Ruturaj’s ton takes Maharashtra to 313 against Chandigarh

A fine century by Ruturaj Gaikwad helped Maharashtra post 313 on the opening day Ranji Trophy match against Chandigarh at the Sector 16 Cricket Stadium.

Winning the toss, the host skipper put Maharashtra to bat. The decision worked in their favour as the local lads got the first breakthrough in the third over by claiming the wickets of Prithvi Shaw (8). The opener was caught by Nishunk Birla off Jagjit Singh Sandhu.

Thereafter, Arshin Kulkarni was joined by SA Veer (7), but the latter was sent back to the hut in a similar manner by Sandhu. However, the Maharashtra innings came back on track with Kulkarni and Gaikwad raised a 35-run partnership.

Kulkarni posted 50 off 55 balls, studded with eight boundaries and one six, before getting caught by Mayank Sidhu off Saini. The duo of Sidhu and Saini got another breakthrough, as they combined to claim skipper Ankit Bawne (8), as the side struggled at 83/4.

Saurabh Nawale, meanwhile, settled down the innings with Gaikwad and led Maharashtra to cross 200-mark. The duo raised 152-run partnership for the 5th wicket, before Nawale (66 off 122 balls, with seven boundaries and one six) was trapped in front of wickets off Raman Bishnoi. The fall of wickets once again started as Jalaj Saxena (1), Vicky Ostwal (16), RS Ghosh (31) and PC Dadhe (0) contributed a little to the total.

Gaikwad posted 116 off 163 balls, hitting 15 boundaries, before Vishu accounted his wicket.

Saini (3/55) and Sandhu (3/79) remained the leading wicket taker for the bowling side, while Vishu (2/44) and Raman Bishnoi (2/79) shared wickets.

Debutant Harnoor saves the day for Punjab

Debutant Harnoor Singh posted an unbeaten 126 off 259 balls, with 11 boundaries, to help Punjab recover and post 240/6 against Kerala, at Mullanpur.

Harnoor recorded two important partnerships with Uday Saharan (37) and Prabhsimran (23), but failed to get support from any other batter. Anmolpreet Singh (1), Naman Dhir (1) and Ramandeep Singh (6) failed in their effort, before Salil Arora (36) stabled the innings. Harnoor and Krish Bhagat (2) were on the crease when the stumps were drawn. Ankit Sharma, Basil NP and B Aparajith picked two wickets each for the bowling side.