All-rounder Kunwar Bidhuri and Himmat Singh struck fighting half-centuries to rescue Delhi from a precarious position as the hosts reached 270/6 against Gujarat in New Delhi on the first day of their Ranji Trophy group A encounter.

Delhi at one stage were staring down the barrel at 136/5 with only opener Hiten Dalal (69 off 130 balls) looking comfortable against the Gujarat attack.

However, Himmat (56 off 153 balls), who made a comeback into the senior side along with Kunwar (78 batting off 133 balls) rescued Delhi with a 134-run sixth-wicket stand.

Pacer Arzan Nagaswalla (3/54 in 18 overs) was the pick of the Gujarat bowlers while seasoned Axar Patel (1/60 in 18.3 overs) did the most important job of dismissing Himmat off the last ball of the day.

In the morning, opener Anuj Rawat (4) was trapped leg before by left-arm seamer Rush Kalaria (2/58 in 22 overs) but skipper Dhruv Shorey (28) and Dalal added 73 for the second wicket.

With Delhi looking in control, pacer Nagaswalla dealt a twin blow getting Shorey leg-before and breaching through his deputy Nitish Rana’s (0) defence in successive overs.

At 79/3, there was another stand of 49 between Dalal, who hit ten fours and Jonty Sidhu (18). But in the post-lunch session, Nagaswalla got his third wicket as Jonty edged one to Samit Gohel in the slips.

Dalal, who faced 130 balls, suddenly had a rush of blood as he tried to hook an innocuous Kalaria bouncer to be caught by the only man Nagaswalla stationed behind square.

After that Himmat and Kunwar held the innings together which gives Delhi an opportunity to fight and remain in the match.

Brief Scores:

In Delhi: Delhi 1st Innings 270/6 (Kunwar Bidhuri 78 batting, Hiten Dalal 69, Himmat Singh 53) vs Gujarat.

In Jaipur: Rajasthan 1st Innings242 all out (Mahipal Lomror 52, Mukesh Kumar 6/62). Bengal 1st Innings 47/1.

In Patiala: Andhra 97 (Siddarth Kaul 5/24, Vinay Choudhary 3/28) and 31/4 (Vinay Choudhary 3/11). Punjab 108 (Mandeep Singh 23, Shoaib Mohammed Khan 5/46, S Ashish 5/50).

In Nagpur: Vidarbha 239/6 (Wasim Jaffer 57, Ganesh Sathish 58, MD Nidheesh 3/53).

Haryana grab advantage

Haryana gained the upper hand on an eventful opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group C match against Assam on Tuesday, taking a 101-run lead after bundling out their opponents for 97 in the first innings. Haryana finished the day at 198/9.

Captain Harshal Patel’s decision to bowl after winning the toss paid dividends as he and left-arm spinner Tinu Kundu (5/35) wrecked the Assam batting line-up, making good use of the conditions. Medium-pacer Patel, who has been key for Haryana this season, finished with 4/32.

Opener Kunal Saikia (17) and one-down batsman Rishav Das (13) defied the Haryana attack for a while but once Kundu dismissed the latter, Assam kept losing wickets at regular intervals.

Riyan Parag, on whom a lot depended, was leg-before wicket to Kundu for a duck.

Rajjakuddin Ahmed (35 not out) hit six fours and a six in his aggressive 34-ball knock that helped Assam get close to 100.

In reply, Haryana looked in trouble having lost half the side for 65 before a defiant 76-run partnership between Chaitanya Bishnoi (46) and RP Sharma (59) sparked a revival.

Later, the skipper Harshal Patel (28) smacked three fours and two sixes to help Haryana extend the lead.

Brief Scores:

Assam 97 all out in 37 overs (Rajjakuddin Ahmed 35 not out; Tinu Kundu 5/35; Harshal Patel 4/32) vs Haryana 198/9 in 46.3 overs (R P Sharma 59, Chaitanya Bishnoi 46, Harshal Patel 28; Ranjeet Mali 3/34, Mukthar Hussain 3/38, Siddarth Sarmah 3/65).

At Agartala: J&K 280/9 in 89 overs (Jiyaad Nazir Magrey 66, Aquib Nabi 46, Abid Mushtaq 48 batting; M B Mura Singh 4/85) vs Tripura.

At Dehardun: Uttarakhand 83 all out in 23.4 overs (D Negi 21 not out; Raushan Raj 3/27, Diwesh Pathania 3/28) and 10/0 in 7 overs vs Services 173 all out in 52.2 overs (Rahul Singh Gahlaut 45, Mumtaz Qadir 37; Mayank Mishra 6/48).

At Pune: Odisha 220/5 in 88 overs (Shantanu Mishra 84 batting, Rajesh Dhuper 67 batting, Anurag Sarangi 41) vs Maharashtra.

At Jamshedpur: Chhattisgarh 238/4 in 78 overs (Harpreet Singh Bhatia 124 batting, Jiwanjot Singh 52) vs Jharkhand.

Jadeja stars for Saurashtra

Saurashtra left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja snared five wickets to leave Mumbai teetering at 249/8 on the opening day of their Elite Group B Ranji Trophy game in Rajkot on Tuesday.

Had Sarfaraz Khan yet again not rescued Mumbai after they suffered a top-order collapse with his 78, the 41-time Ranji champions would have been in more trouble in what is a must-win game for them.

Jadeja (5/90) rattled their top-order and among his wickets were Jay Bista (43), Bhupen Lalwani (25), Siddesh Lad (13) and rival skipper Aditya Tare (10).

Opting to bat at the SCA Stadium in Khandheri, Mumbai openers Bista and Lalwani failed to convert their starts. Mumbai were tottering at 88/4 but then Sarfaraz (78 off 126 balls) and all-rounder Shams Mulani (59 not out off 171 balls) steadied the ship with their 109-run stand for the fifth wicket. They ensured that the domestic giants took lunch and tea without losing any further wickets.

Sarfaraz fell on 78 after being cleaned up by Kamlesh Makwana. Sarfaraz’s unbeaten run thus ended in first-class cricket after amassing 605 runs from three innings. dfMulani held one end and completed his fourth fifty after tapping Jadeja for a single.

However, Mulani ran out of partners with Vinayak Bhoir (21) and Shashank Attarde (0) also falling in quick succession as Saurashtra took honours on day one. For the hosts, Jadeja was ably supported by Mankad (2/30) and Makwana (1/46).

Earlier, the Saurashtra Cricket Association felicitated senior speedster Jaydev Unadkat for taking 300 wickets in first-class cricket. Unadkat, however, missed the game due to niggle.

Brief Scores: Mumbai 249/8 (Sarfaraz Khan 78; Shams Mulani 59 batting; D Jadeja 5/90) vs Saurashtra

At Shimoga: Karnataka 233/3 (R Samarth 105; Siddharth KV 62 not out; Gourav Yadav 1/29) vs Madhya Pradesh.

At Baroda: Baroda 174 all out (A Sheth 53, Anureet Singh 25; M Mohammed 7/68) vs Tamil Nadu 135/0 (Abhinav Mukund 73 not out, L Suryapprakash 61 not out). TN trailed by 39 runs.

At New Delhi (Karnail Singh Stadium): Himachal Pradesh 283 (Nikhil Gangta 72, R Dhawan 70; Pradeep Poojar 4/62) vs Railways.

(with PTI inputs)