Bhajji plays a captain's knock as Punjab recover against J&K

Vadodara: Punjab captain Harbhajan Singh made a superb return to competitive cricket as he smashed 92 off only 80 balls to rescue his team from a precarious position against an impressive Jammu and Kashmir bowling attack on the first day of the Ranji Trophy quarter-final here today.

Punjab scored a decent 304 in their first innings as Harbhajan and No 9 batsman Sandeep Sharma (51) added an invaluable 105 runs for the eighth wicket after J&K seam trio of Samiullah Beigh (2/56), Ram Dayal (3/59) and Umar Nazir (4/66) reduced them to 146 for seven.

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At stumps, J&K were 11 for one after opener Obaid Haroon (4) edged one from Sandeep to wicketkeeper Gitansh Khera.

Using the helpful conditions, J&K bowlers --- especially seamer Dayal caused a lot of discomfort for Punjab's top-order batsmen including Yuvraj Singh (10) but the more experienced Punjab team finally wriggled out of trouble.

Coming back after a shoulder niggle that kept him out for more than six weeks, Harbhajan clobbered eight fours and six sixes in his 80-ball knock before he was out trying to slog sweep opposite number Parveez Rasool over short fine leg.

It was a duel between two offies in which Harbhajan clearly emerged as the winner over his talented younger opponent.

Harbhajan in fact punished Rasool hitting him for five sixes in seven balls with a couple that landed outside the Moti Baug ground over deep mid-wicket fence. Two more were hit over sight screen clearing the ground while another was also hit towards the deep end. Rasool had a poor outing with the ball as he went for 64 runs in 13 overs.

The 33-year-old also hit some crisp drives on the up off medium pacer Mohammed Mudhasir (0/55) and Nazir. When Rasool pitched it wide, he was promptly on the backfoot to cut him past the point fielder. 

Harbhajan got good support from Sandeep, who played the role of second fiddle to perfection by rotating the strike.

Harbhajan scored 68 off his 92 runs in boundaries and with only 14 scoring strokes.

The veteran of 101 Test matches was finally out eight short of what would have been a deserving third first-class century (he has two in Tests). However, Punjab were in a relatively safe position at 251 for eight at that stage.

However Sandeep in company of Manpreet Gony (5) and VRV Singh (9) added 53 runs more to take Punjab past 300-run mark.

Sandeep faced 123 balls hitting eight fours and was the last batsman out with Umar Nazir cleaning him up.

In fact, batting for nearly two and half hours helped Sandeep as he was nicely warmed up when he came into bowl during the last four overs of the day.

Wicketkeeper batsman Haroon got a streaky boundary but clearly looked uncomfortable as he nicked an outswinger to Gitansh behind the stumps. One down batsman Bandeep Singh was caught in the third slip off a Manpreet Gony delivery but the umpiresr uled it as no-ball.

Brief Scores: Punjab 304 all out in 81.2 overs (Harbhajan Singh 92, Sandeep Sharma 51, Yuvraj Singh 10, Umar Nazir 4/66, Samiullah Beigh 2/56). J&K 11/1 in 4 overs (Sandeep Sharma 1/5).

Yadav rescues Mumbai with attacking century against Maha

Yadav rescues Mumbai with attacking century against Maha

Mumbai: Out-of-form Suryakumar Yadav notched up a timely, counter-attacking hundred to steer defending champions Mumbai to 306 for seven against Maharashtra in their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal match at Wankhede Stadium here today.

Coming in to bat when Mumbai were tottering at 101 for four after lunch, Yadav (120) and Vinit Indulkar (82), playing his first match for Mumbai after returning to its fold following a three-season stint with Himachal Pradesh, hit back in style to help the hosts steady the boat.

Maharashtra bounced back late in the day when medium pacer Anupam Sanklecha dismissed both the batsmen, while Samad Fallah took the wicket of Shardul Thakur (4).

At stumps, Iqbal Abdulla (9 not out) and captain Zaheer Khan (5 not out) were at the crease.

The visitors had the 40-time champions on the rack after winning the toss, but they let the game slip away when Yadav, who batted for 209 minutes and faced 139 balls while hitting 18 fours, attacked the bowling. Indulkar also chipped in with important runs as he played the supporting role to a nicety.

