Indore, Dec 20 (PTI) Sandeep Sharma snapped five wickets but Rajat Patidar and Akshat Raghuwanshi hit twin fifties as defending champions Madhya Pradesh recovered to 289 for 7 against Chandigarh on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group ‘D’ match here on Tuesday.
Electing to bat, openers Yash Dubey (44, 50 balls, 6 fours) and Himanshu Mantri (12) provided Madhya Pradesh a solid start, adding 63 runs for the first wicket.
However, Sandeep jolted the MP innings, picking up the wickets of Mantri and Dubey in quick succession.
Shubham Sharma (1) couldn’t stay long as he fell to Hartejassvi Kapoor with the score at 75, while Sandeep accounted for Aditya Shrivastava (7) as MP were soon reduced to 94 for four.
Patidar (88, 116 balls, 16 fours), one of the stars of MP’s maiden Ranji triumph, steadied the innings in the company of Raghuwanshi (65 not out, 167 balls, 5 fours, 1 six), putting on 94 runs for the fifth wicket.
The duo kept the Chandigarh bowlers at bay in a stand that lasted 154 deliveries even as Sandeep kept pegging away.
Sandeep, who has featured in two T20 Internationals for the country, then struck a vital blow by cleaning up Patidar.
Raghuwanshi then got together with Anubhav Agarwal (25) and added 67 runs for the seventh wicket before the latter fell LBW to Sandeep off the last ball of the day.
In another match in the group, Punjab hit back after being bowled out for 162 in 48.1 overs to reduce Railways to 77 for 7 at stumps at Karnail Singh stadium in New Delhi.
Brief scores: At Motera: Gujarat 267 for 6 in 90 overs (S D Chauhan 73, Kathan D Patel 54, Priyank Panchal 52; Abid Mushtaq 3/88) vs J & K.
At Nagpur: Vidarbha 264 all out in 88.3 overs (Atharva Taide 53, A V Wankhade 47, A V Wadkar 43; A S Sarkar 6/74) vs Tripura 3 for no loss in 2 overs.
At Indore: Madhya Pradesh 289 for 7 in 88 overs (Rajat Patidar 88, Akshat Raghuwanshi 65 not out; Sandeep Sharma 5 for 81) vs Chandigarh.
At New Delhi: Punjab 162 all out in 48.1 overs (Abhishek Sharma 36, Prabhsimran Singh 33; Adarsh Singh 5/65) vs Railways 77 for 7 in 30 overs (Yuvraj Singh 26 not out; Baltej Singh 4/29).
Source: PTI News
