da fazobetai： Mithun Manhas starred in Delhi’s batting performance on Day One oftheir Ranji Trophy league match against Punjab at Amritsar
Staff Reporter01-Dec-2001*Mithun Manhas continues fine formMithun Manhas starred in Delhi’s batting performance on Day One oftheir Ranji Trophy league match against Punjab at Amritsar.On being asked to bat, Delhi lost Gautam Gambhir early, but minipartnerships helped the side to a total of 70/3. There then followed a63-run stand between Manhas and Sohail Rauf before the latter fell,having made a slow 11.Manhas then found good support in Pradeep Chawla (63) whounfortunately had to withdraw at 197/4 after being struck on thefinger. Manhas went on to complete his century and was unbeaten on 112at the close of play, with skipper Vijay Dahiya also at the crease on10.*Himachal Pradesh bats steadilyCentury partnerships for the first and third wickets gave HimachalPradesh a solid start against Haryana on the opening day of theirRanji Trophy league match at the Maharaja Aggarsain Stadium in Rohtak.Himachal Pradesh won the toss and opted to bat first on a wicket thatoffered nothing to the bowlers. The opening pair of Nischal Gaur andSandeep Sharma added exactly 100 runs for the first wicket, in 123minutes and off 182 balls. Sharma made 61 off 86 balls and was thefirst to fall. After the dismissal of Gaur (45) for an addition ofjust 19 runs, the in-form Rajiv Nayyar and Sangram Singh put on 113runs without being separated until the close of play.At stumps, Sangram Singh was unbeaten with 71, and Rajiv Nayyar wasbatting on 47, playing slower than his partner. For Haryana, SumitNarwal and Amit Mishra captured one wicket each. Himachal Pradeshended the day on 232 for 2.*Kavaljit Singh inspires Jammu & KashmirHaving shown glimpses of fine form in his previous match, Jammu &Kashmir batsman Kavaljit Singh translated it into a big knock againstServices on Day One of their Ranji Trophy league match at Delhi.Winning the toss, Jammu & Kashmir opted to bat, a departure from thepolicy they have being following of late. They were rewarded for thisexperiment, however, as Sabir Kanth and Kavaljit batted resolutely toreach a score of 237/1 by stumps.Although opener Raju Sharma departed early, Kanth and Kavaljit put on217 runs for the second wicket. Kanth, the slower of the two, wasunbeaten n 69 off 268 balls, while Kavaljit had made more than doublethat score. He was on 148 off 254 balls at the close of play.*Chetan Sachdev holds Tripura togetherThe innings held together largely by Chetan Sachdev, Tripura reached atotal of 266/6 by the close of play on Day One of their Ranji Trophyleague match against Bihar at Agartala.Winning the toss, Tripura elected to bat but found themselves reelingat 63/4. A small partnership then developed between Timir Chanda andSachdev before the former departed at 116, having made 44.Sachdev was then joined by Abdul Sattar, and the two put on 134 runsbefore Sattar was dismissed for 63. At the close of play, Sachdev wasunbeaten on 99 off 209 balls, and Rajib Dutta (8*) was also at thecrease.*Bengal restrict Assam on Day OneBengal restricted Assam to a total of 214/7 on Day One of their RanjiTrophy league match at Calcutta on Friday.Winning the toss, Assam opted to bat and started off well, withopeners Parag Das and Subhrajit Saikia putting on 62 runs for thefirst wicket. Despite the fall of Saikia, Das went on to make 59 offjust 58 balls before being dismissed with the score on 90.Thereafter, although Syed Zuffri made a slow 69 off 205 balls, none ofthe other batsmen could support him, and wickets tumbled. Zuffri wasthe sixth wicket to fall with the score on 207. At the close of play,Nishanta Bordoloi (3*) and Sukhvinder Singh (3*) were at the crease.*Saurashtra batsmen dominate GujaratSaurashtra, aided by two centuries from its batsmen, put up 434 forthe first innings and then had Gujarat at 141/3 by the close of playon Day Two of their Ranji Trophy league match at Rajkot.Winning the toss, Saurashtra made maximam use of batting first. OpenerSujith Somasunder hit a fine 119 off 302 balls at the very top of theorder, stroking 17 fours and two sixes. He also put on 166 runs forthe fourth wicket with the other centurion, Feroz Bhambhaniya.Bhambhaniya made 109 off 258 balls, hitting 12 fours. He shared a goodstand with wicket-keeper Reuben Paul, who hit 74 off just 89 balls.Gujarat bowled their rivals out for 434, with off-spinner Bhavin Mehtataking three wickets.In reply to Saurashtra’s large first-innings score, Gujarat reached141/3 by close on Day Two, with Niraj Patel striking an unbeaten 89off 120 balls. He was accompanied at stumps by Tejas Varsani, who wasunbeaten on 2.