23-year-old Yadav compiled his first ton in 15 matches and after a gap of over two years, his last coming in December 2011

He hit 17 fours in 115 balls when he reached the milestone, his fourth first class century and third in the championship for Mumbai.

The two batsmen added 183 runs in 261 balls for the fifth wicket to wrest back the initiative before Maharashtra hit back in the last half an hour.

Sanklecha got rid of the obdurate Indulkar late in the day when he edged behind after a stay of 252 minutes in which he struck 13 fours off 164 balls. He then struck another blow with the second new ball by packing off Yadav through a catch to second slip.

At the other end, Fallah grabbed the wicket of Thakur to see that Maharashtra ended the day on a happier note.

Medium pacers Fallah and Sanklecha grabbed three wickets each, while first change Shrikant Mundhe took the other wicket to fall. Spinners Akshay Darekar and Chirag Khurana were unlucky not to pick up one apiece after chances were missed by their captain and wicketkeeper Rohit Motwani off their bowling.

Mumbai began briskly, after being put in to bat, against some poor bowling by Maharashtra's new ball bowlers Fallah and Sanklecha who aimed at the batsmen's pads for openers Jaffer and Pawar to pick up easy runs.

Yadav, who was under pressure to perform after a poor season, later said it felt good to get a century in the knock out phase.

"It felt very good to score a century in the knock out round. It could have been better. We (he and Indulkar) were thinking of getting to 300 (without being separated) at the end of the day. I and Vinit were discussing batting the whole day," said the attractive stroke-player after the day's play.

"We did not expect to lose wickets to the second new ball. The wicket is helpful to the fast bowlers who hit the right areas," he said.

Sanklecha, who brought Maharashtra back into the game at the fag end by dismissing Yadav and Indulkar, said the Wankhede was a good hunting ground for him.

"This is my favourite stadium and it felt good to bowl here. We did well in the first session and came back well in the last. Credit goes to them (Yadav and Indulkar) for the way they batted," he said.

Bengal fritters away advantage after Sudip-Easwaran stand

Bengal fritter away advantage after Sudip-Easwaran stand

Kolkata: Youngsters Sudip Chatterjee and Abhimanyu Easwaran, showed maturity beyond years with a brilliant 163-run partnership before another familiar middle-order collapse saw Bengal end the day at 274 for eight against Railways in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal here today.

Left-hander Sudeep (96) played a responsible knock and was ably supported by right-hander Easwaran (65) as they resurrected the innings.

In the middle-order, only reserve Test specialist Wriddhiman Saha (60 batting) managed a good score as he added 41 runs for the undefeated ninth wicket stand with Ashoke Dinda (17 batting).

From a comfortable 166 for two, Bengal were reduced to 233 for eight, losing six wickets for 67 runs. Skipper Laxmi Ratan Shukla (17), veteran Sourashish Lahiri (2), young Writtick Chatterjee (0) were out cheaply.

Put into bat in seamer-friendly conditions, in-form pacer Anureet Singh (4/75) rocked the Bengal top-order in his very second over cleaning up Arindam Das (2) and Subhamoy Das (0) with successive balls.

At three for two, 22-year-old Sudip joined 18-year-old Easwaran as they steadied the ship. Easwaran in his 191-ball knock hit 10 fours while the talented Sudip missed out on his maiden first-class ton hitting 96 off 176 balls with 14 fours.

Having done all the hard work, the stylish left-hander Sudip lost his patience momentarily, chasing an away going delivery from Anureet in the second over after tea to miss out on a ton by four runs.

Easwaran started in a rusty manner but the 18-year-old Bengal opener too grew in confidence in Chatterjee's company to notch up his maiden first-class half-century.

Leg-spinner Karn Sharma broke the partnership 10 minutes before tea when Easwaran had a faint edge while going for an expansive shot to a straight delivery.Returning from national duty, Saha held the fort with a defiant 60 not out, studded with a six and seven boundaries to take Bengal near the 300-mark.

Saha found a fine ally in Dinda who struck four boundaries to race to 17 not out from 12 balls.

Railways suffered a setback after Anureet limped out of the field suffering from cramps after a marathon spell of 28.2 overs. Anureet's wicket-tally has gone up to 39 wickets.

Watched by former India captain Sourav Ganguly, Chatterjee was a picture of poise and elegance in only his fifth first-class match as he took the attack on Railways camp.

