UP's Sudeep Tyagi takes six on debut

Uttar Pradesh 84 for 3 trail Orissa 216 (Das 75, Tyagi 6-46) by 122 runs
Scorecard

Sudeep Tyagi, Uttar Pradesh's 20-year-old right-arm medium-pacer, made a sensational first-class debut, taking 6 for 46 to bundle out Orissa for 216 within the first two sessions in Cuttack.

Orissa had a disastrous start, Tyagi striking three times in his third and fourth overs to reduce them to 8 for 3. Shiv Sunder Das, the former India opener, and Pinninti Jayachandra led a brief recovery with an 86-run fifth-wicket partnership but Piyush Chawla removed Jayachandra in his first over for 55. Jayachandra ran only three of his runs, scoring the rest in boundaries. Tyagi came back to get the important wicket of Das for a patient 75 and, once he was out, the rest folded easily.

In reply UP made a shaky start too before Shivakant Shukla and Suresh Raina lifted them from a precarious 35 for 3 to end the day at 84 for 3, still 122 in arrears. Raina scored a quick unbeaten 27 off 32 balls.

Maharashtra 261 for 4 (Khadiwale 126, Takawale 52*) v Tamil Nadu
Scorecard

Harshad Khadiwale, the Maharashtra opener playing his sixth first-class match, scored his maiden century to lead Maharashtra to a comfortable 261 for 4 in Chennai. Along with Vishal Bhilare, Khadiwale got Maharashtra off to a slow but solid start - they put on 68 for the first wicket in 22.3 overs. Another similar partnership followed between Khadiwale and Kedar Jadhav, but Maharashtra lost two quick wickets to be reduced from 142 for 1 to 155 for 3.

Khadiwale was then joined by Yogesh Takawale, the wicketkeeper-batsman who had a good last season, and the scoring rate increased as Takawale batted with plenty of intent. They put on 106 for the fourth wicket in 26.3 overs, but Khadiwale got out off the last ball of the day. Takwale's unbeaten 52 came off 68 balls, 38 of them coming in fours and sixes.

Karnataka 189 for 9 (Akhil 53*, Powar 5-69) v Mumbai
Scorecard

Karnataka had another ordinary opening day to the Ranji Trophy as they struggled their way to 189 for 9 after winning the toss in Mumbai. The first day of the 2005-06 season saw them bowled out for 85 by Baroda in a match they eventually lost outright.

Barrington Rowland's dismissal, off the fourth ball of the morning, was followed by wickets falling at regular intervals: the 49 that Rahul Dravid and C Raghu put together for the third wicket was the highest partnership. Dravid looked good for his 40 but fell to Powar on the stroke of lunch. Powar did the bulk of the bowling and his reward was a five-for. B Akhil battled hard for his unbeaten 53, even as wickets kept falling regularly at the other end.

Gagandeep Singh started the Ranji Trophy in a blazing fashion, but was let down by the support cast © AFP

Andhra 294 for 6 (Watekar 137, Gagandeep 3-28) v Punjab
Scorecard

Himal Watekar, Andhra's right-hand opener, scored a maiden first-class century to rescue Andhra after a Gagandeep Singh blitz had left them reeling at 19 for 3 in Amritsar. Andhra lost two quick wickets towards the end of the day's play to finish at 294 for 6. Watekar got out half an hour before stumps for 137.

Watekar was ably supported by captain MSK Prasad, who scored a patient 127-ball 51. Watekar and Prasad put on 142 runs for the fourth wicket, as Gagandeep found no support from an inexperienced attack. He pulled his hamstring when he came back for his third spell of the day, but Karan Goel, who completed the unfinished over, trapped Watekar lbw in his second over.

Saurashtra 262 for 6 (Pujara 64, Thakur 3-62) v Himachal Pradesh
Scorecard

Almost every Saurashtra batsman got a start, but none went on to get a big score as they ended the first day at 262 for 6 in Dharamsala, after choosing to bat first. Cheteshwar Pujara topscored with 64 as four other batsmen passed 20, but wickets kept falling regularly. The highest partnership came for the third wicket - 86 runs between Pujara and Kanaiya Vaghela, who scored an extremely watchful 40 off 190 balls.

For Himachal Pradesh, left-arm opening bowler Ashok Thakur took three wickets, including the crucial one of Pujara, and former India offspinner Sarandeep Singh chipped in with two.