GROUP A

Shubham Rohilla’s unbeaten 143 and good performances from the rest of the batting order helped Services get off to a strong start in the fourth round of the Ranji Trophy 2023-24, reaching 279/4 at stumps on Day 1 at Delhi’s Palam Ground. Sushant Mishra’s four-wicket haul helped Jharkhand dismiss Vidarbha for 204, but the visitors also made early inroads, leaving the hosts at 10/3 at stumps. Only 39 overs were bowled at Rohtak, but Maharashtra took an early lead – hosts Haryana, leaving them on 100/5. Khaleel Ahmed took four wickets, while Arafat Khan and Aniket Choudhary shared five to dismiss Manipur for 159 in Ahmedabad. However, Rajasthan suffered an early setback and was 74/3 at stumps.

GROUP B

Uttar Pradesh’s combined bowling prowess enabled them to knock out Mumbai for 198 at Wankhede Stadium. In response, the visiting team was 53/1 at the end of play. Centuries from Hanuma Vihari and Ricky Bhui enabled Andhra to a dominant start against Chhattisgarh in Raipur, where they finished Day 1 on 277/4. Bengal had sunk to 57/4 against Assam in Guwahati when Anustup Majumdar (120*) and Manoj Tiwary (68*) rescued them with an unbroken 185-run partnership, taking them to 242/4 in 78 overs at the stumps. Shreyas Gopal hit an unbeaten 113 against Bihar, but the rest of Kerala’s batting struggled as they were reduced to 203/9 at stumps in Patna, with Himanshu Singh (4-50) and Veer Pratap Singh (3-26) taking the majority of the damage.

GROUP C

 On Day 1, Tamil Nadu produced a commanding performance with both ball and bat to take the lead over Chandigarh in Coimbatore. Sandeep Warrier and Sai Kishore each took three wickets as TN bowled out the opposition for 111. Narayan Jagadeesan (108*) and Pradosh Ranjan Paul (87*) then added 176 to help the hosts reach 221/1 at stumps. Despite having three half-centuries (Mayank Agarwal, Kishan Bedare, and Vijaykumar Vyshak) in their first innings on Day 1, Karnataka struggled against Tripura, finishing 241/8 in Agartala. Mayank Markande’s four-wicket haul propelled Punjab to a position of strength, bowling Goa out for 104 before reaching 95/4 in Porvorim. Railways were 145/6 against Gujarat in Valsad until Ashutosh Sharma scored a magnificent 123 at No.8 and Sahab Yuvraj Singh hit a vital 83 to enable their team to end on 313.

GROUP D

Despite a 112-run initial stand between Himanshu Mantri (77) and Yash Dubey (59), Madhya Pradesh struggled against Puducherry, with the hosts taking regular wickets to leave the visiting side on 224/7 at stumps. Delhi’s woes in the Ranji Trophy continued as they were swept out for 147 at Mohali by Uttarakhand, who went on to score 98/4 at the finish of play. Abhishek Kumar’s four-wicket haul, along with three from Rishi Dhawan, helped Himachal Pradesh bowl Odisha out for 138 in Cuttack, and the visitors started well with the bat, reaching 80/1. Vivrant Sharma (139) and Shubham Pundir (111*) propelled Jammu and Kashmir’s good start, with the team scoring 359/4 at the end of Day 1 against Baroda in Vadodara.

PLATE GROUP

Arunachal Pradesh couldn’t handle Hyderabad’s brutal bowling and batting, and the hosts were on their way to a massive triumph. After bowling Arunachal Pradesh for 172, Hyderabad needed only 48 overs to reach 529/1 at the stumps. Tanmay Agarwal’s 323 not out off 160 balls, the fastest first-class triple century (from 147 balls), propelled Hyderabad’s innings, along with Gahlaut Rahul Singh’s 185 off 105. Jonathan R’s 5-52 helped Nagaland bowl Sikkim out for 173, but the visitors were in trouble in Rangpo, where Palzor Tamang’s 3-8 reduced them to 25/5 at stumps. On Day 1 versus Meghalaya, Mizoram was inspired by Agni Chopra’s 105 and half-centuries from Lalhruaizela and Vikash Kumar, who took them to 342/7.