, tried to take on the off-spinner Sukhwinder Singh and perished, giving a simple catch to mid-off fielder Nehal Wadhera. Jagadeesan followed suit not long after that with a similar attempt, trying to loft Sukhwinder only to hit straight to Wadhera at mid-on.

On a pitch that is on the slower side, the Punjab bowlers were disciplined but not threatening with pacer Siddharth Kaul, the best bowler of the day so far. Before lunch, Mohammed Ali was dismissed, caught behind off left-arm spinner Abhishek Sharma. 

A lot depends on the pair of B. Indrajith and Vijay Shankar, who almost took TN to victory against Karnataka, to help the hosts post a big score.

Shayan: A fifer for Shardul Thakur! Assam loses its eighth wicket for 80. Sunil Lachit the latest to depart for 2.

Prashant Chopra completes his fifty as HP cross 100 against Pondicherry. A 39-run partnership with N Gangta currently going on.

Shayan: After a reprieve, Kunal Sarma falls to Shardul Thakur. Fourth wicket for the India international.

Venkatesh Iyer and Himanshu Mantri stitch up an unbeaten 70-run stand to take MP out of trouble after early wickets against J&K.

Ashwin Hebbar falls for 28 to Akhil Scaria. Hanuma Vihari joins Maheep Kumar at the crease. 

Odisha brings up the 100 against Delhi for the fall of two wickets. Subhranshu Senapati and captain Shantanu Mishra currently at the crease. 

Shayan Acharya, our reporter from the ground says: Assam in tatters as it loses its sixth wicket for 59. After Shardul Thakur dominated the first session, Shams Mulani has joined the attack with two wickets.

Big blow for TN as Sukhwinder Singh gets N Jagadeesan for 22. Played a rash shot and was caught at mid on says our reporter from the ground Dipak Ragav.

Mohammed Ali joins Indrajith at the crease.

Mukesh picks up his third wicket. He traps Sakibul Gani in front to reduce Bihar to 53/5.

Venkatesh who replaced the rested Vidwath Kaverappa in the XI for Karnataka removes the opposition captain Manan Vohra for 21. 

Shams Mulani picks up his first wicket, dismissing Saahil Jain for 12. Assam loses half its side within the first 18 overs. 

Sukhwinder Singh removes the dangerous Pradosh Ranjan Paul for 20. B. Indrajith joins Jagadeesan at the crease. Game right in the balance in Salem.

Maheep Kumar and Ashwin Hebbar near a 50-run stand as Andhra fights back after an early wicket against Kerala.

Shardul Thakur picks up his third, removing captain Denish Das caught and bowled. Assam struggling after losing the toss. 

Ruturaj Gaikwad remains the lone man standing as Services cleans up the Maharashtra top-order. Varun Choudhary picks up all four wickets. 

Aman Kumar removes the in-form Karun Nair, lbw for 12. Haryana picks up three early wickets.

Khaleel picks two. Aniket Choudhary and Manav Suthar picks one each as Rajasthan runs through the Jharkhand top order. Utkarsh Singh unbeaten on 13, running out of partners.

Siddharth Kaul strikes to remove Lokeshwar for 10. Pradosh joins Jagadeesan at the crease against Punjab.

Avasthi and Thakur clean up the Assam top-order. Hazarika and Ghadigaonkar return to the dugout. Mumbai firmly on top.

Atharva Taide is gone for 11. Two early jolts for Vidarbha. Sumit Kumar with the wicket for Haryana. 

Bipin Saurabh is the third wicket to fall. Mukesh picks up the wicket. Bihar in deep trouble against Bengal.

Vyshak gets his first as Chandigarh loses two early wickets. Arslan Khan nicks one to the keeper for 8.

Pankaj Yadav with an early strike for Pondicherry. Ravi Thakur is castled for 11. 

Parvej Musaraf is castled by Shardul Thakur for 2. Assam loses an early wicket against Mumbai.

Basil Thampi picks up the first wicket. Revanth Reddy goes for a nine-ball duck. 

Koushik gets an early breakthrough. Shivam Bhambri edges to Nikin Jose for a nine-ball duck. 

