Ranji Trophy Wrap: Tripura collapse to 53; Ashwin takes four

Top knocks

Manoj Tiwary composed a brilliant unbeaten 212-ball 156, as Bengal ended Day 1 of their Ranji game against Hyderabad in a strong position at 366 for 5. The veteran batsman smacked 15 fours and three sixes in his aggressive innings. Shreevats Goswami, the wicketkeeper-batsman, also made an impression with a fine 95. Meanwhile, Ravi Kiran took a couple of scalps for Hyderabad.

Bhargav Merai accumulated a 216-ball 130 to help Gujarat to recover versus Punjab in Valsad. Gujarat were 277/9 at stumps on Day 1. Incidentally, the number three batsman was the only one to pass the 50-run mark for Gujarat. Piyush Chawla provided Merai support, with the duo stitching a stand of 95 for the sixth wicket.

Sheldon Jackson's undefeated 143 propped up Saurashtra after they found themselves in a spot of bother at 159 for 6 against Madhya Pradesh. Saurashtra were 295 for 8 at the close of play. The middle-order batsman collected 20 boundaries and a six in his enterprising 186-ball hand. Cheteshwar Pujara with 47 was the second highest-scorer.

Akshdeep Nath anchored Uttar Pradesh's first innings with 115 not out to ensure his side would chart a recovery versus Mumbai. UP had slipped to 48 for 3 before Nath and Mohammad Saif added 96 for the fourth wicket. After Royston Dias removed Saif, Nath and Rinku Singh strung together an unbeaten partnership of 137 to build a solid platform.

Sagar Trivedi's blistering 72-ball 79 not out took Puducherry to a score of some respectability versus Arunachal Pradesh in Puducherry. Puducherry were struggling at 80 for 7 before Trivedi's breezy innings lifted the side.

Impressive spells

Sanjay Yadav and Abhay Negi bagged seven wickets between them to rip through Manipur's batting unit in Mangaldoi. The Meghalaya pace duo bowled in tandem over 14 overs to leave the opposition in tatters. Earlier, Ravi Teja aggregated a 180-ball 90 to help Meghalaya post a decent total.

Sikkim's Iqbal Abdulla, the left-arm spinner, snared a five-wicket haul as Mizoram collapsed to be bowled out for 201. For Mizoram, Taruwar Kohli stood tall amidst the ruins with a 152-ball 113. Mizoram's bowlers then kept their side in the hunt by leaving Sikkim in a spot of bother at 107 for 4.

SK Sharma, the left-arm spinner, returned noteworthy figures of 5 for 41, with Kerala collapsing in a heap to be bowled out for a mere 90. Rajasthan then ended the day at 173 for 4, in front by 83 runs at stumps. Rajesh Bishnoi was unbeaten on 67.

Chhattisgarh's Pankaj Rao took a five-for for the cost of just 11 runs, with Tripura collapsing to 53 all out. In fact, Pankaj and Pratap Singh combined to reduce Tripura to 6 for 3, with the top three batsmen all getting out for zeroes. Shashank Chandraker's undefeated 70 then piloted Chhattisgarh to 137 for 5, ending the day 84 runs ahead.

Odisha were bundled out for 161 against Jammu and Kashmir with Aquib Nabi snaring a five-wicket haul. The medium pacer found success against Odisha's middle and lower-order, as they lost their last five wickets for only 58 runs. Odisha, however, stuck back leaving Jammu and Kashmir in a spot of bother at 38 for 3.

Diwesh Pathania's five for 65 gave the platform for Services to take control of the proceedings versus Heryana. However, Harshal Patel and Ajit Chahal took three scalps each to put Services on the mat at the close of play. Services were 63 for 6, still trailing by 113.

Jagjit Singh snared five wickets for 64 runs to give Chandigarh the upper hand versus Goa. However, Goa would be quite pleased to have recovered from a precariously-placed 26 for 6 to a more respectable 251. Suyash Prabhudessai was the cornerstone of Goa's innings with a 191-ball 90.

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R Ashwin collected four wickets and combined with the left-arm spinner Manimaran Siddharth to leave Railways in tatters in Chennai. The spin duo bagged eight scalps between them as Railways were snuffed out for just 76. Abhinav Mukund's 100 then propelled TN to 236 for 4.