Left-handed opener Sanat Sangwan continued his fine run of form but missed out on a well-deserved century by one run as Delhi laboured to 248 for six against Puducherry at the end of the opening day’s play in a group D Ranji Trophy match. Sangwan, who is slowly building a reputation of being stodgy customer, faced 230 balls for his 99 which had nine boundaries. Having already scored a double hundred and a half-century in the two previous games, Sangwan was about to reach another triple when he nicked one to keeper Siddhant Addhatrao off medium pacer Abin Matthew (3/47).

The most attractive batter on the day undoubtedly was IPL star Priyansh Arya, who made his debut by smashing 40 off just 30 balls which included two sixes — one over long-on and other over long-off in what was an IPL-like innings.

He had added 64 for the third wicket with Sangwan but trying to attack former India off-spinner Jayant Yadav (2/62 in 20 overs) became his undoing.

Delhi were in trouble at one stage after being reduced to 123 for 4 but Sangwan and Sumit Mathur (49 batting) joined hands to stem the rot that was setting in.

They added 106 runs for the fifth wicket and just when Delhi were looking getting into a safe zone, two wickets fell in quick succession.

First Sangwan was gone and then Anuj Rawat couldn’t check his shot as the ball stopped on him and offered simple return catch to Jayant.

Jaiswal scores 67 but Mumbai all-out for 254

In another group D game, Test opener Yashasvi Jaiswal scored 67 off 97 balls but Mumbai’s first innings ended on a below par 254 against Rajasthan on the opening day in Jaipur.

Mumbai were cruising at one stage with Jaiswal and Musheer Khan (49 off 131 balls) adding 100 for the opening stand but the seasoned middle-order comprising former India skipper Ajinkya Rahane (3), Siddhesh Lad (8) and Sarfaraz Khan (15) flopped badly to hand Rajasthan the advantage at the end of the day’s play.

It was medium pacer Ashok Sharma (3/76), who sparked the collapse with the old ball in a brisk spell where all three nicked outgoing deliveries to keeper Kunal Singh Rathore.

At stumps, Rajasthan were 10 for no loss.

Bengal dominate vs Tripura; Rawat leads Uttarakhand fightback vs Services

Sudip Gharami, promoted to open in place of the injured Sudip Chatterjee, made the most of the opportunity with a composed unbeaten 70, guiding Bengal to a commanding 171 for one against hosts Tripura on the opening day of their Elite Group C Ranji Trophy match in Agartala on Saturday.

At the other end, Shakir Habib Gandhi stood firm with an equally impressive 82 not out off 187 balls, studded with 11 boundaries.

The pair added 167 runs for the unbroken second wicket to put Bengal firmly in control before bad light curtailed play to just 60 overs.

Tripura players took the field wearing black armbands to mourn the passing of former captain Rajesh Banik, who died in a road accident on Friday night.

Gharami’s 10th first-class half-century came in the 40th over.

Except for one reprieve at slip, he looked solid throughout and found an able ally in Gandhi as the duo punished the loose deliveries while showing restraint otherwise.

Earlier, Bengal lost opener Kazi Junaid Saifi (0) in the second over, caught behind by Sentu Sarkar off Abhijit Sarkar, before the Gharami-Gandhi stand took control.

Tripura skipper Manisankar Murasingh used as many as seven bowlers, but none could break the partnership.

With regular captain Abhimanyu Easwaran on India A duty for the South Africa A four-day game in Bengaluru, wicketkeeper-batter Abhishek Porel is leading Bengal in this fixture.

The visitors, playing their first away match of the season, came in with back-to-back outright wins over Uttarakhand and Gujarat to sit atop the group with 12 points.

In Delhi, wicketkeeper-batter Saurabh Rawat struck a gritty unbeaten half-century, while all-rounder Jagadeesha Suchith provided valuable support with 44 not out as Uttarakhand recovered from early trouble to reach 213 for six against Services.

Opting to bat, Uttarakhand slipped to 117 for six inside 50 overs, undone by left-arm spinner Vikas Yadav’s fine spell of 4/46.

Yadav removed Aarav Mahajan (22) and Yuvraj Choudhary (0) off successive deliveries before returning to dismiss Bhupen Lalwani (25) and Shashwat Dangwal (14) in quick succession.

However, Rawat and Suchith steadied the innings with an unbroken 96-run stand for the seventh wicket to see Uttarakhand through to stumps without further damage.

Arjun Sharma chipped in with 2/69 for Services.

In Guwahati, only nine overs were possible due to persistent rain, with Railways reaching 39 without loss after Assam opted to bowl first.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by News staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)