Ranji Group C: Bengal reduce Assam to 194/8 on Day 1

Kalyani (West Bengal), Nov 16 (PTI) Middle-order batter Swarupam Purkayastha hit a patient half-century while skipper Sumit Ghadigaonkar remained unbeaten on 48 before Bengal reduced Assam to 194 for eight on the opening day of a Ranji Trophy Group C match here on Sunday.

Sent into bat, Purkayastha held the Assam innings together by scoring 62 off 140 balls that included seven boundaries and one hit over the fence.

He stitched 53 runs with Pradyun Saikia (38) for the second wicket and then 68 runs for the fourth wicket with Ghadigaonkar to take Assam close to the 200-run mark.

Right-arm fast bowler Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal (3/20), Mohammed Kaif (2/30) and Mohammed Shami (2/62) were the main wicket takers for Bengal.

Haryana in spot of bother after bowling out Services cheaply ===================================== In Rohtak, hosts Haryana found themselves in a spot of bother, tottering at 20 for 5 in 12 overs in their first innings after bowling out Services for 205 in 75.5 overs.

Opting to bowl, right-arm fast bowler Rahul Rathee (4/59), left-arm spin bowling all-rounder Parth Vats (3/26) and medium pacer Anuj Thakral (2/22) picked up most of the wickets for Haryana.

For Services, Nakul Sharma top-scored with an 88-ball 41.

In reply, left-arm orthodox bowler Amit Shukla wreaked havoc with figures of 5/1 as Services reduced Haryana to 20 for 5.

Haryana trailed Services by 185 runs.

Railways take control against Tripura ======================= Railways produced a fine bowling display to first bowl out Tripura for 136 in 41 overs and then rode on Kush Marathe (73 batting) and Mohammad Saif's (66 batting) unbeaten half-centuries to reach 149 for 2 at stumps on the opening day in Valsad.

Opting to bat, Vijay Shankar (44 not out) and Babul Dey (42) made useful contributions for Tripura.

Left-arm spinner Raj Choudhary (4/30), Kunal Yadav (2/32) and Adarsh Singh (2/25) were the wicket takers for Railways.

Gujarat produces fine batting effort ====================== In Dehradun, Jaymeet Patel (100), opener Abhishek Desai (99) and Kshitij Patel (59 not out) were the architects of Gujarat's 318 for 7 after being asked to bat by hosts Uttarakhand.

Mayank Mishra (3/54) and Jagmohan Nagarkoti (3/60) shared six wickets between them for Uttarakhand.

Brief Scores: In Kalyani: Assam 1944 for 8 in 77 overs (Swarupam Purkayastha 62, Sumit Ghadigaonkar 48 not out; Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal 3/20) vs Bengal.

In Rohtak: Services 205 all out in 75.5 overs (Nakul Sharma 41; Rahul Rathee 4/59) vs Haryana 20 for 5 in 12 overs (Ankit Kumar 8 batting; Amit Shukla 5/1).

In Valsad: Tripura 136 all out in 41 overs (Vijay Shankar 44 not out, Babul Dey 42; Raj Choudhary 4/30) vs Railways 149 for 2 in 40 overs (Kush Marathe 73 batting, Mohammad Saif 66 batting; Manisankar Murasingh 1/24).

In Dehradun: Gujarat 318 for 7 in 87 overs (Jaymeet Patel 100, Abhishek Desai 99, Kshitij Patel 59 batting; Mayank Mishra 3/54, Jagmohan Nagarkoti 3/60). PTI SSC SSC AH AH