Punjab seamer Siddarth Kaul returned with an impressive six-wicket haul to dismiss Delhi for 107 in their first innings on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy Group B match in New Delhi on Wednesday. Meanwhile All-rounder Shivam Dubey struck a brisk 110 as Mumbai fought back to post a modest 297 against Gujarat.

Kaul runs through Punjab

The 28-year-old Kaul wrecked havoc with figures of 12.5-4-32-6 and he was well-supported by V I Choudhary (3/34). Arpit Pannu (1/12) also took a wicket. Delhi skipper Nitish Rana’s decision to bat first backfired with their batting line-up, including former India skipper Gautam Gambhir (1), failing to put up a fight against some quality bowling at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium. More than half the side failed to reach double-digit figures with K Bidhuri (27) emerging as Delhi’s highest scorer.

Punjab then took a first inning lead of 29 runs after reaching 136 for 3 with skipper Mandeep Singh (54 batting) producing an unbeaten fifty and opener Jiwanjot Singh (39) and Anmolpreet Singh (22) also chipping in with useful contributions. At stumps, veteran batsman Yuvraj Singh (16 batting) was giving Mandeep company at the crease. Vikas Mishra (2/27) and Simarjeet Singh (1/17) were the wicket-takers for Punjab.

Brief Scores:

Delhi: 107 in 42.5 overs (K Bidhuri 27; Siddharht Kaul 6/32) vs Punjab 136/3 in 45 overs (Mandeep Singh 54*; Vikas Mishra 2/27).

Dubey shines again

Dubey, who got a life on 14, made most of it to bring up his second first-class hundred at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday. The left-handed batsman was dropped by Rujal Bhatt in the slips and he did not look back after that. Dubey had hit his maiden first-class hundred against Railways in New Delhi.

In his 128-ball knock, Dubey struck eight fours and six towering sixes as he bailed Mumbai out of trouble after the hosts were teetering at 74/5. Dubey first joined hands with Siddesh Lad (62 in 141 balls) and then captain Dhawal Kulkarni (23 in 66 balls). He forged a 74-run sixth wicket stand with Lad and added 84 runs for the seventh wicket with Kulkarni.

Earlier, put into bat on a greenish wicket, Mumbai had a disastrous start as they lost both their openers Akhil Herwadkar (0) and Jay Bista (8) cheaply. Then experienced Surya Kumar Yadav (40) and Siddesh Lad rallied the innings with a 53-run stand for the third wicket. But Yadav threw his wicket away soon, with Mumbai in a spot of bother at 74/3.

Then Armaan Jaffer, who made a comeback to the Ranji team, got a reality check. Jaffer (0) and experienced Aditya Tare (0) fell in quick succession as Mumbai slumped to 74/5. However, after that Dubey build the innings.

After Dubey fell to Piyush Chawla, debutant Dhurmil Matkar made a valiant 47 in 53 balls to take Mumbai near the 300-run mark. Mumbai’s innings folded up in 80.3 overs.

For Gujarat, left-arm medium pacer Arzan Nagwaswalla was the pick of bowlers as he returned with figures of 5/78. He was supported by Rush Kalaria (3/80) and Piyush Chawla (1/53). At Mysuru, Karnataka bowlers led by J Suchith bundled out Maharashtra for 113. At Raipur, Chhattisgarh ended day one at 188/6, with Harpreet Singh Bhatia scoring 63 against Vidarbha.

And at Rajkot, Aarpit Vasavada hit a century as Saurashtra ended the opening day at 266/6 against Baroda.

Brief Scores: Mumbai 297 (Shivam Dubey 110, Siddesh Lad 62, Arzan Nagwaswalla 5/78) versus Gujarat.

Porel impresses for Bengal

A fighting knock of 81 not out by Baba Aparajith and a half century by M Kaushik Gandhi helped Tamil Nadu post 218 for 7 on the opening day against Bengal. Batting first after winning the toss, the home team got off to a slow start with openers Gandhi and Abhinav Mukund negotiating the Bengal new ball attack cautiously.

However, Mukund fell for 9 to a catch by Kousik Ghosh off Ishan Porel’s bowling. Aparajith, who joined Gandhi added 73 runs as Tamil Nadu looked to consolidate. Bengal struck two quick blows, dismissing Gandhi (51) and captain B Indrajith (0). Jagadeesan and Aparajith put on a half century partnership to steady Tamil Nadu. Aparajith held firm even as wickets fell around him to see the day through. The talented young Porel was the best bowler for Bengal with three wickets.