Veteran Faiz Fazal falls for 1. Aman Kumar picks up the wicket for Haryana.

Khaleel Ahmed strikes early for Rajasthan. Md Nazim is bowled for 9. 

Piyush Kumar Singh falls to Suraj Jaiswal in the second over of the match for 1(4).

Click on the image to read the full preview.

Ranji Trophy 2023-24: Outright win over Punjab will seal quarterfinals berth for Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu secured just one point in its previous game against Karnataka in Chennai, which ended in a thrilling draw. An outright win for the hosts will seal its berth in the quarterfinals.

Early wicket for Railways and Yuvraj Singh against Tripura. Opener Babul Dey is dismissed for nought. 

Jharkhand vs Rajasthan - Jharkhand Won the Toss & elected to bat

Bengal vs Bihar - Bengal Won the Toss & elected to Field

Chandigarh vs Karnataka - Karnataka Won the Toss & elected to Field

Delhi vs Odisha - Odisha Won the Toss & elected to bat

Andhra vs Kerala - Andhra Won the Toss & elected to bat

Uttarakhand vs Baroda - Uttarakhand Won the Toss & elected to bat

TN vs Punjab - Tamil Nadu Won the Toss & elected to bat

Saurashtra vs Manipur - Manipur won the toss and elected to bat

Vidarbha vs Haryana - Vidarbha won the toss and elected to bat

MP vs Jammu and Kashmir - MP won the toss and elected to bat

Mumbai vs Assam - Mumbai Won the Toss & elected to Field

Services vs Maharashtra - Maharashtra won the toss and opts to bat first 

Goa vs Gujarat - Gujarat wins the toss and opts to field

UP vs Chattisgarh - Chhattisgarh Won the Toss & elected to bat

Pondicherry vs HP - Pondicherry won the toss and opts to field

Himachal Pradesh, on the cusp of being relegated to the Plate Group owing to a winless run, will be looking to end the jinx when it meets Pondicherry in the final round of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group ‘D’ match at the Siechem Stadium on Friday.

The Ankit Kalsi-led side, having lost four out of its six games, is floundering at the bottom of the group with four points. It will rely heavily on the services of veteran all-rounder Rishi Dhawan, who is the leading run-scorer (389) and second-highest wicket-taker (19) for his team this season. 

- Sahil Mathur

Read full preview by clicking on link below

Ranji Trophy: Winless Himachal out to end the jinx in final league game against Pondicherry

Himachal aims to avoid relegation, while Pondicherry seeks a victorious end to the Ranji Trophy season.

Railways Won the Toss & elected to Field.

Railways XI: Adarsh Singh, Akash Pandey, Arindam Ghosh, Ashutosh Sharma, HImanshu Sangwan, Mohammad Saif, Pratham Singh, Suraj Ahuja, Sahab Yuvraj Singh, Upendra Yadav (C), Yuvraj Singh

Tripura XI: A K Sarkar, B B Debnath, Babul Dey, Bikram Kumar Das, Ganesh Satish, Manisankar Murasingh, Parvez Sultan, Rana Dutta, Sridam Paul, Sudip Chatterjee, Wriddhiman Saha (C)

A Ranji Trophy title has eluded Mumbai since 2016. Over the last eight years, the team reached the final twice but failed to clear the last hurdle. This time around, the domestic giant has earned itself a ticket to the quarterfinals with its last Group B league game against Assam, beginning at the Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy ground on Friday, remaining.

However, the team management is wary of complacency and does not want to think too far ahead. “It’s too early to talk (about winning the title). We have three hurdles to cross before we reach the final and lay our hands on the trophy,” said Shardul Thakur, an India international and one of the key members of Mumbai.

- Shayan Acharya

Read full preview by clicking on the image below

Ranji Trophy 2023-24: Mumbai aims to continue winning run against Assam

A Ranji Trophy title has eluded Mumbai since 2016. Over the last eight years, the team reached the final twice but failed to clear the last hurdle.

Welcome to Sportstar’s live updates of Round 7 of the Ranji Trophy taking place around the country. Stay Tuned for the toss update and live scores.