Easwaran looked patchy to start with as the Railwaymen attacking the rookie opener, while 22-year-old Chatterjee was at ease in his innings that it took off the pressure.

Effusive in praise for the youngsters duo, Bengal coach Ashok Malhotra said former India captain Ganguly too was excited to see them bat with such fluency.

"It was simply outstanding. It was a partnership from the Gen-Next of Bengal. Ganguly too was excited to see them bat with ease," Malhotra said of Ganguly who watched the match for more than three hours sitting in the Bengal dug-out.

With the CAB distributing 'complimentary' tickets there was a crowd of about 2,000 as they cheered the duo who put on their 100-run partnership in 38.4 overs.

"I'm really disappointed with that shot. I was confident of getting to the century. But it's important for us to win now. We were looking at a 350 score," a humble Chatterjee said.

In fact their rivalry was renewed Laxmi Ratan Shukla came to bat after the fall of Chatterjee as the skipper looked to attack Murali Kartik who 'Mankaded' Sandipan Das in their league match to fuel a controversy.

But Bengal captain Shukla's innings was short-lived with Kartik winning the battle when the Bengal skipper shouldered one to be caught behind for 17. However Shukla's full-blooded sweep shot struck short-leg fielder Nitin Bhille before lobbing up as Mahesh Rawat completed the catch.

Bhille was taken off the field and coach Abhay Sharma later said that the player has had a bad bruise.

There was some more drama in the middle when Writtick was dismissed by Anureet as the decision looked a dubious one with the player pointing his elbow-guard towards the umpire.

The slew of wickets frustrated Saha who was looking at ease at the other end as he finally found an unlikely support from Dinda to give a push to their first innings total.

Brief Scores: Bengal 274/8 in 90 overs (Sudip Chatterjee 96, Abhimanyu Easwaran 65, Wriddhiman Saha 60 batting; Anureet Singh 4/75, Murali Kartik 2/58) vs Railways.

Uthappa, Nair tons put K'taka in control after early jitters

Uthappa, Nair tons put K'taka in control after early jitters

Bangalore: Robin Uthappa roared back into form with a century, while Karun Nair also cracked a brilliant hundred as the two overcame early jitters to help Karnataka reach 297 for five against Uttar Pradesh on the opening day of their quarterfinal Ranji Trophy match here today.

The cynosure of all eyes on the day was Nair as, he, apart from scoring a ton, was also involved in two century partnerships at crucial points in the game, which helped Karnataka steady their wobbly ship.

Put in to bat by UP, Karnataka lost three of their top order batsmen for a duck each.

From 15 for three at one stage, Uthappa and Nair joined hands to put on a solid 120-run partnership for the fourth wicket to consolidate the innings, before Nair coupled with Chidambaram Gautam (89 not out) for another crucial 162 runs for the fifth wicket to bail the hosts out of trouble.

Out of Karnataka's total of 297 on day one, three batsmen -- Uthappa, Nair and Gautam -- scored 289 runs.

Uthappa, who came back into the side after recovering from a hamstring injury, batted fluently inspite of the early blows the hosts suffered in the morning session at Chinnaswamy stadium.

The swashbuckling opener played cautiously, ironing out the early blows dealt by medium pacers Ankit Rajpoot and Amit Mishra who sent packing the cream of host top-order in a jiffy.

Uthappa scored 100 in 160 balls with 19 boundaries to his credit, before giving a catch to wicketkeeper Elavya Dwivedi off slow left-arm bowler Ali Murtaza.

His partnership with Nair enabled Karnataka to make a comeback into the match after Manish Pandey (0), Lokeh Rahul (0) and Ravikumar Samarth (0) made a long march back to the pavillion.

Nair, who blasted 105 against Delhi in the last match, faced 246 balls and struck 14 boundaries and a six during his 100-run knock before he was trapped leg before on last ball of the day by Murtaza, who scalped his second wicket today.

Nair shared an important partnership with Gautam, whose unbeaten 89 came off just 101 balls with 14 magnificent fours.

For Uttar Pradesh, Mishra and Murtaza were the top performers with the ball as they finished with figures of two for 70 and two for 87, respectively.

Rajpoot chipped in with figures of one for 39 in 18 overs, while Raebareli Express R P Singh and right-arm leg-spinner Piyush Chawla went wicketless.